[IC] The EWIP- Fantasy RP

[SpookySquid]

You are laying on a soft carpeted floor in a giant but unfamiliar room. There is a large fireplace on one wall and a set of fifteen foot tall sturdy wooden doors on the opposite end of the room. There is a recently broken window on the wall across from you are laying. You are surprised to realize that you are surrounded by at least two dozen butchered and bloody bodies, however you're not sure how many of them are corpses. There is a fancy sofa and an ornate table thrown haphazardly in the center of the room. A young blonde haired women wearing an expensive looking dress is curled up on the sofa crying loudly.

It soon becomes clear that this this place is under attack. The deafening sound of metal hitting metal floods your ears and a quick survey shows that a few of the bodies are covered with armor. However, this room looks like it has already been taken a beating. The walls are covered with markings and you notice a few broken sculptures and pieces of furniture littering an area near the fireplace.

This isn't right. You are a pretty regular person. You had just gone to sleep. This had to be a dream. But it wasn't. It was all too real. The smell of blood and the sound of crying and the feel of the carpet were too real. You were awake. But how had you gotten here? And what were you going to do now?

[Eklispe]

Zenia woke up with a yawn looking around with blurry eyes and feeling around for her glasses, she always took them off because she could never manage to get to sleep with them on. After a bit of pawing around she managed to locate them and promptly put them where they belonged and took a look around. To her distress she found that she had absolutely no inkling of where she was, after a quick look around the room she found little else to help her. It looked like she was in some sort of manor, there were several poeple lying on the ground distressingly still and covered in blood. The only person moving was a girl about the same age as her sitting on the sofa crying in a heart-wrenching manner.

Zenia stood up somewhat shakily still not adjusted to this most peculiar situation she was in. Her first thought was that this was somehow some sort of dream, but it seemed far too real for that. It didn't exclude the possibility of course, some people after all had dreams so intense that they affected them in real life as well. But if this was a dream then there wasn't any point in doing nothing after-all. On the other hand if it was a dream then something was sure to happen, as Zenia had never heard of someone having a dream in which nothing happened. Some intense pondering and several moments later she decided that it would be the safer course of action to act rather than react, after all she had read Sun Tzu's The Art of War and the basic principles included were quite sound.

"Excuse me Miss." Zenia spoke up, "Would you perhaps be so kind as to explain to me what is going on here?" She inquired hoping the girl wasn't too distressed as to be unable to assist her. Her ears twitched nervously at the sound of clashing metal, it seemed some sort of battle going on here, and Zenia sure as heck didn't want to be in the middle of it. Zenia eyed the window as she waited for a response from the girl, perhaps she could get a good view of what was going on from there, or if needed have it serve as an escape route.

[Heyitsjiwon]

James awoke from all the noise. He had a slight headache and thought "I barely drank last night... why do I have a hangover?" However, he would soon completely forget about the fact that he had the headache as he looked around where he had woken up. "What the fuck?" He couldn't help but quietly say to himself. It looked like a battle happened here. There were bodies covered in blood. James immediately got up and started to check if any of them were alive as he scurried around to check for their pulses.

It was then that he realized more about what was going on in this room. One woman was crying on a sofa and other one who seemed to be talking to her. He said loudly in a somewhat admonishing manner "This isn't the time to be crying. Help me find any survivors." as he checked one body. "What the hell happened here?" James asked without anyone in mind. He just hoped that someone would be able to tell him why he was here and what was going on.

[TheFake]

Before she'd even opened her eyes Jackie was assaulted by the cloying scent of blood. It was like the shitstorm in Montreal but without the additional scents of drain cleaner and gunsmoke. The noises of the melee outside greeted her ears next. Maybe it was more like the warehouse in Portland then, when they'd been ambushed while cleaning up. Then she realized that she couldn't remember where she was or where she'd been before now. What had Justin gotten her into this time?

With the sound of movement elsewhere and that of voices, she decided it was time to open her eyes. Jackie sat up and looked around, tensing herself to get moving at the first sign of trouble. The individuals that were moving about seemed normal enough but the bodies scattered about were definitely not what she had been expecting. Glancing over at James, she decided to Follow his lead and checked for signs of life while keeping an eye out for any weapons she could grab and slip into a pocket. She skipped over anyone that even she would be unable to help, anyone that far gone would be dead soon anyway.

"I don't know what's going on but it would help to know if you're looking for survivors to help or ones to finish off."

[GodOfChaos]

The deafening sound of sword on sword reached Ian's ears first. There wasn't much thought of it as he stirred a bit. When he realized the sound was continuous his eyes shot open. At first he thought it was just a crazy dream. He slowly turned his head towards a woman sitting on the couch and crying. Another woman was on all fours, looking for something that she may have dropped. She got up when she found what she was looking for, glasses. A few words escaped the woman's lips before another man got up and quickly looked for... live bodies? Ian slowly turned his head the opposite direction. Gallons of blood and severed limbs were all over the room. The sight didn't bother him a bit. Soon after another woman stood up to help the man.

Who the hell are these people? With a little more examination, Ian realized he was not home. He realized this wasn't a dream and he sure as hell realized that he was no wheres near home. As he got up he reached for a short sword. He had a really bad feeling that these people were either hostile, or something really bad was about to happen. Even if none of this was true, the short sword may come in handy later on. He looked over everyone that appeared to be alive and kicking. Four different souls. Ian stood away from the few people that were moving. He was hoping that no one would notice him just yet. The most important question he had in the past 24 hours popped into his head.

Is this permanent?

[Henwen]

Get up! Get Up! Get UP!
With agonizing slowness Marzipan felt herself regaining consciousness, almost as agonizing as the pain that suffused her being as she became more aware of her body and it's state. Only the underlying feeling of panic and relentless urgency kept her from returning to the relief of oblivion...

No time! You have to... You have to... It's so important! You must go and..."
With the fading sense of urgency she found the will to move just a little, only to regret the motion instantly as the pain sent waves radiating through her. Moaning, she tried to flinch away from the hands she felt upon her person, a flair of panic cutting through the pain. The pain was doing its part in waking her up. However, the more she became aware, the more the feelings that urged her on slipped away...

The more everything slipped away.

"Uhng," Marzipan groaned as she sat up, the room dipping and swimming about her in a stomach churning fashion. Closing her eyes, she reached her hand to the back of her head- feeling it burn and ache- and when she looked at her hand next it was red with her blood, "Huh."

Finally she looked about at her surroundings, taking in the carnage, the people moving about, and the people who would never move again. She looked to the woman whom was crying on the couch, the girls around her and the dangerous looking men picking their way over bodies, waiting for any shred, any flicker of recognition...

There was none to be had. She did not know any of these people. She did not know where she was. Why she had come here. She did know she had a concussion. Although she did not remember how. And that it had been important that she had come here. Was important. Still important. It had to have been, or else why would she have come? Why would she have risked bodily harm and be injured so?

"Ow." She said eloquently, and a complete understatement as to how she felt. She felt like she'd gotten the bad end of a brawl, and sending a glance to the state of her knuckles, maybe she had. She wouldn't know.

[SpookySquid]

As the women tried to collect herself, Zenia glanced out the window. In the distance, she saw a large collection of small brick and wooden houses. She would quickly realize that this was a castle, since there was a moat filled with water nearby, and several stone bricks laying in or around the moat in small heaps. Clearly, these bricks had once been part of a wall that had collapsed during some sort of attack or siege.

Finally, the women stopped taking shaky breaths and wiping the tears off of her eyes. Her dialogue was aimed towards Zenia, the first person to address her. "We've failed. They overtook us easily. My father, he..." She stopped and cried a little more, "He's dead. There are a few clusters of guards scattered throughout the castle, but it's over. And my mother and brother and..." Again, she started to cry. "I'm so sorry, I thought everyone here was dead. We're all doomed anyways. As soon as they get through those doors... to think, I dreamed of ruling one day... and now that I'm technically the ruler, it doesn't matter." More sobbing.

Then she abruptly stopped and sat up straight. Something changed in her eyes. "We're not going out without a fight. Servants, grab your weapons. I see you have no armor, and unfortunately there is no time to put any on, save helmets."

Again, something changed in the women eyes. It seemed as if... their color was changing? It seemed beforehand that they had been blue, but now they were a fierce red, which then suddenly changed to a vibrant purple. "Actually, maybe we should run away with what we have left..."

Then, in response to James' comment, she said, "You're right. We should focus on finding survivors in this room. I shouldn't have assumed they were all dead," she sprang up from the sofa and helped in the effort to search for survivors. As she did this she said to the entire group, "What do all of you think we should do? Fight The Claws of Anarchy or flee?"

[MonsieurShade]

Jacque awoke with a start, giving a barely audible gasp as his eyes adjusted to the lights (or lack thereof) around him. From the very moment he reached consciousness the man realized that there were several things that were very wrong. The first thing was the most obvious: there was no sky above him, and the ground that lie beneath was most definitely not soil. Following this unpleasant discovery was an even more worrisome one: There were voices around him, voices that happened to be extremely close by. Where they thieves? Natives that took issue with him passing through some unmarked territorial boundary? Cannibals? The possibilities were as endless as they were potentially unpleasant. Or at least, they would have been had Jacque noticed a distinct lack of bindings and missing property. His bow was still firmly clutched in his left hand and the leather quiver and arrows were still beneath his wrist, the weight of the knife on his belt had not been alleviated, meaning that was still there too. Jacque slowly twitched his right foot, testing to see if- yes, the little wooden box was still tied to his ankle, and judging from the scraping sound within, as was the occupant of the box.

If this was a kidnapping then it was a pretty piss poor one, after all the only thing missing was his weather blanket. He decided to actually tune in to what was being said, just in time to hear a feminine voice inquire about something that involved claws of anarchy. What was the phrase, Jacque wondered, risk it for a biscuit? 'Well here goes the risk...' He mused as he slowly sat up and eyes his surroundings. There was some wariness on his face as he eyed the people around him and his surroundings. Jacque registered it all for a second before he opened his mouth and said the only thing that was really of any worth to him: "Where the hell am I, and what the hell is happening?". His voice was deep, though it cracked a bit as he spoke, almost as though the man hadn't said anything in a good while. Technically true considering the last person he'd spoken to was a hiker in need of direction a week ago. The nomad eyed the cluster of people before him as he awaited his answer.

[Eklispe]

Zenia considered the woman's statement, apparently she saw Zenia, and the others that had risen from the ground like herself to be servants. Well Zenia saw no reason to contradict her. "Miss, I'm afraid I don't think that any of us qualify as fighters, I certainly don't. Against armed and well trained soldiers I don't think we stand a chance." Zenia watched the woman's eye color shift from blue, to red, to a purple color that matched her own. Fascinating, it appeared as though the woman's eyes were like an instantaneous mood ring, talk about being an open book. Zenia would have to make note of those emotions, so far it looked like blue for sad, red for angry, and purple for... thoughtful maybe? It would require further analysis to be sure.

"I recommend that we attempt to escape from these 'Claws of Anarchy' regroup and perhaps attack at another time. Do you have anyone loyal to you we can go to, perhaps a city that would be willing to guard you?" Zenia asked eager to put out her thoughts on the matter and acquire more information about this place they were in. Given that this appeared to be a castle combined with the sounds of most likely sword fighting it seemed they were in some sort of medieval era. She would dearly love to get her hands on a map and a history book but that didn't seem like an option right now.

Zenia looked around and noted some of those rising either had weapons or were scavenging for them, she considered the thought briefly but then dismissed it. She had no skill with a weapon and having one would instigate conflict, without one she would stand a better chance negotiating. A question arose from one of the 'servants', regarding their location. "We appear to be in some sort of castle under attack, the main force has been broken and it looks like the Claws of Anarchy, most likely some sort of bandit or black ops group, has taken the castle. In other-words I have no idea and given the looks of the rest of us it'd be safe to say none of us do save for our lady here. Speaking of which however did you manage to avoid getting taken by these 'claws'?" Zenia inquired the last part aimed at the women whom she assumed was some sort of royalty, given the bodies on the ground it seemed this very room had been under attack but this woman was unharmed. "Oh pardon my manners, my name is Zenia, would you be so gracious as to give me yours?" Zenia asked the women with changing eyes. It looked like there were quite a few of them that weren't quite dead, she wanted to learn more about all of them, but that could wait for later. So many questions so little time...

[duskshine749]

Jason was aware of his surroundings for the entirety of the proceedings, but he figured this was a dream, so he was just going to stay down until he woke up. When that plan seemed to fail he sat up, figuring the dream would play out and he'd wake up whenever. "Well this is a lovely state of affairs, very nice setting." Jason was more talking to himself than anyone, he really commended his brain on this dream, much better than usual. He stood up and stretched, he'd never had a dream this realistic before, but what else could it be? There was no other explanation for why he was in some kind of medieval castle which was under siege.

It seemed they were deciding on whether they should fight or flee. Seeing as there's wasn't much in terms of armour or weapons, fighting didn't seem favourable, mostly because Jason knew he had very little control over his dreams. One girl, Zenia, suggested they flee, "I agree that fleeing would be the best move right now," he said as he walked over to her and the royal looking woman, "my name is Jason, may I inquire as to the names of you two fair maidens?" He was playing it up, but hey, it's a dream, may as well have fun with it, right?

[Sigurd]

Habb felt something warm, something soft under his palms. He smiled and let out couple of incomprehensible words, adjusting his head as if it were on a pillow. Half an hour more of basking in that strange but pleasant warmth and he would get up, steal the money he gave to the girl next to him last night, use the coins to pay the innkeeper for the bed, buy some ale for the road and be gone forever.
He turned on his back and rubbed his face and eyes.
"What?" he mumbled to himself, peaking at his hands. His blood-red hands.
He sobered up in a second, seating himself up and looking at his bloody self.
Those bastards from the army! They've caught me and now they've thrown me into... into some pit, to die like a dog! he thought, grinding his teeth, looking around at the carnage that surrounded him. I'm gonna kill the snitch with my--

There was a group of people in the room with him, gathered around a young lady -- a noblewoman, she seemed.
He ignored the unfortunate souls, who seemed to him a separate group consisting of comrades. As they chatted and attempted to come up with a plan to escape without panicking, Habb kept checking corpse after corpse, digging through blood and bone -- something he found as natural as breathing after years spent fighting in the army -- trying to find a weapon that wasn't broken, or at least a shield that wasn't splintered.

"Wait... These are... This is not our armour," Habb said silently after he had flipped over an eviscerated body. "These are not our sigils, nor our men... Who are you dead lads?"

He got up, staggered, holding a chipped sword taken from the dead man in his hand, and pointing the bloodied steel towards the others who were still alive, inquired: "Where are we, and what is going on?!"

[c3p-0h]

Meryn crashed into consciousness, drowning in the scent of iron and the sounds of chaos. She jolted awake to find she was sitting up against an overturned chair. Confusion gave way to panic as questions spun through her mind. Where was she? Who were all these people? What the hell was going on? Why did she feel like she got stuck at some renaissance fair? And there were bodies, actual bodies on the floor all around her, very clearly dead if the liters of blood soaking into the floor were any indication. Her heart pounding in her chest was almost loud enough to drown out the shouts and clanging of metal beyond the grand doors.

Swallowing back her terror, Meryn clamped a hand over her mouth and forced herself to her feet. A few others in the room were up and about. It was a wide variety of people, some looking much too at home, while others seemed just as disoriented as Meryn felt. One woman in particular, dressed like some sort of noble, switched rapidly between moods as she shed some light on the situation. Meryn half listened, desperate for any insight, but still feeling frantic and disorganized. She vaguely heard a few other people speak up as she crossed the room as carefully as she could to the shattered window.

If her choices were fight or flee, then there really wasn't any choice at all. Meryn had never been in a fight before, let alone one with medieval soldiers, and she sure as hell wasn't about to start now. Poking her head out the window, her eyes widened at what she saw. They were in some sort of castle, with a moat and everything. They were several stories above the ground, and while the castle walls were far from smooth, Meryn didn't trust that she'd be able to find reliable footholds all the way down. Plus who knew how long that would take before someone saw her – and possibly shot at her.

Pulling back from the window, her eyes darted around the room, searching for any solution. The door was a bust. No way was she throwing herself into a sword fight when she could barely even throw a punch. Plus, who knew what sort of weapons people here had. That left… Her eyes widened when they fell on the fireplace. She spun back around and poked her head out the window again, looking up. The roof wasn't too far away. And if the chimney was as old-fashioned as everything else in this weird place, she'd have no trouble fitting. But then what? She'd just be farther from the ground. But she supposed maybe there would be another route from there back into the castle, and she could avoid the chaos… It was a shit plan, but she didn't have many other options. What about the others? Meryn didn't know them, but she couldn't just leave them here to face these Claw people by themselves. Then again, she supposed her own plan wasn't much better.

She walked to the dead soldier closest to her and knelt down next to him. Pausing for a moment, she reached out and grabbed a knife from his gloved hand. Part of her felt disrespectful, dirty for stealing from the dead. But practicality won out, and she slipped it into her boot. Meryn had no idea what she was planning on doing with it. She only ever used knives when cooking, and wouldn't even begin to know how to use one as a weapon. But still, she stood and crossed the room to the fireplace, the weight of the dagger pressed against her foot.

When she reached the fireplace, she took a moment to steady herself, and focus her thoughts. This was something that was actually happening. She was about to scale a castle's chimney to escape medieval marauders known as the 'Claws of Anarchy.' This was her life. How the hell was this her life?

Gritting her teeth, she balled her hands into fists at her sides and spun to face the rest of the room. Meryn gave a short whistle, hoping to catch the others' attentions. Hesitating for only a moment, she placed a hand on the mantle and ducked under it. Meryn looked up. It was dark and filthy, but wide enough for her to be comfortable. Most importantly of all, she could see the blue of the sky at the top. Fully placing herself under the chimney, she pressed her back to one side and pressed a foot against the opposite. Eventually she'd maneuvered herself so her limbs pressed to the sides of the chimney, supporting her body in the middle. Then she started to climb.

[SpookySquid]

The women gave Jacque a very simple explanation of what was happening, simply saying that the castle was being attacked by the Claws of Anarchy, and the Queen and King (Her mother and father) were dead. Then she continued to speak to Zenia. "We should go south. I could jump into the Crystal Rivers... maybe if I found the right type of water I would be strong enough to... oh, never mind, I'll worry about the future later. For now, I agree, we should probably flee and, regardless of weather or not I go to the Rivers, it would be best to go south. And as for how I made it this far, I can hardly believe it myself. If it hadn't been for the bravery and strength of a few guards I would be dead."

She paused when Jason asked her her name, "This is lady Zenia, and I am Princess... well... Queen Julia, ruler of the-" Suddenly she stopped speaking and her eyes returned to her blue color and then back to the fiery red. The Queen suddenly began to scream like a banshee as she leaps over the sofa and grabs a sharp wooden table leg from the floor. She raises it up in the air and recklessly charges at Habb, prepared to strike him with the makeshift weapon.

******

In the meantime, a man lying on the floor starts coughing and sputtering as blood trickles from his mouth down his cheek. He props himself on one arm, sees the princess rushing towards Habb and seems to realize that there will be conflict. He hops up and quickly, but soundlessly follows Meryn up the chimney.

[Sigurd]

Habb stood in a pool of gore, listening to the queen's explanation and trying to pick up clues about the Claws, the south, and about... The river? What is she talking about? Sorcery?

The adrenaline still kept him sober, though his sword-hand was starting to tremble.

We cannot just berserk our way through, he though. This is a siege!

But then, the young woman ceased talking and, as if some dark spell had fallen upon her, she rose. With her eyes burning with anger she reached for a table leg that lay at her feet.

"Hey...?" he said.

Seeing that the young queen had apparently lost her wits and gone mad in a sudden outburst of rage, and that she was now charging savagely right at him with a club in her hand, Habb instinctively took the one-handed fighting stance, ready to meet his attacker with the sword, resolved not to take her life but to try and overpower her instead, if he may.

What if she had killed all these men...?

"Don't do that!" Habb shouted as the queen dashed, hoping that she would halt before any blood was spilled.

[GodOfChaos]

Chaos. Pure Chaos. That is all this was. After finding out who the woman was, Ian went to the only two options all of them had. The number of people alive began to grow. Even though Ian was further away, he made note of the extremely noticeable change of the noble's eye color. I am not fighting a whole merc army with this crazy broad.

A quick whistle caught his attention for a brief moment. He looked towards the fireplace to see a woman. Where the hell did she come from? Ian quickly looked back at the group. The noble that was crying a few moments earlier was now a queen. It seemed she was the only one left in her own blood line. Ian knew that there wasn't enough armor, weapons, and people to take on whatever was waiting outside those large doors. So there was really only one option out of the two he had been given. ESCAPE!

As the queen charged someone holding a sword, a hint of movement from the corner of his eye led to him to look at the fireplace once more. He quickly dropped the short sword and took a dagger that was resting in a dead man's hand. Ian made way towards the large fireplace that was in the room. He looked back at the others for a few moments before putting the dagger in his mouth and clenched his teeth. He pressed his back to the wall and hopped up to get his feet on the other side of the wall. Ian quickly looked up to see the woman and the man that had began the climb. As he began to climb, he realized it would be an uncomfortable experience. His size made the position he was in awkward. A brogue escaped Ian's lips as he spoke. "Its either escape or die Ian, remember that."

[MonsieurShade]

Jacque took the information that had been given to him almost worryingly well, responding with a soft "Ah", before getting up and grunting a bit as he stretched to relieve the stiffness in his his creaking joints. The mountain man was by no means not phased by what was going on, however he'd seen more than his fair share of abnormal events to at least be able to take it all in without too much issue. Even the scent of blood which hang heavy in the air was not enough to completely throw him off after years of hunting and preparing his own meals, though he did have to cover his mouth with his hand to help avoid audibly retching at the sight of the corpses. He could field dress a boar or a deer without so much as a blink, but that did little to prepare him for the sight of a dead man, though of the little being done it managed to keep him from actually vomiting or becoming completely hysterical. Jacque pried his eyes away from the bodies and knelt to untie the rope that bound him and the little wooden box together.

Jacque had just finished completely removing the box from his person when the one who had introduced herself as Julia snapped and made a lunge for one of the other living souls in the room, seemingly intent on murdering the man with a jagged piece of wood. Jacque snatched up the bow as well as one of the ten arrows that lay in his quiver before notching it. He began to aim directly at Julia, however his body went rigid as he squashed down the instinct to let the arrow fly. This wasn't like shooting at a wolf or a lynx to stop them from attacking a hiker, it was a person, a human being. Jacque grit his teeth and aimed a few feet ahead of Julia before letting the arrow fly, hoping that the sight of the deadly projectile whizzing by ahead of her would snap the woman out of whatever rage she'd come under.

[SpookySquid]

The queen roared with rage but stopped when Habb said, "don't do that!" Again, her eyes changed color, but this time to a metallic gold. She stopped immediately after Jacque fired, causing the arrow to miss her by several feet. "Sorry, red eyes gets a little jumpy sometimes," she said coolly, ignoring the arrow that was now stuck into the door. She looked around at those that remained standing there. Then she looked at Habb. Was it his imagination, or did she... wink at him? She then whirled around and started walking towards the chimney. "Alright let's get out of here!" she said, gesturing towards the chimney. "It's really the only chance we have..." and with that she began easily crawling upwards after Ian, despite her fancy dress. Moments later, the large door bent and shuddered. Someone was using a battering ram! They only had moments left before that door was nothing but splinters. Jacque's arrow slipped out of the door and fell to the ground, surprisingly still intact.

*****

Meryn was, of course, the first to reach the top. She was very high up and a slip on this rooftop would be fatal- the ground was 1800 feet away. Unfortunately, the roof had a cone like shape, making it difficult to maneuver around. However, luck seemed to be on their side. A wall had toppled over and fallen onto the roof somehow making a brick ramp of sorts leading to the grass below. Just beyond the small plain, there was a large forest that stretched out as far as the eye could see. Suddenly, the man following Meryn pulled himself upwards and out of the chimney. He paused to take a second to catch his breath.

[Sigurd]

An arrow whizzed before him and Julia stopped. Habb lowered his weapon, sighed in relief and tossed the useless blade aside.
New colour, ey? he thought when Julia winked at him, and he bowed slightly before the queen, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Alright, the chimney is indeed our best chance, I'll admit that", said Habb, watching them all duck and struggle up the dirty passage. "There's a little something I'd like to do, though," he added and smiled to himself. It was time for one of his magic tricks. He would mask one of the dead bodies to make it look like the new queen. It was one of the first tricks he had learned, but never used for more than wooing women and cheating rich men. This time, he would try to bait the enemy into thinking the queen is dead, hoping that they would abandon their pursuit.

Let's see... he though, looking for a body of smaller proportions, a feminine body. You'll do.
He chose the corpse of a young felled man, a boy dragged into battle, no older than he had been when he first went to the battlefield. He pulled out a miniature pouch, and knelt by the boy's lifeless head. After a loud combustion of some illusionist's powder followed by a richly-coloured puff of smoke, the body was no longer that of the boy, but of queen Julia.
"Looking good, mate!" said Habb and went to join the gang climbing the chimney.

I need a drink...

[TheFake]

Jackie expertly moved through the bodies on her side of the room, soon enough finding a small knife that she slipped into her pocket. The commotion across the room caught her interest for a moment and she watched as most of the still moving people in the room headed for what was probably the messiest and least convenient escape route possible.

She sighed and grabbed a sword on her way to follow, thrusting it through her belt. After waiting a moment for the others to make it a reasonable distance towards the roof she followed along.

[c3p-0h]

By the time she reached the top, Meryn was filthy. Sweating from the climb, she was covered head to toe in soot. At least she didn't care for her clothes. She wiped a hand across her face, no doubt only smearing the ashes further. Meryn looked around her for a moment, careful to keep her balance on the uneven roof. Where the hell was she? Part of her had hoped that this weird… illusion, or dream, or prank, or whatever it was would end once she'd escaped the room, but the outside world was just as alien to her. Her eyes fell on the makeshift ramp, leading from the roof to the land beyond the moat. She had no idea how that'd happened or if it was even stable enough to support them, but at the moment it was their best option. If she could get into the woods just beyond that, she knew for a fact she could outmaneuver almost anyone. And then what? No matter where she went, she was still stuck in some weird land with castles and princesses who had irises linked up to whatever dissociative identity disorder she had. Then again, it wasn't like she had a whole lot of choices here.

She spun back to the chimney when she heard another person, a man who looked just as foreign to her as everything else here, scrambled out of the chimney and onto the roof. He seemed winded from the climb, but then so was she. Inching closer to him, she tilted herself down so his face was in his line of vision, and placed a light hand on his arm. Meryn caught his eyes in her own pale green ones and then moved her gaze to the crumbled wall, pointing with her other hand. She looked back up at him one last time before turning back to the chimney and reaching down to help the others up.