Anarion

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

"Hmm, that's quite odd. Is this what happened to you, Carmen?" Annalee asks to nobody in particular. She gives the pig a gentle pat pat on the head. "Well, this will have to do I suppose. Timmy, kindly take the pig and wait in the hall, I'll call you in presently. I've got some work to do, and I need perhaps half an hour to...freshen up, if you will. Oh, and don't let the pig run away. If she's well-behaved...maybe I'll lift her curse when I'm done here." Annalee gives Carmen a little wink and pushes her towards Tim, then she pushes the two of them into the hall and will not take no for an answer.

That dealt with, she does actually freshen up for a moment in Elodie's bathroom. It's been a long day and she's literally been flung from a tower into the castle moat. She can take a moment to wash her face. And wipe away the blood of Sam's bite. A bite she'd allowed him. A closeness she had permitted. Her terms, her rules. But then when she'd decided things weren't working, he had attacked her. Taken advantage of her. Used that closeness to bypass her charms and wards.

Annalee permits herself a smile in that bathroom mirror as she slides out the bit of Samael's shirt sleeve that she had ripped from him in their little exchange. Closeness was a double edged sword, after all. She hadn't been willing to face him back there. She hadn't been confident in herself, her spells. What if he had rushed her or tried something as she went to cast? That was of course before that madness burst from the portal, and Timothy's shadow had grown some teeth. Well, well, our little mortal had something else going for him it seemed, or someone else. Wasn't that exciting?

Annalee begins to hum to herself as she finishes drying her face and begins to run the shirt sleeve under the water. There was a little blood on it, you see, and that was the problem with vampires. All that blood. Blood was the thrill, the violence, the power. What would a vampire be like if you washed the blood right out of them, hmm? It was something worth finding out. Annalee's hum becomes a chant, dark words echoing through the bathroom. The old lights flicker and sizzle and the water seems to fill that sleeve, sink deep, deep into it until every last drop of blood of blood has run out and both sink and sleeve are pure, gleaming white. The words leave Annalee's lips and the taste in her mouth is sweet, like taking a bite out of a ripe plum. She licks her lips. Why hadn't she been confident in herself? That one little mistake on the sphinx? Please, even that hadn't mattered in the end. She was a powerful witch and it was time that people learned that properly.
[Hex casting 5+2+1=8. Samael is afflicted with Binding. Correctly this time. He cannot physically harm others. Annalee enters her Darkest self on this result.]

She steps out of the bathroom, drying her hands and flips the towel onto Elodie's bed. That had been good, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly. Elodie had been a source of chaos today and it was clear that simple humiliation wouldn't work that well on her. Oh, Annalee considered making all her hair fall out, but she'd just get angry over something like that. No, what she needed was a more subtle curse, one that would stop her and her absurd flights of fancy in their tracks. Yes, let's see how the little girl who could never face anyone fared when she couldn't tell truth from lies and read every person she met utterly wrong. The ritual for this one was easy, she had Elodie's old shirt after all, stashed away in her bags from her last visit to this tower room. She put a hand on it and it practically seemed to glow with a black light as she spoke the words of the hex and darkness leapt from the tower to cloud Elodie's vision. She would see phantoms everywhere. Bug bugs and snakes were so gauche. No, the phantoms that Elodie would be seeing would be in intentions. Misread body language, misunderstood signs, subtext where none existed. Confident in her foolishness.

[Hex casting: 5+6+1=12. The curse goes off without a hitch. Elodie is struck by illusions, specifically she sees non-existent subtext everywhere. The exact manifestations are up to consensus of whoever is doing the scene.]

Then Annalee crawls onto Elodie's bed to relax, flinging the exhausted shirt to the side."Alright Timmy, you can come in now" she calls out. You've stayed outside with your new pig friend the whole time, right Timmy? You didn't peek or anything? That would be an extremely rude thing to do to a witch.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

W.W.H.D.? Stall. Stall like your life depended on it. Or Kyouko's life! Kathelia just didn't have the tools right now to do more than that. She could let Azora get whisked away, but her spiteful sister would probably hurl her and Kyouko into the traps in the process and despite everything else, keeping Azora around might be useful. She was powerful after all. Plus, if Azora dropped out and Kazelia just sat there, Eupheria would come out and mess things up. So stall, stammer, stutter, and generally keep Azora focused on not moving forward.

"Ha, I'm calling your bluff sthithter!" Kathelia managed, trying to roll out of the way of the stomping feet of her enraged sister. "I'd say that we're at an impathe! I cannot go forward, for doing so would cauthe you to harm Kyouko, one of my dear friendth. But you, dear sthithter," she says, using her spear to help struggle to her feet. "You can't carry out your threat or you'll lothe your leverage on me." Kazelia grins. "You've made the clathic blunder, sthithter! You are alone, while soon my friendth will stir or come to my aid. Our deadlock will guarantee my victory!"

Kathelia gives Azora her best grin, trying not to show that she's bluffing and that her best guess is that Rita, Alina, and Isolde are all trapped right now and probably need her help rather than coming to her aid anytime soon. Besides, she knew just how to push Azora's buttons and that was the goal here.

"Really sthithter, thith ith stho like you!" Kathelia is really warming up to this part. "You only think about Daddy and yourthelf. Did you even think about what happenth when he getth the Cadutheuth?" This part's a little for Eupheria too, since she's listening in. "You think he'll be proud of you, right? sthooooo proud of hith favorite daughter ever. But you've just been flying about, paying no attention to how all thith workth. If Daddy gets the Cadutheuth, he'll freeze Ourania, but then the retht of uth will follow. You too, sthithter. He can't pay attention to you all the time, can he? Where ith he now? Why ithn't he bailing out hith favorite daughter from an Illuminan curthe?"

Azora's probably fuming, she's absolutely going to lose it, nevermind the contest she's gotta take this out on Kathelia right now. And Eupheria, well, she should be getting some top quality entertainment from the sibling rivalry. You can't conjure pettiness this good, it takes that real thousands of years of pent up sibling rivalry unleashed by magical curses that make both of them immature kind of situation to give it that vicious flare.

So Kathelia goes in for the kill shot. "You know Daddy ithn't capable of loving anyone, right sthithter? He thinks you're utheful, but the thecond he focutheth on anything elthe, he'll forget you even exitht. I'm thorry to have to be the one to break it to you."

[Keep Them Busy: 6+6+2=14. This works really, really well and there are no consequences. Also someone else who drops in here might be at an advantage.]

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Kathelia stirs and tries to rub her eyes. She can't though, she's trapped in the blanket, bound up magically tight by Azora so that there's no hope of it coming loose. That's when she realizes how close she is to Kyouko. This is...uh W.W.H.D. uh, uh, panic, blush, activate the ejector seat! Oh sure, they'd kissed and everything, but this was different, Kyouko was knocked out and there was a snakerchief and they were so close to each other and it was extremely untoward! Oh goodness gracious how had this happened?

Kathelia tries to look anywhere but at Kyouko, which is a challenge because she can only move her neck so her field of view is pretty limited. She does notice Azora though, and Alina, both moving forward. That's...that's not good, the room is a trap. Is Azora really that dumb, she's just going to assume she can handle it? That's the exact sort of thing Eupheria would count on, especially with the Caduceus this close.

When this was over, Kathelia was going to go build an entire stable of inventions, all of which could be activated by waggling her eyebrows in the correct pattern! Then this type of problem wouldn't happen! Okay, but right now she needed to...do something?

"Hey, Azora!" She called. Her voice was horse from the manticore venom, it came out as little more than a croak. Slowly losing her voice had been the worst part of this curse. Maybe if she concentrated her magic she could throw off that part? She'd need to find a way to shift how the world saw her, Eupheria's curses couldn't just be pushed off without replacing them. But she'd need her hands free for that. Let's see, there had to be something, maybe she could. Well okay she could broadcast her voice to Alina at least, with magic. She managed to croak out "sthomethingth wrong! Sthtop!" and cast that magically towards her kitty friend...her cursed wonderful princess friend.

She shook her head, looked around. There had to be some clue here to how all this worked. Maybe even some way to get free.

[Look closely: 2+6+0=8.
what is going on here, what do my senses tell me?
Is something hidden or out of place? If so what looks suspicious?
Tell me about the hidden rooms. How could they hurt me? How could they help me?
One answer the hard way.]

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

Annalee pulls on Timmy's arm. She's bolting. Sam is under attack and she has no desire to defend him or be next. Timmy's shadow is doing something strange and that would be interesting, but it's also dangerous right now. "Timmy, come on!" she says and practically yanks him off his feet. She is leaving now and if he's not moving with her by now then he's getting left behind.

Where to go, where to go? They need to find someplace safe. Someplace to take shelter. Abandoned classroom? Maybe one of the tower rooms. Annalee kept an eye open for a sanctuary. She really needed to make her own, but any small room would do the trick. They needed some place quiet to catch their breath and she needed a little time to work her magic.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Princess Azora Howl expected to be obeyed. However, it was her constant source of frustration with...well, really everyone in the world that they did not simply anticipate her needs and act to serve her (except Daddy of course, she was there to anticipate his needs, that's how hierarchy was supposed to work). As such, the stirring defense that her new kitty was providing was...well, not actually expected. Oh sure, that's what a good kitty ought to be doing, but she hadn't really expected the girl to do it. Even the geas wouldn't require this level of skill and commitment, unless the princess had been holding out extensively and this was the bare minimum that she conceived of as being good. But...but there was no way that was possible, she had never shown off enough power for that to be true. No, no the only possibility was that she was just very happy with the arrangement and had truly seen Azora's genius!

Azora Howl permitted herself a brief smile before she continued her magical barrage.

Her primary plan, not including her new cat's wonderful assistance, had been elegant in its simplicity. A glass dragon, however many heads it had, was still glass and hence vulnerable to all the things that glass detested: high heat, shattering, resonant frequencies. Really, it was simple magic. Eupheria was terribly uncreative with the Caduceus, just animating regular things. Of course Azora couldn't directly take her on while she held an artifact of such power, she wouldn't be doing this whole maze if she could, but Eupheria's creations were entirely pedestrian. She had simply planned to fly above its current reach and when it tried to stop her, she would rain down fire and that would be that. The manticores could be held with simple shadow bindings, and really the only challenge had been one of attention and scale. But with her kitty giving her time to work her wonders, that wasn't a problem either. She anticipated this being a wonderful relationship.

Really, everything was going swimmingly and it was not until she saw that dancing girl (who she had certainly disabled with enchantment) cavorting towards the trees and blowing her cat a kiss that anything even seemed slightly out of place. Oh stars, she was not going to let this stand, especially since they were talking to each other and ignoring her!

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Azora Howl

On the one hand, you know to be careful. Look what this little Illuminan trickster did to Kazelia and Kaja. Disgraceful. You, however, are the smart sister and there is no way you will let her get to you like that. You should just leave her here and then come pick up your new pet kitty when you are princess of everything and you have the Caduceus.

On the other hand, any team with you on it is, by definition, the best team in history and it's very gratifying that your kitty acknowledges that. And she thinks it's because of you and not that stupid old woman who was dragging you down. You feel extremely good about this type of praise. Also you kind of like having a kitty: it's very on-theme for you as a witch and she feels really good to pet. Her purring is very nice too and you would kind of like it if she fell asleep on top of you.

Well, the obvious solution was magic! Magic was, of course, the solution to nearly all problems and your magic is the best magic so it had a solution to this problem too. You'd just suggest a simple geas to the little Illuminan. She'd never agree to it of course because you knew that she was trying to trick you, but if she did magically agree to be a good kitty for you, then you'd feel totally safe because your magic is awesome and totally foolproof.

So, while you move your hand from ear to neck scritchies (which, an objective observer would note you are mildly more competent at) you give her a lovely little smile. "Well, after what you did to Daddy, I think I'll need a little insurance. You understand, right kitty? One can never be too careful. All you have to do is promise out loud to be a good kitty for me while I cast a little magic on you and then you and I can go fetch those apples together while Kazzie takes her little nap. How does that sound?"

She'll never do it. You raise your hand, which glows ominously with shadow bindings just waiting for her to refuse and put on that resolute little stare that all the princesses do right before you bind and gag them with shadows. It's very gratifying to...wait is she nodding?! She's nodding, and she's saying out loud "Of course, I'll be a good kitty for you while we go and get those apples together!" You did NOT expect this, so you hurry and switch from conjuring shadow bindings to the geas (this is not a problem for you because you're the best at magic and you cast it perfectly even on the fly). The little promise pops right out of kitty's lips and ties her all up in little purple and blue bindings that merge all around her before they disappear so you know the promise is really on her.

Now there's nothing she can do but be your best little kitty. Oh this is exciting! You give her collar a tug and it magically lifts her by the scruff of her neck onto your broom in front of you so you can keep petting her. As an afterthought, you levitate the blanket with your sister and the fox after you too. It wouldn't do to leave them, you are far too busy to have to come back for them later to bring them to Father. The dancing girl can stay, she won't be trouble for anyone.

Oh yes, this is delightful. Up you go to fetch the golden apples, giving your new kitty all the scritchies. You're going to be the best princess of everything Hyperborea has ever seen!

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

Azora Howl settled comfortably onto her new broomstick. She had only had to seize it from an enterprising shop gremlin who was absolutely wasting it moving boxes about like some kind of common servant. She had simply settled on top and it had obeyed her, which had been exceedingly gratifying. Quite frankly, she'd been worried that Eupheria would manage to screw up witches brooms, which would really have been an achievement, but one couldn't put any amount of failure past an Illuminan. She had sniffed, turned up her nose, and kicked her new broomstick to fly off without so much as a how do you do from the gremlin (probably because she had bound him upside down and gagged to the wall with shadow cuffs. Gosh that one really never got old).

Now, she was comfortably in the lead and there was that silly Illuminan princess, her bratty sister, and that...uh fox princess with them! Wait, hadn't the other one traveling with them been a cat though? Well whatever, it's not she like was expected to keep up with which fluffy animal princess her sister and that Illuminan traveled around with. She couldn't just let them traipse about in what was soon to be her kingdom! She needed to make an example of them, then she could show Daddy that she'd personally defeated all his villains and become a queen AND gotten him the Caduceus and he would know forever that she was the best and only daughter that mattered in the whole universe. This was in fact a perfect plan.

Oh and look, the Illumina's witty bitty kitty curse was getting worse! She had done some excellent acrobatics, but now she's just sitting there grooming herself. Oh dear though, Azora saw yet another failing on Eupheria's part. The little kitty didn't have a collar on! Why, people would think she was a stray, that wouldn't do at all. Now, let's see, ah yes, she did have those odd green eyes and it was important to color coordinate (Azora Howl considered whether she would make a "collar coordinate" joke upon landing, but determined that such a pun was beneath her). So, she conjured a leash and collar in a lovely green to complement her new kitty's eyes and shot it lickety split from her new broom to snap around Alina's neck. Then she gave it a firm, magically strengthened yank to pull her new kitty onto all fours like she was supposed to be. That was excellent. She was even so thoughtful and careful to make sure that the part of her arm being groomed wasn't pushed as hard as the rest, so kitty could keep working on making herself pretty.

She'd thought her annoying sister would hop up at an assault on one of her friends, but as she pulled her broom in closer, she realized that the nerd and her little cheerleader were out cold. No visible wounds, must be magic or poison. Either way, they were obviously in the same boat and ought to know it a bit better, not to mention be a bit more immobilized than now. She gives her hand a little twirl and a thick fluffy blanket appears out of nowhere. She's not going to hurt her sister, she's just errant and the forest floor is no place for a Rider princess, especially one carrying something so important as Mother. So she lifts her sister up on the blanket, Kyouko too, and then twirls and twirls and wraps them up together nice and tight. There, snugly held and dealt with. She was almost jealous of the sound sleep they would get, but of course there was other work to be done for her right now.

She starts to float down and as she does so, she sees another one of the competitors. That Askaian in the dancing girl outfit. Where's she going in such a hurry? It would not do for her to rush Azora Howl along, you can tell that much. Hm, how about...oh yes..Azora gives her fingers a little twirl and sends out an enchantment. Suddenly every piece of silk on that poor little dancing girl thinks it's a tree snake and wants to attach itself to a different tree branch. Just try and watch her twirl and leap when every piece of fabric she's wearing is pulling her in a different direction! She'll be hopelessly trussed up in seconds! Azora permits herself a light chuckle.

Then she floats over to Mittens and pulls her head into her lap, stroking her ears gently (it is not gentle, she's stroking your ear fur the wrong way, you want to shudder and arch every part of your back). "Good kitty. I think being a kitty is the best thing for an Illuminan, you're much better at it than the actual cat people, that one over there is doing an awful job of it. You though, if you're very good," she jangles your collar to emphasize the point "maybe I'll keep you and let you sit on my lap when I'm the princess of the whole world. What do you think kitty?"

Monster Hearts: Sleepshy Rise

<Snipped quote by Anarion>

Timothy is a perfectly ordinary boy, and I'm shocked - shocked! - that you would suggest otherwise.

@TheAmishPirate

I guess you could say he's just hanging out with the wrong crowd. All the time.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

W.W.H.D.: Princess Hornet would want to fetch her cube companion from her knapsack and take a relaxing, manticore venom induced nap. She didn't have anyone counting on her though. Kathelia thought that maybe, if she did, Princess Hornet (who was objectively, the coolest princess) would have a device around to turn on some theme music so she could do something really, really cool.

Lacking both, Kathelia takes in the garden. Her vision is...oh mother void, how to even describe it? You're watching still, from the center of her heart, so maybe you have the best seat in the house for this. Her vision is a swirl as the sight of the labyrinth garden with its grasping vines and ivy walls wars with another of leafy trees and mountain needles from manticore poison and Kathelia's past. The two struggle back and forth, plants swirling and changing and interposing with each other until flames lick the edges and burn away the dross. She isn't stung during this time because Red shines in her left hand, the flames swirling outward and around the fist grasping it tight next to her heart. Its fires mix with those of the spear in her right hand and the manticores can't even get near her as she scans the garden, so intense is the heat.

Alina had been dragged down by vines and should be somewhere but...there was crushed foliage and...she peers through the flames following the trail to some kind of cage on a cart approaching the orchard. She thought she glimpsed someone else dart by wearing silks as well and moving lithe and fast. But that wasn't Alina, which meant, logically, that she was in the cage, so that was where Kathelia needed to go.

Kathelia spares one more thought for Kyouko before she leaves her perch. She steps past the manticores and fastens her spear onto her back, leaving the flames swirling around her. Keeping a tight grip on Red, she bends down to pick up up Kyouko effortlessly with her off hand, letting the flames part around just the two of them. "Thankth Kyouko" she says to the already drifting off fox, blushing slightly at the lisp even though you'd think she'd have gotten used to it by now. It didn't exactly fit the rainbow flame theme she was trying to pull off here.

Nevermind though. With Kyouko slung over one arm and Red held firmly to her chest, she leaps with a strength that she's never had. Her hypothesis had been right! The localized labyrinth conditions were unsuited to preventing aerial traversal! She had just enough time to exult before coming down with a Thunk and a rattling on the...area a few feet to the side of the cage. Listen! There's a big difference between theory and execution and she had hardly had time to calculate localized gravity with empirical precision before that jump, so it's pretty solid that she got close!

She cradles Kyouko to herself for the landing (gosh that's...that's really nice, does Adila feel this way when she picks people up all the time?) and then lays her gently on the ground on some grass. She rushes to the pallet, lets out a sigh of relief when she sees Alina there and pulls her spear out to slash the bars, which turn to ash before her. Her fires are dying down though. Once she finishes that, it's no more rainbow flames highlighting her pigtails, it's just red shining in that hand: beating steadily next to her heart. The edges of her vision are all fire now, crackling and surging to hold the manticore poison at bay a little longer.

"Alina, I brought your light! Itth right here!" She holds her hand out, wobbling only a little as she moves Red away from her body. It wants to come home Alina, but Kathelia is going to need a little help pretty soon because it's about to be nap time for her.

Princess-Champions of Hyperborea

W.W.H.D.: Princess Hornet, like every other victim of manticore venom that does not have immunity (magical or otherwise) would suffer a combination of symptoms typical of the clinical case, with slight variances for personal tolerance, constitution, and mental state. The typical case of manticore venom involves two primary symptoms. Physically, the body is subjected to a slow-acting paralysis. This begins with a feeling of lethargy. After a brief period of time, typically measured in several minutes, this is followed by occasional involuntary muscle spasms, a general feeling of unresponsiveness (not dissimilar to having one's arm or leg fall asleep) and eventually a gentle paralytic sleep lasting between twenty minutes and several hours, depending in part on whether the victim is woken or allowed to sleep off the effects. Some people even take small doses of the stuff intentionally, claiming that the sleep it offers is especially deep and relaxing. This also leads us to the neurochemical effects of the toxin: mild to medium hallucinogenic effects. Depending on victim, this could be as simple as a slight alteration in depth perception and distance judgment, or it can involve more complex visions such as the victim perceiving themselves as a different person or elements in their setting as entirely different objects. The hallucinations are typically not so severe as to entirely distance the victim from reality (e.g., they will not walk into objects as if they weren't there even before the paralysis) but they may be found talking to a tree or flower without possessing plant-speaking magic.

All this is to say that Kathelia had really been hoping that once free, Red would dash off to go join Alina. If she could fish it out of the bag, she could get it into its casing and toss it to Alina. But when she looks at her bag now, she's not seeing a bag of Labazaar objects and one (1) dragonfire light. Instead, Kathelia (already quite the nerd) appears to be hallucinating something from her long ago past and is seeing a mix of old toys in her bag: carved blocks, little animals and plants, jangly and shiny bits and bobs that she'd quite like to grasp if both her hands weren't full. And really, she'd quite like to take a nap right now, but she's still busy and she needs to find...something in here and get it to Alina. She spins her spear with one hand (though with less fervor than a moment ago) and tries to dig past a little sheep and a block with letters on it and find the...the thing she's looking for, a really shiny fiery toy. It's got to be in there somewhere.