Izurich

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

--Hathforth Castle - Throne Room--

Even as she continued conversing with the Wizard Queen and her Court Mage Advisor, Melisande did notice the presence of the one and only Duke Laurent Rhinecliff out of the corner of her eye; many male nobles turned their gaze at her when she entered the throne room, but only the Duke of Odonfield was given the courtesy in return.

Veritably, the Lilim failed to notice the Changeling masquerading Laurent's likeness, though they were both technically Feykin, it didn't mean Melisande had any particular skill to discern Nyx's nature, and Kronos could only detect other Dremoras. Thus, what went on in Melisande's mind was a slight tinge of concern, wondering if the Duke would take offense at her entertaining the Queen's requests. After all, they had a deal, but... she assumed Laurent knew her mother well enough to be aware of the Matriarch's opportunist streak. Well, in the end, court intrigue was anything but simple, this display didn't necessarily spell doom for future cooperations.

For the moment, the now-royal apprentice focused on more immediate matters. "Considering Lord Blackthorne's reputation, I can only be certain, Your Majesty. I shall see you later in the study." She then gave a final bow to the monarch before departing from the throne room, following her new mentor as instructed, "Please lead the way, Milord."

The apprentice dutifully followed her mentor deeper into the castle, her eyes taking curious glances at the magical marvels of the aptly-named Arcane Wing. She had to admit that this was where she belonged, far more than the throne room. To the surprise of no one, the wing's mystical shimmer didn't blind Melisande at all, otherwise she'd bring great shame to her coven's name, though they definitely piqued her curiosity.

She followed the dark-haired Half-Elf into what appeared to be an arcane workshop, just like the one she worked in back at the college, except grander, befitting royalty, and understandably less spacious considering the other one was designed to accommodate a whole classroom's worth of students. "Fascinating, Master." Since she's his apprentice now, might as well use the appropriate title, "Understood, thank you, and I shall do so should I need anything not yet available."

However, the tour wasn't yet done so as much as Melisande wished to begin preparing her personal workshop right away, they had one more place to go, her new quarters. The Lilim turned toward the door, then, after noticing Eirwen's cue via the key offering, decided to unlock and open the door herself to peek inside. Well, safe to say, she expected no less from royalty. "It's... far more than I could ever ask for, Master," The apprentice curled a small appreciative smile, "Rest assured, I will not fail you."

Meanwhile, in the theater of the mind...

You seem to have gone quite silent, Kronos, is something the matter?

Hmph. Your fraternizing with the abductor and her minion is revolting.

Are you perhaps... jealous?

How dare-... silence, Feyling!

@LunarParadox @Estylwen @Donut Look Now

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

As for my next post, considering the IC situation, I'll go after @LunarParadox's next post.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

@Izurich Lovely post! What language did you use for Kronos, so I can make note?

@Estylwen

Thanks! It's the Black Speech of Mordor.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

--Hathforth Castle - Throne Room--

The castle-bound journey had been rather quiet, though Melisande surmised she had a peculiar sense of what 'quiet' entailed compared to most others, after all, unless she had been taught wrong her entire life, most people don't share their body with a Dremora. The Lilim could scarcely remember the last time she was truly alone... and that's fine, she hated being alone. The world could be such a cold and dark place, especially as a shivering and helpless child, then Kronos made all of those go away.

Some time later, Melisande arrived before the double doors leading into the castle's throne room when the chauffeur addressed her, "You should, the world is so much larger than simply Hathforth." The student then turned her gaze to the side for a brief moment, pondering. He still hasn't given up on me...

The coven princess quickly discovered that her earlier attempt at pushing his attention to the coven instead of herself had utterly backfired, quite troublesome but not unexpected, the "curse" she bore was simply too powerful for some folks, she could only hope the nobles and royals within the hall would prove more... resilient; they should be, considering their upbringing.

"Duly noted." She kept her tone professional, no need to fan the flames. As the charmed coachman left, Melisande turned her attention to the castle attendant instead, "Yes, I will." Only a fool wouldn't be able to discern the actual lack of choice here, and she wasn't about to jeopardize her mission by committing social suicide.

Due to the short pause with the carriage driver and castle servant, by the time Lady Melisande of the Tearmoon Coven entered the throne room, she was actually the last one to do so, tailing behind Duke Willowsteel, though unlike the gluttonous noble, Melisande actually approached the throne first.

It was at this moment that the Wizard Queen would discover something about Matriarch Jezebel's offspring, either that, or be reminded of it...

The Shade Approaches

During social events, it'd be incredibly common for a Lilim to attract at least some amount of attention to her nymphet charm, and racial reputation too. However, for Evelyn in particular, either through her Seed, familiarity with shadeborne creatures, or something else entirely, she could sense an umbral presence from the ash-haired Lilim, trailing her like her own shadow, yet not quite, for a person's natural shadow would vanish without the person, while this entity merely melded with hers.

The queen and her court mage was being approached by two, not one.

"A Bhanríon Evelyn Keove, an Tiarna Eirwen Blackthorne, is mór an onóir é a bheith i do láthair. Is mise Melisande ó Chóbh Tearmoon, go humhal ar do sheirbhís. (Queen Evelyn Keove, Lord Eirwen Blackthorne, it is a great honor to be in your presence. I am Melisande of the Tearmoon Coven, humbly at your service.)" Melisande graciously bowed and offered a greeting in Sylvan, the ancestral language of the Fey, including Lilim.

Bolvag lat, golog. (Curse you, Elflings) And Kronos spat in Dremoran, or Shadow Speak, its own ancestral language.

"However, I must extend my humblest apologies, Your Majesty, Milord, as I was unable to bring you a worthy gift due to being summoned on such a short notice." The Lilim returned to Common as she straightened herself, "But I'd be more than delighted if you'd deign me the opportunity to send a belated offering within the short future."

And it shall be a fate worse than death for you, "Your Majesty""...

@Estylwen @LunarParadox

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Oh hey! If we're using fictional languages in-universe, then I'll be using Sylvan since y'know, Fey-people. From a meta perspective, it'll use Gaelic words and phrases, preferably Old Gaelic, but I'll not be able to tell the difference anyway.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

I like when things move. 🙂

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

--College of Hathforth - Dormitory--

Soon after entering her dorm room, the Lilim Chronomancer concentrated inward, arcane essence flowing through her veins as she cast a spell with nary a single sound; no incantation, no elaborate hand movements, and not even a finger snap. A showcase of her unique casting method, one aptly named 'silent spells'. Her fae blood was so attuned to the mystical, for Melisande, casting a spell was more similar to willing a body part to move rather than exerting control over mana.

Immediately, chronomantic magic surged through her, the Swift spell allowing the coven princess to move with the agility of a nimble Halfling as she began packing up her belongings. Thus, she was assuredly ready by the time the royal chauffeur arrived. She turned to face him, her luggage in tow.

The coachman was performing his duty like clockwork, at least until their eyes locked, subjecting him to the "Nymph's Charm", bewitching his mind without Melisande even lifting a finger, the legacy that all Lilim must bear as consequence to being descended from the mischievously seductive Nymphs. Some saw it as a blessing, others as a curse, Melisande was quite firmly in the latter.

A silent sigh left her lips, only a deaf and blind person would miss his not-so-subtle flustered stutters and skittish fidgets. Had she wanted to bed him, half of the work was already done, simply by making eye contact. However, she'd then have to deal with yet another green-eyed lover. By the All-Force, why couldn't her people be descended from something regal and majestic like dragons? At least then, the fascination would be rooted in awe, not lust.

In response, Melisande fixed her beige cloak then pulled up its hood, partially concealing her face. "My gratitude, good sir, and duly noted." She replied professionally as she walked over to him, then handed over the handle of her luggage. Afterwards, she passed him to head into the carriage proper, but as she did...

"I must tell you that there are maidens comelier than me at the Tearmoon coven, and they'd love to get to know a handsome fellow such as yourself, sir." The Lilim whispered nonchalantly before continuing on her way, embarking the horse-drawn vehicle. Inside, she sat down, sighing - more audibly this time - with her eyes closed.

You don't even believe a single word you said, did you?

Correct, I'm not so ignorant to not be able to see that even amongst my kind, Mother is considered to be exceptionally pulchritudinous, and I inherited her visage, the conclusion is obvious.

So you purposefully deceived him.

I did.

Humor me, why?

For the very same reason why you demanded me to keep your existence a secret.

Heh. Well played, Faeling.

@Estylwen

Final Fantasy: Lightseekers

--Osprey - Desert--

With the briefing done and travel plans made, Team Kirin eventually packed their things to depart from Kugane, bound northward to the vast desert of Osprey. Though their black mage had the fortune of not requiring water to live, the fact remained that Eve was still just one member, thus it was in their best interest to wisely preserve the water supply, especially as they entered the desert region proper.

As a rather well-seasoned adventurer even before her encounter with the Kirins, the faux eidolon was no stranger to the constant nuisance of the Blightbeasts, though they didn't pose any meaningful threats. Still, the faster the Blight could be culled, the better, one step at a time, including this sandy excursion.

Eventually, on the third day ever since they crossed into the desert, something other than Blightbeasts reared their ugly heads. Loud cannons violently reverberating through the air, joining in with gunshots, clashing swords, and frantic shouts; a battle was underway. Eve watched with detached observance, not caring in the slightest to the mortal plights of the Valheimrs. In fact, she'd prefer if the sandworm could devour them all.

"...?!" However, her eyes did begin to widen when a figure launched off from it, then almost effortlessly sliced the burrowing beast in half. The chimeric dragoness' red pupils constricted as her mind assembled pieces of the puzzle. While Izayoi was fixated on the unidentified figure's weapon, Eve instead seemed to recognize its... 'self', its everything, the very concept it embodied.

Armor, warrior, splitting in half... Zantetsuken...!

Her hands tightened into fists as she gritted her teeth, like a warrior who had just encountered her hated nemesis. It must be one of her 'siblings', a fellow pseudolon, one carrying the essence of...

"ODIIIIN...!!" The dragoness roared with every bit of Bahamut's fury infused within her, as if responding to the monstrous swordsman's own bestial howl.

Even as the other - presumed - pseudolon charged forward, arcane energies were already crackling between Eve's palms. "Blizzaga!!" In an effort to both wound and slow the bladed berserker down, hails upon hails of freezing stalactites launched off Project Grayscale's form, hurling through the hot desert air toward Project Revenant!

Neon Noir - Cyberpunk Crime Thriller (CLOSED)

--Neon-York - SatoCorp VIP Lounge--

As the milliseconds marched on, the Bionic Maid was again reminded just how clumsy their security details were, no wonder she could slip past and infiltrate right into the heart of their lair without so much as raising an alarm. Indeed, what's the use of all that firepower if you don't even notice the enemy's presence? Really, she was doing them a favor here, let them compensate for their substandard response time and have a chance to prove themselves.

As the elevator arrived with a literal bang, spreading thick opaque smoke from within, a holographic halo projected from the back of Lenneth's scalp - a set of three rotating rings glowing with pale blue light - as she engaged her H.A.Lo Module, performing constant rapid scans of the immediate vicinity.

7 hostiles; 6 buzz-drones, 1 tactical drone. She identified them through the obscuring gaze just as one of the hardened windows suspiciously returned to normal, the reason why immediately became apparent through the high caliber shot aimed at her.

In this situation where even milliseconds could mean the difference between a hit or miss, Lenneth's artificial muscles and skeletal systems immediately reacted as swiftly as they could to maneuver her body out of harm's way. This marksman proved to be quite troublesome, but for now, she had more pressing mechanical matters.

Facing toward the saw-wielding drones, the bionic maid deemed it was time to execute sterilization protocol.

First, Lenneth used her weapon and limbs to parry and deflect the drones' whirring blades before she immediately followed up by using those very same weapon and limbs to swiftly punch, kick, and bludgeon their buzzing faces in; her technique aided by the data gathered by her halo-shaped radar to know precisely where each percussive maintenance could be most effectively applied.

Once done with the saw swarm, the cyborg agent set her unblinking mechanical gaze to the man-sized tactical drone. Flexing her legs, Lenneth launched off into a sprint, dashing through the VIP floor before she launched herself toward the securibot. She'd plant her boots first against its torso to tackle it down, then she'd aim her carbine at almost point-blank range to its analyzed weakpoint before pulling Nibelung's trigger, spewing a stream of electromagnetically-charged solid projectiles from the barrel.

---

Actions:
❖ Stunt (Halo Module): 2 Free Invokes Aspect, -1 FP
❖ Quick Defend (vs Sneaky Attack): 1 + 2 = 3
❖ Forceful Defend (vs Quick Attack): -2 + 3 = 1
❖ Quick Attack + Free Invoke (at Buzz-Drones): -2 + 2 + 2 = 2
❖ Forceful Attack + Free Invoke (at Tactical Drone): -3 + 3 + 2 = 2

FP: 3 - 1 = 2 | Stress: Tick 0 | Consequences: None (0)
Tag: @MrSkimobile