[IC] The Hourglass Order

[Th3King0fChaos]

Melon Derby

Hour 1

Desmond talks to both Korin and Woren about first heading off to a dangerous place, one of the most dangerous in the entire school. To prepare for this moment Desmond bought a lovely wooden pole for today, yet made some modifications. He bore a hole into a basic melon before attempting to freeze the melon into a solid mass and then fusing it to the pole to create a melon warhammer. Once he feels it is solid Desmond heads off with Korin and Woren to check the den of the Devil himself, the water where Mallow abides. Once they made it near the water, Desmond began instructing Woren and Korin in their search for any high-value melons nearby. While even taking on the Devil himself to raid his nest and take the possible melons placed there.

Covenant

Yet Desmond was just a bit too slow reaching Mallow's nest, as it already looks like a battle has taken place, and the goose is downright ornery. As he arrives on the scene, Jomurr Ikon is engaged in a tussle with the yasoi Ashon and one of his Nashi allies over... what looks like a dark melon and two of the big 100 pointers. Korin and Woren, however, spot something potentially even juicier in the near distance: dozens of people from various teams just diving into the lake - really a glorified pond - in an almost trancelike state. As they turn Desmond's attention that way, one emerges with a massive splash, holdin a watermelon and the water just keeps on splashing. He runs with the melon hands it over to a tall, lean man in monk's robes with short blonde hair and a beatific smile. The man directs him to continue carrying it. Strangely, nobody nearby seems to be attacking.

Korin and Woren call out to Desmond and point out the very juicy target, a Watermelon that is constantly spewing water. A smile came onto Desmond's face as he instructs them on the plan as they go on the hunt for the almost statuesque blonde man who has now been given the melon. Desmond attempts sneak to go around while Woren and Korin will attack in a pincer. Korin and Woren begin to attack in a super speed pincer to take the man by surprise and hopfully take the melon through dazing the man with Arcane light flashes and then exerting Telekinetic control over the melon to rip it out of his hands.

Desmond begins to draw from his own energies within him and converting it into energies that he dissipates into the enviroment. While using stealthy movements, Desmond begins to move and hide his pressence to allow himself to get around the group moving about. As he kneels low as he moves he passes his Melon hammer to one hand as the other grabs another low-level melon as he seems to fade into the background and the crowd.

Once Korin and Woren came close they were no more than 10 feet away from who seemed to be the ring master as Woren yelled out, "Got'cha Guldie". Yet the moment they even made one more step closer Woren gets tackled by 3 mages letting out howling shrieks as they take him to the ground. While Korin is caught off guard 3 other mages wheeled around and lets loose 3 lightning bolts onto Korin, as 2 hit Korin dead on and knocked her out, the third seemed to go off course as the mage almost thrashed about in their place, as if they were trying to miss on purpose.

Jomurr, witnessing the disconcerting display, turns to Yuliya. "What do we do?" he demands.

"Focus on watermelon from church people, I can handle hegelans"

Jomurr has an inkling and decides to pursue it.
He targets the monk directly and holds nothing back.
Drawing up to his full capacity, he prepares to unleash a massive kinetic shockwave that'll flatten everyone around the monk, leaving him nobody else to work with.
However, as he nears full, a sudden headrush takes him. It's too much energy. bruises break out all over his body and his head pounds. The world swims and Jomurr collapses, almost as if he'd overdrawn...

As the tall priest looked towards Woren his kind yet unsettling smile never faded as he spoke in a calm voice "Your manas are no longer your own,". While Woren was busy struggling against his multiple zombielike attackers, he feels his capacity for the Gift diminish, almost like the effects of his mana shots are wearing off early. As he feels the three assailants he was once pushing against now starting to overwhelm him, yet he still gritted his teeth and pushed against hem.

That's exactly what she's going to do. While the Priest seems focused upon the Hegelan, Yuliya uses kinetic energy to move as quick as she can through the path with the most shade, as she's going to attempt to touch the Priest and use her Sensemaster abilities to render him blind and deaf. Yet the moment she reached out, a screaming girl leaps into her way and takes the attack. The monk turns to her and smiles as he speaks in a hiss "So you're the fucking bloodsucker,". As many of Yulia's other teammates are fighting their way through the horde of lackies this Priest has, he and Yulia stare down as right when he was about to open his mouth to speak his eyes roll back as he falls over.

Desmond had learned from the failures of those who went before him as he had hidden for long enough of him to wait for when the Tall Monk's attention was away from him to overload his nervous system and brain with chemical and electrical impulses, as his subtler approach worked a charm. Something about it felt weird, wrong, even, but the monk wavered and collapsed. Yet in that moment Desmond felt his back stink like he was just stabbed, as he felt a pressence materialize behind him and said "Sleep," said a woman behind him. "You are incredible". As Desmond felt his body began to assault his body and mind, and even with the power of the mana brews and shots making him stronger than usual, he was only able to put up minor resistance, as he knows darkness after a very fleeting encounter.

Yet Desmond's eyes flew open as Korin yells, "GET UP!" As Desmond's body began producing adrenaline in vast quantities, he threw himself to his feet to see Woren running off and chasing down a fast blonde woman who seemed to have taken the melon. As he notices the man he knocked out up, which for Desmond just won't do as he attempt to hit the dread priest once more with a chemical and magnetic assault, and it appears to rock him for a moment, but then, his tendrils of command spread out once again, infecting over a dozen people around him and he recovers. "That's not very neighbourly of you, friend" He turns o Desmond and smiles. Desmond shrugs and smiles as he says, "Eh, it's just how I welcome new people into the neighborhood".

Yet in that moment their eye's locked, Desmond felt something off, he could see through the eyes as he knew he was duped, yet it was too late as all at once, the man he was just talking to simply disappears. In his place is a petite and pretty woman who smiles at Desmond as two dozen thralls hurl kinetic and arcane blasts at him. As his eyes widened, he felt his body tense up and loosen at the same time as he began going on the defense, he shifted and dodged out of the way of a few, while a few other attacks came glancing by and barely hitting his shoulder or arms, yet the ones that hurt were the 3 or so lances that each hit him in the torso and the one that made solid impact with his shoulder. Yet two came for his head, as one seemed to have shifted mid flight, as the kinetic lance slammed Desmond dead in the head, and for most they would assume that hit would have knocked him out, and if he was a lesser man, much worst. Yet the worry did not come from the first one, for there was a second one, as this attack neared, if it was to hit it surely would have killed him. Yet Desmond was not a lesser man.

Desmond's head twists out of the way as his foot shifted underneath his body to allow him to shift and regain his footing, as his head straightened and his eyes locked onto the petite woman, it wasn't one of anger, now he had a smile, one that was a smirk that was on his face as he said, "Bye". Like a bat out of hell, Desmond bolts off as his face seems calm while his body becomes a maelstrom of energy. He begins to use chemical to boost himself with increased vigor and adrenaline, kinetic energy to enhance his speed, magnetic energy to reduce the attraction he has with the floor the moment his foot lifts off the ground to propel him further, as he far surpasses the speed of the others who are in the pursuit of the Watermelon. As Desmond spotted the Watermelon he notices it being held by the Belzaggic noble Jomurr atop his Savanah Runner Dragon. As Woren and Korin begin to use their magic to keep people off of Desmond and Jomurr, yet Desmond felt something off again, as he prepared for the assault. All at once, the members of Covenant pounce. As Desmond heard a voice callout and says, "Those manas exist to serve the will of the Pentad, not your selfish desires", as Desmond began to feel his manas shift on their own and seeming to almost control him. Brother Ash dashes out and body checks Jomurr's dragon and staggers it, as it loses further ground to Desmond, who is now right on top of it. Sister Cadence appears and gestures to Yuliya as she erasea the sight, sound, and feel of Jomurr's location from Yuliya's senses, as he is now truly on his own. Finally, Brother Flint wades into the fight, as he pulls in a massive amount of energy before producing a kinetic push that took out Woren on impact, while Korin uses him as a shield and stays in the fight.

As in that moment he felt his manas move, Desmond almost naturally pulled against them as he realized something, he was free. The control was not there as he realized he was unaffected, as he thought of a devious plan. He will now go with the control the Monk trying to hold over him. Just to bide his time and play along. As when he is running after Jomurr and sees Korin and Woren while he is in a full run, when Desmond brings up his right hand he will send his index finger up showing what he did when he asked for that last Mana shot. Trying to signal to them he is in control. As he felt his manas being controlled he followed as he saw he was to kick the dragon's legs out from underneath it as when Desmond did the savannah runner crashes catastrophically, flinging Jomurr loose, and he has to release the melon to catch himself. It rolls down the street... tantalizing close to Parade Street and most of the Zeno houses.

Korin noticing the signal, she knew what she had to do. She needed to keep as many of them on her as possible, so she decided to do a large kinetic smash on as many people as possible while just falling short on Desmond to not hurt him. As the kinetic energy pours down onto everyone, it sends Jomurr into the ground, Yuliya seemed stronger as only one of her knees hit the stone, while 2 of the Priests seemed almost too strong to even care as they looked to Korin and laughed. As Brother Flint, the taller of the two priests, came barreling at Korin and started to do multiple kinetic slams and punches as the attacks became overwhelming for her as one landed solidly and knocked her out. While Brother Ash, the paler of the two, rushed Yuliya and began attacking her, while for Desmond the rest of Team Covenant assisted him in getting the melon home. As one of the sisters kinetically threw the melon to him while the others defended Desmond.

Yet in the moment Desmond got the melon he was bombarded by a large kinetic attack that almost caught him off guard. If not for its speed, the placement seemed off, as the kinetic slam was way off and slammed Desmond's back and mostly stung, yet he felt his pants falling as he had to fight the urge to pull them up, yet he couldn't as he grabbed his plants with one hand while the other held the Watermelon. As he heard a woman yell from behind him, "He is no longer an ally!". As Desmond shifted his feet and boosted himself with more kinetic energy as he felt a stinging pain on his exposed butt cheek as he saw a student from one of the dorms trying to chase him as she just let off a heat beam, yet it was too late, Desmond was at his door.

"Let me the fuck in!" he hammers on the door. As Desmond saw more people get closer and closer as he began to bang on the door louder and louder as he shouted, "FUCK FUCK FUCK LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN!!".Desmond began to see as Ingrid came to fight as she attacks that Arcanist that had shot Desmond in the butt, yet the Arcanist seemed determined as Desmond yelled through the door as he slammed on it even harder, "HELP THEY WANT TO HURT ME!!! I THINK ONE HAS A THING FOR ME AND I DON'T LIKE BUTT STUFF!!" Yet the moment he finished his sentence he felt a pair of hands grab onto his ankles as all the left his mouth was, "Oh boy", as he was dragged in through a 1 foot tall hole, Desmond landed on his ass, and then fell back as he was pulled in. Yet it was not pretty, he screamed, "HELP!!!!" as he dissappeared into Zeno Moonlights house.

As Desmond was on the ground Zarra came over and grabbed the melon from his hands and dissappeared, as Desmond made an audible "Phew" as he is on the ground as he tries to catch his breath. While outside the fighting instantly stopped as the tall blonde Priest snarls out, "It's gone," as with that the members of Covenant back off... for now.

Hour 3

Once Desmond had finally made it back to base and the Water-Melon was secured Desmond knew it was time to strike out again, after changing. Desmond went to his room an grabbed a set of dry basic clothing and changed into it. Once finished he headed off to retreive his very helpful partners Woren and Korin and get them up. He got both of them up and they licked their wounds before they headed off to a spot Desmond remembered from his Lamplighter watch, the Fieldgate Tower [A-9].

people bristle and prepare to defend as the trio walks by, but Desmond makes it to the tower at the very bleak edge of the city without incident. There, after climbing six flights of stairs, he and his hegelan companions find a fat hundred-point melon and a pair of grenades, one cheekily shoved down a carronade's barrel. They also find a decent-sized aberration on one of the parapets.

Once they made it up the tower Desmond began looking around and grabbed another 100 point melon and 2 melon grenades that he split away from each other with one being with Korin and the other being with Woren. Yet the thing that made him worry was the aberration as he saw it. He sighed and let it be as he began looking around as he noticed quite a lack of movement in the Nobles Dorm. Desmond thought for a moment as he remembered the more travelled areas and thought about there may be some roads less travelled that has some things as they will be heading from their position to The New Gate and head towards the tower at [U-2].

On their route, Desmond and his partners find two more hundred-pointers, a slew of tens, and two grenades.
After Finding a few more melons Desmond, Woren, and Korin all make their ways bac to base to secure their findings ad prepare for the final defense that is going to occur. They secured plenty of things now it is time to try and hunker down. They had some more time before the points would be tallied.

Hour 4

Desmond, Woren, and Korin make it back to their home, one that seems mostly fine. As the final hour dawned it was time to get ready, they lit the fire place to ward of future attempts at use it as an entry way.

They hardened defenses around the house and melons, it made it much easier to know where they were but it helped keep them more safe since they were there. As the rest of the Melon Derby seems to go off without a hitch as Zeno Moonlight's group was able to snag 4th place.

[dragonpiece]

The Melon Derby

Pregame

The drinking with the Hegelans came to an end as the Melon Derby start was approaching. As the plan was explained by Desmond, Ingrid listened to the plan and it seemed agreeable. Ingrid, Ismette, Dory, and Dorisay were to stay and set up really strong defense from the start. Any melons that would come in would stay there. It was possibly not the best plan with 3 of the 5 biggest RAS on the team were all on base defense. But Ingrid thought this made more sense for her. She is likely to tire out and she isn't a free castor so defense suited her more.

Hour 1

At the very start of the games the teams took off with Zarra going off on his own trying to nab high value melons. What wasn't to the defense group was that Ismette teleported him and herself out. The idea was going to revolve on making the place sealed off and using her power to get in and out with ease but no matter she was already gone. Ingrid helped melt the metal latchings on the windows to seal them from kinetic opening taking into account of the hegelans skill with metal. She hung plates and pottery in the air to make it a shitty situation for whoever comes in. Ingrid was quite satisfied with the job Dorisay and Dory had been doing. She ended up soaking up some rope in kerosine and icey brine.

Hour 2

However, Ingrid grew anxious just waiting for the other's to bring the melons. Ingrid trusted the competency of Desmond but the other's not so much.Were they getting any? Are they already knocked out? Came to her mind as she prepared for a bit more defensives. Without Ismette, Ingrid's absolute defense of fire and ice would just be too much for their own team to get in. Ingrid justified leaving through this lens and left, now like there was anything to steal.

Ingrid flew up feeling for the first time her new power, her range was slightly larger and she felt boundless in drawing. She just closed her eyes for a minute and just felt this new power. It was amazing. She couldn't even use her own to its own potential but this power made it feel impossible to fail. She blasted off to the Owl Obelisk, a land mark she could easily make out from the sky. Although the flight was still unrefined, she didn't care because when combined with her Arcane Eye, a spell that zooms in on things she focuses on, she could get all sorts of goodies. A hundred pointer here, another one there, a dark melon hiding away. Ingrid saw a small nikanese girl taking a 100 pointers and she simply flew by and nabbed it. The girl seemed angry but Ingrid was riding the high of doing so well. 800 points! If I keep this up I might not even need an elemelon! Ingrid thought in her achievement based high! But what about the supreme, could I find it? Ingrid thought. She was on a roll so maybe. I really should be getting home though, the other's may have come back by now and we might have melons now…Ingrid pondered for a few moments until she has a great idea in her head. The Clamshell! It might be there. I should look just in case. And Ingrid blasted out to their again with her melons in tow.

She arrived and there was nothing. Not even a 10 pointer. A complete bust that she should of coming, that would be the same as Hugo just saying "hey, take the win" But it seemed as she flew up to stay away from the chaos down below she saw something interesting.

Hour 3

From her bird's eye view, she could see her former captain and now team leader Desmond drowning in water. At first she was confused but from the people chasing him it was the Watermelon! Some nun threw an arcane lance at Desmond and Ingrid flew down to hopefully scare them off. Normally she wouldn't do this but she wanted to scare them real good. She converted the light around her into that penetrating radiation and filled the nun with it, causing her to weaken and puke. She hoped they would recognize her strength but instead this weird priest tried to affect her in some way. She wasn't sure how but it was creepy. Ingrid was about to start smashing him but they retreated when Desmond made it in the base with the melon. Ingrid let out a sigh of relief, knowing in her heart that she wouldn't be able to win against them without possibly getting disqualified from accidently losing control.

Ingrid spotted the beam of light earlier. But she was more worried about getting the melons to the base than just blasting off. Ingrid dropped them off and she could see a lot of people there so without much talk she blasted off again. This time seeing quite a few people. What decided who she would go for was helping Trypano and messing with Zarina. She flew down before the fight even started with the intention of knocking her out with some radiation. Who knows, she may even have some diseases from working at Zeno bucks so much. You never know, Ingrid thought as she snickered. But before she could get down there, Kol wannabe snatched the melon and it lit up!. Now she had to grab it for Trypano. Lots of things happened but mostly Ingrid wasn't involved. She just lucky to have the time to grab the melon from when one of Zarina's goons got knocked out. Good, I can give the melon to Trypano! Ingrid thought before a sudden weight was placed on her and brought her down to a kneel. It was a tethered, maybe Jocasta… Ingrid held strong and defended it from Zarina, knocking her out in the process, and Yuliya. She could finally hand it off to Trypano and saying something slightly cheeky to Yuliya before going off again.

Hour 4

The short flight back to the base was long, the place where the light came from was full of determined teams and they weren't about to let Ingrid just get through when she was just heading directly to her Zeno's abode. When Ingrid got there, her house was damaged and there was like 3 people in her base that have no reason to be there. Ingrid smashed someone into the floor, thinking he was running away with potentially their high point melons. Then there were apparently Ismette's family and they seem to be on bad terms. Lots of things happen and nothing much at the same time. Odd magic was being slung and even a demon was spawned and then removed. Ingrid handled it well, it was just another magic, probably not okay but hey, she been chemo-ing people all day so, whatevs. Zarra just noped out of there which was funny but very inopportune. And that is when a cold wind could feel.

Cold started to set in and Ingrid wasn't too sure what was going on but Ingrid was she was prepared for a fight. But as the wall began to eerily unravel, meticulously deconstructing and holding it aloft as he calmly walked in. If this wasn't a competition Ingrid would almost be taken away by the majesty of it. Unfortunately they were competitors and he just entered her house. Ingrid acted quickly, grasping at him with open palm and chanting in Eskandish "Warm milk and honey, sleep gently child." It was an easy chemical spell that she was used on her whenever she would have a hard time sleeping as a child. But it had no effect. The Ice King simply walked up to her and set a hand on her shoulder. She didn't use magic because she was well aware of his strength. If he wanted hurt her, he would. His presence was oppressing. And seeing how he quickly dealt with everyone there was terrifying. Hugo has to step in and she couldn't be happier. Everyone had left and she could breathe again. But where was Dory?

Hour 5

Ingrid apologized for leaving so long to Dorisay, she seemed to get messed up a good bit fighting by herself. Ingrid went on the defensive for the remaining hour. She felt that they had a good chance of coming top 10 if they could hold on to what they have earned. She was against sending more people out since Zarra already ran out and Dory was nowhere to be found. But the final hour was a lot less hectic as the 2 before. Maybe with 6 of us here it made it too dangerous to do it. It gave Ingrid to reflect on how the Ice King knew all of that. Who was he? Why was he so strong? Ingrid wanted you know but her mind pushed those to the side as she felt a kind of jealousy and guilt pertaining to Dory. She left her here when she should've pushed for Dory to go out and have some fun, Ismette was right and this was a game and instead she treated it so seriously that she let an oppressive plan take hold. Ingrid herself even broke it without thinking of Dory, they could have left with her and the 3 of them could have had some fun. No she was with Manfred, someone she doesn't approve of because of how lightly he treated their relationship, being vacant when she needed help the most. But here he was, sweeping her away for some fun. Dory returned with some melons and seemed happy. Ingrid just put away those ugly feelings, she had no reason to have them.

[YummyYummy]

Melon Preparation with Kaspar!

Assani 31st

Location: Zarina’s Quarters
Day of the week: Taldes
Time: 1:40 HE
Characters: Kaspar @Wolfieh, Zarina

“So I’ve been thinking, like, being able to replicate the melons would be key here.”

Zarina was sitting at the end of the dining table in her merchant dormitory with the cage containing her recently acquired Blueberry dragon sitting on it and at arm’s length of her. Beside the cage were plain melons commonly found in the market for dirt cheap as the event was coming and many commerces were capitalising on the hype. The little dragon was hiding the makeshift wooden house she had made for him, only making the occasional clicking noises but otherwise quite discreet, “Issue is, you don’t know what they would look like or how the, errr-” she raised her hands next to her head to mimic quotations, “elemelons truly work. How do you think we can go about it? Can’t train these little guys without at least a good replica, after all.”

Kaspar’s eyes were on the small Blueberry dragon as his teammate spoke. He didn’t reply immediately, head tilting in a way that indicated the boy was considering her words despite his silence. Eyes drifting to the melons present, he offered quietly, “The most difficult part is the whole… structure, of a melon. The innards and then the rind and the very outer skin. Making something of different parts, it takes more…finesse.” His hand reached out, palming one of the plain melons and rolling it closer to him. “First, we find someone who knows what the melons are like. Then it’s simply practice.”

Zarina was also eyeing the cage when it was her turn to listen, although the little critter still refused to emerge. A knife was taken from behind the cage and used to cut open one of the melons in half. The presentation of such an easy treat had the blue reptile poke its goofy head out of its humble abode and sniff the nearby treat, “You’re right, we need to know more. Someone who actually did the derby, yeah?” she mused for a moment whilst watching her little avian approach the opened fruit until it could wiggle its head between the thin, metal bars. Mercifully, the Virangishwoman nudged the fruit closer for it to enjoy, and it did with big, wet chomps and rapid chewing, “But before we get any targets, could you replicate this melon you got there? Just a perfect copy, or close enough.” she nodded in Kaspar’s direction with her attention oriented to him as well.

“Who did the derby, or who grows the melons,” he responded, watching as she sliced a melon in half. He reached out, sliding the unused half towards himself and trying to be careful of the juice. His crimson eyes scanned the object, taking in its constitution, and he began to draw heat from the air around him—slower than drawing one of the melons, but he’d need the subjects whole. Focusing, he pulled the cherrywood wand from his vest and began to cast. The progress was slow, but in the end the melon was… more or less correct. A bit sloppier than Kaspar would’ve preferred, the proportions perhaps a bit skewed and the color a touch too grey, but a good start for practicing.

Zarina checked on the process and the results, albeit with her attention alternating between her new pet and Kaspar’s endeavour. The dragon was just too cute to ignore, especially with its wide eyes and fruit slop leaking from its maw with the occasional lick from its iguana-like tongue. When the strange melon came to be, even the little avian was captivated by it and just observed whilst taking a whiff of the different aroma that came from it, “Huh. Looks kinda … Not fresh.” she crossed her arms and let her back sag against her seat, “But I’m no melon expert, he is. How about we let him judge?”

Kaspar nodded, taking the knife Zarina had used earlier. He sliced into his counterfeit melon and found the inside was a little more…wet than he’d been expecting. Not tragically so, but certainly something requiring more practice. The rind was thick, likely within the bounds of normalcy—he was no melon expert either—but pushing the envelope. He slid half the melon to the edge of the cage, and the dragon inside was quick to scamper over, squeezing his head through the bars and sniffing at the melon presented. He took a bite—or several, rapidly—chewed, and swallowed the flesh of the fruit. The little creature did not explode, or keel over dead, or regurgitate his consumed portion. He took a few more bites, pulling his head back through the bars as he swallowed, and simply returned to the treat Zarina had offered.

Kaspar watching, nodding like he expected this outcome. Then he sliced his own half into wedges, brought one to his mouth, and bit in without reservation. He chewed, thoughtfully analyzing his creation, and pushed a wedge towards Zarina in case she wanted to test it as well. “It is not rotten, at least,” the boy spoke as he swallowed. “It is… damp. More than it should be. But it tastes fruit-like, and I would not call it a ‘last resort’ meal.”

Zarina was very hesitant to take a bite after Arlo’s deliberation on the matter, though with Kaspar still living after a bite she went for it, “Eh. You’re right, could be worse.” one bite was enough, as were three gorges of melon for the little critter. She didn’t want him to get fat. The fruits were shoved to the side and the little blue animal retreated in the cage to curiously explore its surroundings now that it was exposed, “So, if we wanna make good fakes, you’re gonna have to practice a lot, right? What about just basic replicas? You know, the plain one-pointers. How easy do you reckon it’ll be to just make loads of them?”

“Once the basic concept is grasped, it should be more reliable,” he offered. “Practice until the day, and the concept should be grasped.” He sighed, mulling something over for a moment. “The most difficult part is having the energy to cast. I am… slower, drawing energies instead of materials. But… we will have plenty of material around to draw from,” the Binder reasoned, raising an eyebrow towards Zarina. “What are the lower bounds on acceptable melon size, do you think?”

“You’ve got five days for the special melons.” she was quick to correct her colleague while adjusting her posture, “I need to be able to train our little ones before the due date. It’s already a tight fit with just under two weeks.” using the same knife that split the melon, she cut a small piece and offered it directly to the blue reptile but from her hand. It was hesitant, at first, but the delectable was just too much to ignore, “Smallest melon would be the smallest you’d find in the market, probably? I feel like you’ll have to be careful with that, since every binder ever probably has had this idea. Might need to be subtle and settle with small margins.”

Kaspar nodded as she spoke. “Then I practice with the special melons for the next five days. After, I will practice with the plain ones.” She had a fair point—he could not be the first Binder to think of this tactic, though he wondered how many of his peers would focus on creating protections rather than using the melons to make more melons. It was a question for another time—if no one else was doing it, it would provide an edge. If others were… He would need to make sure their team didn’t lose that edge. “We may know more by the Derby. But even if it’s simply turning one melon into two, it still doubles our count.”

Zarina squinted, “Wouldn’t that kind of make the melons too small if we go for double?” her crossed arms unfolded with her right hand drumming its fingers over the wooden surface before her, “... Try making a melon that bursts into flames. Just to test.” a second, uncut melon was rolled toward Kaspar. Zarina watched attentively, leaning forward a little.

Kaspar eyed Zarina, unsure what exactly she wanted with a flaming melon, but obliged. Concentrating, he redid his previous attempt with a slight adjustment—lacing miniscule trails of sawdust and powder into the rind and a little deeper into the flesh itself. Chemical magic set alight one of the trails on the interior, and in a few seconds glowing red lines surfaced on the melon, indicating where the materials burned hottest.

Unanticipated, though, was the heat that would build up, trapped in the rind—and the expansion of the material caused by it. After perhaps fifteen seconds of this burning, the first crack of rind could be heard. Near instantaneously, the pressure of the expansion released with a loud pop, exploding the crafted melon into small bits that shot out in all directions, flinging juice and flesh with pure abandon.

Zarina observed with great anticipation Kaspar’s creation. Being a chemical mage herself, she could begin to distinguish oddities in the melon’s composition, although the details eluded her. But this remark troubled the tall female, prompting her to cross her arms again as she continued to observe. It worked, of course, but it was going to pop. The fire itself caused the little Arlo to retreat in his shelter, and Zarina thought it wise to hide the cage under the table as melon-popping was inevitable. With a quick duck, only her hair would be covered in melon-goop, “... You’re cleaning that.” she emerged, hands passing through her hair to get the debris out, “Now I’m kind of thinking, like … How do they put LIGHTNING into a melon? Is it a chemical process, or is it some sort of special magical storage system that unleashes a spell?”

Kaspar required less thought before answering this time, having encountered such concepts in study. “Binding magic can create stored spells in objects to be activated later,” he offered, continuing, “It is typically a little higher-skilled, and triggered by both drawing from the object and speaking a command word. Theoretically, though I’ve not learned personally, a nuanced Binder with perhaps some other specialties could store a spell using this basic method and a different type of trigger. Usually, too, the object is consumed, but… If the melon itself is not the triggering object, or the mage is quite skilled, this might not be the case.”

A lot of words came from Kaspar, giving Zarina time to give her hair a proper scrub and a chemical cleanse, “So what you’re telling me is it’s pretty damn hard and would need some big knowledge.” a third melon was rolled over toward the budding Binder. Yes, she had stocked up for this occasion, “Make one, even if it kind of sucks. Try … A lightning spell, actually. If you need someone to cast one, I can help.” then she paused and tilted her head, “Wait. Isn’t that touching the realm of the not-so-legal binding sort of magic you may have informed me about, hmm?”

Kaspar shrugged, pausing for a moment. “The Promises of Aun-Shune and Shune-Zept are well-established binding magics. The legality would likely be much more tied to the stored spell itself.” As he spoke, he grasped the melon and began to focus, trying to tie in the capability for holding a spell. Nodding towards Zarina, he indicated her turn to cast her choice of lightning spell into the target.

At first Zarina seemed just about ready to unleash a flurry of electricity from her fingers but she quickly snapped out of her delusion, “Okay, one sec.” she got off her seat and went to seize her prized obsidian shamshir, Il-Kabus, and began to run her digits through the flat surface of the blade, “Yeah, uhm, be ready. This is lightning after all.” she warned before wordlessly thrusting her blade in Kaspar’s direction, causing a weak bolt of electricity to lunge and strike whatever was in its way. It definitely wasn’t enough to critically hurt anything, but failure could lead to burns and a toasted melon!

Kaspar shifted so he wasn’t between the melon and the dark blade as lightning emitted from it, striking the melon directly. A bit of the energy arced off, unable to be held by his spell, and left small singes in the wood of the table. One found its home in the gold ring on his left hand, something he had not had the foresight to remove. The shock was minor, though the skin beneath was somewhat branded and the boy exhaled sharply at the pain. Satisfied that all the energy was contained, he pulled his hands back and quietly twisted off the still-hot jewellery, setting it on the table and sparing only a short glance to the circle of red on his hand. Just a minor burn, not properly cooked—something that wouldn’t be difficult to fix.

Zarina blinked at what she was seeing. The poor lad had burnt himself doing this operation and she hadn’t even gone full force, “Okay, I’ll admit, maybe lightning was a bit ambitious as a first attempt.” she raised her hands in concession after having dropped her catalyst onto her mistreated table.

He gave the melon a moment to settle, this time having the intelligence to undo the gold necklace that rested just below his throat. Satisfied that he was less likely to be roasted now, the boy reached out, touching the melon, and drew a little. “Gå, melon,” he spoke in Eskandish. He felt the electricity creep up his skin, markedly less powerful than it had been. Like static, the hairs along his arm prickled and raised, expending the spell Zarina had cast, but… weaker. Brows furrowing, the boy concluded that his magical container—in whatever capacity it existed was simply too small or too porous. More work would be needed.

Zarina’s focus was on the melon itself: What did it smell like? Was it deformed? Overcooked? It was important to get it right, so as to keep the smell of a melon but also keep the energy of a spell within to make it more alluring to creatures that also drew energy. “At least it didn’t blow up this time.” she remarked, walking over to Kaspar’s side of the table to get a closer look of the fruit, “... Because that’s a two thousand-pointer, my dude.” she gave a congratulatory tap onto the binder’s shoulder. He had made a good first attempt, after all.

Kaspar nodded in agreement with his observations, a quick glance toward the hand on his shoulder before refocusing on the deformed melon. “It would perhaps be better to make the vessel a small object on or in the melon, or a thin coating of something. Less likely to damage the melon in the process. I… do not know if they were accept counterfeit melons of a higher point variety, but when we obtain any… I will be sure to leave them untouched, just in case.”

“I heard there was something like that, actually. A thing they keep inside to recognize some melons.” Zarina added to Kaspar’s proposal, essentially agreeing with him, “I do think it’s best we stay cautious. The dragons,” she peered down at the cage, with Arlo only sporadically peeping out, “will handle the bigger values. You will be our fallback with the commons, plus a potential decoy for other teams. We should maybe even preemptively make some with some intel, scatter them and make sure their smell is something the dragons want to avoid.” she smirked, raising one leg over the other.

“Will you be okay, love?” she nudged her chin toward the lad’s hand, taking notice of his wound, “Hate to see you beat up before the trial even begins!”

The hour was used as efficiently as possible when we were speaking of teens and language barriers. Zarina was consistently the one to blather on and let others in on the plan while Olga did her best to unify the ideas with her own team’s strategies with Kol serving as translator for more complex formulation. Yuliya was an important, unifying figure, and yet she would be absent for a time, leaving the squads to find common ground on their own.

“Alright, that’s how we’ll divide ourselves. Olga, Kaspar, Vieri and Khaliun will man the house,” the Virangishwoman’s index then pointed at Jomurr, “You’ll have your red and speedy dragons so you’ll be our scout along with …” she grinned as she saw Kikimoras, “With this handsome fella.” this earned her an enthusiastic “Bep” along with Anna’s happy giggles with simple one-word replies. “I’ll go with Vasily with two three dragons, Yuliya and Kol can take the last two, yeah? Good.” she clapped her hands together just as the missing duo returned.

“It’s showtime. Look alive. Remember, the big goal is to get points, not collect all the shiny ones. We can easily make the top if we remember that.” Zarina announced just as they began to go at it, with her dragons already catching wind of a rare melon nearby, “Of course, get the rare ones if you can!”

The first big fight of team Afraval would be with team Colloy over the earth elemelon. A fight where they’d end with Colloy securing it, but a curious interloper named Penny seizing the opportunity presented. A chaotic battle ensued with Marljin nearly escaping with the melon for herself and Vasily barely catching her. However, a wave of cold hit both of them hard. A tall figure wearing a parka picked up the Eskandish runner and casually hurled her to the lake after claiming the melon. Vasily froze and just watched the all-powerful being grin in his direction.

"Wanna make a deal?”

---

---

A Frigid Encounter

A lot had happened between losing the Supreme and narrowly missing out on the earth melon, and after retreating to the Afraval home for the remainder of the third hour, Zarina emerged with a determined look. There were no dragons with her - they needed some rest after all the mess they've been through - and she was off to search for something that definitely wasn't a melon. Scouting the walls of Ersand'Enise, she sought out a being that stood out among even among the Gods that walked this land. His chilling aura was impossible to miss, and soon she would attempt to be granted an audience with the Ice King himself.

It took Zarina an entire half hour to find him. He had covered an entire section of the wall in frost, but it had been outside and, strangely, there did not appear to be signs of an energy draw. He sat there, perfectly still as she drew closer, making no secret of her approach. With startling suddenness, he turned, smiling with his wide wide mouth and perfect white teeth. His eyes, where they peeked out from under his hair, were upside-down crescents. "Been waitin' for you,” he said, voice disarmingly casual.

It was so cold and yet the sun was still up, coating Zarina with what was supposed to be its warmth. Luckily, she could still draw from it and generate her own warmth, but still, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience for a Virangish. Soon, she found him, as tall and monstrous as she remembered him. That smile in particular - It just didn’t seem quite human. Still, there was a big difference between her demeanour and Vasily’s. She did not falter or recoil into defensive postures, and instead set her hands on her hips as she tilted her head up to stare the parka-man right at the near-lidded eyes, “Really? That’s … I want to say weird, but I guess some girls would find that charming.” she replied, returning a cheeky grin to the frosted enigma.

“I just heard of your deal with my Vossoriyan Colleague.” she started, peering over toward the direction of the city where her home base was, “Little shits doing you wrong, and you’re willing to give up a melon to get back at them.” she chuckled, “And I thought I had a bad temper.”

"Justice,” he practically hissed, "not 'temper'. Justice.” His smile fell away and he looked at her with his wide blue eyes. "This world is pretty short on that, I think.” There was an uncertain certainty in his voice. "Now, you're not here 'cause you wanna chat.” The smile was small and toothy now, and he seemed like some great cold cat looking for a mouse. "So, if I'm the devil, what's your deal?” His eyes flicked out over the city with a brief flash of eagerness.

Justice. Zarina did not expect that at all. This caught her enough off her guard that she was left blinking a few times in reaction, "I can't say I disagree." she replied back, turning her head again to face the city as he did, though she didn't share the eagerness. Not yet anyway. "Like you, I- My team and I have been wronged." she said with confidence, "Strong-armed by people with far too much power, over the flimsiest of pretexts. Seriously, one tried to douse me in chemicals over a practical joke." she scoffed, "I want to level the playing field. And make a point that neither I, nor my team, are to be fucked with." she then turned her head back to the titan a few meters away from her, "So, I came to ask you for help. The same way you helped my friend. Which would involve kicking this unholy alliance hoarding the supreme melon down a notch." she nudged her chin forward, facial expression neutral and lips pursed to dampen them after being exposed to the cold air, "And what does the devil want in return? More assholes put in their place?"

The boy, a peer in age and, while tall, not as imposing as his moniker might have made him out to be, still exuded... something. He gazed intently at the city, his eyes pausing on where a dozen future leaders had battled ferociously for a fruit some forty minutes earlier. It was so funny! Inexplicably, it made him start laughing. He laughed and laughed, though it was not hysterical, he did not double over. He just... kept laughing. "Sorry,” he announced, smiling the girl's way. "I had a thought. That was all.” His eyes were slitlike again in his amusement.

"Anyhow, the devil wants you to flip a coin.” He produced one in his palm. Both sides were the same. "Pick,” he said, taking her hand gently and placing it in her palm. "Heads or tails.”

Zarina was just staring at the hysterical lad not too far from her. At some point she even felt almost obligated to force a giggle. Thankfully that eventually stopped and she could actually let out a genuine titter, "All good."

With her hand taken, her heart actually skipped a beat. There was still something unnerving about this individual, even if in the end his demeanour didn't suggest any sort of hostility. The coin was held between her index and major fingers, only to notice a lack of differing sides, "Huh." she cocked a brow with a playful smirk, "Alright I'm game, heads." and then she flipped it, palm flat to then catch it.

Predictably, it landed on... heads. The Ice King tilted his head to one side. "You knew it would land on heads,” he replied thoughtfully. "Why'd you go along with the farce?”

Zarina kept the coin in her hand, letting it flip between her fingers playfully as her eyes shifted between it and the Ice King, "I asked what the Devil wanted in return. And the Devil said he wanted me to flip a coin and pick a side." she shrugged, "I obliged. You trusted my associate with the melon, I'll trust you'll deliver your side of the deal if I play along." she smirked playfully once more, "Can't make these sorts of deals without being good faith actors, yeah?"

"But if I'm to be fully honest," she closed her hand around the coin, "I was just super curious to see where this would lead, Ice King. Do your friends call you that too?"

He merely grinned at her question. His eyes met hers briefly with a tilt of his head, but there was no answer. Wind stirred the lick of yellowish hair that stuck out from his parka and he turned back to face the city, eyes roving across it. "I'll see justice done,” he decided. "The justice that I ask for in return is simple and absolute, as all justice is: the next person you encounter under bondage, you will free them, no matter who they are or what the cost. Do you agree?”

Zarina chuckled and nodded at the lack of response from the Ice King. It was to be expected, and so she turned her attention to Ersand'Enise as well with her idle hand pressed to the frosted stone before her. She wondered what could pass through such a peculiar being's mind when he so consistently watched over the city. Then came the cost, and one that had Zarina's mind running. Slavery, indenture servitude - A normalcy in her life, and yet now a touchy subject that ushered in the ugly of the Refuge mixed with the rationalizations inherent to her origins. Was this deal worth the cost? Zarina was not brilliant enough to consider all the facets here, but in the end she had to give an answer.

"Yes. I agree." she turned her head to face his. No more cheeky smiles, the contract was signed and she will have to deliver, one day. No matter the cost.

He held out his hand, smile gone, and there was not so much as an inkling of mirth or, for a moment, even so much as movement. Within his great jacket, one could not even see his chest rise or fall, though his breath let a frosty sort of steam. "I know which teams you want me to hurt,” he stated. "Who among them first?”

Zarina exhaled from her nose and contemplated the question, "We can start with the team that wronged me. The one with the four eyes." she chose, "No need to, well, hurt them." she clarified, the recent thoughts having had a bit of an effect of her volatile mood, "Ass kicking without rule breaking." she felt a strange need to clarify that, "The next with the supreme ..." she paused for a moment, and then chuckled to herself, "I actually have an idea."

"Speak,” he commanded. "I am hearing.”

She gestured for him to come closer, and she leaned in to whisper, as if greater beings could hear them. Given who she was talking to, this may not be all that farfetched.

The Ice King planted a kiss on her forehead, out of nowhere. It was... cold, as one might expect. Then he backed away, smiling. "JUSTICE,” he agreed, gathering a fantastic amount of energy and leaping free. He rocketed away into the distance.

Zarina blinked. This definitely caught her off-guard. But then came the final salute, which prompted her to shake her head in laughter, "What's with me and these crazy, crazy superhumans." maybe she was developing a type.

---

---

Eek and the Coastal Crusaders!

On a bench near the Cathedral, Zarina was peacefully witnessing the upcoming chaos that the frosted calamity was to usher in. One leg over the other, Zeno Bucks cup in hand and little snowflakes sticking to her hair from the King's arrival, it looked as though she had no worry burdening her at this point, "Ahhh, hot or cold, Justice sure tastes kinda good. Or is that revenge? Oh well.'' She sipped some of her hot café au lait and continued to watch while eyeing the Firebrand abode from time to time. The Afraval house had the loose order to keep tight security, although they were their own individuals and could do what they thought was right.

Marching down past the side of the Cathedral was a squad of eeaiko marching, their arms pumping up and down as they called cadence as they marched in Avincian, believe it or not.

”We like melon, we like gold!" The five of them chanted in unison but Yaufin was at the head of the small column leading the other four while his trusty companion Eek bounced around happily on all six of his appendages.

Yaufin continued with the verse solo, "Eeaiko are on the roam!" The five joined together and repeated, ”Eeaiko are on the roam!" They continued as they turned the corner and marched. ”We want your melon, we want your gold!" "Better be smart or be scold!"

Eek, having been the team's mascot and well nose of the team had caught something interesting in his senses just ahead. A human that reeked of an interesting smell of coffee and perfume. He bound on all six legs in a sprint, long tongue dangling out of its open mouth, smelling the trail in the air that led right to Zarina. Eek naturally huffed and puffed through his mouth while his tongue darted around, pulling in closer to the coffee with great interest, even willing to hop up his frontal half up on Zarina to get closer!

What was this amusing little fanfare playing behind the sounds of destruction and chaos? It was upbeat and resonated so well with the feelings that ran through Zarina as she witnessed Justice be delivered in all its cold ruthlessness. Her attention deviated from the two star hours of the hour and focused on the group of fish people she had only noticed in passing. But now they were here and quite the sight to behold - And a tune to admire too! The way she had turned her head left a consistent blindspot for Eek to capitalise on Zarina's intrigue.

"Oh my!" she wasn't quite startled as the aquatic beast wasn't exactly being discreet, but a little gasp of excited me escaped her when she saw that thing, "Who. Is. THIS handsome lad?!" she made sure to keep the coffee at a distance while the shrimp dog attempted to hop onto her with at least a couple of his limbs, "Hey, hey now!" she presented her index finger right before his eyes and took on a tone of authority, "If you wanna taste, you gotta be a good boy now!"

Yaufin and the rest of the team came to a halt as Eek attacked a poor meeiko. "Eek! Hakkani wah!" He hollered running over to where Zarina was. Eek had gotten his command and eased off, plopping down in a laying positon, curling his limbs right next to himself much like a cat would. He watched with a vested interest as Yaufin finally caught up. "Sorry you have no melon." He spoke in the meeiko language. "We train Eek to be better than that." He explained before turning to his shrimpy companion and blew air through his teeth, making a hissed whistling sound. An eeaiko scolding sound which Eek understood, lowering his head but not taking his eyes off of the coffee Zarina had.

Zarina perked up at the call made by the Eeiako owners, "Eh, no worries. First time I see an animal liking coffee, though." she chuckled whilst peering down at the submissive beast, "I guess you guys don't get much of that where you're from?" she took another quick sip from her cup before presenting the beverage to Yaufin, "Feel free to try. On me." she flashed a friendly smile to the fish person, "I also trained a few creatures to sniff melons. Very hard thing to do."

Yaufin and the others eyed the hot beverage, heads turning and tilting in interest. He finally took the offered cup and took a sip. "Lak!" He exclaimed, shaking his head while passing the cup to Tiakah without a second thought. Tiakah took a sip and made a similar sound although she didn't shake her head. She passed it Memaru who then did the same and so forth until Wenkak handed it back to Zarina.

"So much hot. Taste like something we know. Better ice cold." Yaufin spoke, not just to Zarina but to the others as well. They five of them all collectively sounds, different, but they all sounded in agreement. "What is?" Memaru being the most curious about what they just drank.

"Coffee, with milk." she answered plainly after gauging the responses. Zarina actually seemed amused by their reactions, as if she expected it. Most people didn't like coffee the first time around. She would then lower her cup and shake it a little to get Eek's attention, "Hey, Eek," she probably didn't pronounce it perfectly, "want some?" she held the cup as to not let it tip over if he did taste it, "Cold coffee ... Maybe if it was made very cold, not just lukewarm, it could maybe be good, yeah?" she pursed her lips and nodded at the thought, "Like a sort of dessert, you think?"

"Korffee" "Koffee" "Cawfee" They all tried the new meeiko word to see how it sounded. They were all learned in meeiko speak since no meeiko could speak eeaiko fluently... Their language relied on too many clicks and unique vocalizations so it was much easier for the more friendly eeaiko communities to just learn meeiko speech.

"Ice coffee." Memaru spoke, bowing up and down in an exaggerated nod. She gasped suddenly and the team looked at her. "Takats dip in ice coffee." The team all gasped and began bowing up and down in a similar exaggerated nod. "Coffee takat may be good!" Yaufin added and the team continued to nod.

Meanwhile Eek perked up and shot his tongue into the offered cup hastily and due to the small tongue, felt it was too hot and instantly retreated. He gurgled twice, spurring the offered drink with a turned head.

Too hot for the doggy too. Zarina sighed and opted to exact the innovative idea of just freezing the stuff, or at least getting it cold enough. "Takat? What's that?" she inquired, a bit mesmerized by the near-synchronized choreography of nods going on here. It got to the point where it was almost contagious and Zarina found herself caught in the hysteria, "Maybe this is better? I made it colder." she offered up the drink, "So, wait, you guys actually live in the water?"

They turned to Memaru when Zarina asked the question as she had brought it up and an explanation was required. That was typical in eeaiko culture. "Takat is good. We make together with sugar and sweet. Big and stretchy!" Memaru threw her arms out wide, shaking them before snapping together like the was a glob of gum that pulled them back together. "Eeaiko grab and pull to eat."

The offering for colder coffee had caught their interest. They passed it around although this time each chirped ”Hah!" before going back to a few exaggerated nods in agreement. They liked it.

"We live with water." Wikooroh replied after taking his drink and offering it back to Zarina.

Very little of the drink was left, so it would be offered to Eek as consolation for the likely stinging tongue, "Ahhh, with sugar, huh?" an opportunity, "I'd love to try Takat, actually. Maybe in exchange for ... Maybe a Brioche?" she smirked knowingly.

"Eek is very cute and well behaved, by the way!" she got quite chipper when focusing on the animal, "Is he also typical of where you're from? He does look funny to us, but his personality is just so ... Radiant~"

"Breeo?" "Breeoak?" "Bree...?" They tried that word but with less success. "We trade?" Tiakah piped up, showing interest as she had scored quite a few interesting fabrics. Pretty fabrics. Shiny fabrics. Rare though they were. "You give us try of Bree-oo-ke. We give you try of Takat. If we like. We trade."

Eek considered the offered cup. His feathered flaps, twitching as he brought his full nose up to the cup. He couldn't fit his muzzle in but he was close enough to smell and feel if there was heat. There wasn't and he stuck his tongue in swirling it around before withdrawing. He shook his head, remaining uninterested.

"Eek is good." Yaufin began to explain. Eek perked up, his tail flapping up and down patting the ground, believing something good was coming for him. "Eek fastest swimmer. Eek get most food. Eek protect kelp. Good Eek." Yaufin reached down to tickle his feathered flaps with Eek responding with a low-pitched clicks, his eyes closed.

Zarina reached for her messenger bag and ruffled through a few items until she found a leather pouch containing one small slice of brioche remaining. The smell was still strong with a few crumbs falling onto the pavement and Zarina's lap, "Here you go, courtesy of Zeno Bucks~" she flashed a smile as the sweet bread was given.

The cup was then put away in her bag once emptied and she then adjusted her posture as the Eeiako assessed the value of her treat, "Ahhh, so he protects your crops?" she inquired, quite interested. Her hand reached out, hesitant at first, toward Eek, "May I?" she asked, clearly eager to give some scritches to the critter, although that beak looked a little intimidating.

"Zeno Boocks."
"Zeno Baucks."
"Zeno Buhcks."
They all tried the new word on their mouth, finding it rather easy to say. They took the slice of brioche and carefully divided it among themselves, and all ate it. ”Hah! Hah!" They all huffed, seemingly pleased. "Like Takat. Sweet. But not Takat. Soft." Memaru commented and all the eeaiko nodded vigorously.

Yaufin gestured towards Eek, who looked around expectedly between the two. "Yes. You can. Soft touches." He advised and left Zarina the chance to 'pet' the critter as it were. Eeks head tilted, watching Zarina expectedly.

A bit eager, Zarina reached out toward Eek and began to give very light scritches onto the critter's 'ear'. The texture was unique to say the least and the smell far more noticeable from up close and without coffee steam to help mask it, "Who's a good boy? Mmmm?" but it did little to deter this animal lover. And soon, her own natural gift when it came to gaining their favor began to target Eek.

"So, is it good enough for me to try a Takat?" she smiled and tilted her head expectantly, "Oh, and ... Where do you find an Eek, actually?"

Eek remained still, lowly clicking from the attention to really the only externally sensitive part of the armored animal.

"We bring no Takat." Memaru responded though she looked to be considering something. "We can make. Need right material. You part of team. We all make Takat. Big Takat. Good?" The eeaiko all nodded, even looking excited to have a project and to make Takat at that. They all turned to the meeiko, watching her expectantly, unsure as they have never worked with a meeiko before.

The scritches continued, and Zarina tried to get a little creative with the animal. Eventually she got off the bench and just crouched to give both ears an equal amount of affection, "Ooohhhh, you like that, don'tcha bud? Yes, yes, yes!" silly faces ensued.

"Make it together, huh? That's ..." she paused for a moment and then grinned a toothy smile, "An amazing idea, actually. Would you be fine if I brought maybe a friend along, for that? She is good with making delicious things!"

"Friend? Yes bring. All work together. Eeaiko way." They all nodded but it occurred to Yaufin that they had other things to do. Like finding melons. "Come new day. We make Takat. Here." He pointed to this spot and then turned to start speaking in his native language to the others. They all moved away but not without a ”KuuKuu'' offered in their native tongue, collectively as a farewell.

"Eek. Takkan!" Yaufin snapped and Eek hurried off to rejoin his master by his side. He cleared his throat and began to march with the others following in step.
”Better hide your melons because we come to play."
"Better hide your melons because we come to play."
"Eeaiko are here to stay!"

---

---

”We should just grab the melons from the neighbours, I don’t get this peace.” Vasily scoffed at Vossoriyan as he just finished discussing a sort of union with Ayla under Zarina’s orders, ”They have TWO elemelons. You could probably grab them, Kha.” Khaliun was sitting quietly by him, locking onto a strange energy that had been bothering her for a while. She did not appear interested in entertaining the de factoleader's strategic perspective.

The silence got awkward for the nervous thunderchild, and at some point he’d make what appeared to be a random observation, ”That girl from Vossoriya,” Khaliun perked up just a tad, ”it’s strange that she is here. Few ever leave home, even for this school.” he shook his head, and speaking of the devil, Yuliya came out from the back yard and performed a brief lookout, ”When I think about it … I remember that first name. And those eyes.” Khaliun’s hand emerged from the cloak, fingers idly wiggling in little waves as if she was about to pick something up, ”And with you being put on our team just last month- Is that why you chose this te-” Vasily found it very difficult to breathe, ”Kha-li …”

”When things are uncertain and the stakes high, you always keep your piece, Gredenko.” a hush voice came from under the hood. Khaliun’s fingers hooked, as if she was trying to tightly grasp something on her palm, ”And yet you decide to break silence now of all times.” the thunderchild couldn’t utter a word. His hands seized his throat, although the lock Khaliun had on him was purely internal. He tried to draw at capacity, but each time his energy levels were too high, his body would violently jerk in place to interrupt his focus, ”Olga won’t protect you from me. Nor will I hold back for the sake of this game, Gredenko.”

Vasily was released, leaving him in a coughing fit and a very sore throat, ”Do yourself a favour and avoid even looking at her from this point forward.” she turned to look down at the curled up male Vossoriyan, ”Utter one word even alluding to her family, and I will be taking permanent action.” her still hooked fingers suddenly balled into a fist, prompting a random flower pot in parade street to burst, ”Do you understand?”

Vasily nodded frantically, with the same look he had given to the Ice King once the terms were set. A minute later, Khaliun and Yuliya would be tracing the energy signature, right toward Benedetto …

---

---

Justice.

Zarina wanted to see what this Justice, ushered in by a force of nature wearing the body of a boy, would look like. The impression he had left on had completely changed her priorities. It did not seem like she cared about the supreme itself, but rather what would happen once the Ice King would find it. Trypano was stalling, the team was anxiously waiting outside. Something was off, but tunnel vision was strong in this crucial moment.

Benny and Jocasta were long gone, nothing could stop the Ice King as he walked unobstructed in the Mozaru home. “Here.” she called out, and the disappointed Ice King with the plain melons in hand manifested himself at the back of the house where Zarina stood.
Just a half-minute remained. It was as if time was still. The Virangish girl stared in anticipation at the calamity’s reaching for what was believed to be a hidden melon. But just as he reached down, a familiar voice called out.

Carmillia stepped onto the lawn, along with Dante. The former held a single terramelon in her hands, smiling beatifically. Then, the Ice King was there. He placed his hands around the melon. "Justice," he said

In the distance was Silas. "It's her!" he shouted. "She has the supreme!"

Zarina, panicked, dashed toward the voice that called out, "Justice!" she huffed! Words echoed in her mind as she exerted herself as much as she could to witness the end. That single phrase she whispered to this God among men just over an hour prior.

“Do what you think is just.”

The Tall, frosty figure looked Silas' way. He nodded. He looked Zarina's way, meeting her eyes. He nodded. "Strength alone does not win this game."

He took the melon from her hands. There was nothing that she could realistically do.

He stood there as the bells began to chime.

Zarina simply nodded. She understood. "If that is what you see as just." she approached the King and then flashed a wink at Carmillia, "Good game." Then, she struck a quick, dramatic pose, "Justice!"

Trypano walks out onto the lawn, small bruise on her cheek and a cup of coffee in her hands. "Care to stay for a cup?" She wore the rare small smile. Zarina turned on her heel and clapped her hands together as she faced Trypano, "Me?" Trypano gave a nod. She meant the Ice King but back in the kitchen was a couple more cups for who remained. With that, she handed over the cup to Zarina. "Of course. As well as anyone else, if we're staying the moment?"

Yuliya breathed once more. She wanted more.. but a moment of clarity struck her as the bells begun to chime. She realized she was in front of others. She returned her hearing, and let out an awkward but obviously bitter laugh, attempting to brush off the previously violent interaction. She shouted in response to Zazzy from the lawn.

"Justice."

Zarina got giddy, "Oh my, don't miiiiiind if I do!" she rushed in, although not before turning to look over at the Ice King. She actually turned back briefly and approached him, "I've uh, got your coin, by the way." she presented the coin between her index and thumb, both faces still the same.

The Ice King smiled. "Strength alone is not Justice." He pressed his right hand to his heart and took the coin with his left. Then, he paused, both his hand and hers on it. "Actually," he said, "you keep it." He smiled. "Good luck in the coming trials."

Tl;dr

-Zarina and Kaspar worked to understand how the melons worked to get an edge and train the dragons prior to the Derby.

-Team Pravda and Team Sunbeam make their plans known and get into some trouble for the earth melon, leading to an encounter with the Ice King and a deal to be made with him for the melon.

-Zarina meets with the Ice King to make a deal with him as Vasily spills the beans on the deal. She wants team Luna to be messed with a bit, and leaves the fate of the supreme a secret until the very end. In exchange, she must free the next person she meets in bondage.

-Zarina meets the coastal guardians, and their mascot Eek! They promise to meet again to make their famous delicacy known as ‘Takat’ in exchange for some brioche.

-Khaliun threatens Vasily as he pieces together that Yuliya is the princess. There is no nuance here, she will kill him if he speaks a word of it.

-The Ice King deems it just to let team Mozaru have the melon, and it was the secret request from Zarina that he decides the Justice today. It ends on a happy note!

[A Lowly Wretch]

---

It was not an easy competition. There were scarce few with the magical skill necessary to oppose her and fewer still with any semblance of competence. That still meant that there were some that had both, a troublesome event it was.

Their pick for this leg of the race was largely irrelevant. Thankfully they were no obstacle for her, largely cooperating for the most part instead of trying to act of their own free will and inviting more trouble. She went alone for there was no need for any security in numbers. She would never have held onto a melon of any importance for any length of time in which other mages could interfere significantly.

Early on she secured the fire melon. From there she continued to hunt, her path eventually intersecting with the blind one and the timewalker. She gave them a scare, her real purpose being to secretly mark their melon for extraction later while they were distracted by her attempt at theft. With that done she left after their escape, returning to base.

During that time the supreme melon had been triggered. With Jocasta's aid she dropped down through a portal to aid Carmillia in her escape. In the chaos the melon exchanged many hands before ending up back in hers wherein then she was portalled out with surgical timing.

With that she remained at base, shoring up their melon defenses for the final hour. As anticipated others began to arrive and make attempts to breach their base, all rebuffed. Jocasta's influence seemed to wane a bit which resulted in Trypano taking on a bit of the workload but when the attackers were puppets it was off little concern. Even peasants with clubs would pose more danger to her than these lifeless husks, her magic bending their matter with little more than a whim.

Then a visitor showed up.

_
Climbing up the stairs she already knew who had turned up in their reading room. It was The Ice King, the enigmatic figure who brought the temperature down across the whole building. His presence weighed heavy, the sheer amount of magic emanating from him strong enough to make lesser mages ill. She was strong but it still weighed upon her no less.

She was a professional however. If it brought her any discomfort it was not shown as she approached and... Set up some chairs.

There was no sense in beating her head against a wall of RAS that large. Better to reason with him she figured than to strike up aggression right away.

"Ah, The Ice King, I see you've decided to come and visit. Would this be in regards to this game of fruit or perhaps a simple invitation to chat?" With that she offered him a seat.

The Ice King took a seat across from Trypano, flipping the chair around backwards and settling onto it. He did not take his eyes off of her even as Benedetto came streaking inn through the window, brimming with force and fury. In fact, he waited a full second before turning his head ever so slightly and nodding at the new arrival.
"Where are you little Jojo!" the Revidian hollered. "You can't run!" he taunted. "Haha! Literally. Time for your beating!" He stood on the spot, roiling with atomic energy and a pugnacious attitude. He narrowed his eyes in the Ice King's direction and scowled.

Trypano, seated nearby, broke the burgeoning silence. "Oh, hello Benedetto." She gave a small wave to yet another intruder. "Ice King, this is Benedetto. Benedetto, this here is Ice King. I hear he comes from very far south."

It was then that Jocasta appeared among them, out of thin air, chin resting just above her chest. She raised her head. "Ciano," she acknowledged, nodding in Benedetto's direction. "Ice King. How nice of you both to visit." She began drawing, and it was a truly massive amount of energy.

"You won't think so once I'm done with you," Benedetto replied with real venom. "I'm gonna break your legs."

As Jocasta manifested Trypano offered a courteous bowing of the head. "Ah, Jocasta. I've been entertaining some new guests." She greeted her.

"I suppose we don't have coffee brewing?" She then turned to the Ice King "I gather you'd probably want yours with ice shavings?"

With that, a triangle was formed, with Trypano seated in the center. "Trypano, my good friend," said Jocasta, "perhaps you should go see to the coffee for our guests. I have a feeling that our friend Benedict might be quite worn out by the end of our proceedings today."

The late afternoon sun blazed through the broken window, sharpened shards of glass glimmering about the floor.

For an immense moment, the four of them stood or sat there, eyes and sixth senses alike darting from one to the other.

"Of course." She gives another courteous bow to Jocasta as she stands. As she leaves the room she gives Benedetto a light pat of encouragement on the shoulder. "Don't tire yourself out now~" She winks, heading downstairs. Little does he realize (She hopes) she placed her experimental Curse of The Serpent on him, one that would grow longer the more energy gets drawn. The receiver? None other than Jocasta.

Then, all at once, Benedetto launched himself at Jocasta like a thunderbolt, closing the distance in a fraction of a second.

She saw it coming, drawing ever more from, slowing him, and effortlessly floating to the side. All that he cause was her trailing skirts. "Seems a lot like use of deadly force, Benedict," she observed. But that energy of his went to good use. If he wouldn't hold back, then neither would she.

Her Chemical attack slammed into his brain, but Benedetto was already anticipating it, countering its effects. She was predictable. He was not.

The Ice King sat on his chair, gaze darting back and forth between the combatants. His tongue flicked out for a moment, wetting his lips, but the only thing that moved was his eyes.

Benedetto brushed off Jocasta's attack and attempted to grab her ankles in a kinetic grasp and slam her into the floor.

Trypano moves back over to the Ice King. "Seems like somebody can't keep their cool."

Jocasta saw it coming. Of course he would go for her legs. Her disability was always cruel sport for his taunts. Why would it be any different for his attacks? Instead, she tried something sneaky.

Seizing the fabric of spacetime, she rushed up and grabbed him, and both of them disappeared.

_
With both of them disappeared she simply accepted that with her boon Jocasta probably had this in the bag so she went downstairs to put some coffee on.

The Ice King rose in one smooth motion. While Trypano had attempted to make conversation with him, he had been statuelike the entire time. Now he stood and stretched. He yawned and rolled his neck, going from automaton to human, and walked down the stairs.

"Your melons," he said simply. "Hand them over."

Having entered the building during the confusion Zarina heard that, just looked around, recognized any potential threats and went about her intended business. "Well, you heard the man, Melon time." she clapped her hands together and shot a grin toward Yuliya, "Does the little shit sniff anything particularly yummy?"

The cold intensified, spreading to every room available and out onto the street with crackling veins of ice. The Ice King's smile grew along with it, taking in the people on the lower floor. Justice. It echoed through his mind, such as it was. "You heard the woman.... Unless you would like to fight for them." His head tilted to one side. His teeth seemed, for a moment, far too many and impossibly small and sharp.

"Ah, still sour over that one melon you tried to steal from Carmillia?" Trypano commented, waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.
"If you want that one, go ahead. The one we got away with wasn't really the supreme melon."

Yuli smiled back as she felt the cold roll in and the ice kings voice boom through the house. Oh, how sweet it was. The darkness of the home, the familiar cold of her country, and the supreme melon within reach. Through the suffering of the day, she was finally able to kick loose.

"Go, Kalyna. Sniff it out." She spoke softly to the fat raspberry in her bag, before setting her down and turning to the rest of the people in the home. Oh, how she was itching for them to refuse..

"Sour? Nah, the score's been settled." she paid close attention to Kalyna's reactions and movements, "Although it was interesting to see that your friend didn't activate the beacon when touching it!" she exclaimed with light enthusiasm, "How did she do that?"

"Actually." Trypano was putting the finishing touches on the coffee, using binding to create marshmallows sweetened with spratz instead of sugar.
"It did go off. When they found the melon they destroyed it. The melons you were all chasing were fakes." She came out into the main room with a plate, several cups of coffee with spratzmallows floating in them. "It doesn't take high RAS to outwit someone." With that she handed a cup over to Yalen and a couple of her Weggosi teammates, bringing one over to the Ice King. "Care for a cup?"

While Trypano was delivering a most excellent hero/villain monologue, the energetic little dragons had been hard at work. They showed some interest in the floor, but once again seemed indecisive, as they had back in the Cathedral District a couple of hours earlier. The dragons were inconsistent, confused. They pointed upstairs for a moment. They pointed towards the back of the house or behind it where any number of other melons could've been. They pointed at the floorboards as well. The Ice King looked at them for a moment and disassembled those. The dragons were, in general, anxious and not doing particularly well Beneath the floorboards were a couple of melon grenades, some tens, a couple of hundreds, and three terramelons. Perhaps a minute remained.

"I know where the Firemelon is if you want that one." Trypano, remarked, pulling some grapes out of the drawer Carmillia left them in.
"It's just a ways out of town. If you rush you might just be able to get back with it. Just" She took a sip of coffee. Refreshing.

"Uh-huh." Zarina absently responds, her full attention on the melons and the Ice King.

Yuli, seeing the smug satisfied look on the face of the woman who had fucked her over ever so slightly in the chase for the supreme, now attempting to distract her dragons from the search, felt her blood rush. She immediately leapt across the room in an attempt to deck the tall woman in the jaw.

Trypano simply lets the punch go through. Sinching her jaw, the pain was so mild she didn't even wince.
"... Are you done?" She sets the grapes down next to the dragon this woman nearly tripped over. "If it would please you you're free to hit me to your hearts content. It won't win you this competition however." Her expression was as cool as ever. A face no less icy than the frost on the windows.

The Ice King lifted the three terramelons into the air with kinetic magic, a triumphant look upon his face, but something odd took place: not a single one glowed, not in the slightest.

"Did I lie?" Trypano turns to the Ice King as he observed the lack of Supreme Melons in his grasp. He turns toward her and nods, a small smile creasing his lips.

Zarina, paying close attention to the red dragon, immediately marched toward the indicated route whilst the Ice King came to the sad realization that Justice wouldn't be found under the floorboards, "Here." she called out, turning back to the King and eyeing Yuliya.

Yuli breathed, the rage being only slightly softened by the frost that was now creeping in. The nerve of this cocky bitch.. how dare she? No, she didn't care about the rules at this point. A small penalty wouldn't matter if they had the supreme, and that still needed to be resolved. But with the little time she had left, she would teach her a lesson. Turning her own hearing off with her sensemaster abilities, and smiling a most vile fashion, she amplified her kinetic for just a second as she snapped her fingers in the hand she still had close to the woman's head, seeking to knock her out with the sheer force of the sound, or cause as much pain as possible. . It's a move she'd tried in the chase for the watermelon, and she felt confident in it now.

Trypano only realized shortly before it happened what the woman was trying to do. In defense she drew apart her own eardrums, letting the force rattle her head to some extent before reforming the tissue back in place.

"Ow."

Trypano used chemistry to apply morphine to the area impacted, a formula soothing the growing headache as she prepared to counter this crazy person's next attack.

Yuli was not satisfied with that response. No, she wanted to see this woman groveling on the floor. So, she'd make it happen. Drawing up to capacity, she would attempt to shove Trypano to the floor with her kinetic magic at full force.

Instead, Trypano ends up sliding on her feet, landing softly against a bed of spongy Gift of The Frog conjured behind her.
"I hope after the tournament is over you'll stop before the Zeno's come by for inspection."

Meanwhile, Zarina was rushing for the back door, the Ice King teleporting before her. Her dragons strained at their leashes. "Justice" he growled.

Carmillia stepped onto the lawn, along with Dante. The former held a single terramelon in her hands, smiling beatifically. Then, the Ice King was there. He placed his hands around the melon. "Justice," he said

In the distance was Silas. "It's her!" he shouted. "She has the supreme!"

Zarina, panicked, dashed toward the voice that called out, "Justice!" she huffed!

The Tall, frosty figure looked Silas' way. He nodded. He looked Zarina's way, meeting her eyes. He nodded. "Strength alone does not win this game." He took the melon from her hands. There was nothing that she could realistically do. He stood there as the bells began to chime.

Zarina simply nodded. She understood. "If that is what you see as just." she approached the King and then flashed a wink at Carmillia, "Good game." Then, she struck a quick, dramatic pose, "Justice!"

Yuliya breathed once more. She wanted more.. but a moment of clarity struck her as the bells begun to chime. She realized she was in front of others. She returned her hearing, and let out an awkward but obviously bitter laugh, attempting to brush off the previously violent interaction. She shouted in response to Zazzy from the lawn.

"Justice."

Trypano walks out onto the lawn, small bruise on her cheek and a cup of coffee in her hands. "Care to stay for a cup?" She wore the rare small smile.

Was her smile out of genuine appreciation for them to be able to have a civil and honest tournament amidst all this skullduggery? Perhaps.

Or perhaps it was simply due to her being impressed with Carmillia's proactiveness, going out and retrieving the ultimate herself instead of waiting on Jocasta to portal it home. Speaking of Jocasta, it was quite odd that she hadn't returned before the bell's chime.

Had she been too confident in her ability to outplay Benedetto?

---

- Directly involved: @Force and Fury,@YummyYummy,@Suicharte,@Tackytaff.

[Th3King0fChaos]

---

Desmond rubbed the back of his head as he walked the streets of Ersand'Ernise with 2 other males in front of him, they all wore thick fitted grey pants, white tough white coats, and each had a long grey cape that signified who they were, Lamplighters. Yet unlike Desmond who seemed to walk calmly and easily, however, the two walking in front of him seemed like they walked like kings. Their steps were firm and their eyes seemed almost like they look down on others, yet it seemed like they were watching for something, waiting. As Desmond finally pulled out his scroll tube to look at his schematics from the guns he got from the Sirrahi. He was beginning to figure out now possible chemicals needed for now propulsion, and he was struggling with something very important that the bullets seem to do, by striking the back of the metal casing it ignites the gunpowder and then shoots the bullets out. Desmond has been thinking about what he could do for such a thing, he's tried gunpowder, he's tried different chemicals, yet nothing seemed to be as good as the Sirrahi tech other than his own magic. Yet he wishes to recreate it to lower the burden he will need to use his weapon, yet as he starts to think about what he could do or who he could go to for this. Desmond sighed as he looked until a yell resounded in Desmond's ears as his head whipped up and saw something as he rushed over while throwing his scrolls into his satchel and yelling, "Hey what the hell are you doing?!"

As there looms his two patrolling partners, one with a wooden cudgel in hand as there is a smaller male cowering on the ground as he holds his head as blood pours out. Desmond pushes them out of the way yelling, "What the fuck?!" As Desmond goes down to check on the man, he was maybe a little under the height of a man his age, maybe similar in height and size to Silas. Desmond whipped around and demanded an answer once more, "Why did you hit him?! What did he do?!". His partners looked to him smugly as they said, "Stopping a thief. You see his grubby hands had an apple, obviously, he stole it". Desmond then shoves the man who said that back as finally they saw Desmond's full size. Desmond quite often seems unimposing, almost everything about him is average, he was pretty good looking however other than that he was average and even thin looking because of his clothing and build. Yet now, he seemed to almost loom over them, his height was slightly above average making him tall enough to look down upon the one he is talking to as his age made him taller while he stands chest to chest with the boy. And at that moment, Desmond's eyes looked sharp and cold as there seemed to be something dark and looming. Both of the Lamplighters seemed to almost draw and fill in response to his aggression, yet Desmond seemed too calm, as his body seemed to even become a lower and lower energy source yet it flared with energy, as he drew from his own internal energies to seem almost invisible while flaring his own manas. Something hard to understand in just a moment.

Yet that was not what scared them it was when Desmond looked down to the man and met his eyes while saying, "Do something". Both shivered as Desmond stood there before he pointed to the Lamplighter he isn't looking at, "You will Heal him and continue our route. I am taking this one back to be turned in. I will be back in 10 minutes, you better be doing your job correctly". The Lamplighter he was pointing to seemed to stand still watching in fear until Desmond turns and barks, "Go!" As the Lamplighter kneels down and begins to heal the boy before heading off. Desmond turned back to the lamplighter he is looking at as he says to the young man who was hit behind him, "Hey kid are you okay?". The boy said with a soft voice, "Yes sir". Desmond then turned to him and said with a smile, "That's good, you get along now, you should clean yourself up when you get a chance". Desmond then looked back and grabbed the arm of the man he is looming over and says, "Come on".

As they left the area, they felt eyes looming on them as they all saw what happened, most would have never seen nor cared until someone made light of it, and now? They all looked as if they witnessed something despicable, something as if a crime was committed. The Lamplighter felt the pressure looming on him, he has never felt this, he was always the one right, the one in power, and now? He is being dragged in by a Commoner, a low-born man who is here for the money. He was now being treated like some criminal like he was a commoner who committed a crime. This is the position Desmond should be in, not him! As the man thought as they walked, yes, as a Noble he shouldn't be here, this is the place of a Commoner. As the boy attempted to start manipulating the chemical energy within Desmond he felt his grasp slowly working in, yet the moment he tried to tug any which way, he felt electrical energy fill him and shock his system violently as he let out a yell.

Desmond sighed as he shook his head, he was ready for anything, and this? This was way too easy to see as Desmond goes to grab the man's head and looked him in the eyes while saying, "Smart move, Dumbass". As Desmond brought his fist back and punched the boy across the face as the Lamplighter's lights were put out.

[pantothenic]

Hour 1

Though his physical capabilities had gone up somewhat, Yalen agreed to stay behind and house sit with his fellow tethered. While Jocasta used her temporal magic to move melons around, he and Jodi checked various points of interest with their tethered senses, which easily covered the entirety of the school. Until the tactical situation changed, they constantly tried to detect any fluctuations that gave away the presence of an elemelon.

Yalen's first sweep reveals nothing in his targeted locations, but he resolves to return to it in a minute or two, continuing to monitor. A few sweeps later, however, Jocasta starts. "Trypano's got the firemelon!" she exclaims, backing up a push and half-turning. There's the by-now-familiar feel of a temporal draw and a hole in spacetime opens.

At right around the same time, he feels a powerful magnetic jolt in the Grand Library as someone hit pay dirt. "Library!" he shouts.
Within moments, Jodi strikes gold as well. "Big kinetic rrrush at the overlook, right up by the Proving grounds. Guessing it's cloud or terra."

As soon as the elemelon signals were detected, Yalen and Jodi ceased their scanning of the city and enacted the next step of their plan. The two tethered used their channeling to create floating orbs of light above the cloudmelon and thundermelon. At the same time, Jocasta was creating similar looking decoys elsewhere when she wasn't preoccupied with portalling. While their own team knew which colors to look for, anyone trying to use the beacons to follow the melons would have to either split their forces or hope the one closest to them was the correct one. No matter what happened, the holders of the prized melons had huge targets hovering over their heads.

Hour 2

With the thundermelon's interception unsuccessful, Yalen ceased his attempt to follow it and went back to passively observing the city. When the supreme melon's signature energy burst went off, practically everyone in Ersand'Enise with a talent for magic felt it no matter where they were. When he saw the beam of light outside the window, he asked Jocasta to teleport him straight to where it was. The fastest way to identify who was in possession of it was with his own eyes.

When he dropped out of the portal near the Arches' residence he was surprised to find his own team exiting the building. They appeared to be scrambling to figure out how to get the melon home without everyone in the city dropping on top of them. They had to hurry up before other temporal mages arrived on the scene.

After joining heads the combined brains of Carmillia, Dante, and Yalen birthed a simple but possibly effective plan. The five students joined in a huddle and swapped some of their melons around before they each broke off from the group, everyone taking their own separate route back to Mozaru's residence. But this time, something had changed. After a brief flicker, there was not one, but TWO melons emitting a beam of light. Yalen possessed one, while Jemar held the other. Everyone else had normal melons in their arms, but the five of them ran home with an equal amount of urgency.

Hour 3

Yalen's mad dash for the finish line is interrupted when out of nowhere he begins to feel very nauseous. It's like there's a fly buzzing inside his ear. He momentarily loses his sense of balance and drops to one knee.

He looks up to find that he is being assailed by his friend Ayla and an unknown Yasoi. His heart wrenches momentarily when he realizes what he has to do, but he steels his mind for battle by reminding himself this is all just a friendly competition.

Ayla keeps her distance at first and lets the two boys lock horns while she supports from afar. Through illusion and internal chemical magic, Ashon tries to overwhelm Yalen's senses and force him to concede the fight. However, the young monk is a fairly capable chemical mage himself. After a brief confrontation, Yalen is able to overwhelm his opponent and put him into a magical slumber.

Without her friend to back her up Ayla is forced to fight solo, but she is more capable than she seems. Her sonic magic is not something Yalen is capable of fighting back against, and she practically dances circles around him. Despite his best efforts to rebuff her, he is eventually beaten.

After politely claiming his melon, Ayla collects Ashon and departs. When they are gone, he closes his eyes and searches with his mind for someone he knows is very close by. After all, it was part of her role. He runs over to a tree a short distance away and whistles, prompting Brandi to jump down with her melon still cradled in hand.

"Change of plans." Yalen told her before leaning to her ear and muttering something secretive. The Weggosi gal raised an eyebrow but shrugged and tossed the melon his way. As soon as he took possession of it the melon began emitting the telltale rod of light belonging to the Melon Supreme. Brandi ran off in the direction of Zeno Mozaru's house, leaving the priest to do his own thing. Rather than follow her lead he detoured south to take a longer route back home, hoping it would take him further away from the scrap happening nearby.

Yalen is able to make it back much of the way before he runs into the robed figure of a Black Rezaindian. "Hail, brother," says the tall, unusually pale man. "Unfortunately, I will be needing a look at that melon you're carrying. This is a competition, after all." He smiles regretfully. "But first, if I may bother you, I would like to have a word about a matter of great import to the church." A turquoise hundrian appears beside him, shapely beneath her ecclesiastical attire. "I promise that there is no deception on our part, brother dordian. We do not much care for the worldly matter of winning this competition, so long as we do not embarrass the holy see. There is a sickness in this school, however, and we would beg your help in rooting it out."

Hour 4

Yalen instinctively takes a step back at the sight of the agents from Covenant, then freezes in place. Something in his gut tells him that he can't hope to escape from here, much less win a battle against two prodigies of the Holy See. Not by himself. There was also something indescribably alien about the man that the boy could sense, but he could not explain it. Until the situation changes he decides to try and talk things out, but he does not let go of the glowing melon.

"Speak your piece brother. We both serve the church above all other matters. I trust in your integrity."

"Your trust is not misplaced, brother," the hundrian assures him. "I am called Sister Cadence. This is Brother Ash. None shall interfere with us."

There is something strange about Ash. Yalen has sensed it in others before, in passing, but this man screams it in a way that they do not. "We are here in search of two individuals, around you- our age, little discernible background, but likely rather tragic and otherwise inscrutable. Both with exceptionally high capacity numbers."

"We are also here," continued Cadence, bleeding anxiety, "in search of a lost artifact." She glanced about furtively. "I hesitate to even speak it, but it is a tome - an ancient one in which a demon and its dark secrets were sealed many years ago. It was being transported from Kerremand by way of Feska when disaster befell its ship near the mouth of Dami's Eye. The tome was stolen and now this foul magic may be loose."

"In the wrong hands," warned Ash, "it could prove catastrophic. Innocents will suffer."

"You wouldn't have noticed anything amiss?" Cadence entreated, "Anything suspicious?"

Yalen listened very carefully to Brother Ash. He wasn't a fool. It was easy to deduce that one of their targets was Jocasta. As his mind raced to process the situation, for a second it occurred to him they might be trying to investigate her past wrongdoings. It was a moral quandrary that he was not prepared to address with a couple of strangers, Holy See or not. Jocasta was his friend, and exposing her to any organization that showed an interest her would be a betrayal of their trust.

He didn't make it a habit of lying to people, but his heart rate and body temperature were already raised considerably by his physical exertions. Even if one of them was using the Gift to sense any tells they would be hard pressed to do so.

"There are many standouts present within the school. Surely you've encountered the man from Cubed? I don't know anyone personally who might fit your description. I fear I have no useful leads for you." Yalen shook his head regretfully.

"As for the book you seek, I cannot say I've heard of it." It was the truth. Carmillia had not revealed the book's existence to him. He was not aware of her secrets. "Perhaps you should try to secure a place in the Forked Tower. There are unusual relics on display in the prize pool." Yalen took a few steps toward his colleagues and held his melon out, waiting for them to respond. He had no intention of resisting.

Brother Ash sniffed the air for a moment in a very... unhuman manner. He and Cadence exchanged a glance. Then, the former smiled, and it was a bit too large. The latter clasped her hands understandingly. "We are sorry for any distress we may have caused you, Dordian. Please be on the lookout, though." She shook her head concernedly, glancing over her shoulder. "The people we have spoken about are terribly dangerous and subversive, wolves in sheep's clothing."

"I would hate for more innocents to have to die," added brother Ash, eyes on Yalen for a moment. He shook his head sadly after a long moment. "They have killed many times before and will do so again, when least expected." His fists clenched and unclenched.

"Now, shall we escort you back to you base?" offered Sister Cadence. "As my dear friend here mentioned earlier, we have little interest in winning... so long as we finish ahead of that team from Verrano," she grumbled. The smile was back after a moment. So was Ash's.

Yalen was hesitant to go along with these folks despite their common allegiance. Brother Ash's behavior was unnerving. Was everyone in the holy city this enigmatic? Despite his misgivings he knew it would look suspicious if he tried to avoid them now, so he had no choice but to return to base. Otherwise, they might do something much more forceful to get him to talk. Hopefully they would be satisfied with taking him to the front door and no further. Strangely they didn't seem that interested in the melon in his hands, but they did say they weren't here to win.

"Your kindness is appreciated friends. If you would." Yalen gave them a shallow bow and changed course to Zeno Mozaru's house, with his new escorts following from a polite distance. Yalen is promptly and kindly returned in working order to his base. Nobody nearby seems to want to interfere with him. It's... almost eerie. The Covenant members sniff around the perimeter of his base for a bit before leaving.

Hour 5

Yalen thanks the Covenant members for their assistance and rejoins the majority of his team that has elected to protect the base. He is grateful that, at least for the time being, he has managed to avoid a third party conflict. He looks down at the melon in his hand, the light slowly beginning to dim, and goes inside the house.

(I kinda lost track of what I was doing at this point)

[Ti]

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Event: Melon Derby | Location: Ersand'Enise

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Yalen. @pantothenic

There has never been time such as this before, where one should turn from foe into friend. They say conflict is the death of communication, where reason cannot be brought. Before her is a friend and a most reasonable boy, Yalen. Perhaps today is one where conflict can brought to an end.

With the Supreme Melon in hand, Yalen sneaks off by himself, avoiding the protection offered by others of his team. Ayla struck first against Yalen with a sonic attack, disorenitating and slowing down him to begin insightful discourse with him. Ashon, seizing the opportunity struck first against Yalen but missing. Yalen quickly swung around and he unleashed his skills upon the yasoi, catching him by surprirse. Yalen weaved and bobbed, overcoming the illusions by punching through them, and deflecting the internal chemistry, Ashon finds him quickly unable to keep up against him. With a one-two, the Yasoi was down.

Ayla was a significantly different challenge for Yalen to face, the girl danced around Yalen as he struck hesitant towards her. The chemical attacks struck dumbly as they washed over her, ebb-and-flowed as she clapped with her castanets. She moves gracefully as she danced, some how managing to duck and weave as part of the natural rhythem of the music. The castanets slapped against his ears, continuing to grow and increase in intensity and volume around him as he grew more disorientated with each passing moment. The crescendo comes to a stop as the castanets clap deafeningly against his ears, the blonde boy falling back into Ayla’s arms as she gently brings him to the ground and rests his head comfortably upon it. She smiles down towards him as he is still awake. “Rest a moment, and it will fade.” Brushing his hair till he stops struggling, whispering to settle him.

She uses the spare moment to wake Ashon up. “Send the signal, the Supreme Melon is ours!” Ayla takes the melon as it still glows brightly within her hands. Moving off with the groggy Ash trialing behind her as he uses his chemical magic to create a coloured cloud of smoke into the air.

The plot was all a ruse, for Ayla knew she did not have the Supreme Melon. What she did was whisper something else in the ear of her friend, one of hope and cooperation. Was it right of her to place trust in a good friend?

[Force and Fury]

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Oraff and Eshiran 𝅗𝅥 𝅘𝅥 𝅘𝅥𝅮 𝅘𝅥𝅯 𝅘𝅥𝅰

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For five hours, as Oraff took her part of the day, Eshiran - in truth - reigned supreme over Ersand'Enise. It was the annual Melon Derby, first event of the academy's famous Trials, and it played host to clashes of far greater impact and intensity than virtually anyone expected. The minds of people are queerly self-centered things: overestimating the self, scarce bothering to consider the impact of others independent of the challenge that they might pose. This was no ordinary cohort; that much was clear and, more than once, the Zenos and even the Arch-Zenos were forced to intervene. So, too, had the rules been changed, rendering moot hours of strategic planning done beforehand.

Youths from all five continents raced about the city, chasing down leads and, where something particularly valuable came into play, clashing over it. Before long, six had separated themselves from the pack. Where Zeno Born-on-Solstice's team - Lucky Seven - and their Skull & Crossbones allies fought cleverly and tenaciously for the terramelon and others, they ultimately came up short and had to make do with a sixth place finish. Zeno Luria Colloy's Team VOID, however, enjoyed more luck - and that is exactly what it was - along with their Huggy Bear allies from distant West Callanast, coming home with the firemelon and fifth place. A series of ferocious clashes in which faculty involvement was required and some backroom deals netted Zeno Fades-in-Moonlight's team Snaked and Afraid and their hegelan allies, Shortlisted, fourth place and the watermelon. Third, and the much-coveted terramelon went to the relentless exploration, melon growing, and various schemes of Zeno Sienna Afraval's squad and their Vossoriyan allies, Pravda Aeresvaktr, while second place fell to Zeno Hamir Zemana's group, who'd managed to secure both the thundermelon and the cloudmelon due to early and decisive action.

In the end, however, as with all other iterations of the storied event, somebody had to win. If it was not one team, then one alliance stood alone atop the podium. Team Gunboat Diplomats, of Zeno Zander Mozaru, and their allies, Blaze of Glory from Weggos, won not by virtue of sheer strength - which they also possessed a good deal of - but cleverness, creating false leads, building alliances, and defending their decoys as if they were real. A bitter last-second fright aside, nobody came close to figuring out their clever gambit of leaving the melon supreme hidden after touching it, creating false beams, and having Carmillia Carbonneau, whose capacity was just low enough not to trigger its effects, be the melon's carrier.

While counting and inspection was underway, students lingered, chatting. if there was some leftover bad blood, it was to be expected with so many people present who had known only victory so far in their young lives, often to the detriment of others. Then, as students gathered in the grand plaza in front of Balthazar Hall and the final standings were announced, the entire city - which appeared like nothing so much as a battleground by this juncture, began to clean and repair itself under the influence of thousands of mages' Gifts. For some, their performance was a cause for celebration. For others, lament.

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Final Standings

Final Standings

1. Mozaru & Blaze of Glory: 10575 - 50 points
2. Zemana & Vyshta's Favoured: 7120 - 40 points
3. Afraval & Pravda Æresvaktr: 6345 - 35 points
4. Luna & Shortlisted: 5100 - 30 points
5. Colloy & Huggy Bears: 3080 - 25 points
6. Solstice & Skull & Crossbones: 2450 - 20 points
7. The Sea People & Angels of the Pentad: 1480 - 20 points
8. Covenant & Good Guy Team: 1370 - 20 points
9. Waking Nightmare & Rising Dawn: 1143 - 20 points
10. Sectoxomactex & Xicallicoatl: 1061 - 20 points
11. Kedd & Sadan Æresvaktr: 1015 - 10 points
12. Coastal Crusaders & Beach Boys: 890 - 10 points
13. Cold Comrades & Big Scary Dragons: 878 - 10 points
14. Seoul Sistas & Dragon’s Wisdom: 850 - 10 points
15. Odd Girls Out & RASgardians: 798 - 10 points
16. Climax & The Woodsmen: 741 - 10 points
17. Aaaah! We’re First! & Under Where: 667 - 10 points
18. CREED & Belzaggic Lions: 602 - 10 points
19. Sand Vipers & Luun’ithan: 544 - 10 points
20. Flying Colours & Oriflamme: 509 - 10 points
21. Mushrooms & Death & Brandæbles: 452 - 10 points
22. Sad Vipers & Chemical Warfare: 418 - 10 points
23. Golden Hour & Dark Circle: 377 - 10 points
24. Firetails & Rezaindian Rhetoric: 324 - 10 points
25. CUBED: 305 - 10 points

103 Other teams finishing on 5 points or fewer. Please find the complete standings here.

Melons' Final Status

Firemelon: secured by Colloy’s group.
Thundermelon: secured by Zemana's group.
Terramelon: secured by Afraval's group.
Cloudmelon: secured by Zemana's group.
Watermelon: secured by Luna's group.

Melon Supreme: secured by Mozaru's group..

Dark Melons: 10/10 found, 0/10 used

Solstice's Group: 2 (Liars' Fountain, Jeweller’s)
Zemana's Group: 1 (VIP Box, Proving Grounds)
Luna's Group: 2 (parade street, merchant dorms green)
Afraval's Group: 3 (Cathedral Crypt, Arch of Benedict, Workman’s Courtyard)
Colloy's Group: 1 (Mallow's Nest, Arboretum)
The Sea People: 1 (Merry Brothers' Brewery)

Very Large Melons: 50/50 found

Melon Grenades: 100/100 found, 9/100 used

Large Melons: 473/500 found

Regular Melons: 19022/20500 found

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Tragic and Comic

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With the opening round of the competition complete, the race was on for dinner or at least snacks. Apprentice houses filled with feasting students as did inns and taverns. The city's bakeries, butchers, and food stands boasted long lines and animated conversations among those waiting. However, not all of these places were an oasis of calm. The popular student-run Zeno Bucks stand played witness to a fistfight between one of its proprietors, Zarina Al-Nader, and one of the academy's few yasoi students, Casii'fyret'alan, tensions between whom had been bubbling since their time as part of the mission to the San Agustin Refuge.

What took place afterwards was at once ugly, tragicomic, and ironic. As the two pounded each other, betting money was pilfered, tensions rose among the spectators, and a four-way species-based brawl erupted between humans, yasoi, hegelans, and eeaiko. By then, the two original combatants were sitting on the grass at the corner of the nearby arboretum, sharing a drink and a smoke, their feud laid to rest through the catharsis of simply being able to punch each other in the face.

Their rest was fleeting, however, as the Victendes auction started up shortly after, delayed until the evening due to the festivities. There, both local and visiting students bid sometimes-obscene sums on items both mundane and exotic until the final item, a strange music box with an unknown inscription, came up for grabs.

What started as an unusually competitive auction between rival students of great wealth in a game of one-upmanship morphed into something different and much darker as the bidding topped five thousand Magi. Never before had the reality of the looming war been brought home so clearly to students as it was in that moment as Evander Synesti, backed by the Doge of Revidia, and Ingrid Penderson, backed by agents of the Sovereign Pact, threw increasing sums of money at an item they knew little to nothing about. That it ended behind closed doors and with an attack by agents of an unknown entity served only to reinforce the palpable feeling of disquiet that prevailed.

Ingrid, Desmond, and Sven came away with the box and, once it became clear that it was not truly to be theirs and instead used by their governments as a means of pacifying and taming Monsigneus dragons for use in war, a rebellion of sorts was hatched. At Sven's urging, the students began gathering the kingly sum of Ỽ27,000 to pay the auctionhouse with so that they miht own the box outright. Before long, their hegelan allies were involved, as were Ismette and (with surprising enthusiasm) Benedetto. The aims of this 'Hourglass Order' yet remained nebulous, but all of its members agreed that the wrong set of people had the power and were all too eager to leave others holding the cheque for their decisions and fighting their wars.

During the darkest hours of the night, shadows fluttered across the open spaces of Ersand'Enise and lurked in the city's alleys and alcoves. Outside of the pubs and taverns, those late night oases of light, warmth, and revelry, secret correspondence and sums of clandestine money were exchanged, cloaked figures met in confidence, and the agents of the Traveler were once again active. The roundly ignored commons of the Workman's Quarter, who'd been forced to keep their heads down as the children of the rich and powerful had fought with deadly force over fruits the day before, rose early to light the fires in their hearths, clean their spaces and prepare their meagre wares for market, and dress up in the best of their humble clothing. They warmed up yesterday's food until it was safe to eat and set out, same as they did every day; same as they had for generations. As a slick coating of dewdrops clung to the city's myriad surfaces and the faint glow in the sky morphed into a hazy greyish predawn, this silent army flowed like blood through cholesterol-choked arteries to the townhomes, warehouses, and shops where they would spend their days at work. The night before had played witness to ample instances of drunken debauchery, but bricks had again reduced a half-dozen wealthy windows to crystalline splinters and two more powdered little lordlets had passed out in gutters and been relieved of their possessions. Seventy of the Century's hundred members were in evidence as the sun heaved itself over the horizon, a stern and solemn reminder of the force needed to hold peace and order apart from the clutching arms of chaos.

Bells tolled across the city to ring in 5:00 Shune and, by then, it was a keen, bright morning. The few competitors not already awake rolled out of their beds, shrugged off whatever hangovers or exhaustion they still felt, sometimes with the assistance of the Gift, and dressed themselves or had their servants do it. For last night's allies, farewells of varying fondness were given. They would meet again later as adversaries.

By the time that Shune gave way to Oraff, a vast crowd had gathered in the Grand Plaza and the air was abuzz with eager strategizing and prognostication. Hands wove their way through the air and voices rose in excitement. Once again, rules were announced, commendations handed out, and brunch served. Teams took care, this time, to linger close to potential allies and, when the three minutes for pairing were announced, they scarcely missed a beat. The tactical discussions reached a fever pitch. Warmup exercises were undertaken as others ate. Last moment trips to the privy were almost comically frequent. Some traced ideas on paper and others with the Gift. The second event was almost always the start of the separation between the elite teams and those who would fall by the wayside. It was crucial.

Next came the rule changes, announced with aplomb by the Zenith, in glowing form beneath the blustery blue sky. Huge, ethereal numbers appeared above the massive leaderboard by the fountain, counting down from five minutes, and a surge of energy was felt up on stage as time and space twisted and tore. Five swirling portals to distant locales yawned open and formerly coherent groups of ten fractured into pairs, some hesitating and debating to the bitter end. Nonetheless, eager, giddy lines formed before the great quintet and began to be ushered through. The two-hundred-fifty-six youths who emerged through each played witness to phenomenally different worlds.

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Through the Portals

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Those who stepped through the first found themselves on a large wooden raft, gently rocking upon a tranquil blue sea. Gulls bleated and wheeled under the late afternoon sun and, in the distance, rose the hazy shapes of islands and towering forests of balloon kelp. An otherworldly sight with their great rounded gas bladders, they swayed gently in a light breeze where they broke the surface, flocks of birds nesting upon them, spindly rope bridges tethering them to one another. Closer by were buoys made of gaily painted logs and ropes denoting the racecourse. Dozens, perhaps hundreds of canoes and small ships dotted the water's surface, packed full of the swarthy, high-cheekboned people of West Callanast. A few, opportunistically, weaved among them in maneuverable boats heavily laden with snacks and supplies, shouting repetitive slogans in singsong voices and doing a brisk trade. Eeaiko were everywhere, in and among the humans and off on their own. Some clung to the sides of the boats, chatting. Others floated on watercraft of their own, mostly awash. Still others swam or perched on rocky islets, their eyes on the competitors and some kind of shiny pearlescent currency eagerly changing hands.

The scene through the second portal was much in contrast to the first. A blazing late morning sun beat down upon a desolate dun sand desert. In the distance, beyond a veil of whipping sand that forced many of the new arrivals to shield their eyes, lay monolithic buttes and hoodoos. Vultures and small froabases circled on the rising thermals, casting rippling shadows upon the sun-beaten ground. Salty white lines were drawn into the distance, where the horizon disappeared into mirage, but the true focus lay closer to home, behind a thick chalky reddish line. Over two hundred halassa waited with varying degrees of patience and restraint, tethered to thick wooden posts that the lazy, wilful beasts could almost certainly uproot were they to bother trying. Some bucked and strained, a few snapping at others. Some ambled about on their short leashes, others rested, and a handful even slept. Handlers in desert garb hustled about the giant tortoises in a very unhurried way, jabbering rapidly in Torragonese or another strange tongue that sounded somewhat like Virangish yet was not. Their voices rose on the brisk wind and were shredded by it as they glanced back over their shoulders at the new arrivals. "You!" shouted one, "You come! You follow me and you ride halassa. Understand?"

The third portal brought with it a cold that was more than bracing. Students found themselves stepping through onto muddy grey gravel under a blustery grey sky. Up ahead lay deepening banks of snow and the blinding glimmer of the sun off of it, but that was not what drew their attention. Stout posts with threadbare banners marked out a starting line, and two lines of them stretched into the distance, onward and up-up-upward until they disappeared into the dark grey clouds around the summit of an unnaturally steep mountain. The sudden screech of a Snow Wyvern startled more than a few of the new arrivals as it circled overhead, as did the distant rumble of the Ildsjø caldera and its constant flow of lava. "Hah! No need to be scared, Greenlanders!" laughed a great big Eskandr, a grin peeking out from beneath his bushy blond beard. "Welcome to Eskand! The good one, that is! Come this way." He motioned for them to follow as thunder rumbled from the mountaintop and a ferocious gust of wind caused the colourful banners to strain at their posts and the students to shield themselves from the sharp, cold snow. A ragged but not-unenthusiastic cheer went up from the small bleachers set up nearby and the group was ushered toward their starting positions, where tall, leathery-skinned men and women on skis or snowshoes waited.

The fourth and penultimate portal proved as different from the others as night is from day - literally. Students found themselves standing on a beach under the light of five partial moons. Waves washed in and out in a steady, peaceful rhythm and torches burned into the night. Voices in conversation, barter, and laughter could be heard, and dozens of rural villagers were gathered around brightly-lit food, drink, and souvenir stands. A cheer went up as the competitors began to arrive, and the voices became excited, people in semi-silhouette leaning in, pointing, whispering, and gesticulating. Someone was going around and taking bets. A handful had brought drums and were making increasingly inebriated music with them, while a couple of children had to be pulled back by their elders. In the distance rose a subtropical rainforest, deep and tangled, with networks of tenuously torchlit paths snaking into its depths. Closer to the couple hundred youths was their guide. "Hallo, Sousern frienduhs! Walcome to Longwan! Come wiss me!" she enthused, motioning them onward. The drumming intensified. Some were ringing strange bells. Others danced with fire and burnt incense. "Come come! No worry, this is the biguh Autumn Festival. Good food! Yummy drinks!" A couple dozen children were already darting about between the new arrivals, handing them burlap sacks.

Finally, those who walked through the fifth portal walked not into some wilderness or near-wilderness but the heart of an immense city and, surely, save for the sole hegelan among them, it was like none they had ever seen. Taking their places in a sizable plaza, they found themselves within a vast underground cavern, its innards lit by blazing white fires and an intricate system of giant mirrors and crystals, as well as brilliant shafts of light that streamed through tunnels carved deep into the stone that separated this place from the world outside. On top of these, tiny gas and bioluminescent lanterns twinkled in the dimmer reaches. The ornate facade of a palace loomed before the students and, from beyond it, emanated a sweltering heat and the hint of a breeze. The place was alive with light and sound and scent, the noise constant: clanging hammers, bustling voices, clattering wagons and snapping fires. Their smoke hung about in a haze toward the roof of the cavern and some dissipated through the shafts above. It was the people who were most overwhelming, though. Thousands of them - hegelans all - surrounded the plaza from balconies, bridges, and rooftops, shouting, waving, and cheering. As the last of the competitors exited the portal, a cacophony of bells began to chime and a band began to play the moment that it ceased. "If yeh'll foollo me, ih'll be raigh thess way," shouted at least a dozen guides in relatively broken Avincian. "Welcom teh Hogh Munkhelad!"

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When the last of the students had settled in, signals were exchanged over vast distances and the wizened heads of a half-dozen Arch-Zenos nodded. The swirling holes in reality that had brought the students there winked out of existence. It was scarcely a minute later when new ones were formed, linking the disparate legs of the race. Over in the Rainbow Sea, under a sun that glared golden in the competitors' eyes, A stout man wearing a regal crown of feathers, silver, and precious stones raised his arms and let his body fill with magic. "Nswi... niizh... bezhik...Gagwejikazh!" He dropped them.

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Resources

Whatever you do, please read the first hider thoroughly. If you have read them and still have questions, feel free to ask a moderator for assistance. As this is a competitive event, failure to adhere to the specific posting rules for this cycle will result in immediate disqualification, without exception.

The Dragon: Rules, Opportunity, and Info

Resources

• All information on the race itself is available in this document.
• Allied team selections for this event can be found in this document.
• Profiles of all guest teams are located in this document.
• The leaderboard may be accessed through this page.

Posting Rules

• Two Posts:You will write two posts this round. The first will be a strategy post sent to me on here as a DM and the second will be your normal post summarizing any other actions over the previous evening, night, and morning, up to and including the race.
• Strategy Post: This is a DM sent to me on the forum (not on discord) of up to 300 words outlining your strategy for the race and that of your partnered NPC from your allied guest team. Think of it as a persuasive piece where you present a plan, leverage your character's strengths, and shore up their weaknesses to obtain your desired outcome. The start of this post should include a number from one to ten denoting how much effort you will put into searching for treasures.
• Normal Post: This is just your regular post. What did you get up to the evening and night before? How about this morning? Anything interesting happen during ally selection? How about upon arrival in the exotic locale where you'll be racing? Remember, this doesn't have to be long at all and it doesn't have to cover anything. heck, you can write a couple of short ones or have a back--and-forth with someone!
• Deadline:The deadline for Strategy posts is Wednesday, November 9, 10:00 PM GMT-4 (EST). Failure to post your strategy by this deadline will result in your character failing to finish their leg of the race and being ineligible for any treasures. However, all is not lost. In the event that one of your team members has not submitted their race strategy with 24 hours or less remaining before the deadline, another team member may submit a strategy on their behalf. The person whose stead that strategy is submitted in will be considered to have failed the leg of the race. However, their partnered NPC from the allied guest team may finish, allowing their team to progress.

Action Opportunities

Action Opportunities

Aside from your secret strategy DM, this is a very opportunity-rich posting cycle with many events to cover, such as:

• The conclusion of the Melon Derby and final standings;
• The interracial brawl by Zeno Bucks;
• The auction and its fallout;
• The formation of the Hourglass Order;
• Any jobs or side missions you may have picked up
• Anything that happened in the night;
• Events of the morning, goodbyes with allied teams;
• Gathering before the event and allied team selection;
• Arrival on location for your leg of the race;
• The start of the race!

Of course, you don't have to cover all of these. They're just suggestions to help get you thinking! Have fun with it; take that left turn at Albuquerque!

Side Missions and Part-Time Work: First Round

Side Missions and Part-Time Work

At one end of the Grand Plaza is the school's official noticeboard: a large corkboard under a shelter. There are numerous job listings as well as requests for assistance, many of which can pay quite handsomely. Beginning this cycle, students will be able to pick up part-time work and 'side missions' from this board. Once a side mission is complete, it will be replaced on the board with a new mission. Note that some of these are time sensitive and some are chains which lead to other potential missions. For those unable to join a chain mission right away, there will be catch-up opportunities available up to the third mission in the chain. Please find the listings below:

• Active Side Missions
• Active Part-Time Work
• Master List of all side missions and work

Roleplaying Nominations

Roleplaying Nominations

If the GM and mods are the head of a roleplaying community, then the players are its heart and the stories that they tell, the veins and arteries. In this post, the answers from @Ti's survey from last week are taken up and good roleplay, as recognized by the community, is commended. This is a pilot for something I'd like to do at the conclusion of each arc. Feedback is very welcome!

Melon Derby Nominations

Thank you all for taking part. A fun thing I found when roleplaying is recognising all the good things going on and celebrating this. I wanted to bring that to Sipenta. This is not a popularity contest, it is simply people pointing out “That was cool” and us celebrating this.

Good Roleplay

Nominated: Ayla, Carmillia, Dory, Evander, Jamboi. Manfred, Silas, Trypano, Zarina, Zarra

Highlight: Theme - True to Character
Usually I would pick up a player or two, and will come to this in a moment. What was a common theme throughout the nominations were cited examples of people being true to character which they enjoyed.
Two characters in particular were highlighted for this: Dory and Zarra
It was felt that both of these stuck to being true to their characters even though it worked against their team mechanically, and people thought that was pretty awesome they were willing to do this!

Good Gameplay

Nominated: Team Afraval, Team Mozaru, Team Zemana. Carmillia, Casii, Zarina

Highlight: That Team Mozaru Strategy
I think everyone highlighted Team Mozaru in their nominations and there is a good reason for this. I asked Team Mozaru for a run down of their strategy, and this is what they had to say.
“Plan hinged on Carmillia being too weak to hold the beacon.
When time froze, Carmillia hid the real melon.
Group arranged to make off with fake melons, with pre-arranged arcane casters making the special effects.
Everyone gets distracted by the fake melons.
When the time is right. Carmillia goes back for the real melon, and brings it back safely.”

Thank you to Team Mozaru, and their star Carmillia.

Special Recognition

Nominated: Foodie, Force and Fury, “Me”, Panto, Pirouette, Team Luna, Team Zemana.

Highlight: Force and Fury!
It seems people wanted to curry favour with our glorious overload! On a genuine note: Thank you for the hard work you have been putting into the roleplay as our beloved game and lore master.

Highlight: Pantothenic
Now this was chosen because this was a very special nomination. I would like to share a paraphrased version of it to you all.
“I nominate Pantothenic because of the way he made sure everyone he interacted with had fun, and provided them with opportunities. He did not try to be the main character, or went off on a solo adventure, trying to be the star of the show. All of Panto’s interactions were positive and supported other characters to further their plots.”

I for one feel really inspired about this feedback and makes me want to be a better roleplayer. Thank you Pantothenic for making such a positive experience and I definitely would love to see more of this.

Ending Note

Did you like the nominations? Want to see more of this in Sipenta, or have a few ideas on how to improve it? Let Ti know today.

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Let the Race Begin!

[YummyYummy]

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The Grand Plaza was bustling with folks of all walks of life in the morning before The Dragon. The large notice board didn’t just appeal to those craven for money or the usual suspects of Mudville, but also to the lordlings of Ersand’Enise who sought new experiences and opportunities to land the rare quest for a unique artefact. Many of the postings were relatively mundane with many offers for jobs that flew over the heads of the elite majority of the school, some others were simple tasks with varying levels of rewards. Only a handful offered what most dreamed about and were inevitably fought over.

There were, however, jobs that couldn’t simply be posted out in public. Even the boards in the questionable alleyways of the Workman’s Quarter did not advertise more than recruitment offers for ethically challenged small jobs. If one wanted to rake in the big bucks and experience life on the edge, they had to have connections or the will to put their nose in places few would willingly want to. The arrival of the Century made the opportunists from the underworld all the more wary of those who caught wind of their machinations, but the offers were nonetheless still there.

The Century wasn’t the only thing that had come to the Free City as of recently. The exotic and powerful individuals from across the world ushered in sinister interests that greedily rub their hands at such a golden opportunity to exact their agendas with limited obstructions.

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Velles 5th

Location: The Docks of Ersand’Enise
Day of the week: Taldes
Time: 5:00 HE
Characters: Carmillia @Animus, Desmond @Th3King0fChaos, Silas @Tackytaff, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch

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One such interest was represented by a notorious name among the Twin Continents’ underworld: Sinn’ulen’luunetar, commonly referred to as simply “Sinn”, was a well-known broker for affluent parties. Trust is a very difficult and expensive thing to gain in this line of work, and Sinn is one of few that had earned it with his credibility never being questioned in the twenty-odd years he had been operating. What exactly he was looking for was unknown - dissemination of information was not a thing among these people - but the select few given a rendez-vous through their own means were given “600 Magi” and the possibility for much more with the promise of no blood needing to be spilt.

Ultimately, four were vetted by one of Sinn’s envoys and provided with a location and time: The Docks, “The Birch”, 5 Eshiran. It would be dark by then, with a convenient few patrols. The ship baptised “The Birch” was an old Caravel ship parked in one of the end rows with access made easy for any intruder who would care enough to board it. Upon setting foot onto the creaking floorboards of the deck, the four interlopers who had been seduced by either the compensation or the mystery of the meeting would be greeted by the infamous broker himself.

”We will keep this brief,” Sinn’ulen’luunetar’s deep, masculine voice beckoned for their attention before he spat the jamb’ysp he had been chewing, ”or the Century will find you with me.” they had a lot to lose if they were found associated with such a man. He was sitting on the stairs leading to the quarterdeck and seized the brown, leather bag by his feet. The boat was poorly illuminated, which made his Yasoi features difficult to distinguish until he got closer. Clearly, he wasn’t a Constantian by his features, and yet he spoke in perfect Avincian, ”All you need is here.” he set the bag onto a convenient barrel that was tied to the mast. A general glance was given to the four teens, with Silas warranting a squint and further scrutiny. He didn’t say anything.

Sinn then pulled a vial from one of his pouches and made sure the group got a good look. Beyond simply being glass, it had a very specific mark on it. A learned Blood mage would recognise it as the fruit of forbidden magic, and by the shape of it, likely served to preserve whatever was contained inside, ”One drop of blood”, he traded the vial for more jamb’ysp, ”or five hairs in these vials. That is the minimum expected.” Inside the bags would be another container with six of these vials, a pair of peculiar leather gloves and a simple envelope.

”All you need to know,” he paused to chew, ”is in there. Play us, and we will know. And so will they.” not once did he smile or raise his voice. The man kept himself unreadable and level-headed. There was no desire to drag this encounter with children.

The students were dismissed barely two minutes after stepping into the boat without being given an opportunity to speak, lest they be shut down by the broker. Once they opened the envelope, they found a folded parchment with only a sketch of a face and a phrase written below it:

The blood of the Lamb, or the Wolf’s pelt.

Action Opportunities

You are now involved in a very high-risk mission. You will get your chance to interact with Sinn as a reward for completing this quest. Brother Wolf has been known to patrol the following locations:
-The Auction House
-The Merchant Dormitories
-The Workman Quarter
You can choose to look for him and employ whatever strategy you wish in order to get your demanded quota. Feel free to employ whatever comes to mind, however be warned that he is an absurdly powerful foe and force isn’t always the answer. Or maybe it is!

It is also known that Team Covenant currently resides in the Grand Cathedral, however further investigation is necessary to know where Brother Wolf/Lamb sleeps.

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Velles 5th

Location: Distillery in Crafters’ Quarters - Ersand’Enise
Day of the week: Taldes
Time: 4:30 HE
Characters: Abdel Saqqaf Aziz, Evander @RezonanceV, Khaliun, Leander @Creative Chaos, Leon @Animus, Ymiico @Salsa Verde, Yuliya @Suicharte

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On the other side of the face of illegality lurked the most fickle and questionable types that desperately sought out manpower to exact their goals. The Burning Order was not going to benefit from using its name for publicity, even among thugs. It also didn’t have the monetary means to get prize candidates - or at least it pretended that it was the case - leaving space for only those that had a good reason to go after a Sanguinaire. Or the morbidly curious. It was their funeral.

Khaliun was one such person that knew of the Sanguinaire, of the Burning Order and how to deal with them. Naturally, if any bloodsucker hunting were to occur, she would be one of the first to know, and so would Yuliya be informed as well. It wasn’t to say that rumours didn’t spread, as the young but valiant Abdel Saqqaf Aziz of Waking Nightmare made his recent close encounter with such a beast known to the authorities and those around him. It would come to no surprise that he too would attend this wild hunt.

All those that entertained the rumour of a Sanguinaire hunt would eventually know of the meeting spot: A distillery in the Crafters’ Quarters at 4:30 HE. The instigators of this buzz were late, taking at least an hour to attend their supposed “event”, ”لماذا هم بطيئون جدا؟” (What’s taking them?) groaned a restless Abdel, eager to deliver Vashdal’s justice to the monster he had encountered before whilst obliviously glancing toward Yuliya from time to time. A few others had gathered, a couple not even from the school, and waited. Some eventually left, thinking it all a hoax, but eventually their wait would be rewarded.

Two men, both above average in height and wearing matching dark cloaks with their hoods lowered. Their rifles were also very easy to notice on their backs, with the darker skinned one also carrying a longsword on his hip. ”Pardon me, mein Freunde!" an extremely Kerremand man with blonde hair and ginger stubble jovially greeted the group of people in the establishment, ”Precautions, precautions. Can’t have enough, ya?” he beamed toward them all and exaggerated a shrug. ”Yes, thank you for waiting,” this man’s accent wasn’t as thick as the Kerreman’s, but a fine ear could pinpoint an accent from Sakenga, ”what you have heard is true: A Sanguinaire is among us. To ensure the safety of every man, woman and child in the Twin Continents, the Burning Order has, is and will investigate all information on these creatures and cull them.” this one didn’t lack any enthusiasm, but the humour was absent and his posture was stiffer than his laid back partner.

”You may call me Lissanon, and I’ll be happy to answer your questions.” he closed his hands before his abdomen and gave a general glance to all those that had decided to stay, ”Und Ich bin Viktor. Pleasure! I will be joining the hunt with you.” his pearly not-so-whites were flashed to the public. In general, they would explain the basics of a Sanguinaire, their lust for blood and how they “assimilated” power, albeit in somewhat vague terms. Certainly not enough to prepare them for what was to come.

”Если то, что вы сказали, правда, (If what you said is accurate,”) spoke Khaliun as she leaned toward Yuliya with the softest of tones her naturally deep voice could muster, ”это может быть истинным или даже высоким. (it may be a true, or even a high.)” the Tethered gave the same passing look Lissanon had given to the group, ”Если это так, используйте их в качестве корма. Не рискуйте разоблачением. (If that is the case, use them as fodder. Do not risk exposure.)” light steam escaped from the shadows brought by her hood, ”Эти двое не знают, с чем имеют дело. (These two do not know what they are dealing with.)”

---

5:30 HE

Finally, they were let out, with the simple instruction to patrol the night with forged Lamplighter identification as to bypass curfew. The Century didn’t help, but the lack of direct affiliation to the Order made things easier. Viktor led the hunt, often gathering a little congregation before spreading out.

”Help! I found someone!” Abdel called out, concerned for the recently injured teen girl over the perpetrator. She had been bitten with the telltale signs of a beginner Sanguinaire: Sloppy, visible markings and leaving the victim in the middle of the street in the Workman Quarter near the Queensgate. ”Ya, das a Sanguinaire attack. I have seen this each time.” he tended to the girl’s superficial wound, ”Get her somewhere safe, ya?” he nodded at one of the volunteers to carry the girl.

”Another one, further east.” muttered Khaliun in Avincian, which both Yuliya and Abdel could hear at the very least. Abdel furiously jetted himself with the help of his powerful arcane magic until he found the next victim, an elderly citizen with no real mana-value, ”... это не нормально.” (This isn’t normal.) and again, another hunter called out an unconscious individual, this time a student with a RAS any Sanguinaire would be attracted to, ”This monster must be stopped! فاشدال يحفظهم جميعا بأمان! وتعطيني القوة! (Vashdal keep them safe! Give me Strength!)” Abdel took to the air, only to notice the same pattern Khaliun had.

”This is trap.” remarked Khaliun as she reached out to keep Yuliya back, far less concerned with what the others would do, ”Don’t rush. Don’t overwhelm prey. It will run if it feels in danger.” and then she let go once she had imparted her wisdom, taking to higher altitude too and shadowed her own Sanguinaire.

The body count didn’t climb until the hunters would inevitably find a trail of blood leading into the Proving Grounds. A gate was left conspicuously opened with torches burning strong and ambers flicking about within the tunnels that led to the colosseum itself.

”It’s there.”

Action Opportunities

You are on the Sanguinaire’s trail, although it seems it WANTS to be found. Feel free to seize this chance or branch off to find other clues if this is just too spooky for you.
How you approach this is crucial. Khaliun has hinted that bullrushing with overwhelming force is a great way to get the target to flee, and it is FAST.
You are expected to kill this thing to get the reward. Be ready for a very bloody fight if you’re going through with this. Abdel, Viktor and Khaliun will be assisting.

Deadlines

Posts are due Sunday, November 13, however should I get the posts earlier, we can begin the next part of the mission earlier! In both cases, they will likely take place on Discord whether for fights or interactions.
For this cycle I expect regular posting (you may collab) to explain how your character got into this, what they do during this introduction (if they have questions in High Stakes I’ll have Lissanon answer them live if needed) and what they’re going to do from now on.
If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me!

[Ti]

Ashon'amar'loiyang

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Event: After the Melon Derby | Location: Ersand'Enise

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Tyrel. @force and fury

Ashon had continued in his search for the one known as the reincarnation of Vyshta after the Melon Derby. He never suspected that he would come across her so easily and early, but this academy does seem to have a mysterious aura around it denoting the way destiny shapes itself here. With a sense for temporal magic and the lack of Yasoi normally in residence here, it wasn’t too difficult to narrow his search for the one known as Tyrel from Tarlon. A somewhat unpromising revelation given what he knew about the avatar’s supposed destiny.

After coming across the group of Vyshta’s Favoured, he perched upon one of the rooftops as he looked down towards them. It would be a lie to say he had to expertly deduce who it was, using his cunning and intelligence, as there was only one girl missing a leg, but trying to approach a delicate subject alone would be another challenge given that their Tarlonese brethren tended not to be left alone. He shrugs, he can only come towards this one directly as he drops down upon the street not far from their position, brushing himself down as he approaches.

“Oira, I have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Vyshta and her Favoured.'” His brazen confidence is hiding the social awkwardness of a stranger strolling up to the group, though with the games going on, this factor is significantly reduced than normal.

One of these. Tyrel schooled her features into a dignified mask as the stranger approached. Constantian yasoi. Maybe a junkie? She presented a light smile. “Well, it looks like your waiting has paid off, elar.” She gripped her crutch-canes a little tighter, ready for something unpredictable, but he didn’t give off an outright dangerous vibe.

Ashon clapped his hands together as he gave a giant smile, looking upon the girl and her companions. “Your hair is not as red as I thought it would be… but it is not far”, he moves to examine the girl in front of her, eyeing her appearance more clearly, nodding, umming and ahhing. He has a moment of self-awareness as he resumes a more natural stance. “It seems my excitement got the better of me like a mouse scurrying after a piece of cheese. My fancy name is Ashon'amar'loiyang though known more commonly as Jamboi.” He offers his hand out towards the girl, giving a big smile to Chad who he already pegged out to be a protective type. Offering a wave to the other companions too. Moments like this would be handy to have another pair of hands to do these greetings.

A stalker? Tyrel came to a stop out of necessity, freeing her right hand from her crutch and going to rest her stump on the grip out of habit. She thought better. You only do that if you plan on sticking around.. She let it slide back off and shook his hand, still half–moving, “Tyrel’yrash’dichora. This is my cousin Miret’thilan, my -” Hmm, actually, let’s fuck with him a bit. “-loyal followers Velani’ashen and Ashon’dacuul, and my luush’elar, Chad’amis’yida. It is so nice to meet one of my faithful.”

Ashon shakes his head as he looks towards Chad, a look as if to suggest the poor man was on his deathbed. He snaps out of it a moment, as he smiles widely once again. “I am one of Vyshta’s Chosen, so you can imagine the excitement like a bee during Dorrad when encountering her potential avatar. The old seer in Hypari had foretold that I shall encounter her true avatar, and a prophecy about ‘hey, you’re not gonna die’ ! or something like that.” He stepped back a moment as he examined the look on their faces, hopefully encouraging some good news and positive vibes. “It was mentioned about the hair, but how reliable a blind timewalker is in that department leaves room for questioning the specific details.”

Tyrel cocked her head to one side. He was some kind of devotee of the goddess. That had to be it. Not a creeper, just… a really weird superfan. “That is um… comforting to know,” Tyrel replied. In truth, her supposed fate hovered over her like a sword on a string. She would either have to refuse to ascend or die by twenty-five. Eight more years. Only eight! Just the thought screwed her insides up tight. She’d lost her leg to hungervine in her sixth year and started to get her Gift in her ninth. When it proved prodigious, the grey hairs at the temple had come sniffing around, asking her to perform feats of magic and feats of fortune. A high capacity, a missing limb, and some improbably lucky card flips had been enough to declare her the leading candidate and put an end to any hope of a normal life. She’d have liked to believe…what was his name? Ashon? but this was far from the first time some bright–eyed believer had run up to her bearing joyous tidings of her deliverance. “I truly hope so, friend.”

That was when a second new person butted into her life: very talkative, very human, very one-legged, and very… chaotic. “I’m so sorry to just waylay you,” she called, the second person in about as many minutes to just rush up to Tyrel uninvited. “And I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I couldn’t help but notice your crutches. They’re… a totally different design than mine.” She came to a stop and blinked, a mirror image of the vessel. After a second had passed, the auburn-haired girl grinned sheepishly and held out her hand, paying Ashon no particular notice, perhaps assuming he was part of her group. “Penny Pellegrin - sorry - of Perrence.”

“It is… nice to meet you Penny’pellegrin’sorry.” Tyrel’s eyes flicked between the two new arrivals.

Ashon has a moment of self-awareness as he shrugs his shoulders, head tilting to the side as face is expressive in self-condemnation of his own actions. “I love like a horses to carrots with intentionally doing terrible pick-up lines. That one slipped by me. My sincerity and spirituality is defeated by the humble one-liner.” He claps his hand upon Chad's shoulder, for a quick sidebar “You're doing the Goddess's work, elar.” He takes some nuts from his pocket as he munched upon them, saved by the timely arrival of Auburn haired girl.

Ashon takes Penny's hanging hand and shakes it. “Call me Jamboi, Penny'Perrence'Pellegrin, you are rescuing me from making a monkey of myself.” the red-head beaming from yasoi pun, and somewhat correcting the name confusion as he sizes up the yanii. “That was kind of the tar I was thinking of. If you were Yasoi, may have pegged you as the one. Though speaking of pegs…”, casually redirects the conversation back to the subject at hand.

Penny had offered her hand to her fellow amputee, but this… madlad had just swooped in and intercepted it. With a snort of mirth, she decided to honour the gesture. “If this is a rescue, Jammy, you’re doing a bang-up job leaping out of my lifeboat.” She released his hand. “And it’s just Penny, thank you, or Penny Pellegrin if you’re feeling extra formal. I’m all of one-sixteenth yasoi.”

“Yes, well, anyhow,” Tyrel interjected awkwardly. “Nice to see a fellow…tarsii’ciil.” She forced a smile. “Maybe we can find each other after the game - shouldn’t be too hard. As for you, Loiyang, it was… interesting. Perhaps we shall uh… meet again.” With that, she turned ninety degrees on her heel, her team surrounded her, and she walked off.

Without even glancing Ashon’s way, Penny shot an arm out to block him from trying to pursue his fellow yasoi. Her eyes slid over in his direction. “Thanks a million, monkey boy,” she grumbled. “I wanted to try those things.” She took a couple of steps back, letting out a sigh.

There was a smash. A heavy tile slid off of the roof and crashed to the ground right where the Perrenchwoman had been standing mere moments earlier and where she would have remained had not Tyrel left. Penny yelped and jumped back, grabbing ‘Jammy’ as she did so. “Putain! Ça serait tombé sur moi!” She shook her head. “I-I mean, it almost fell on me.”

Ashon wasn't going to pursue them, glancing down at the arm preventing him from following, and smirking widely in return at the comment, “it was the sixteenth Yasoi bit, that was as the Perrench say, Pièce de résistance.”, his further discussion rudely interrupted as the roof tile smashed upon the floor.

He was holding the Perrenchwoman in his arms as she instinctively grabbed upon him. He gently returned the gesture as his arms wrapped around her in a protective manner as he examined the roof edge, pondered foul play for a flicker of a moment returning his mind to the present. He started speaking softly towards her, “It should be safe now, but let's move to where there is only the sky. The arboretum?” An attempt to reassure her and smoothly avoid startling her further with their unexpected closeness.

“Ah, ahem…yes.” Penny separated herself from him and brushed herself off out of habit. Truth be told, she had little idea how to behave around boys and had seen not so much as a single yasoi in person before coming to this school. “So, you’re not actually part of her group, huh? You a student around here?”

Ashon copied the gesture by lightly brushing himself down with no real effort. “She took the effort to actually remember my full name, either that is good news, or really bad, kicking over the hornet nest bad. Ashon'amar'loiyang if you wanted, but 'Jammy' is good, I like it." He takes a moment to clarify, “Only wanted to see the reincarnation of the goddess in person. Goddess to be. Similar to your Reshta”. He takes out some nuts from his pocket, offering to Penny, then eating as a snack. “That's me, still trying to get used to how flat this city is, like one of those crepes they serve. Hypari has these big trees where you can swing between them for miles.”

They were walking now, and Penny politely declined the nuts, but she softened it with a smile. “Sounds like you’re just as lost as I am, Jammy,” she replied. “I don’t know a whole awful lot about the treescapes of yasoi lands except what I’ve read in books and what my grandmother used to tell me when I was small. She lived with her Jath’nan during dorrads. But that’s because, honestly, I don’t know a whole lot about anything in the real world. Sometimes, I feel like a two dimensional girl in a three dimensional place.” She snorted mirthfully and shrugged. “Maybe, between us, we can find some happy middle ground.”

“So the one sixteenth thing is true? I thought that was your natural flair for humour.", Ashon gives a pleasantly surprised smile, “Only thing I'll say is the only books worth reading are the ones that involve Talit'yrash'osmax, now she was a lelan. My jath'nan liked to boast that she shook her hand once, and believed it when I was a child, but I doubt she was that old. I think it is one of the privileges with age, they can make everything up and no one alive to refute them”.

If this entire episode was unexpected, then at least it was not entirely unwelcome, Penny supposed. “Talit was my hero as a child,” she admitted, “For… obvious reasons, but who can really say what’s truth and fiction about historical figures.” She grinned ruefully. “Only our grandparents.”

After continuing to walk, with lack of further roofline incidents, the conversation seemed to have grown deeper. “World is all about perspective. The good thing about being up in the tree is that you can observe everything from above. No real privacy but you see how people interact and behave, even when they think others are not watching. No real secrets between us Yasoi. Even when we wish for them." He mentally recalls how a certain fellow yasoi student really needs to keep the door closed. “So let's get you on some rooftops and trees, and you can… I guess, confine me within one of these buildings you yaniis love for a while?" He scratches his head at how unappealing that sounds. “... what about instead, we try a field, preferably at least one tree, and we take some food."

“Sooo… a pic-a-nic?” Penny questioned, half-skipping and twisting to smile up at him.

He clicks his fingers, “There is a Yanii custom for such a thing? Sounds great like a morning bird song. Let’s go on a pic-a-nic together.” He beams widely towards the girl as he looks down towards her.

She spun on her heel, hands clasped behind her back, and leaned forward playfully on her tiptoes. “But dear Jammy,” she teased, “you don’t even have a pic-a-nic basket. If you want to take a girl out for a pic-a-nic, the basket is positively a must.” She winked, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

Jamboi made a mental note of the ritual item, “I may know the perfect person to help out, they look like the kind who may keep an abundance of pic-a-nic baskets.” He gave a wink in return and bent his knees to teasingly bring himself down to her level as he observed her dancing upon her tip-toes. “Bigger the basket, the better right? Will have to fetch a large one for us.”

Penny groaned a little. “At least we won’t need to bring the ham,” she remarked, smirking. “Already got a king-sized one.” She let herself back down onto the flat of her foot. “Anyhow, maybe as the sun sets, by the main gazebo in the arboretum but uhh… as far as possible from that hateful goose, hmm?”

He gave a laugh and a pfft at the mention of the goose, “Don’t worry, we’re the best of friends. Emptied its nest of those melons this morning.” He gave a sly smile as he recognises he probably made the situation significantly worse. “but let’s do this pic-a-nic thing, looking forward to it. Other than bringing the ham, anything else as part of the tradition?”, he continues to look towards her with that goofy smile. After the stories he has heard, he imagined an eventful conversation and storytelling ahead.

“Bring lemonade,” Penelope replied sweetly, “And yourself.” She turned and began walking. “I’m looking forward to it, monkey boy!”

---

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[Ti]

Ashon'amar'loiyang

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Event:During the Melon Derby | Location: Ersand'Enise

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Squeezing upon a nice set of Melons, Jamboi added the latest into his collection. With the columns of light in the sky overshadowing his team’s base, he can only imagine the kind of blood bath awaiting him in that direction. He could risk trying to sneak past them bringing his efforts to naught, or use the moment to kill some time.

It is only natural in this situation that some distant rogue temporal activity in the opposite direction attracts his attention. To join the screaming masses as they fight tooth and claw for melons, or taking a little detour? Detour it is.

It wasn’t in the rules that the students could leave the city at any point, it was simply automatically assumed that such an action would be pointless due to the lack of melons making it a terrible idea. It also means there are no dragon riders, no murder penguins, or avatars of the gods summoning the Grand Demons themselves. In fact, it struck him that this indeed a brilliant idea, one that the yanii’s in their little boxes could never dream of, dubbing it as Outside of the Box thinking, a natural occurrence for Yasoi who spend more time in trees and open skies than sad buildings.

He runs towards the edge and like a mad lad flips from it into the open sky, as he pulls back his shirt, using it to glide towards his destination. Using his nose sniff out the trail of temporal magic, with a good old-fashioned lick of his thumb to tell its direction as he attempts to pinpoint the location.

Jamboi eventually finds himself standing outside a large building. It was obscured from those around it, with its only access leading off from a back alley. It hosts a closed inner courtyard. What is most disturbing is the disgusting reek of blood magic permeating the air. The miasma was that thick, he could probably cut it with a blade.

You only live once, or for some in special cases, you can live that one life many times over. Jamboi decided to investigate the Blood Magic Complex of Mudsville. He takes a run and a jump, easily climbing along the vertical wall of the complex as he tries to peer through any windows or blinds to have a better understanding of the place. Hopefully someone carelessly left something unfastened to allow him to slip inside if opportunity allowed.

It wasn’t long when he was peering inside that he felt the inside peering back at him, or in this particular case, the tall pale man in crimson robes standing behind him in the air. He gives a primal shiver as his amygdala responds a little too well to the creepy vibes.

“Nice place you got here, it would be a shame if it happened to be full of melons ripe for the picking.” He scratches the back of his head as offers up the goofy smile. He can feel those eyes burning the back of his head almost literally as the man peers towards him. Honesty is usually the best way out of any awkward troubling situations. He shrugs his shoulders a little, “Only need a few if so.”

The man smiles. That damned smile.
"Somebody I know has entrusted me with one."

He turns to look towards him, tilting his head in a most curious questioning manner, "Which one?"

"Careful," the man suggests. "You might get burned for showing too much interest."

Jamboi scratches his chin a moment, "So… the firemelon? I do like the cut of your jib.", he clicks his fingers towards him, before giving a shrug. "I was hoping for a stack of those 100's or a dark melon or two though."

"You would be stumbling about in the dark one hundred percent if that were your goal. There remains yet one of the latter within city grounds, though.”

"Eh, not entirely true. I had hoped whoever gave you that melon gave you some more, like squirrels with nuts. I don't like people taking advantage of the spirit of the game. So I wanted to prove a point by taking a melon or two of theirs for my own collection", he looks towards the gentleman. "If it is only that one, it becomes somewhat hard to prove that point.” He tries to take a better measure of the man. ”Since you are looking after it, They should have paid you very well right? Clearly you are getting a lot for it, no? or were they a little cheap with you". Money, favours, yanii tend to deal a lot in materialistic terms. "How about we both make a point together?"

"I do not ask for payment from friends, yasoi. We help each other as needed."

Jamboi waves his hand dismissively, so it wasn’t material gain after all. Let’s see if he is a principled person. "It is not really a friendship if they use you. There is helping, and then there is helping.".

He moves so he is standing upright upon the wall as if it was the ground, looking up towards him. “See, you look like a real strong guy. I don't stand a chance, so I am not going to try.” A sprinkle of flattery. ”So level with me. A bunch of kids during a test are asking you to hold a melon for them in a children's game. Isn't that beneath your worth?” Make him question the assumption. ”What I am going to propose will be in both our interests. You keep your side of the deal with your friends, and you also get to make a statement, a point, that they only succeeded because they relied on you. They need to take you seriously and your friendship more seriously. I do, and what, it has been only a couple of minutes."

"You seem to care very much that I am not being used," the man replied. "I should hope you would care this much about others." He reached out and the entire wall disassembled itself. "Join me, and let us speak frankly." He motioned for the youth to follow.

Jamboi just watches as the ground next to him, no, the wall, just disappears. He drops down into the hole, as he seems to right himself for a perfect landing upon the floor. ”Those are use others are a particularly favourite target of mine.” He gives the man a wink, before making a mental note of the exits. ”No monkey business, straight to it.”.

He brushes himself down to make himself appear more presentable, even fastening a couple of the buttons on his shirt. He lifts his hand as he raises his finger, ”I don’t want your melon…” he raises his second finger, ”I don't like you have it either.”. He lowers his hand as he further clarifies, ”This is a test on their ability to be able to protect it, not yours. Frankly, it is cheating, dishonourable, and simply not fair play… it is incredibly lazy and ultimately, boring.” He waves his hand, ”I know they’re your friends, but you know it is true.” He outlines the facts as they are before turning for his proposal.

”I want to make a point. A simple one. I want to leave a mark upon the melon so it is unmistakable that they failed in their task. Nothing that would ruin it, just simply a message that if they want to protect something precious, they need to do it themselves and not take their security for granted.” He pinches his fingers to symbolise them feeling small. ”I want them to feel vulnerable for that split second, like a snail without its shell, crushing that urge to become complacent. This time it is the Melon, but what if it comes to something truly important and valued, simply sacrifice it in the name of absolving themselves of responsibility for it?”

He does give a man a once over as he considers the age difference, ”I do think you are looking a bit older and wiser for simply being a friend, I can imagine you being a mentor or perhaps an elder they trust. Isn’t it the goal to raise the young’uns become greater than ourselves?”

"From my experience, there is no such thing as fair play," the man says tiredly. A firemelon seems to materialise in his hand from thin air. "I am giving you something for your quixotic quest and you are not my friend. I do this because someday you will learn who I am and I trust that you will remember our encounter. Make your mark."
There is no warning or threat.

Jamboi gives him the biggest grinning smile towards the man as he witnesses the melon before him. For being a very dangerous blood mage who could crush him like a bug and get away with it, he does have a somewhat appreciable side to him.

He is about to approach the melon then he pauses, a blush appearing upon his cheek, speaking sheepishly. ”Going to be a little embarrassing. Didn’t expect there to be company when I did this part of the plan.” He moves towards the melon using his finger like a quill, as he starts to doodle and draw upon the melon. The man wouldn’t be able to tell just yet, but as Jamboi starts to create what appears to be red-spines coming from the top of it, it doesn’t take long for him to realise. With a lick of his thumb to give the finishing touches with the yasoi tattoos, he has successfully recreated Jamboi the Firemelon, with trademark wild red hair and a big grin.

Jamboi tips his head towards the man, as he brings up the ‘remember me’. ”It is going to be likewise, with the whole remembering thing. You will forever remember the encounter with the great Jamboi, the Monkey King!” He makes a break for the exit, swinging towards it in that monkeyish manner. ”Now not to overstay my welcome, I bid thee farewell!” dropping from the hole in the wall.

The crimson-robed man lets out a snort of mirth and the melon disappears once more.

After successfully surviving near impossible odds and succeeding in his mission, Jamboi puts that ‘out of the box’ thinking into practice as he starts to make his way around the outskirts of the city to make his way back to the Zeno house in relative peace. By hopping between the rooftops, he comes in through the open window, mellon’s in tow, to cash them all safely for his team.

However...

That was not the end of the tale...

"Justice," said the grandmaster Blood Blood Mage, holding both Jocasta and Benedetto in the air, bound by magic, "Would be giving this to neither of you. You are disappointments."

The Firemelon materialised in one of his hands. "I will be delivering this where it truly belongs."

He winked out of existence and reappeared...

Jamboi scored the Fire Melon for Team VOID.

---

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[Th3King0fChaos]

Velles 5th

Location: The Proving Grounds of Ersand’Enise
Day of the week: Taldes
Time: 5:32 HO
Characters: Nazih @Ziegenkonig, Oksana @Ti, and Casii @Pirouette

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Nobles, Commoners, Merchants, and Artisans, no matter the walks of life, no matter what rung of the ladder of life you are on, one thing is for certain, in the ring all men are equal. Yet those outside the ring are not, they neither follow those rules nor care for them. They will deal in underhanded dealings, those unable to fight will find a man who can to gain money and do dirty bids. Some will bet on their own fighters to lose, and sometimes even have their fighter lose. Dirty money passes between blackened hands, hidden motives shifting and controlling the ring of fighter, and even now silver tongues and evil deeds will try and make a move and shake the known fact that within the ring: 'All Men are Equal'.

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Standing outside the Proving Grounds where roaring cheers and be heard, there stands a slightly taller man with a hefty build, a large coat and shirt of elaborate colors, with a thick mustache that attaches to his sideburns that goes up to a balding head. He seems to be frustrated and slightly panicked as he pats his forehead with a handkerchief as he huffs and sighs before he takes a toke from his pipe and lets out a sigh was the smoke flows out. He seemed to be in talking to the many people around him who seem to be trying to get his attention yet he seems all but unable to hear them as he gave them no mind. Yet his attention was drawn to a smaller man who was being followed by multiple other individuals, each of whom coming from different walks of life however they all were reached out to for different reasons. Some were seen to have been in the proving grounds a number of times should have some knowledge of some of the more regulars and odd ones in the area, others because of their connections that might make them good for assisting with this troubling buisness, and a select few are here for in case that they fail.

"Ah, thank goodness! You've came! It seems a fewer amount than I expected…"

The man looked to the those who are now standing in front of him, 4 people who have accepted the request from different sources and each of which who come from different walks of life. The larger man shook his head as he said, "Ah, where are my manners? I am Rodrick Von Dyper". As he took a light dip of his head, he seemed to have attempted a bow if he was less 'wealthy', besides that, he brought his head back up as he then continued, "I am most thankful of your showing up. As you know I am in needing of assistance, the Guard and Century had neither believed nor cared of this so I had to look towards other means".

He spoke with a huff towards the end as if he was being worked up by just the thought of the treatment he was given. "Even when I sent them the anonymous letter I received, all they told me was not to send them scribblings. Scribblings! Bah, they obviously don't know how to read if they thought of it as such things. Either way, that is why I called you here today. I received a letter that told me that one of the other groups here today will be attempting to 'take out' my fighter, Jorge". The man took a sigh and then a breath as he seemed to have been talking too long before he recomposed himself before he continues. "So now I brought you 4 here to look into the other competitors and deduce which of them will be trying to sabotage my fighter and then stop said sabotage".

As once the man finishes his last word almost on cue a giant beast of a man lightly taps on the man's shoulder. As Rodrick turns he goes and looks up at the man as the full size of the man is now fully seen. The man easily stands head and shoulders taller than even the working men here, with a wide and thick frame that could barely fit into a wagon, with fur-like hair covering his face and arms as his hand seems thick and scarred up as the hair seems to cover thickly yet still shows the much wear it still had. As when he spoke his voice bellowed out in a deep and solid voice.

"Hey boss, we need to start heading off, the sign ins are beginning"

Rodrick nodded as he looked towards the 4 he had hired and said, "Ah yes, this is Jorge, we will be heading off, the tournament will start in about an hour and a half. I wish you all the best luck". As Rodrick began to leave, his pose began to follow as before Jorge left he waved to the group and gave them a smile begore he left with Rodrick. Leaving the 4 people now here to figure out what they shall do, an hour and a half isn't much, but they were given a pass using Rodrick's name to enter the under area where the fighters and handlers are and can talk around and maybe 'find' evidence and possibly stop the possible sabotage to take Jorge out of the competition.

Action opportunities

1. You know the name of the 8 handlers, you can go and try to find and talk to each of them:
○ Rodrick Von Dyper
○ Fredrick Fernand
○ Captain Rogers Fulbrig
○ Cathy Rockwell
○ Alban Beaumont
○ Artem Angeloff
○ Mattia Romano
○ Icana Carrerana

2. You have only so long to complete this, you will be allowed to do 8 actions, giving you the ability to meet all 7 of the other Handlers and maybe their fighters and 1 more action before the fight is to start.

3. You can do an investigation near a Handlers area and what you think you might find, after which I will tell you to roll in Discord and I will then give you a result.

4. You can also try and stick near Jorge and try to protect him and talk to him as you wish. You will be sticking near Rodrick's area and will make a roll for every action you are there for. So if you are there for all 8 actions you will make 8 rolls as I tell you and I will slowly write out each of the things you find for you to react to and post about.

[Ti]

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Event: Auction Event | Location: Ersand'Enise

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The Auction! It is the place where the rich and those curious go to see the valuable trinkets that grace the city. Interested, Maura suggests for Ayla to go. Ayla in her usual self drags the curious Jamboi with her, and kidnaps a lost Vossoriya girl called Oksana she befriended along the way.

The Auction starts and the prices are quickly escalated to the level of Magnus within moments. Items are being bidded and sold for more than what the average commoner could hope to earn in a year, in some cases, even over 100 years.

Jamboi is easily puzzled by the staggering amounts. He takes a look at the collection of Bennies in his hand as he tries to figure just so much the value truly is. Ayla shakes her head as she tries to gently close his hands upon the bennies, “There is no point trying to count.” ”Oh, it was one of ours that brought this one in”, Maura smiling widely as she saw how high the price fetched. Oksana was simply looking very confused at the podium as she was trying to come to terms with everything going on.

The next item was a Mammoth wool bed. A highly luxurious and a very rare item. Oksana, looking excited and hoping for a good deal, participates in the bidding. Ayla leans across to Oksana, giving her a raised eyebrow, ”You know, that one is made especially for pets, right?”. Maura looks down at Ayla leaning across, ”Mammoth’s hair is to protect from the cold, imagine that it would be extremely flammable.” Oksana is looking towards Ayla even more confused. People are bidding obscene amounts for a bed fit for Vossiriya royalty… for their pet? Jamboi is sat looking confused as he is trying to make sense of the amounts by repeatedly counting over the bennies within his hand. Ayla sighs as she looks towards Maura, ”What are we going to do with these two…?”. Maura shrugs her shoulders, ”If you really wanted it, we could have lent you the money.”.

Next was a beautiful sky-blue vase from Engyu, an extremely high quality porcelain vase with qilin patterns adorning upon the surface. Maura smirks as a little as Ayla is trying to tell what the creatures are, nudging her side teasingly. ”Should ask your new man what a Qilin is~”. Aylla groans, on both the arranged marriage and the fact she would never hear the end of Qilin facts for an entire week if she did.

The next item on display was a cask of a special prime mana brew offered by some of the visiting Hegelans. As the amounts rise, Oksana looks even more incredulous, especially with the chump change in her hand. She could probably get a years worth back in Vossiriya for this amount. Ayla gives Jamboi a side-glance, as she pushes his hand away, ”Definitely don’t try. It will take you all evening.”

A vial filled with a potent aphrodisiac extracted from the mucus of the Tarlonese giant slug came up next. Advertised as perfect for attracting a new lady friend to your charms. Ayla looks towards Jamboi with a mischievous smile as she pushes down upon Jamboi’s hand before he could even think of raising it, ”No, she won’t be impressed with that”. The auburn haired behind them chips in, “Who won’t be impressed with what?”, as Penny leans in. Maura joins in on the mischief, ”That is a good question, who won’t be impressed with what?”. Jamboi has now experienced his first female ambush, and he has decided he doesn’t like it, feigning ignorance as he pretends to ignore them. ”𝆕 So here’s a benny for your thoughts, a owl for a kiss, a hugo if you tell me that you love me~ 𝆕”, Ayla sings mock romantically towards the yasoi. Oksana is already questioning as she points towards the yasoi, Tyrel. Maura quickly lowered the girls arm before the gig was up. Ayla turns to look towards Penny giving her a wide smile, speaking towards her not trying to hide it from Jamboi. ”We think there is someone he might like. He came to me asking for advice about pic-a-nics. He started to get really quiet when we started to ask about who he is going with, so we are trying to work out who it could be.” Jamboi attempts to interrupt as he raises his arm between the two girls chatting about him, scratching his head clumsily, trying to draw the topic away as he jingles the bennies in his hand. ”This whole place is confusing. To think these things are no good here.”

The next was not an item, but an opportunity, one to join Sir Jean-Claude on the back of the pride of Perrence, a Tyrannus Monsieger by the name of Souverain. Maura excitedly puts her hand up, ”3… er… make that 7 Magus!”. Oksana points towards the bennies in Jamboi’s hands, ”Take her. Fun ride.”. Ayla was in the midst of bidding herself as the number rose, ”Ooo, here is my lucky number. I bid.... …”, she frowns as Zazzy beats her to it, quietening. Jamboi lifts up his hand with the 15 bennies within it, ”15!”. Ayla simply places her place against her face, yasoi and money. Jamboi leans closer to Ayla, moving lower in his seat and trying to avoid people overhearing, ”Do girls like this type of thing?”. Ayla grins towards him, ”Well, if you were riding one, we would be wanting for you to invite us all along with you. Though, if you were taking a special someone with you, doubt they would be eager to share.” Maura being a little too attentive grins brightly towards him. ”Though you should forget her, you can take the three of us instead. Far better offer.” Oksana nods her head, riding a dragon sounds fun. Jamboi sighs, they were not going to let it go.

As a boring looking lump of metal turns up, Maura smiles mischievously towards the girls then towards Jamboi. ”So, if it is a benny for a thought, owl for a kiss, and hugo for a love me. What about a magus if we guess correctly? We will accept all those bennies in your hand if we are right, but if we guess wrong, we give you a magus.” Ayla giggles as she is shocked by Maura’s offer, ”Can tell who is the rich one… we are super curious too, who is the lucky lady?”, Oksana simply nods along with the other two girls. Jamboi simply sighs out, and shrugs his shoulders as he raises his hands in protest, then gives up, ”You lady will never be satisfied, like kittens at meal time.” Maura’s eyes sparkle, prodding Ayla, ”You go first.”, Oksana nods as she points towards Ayla, ”Ayla.” Jamboi simply holds her open hand out after the remark, as Ayla and Maura look towards it in surprise.Maura shaking her head as she pays on the girls behalf, ”You took advantage of the poor confused girl then.” Jamboi simply shrugs his shoulders with a smirk. Ayla gazes towards him, as if daggers in her eyes and then a smile, ”Well, we heard how you hang around with a certain other yasoi a lot, and even met her parents. Is it Casss-seee~ ?” He rolls his eyes as he looks towards her, holding out his hand towards her. He has gained another magus now. Maura scoffs at the suggestion, ”Duh, it is not going to be the yasii cud chewer. Besides, isn’t he always complaining about the open doors? It has got to be that Princess… what’s her name again.” Ayla is mouthing, ’Princess?’. Penny hears the word ’princess and starts listening to it, but as it doesn’t seem directed at her, she lets out her breath. ”You know, the very powerful one, the one you bullied relentlessly and made her cry.”.

As if on cue to the topics of royalty, the next item is a painting of Queen Eleanor of Perrence. Ayla continues to look confused at such a description, Maura continues to look towards her hopefully, ”You know. The Princess with one leg, reddish hair..”. Ayla couldn’t help but laugh when she realised who, ”You mean Tyrel! She thinks she is a Goddess, not a Princess… besides, there was no bullying, sometimes even Goddesses need to be put in their place.”. She looks towards Jamboi a moment in the corner of her eye, ”Speaking of royalty, a little birdie told me about the Fire Melons new appearance and that our Jamboi here is now crowned as the Monkey King. Would that make Tyrel the Monkey Princess?” Maura releases a loud ‘Hah’ at the remark, Oksana does a monkey impression with her arms. He simply moves a hand down his face, ”There is a lot more to that story…” Maura grins, ”Turn those bennies over, Monkey King!”. He looks towards her, and he holds out his hand towards her, ”You are all getting excited over nothing, like children witnessing ships enter a busy port”. She blows a raspberry in return, as she forks over another magus. ”It may not be Tyrel, but it is someone, Mr Pic-a-nic”

The rest of the auction continued as they are caught up into their own little world. The next item was a whip-tailed Hydra’s skull. There is even a Sawand Crystal Salt Lamp being announced as an item. It appeared the auburn haired girl behind them has gotten caught up in another argument with an Enthish boy. ”I must accept such a duel. For my honour rides upon it. I have never lost a duel to a man or beast, and even now I cannot lose”, ”Man nor beast” Penny replies, narrowing her eyes playfully, ”but have you ever lost to a woman?”, she straightens, ”I shall have my second contact you. You shall have choice of weapons: watercolours, oils, or charcoals. We shall speak on the morrow.”. Maura casually overhears the argument, nudging her elbow into Ayla’s side. ”Perhaps you and the one with the charcoal covered fingers can join in on their duel. Make it a double date.” Ayla prods back, ”It isn’t like that with Kasper. We’re friends.” ”Fwriends” ”Yes, we are good friends. Besides, he likes tall girls.” Jamboi looks questioningly, ”What is a double date?”, ”It is when two couples go and do an activity together”, Maura beams, ”See? She knows allll about it.”.

Back to the auction, it seems that Manfred has won the auction to present it as a gift to Dory. Ayla claps excitedly towards her with a cheer, ”See? That is a man who wants to show that he loves her.”, cooing happily. Maura teasingly smiles in response, ”He is good looking. Part of the charm too.”, Oksana nods in approval. Jamboi doesn’t respond.

A trader of exotic goods has brought in another lumpy green stone weighing about 2 pounds. Getting rather bored and enough of yanii past-times, Jamboi tries to get up and go, as Ayla holds upon his lanky arm to keep him seated. "No, not going yet, you said you wanted to experience this place. So you are seeing to it till the end with us.". Jamboi remains seated for now.

Next item looks very valuable with the trials ahead. It is an Eeaiko trinket of goodwill, a stone that appears to produce usable amounts of oxygen through a special-enchantment using binding magic.Jamboi quickly ran out of magus, and Ayla was outbid by a blonde vossoriyi woman before she could even open her mouth again. Maura looks towards Jamboi, ”If you sell yourself, we would be able to get you all the bennies to afford that thing”. He scratches his head as he avoids looking in the direction of someone, though the idea of yanii debt leaves a bad taste in his mouth. The numbers however climb exponentially, with Maura pretending that she not said anyway now. She isn’t going to offer to loan that amount.

It appears that tensions grow within the auction house as Benny and Casii begin to square off. Ayla points over to Casii to bring her up to Maura’s attention. ”See? She is spirted. He has a type.”. Maura looks at the spirited auburn haired girl behind them, ”There are a few candidates in here…” Oksana is questioning as she keeps looking between Jamboi and Ingrid. A match? Jamboi, already worn out from the yanii antics certainly had the urge to play with the uncouth brat who slugged Casii with an empowered punch. Ayla sensing the tension, moves to hold her hand onto his. ”Shh… if you get involved. It would only escalate it further. They will deal with it.”

The Final item is the Music Box. A strange unassuming item which caught Ayla’s imagination. Music, in a box. The idea just mesmerised her. Jamboi is just smouldering and Ayla is a little concerned that she wouldn’t be able to stop him if he does act. Maura isn’t suitable and… Oksana is too far away. She looks towards Penny who is watching from behind, as she nods with her head attempting to indicate a little assistance to box him in. Penny lays a hand on his shoulder, “Let the dice fall where they may. Maybe I’ll give being Reshta a try.”, she giggles embarrassedly ”Dami, so sacrilegious”. Ayla gently says to Marua, “Can you bid on this item for me?”

Maura cracks her knuckles as she starts to dip into the auction house. She keeps repeatedly bidding up. It was the Vossiriyi girl again who appeared loose with their bids as if it was simply words, not money. ”Jeez. She cannot afford that, some no-named bimbo is able to throw around that kind of money.”. Yuliya gives Maura a death stare, ”100.” ”200 Magus” as she returns the look. She quietly says to Ayla, ”So, how much did you say your Wyrm scales were worth?”.

Jamboi moves his hand upon Penny’s as he feels it upon his shoulder. ”I’m okay!”, turning to beam up towards her with a goofy smile. Penny blushes and smiles back. ”Worse comes to the worst, we go kick some ass together, huh? Maybe not uh… my specialty, though.”

The bids continue to rise even greater. Maura not looking impressed in the slightest, whispering in an intentionally loud manner, ”She definitely doesn’t have that kind of money to throw around. We would know. We love seeking opportunities out for those with more money than sense.”. ”Who are you? 650.”. Maura lets out an exasperated sigh at the new bid, pointing her out towards Ayla. ”See? Unless she is the Crown Princess of Perrence, or even the Doge’s Daughter, she is not moving around that kind of capital.” It seemed as if on cue, Evander is taking the lead on the bid, as Oksana prods Maura in her side repeatedly, as she gestures hooded figure next to the boy. She shakes her head as she sighs out deflated, it might not be worth coming to a disagreement over. ”She isn’t the Doge’s daughter, but it is not worth it when the Revidians are joining in.”

Jamboi grins for a moment, ”Was thinking of just slapping the back of his head, then making a run for it like a mouse chased by a cat. After all, managed to outrun a dragon this morning.” The comment was a bit of a stretch, he didn’t outrun the dragon, it was more that he outmanoeuvred the dragon rider and they gave up. ”And I once took down an entire pirate handout.” Penny replied in a game of upmanship. She was laying there upon her stomach, making herself upon the grass of a small green beside him, kicking her foot back and forth. She laughs and rolls her eyes.

Maura prods Ayla in the side, indicating that she pulls away from Jamboi for now, leaving the pair alone. Oksana looks towards the couple, then Tyrel, then towards them again, then Ayla in a huh manner.

Jamboi grins widely at the story and the playfulness, ”I met this powerful blood sorcerer, the miasma around him was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. I made him laugh so hard, he let me go, and … …” he offers his cheesiest grin, ”The rest of that is a secret. My Pirate Queen”. Penny giggles, ”Sounds like a total yarn, Jammy.” She sticks her tongue out, ”I once met a secretive species of snake people with fabulous technology who..” she trials off, taking note of the sudden intensity of the auction.

Maura calls out towards the couple, ”You should go and try to count 5000 Magus in bennies with her'', Ayla couldn’t help but experience her tension breaking to laugh. Poor Oksana was overwhelmed with the values being discussed, as her eyes are spinning trying to consider the amount mentally for the briefest of moments.

“Seven thousand!” says one of the three hooded figures who’ve been standing silently among the crowd. They don’t appear to be aligned with either Ingrid and Evander. Penny shoots them a few looks, ”We should get out of here” towards Jamboi. Maura senses the hesitation in Penny’s voice, as she tugged upon Ayla’s wrist, telling her a white lie. ”Is that your father over there?” Ayla almost goes as white as a ghost with that comment, moving to tug upon Oksana’s hand, ”We need to go, come with us, Oksana.”

Jamboi had been finding any opportunity to leave and is not going to say no when the yanii are fleeing to leave themselves. He offers his hand towards Penny to pull her up, and if needed, take her along the special Yasoi route of the rooftops to get out of here. Penny takes his hand. "A rogue and a gentleman all at once!" she squeals, and her heart is pounding. She knows what's going on in the background and, for a moment, she wishes that she wasn't who she is. She wants to escape it, and here is this pretty boy offering her that. She rises to follow him.

Penny has just made a big moral choice.

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[Ti]

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Event: High Steaks: Introduction | Location: Ersand'Enise

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Location: Notice Board, Grand Plaza of Ersand’Enise
Characters: Zarina @YummyYummy, Casii @Pirouette, and Maura @Ti.

As you arrive to the Notice board to see what is on display, you begin to notice a crowd gathered around a particular pamphlet.

Notice Board

“Marquis Blaise Beauregard? He is a famous gourmand. He wants to recruit from the Academy? This could make your career… you would be renowned across Sipentia! Opportunity of a lifetime.” The Perrench boy is just staring wide-mouthed at the pamphlet, probably drooling at the idea of all that yummy food.

“Ughk… That monster. Have you been hearing all the rumours?”, a Belzagg girl commented. Her friend shook her head. “He has captured a Snowsweeper. He is going to serve it up in a large banquet soon. It is rumoured that even Perrench Royalty will be attending.”

The boy turned around, his eyes even wider than before. “SNOWSWEEPER STEAK?! WOW!”. If he was any closer to the pamphlet, he would be licking it to try to get at the rich succulent flavour. “It's taste is meant to even rival that of the Ambrosia of the gods!”

The girls look towards him with a very disgusted expression. “It is barbaric. There are only three males left in the world. Serving one as a steak should be a crime.”

An older boy comes, this one from Huulendam. “I heard this rumour as well. Perhaps whoever completes this job, will be the one to serve the steak, or even eat it? This is truly a prize beyond reckoning. A student serving the most expensive steak in the world. It was said the last time it was served, a single steak per head was around 40 magus each, and the creatures are huge. Imagine the riches involved…”

The pamphlet gained even more attention, one in admiration, one thirsty for riches, and the other in condemnation and disgust at such a prospect.

Maura was sitting there as she contemplated how she could get involved in this action. She hoped to bring Ayla in, she is a good cook, but she is currently in bed weary from the night before. It was at this moment she noticed Zarina, Ayla’s Virangish friend, and the cud chewing yasoi, Casii. She waves them down. “You don’t suppose either of you are qualified enough to be considered a butcher or a cook are you? Because that job is gleaming with opportunity”.

Maura pointed to the pamphlet and gave them a moment to read through it. “If you do, then we have the skill, and my resources to exploit this for all it is worth. Want to partner up?”

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Action Opportunities

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Feel free to express your character's views and interact with some of the other NPC’s if you require further information.
- There is a Perrench Gourmet food fanboy. He has a disturbing amount of passion when it comes to food.
- There is the Huulendamn boy. He seems to have a keen ear to the ground when it comes to the rumours. Are the sources reliable? This sounds like a golden cash cow if it proves to be true.
- There is the Belzagg girl and her friend. They are against the cruelty of animals, especially the reported Snowsweeper. We eat cattle all the time, so why would a Snowsweeper be any different, isn’t it just a large Eskandish cow?

Upon agreement to group up, you will have Maura as your backer, assisting with getting the resources to get the job done. You will need to either play the part of butcher and cook. Whatever direction you decide to go, the first step is going to be the same.

Your task is to go to the Au Boeuf Rouge and participate against other students from the academy in the hosted Food War, with the judge Marquis Blaise Beauregard over seeing the selection process.

Do you have what it takes to be Sipenta's next MasterChef?

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[Th3King0fChaos]

Velles 5th

Location: The Docks of Ersand’Enise
Day of the week: Taldes
Time: 5:00 HE
Interactions/Mentions: Sinn’ulen’luunetar @YummyYummy, Carmillia @Animus, Silas @Tackytaff, Trypano @A Lowly Wretch

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Desmond had a 'big job' extended to him through Silas, it was one that could net them 600 magi, Desmond was in some need of cash, so he accepted without much question of other than, "Will there be any fighting?". Desmond was met with a surprise as he found out this was a job that wouldn't need blood, must be an important grab in his mind then, as when he found out who they were going to talk to, Desmond thought this got much more serious, as a smile came to his face. Once they had met and was vetted by an envoy, they had made their way to a seemingly lonesome dockyard where they had stepped upon a ship where they met the infamous broker himself, Sinn’ulen’luunetar. Some say he is able to procure you anything, may it be Dragon scales from a Gehenna, an apple from the tree of life in Eskand, or even the Crown jewel of the Perrench crown, if you pay the price, he can get it for you.

Desmond listened calmly as he showed no signs of his curiosity, not that Sinn seemed to allow them to speak. He kept the meeting brief as he was quick to tell them what they needed, one drop of blood or five pieces of hair. Once Sinn put away the vials, he left the bag on the barrel and Desmond quickly took it before they were shooed away. Once the 4 youths left the docks and moved towards an area less suspicious yet still quiet, Desmond fished out the envelope and read the parchment as he turned it to the two girls for them to see and said so Silas could know, "Well seems we are after the Golden Boy of Covenant. Does everyone know who he is?" Desmond asked in a general sense as there might be a possibility someone here doesn't know who he is. However, he is such an interesting character Desmond doubted it.

[YummyYummy]

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Velles 4th

Location: Merchant Dormitories - Zarina’s Quarters
Day of the week: Victendes
Time: 1:00 HD
Characters: Arlo, Riesco, Zarina

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“Thanks, boys. I’d offer hot coffee but …” Zarina snickered at her joke as she waved the movers goodbye once they had installed the large, mammoth wool bed into her dorm “room”, which was more so a comfortable apartment, she had won in the auction. A lot had to be moved and the comfortable and oversized cushion took a lot of the living space, but it didn’t seem to perturb her whatsoever. There was also an unsigned portrait of Queen Eleanor made to hang on her wall, although it definitely came off as a placeholder.

The Virangish lass took some time to admire the new state of her temporary home with a glass of red wedged between her middle and ring fingers of her right hand. What a day it was, and she was feeling the exhaustion creeping into her for an early sleep. But before she could get too deep in self back-patting, a collection of clicks and calls directed at her came from the hanging bird cage she had near one of the windows. Arlo was frustrated - he did not get his evening snack! Fighting Yasoi and bidding massive coinage for beds and pieces of art would make anyone forget about responsibilities.

“Yeah, yeah,” she sighed and put away her half-finished glass on the nearest surface, “at least say please, little man.” she stopped before the thin bars of the opened cage and shook her visage before it. Suddenly, a little, blue head emerged from the makeshift shelter inside of it. The chirping continued and wasn’t going to stop, “A kissie first.” she ordered. Arlo didn’t budge, not yet, “A kissie.” she tapped her nose and waited for a good minute. Like a cat, it seemed this little critter was taking his sweet time to be decisive. Eventually, he did crawl out and approached his master’s face, only to then rub his snout over the tip of her’s, and then go for a harmless bite on it, “There we go! Good boy.”

An already halved peach was seized from a cupboard and delivered to the reptile. It enjoyed its snack, and eventually returned to its abode for a scheduled sleep. Next, Zarina was reminded of her next child she had to tend to: Riesco. He had gotten proper treatment in the morning, but she could do better. A descent to the stables would have her meet with the Camargue horse, calmly resting over hay with his ears perking at her arrival. He recognized her steps and was quick to stand and greet his friend, “Hey you.” she cooed, hands quick to venture through his mane as she stepped into his pen. Riesco was well brushed and clean barring from the hay stuck to him. The pen, however, could be better with filth left at the back, “دعنا نجهزك للنوم ، أليس كذلك؟ (Let’s get you ready for sleep, yeah?)” she seized a broom and got to work.

The horse’s little home was cleaned and the old way replaced with a fresh pile for him to indulge in, “Noisy day, huh?” she kept speaking in Virangish, “Loads of new people. Kind of made me anxious at the start too.” Riesco shuffled about to give his rider some space to manoeuvre, “But that wasn’t so bad.” she passed her hand over his side and slowly brushed through his grey and white fur, “I got kind of scared today, though.” she confessed, and he turned his head at his friend’s change of tone, “I don’t have the best of feelings about what’s to come. Something just-” she reached out to Riesco’s snout and let him sniff. No treats, which prompted him to frisk Zarina a little with more sniffing and lip flapping, “doesn’t seem right.” he then made chewing motions while she rested her forehead on his, “Good night, my sweet.” and with a kissie good night, she left her horse with a clean pen.

Back to her residence, Zarina briefly paused to notice a good dozen of armoured individuals march through the bigger streets. Strange, and only increased her worry. She took a warranted bath given all that she had gone through that day. Afterward, a prayer. Her bedroom wasn’t too big with a relatively large wardrobe, a queen sized bed and a night stand. And, of course, an end table with both her Froabas eggs placed with custom-made incubation kits that kept them safe, warm and exposed to the sun during a good portion of the day. She prayed before the eggs over a carpet she unrolled from under her bed. A brief but important ritual, before she collapsed onto her bed from exhaustion.

---

---

Velles 5th

Location: Some Tavern
Day of the week: Lepdes
Time: 5:00 HS
Characters: Augusto, Desmond @Th3King0fChaos, Jomurr @Force and Fury, Kaspar @Wolfieh, Yuliya @Suicharte, Zarina, The Hegelans

---

“BLEEUUUGGGHHH!”

Zarina was sick as a dog, huddled in a corner of a tavern after having ingested one too many mana concoctions from their new teammates. It started fine with her capitulating to peer pressure and masterfully taking a prime shot. But the second … She never thought she could unleash that many fluids in such a small span of time. Still, in her zeal to not be one-upped, she went for another shot, and vomited the entirety of her half-digested breakfast and the manas in her stomach. Loads of wheezing and moaning could be heard as she continuously barfed out yet more bile.

”Never took you for a lightweight, Al-Nader.” teased Jomurr with a smirk. He had no issues keeping his shot in, and wasn’t foolish enough to go for more, “Fuck. You.” she turned her head and flipped him off, “Awh shit …” she quickly aimed for the bucket again and let nature do its thing. Waves became spittles and eventually she emerged. Sweaty, pale and seeing double, she stumbled toward a table and seized the first drink she could find.

It was a basic mana brew, accidentally left by one of her new teammates. It was too late to stop her, she was going to wash the awful taste out of her mouth one way or another. It was entirely downed before she could even process the taste. Everyone froze and just stared at her, ready to take cover. Zarina was standing stiff, eyes wide and her hands over her tummy. ”She’s gonna blow!” called out one of the bar patrons.

“Burp.”

She felt a tad refreshed. The foul, acidic taste was replaced by an equally foul but cool one that didn’t burn her throat. The energy that coursed through her from the increased mana count definitely helped too, “Okay. So!” she clapped her hands together to get her team’s attention as some emerged from their hiding spots. Her eyes shifted left, and then right, before an infantile grin took form, “Back to it.” she seized the nearest shot and offered it to Desmond.

Poor Desmond.

---

---

Velles 5th

Location: The Grand Plaza
Day of the week: Lepdes
Time: 2:00 HE
Characters: Arlo, Casii @Pirouette, Maura @Ti, Zarina

---

“What in Eshi’s …”

Zarina overheard quite a few fellow students pipe up over the news of a cooking contest of all things. Something about a Perrench Marquis, a rare meat and cash to be made. It was only when the Snowsweeper, a notoriously endangered species from the South, was mentioned that the Virangish businesswoman took interest in the notion. It was her break from the post-trial Zeno Bucks shift after all. She butted in and attempted to peek into one of the few fliers around, “Give me that.” she snagged the paper from the Perrench boy and took a read while giving her apron a few brushes with her idle hand.

“Rare and big game hungry assholes. Great.” she folded the paper and tossed it back over to the not-so-happy kid she took it from, “And wants us to do a cook-off. Sounds like broke nobility wanting to make a comeback.” she sighed as she reached over to her shoulder where Arlo, her Blueberry dragon, emerged from her mane and peeked out. Little scritches were graciously offered to the critter and in turn it responded with purr-like clicks and a few “Mep”s.

More students seemed intrigued by this news, and a couple of familiar faces could be distinguished from the crowd. Well, a face and a chair for one of them. “You don’t suppose either of you are qualified enough to be considered a butcher or a cook are you? Because that job is gleaming with opportunity”. inquired Maura as Zarina entered the small group with Casii being involved as well, “If you do, then we have the skill, and my resources to exploit this for all it is worth. Want to partner up?” the Virangish teen crossed her arms whilst Arlo took flight to circle over the group. He looked a little overwhelmed by the number of people gathering in the plaza.

“Opportunity? You wanna off and cook a Snowsweeper, Maura?” and then she squinted before leaning in a little, “Good on you to join the school, by the way.” no smile, no fluctuation in tone, just slightly pursed lips as she greeted the wheelchair-bound girl. Arlo would end up landing on Maura’s shoulder and sniffle through her hair, “I don’t know about you, but I’ve no desire to do that.” she peered over at the Yasoi and glared, “However I know she wouldn’t hesitate to grind and mangle creatures for obscene purposes.” she exhaled aggressively from her nostrils.

“Tell you what, though. As Ayla’s good friend, I’ll hear you out. If only to prevent this one from killing thirty animals for fun.” Zarina crossed her arms with a stiffer posture adopted, “I can do butchering - I’ve done that quite a bit when travelling. Just don’t expect me to slaughter all willy nilly.”

tl;dr

-Zarina has her auction winnings brought home. Tends to her pets and prays before sleep. She feels anxious about the future. Also notices the Century.
-She barfs most of her mana shots. Lightweight as fuck. Downs a brew anyway. Party goes on.
-Hears Maura out on this 'opportunity' involving this cooking competition. She doesn't want to slaughter an endangered animal and antagonizes Casii in this specific context.

[A Lowly Wretch]

---

"Just the general knowledge regarding him. Goes by Brother Lamb, blonde hair, subject to rumor of supernatural events surrounding him, things likely involving free-casting." Trypano answered back to Desmond. While he was fishing out the drawn portrait of their target Trypano delicately fished the vial they would be using out from the satchel. Her eyes had been trained on the sigil printed on the side of the vial since the moment it was seen. Now, leaning back against a lantern post she studied it with keen interest.

It was going to be a puzzle indeed, devising a way of separating this target from a sample without accruing suspicion and perhaps even resistance.

"I wonder what his personal feelings regarding Varrene's mood towards Revidia is. It has potential to inform our approach." She idly inquired, brain storming with her fellow agents, all of whom she was already acquainted with in one way or another. Given how well his last plan went she was hoping for Carmillia or Silas to take up more of the backbone in regards to forming a strategy. In the dim light she casually awaited their input, studying this lovely example of a container all the while.

---

Directly Involved: @Animus, @Tackytaff, @Th3King0fChaos.

[YummyYummy]

---

---

Velles 5th

Location: Merchants’ Quarters, Isabella’s Residence - Commoners' Dormitory
Day of the week: Lepdes
Time: 3:00 HS
Characters: Abdel, Isabella @Pantothenic

The Free City wasn’t just gorged with foreign students and their fierce supporters on this long week of intense trials, but also of many businessmen from around the world seeking opportunities and new trade lines. It was inevitable that Isabella’s budding endeavour would take this chance to get new fabrics with Abdel running as the errand boy while he could still make use of his legs. He had the rapport with his fellow tethered, allowing for an easy part-time job that paid well. With a set amount given to him by his boss, he acquired specific quantities and types within broad categories to carefully pack and deliver.

Snowsweeper wool from a Barthian trader and top Velvet from one of Carmillia’s own network of clothing lines, not that he knew this luxurious stall was run by a peer. The quantities were relatively restrained and fit in his messenger bag. Part way through the crowds eagerly waiting their turn to try out the foreign goods, Abdel stopped to rest his hand over his left calf to give it a little massage. The thought of participating in a race was not thrilling whatsoever, but he had to push through, at least for himself. He made it back to Izzy’s abode, finally, “Hello, Hola, Guten tag, I got it all!” he triumphantly waved his bag as he removed his shoes at the entrance and made his way to deliver the fabrics onto Isabella’s work table.

“Dude, there was this huge, sweaty beard guy holding out the wool.” he opened up as he laid out the white wool for his fellow Tethered to examine, “Guy just kept staring at me all off-like. So I stare back-” he illustrated the intensity of his glare. It wasn’t much. “So, he snarls ‘cause I’m not backing down. Give me the price of two magi for half of this! I was all like ‘Nah, Nah’,” he waved his hand in an exaggerated manner, “One Magi for four pieces. Final offer. We nearly duked it out but …” he rubbed his chin and grinned confidently, “Let’s just say he’ll know better than to deal with Abdel Varga next time.”

Obviously that never happened. Still, he did seem to get it for a decent price given the change he brought her back. There were likely other methods used, some not so brag-worthy, “So, meat. Why not just get regular meat from the butcher? You’d save yourself an Owl or ten.” he crossed his arms and half-sat at the edge of the robust table.

[pantothenic]

---

Date: Fourth of Velles
Event: The end of the melon derby
Characters: Yalen, Jocasta

---

After parting ways with Blaze of Glory for the time being, it was time for Mozaru’s students to decide how to spend the rest of their evening. With varying levels of enthusiasm, the five Biros congratulated each other on a stunning victory. Once they were done shaking hands and patting each other on the back, one by one they offered some excuse or another and broke away to take care of their own business. First Trypano, then Evander, and finally Carmillia. Perhaps the derby had fostered a spark of camaraderie among the bickering apprentices, but they weren’t quite friends yet.

It was just about supper time, and with no other pressing matters to deal with Yalen was thinking about finding a place to eat. Dining in the Zeno’s household was fine and all, but these were the Trials! Every eatery in town was stepping up their game and bringing out their best seasonal dishes. Some places even had specials that they only served on a Trials year, that was how profitable the event was. There were a few places the young priest had bookmarked in his head, and his stomach agreed with his choices.

“I can literally sense the hunger in your chemical signature,” Jocasta observed, appearing in the doorframe, one hand on each of its posts. “Take a look at me and you’ll see the same.”

“If you can tell how I’m feeling just by reading me, you should know when you’ve made one too many jokes about my height.” Yalen sulked. His indignation was false however, and his smile quickly returned to his face. He clasped his fingers together and stretched his arms out tiredly. Those melons really took their toll when you had to carry them halfway across the city! “Well I don’t think either of us is an amazing cook, so what do you say we grab a bite in town? There is this bakery called Oliviere’s I have been meaning to show you.”

Jocasta set hands to wheels, gliding past him towards the door. “And how do you know I’m not an amazing cook?” she teased, floating her cloak off one of the pegs in the front atrium.

“Because I can literally sense when you’re burning a cake for Ayla.” Yalen replied.

“I blame the oven,” chirped Jocasta, settling the light cloak about her shoulders and turning the handle. It was late and the sun had just set as she pulled the door open. While the usual Victendes option had been moved to a later time, she had her own reasons for not joining her other friends in attendance and it appeared that Yalen did as well, or perhaps not. He was just not as… complicated as a lot of other people who she knew, and it was welcome relief, even from herself at times. “Anyways, it sounds good. Sounds Revidian.” She smirked ruefully. “Good thing neither of us is Parrench, huh?”

“Asking a Miattan whether they agree with the Parrench or the Revidians is like asking the Eskandr which country is their true seat of power.” Yalen shook his head. “Not that the politics affect my station much.”

“Fair,” Jocasta snorted. “It’s just weird to think that things that never really mattered before suddenly do to some people. A lot.”

The two tethered continued exchanging small talk as they made their way to their destination. There was something to be said about a big city at night. The atmosphere was unlike anything Yalen could experience in his rural hometown. It was strange to see so many lamp lights for someone whose routine was previously dictated by the movement of the sun. His eyes were drawn this way and that, admiring both the people and the scenery.

“Having a good gawk there, country boy?” she teased. “It’s… kind of strange for me too, to be honest.” She let her eyes wander for a moment, steering round some rougher cobblestones. “There was always a curfew at the Refuge for everyone but us Afortunado. I remember walking the paths at night on the way to where we trained in the cenote: it was this little island of light and warmth in the middle of a vast black desert.” Other people walked along in pairs or little groups, some holding hands, some chatting and gesticulating animatedly. It occurred to Jocasta that she and Yalen constituted such a pair in the eyes of others. She shot him a little smile because that was what you were supposed to do, right?

“Ahhh, the monastery has a curfew as well.” Yalen commented, trying to steer the conversation away from any mention of the refuge. The situation there still left a sour taste in his mouth. “Sister Denali would patrol the orphanage with a broom. We got smacked on the bum with the handle if any of us got caught wandering around. She was certainly a believer in tough love.” His hand unconsciously drifted behind his thigh as the painful memory resurfaced.

A pair of students passed by Yalen and Jocasta, and one of them gave the former a polite wave. Yalen returned the gesture with a grin, recalling the fair number of times he’d lent the guy a pen in chemistry class. Until he was summoned to the Forked Tower he had never been acquainted with so many people. It was a life changing moment for him, and one that he did not regret. Ayla, Zarina, Jocasta, and Kaspar. The ragamuffin team from the desert. They weren’t the only friends he had made at Ersand’Enise, but they were undoubtedly his best friends. He was coming to cherish their relationship as much as he did his bond with Colette, and it showed in the way he acted so loosely around them.

“So,” Jocasta continued after a bit, “Whatcha gonna do with all that cheddar if we win it?” She was loath to just assume, but it was hard to not at least let herself imagine. She’d never wanted for money since being taken in by the Volti, but it wasn’t her own and there was no escaping that. She remained an investment that needed to be justified. “Honestly, I don’t even know.” Yalen had a way of bringing her perspective, and nonjudgmentally enough that she was willing to let things slip that she otherwise wouldn’t have.

“If it was up to me I would have already sent all the money I have back to Miatto. Dad got mad when I tried that though. He won’t entertain the idea of me using my allowances for anyone other than myself. He says I’m too altruistic.” Yalen’s shoulders slumped a bit. “These days all my magi either end up in a box or at the bank. The last big expense I had was my D.R.A.G.O.N. license, and that didn’t even make a dent in what I made from that auction. I would donate it all to some cause but I think Colette has been writing home about me…” He wrung his hands together unconsciously. “Once I graduate though he won’t be able to tell me what to do. He’ll love the new roof I have planned for the monastery.”

“Y’know…” Jocasta teased, “you can always be altruistic with me.” She batted her eyelashes in a purposely exaggerated fashion, but her expression soon reverted back to a rather flat smirk. “That the place?” she said after a moment, raising an arm to point as she drifted forward. “Because, if it’s not, I‘m still saying we go there.”

“Mhm. We’ve arrived.” Yalen answered. The outside of the bakery looked different from when he last ate there with Isabella. There were tables set up outside for people to dine-in, and the menu board on display was geared towards a more savory taste for the dinner crowd. The cute Parrench girl manning the front booth was still there, her eyes clouded by exhaustion in spite of her huge smile, and her brother was struggling to keep the massive line in order. Even with the unprecedented amount of customers he appeared to be buttering up the female guests with his usual charm.

“Looks like we’ll be here a while…” Yalen groaned as he and Jocasta took their spot in line. Though he was the patient sort, his legs were screaming at him to find somewhere to sit down. He had to resort to numbing the pain with magic in order to endure the thought of waiting. “Well since we’ll be stuck here for some time, there is something I’ve been meaning to bring up with you. Can you, uh, make things a bit quieter?” Yalen whispered, referring to Jocasta’s ability to muffle sounds.

“Come closer for a sec?” Jocasta prodded, motioning for him to lean in.

Yalen brought his face closer to Jocasta’s ear and, immediately, she grabbed him with gentle but irresistible force. The world wavered and then they were in Torragon again, on the outskirts of a town by dusk. “Don’t worry. We won’t lose our spot in line. They won’t even know we’re gone, but we can speak freely here.” She tilted her head to one side and her eyes became concerned. “You’re tired, Yalen. I can sense that kind of thing in the body just as well as you can.” She gestured toward a barrel and began rolling up to it. “Take a seat.”

“Please warn me before you do that.” Yalen complained, suddenly struck by mild vertigo. “Thank you though.” The tired priest sank onto the “chair” and braced his arms on his lap. “I have been working on my fitness as of late, but the melon derby still took a lot out of me.” He hammered his fists against his thighs to try and work out some of the soreness.

After letting himself rest for a minute Yalen picked the conversation back up. “Back to what we were talking about. I don’t mean to be so secretive, but what I have to tell you is something best left unheard by others.” He paused in hesitation, not knowing how his friend would react to the news he had to share. “I met a couple of the delegates from Varennes today. They said they are looking for some people. You were not named directly, but based on their description I know for a fact that you are a target. I think they know about the Afortunado. They may seek to bring you to trial, or worse.”

There was a long moment where Jocasta went still. Then, Yalen felt the soreness dissipating from his body. “You’re a Chemical mage and a binder. Why don’t you heal yourself?” Her heart went on a little bit faster, and she didn’t bother to hide it. Yalen was concerned. He had a right to see that his words were important.

“Because I don’t want myself to completely forget what pain feels like. How about you? What are you feeling right now?” Yalen’s voice was, on this rare occasion, completely serious. He couldn’t read her mind, but he suspected he was touching on a topic she didn’t want to engage with right now. He wasn’t going to let her run away from this.

“I’ve had enough of pain,” Jocasta said, glancing at something off to the side, “but I know I’ve earned some. I killed. I’m a killer. That’s why they’ll say they want me.” She shook her head slowly, twisting back to meet his eyes. “What they really want, though, is to get rid of a threat or bring it onto their side.” She breathed slowly, steadily, and a little too deeply. “It’s been…” She trailed off for a moment. “refreshing,” she concluded. “Healing, a blessing, fun to pretend to be normal for the past few weeks, just like all of you who I’m -” She hesitated for the briefest of moments. “I know so well, but the truth is that my existence is dangerous to them - dangerous to everyone. They fear what they cannot control.” Her voice hardened. “And I will never let anyone control me again.”

Yalen was silent. He wanted to say something positive, to make a statement that would reassure her somehow. This time though, he was out of his depth. He was only sixteen years old; he had met many people, yet the priest in training had never had to counsel a murderer before. Applying that kind of label to Jocasta made him feel sick inside, but it wasn’t something she could hide from forever. Her nature was at odds with her past deeds, and there was nobody left alive to forgive her for what she had done. As well meaning as he was, it was impossible for someone as sheltered as Yalen to empathize with her suffering. All he could do was listen, though maybe that was what she needed the most right now.

“I only wanted to warn you of the danger Jocasta. Though I may be a student of the church, I do not feel it is my duty to make you turn yourself in. Facing your past, finding some kind of atonement… A friend I may be, but I can’t bear that burden for you. Still, I can pick you up when you fall.” Yalen took a deep breath to recuperate. His hand found Jocasta’s shoulder as he tried to offer a measure of reassurance. Despite being the strongest biro in Ersand’Enise, it felt like she would fall apart if he shook her ever so slightly. “You have allies here, so there’s no reason to think that this is all over yet. Instead of acting like you’re going to disappear tomorrow, maybe you should figure out how to lay low so the Holy See doesn’t catch your tail.”

She rose from her seat and floated over beside him. Normally, Jocasta was not one to enjoy physical contact, much less initiate it. She squeezed onto the barrel and wrapped her arms around him tightly from the side. “Don’t worry, Yalen. I’m not going anywhere.” She breathed in and out. “Eshi, I thought we were just going to get some quick food, maybe hang out a bit without all the lil’ short range people to bug us.” She smiled weakly. “But I‘m not gonna run either, and I’m not gonna let other people fight my battles for me. You’d get hurt and I’d have done even more harm than good then.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “Help me by being you: your good, honest, generous self.”

The night air in the desert was cool, and it was one of those rare nights that wasn't cloudless. Two streams of breath came out in little white clouds, joining and mingling. “I don’t need your help to be strong, I need it to be good, and so do a lot of other people, I think.”

“I know you’ll get there, with or without me. You are never alone as long as the Pentad watches over us all.” Yalen patted her head like a child, suddenly forgetting how outclassed he was by the person next to him. “Let’s go back already. Tonight is my treat. I can show you some of that generosity as you requested.”

Jocasta blushed, batting his hand away in embarrassment. “If you were anyone else, you’d lose a -” She stopped and made a raspberry. “Who am I kidding?” With one last squeeze, she released him. “I am perfectly onboard with your chivalry,” she chirped, floating back to her chair. There was a surge of magic and, momentarily, they found themselves back in line outside the bakery. Jocasta reached out for Yalen’s hand. He didn’t hesitate to take it, squeezing with a strength that he hadn’t possessed when they first met. Yalen noticed one of the girls in front of him looking over her shoulder with a knowing eye, and his ears immediately reddened. Still, he did not let go.

“Welcome to Oliviere’s once again sir priest!” A familiar voice rang out from several feet away. The two tethered craned their heads to get a look at the caller, and spotted the teen who’d tried to hit on Isabella the last time Yalen came here.

“Ah, you are -” The monk was tongue tied by the realization that he never got the stranger’s name.

“Carlo Oliviere, at your service!” The Parrenchman let out a hearty chuckle. He looked down at Jocasta and his eyes widened. “You scoundrel! Are you really two-timing your girlfriend with this beauty?”

“I believe you are mistaken, sir,” said Jocasta not-quite frostily. “Yalen is categorically not the sort to have a girlfriend and not tell me.” She smirked challengingly in the monk’s direction. “Mhm?”

Yalen’s attempt to clear the air by loudly coughing was too obvious to be called smooth.

“Mr. Oliviere, uh, I just wanted to let you know that my friend was very happy with the free samples you offered her during our last visit.” Yalen forced out in an attempt to change the subject. Thankfully, Carlo was every bit the womanizer he appeared to be and was quickly distracted by the mention of the pigtailed girl.

“Splendid! You don’t know how happy I am to hear that. I do hope she’ll visit again.” Carlo sighed wistfully. “Ah, that reminds me. I would like you to have this miss. Please accept the generosity of my family.” The baker’s son placed a wood block in Jocasta’s lap unprompted. “Today your possession of this gets you a free slice of chocolate cake! Enjoy the Trials!”

Jocasta blinked. “Uh… um, th-thank you,” she stammered, shades of the girl from a few weeks ago peeking through. “Thank you v-very much.” She twisted and smiled sweetly up at Yalen. “Looks like it’s chocolate cake for you today. We can split it, hmm?”

“It scares me how easily you can do that. Maybe you should join the Fingersteeplers with me.” Yalen murmured.

“Hehe,” the blonde girl giggled. Her voice sank conspiratorially. “How do you know I’m not already there?” She winked.

[jasbraq]

---

“How much longer until we can rest? This ride has been killing my dearest behind.” A rather agitated Perrenchwoman asked. “Only a couple more hours, Ma’am. We’ve been In Perrence for a while now, never thought it would be that big.” A rather well dressed boy proclaimed. “Ah yes, that’s why it’s been so much more pleasant to breathe here. We’re no longer in those stinking marches!.... It feels good to be in a proper country again.” “I believe the Drudgunzen countries would also be considered proper, Ma’am.” The boy reluctantly spoke back. “The Drudgunze and proper don’t mix, dear Karl. Just look at my sweet daughter, I tried to make her the best young lady a Perrenchman can dream of… but she turned out rather… undesirable…” The woman had a rather disgusted looking face, while the boy still looked on without much emotion. “I believe there is still hope for lady Dorothea to get an influential husband…” “But my poor girl has set her sights upon an unachievable dream. To think she believes she could make that horrible place a great country.” The woman scoffed.

“I tried my hardest to teach her that Feska will die sooner or later but she just won’t listen. To think she’d be foolish enough to court a Kerreman is beyond me. If he was a royal I might let it slip, but he is nothing more than a backwater noble with no useful land.” The mother lamented. “Ma’am, I do believe your daughter has good qualities. Her baking is to die for, for one.” The servant smiled warmly. “I’m sure a servant wouldn’t understand… but baking is for commoners to do, not for nobles. My daughter inherited mostly nothing from the family, if only she had inherited something good she would have been more desirable as a wife.” “I believe she is suitable enough…” The servant feared the other’s response, only to hear nothing back.

“Why is that damned school so far north!” the woman became even more agitated. “I believe we should arrive in a matter of days, Ma’am.” Karl proclaimed softly. “Good, let’s hope my daughter didn’t become too improper there.”