drewccapp

Lantern

Anise waited nervous about the hesitance of Peck. She watched as he clearly took the time to think out the situation. She understood that his decision weighed heavily on him and the Forest as a whole. Finally, after what felt like an eternity he came to a decision.

Peck nodded once in reluctant agreement. "All right." At the same moment, he made a sign with his hand and the gryphon suddenly flung itself into the air, spun over the lake, and flapped furiously toward the mountain. Peck never took his eyes off of Anise. "This way."

Anise nodded, tied the Lantern of Spirit to her belt with the same rag she used to do it before, and followed him up the tree. She pulled herself up branch at a time. Each time took her a fair amount of effort, but not nearly as much as she expected it to. Her time in the Forest could not be all that long and yet her life in Riverforde felt so far away. Even if she had chosen to take the path back to Riverforde instead of choosing to become a Lady of the Forest; Anise was certain that she could never return to the way things were before.

Peck interrupted her thoughts by striking up a bit of conversation.

"Why don't you look the same as the other Lords and Ladies?" he called back to her as he hoisted himself up onto another branch. "The Lord of the Flame is a bright bastard, and the Lord of Shadow is like smoke. The Lady of Stone actually is a boulder, I think. But you still look like . . . not like one might expect." He clambered nimbly along the twisted bark. "Is it because you've just been reincarnated? After what happened to the last Lady of Light, I mean."

At the mention of the Lord of Shadow, Anise winced. She was quite certain she'd have to meet him again. In fact all of the Lords and Ladies probably had their part to play in returning the Forest to its proper place. She pulled herself up another branch while she thought of a response for the man. She wanted to know what happened to the last Lady of Light. "I have indeed been recently reincarnated. I am afraid that the Lady of the Pond failed to tell me anything about what happened to the last Lady of Light." She kept her tone level, but curious.

She decided not to directly ask him to tell her believing that if she was supposed to know that Peck would inform her. He stopped near the top of the tree poised between a pair of branches. He knocked on the bark and she heard a ticking sound.

"It's here," he announced. "It's been inside the trunk here for a hundred years. My sword won't break it out, if that's what you're thinking."

A hundred years was quite a long time. She scanned over the bark of the tree using her improved vision from the hawk mask to inspect the wood for any weaknesses or perhaps a method of opening the tree in some way. After all this tree was no ordinary tree, and she was certain that it was a construct of machinery. That meant that putting it together would have some weak points, although perhaps the bark was there to cover it up.

She grabbed at a piece of the bark and tried to pull it off just to test her theory.

Moonfiend

Huzzah for GM permission to warp the space-time continuum!!!

(Sort of but not really)

Moonfiend

Vincent was fascinated about the sudden change that happened with the girl. It was as if she was only in a suspended state with her soul right before her, but now that he had removed it she seemed to be truly nothing more than a statue. He almost forgot that there was someone else in the room with him, but the rustling through implants reminded him.

Okay, okay okay okay okay okay…. He mumbled as he stared at all the implants in front of him. Outside Liam could hear someone cursing a lot but right now that was not really important as he instantly started searching for a bag that he could put this all in. For about a minute he searched through all the rooms finally coming across an empty medical emergency bag. Bingo he said as he took as many implants as he could and filled up the bag to the brim. He then quickly zipped it up and walked out of the room. Lets go dude He said to Vincent as he walked out of the room. Got nearly all of the implants. He said tapping on the bag now hanging from his side. They have some cool stuff there, blades, armour hell they even ha- Liam stopped himself as he heard Wailing.

Vincent simply nodded. He didn't really care about the implants because while technology was impressive, he very much was an elitist about magic. In spite of his lack of attention in Father's lessons, Vincent understood that magic was every bit technology's equal in power and potential and perhaps even more. This petrification could only be the works of magic as far as he understood it. Then the wailing interrupted his train of thought.

He stood up as Liam left the room and grabbed a scalpel from the surgical tray. He then grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around the blade of the scalpel before putting the scalpel into his jacket's pocket. He stepped back into the lobby. He stopped in the middle of it and looked for a clock. He found one hanging on the wall near the medical sigils, but the damn thing was on a digital interface and completely shut off. He glanced at the others that were still near the robot.

"Everyone OK over here?" He sounded genuine although he was really only asking out of courtesy. He did think that any of them coming to harm was a bad idea though. He glanced over towards the door that lead to the stairs and saw that it was wide open. He tilted his head with a curious expression and stepped over the door's threshold. He saw in the stairwell that there was food scattered everywhere and Liam was comforting a strange looking child with Flor standing nearby.

Vincent sighed with raised eyebrows. He then looked more carefully at the kid. The first question that came to mind was: what are you? However, he judged that perhaps would be an inappropriate question for the moment. The ears didn't seem to be a part of a costume. He decided to wait and watch to see what happened next from the point of view of the door.

Moonfiend

I look at my character's abstract, specifically the part that says "with way too much energy" and then I look at how I'm roleplaying him and go, well I failed at that part, but OK whatever.

Lantern

@Mokley I think the scariest thing about Anise right now for me is that she has no idea what she is capable of with the Lantern of Spirit. I have the feeling that she's terrifyingly powerful, but because of how she is right now she may very well not explore that potential unless she has to.

Overall, I look forward to whatever happens next. :D

Lantern

"The Lantern?" Peck stared at Anise with obvious confusion and hesitance

Anise didn't like his hesitance, but definitely expected it along with his confusion. She felt a bit worried that he would react negatively, so she prepared herself mentally. She really didn't want to fight, and with the Spirit Lantern she was certain that she actually wouldn't need to fight, but she also didn't want to just dominate her potential opponent's minds.

"The white Lantern is safe here. We've been guarding it for generations, it's perfectly fine where it is and nobody knows about it but us." He grinned a little, proud of his heritage, and he gestured with a thumb at the top of the dead white tree. His faint smile faded as a thought occurred to him. "But with the Lady of Light comes the dawn." It was a line in an old lullaby. "Have you found a way to use them to bring back the sun?" he asked with guarded hope.

Anise nodded. "Yes, I need all of them to do it though." She didn't know if that was true, but she believed it with all of her heart. They all had a part in this as did the Dragon itself. She suspected that they might not allow her, so she prepared herself mentally to fight them for it. She noticed that Reus hadn't let down his guard, and this time she was grateful for it. She trusted he wouldn't attack unless they became the aggressors and was grateful to have a comrade such as himself by her side.

She stepped forward one step. "Bring me to it, please." She wanted to be polite for as long as possible before making full on demands. Part of her worried about Morly's warning about the Witch, but now that she was so far in all she could do is move forwards with her plans. If the Witch decided to show up she would have to deal with it in any way she could.

Lantern

Anise felt some relief as the fighting stopped. She had no desire to see anymore of it if she could help it.

"What is going on?" the pirate whispered to no one in particular. He took a step back and he took a breath, and he faced Anise, the tip of his sword lowered to the deck.

She could barely hear his whisper, she waited for him to speak further since his statement was most likely to himself if not no one at all.

"You're . . . the Lady of Light? With the Lantern of Spirit." His voice was still barely audible as his mind worked to piece together what was happening. The power of the Lantern still lingered, and he knew that everything Anise said must be true. He stared in wonder at the blue glow, and then at Anise's determined face. "I'm Peck. This is Trill. It's our shift to guard the lake." He was confused, wary, and afraid -- he knew what kind of power was in the Lantern, and he knew the Lords and Ladies of the Forest were often quick to judge. The pirates had all learned from a young age to tread lightly around them -- and he had just attacked and taunted her.

"Is there something you need of us, Lady of Light?"

She blinked at him feeling somewhat surprised. This had been the first time since she entered this forest that anyone reacted to her out of fear. Only now was she beginning to understand the weight of the title: Lady of Light. She pulled the mask back over her face and nodded. She had to come up with something quick. "Thank you for your hard work, Peck." She bobbed her head towards the gryphon. "Trill."

She turned her attention to the wreck around them all. The lantern had protected her from direct serious harm, so she could afford to be a bit more demanding now. "I have come for the Lantern here. Will you take me to it?" She wanted to remain polite for now and use any threats as a last resort. She also wanted to remain as vague as she could. She doubted Peck would listen to her saving the Forest tale.

Lantern

I don't think I quite expected a response like this... I'm going to have to think a bit about a response. I'm pretty sure that Anise is going to be just as surprised.

Lantern

I love the different points of view given. I personally don't 100% believe the Witch's story, but find there is some merit to it as after all, the Dragon was split up and the eternal darkness is a fact.

Lantern

"Yer dressed like a parade dancer with a death wish," he told her, bewildered at what to do with her. "You're Kith, aren't you?"

Anise blushed at the mention of her appearance and attire. She certainly wasn't dressed for the Ball anymore. The dress she was wearing was not much more than rags covering her body and unmentionables. Her legs were now showing: something only a whore would do. She certainly no longer had an appearance expected of a woman. "I do apologize for my appearance. I am no Kith though, but I am not a 'pirate' as they call you either."

Before the man had a chance to respond, Reus surprise attacked the gryphon. He cursed and made his way towards Reus ready to slice into the wolf with his sword. She didn't want to witness anymore death and knew that she had to do something. She stood up as the man approached Reus and concentrated on all of them. She wanted all of them to stop.

"I am Anise, I am the Lady of Light." She put her will into these words. "There is no need for such unnecessary bloodshed." She channeled the power of the lantern through her. "I want the fighting to stop." There was a force of will behind her words she hadn't expected. "I am here to return balance to this Forest and protect those that need it. I will not stand here lightly and watch the death of another living being happen before me."

"I wish for all of you to stand down and be at peace." At first she did not want to let the man know who or what she was, but she could not let this happen and would do everything in her power to stop it.