BrokenPromise

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

Alright kids, I have 2 cool surprises for you today.

First off, I'm a little sad that no one noticed that the park map was actually the lost meme. It's okay, I forgive you.



Second one is more for the Grand Magistrate to look at. A girl flew by with some documents.

Oros

Their memory is more important than what they were.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

"B-but I wasn’t gunna kill it! : C"

— Trixy

_{@ERode@FamishedPants@twave@Crusader Lord@Flamelord}

Even if Trixy’s vine shot didn’t score a hit, it at least did half of what she wanted by stopping Mariette from firing on Hyun. A dopey smile crossed her face as she watched the portal witch escape. It wasn’t the best outcome, but Hyun had a chance now.

Though Sil’s transmission turned that smile upside down.

"O-oh." She hung her head. Trixy thought she had really been on fire during this mission, but she hadn’t considered that Mariette might not realize her intentions. It would be harder for cradle to settle things peacefully with her now. Especially since Beacon opened fire on her. But the alternative was chancing Hyun turning into some rotisserie chicken.

Which was appetizing, but there was something to be said for a cutie as well. Trixy extended her arms to catch her, but Lenna had a height advantage thanks to some barriers that Trixy’s arms just couldn’t match. Not that it mattered too much. Trixy just didn’t get to hold girls very much, unless it was during a fight, or her date was smacking her around. But it was enough just to see Amaryllis’s gambit pay off.

Veronica’s voice echoed in the minds of all nearby cradle agents. “Done? Preparing evac, stand by.”

The situation only got more grim when Trixy heard Rachel’s orders.

"Deal with?" She stood up a bit straighter. "Waddaya mean? You got a new cutie for your squad, courtesy of everyone’s teamwork!" The cradle was opening up under Trixy. Bubbling tar that was darker than the dead rave. "I mean, I’m not going to pretend that there aren’t some horrible corrupt girls out there, but look at what we just did together!" Trixy spread her arms and gestured at everything. It didn't matter that no one was looking at her. "She was eating people a few seconds ago, and look! Are you telling me that she gets a chance and we don’t? I mean-" She half choked. "Is this really how it’s going to be? Us versus them to the very end? ...Can’t I bury my friends first?" Trixy’s voice cracked. She placed both of her hands on her gun. Cereza and Cerise’s bodies had gone somewhere, but she couldn’t disobey Veronica. It was bad enough that she disappointed Sam, and not becoming a corpse herself was a top priority.

"Sam, can you get away? Veronica’s pulling me out."

Trixy had no intention of firing on anyone, but this wouldn’t be the first time her plans blew up in her face. She was on the other side of the barrier she had made earlier, and all of the beacon girls were above her. So long as she was ready to fire on any Beacon coming through the hole, it should make her a bit harder to reach.

"Cereza, Cerise, I’ll bring you justice."

---

“You know what? Salt is in RN.”

— Tetrad

_{@AtomicNut@DarkwolfX37}

Did the fight end? Yes. Did it end without any of her opponents dieing just like she wanted? Yes. Was it a satisfying conclusion she could be proud of? Hell no!

Tetrad had difficulty processing what even happened. The timid bear/bird girl suddenly went into mom mode, and then there was a spirit rip move, and that trap came back, and then, what the hell even was that? When did she walk onto the set of a sitcom? Exit stage right! Now now now!

“NO!” Tetrad marched towards Jimmy. “No I agreed to ONE date! I don’t even think I did that, but you know, I’m doing it anyway! Because you stopped attacking.” Her eyes were as wide as saucers. Tetrad pointed at herself with her thumb. “I had everything under control! You could have run! I didn’t ask you to put yourself in danger. And those 'hints' were pretty crappy FYI!” She lifted her finger up in front of Jimmy’s face. “ONE! O-N-E ONE! That’s what we start with.” She spun on her heel so that her back was pointed towards Jimmy. “You only get more if I enjoy it, alright? And quit looking so pathetic!” She shuffled her cards about until she had a few blue ones, which she tossed in Jimmy’s direction. “Kingqueen69 right? I’ll send you a message later.” She really wasn’t interested in Jimmy, but contacts were contacts.

She glanced at Shion. Not the most social sort. Thanks to her link with Veronica, she knew a bit about the girl. Shion was being chased by the mint, which should mean she could be an ally of Cradle. But this seemed like a weird time to exchange contact information. Not only that, but it was clear she was a solitary type that didn’t like working with others. A bit on the grumpy side too. At least that was the vibe she got. But just walking away was the N.E.E.T. thing to do.

“So yea, that was a really cool attack. I’m sure it would have screwed up any other magical girl.” Tetrad gave Shion a thumbs up. “Did you need any help healing up?” Her eyes shifted side to side, then she leaned in close to speak quietly. “Alright so I’m at least fifty percent sure this guy is going to try and slip me a mickey, so if you wouldn’t mind exchanging phone numbers with me, I’d feel a lot safer. Also, who knows? Penrose is a small place. We’ll probably be bumping into each other a lot.”

---

“You pulled me out here for this shit?”

_{Lub you Lei Zi lolz.}

— Oros

Talking directly with other patrons was not something that happened very often. Usually getting a horror to appear for any reason was an accomplishment in and of itself. Though when you start throwing around terms like “overt interference,” you’re bound to shake someone’s tree.

Something was burning up as it passed through the atmosphere. A pink lotus mounted on a flesh bud zoomed towards Lei Zi. Air friction had set it on fire, but this just seemed to change its color rather than burn it. The lotus pedals and flesh all turned black before arriving at their destination.

A few meters away from Lei Zi the burning abomination floated. Once the fire burned out the black flower started to bloom. The inside of the bloom was a dark crimson, but the real star of the show was the pink haired girl that sat in the center.

The shrine maiden in black uncrossed her legs and stood up. She used her katana’s scabbard to support herself as she raised. With a yawn, she straightened out the rim of her skirt. She examined her effects, straightening every bell and bracelet she wore. At no point during her self inspection did she release hold of her scabbard, but she made no effort to draw her weapon either. After straightening out her back, she stepped out of the flower.

“The first Oros, Hand of the collective entities known as Aighorost, stands before you, to remind you that they will not all be conceived for another ten-thousand years.” She placed a hand on her hip. “I want you to think about how childish a newborn is, and then realize they are ten-thousand years younger than that. You think they’re going to give a shit about what number Lei Zi you are or what type of force your god bears? They can’t even change their diapers!” Oros took the hilt of her blade and pulled it part way out of the sheath. Some images flashed across the blade. “Well whatever. The babysitter’s here to spar words with you.” The blade slid back into the sheath. “Pretex is a pretty word, but I think ‘excuse’ works better. One of these super dangerous horrorlings shit the bed already, and they haven’t killed any magicals yet, right?” She rolled her neck before reaching inside her uniform to scratch her breast. “Even if they did, horrors drop monsters in this shithole all the time. Don’t see anyone crying into the heavens about it though. This whole thing just feels like a waste of time. But hey, since we’re on the topic of ‘interference,’ let's talk about that rave that went tits up.” Oros pulled her hand out of her uniform and sniffed her fingers. A smile crossed her lips. “Tian Rong sent his lighting directly into that pit of debauchery and murdered ‘em by the dozens. Wasn’t that ‘interference,’ or is he above other patrons in all this?”

“Horrors do beget further horrors and monstrosities,” Lei Zi replied. “But calling forth such powerful monsters remains taboo. All Patrons, Horror or not, are expected to operate within the rules of this ‘chessboard’, lest all caution be thrown into the wind and Patrons go to war in place of their so-called Champions. If you’re the caretaker of one not yet born, then surely you know this much.”

The shrine maiden placed one hand to one side, her other hand to the other.

“Competence may be granted. Power may be granted. Safety may be granted. All within limitations that a human soul can bear.. Aighorost, however, deigns to fight in place of their warped child, when their power, no matter how infantile the wielder, can see that girl whisked away instead. If that’s not flagrant interference, what is?” She neither smiled, nor frowned. “My lightning has always been a boon of Tian Rong’s. Though my emotions may have gotten the better of me, the power I displayed with the help of my artifact is not on the realm of a Deity, but rather within the realm of nine generations of magical girls. Does that answer your concerns, Oros?”

Oros was staring at the moon, picking her nose and flicking what she found into the night. She wasn’t even facing Lei Zi as she spoke.

“Right right, flatulent interference, I didn’t forget what we were talking about.” Oros’s pulled out a scroll while her lotus lily floated towards Lei Zi. “Firstly, I’d like to show you the Patron Doctrine of Fighting, herein referred to as the PDF.” She held it out to Lei Zi and tapped the parchment with her finger. “A blessing is placed on a person or place, and has ‘subtle but real effects.’ Killing a shit-ton of magical girls is about as subtle as your outfit.” She hid the PDF. “But of course it’s not enough to participate in this game of ‘chess’ with just one rulebook. The Grand Magistrates, or GMs to save time, have made supplementary documentation to over rule the PDF to better maintain the ‘game’ we’re all playing. I’m referring to the Doctrine of Combat Supremacy. Herein referred to as the DOCS. And if you look at this scroll-” When Oros read the document, her eyes bulged out of her head. “What trickery is this?!” She grit her teeth and turned to look at Lei Zi. “Oh you Grand Magistrates are a sly lot! I know Tian Rong is one of them! I know how they work! Aighorost was one not long ago…” She shoved the scroll between her breasts. “Well whatever, I should have known they’d pull a fast one on me. Playing with causality and the space time continuum to retcon things.” She looked up into the heavens and screamed. “All those mother-trucking gorelions! I still remember their textured tongues sliding along my back! Pulling us into the dark abyss of their necks! A single pillar druid couldn’t beat one of them! How do you justify this Grand Magistrates!? Howwwwwww?!” With a sigh, she folded her arms. “Where were we? Right, not all patrons can rush to save their champions, and Aighorost is one of them. Pretty sure he doesn’t give a shit if Faith’s there or not. Someone smacked Aighorost and now they’re just screwing around.” She used her thumb to press the rest of the scroll down. “But whatever, I play your game this time. No more horror avatars going forward. Does that work for you?”

“That’ll work wonderfully,” Lei Zi replied. She had been silent and unmoving as Oros began her theatrics, the neutral expression of watching someone else go on a temper tantrum settling over her features. Yes, Aighorost was a child, or even less than that. Kicking against his ‘cradle’ was understandable, doubly so when his caretaker was also a child. “And I hope you continue to operate within the bounds of both the PDF and the DOCS moving forward. They are, after all, mere guidelines working within the rationale of the Realm’s Precepts, which encompasses the Laws of Magic.”

Down below, it appeared that Aighorost’s ‘fit’ this time had been summarily dealt with by the magical girls in the area.

“Do well to educate your Patron, Oros. Horror though they may be, it’d be a cruelty to watch an unborn child be cannibalized after being laid low by penalties they do not comprehend. And perhaps you’ll be there to give Justine her dues too.”

Oros was nodding along to Lei Zi. “Yea I’ll get right on-” She froze. “Hold up, that shit stain is still alive?” Oros picked up her katana and slid it out of the scabbard to examine the blade again. “A lot of people are still alive? I saw the city was mostly empty and-” She slid the blade closed. “Shit, I’m not gunna cry. I’m not!” She placed a hand over her mouth. “Alright, this is. This is interesting.” She folded her arms again and huffed. “I dunno if Faith is going to make it, but it’s clear Aighorost is gunna need help with this sector.” Oros was about to leap off the edge of her lily pad, but stopped. “Right, I need to submit some documentation to the Grand Magistrates before I join. What a pain.” She grabbed Lei’s hand and shook it. “Thanks for calling me here. Seems like a lovely place. Kicking Justine’s ass sounds like great fun.” She jumped back into her lotus, which closed up and blasted back into the sky.

“Remember,” Lei Zi called out as Oros left. “Get it approved first with the Office of Certification before submitting it to the Credence Scrolls. Not through Private Mail.”

_{@AtomicNut@Ponn@FamishedPants}

The spirit wolves did not idly stand by while Elora typed on her keyboard. They had set upon her, and were biting into her flesh with every stroke of the keys. When she ignored them and continued deploying countermeasures, they got more aggressive. One bit onto her hand and crushed her fingers in its grasp. Another bit into her jacket and tore it off of her back. A third wolf grabbed her by the hair and ran backwards, carrying her deeper into the park as other wolves nipped at her legs and arms.

Ampodryl stood its ground as Shoggy approached. She had been able to deflect its lasers into its eyes, causing the creature to wince. Then Shoggy became something more, something sinister, she was lashing out in Ampodryl’s general direction. The great wolf was more agile than many would assume, and was able to leap clear over Shoggy and land behind her.

This would have been a great time for Ampodryl to sweep its tail at Shoggy, or pounce on the exposed Emily and Sakura. But it was instead looking in the direction of Faith. Ampodryl was blind now and could only hear the sound of his champion. It didn’t turn around, instead "looking" in the direction of its champion.

But shoggy did turn around, and burned through the wolf’s leg.

Ampodryl struggled to stand. Souls swarmed around its form, but this was just a bold display of power before it charged forwards. Only three legs. Just three legs, but it could still run. It didn’t get much further before Shoggy burned off it other hind leg. Ampodryl’s torso slammed into the ground. It seemed to flinch, like a living creature might. But its rear quarters were not required to survive. Furthermore, they were not required to run. Even if it had just two paws left, it could still drag itself forward. Ampodryl had managed to pull itself to the halfway point. Shoggy would not let up her assault, angry as she was. She continued to blast it over and over again with light beams. The heat got so great that the hound’s evergreen coat caught fire. One had to wonder why such a sadistic creature was doing this. Ampodryl may have been trying to score a kill. It could have also been concerned for Faith. But surely a horror wasn’t capable of feeling compassion. Even Oros felt confident that Faith meant nothing to her horror as a whole. If she was wrong, then it was possible horrors could become something more than horrors. Such a thought was sheer blasphemy though.

Blind, lame, and burning. It only had one option left. Souls welled up around Ampodryl’s mouth, and a large, shining blade appeared in its maw. As this abomination’s last act of defiance, it drew in all the souls around itself to prepare its hidden technique: the sword of souls. With a mighty heave, the cursed blade spun as it closed in on Hilaria’s position. That was all it would do. Having used the last of its strength, Ampodryl howled at the moon. Just as Shoggy finished incinerating it. The rest of its charred needles fell to the earth, and the green flame that burned in its breast went out. All that was left was the chared remains of a tree that looked like a dog. Mother earth’s growth returned to the last segments of the mayor park, making it look like new again.

The hole in the sky closed up. The moon looked down on everyone like the giant eye of a horror before being shut out by the clouds.

The horror had been defeated.

”Hmmmm...”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Overcity Shift, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03
+44
STR: 21 | AGI: 21 | VIT: 21 | MAG: 20 | LCK: 15

Earnings this post: Fought a horror, stood up to some cradle agents, then messed with the ascendancy/Hilaria and stood up to beacon: 1 Gold 12 Silver 14 Bronze

Remaining: 1 Gold, 14 Silver, 16 Bronze
Total: 8 Gold, 130 Silver, 144 Bronze

It was fine.

Without Mac's intervention, Faith would survive. Though just as a precaution, she was able to use her gravity magic to hold back Hilaria's jaw for cutting all the way into Faith's spine.

This was the end of the battle. Everything should play out just as her patron willed it now.

Her mana was running low, and she really needed to be elsewhere. It would not be good if Lotus woke up right now.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

“Highway star?”

— Veronica

_{@Majoras End@ERode}

Veronica gave Fine a small nod. “Mimoku will be made aware once I get inside her mind. There’s an extensive amount of protection on it, but it shouldn’t take more than a few days. I’ll keep you posted.” Veronica was not the trusting sort, but she did get in contact with a lot of Puchuu. Shady lot of creatures, but they were at least predictable in their goals. They were primarily interested in the destruction of monsters. The worst ones might be pragmatic in their approach, but they were far more likely to screw their own girls than the agents of another. They had their reputation to uphold, after all. Mimoku was one of many who kept in contact with her after she left the mint.

Myria was starting to get annoying. There wasn’t any reason why Veronica couldn’t get everyone to mayor park this instant. But she preferred to use her powers as seldom as possible. The reason why she only ever used the cradle to carry Trixy places was to give the illusion it was an artifact she had. Fortunately the ride was smooth, the seats were comfy, and Veronica was in good company. She would tolerate her behavior for now.

“A skeleton key?” The Cradle may have been a massive trove of treasures, but Veronica was unwilling to part with the good stuff. Though there was also a lot of junk. Stuff left over from completed operations and trash Veronica was en route to deposit. “Hmmm, I might have something.” Veronica looked around the Vehicle. Maura and Elise were sitting at either side of her while Myria and Fine sat in the front seat. “You two seem to know each other. Are you both Mimoku’s girls? If so, I haven’t heard much about Myria.”

---

“People really eat locusts?”

— Su Fang

_{@Erode@Ariamis}

Su shot Helga a glare. She was irritated with Helga sure, but ever since she walked into the rave, Helga had been badgering her to do things. We gotta find Mika! We gotta get out of here! we gotta run away from the troll! It was just getting a little tiresome with everything else going on.

”You know what Helga? I think I can take a troll.”

Not this time guys.

”Fine, let’s go!”

Su turned to look at Helga. “Thanks for the info, Navi. Got any other advice?” Su wasn’t much for pop culture references, but Mika had been playing Legend of Zelda the other day and explained Navi’s significance to her. In her irritated state, it just kind of came out.

Escape was not hard. Su had a strong affinity with wind and could easily generate enough lift to get Helga and herself out of there. She spread her dread wings and coasted over the jungle. This was easy compared to the “void room” spell she had to escape from. The troll chucked a milk pail at them, but it missed.

“The rave was a bust huh?” That was an understatement, but Su wasn’t oppose to listening to Helga complain about it. She looked between the direction of Butterfly Artificing, the location of a portal, and Askefye burning through the sky. Seemed like her day hadn't been any better. The salt welling up in the corners of her eyes wasn’t lost on Su. “Actually, Mika’s safe, I’m not in a rush to leave the Overcity. Why don’t we get something to eat?” She steered towards Askefye. This was likely asking for trouble. But it wasn’t like Penrose was a nice place to be right now.

“Helga, you were part of Justine’s elite four, right?” It was silly to think they were going to get much privacy anywhere. The safest place to have this conversation was right now, while they flew over the trees. ”It was a long time ago, but you told Amber that Justine was someone who could warm your heart with a smile, and that you wanted to be to be part of her world. What did you mean by that?”

---

”I got skipped last event, not this time though. BIG BANNER HOOOOO!”

— Aria Rizzo

Monarch Artificing was never a quiet place. If Aria wasn’t working on meeting the demands of her clients, she was trying to make bigger and better fairy butterflies for her artificing. Which would in turn make more and better products, which would enable her to make larger butterflies still. At some point she would need to move into a bigger shop just to house them all.

Even if she was busy, it had been business as usual for the past few months. The strangest request she got was from Makoto, who hadn’t been back for a while. Which was a shame, because while Aria loved butterflies most of all, a squirrel’s tail was fine too.

Just last week she had encountered that group that was escaping the ascendancy. That was kind of scary. She’d just as soon not have Beacon snooping around her shop. Not that they’d find anything, but it was just uncomfortable to have that going on. Like what if they did find something? Crooked cops plant stuff all the time.

No point dwelling on what could happen. Aria polished a gourd with a rag before setting it on a display rack beside a glass vial and a beaker. A smile crossed her face.

*Crash*

Aria looked over her shoulder, only to see her largest butterfly had knocked over a glass beaker on another shelf with a flap of its wings. Might be too early to move, but she considered expanding into the basement.

---

”Actually…”

— Nuncio

Nuncio had walked out of Eli’s sight before stopping. ”Huh.”

The mafioso looked down at Sammy, then hugged her close to his chest. He was unhappy that Eli and Mariette didn’t trust him, but he also realized there was nothing he could do on his own. He wasn’t safe anywhere in Penrose, and it wasn’t like he could take a taxi or a train with a white tiger in tow. His only option was to rely on others again.

It was embarrassing, but if Eli was offering to build him a place, then he should probably take it. Hopefully Mariette had a good payment plan. He was broke and couldn’t afford anything up front. Not until Brittany purchased a few more of his pluses at least.

Ask an Admin, v2.

Ask an admin suddenly became the Suggestions/Problems subforum huh?

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

And you're weekly update for those who don't wanna sift through a giant post for the horror shenanigans.

>Faith is having a mental break down, and is presently aiming her harp at Mia. No shots have been fired yet.
>Grosket (ent) has been withered, set ablaze, and is holding Viva and Reaver with the intent to bite their heads off. Quite banged up.
>Grisbar (dragon) was drained by an assassin and decapitated by a samurai without master or honor. *DED*
>Ampodryl (wolf) Has knocked Elora prone, has spirit animals set upon her, and is firing lasers at Connie, Shoggy, and Emily. Still sulking behind a cloaking veil. Battered a bit.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

”HI ELI!”

— Vermin Killer

_{@PlatinumSkink}

The portal wasn’t the only thing Eli noticed. There was a murder of crows pecking around the warehouse the team had just escaped from. Some of them were showing a feint magical signature.

One of the crows turned to look in Eli’s direction. Then another, and another, and another. Their magical signatures were powering up too, as if more mana was being flooded into them.

Their movements were inconspicuous, but they were closing in on her position.

---

"Time to pull a fast one!"

— Trixy

_{@ERode@FamishedPants@twave@Crusader Lord@Flamelord}

Trixy was pleased to see so many people make use of her acorns. It was nice to see that strangers could trust her so easily. That wasn’t something she was sure she could do. Though Shane volunteering might have assuaged their concerns.

The monster queen was pretty durable, but it looked like it was on it’s last legs. Trixy would have gladly put it out of it’s misery, but it sounded like Amaryllis wanted to try and save it with a white coin. This seemed like a big mistake, but it wasn’t like Trixy was wholly unable to empathize with the gluttonous magical girl. Under different circumstances, she might have been gobbling up everything in sight. And Trixy had to wonder how Hyun would look as a normal magical girl. Would she be a cutie? A hottie? Maybe on that level where she’s a super cutie or mega hottie? Sure Hyun was repulsive, twisted being, but it was impossible to know if this was their own doing or unfortunate circumstances. Either way, trying to usher more cute girls into the world was the right thing to do.

Trixy had her plan ready. She was going to fire some vine-creating bullets at Hyun. All she’d need was some magical girls with strong backs and weak minds to pull on the vines to get Hyun down.

Then Mariette showed up.

"Wha?!" Trixy was surprised for two reasons. First was that Mariette had suddenly appeared without warning, and was getting in the way of Amaryllis’s plan to try and save the monster girl. Secondly, that was Mariette! Veronica had wanted a word with her. Trixy’s vines wouldn’t coil around Hyun if Mariette was just going to burn them off, so it was clear what had to happen here. A true win/win for everyone.

"Oh no you don’t!" Trixy moved her rifle off of Hyun and fired at Mariette. Unless Mariette was faster than Trixy was, the vine would wrap around Mariette’s waist, at which point Trixy would just have to pull her off of her platform.

And catch her before she fell. Mariette was a cutie too after all.

---

“All those flavors, and you choose to be salty.”

— Tetrad

_{@AtomicNut@DarkwolfX37}

---

Banshee killed her opponents and raised them to fight by her side. Tetrad bargained with her foes until they left the area. It was clear who had the better tactic, but a winner hadn’t been decided yet. Her yellow knife missing was a small setback. Undead tended to shrug off paralyse effects.

At least she could fly now. she had a lot of ways to avoid the incoming specters. Shift to the left, roll to the right, spin up, sink down.

“Ha! Whoh! Hyea! Ho! Mray! Yeah! Huzza! Hrah!”

But this would not win the fight.

Shion did not seem to hear Jimmy’s advice, otherwise she probably wouldn’t be blasting Banshee’s body like that. The spirit summoner had a soul gem on her somewhere. But Tetrad was going to try and solve this without killing her if she could, so maybe it was best Shion didn’t know how to kill the banshee. That wasn’t to say Tetrad didn’t enjoy Shion’s assistance. She was pulling some crazy Buttercup agro, which was something Tetrad could make use of.

While Buttercup was doing everything in her power to break through Shion’s defenses, Tetrad threw a yellow knife at the monster girl, aiming to nail one of her legs.

If yellow knife hits

When the knife struck, Buttercup was briefly paralyzed. Tetrad followed up with another knife, this one just being her normal weapon. Banshee was strongly opposed to ending the fight, but Buttercup’s seemingly lower level of aggression would mean Bipartisan should have no problems draining her fighting spirit.

“Settle down Buttercup, Or do you prefer fat ass?” Tetrad threw a blue card to heal the monster girl once she had simmered down. Since she could no longer float, Tetrad landed beside Shion. “Leave the screamer to me, my spells don’t work on the undead.” Tetrad was now protected by a blue barrier. It would normally divert small projectiles away from her, but she doubted it’s effectiveness against the specters. With nothing left in her hand to call upon, she drew a few more cards and waited for the Banshee’s next move.

If yellow knife misses

“Crapola!” She missed again? No point crying over spilled milk. Once she was over the roof, she threw a blue card. Mid flight it suddenly poofed into a barrier that closed around Tetrad and Buttercup. All Tetrad could do was hope this kept her opponents at bay long enough for her to followed up with a knife attack, this one just being her normal weapon. Banshee was strongly opposed to ending the fight, but Buttercup’s seemingly lower level of aggression would mean Bipartisan should have no problems draining what remained of her fighting spirit. Provided she managed to hit this time.

With nothing left in her hand to call upon, she drew a few more cards and hoped to hell she didn’t trap herself in a barrier with an angry monster girl.

”Where we made, just to suffer?”

— Faith

_{@PlatinumSkink}

Raven Bianchi? The first name wasn’t familiar, but Lotus spoke many times about Amber Bianchi. They both worked at a hardware store together. They were both good at their jobs, even Lotus could admit as much. But Amber was also a cutthroat businesswoman who was willing to do anything to move up the ladder. There was a vacant management position, and they both wanted it. They had many of the same qualifications, and had both been working for the same amount of time. Lotus was the harder worker, but she lacked the same “assets” Amber had.

Amber got the position easily.

But it wasn’t enough to have a position, you had to hold it. Lotus and Amber had grown more bitter towards each other. They would attempt to smear each other, sometimes at the detriment of the customers and other employees. But in the end everyone would side with Amber. She had the charisma to win the management position, and she had to charisma to get Lotus fired.

But who was Raven Bianchi? A daughter? A cover name?

It didn’t matter anymore. She was helping Lotus’s murderers. She was an enemy.

Faith allowed Ronin to guide her towards their destination. But then Ronin let go of her hand and-

_{@AtomicNut@Shifter_Master}

Much like Reaver had anticipated, the ax-like edge on his barrier cut through the wet vines. Ax swinging at tree, tree swinging at ax, it didn’t matter. It was sadistic yet ingenious. Reaver was using Grosket’s strength against it. The beast whaled. The fingers split and separated, the arm unraveled.

Revealing something Reaver should have seen coming.

Ronin, Faith, and Reaver were all in the vicinity of the ent. But the ent was only interested in reaver. It opened its hand wide, revealing the giant beak of some exotic bird hiding behind its vines.

Flesh and vine were easy enough to chop, but not so the beak of a bird. A finch has a bite strength that is many times stronger than that of a T-rex, and its beak has to be able to withstand all of that pressure. The massive beak hidden in Grosket’s arm plunged into the barrier. The ax-like edge was great at cutting, but it compromised the barrier’s ability to absorb shock and was decimated by the blow. What came next would be a treat for the masochist.

The beak slammed into Reaver’s legs, but between the barrier and the wet soil, the blow was not hard enough to break anything. That didn’t stop the beak from opening up and biting onto Reaver’s hips. With a tug, Reaver was pulled from the vines, which had dug their thorns deep into his arms. The flames coating his body made the damp vines on Grosket’s body smolder, but they could not burn away the vine hedge in time. The tug was enough to flay the flesh from Reaver’s arms. Grosket was already crushing Reaver’s hips when he picked him up, and he was ready to clamp his opposing hand over him.

But them mommy showed up.

Viva unloaded her guns on Grosket’s legs. It didn’t seem to bother the ent much, but it got it’s attention. A vine suddenly rose in front of Viva’s bike, and she was thrown. Grosket was able to determine her trajectory and grow his arm out, snatching her out of the air. While Viva would feel the ent trying to crush her in its grasp, she would be able to easily strike Grosket with a withering spell. The effects went to work immediately. The vines shrank and yellowed, sap and blood dried up, and Viva would soon learn what Reaver already know. Under all the vines and sap was an abomination. You cannot wither what is already rotten. It wasn’t entirely visible, but with the vines shriveling on the beast’s form, it was possible to smell the fetid flesh beneath. This was not alleviated by the fact that the dead vines no longer smoldered, but caught fire. It was not only Reaver, but Grosket and Viva who were set ablaze.

A beak pinching Reaver’s hips, a hand wrapped around Viva’s torso, and flames engulfing them all. Grosket’s face swung open revealing the giant skull once again. But he was not attempting to blast anyone with acid. The abomination’s mighty jaw swung open and it prepared to bite the heads off of his opponents as they burned.

_{@Majoras End@Ariamis@PlatinumSkink}

Nightwing uncanny mastery over darkness allowed her to step to Grisbar’s back even in full moonlight. From there, it was a simple matter to drive her weapon into the dragon’s back. It howled as its vitality was drained and drained and drained. But then Nightwing would feel herself falter. She had been through an intense interrogation routine, Fought off magical girls and horrors alike, and was starting to feel the strain as she used the last bit of her mana.

Though killing Grisbar this way was futile. Like so many others, she would realize its body was undead as well as alive. Something that shouldn’t exist and yet does. The weakened roots dropped Grisbar’s torso to the ground, where the vibration knocked Nightwing off of her feet. She wasn’t able to hold up her transformation and could just barely stay conscious. In a flash of light she was back in her casual clothes, unable to defend herself from the threat she was standing on.

The stone covered zombie turned its flexible neck around to look at the assailant. Grisbar opened its jaws wide, revealing a cavern of jagged rocks. All Nightwing could do was surrender to her fate before the dragon closed in on her.

Then a tiny ronin seemed to flash step to her position. Her arm was extended and her katana was pointed outward where the sun would rise. Then with a smooth motion, she sheathed her blade. It made a satisfying click, and Grisbar’s thin neck slid off of its torso and fell to the ground, where it shattered into a hundred pieces.

With the horror dead, Gaia was able to take control of the area. Moss covered what remained of the horror’s body, and the barbed vine hedge withered away.

The dragon-like strength left Hilaria, as did the dark ring Grisbar had granted her.

”Time to save the day!”

— Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Tonya “Mac” Murphy

Age: 24/11 | Gender: Female/Female | Illusion, Gravity
Body | Power of Friendship, Regeneration, Third Eye | Moirai
Coercion, Soul Jar, Martial Training, True Sight, Parasite, Gifted, Awareness, Overcity Shift, Mystic Artifact

Magical Overload, Paragon, Blessing, Gifted Item | Monster Form, Big Brother, Arrogance, Vendetta
Redirected Magic, Second Specialization | Non-Standard Limbs, Destroyer

STR: 05 | AGI: 04 | VIT: 05 | MAG: 03 | LCK: 03
+44
STR: 21 | AGI: 21 | VIT: 21 | MAG: 20 | LCK: 15

Earnings this post: Zilch

Remaining: 0 Gold, 2 Silver, 2 Bronze
Total: 7 Gold, 118 Silver, 130 Bronze

The tiny ronin might have needed a little bit of a hand with this one. While the ronin lacked the strength to cut the head off the dragon, Mac was able to guide her katana through the neck of the beast for a clean kill. It would have been easy for Ronin to notice someone was holding onto her sword, but illusion magic could manipulate almost any sense, and she was none the wiser.

Go ahead little ronin, you earned your victory!

_{@AtomicNut@Ponn@FamishedPants@Ariamis}

As soon as the beam went off, the magical girls sprung into action. Mia bombarded the area with popcorn rockets, while Sakura flew through the air for a killing blow. The beam continued to inch closer to Hilaria and Shoggy. Hopefully something would happen soon.

Sakura could see it as she closed in. The faint silhouette of the hound unleashing the sea of souls. Before she hit the ground, she pointed her palms at the Wolf’s head and let the lightning fly. 

It was brief, it was loud, it was over in an instant. Everyone was blinded by a flash before the crack of thunder rang in everyone’s ears. Sakura forced her eyes open just in time to see the aftermath of the Sparky Heart Justice Breaker Lance. 

The lightning bolt was powerful enough to disperse the cloaking magic. The sea of souls had stopped, and there was a giant black scorch mark on the ground wreathed in dead grass, There was also several dozen charred vines laying in a heap. Which was odd, considering that Sakura fired her attack at Ampodryl specifically. That was when it hit her.

She had cooked a dummy horror. 

Ampodryl was using the limited light to hide behind a vine hedge, which it had shaped like itself. Since the sea of souls ripped souls out of people, it would be ineffective against the soulless vines. The horror had been planning on baiting them out, and it worked. 

*Crunch*

Ampodryl bit down on the device Elora had placed in its mouth. Thyere were a few burn marks from where a stray corn cob missile had burned it, but it was still standing strong. Sakura’s true target stood there, watching her plummet to the ground.

Sakura would not meet an unfortunate end as a small-sized splat on the ground, instead being caught in the arms of Emily who had been nearby, watching for this sort of thing. Carrying the untransformed girl much like a princess, Sakura would feel some mana slowly flowing into her as Emily gently set down on the ground. 

"You're so reckless!" she chided, glaring in the direction of Ampodryl. "Are you okay?" she asked Sakura. "I'll try to get you back on your feet but it's not a fast process."

Ampodryl prepared to lunge after them, but was startled by Elora’s sudden laser fire. She was gaining altitude, and appeared to be out of harms way. However, the sudden crack of a vine whipping itself at the cyberbox caught girl off guard. She fell to the ground, where swarms of animal spirits set upon her. They would not kill her though. Ampodryl was far too sadistic for that. If one of their own was wounded, they would have to come closer to rescue her. Just because Ampodryl was keeping them alive didn’t mean that their stay in its layer was going to be comfortable.

Before the veil of shadow closed around Ampodryl once again, its three eyes lit up. Without turning it’s head, it fired a trailing laser from each of its eyes. Connie, Emily, and Shoggy were each tracked by one of the eye lasers. This beam would not be impossible to dodge, but it would be very precise and catch up to them if they stopped moving even for a moment.

Mia would hear the sound of harp strings being pulled taught. If she looked out the corner of her eye, she would see Faith aiming her harp at her. She was only able to stay at Mia’s altitude thanks to a magical note. She was a good distance *away, but it wasn’t hard to see her lower lip was quivering.

”Why… Are you helping… Lotus’s murderers?”

*^{near the border of the dragon zone.}

How do YOU do 1x1s?

Right now I am in a RP which uses a player/player collaborative style as others have said, but we write the posts from one POV (to make it easier to read through later). My partner's character is the POV because she writes more convincing internal dialogue than I do and I adore reading it, while I generally try to write around it with action, more 'neutral' observations, scene-setting, and of course, my half of the romantic banter 'cus we are shipping trash.

@Roach

I haven't had much luck with 1x1, but I tend to do this with collabs for the very same reason. It's interesting to see it come up here.

Weird Spacing Above Table

@HeroYes, I had the same problem. Important thing is to make sure there is no spaces between the code parts (cell, row, table, etc.) like so...

ARCANA	CHARACTER	PERSONA	PLAYER
	Felix Volpe	Reynard	Ryteb Pymeroce
	Gloria Hathaway	Circe	Landaus Five-One
	Rose Hadley	Kore	Crimson Flame
	Fiddle Astor	The Mothman	Smike
	Cara Lucero de la Barrera	Philomena	Hero
	Tyler Blackmore	Sun Tzu	The Jest
	Alistair Parton	Horatius	Nimbus
	Thomas Robinson	The Black Death	Aurrorian
	Kirsty Ramaswamy	Gregor Samsa	Lugubrious
	Jory Hesson	Rasputin	Riegal
	Laurence Newman	Desdemona	LetMeDoStuff
	Adonna Borromeo	Wendigo	Kal
	Leo Gremminger	Sol	Scribe of Thoth
	John Doe	Minos	Not Fungus

Yes, it makes things kind of disorganized if you have to edit it. But look at the raw version of this post. If you create the lines in the correct spots, you won't have any problems.

Darkest Before the Dawn: A CYOA Magical Girl Roleplay [Completed]

“You fuckin’ posers.”

— Veronica

_{@Majoras End@ERode}

Veronica dismissed Fine’s warning with a wave of her hand. “Beacon, Ascendancy, I don’t care what branch they come from. The lot of those righteous fools are as incompetent as they are stubborn.” She stepped towards the exit. “Though there are enough people fighting the monster queen at the moment. Eliza! Maura! Let’s go to the park. The Horror may be more than the locals can deal with.” It was a simple matter for her to phase through the door and take up a seat next to Myria. “You don’t mind giving us a lift, do you?”

---

“Pro tip for doujin VNs: Second choice is usually the right one.”

— Su Fang

_{@Erode@Ariamis}

The fact that Justine was part of some legendary evil didn’t surprise Su at all. Nor did it such news scare her. Justine was a threat she had beaten before. They’d reduced her castle to ruble and thwarted her ritual. The only surprising part would be if she still served the same horror she had been serving. Su was no expert on it, but she heard they weren’t especially tolerant of failure. But how did Helga work for Justine and not know more about her? Wasn’t she part of Justine’s elite four? Something she’d have to ask her about when they were in better company.

When Helga cracked a silly joke, Su took her entire hand and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Su grinned. Even if she felt conflicted about Helga right now, she admired her ability to live in the moment. She was already cracking jokes seconds after having a panic attack.

Su started to walk when Helga grabbed her hand, asking her about her last trip to the overcity. “We were running from-” She looked at the Ascendancy girls. Come to think of it, they could turn around and attack at any moment. It probably wasn’t a good idea to spend any more time around them then they had to. “…Point is, we went straight for an over city portal. We didn’t really do any sight seeing. Though there was this one place I saw. Later I’ll take you to see it”

After a short walk, they were at a bridge with something snoring underneath. “That’s not how the last portal sounded.” Su fret her brow. She hadn’t been with this group for a full minute and she was already sick of them. The Ascendancy girls could attack any second, that fire girl could explode any second, and Helga was, well, a handful. If Helga was going to do something to Su she had ample opportunities to do it already. But her true relationship with Justine was clawing at the back of Su’s skull, and she was all too oblivious to the danger. This was a situation she had to get out of as quickly as possible.

They came this way looking for a portal. The fire girl said it would be here. They could hear a snoring troll as well. Therefor…

There had to be a portal under the bridge

Of course.

The troll was just guarding it. That made sense to Su. Trolls were dumb creatures, so they were likely unable to master magic. “I think she’s telling the truth. You can go eat or whatever you were going to do.” Su jumped off the bridge and landed under it. There wasn’t a troll, but there was a cave. The mouth of the cave was covered in trash, as well as some glowing green goo. It smelled, was wholly uninviting, but it was pretty fancy as far as troll hideouts went.

Su waved the smell away from her nose before turning to Helga. “This is a perfect hiding spot for a portal.” She reassured Helga. “But it looks like the path ahead forks. I’ll follow the left wall and you the right. We should run into each other at some point. Then we can tell the other one if we encountered the portal.” Helga looked concerned. Su just snorted in response. “I have the wind on my side. If I get close enough, I’ll be able to feel the troll breathing. I’ll call for help if something’s amiss.” This was enough to convince Helga that Su would be fine. So they placed their hands on their respective walls and split at the different paths.

As Su walked along the wall, the passage started to get darker. The luminescent slime was getting covered by more and more trash. Meanwhile the snoring got louder and louder. There were several times when Su had slowed up because she suspected she was right on top of the troll, only to realize the wind wasn’t moving. She wasn’t sure how long she had been progressing like this. It had to be at least ten minutes and she had yet to join up with Helga. The light continued to dim, but never went out. Though it wasn’t long before every wall of the winding catacomb looked the same.. Su began questioning herself, wondering if she was following the correct wall. Depending on how the labyrinth of walls were assembled, it was possible that there was an “inner wall” that never connected with the one Su was following. That would make it possible to miss the location of the portal. She also had to wonder if Helga was still following her instructions, or if she had been attacked by those magical girls. The more she wandered, the more her mind did as well.

Fifteen minutes.

Thirty minutes.

Eventually Su lost track of time, but it felt like she had been down here for hours. At least the slime was getting bright again, that was a sign she was getting closer to an exit. And she’d have to hurry towards it to. She could hear the sound of Helga doing battle with something.

“Hold on a little longer Helga.”

Su immediately broke into a run, allowing her hand to slide along the left most wall. There wasn’t time to creep along quietly anymore. If she could hear fighting from here, it would likely wake the troll.

Actually, the snoring stopped, hadn’t it?

There was no time for caution. Su hopped into the air and flew as fast as she could. The winding tunnels slowed her down a bit, but Su was confident she’d make it to Helga. But this would turn out to be a mistake. A large object jumped out of the darkness and shoved Su. Its timing was a little off and they missed her torso. But catching her hips was enough to throw Su into the opposing wall. Once her hip bounced off the wall, Su fell out of the air and into the trash. She was on her arms and knees, and wasn’t sure if she had broken her hip. She wouldn’t have time to assess her wounds before her attacker grabbed her arms. She was hoisted to her feet and pinned against the wall. Once she recovered from the vertigo, she could make out her attacker.

It was the troll. He was stubby looking, but was easily three or four meters tall. His long nose had a wart on the tip of it, and his skin was as coarse as tree bark. A pair of overalls hung on his shoulder with a single strap. He also wore a straw hat on his head, but it looked like he had taken a bite out of it some time ago. Su attempted to pull her arms free, but it was no use. She was not a very strong magical girl, and the troll’s meaty fists enveloped her arms from wrist to shoulder. She’d have an easier time breaking out of metal shackles.

It became clear what had happened. There was a space between the walls where the troll had been hiding. He must have just woken up, heard Su coming, and sprung into action while she flew through. Had Su been more cautious, she would have picked up on the giant’s breathing and avoided an obvious trap. It was more than a little humiliating to be caught by something known for its stupidity. Though in hindsight, the number of errors Su made to get to this point were numerous. She trusted a stranger, she split from Helga, and it wasn’t like this was the only portal out of the over city. This was an earned failure.

Su grit her teeth. Trolls were carnivores. The only reason they bothered to catch humans was to eat them. She was defenseless like this. What few spells she could use would not work on the troll. All it had to do was pull off her arms or bite off her head and it was over. She resigned herself to her fate. Then the troll used it’s foot to push an iron bucket towards Su’s feet. When Su looked at it, she noticed it was a dairy pale with the word "MILK" drawn on it with a crayon.

“...What?”

Su ~ Not Really Fin

There wasn’t a portal under the bridge

It was silly to even consider it.

The fire girl didn’t seem too interested in anything but getting something to eat. Who knew what sort of mental mutations she had? It wouldn’t have surprised Su if all the smoke and fire wasn’t her doing. Sending a group of strangers towards a troll was exactly the kind of bullshit Su would expect someone like that to pull. And the Ascendancy was here as well. They likely knew who Helga was, and would Jump her and Su as soon as they got the chance. Su did her good deed for the day. It was time they split before something happened.

“I think the queen of cinders should go fire up that portal for us. That’s a very strange sound for it to be making.” Su turned to look at Helga. “You wanted to look at a shop in the over city, right? There’s one on the way to a portal I know of. We’ll just stop there.” And then maybe Su could ask Helga a few questions and put these negative thoughts to rest. “But before I go, I’d like to know something.” Su turned to the Ascendancy girls. “I was offered purification a week ago. Circumstances made it impossible to accept at the time. I won't get into details.” Her hand tightened around Helga’s “But I’d like to know more about it.”

This was probably a mistake. They hadn't attacked her yet though.

RPGC: General Discussion

I was half joking. But fair point. If the concern is just "new/shy" contestants that should work.

Though I feel that the voters are the frail ones in this particular instance. It's been a while, but I can't remember many contests where the number of voters surpassed the contestants. the only exception is the few times contestants were allowed to vote. That's something I'd like to see change.