kapuchu

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

@QuinEldritch
One thing I find amusing with your character, is how he's described as "tall for the time", and there are two women in the House which are as tall as he is, and taller in one of the cases :p Despite women generally being shorter than men.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

@ConteAmarula
Has around 12 hours of time. Here's a new one.
discord.gg/CHkHPr

Mind you that I have set a "Mild" requirement, so you've need to have a Discord account for at least 5-10 minutes before you can join.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

@Monochromatic Rainbow@ConteAmarula
Hey you two! I made a Discord for this RP, for ease of communication and discussing things. Here's a link to invite: https://discord.gg/2N2bFq

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

See, people! A post is up!
THE RP IS NOT DEAD!! :D

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

The taste of blood filled Lucie’s mouth, spurring her on. This Isabeau had been dangerous, and would likely have succeeded at her ploy against anyone other than herself or Aleksandra. But what she had said just before the wave of lethargy washed over her, that she could see her, gave away one core part of her ability: She needed to see her. That, however, wasn’t important right now. She had beaten it, and done so soundly. She grit her teeth and stepped forward, eyes blazing as she fixed them on Isabeau. It wasn’t anger, so much as determination: A Promise. You cannot escape me.

Isabeau stood visibly shocked. To a normal person she might’ve looked no different than normal, but Lucie had been taught many things. And this was one of them. Isabeau was surprised, and the slight widening of her eyes spoke of her realisation. And so, she ran. The sudden lack of a blanket dullness covering Lucie’s mind made her stumble, but only for a moment. She shook her head and spat out a glob of spittle and blood and gave chase.

Isabeau was fast - faster than she had expected from a noblewoman - and initially increased the distance between them. Lucie, still in pursuit, however, didn’t give up. It had been a long time since she had really pushed her body to its limits, but now was a time where she had the chance. She ignored her peripheral, focusing all of her attention on her quarry before her. She couldn’t - wouldn’t - let this woman escape her. If it was as she suspected, and this was the woman who had kidnapped men from the underground, then she had gone where she was not welcome. She still saw it as a part of her: A world where ruthlessness and crime was prevalent, where you had to hone your body and mind to the utmost or risk having everything taken from you. She had left it behind, but it was still hers. And Isabeau had trespassed.

Lucie pushed herself further, running as fast as her body would allow, and she slowly started to gain ground.

Isabeau felt the other woman closing in on her, or maybe it was her own fate closing in on her. The trickle of fear was spreading but it spurred her on as much as her own Talent. She knew about adrenaline and what it could do to the body; she needed it’s boost of strength and speed. She could crash later, if she survived. That was what the logical part of her mind told her anyway. Knowing this she funneled her Talent into her adrenal system, increasing its strength as well.

This was a mistake, one that she wouldn’t have made if she had proper time to think things through. But fear and circumstance led to irrational action and as the adrenaline flooded her body only increased the irrationality. As she ran she suddenly saw a creepy twisted shape looming ahead of her. She didn’t even stop to figure out what it was, tree or beast, she didn’t know. She only knew to run.

Propelled by fear she dashed off the path into the pressing darkness without looking back. Her pace slowed as branches ripped her flesh and clothing, but she did not stop.

Lucie, on the other hand, felt no such fear, nor was it adrenaline as much as a childhood of rigorous training keeping her running. When Isabeau darted into the forest, she followed without hesitation. She was more at home in streets and alleys, but for the sake of catching this monster in human guise, she would gladly go out of her comfort zone. She ducked and weaved, pushing aside whipping branches and jumping over fallen logs and odd depressions wherever she came across them.

She briefly considered taking out one of her remaining throwing knives, but decided against it. With this many trees she was unlikely to hit much of anything, let alone while running at a sprint and on uneven ground to boot. She instead grit her teeth, and pushed herself to go faster. Isabeau was yet ahead of her, but still not out of sight, and she was still gaining on her, faster now that they were in a terrain where an untrained woman like Isabeau was at a disadvantage, even if the terrain also forced Lucie to slow down, albeit not as much.

Isabeau was running blind. She had known the path having traveled it many times before but here in the bush with the moon only out at intermittent intervals she was blind. A branch here knocked her off balance, a rock there tripped her, and still she kept running. Fear was not something she normally accepted but with everything that had happened plus her own Talent augmenting her adrenal response, there was no way she could fight it. She didn’t even have the presence of mind to stop her psychic enhancement.

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her and pushed onward. It was the chill of the water that brought her out of her fear-induced flight. She had run straight into a small stream, tripped, and fallen face first in the icy water. Exhausted and confused she pulled herself to her hands and knees, frantically looking around. The moon was out for the moment, reflecting on the water, and Isabeau began a limping run up the stream bed. She spied a pocket of deep shadow and with her ‘sanity’ returning and knowing she was done in, she headed for it.

It turned out to be a jumble of rocks which created pockets of darkness and she tucked her sore, bleeding, wet body in between two of them. It was her only chance now. She couldn’t fight and she couldn’t run any longer. Hiding was her only option left.

The ploy had worked, as Lucie jumped over the stream, having only just noticed the glint of moonlight reflected in the water. She continued on her way for a while more, getting at least half a dozen running strides in before she realised something was wrong. There were no longer whipping branches ahead of her, nor the sound of frantic steps from Isabeau running. She stopped, and turned around, peering into the darkness behind her. The stream was a good six metres behind her, the gurgle of water and the rustling tree branches providing the only sound for the moment.

Where did she go? Lucie wondered, turning her head around as far as she could. She didn’t move her feet, knowing that the extra sound her footsteps would cause, could be matched and used to mask the movement of Isabeau, were she clever enough to use that tactic. But even with senses as honed as hers, she could see nothing now. Isabeau had well and truly disappeared. She grit her teeth, feeling the kernel of anger flare in her breast. No, she wouldn’t let her go. If she could not trust her eyes and ears, there was only one option left: To trust her mind.

She cast her mind out as far as she could, providing the forest with a single word: Isabeau.

In front of her, to the left. Three metres from where she had jumped over the stream. It was as if the forest itself helped her turn her head, and move her eyes to a small formation of rocks. She tilted her head, eyebrows rising. Had she really missed that? It was obvious in hindsight, but when she’d come running she had fallen into the trap of tunnel visioning. She had focused too much on catching up to Isabeau, and not enough on keeping track of the woman herself. No matter, she said to herself, and took the first, careful step towards where Isabeau was hiding, doing her best to step carefully and with as little sound as possible. It was slow going, matching her steps with the rustling of the branches - moving only whenever a particularly strong gust came by.

Within a minute or two, however, she took the final step, standing over the rock formation with a clear view of the pocket of the darkness, and the frightened woman within. She made sure to meet her eyes, and gave her a slow, cold, smile. “Found you,” she said, making a show of drawing her sword slowly, the blade glinting in the moonlight. “You have two options, lady. Come with me peacefully, or by force.” She levelled the sword at her in a fluid, practiced motion. “Your choice.”

Isabeau had nothing left. She was exhausted, mentally and physically, from everything that had happened. She could feel the adrenaline rush drain out of her body leaving her weak as a newborn kitten. Still, when Lucie showed up, she had enough presence of mind to know the end had come. Despite everything she had done, everything she had planned to do, there was still a thread of sanity in amongst the insane dedication. She knew the horror of what she had done, the truth of what she had created, and was still massively proud of it. She had given life to death; that was something no one else had ever done, and she suspected no one else would ever do.

She had to assume Adam would survive her creature’s attack; one of the reasons she had wanted his mind to complete her project was his ability to surprise and survive. Indeed he had surprised her even after he was unconscious; who would have guessed the master of the society was a woman, ruining all her plans in that one moment. Everything that had happened, everything that had gone wrong, could all be traced to Adam. It was his fault and he wouldn’t stop until everything she had worked for was gone.

Adam would have destroyed her work by now, the last bit of her husband and the only child she would ever have, would be gone. He would not leave her research untouched, he would destroy that too. She wondered briefly if he would even destroy the records of herself and her husband in the society...would anyone remember all they had accomplished in the end?

All these thoughts passed through her mind in seconds as she watched the other woman. She was silent for what seemed a very long moment and when she stood it was with difficulty and determination. Her voice, like the rest of her, was weak. The only good thing was that she was simply too tired to be afraid anymore.

“Are you Adam’s Lady?” she said almost conversationally, choosing her words slowly to buy her a bit of time to muster what Talent she had left. The question received a raised eyebrow from Lucie.

Isabeau knew she would probably need to touch the other woman to do much of anything, she was that weak, but she wouldn’t just give up. “You certainly have the tenacity he would find attractive. Let’s get this over with shall we? I have no intention of coming with you peacefully, or at all.”

Lucie clicked her tongue almost as if disappointed. “I am no one’s woman,” she said slowly, eyes trained on Isabeau’s. “I lived my life as a tool to another man, but now I’m free, and I do as I wish.” She clicked her tongue one last time, closing her mouth with a clack of teeth. “But be that as it may. I gave you a choice.” And then she swung, moving as quickly and as suddenly as she could, aiming for Isabeau’s temple with the flat of her blade. She had left the underground partially because she no longer wanted to kill, and she was not about to go back on her decision.

Isabeau let the blow come, there was no way she could stop it anyway. Instead she threw what little Talent she hadn’t used up into her neurological systems; trying to protect them as best she could. It was a gamble in many ways, if she would survive to fight another day, but she would certainly lose if she fought now; so there really wasn’t any other option.

The blade connected with her skull with a dull thud and Isabeau passed out unconscious without any hinderance.

Standing beside the unconscious Isabeau, Lucie exhaled and sheathed her sword. “Idiot woman,” she muttered and bent down to pick her up, and throw her over her shoulder. Adeleia, Alexandra, and the others should have been able to take care of that… thing. Suppose I’ll find out, she thought and went about finding her way back.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

@Astarael42
Don't know who Quint is... but (s)he hasn't been online in two months. I doubt you'd get much of a response from them.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

Not sure how happy I am with this one. It was a difficult one to not make too easy or too hard. I fear I wrote myself into a bit of a corner with putting him in a Frenzy, but... Eh. It's an NPC battle. I'll make sure to do better when PvP becomes something I have to think about.

The Crucible - Winner Take All

Lily vs Jiang - Round 3

Cacophonous music battered Lily's ears, more sensitive than a normal human's. The intense light swirling around her opponent, was bright even around the corner of the building she hid behind. She had intended to induce such terror in Jiang that he would simply fall and give up, effectively throwing him into a fear-induced coma, which she'd then use to take his... soul. She still had trouble thinking of the process as taking the soul of another, since it was something that was followed by instantaneous death were she to do it under her own power. Why that was could wait for later, however, as she currently had a man going berserk a dozen metres away from her, and a mechanically augmented shark looking to her for directions.

Lily hit the wall behind her, frustrated. She didn't know what was going on around the corner, and part of her didn't want to find out. She'd learned long ago to be wary of beings, no matter how humanoid, suddenly shedding powerful light or sounds. She doubted they were illusions, as she should easily have been able to see through them, but then what was it? It wasn't fire, which ruled out a creature like that of a phoenix, nor some toxic miasma or... or anything she knew anything of. A woman who lived among gods and demons, fought against and with monsters, and had even become a creature more spirit than human herself, and she had no idea what was waiting to face her just around this corner. The lack of knowledge grated on her, reminding her all to much of her earliest days when she'd barely known what to expect from her own powers.

She didn't want to simply throw Brucie out into deep waters and hope he could swim. She didn't know what to expect from some random loudmouth, who suddenly started emitting light just seconds after being shown a little bit of eldritch horror. The problem was that the only way she could find out what was happening, was to look. And so... She did. Telling Brucie to stay where he was, she carefully crept towards the corner and poked her head out, quickly finding the source of the light and sound. Near-blinding though it was, she could just faintly see the man inside, covered in tentacles of light. A few moments passed and he seemed to be completely unaware of them, as well as on the defensive - there were no visible weapons, at the very least, and the tentacles did not seem designed for offense. But were they? She was in relative cover, and based on what she had seen he was nowhere near as fast as she was, so it was relatively safe to assume that she could get back into cover if he suddenly went on the offense.

She exerted her will slightly, using the friction from between her tails to create heat. The heat she molded and gave shape, resulting in a tennisball sized orb of cobalt fire hovering near her. She designated Jiang as her target, and immediately the orb sped forward like a rocket, leaving a trail of embers in its wake. It flashed white and gave off a boom upon impact, but there were no other effects. Much to Lily's dismay, the light surrounding Jiang was hardened, creating a protective shell around him.

She was about to form a second orb when the music suddenly changed, and with them did the tentacles. The music became a mix of fast-paced trumpets and drums, and the tentacles - "Oh. Shit." Lily ducked behind the corner as the first cannonball came rocketing towards her. The intense light had gone and instead was replaced by half a dozen cannons circling him. He no longer looked afraid, either. The one glimpse she'd gotten of his face showed something near fanatic, furious even. A wave of sand sprayed her in the face from where the cannon turnhad crashed into the ground, barely a metre from her, leaving tiny cuts on her cheeks. A sound like a boulder shattering came from behind her, along with a section of the wall being torn out by another cannonball, having missed her by inches. Her eyes widened as she realized just how much danger she was in. She turned to Brucie and yelled the only word that came to mind, "RUN!"

He did, and so did she. They followed the wall, turning the corner to put the entire building between them and Jiang, the sound of the cannons providing a backdrop, as if to some maniacal symphony which, in this case, it actually was: the concussions in the music being played was matched perfectly with the cannons shooting, although with some shots inbetween. That doesn't help me! She shouted at herself. The entire building was now between them, and it seemed that luck was with them and Jiang didn't know where they are, simply keeping the cannons aimed loosely towards where he had seen her, destroying that part of the building with ease.

"Cannons and music... That guy's got some freaky fireworks. How do we even get near that?" Brucie asked, peeking through a window, but was only able to see through to the part that had been destroyed, walls obscuring the rest.

"The easy answer would be to just distract him with illusions, but I fear he'd know the second the first shot passed through it. And if we step out in it, I have few doubts that he'd put holes through us. So you stay out of this. However," she moved one her tails forward, depositing the Flask into her hand, "I need you to fill this. I'm fast, so I think I can at least run circles around him." Brucie took the flask and she stood up, almost jumping as a section of the building's roof caved in on the other side. The cannonshots had yet to stop. They just continued, as did the music. "I'll probably be needing it. Don't go out, you'll just get yourself killed."

With that being said, she ran down the length of the building, leaving behind a disgruntled Brucie that, in spite of being annoyed that she wouldn't allow him to fight, understood the idiocy of charging down the guy. He was eager to fight, maybe even reckless. But he wasn't suicidal.

Lily rounded the corner and stopped just before she stepped out on the street. She peeked around and saw Jiang with his back to her, six floating cannons aimed towards the corner where she and Brucie had hid before, blowing it to smithereens even though it was hardly standing at this point. With every shot he shouted something, only a few of which Lily could pick up on: Laowai - Foreigner? she mused, eyebrow rising - monster, something that she believed translated into 'less than dirt'. He was definitely still conscious, but he didn't seem to be in full control of himself. It's as if he's become... twisted, frenzied. Let his emotions get the better of him and tunnel visioned to the point of not thinking ahead at all, focusing only on the immediate. She took a cautious step out of cover, standing in the open but near cover. Jiang didn't look back, didn't stop firing. So if he only reacts to an immediate threat... She concentrated her gaze on a place beyond Jiang, in front of and to the left of him, the opposite direction of where he was firing. A small use of power conjured an image of herself and Brucie, standing unprotected.

Jiang's head whipped around, and so did the cannons. Their report continued, blasting the area with iron balls. And then stopped. Jiang stood silent, music gone, and cannons silent. He stared intently at the area where the images had been, and just as he whirled around did realisation dawn on Lily. She mentally kicked herself and jumped back into cover, only for the music to resume and the wall next to her to explode. Dust and debris peltered her, but worst was the ball of iron punching through concrete as if it were sand. She didn't so much feel it as hear the cracking sound of her shoulder breaking when the cannonball clipped her. Nevertheless she screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her wounded side. Iron fell around her and she was lucky that none hit, the corner providing some cover. What cannonballs weren't diverted by impacts, flew over her and landed behind her. But she wasn't safe. Not by a long shot. So she fought through the pain, forcing herself to scurry away even as it felt like steel balls were passing, mere centimetres from hitting her.

From around the corner came Brucie, looking concerned if a shark could. He saw wall being destroyed, the cannon balls whizzing past. And he saw Lily lying on the ground, trying to stay low while scurrying towards where he stood. "Idjit," he said aloud, though whether to himself or to her was uncertain, as he darted forward and grabbed her which only made her curse loudly when he touched her shoulder. "Suck it up," he muttered, though it was barely audible over the cannonfire. He finally pulled her around the corner and into better cover and set her down, elicing another curse.

"The flask!" She demanded, to which he nodded and pulled it from the compartment in his leg. She took it and drank deeply, wincing as the bones in her arm reset and and the torn flesh reknit. "Fuck. I can't get close, and he did react when his shots passed through the illusion. Wish I hadn't ruined your watergun."

Brucie remained silent as she took another gulp from the flask, looking toward the cannonballs not far from them. He looked from them to Lily, back to them and then met Lily's eyes. "You destroyed that door yesterday. How."

She looked at him quizically. "Simply unleashing a bit of magic, I can create a lot of kinetic force. Why?"

Brucie ran up to the nearest cannonball, picked it up and ran back with it. He handed it to her and gave her a knowing look. Or as much of a knowing look as a hammerhead shark could. "Do it again."

"It... just might work," she said after a moment of thought. "I can't propel it as fast as him, but I can try." She stood up, rolling her now-healed shoulder. "Worth a shot... but I'll need a distraction." She looked towards the other end of the building, where they had been hiding before. "Go over that way, and provide a distraction. I expect you can run fast enough that he can't easily trace the shots." She gave him a wan smile. "Sorry for putting you in danger like this, but I don't think illusions will work that well this time. He'll see through it the instant a shot passes through."

Brucie, in spite of being about to jump into danger, nodded and smiled as much as a shark could. "Ya got the potion thing if things go to shits. and a single cannon shot won't kill me, I don't think. Now, you go for it when I make the distraction." And with that, he ran off.

Lily looked at the flask in her hands. She'd consumed a quarter of it to heal her arm. She would need to reserve the rest for if, or when, Brucie had been hurt. She followed him with her eyes as he ran up to the other corner and turned it. Shortly after, his coarse voice could be heard shouting obscenities. A sudden and loud exclamation of a particular swear told Lily that he had been spotted. The cannonfire continued, but no more projectiles came her way. She ran out of cover, satisfied at seeing that Jiang had his back turned to her, and firing at Brucie who was busy running towards the huge scrap heap that she had hidden in to begin with. Iron balls fell around him, but he wasn't hit. Yet.

She hadn't any time to waste, and so ran forward. She was fast, faster than any human would ever be, but even so she felt slow. Any moment he could hear her footsteps, and make one of those cannons turn around to fire at her. Each step of hers sounded as loud as the cannonfire to her. Each breath, she feared that he could feel. Twenty, fifteen, thirteen, twelve... Ten metres away, she stopped and raised the cannonball, held in both her hands. She gazed hard at her opponent's back, focused the primal power within her, and Pushed. The cannonball slipped from her hands with a rush of air, propelled forward by an invisible force. Instinct, it seemed, made Jiang turn around just as it happened. His frenzied expression gave way to surprise as one of his own cannonballs came rushing towards him. The surprise, in turn, gave way to pain as the nine pounds of iron struck him in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards and screaming in pain. The song stopped.

Lily didn't stop there, she began running again, forward once more. He was down for a moment, but she didn't want to risk him resuming the music and filling the air with iron again. Lightning crackled and jumped between her limps as she called upon it. It moved, concentrating in her hands. More and more she called upon. Closer and closer she got.

Standing almost atop him, she met his eyes, angry arcs of lightning bouncing between her fingers. His pained and confused expression met hers as she extended a hand. Time seemed to slow. She saw his eyes widen, lips part. Saw the beginning of a cringe like that of someone expecting even more pain. And she realised something. She realised that the risks were too great. She felt her own lips move unbidden, mouthing a single phrase. I'm sorry.

Lighting sprang from her hands, connecting with Jiang. The screams were nothing new to hear, nor was the smell of cooked flesh. But nonetheless, it hurt. It hurt to break her vow. To do something she'd promised herself she wouldn't do. And yet... She couldn't afford not to. If she simply tried to grab at his phylactery he would have the time to turn the cannons on her and fire.

She cut off the electricity after only a few seconds. Seconds that had felt like hours. At her feet lay someone whose name she only knew because a prick with a microphone had said it. She felt no victory, only numbness as she watched the smoke curling up from his corpse, the skin blackened in places. She looked towards Brucie who was, miraculously, unharmed. He looked by with an unreadable expression and said nothing.

Moments passed in silence, until eventually a loud whine penetrated the stillness. Lily looked towards the wreckage of metal to their left, to where she and Mouse had hidden earlier. That whine... "Mouse!" Old training kicked in, letting her momentarily forget about the enemy in favour of her ally. She ran towards where she had hidden with the dog before. She jumped up to the small ledge where she left him only to see blood. It flowed thick but, thankfully, hadn't spread far. Not far from her lay Mouse, a small round hole in his chest. He whined and tried to wag his tail as she approached, but managed little more than a twitch. Such a small dog had bled so much. One of Jiang's bullets must've hit him earlier, when she had taken shelter in the shadows of the wreckage. The why isn't important. Heal him! Potion! She shouted to herself, taking it from within her tails. Most of it still remained, though much had been spilled during her sprint. She could only hope that it was enough since he was smaller.

She cupped her hand underneath his muzzle and poured some of the golden liquid in. "Drink," she said, which he did much to her relief. He slowly lapped it up, and the bleeding slowly stopped. He evidently realised that drinking was a good thing, because he didn't stop until only drops was left in the bottle, and the hole in his side had sealed. His fur was still matted with blood but, thankfully, he was alive. And healed. The life she had taken momentarily forgotten, Lily picked up Mouse and found her lips curling into a smile. He gave her a, she assumed, thankful lick on the cheek and a small bark, which she repaid with scratches.

She would deal with the body of Jiang Zhao later. For now, she allowed herself to feel happy that she had also saved a life.

Ianus Congreatio: Secret societies, horror, and mystery in the shadows of Prague.

@Astarael42
You're more than welcome :P I don't make a habit of quitting RP's. Especially not when it's one such as this, that's really interesting and not your usual RP where it's combat or Super Power centered xp

The Crucible - Winner Take All

To whom it may concern (though probably not anyone for a little while): With Lug's approval, Lily's (Inari's) Frenzy has changed to better reflect her archetype of a trickster/illusionist.