Meiyuki

Cara's Originally Titled OoC Hangout Thread ♥ (Still)

My candle's burning low as I write this, what might be my last letter home. Tonight I embark on an expedition, into an exceedingly long off-topic thread. I don't know what I expect to find there, but the sheer size of it draws me. Like a moth to a flame, or will it be the gold I've always hoped for? Do not wait for me at home, and I don't know when I'll be back.

Love,

Meiyuki

Had a random thought, so I wrote it down and posted it here. Seems kinda like what this place is for.

In summary: Hi! How are people doing?

What is one prevailing trait or element in your RP characters?

Aside from the fact that they're predominantely female and gay? (I'm guilty of being both)

They all suffer from some sort of madness or insight. Seeing the world through the lense of perfect sanity is boring, I'm a sucker for a fundamentally flawed world-view.

Wolves of Red Lake (Closed ignore this thread)

Alright. So Anima and I are wrapping up our mauling Collab. (It's late I know, sorry!) I'm wondering who at this point would be most likely to look in on the battered and mostly immobile girls.

Of course we could simply use an EMT, just thought I'd poke the OOC first.

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

Alright! I'll be moving the away witches back to the castle tomorrow night.

@Xathi@Aerandir Last call for the meet up scene.

Also Aer, if you could color here and post it I'd be grateful.

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

_{in collaboration with @shagranoz}

"The First Lesson"

It was a rather dreary day at Castle Bloodrose. The clouds were dark and heavy, although it wasn't raining yet. A perfect day to stay inside and out of the weather. Fortunately, that's exactly what Rebecca had planned for the day.

She had dressed in beautiful lilac robes, and was busy preparing to give Clarissa her necromancy lessons. Various magical baubles were strewn seemingly haphazardly around the room, and a rabbit skeleton lay in the center of some sort of mystical design. There was a knock at her door, and the witch went to answer it.

"Hi!" Clarissa was beaming at the door as it opened. "Sorry I'm a touch late, Medusa had me running around asking questions."

She stepped into the room, taking a moment to examine the peraphenallia in wonder, before her eyes settled on Rebecca again. "Lovely robe! It looks good on you."

"Thank you, Clarissa. Come in, come in." Rebecca took a seat on her bed. "We'll start with the basics. Skeletons are not nearly as complex as whole bodies, and much simpler than the shades I showed you yesterday. I also took the liberty of setting up several foci, to better concentrate your power. Now, you need to still your mind, and prepare yourself for a bit of a psychic jolt."

"Still my mind? Amid all this excitement?" Clarissa chuckled briefly. "I will try my best." It had been a long time since she'd had to summon a true swarm of shadows, or perform any really noteworthy magical feat, but as her breathing steadied she fell back into the rhythym of a trained witch. The room seemed to fade slightly as it slipped from her mind, her senses dulled, along with any roaming thoughts, until finally only the sound of Rebecca's voice remained.

Once she was satisfied she was a prepared as she was going to get she spoke. "Alright. I'm ready."

"Now comes the fun part." Rebecca chuckled a little bit. "Concentrate on manipulating all the latent energy in the room into a single spot, about the middle of the rabbit's ribcage. This forms what's called the Spark of Life, the foundation layer of a soul. You're going to feel a pain in your skull, like an annoying headache, but if you do it right, there will be a bright flash, and then you'll be able to puppet the rabbit with your body. Should you get the bond really secure, you can do it with thought alone, but it's rare to be so successful with your first reanimation."

Clarissa nodded briefly before doing as she was instructed. Closing her eyes she reached out with her will, lightly at first, to feel out the energies contained in the small room. Once she'd gotten a good enough sense she opened her eyes again and began to work. Carving channels in the magical space, Clarissa began drawing the energies towards the rabbit's ribcage. That was the easy part however, as onced they'd arrived came the work of condensing them enough for the spell to take effect.

As Rebecca had forwarned her a small pressure began to build in her head as she urged the energies slowly - but surely - into a single point, directly in the center of the ribcage. Just when she thought she'd got something wrong a bright light, accompanied by a strange buzzing sensation, came across her vision. Surely enough, when the flash cleared, at the center of the runework sat an animate rabbit skeleton.

"Wow..." Clarissa eyes sparkled with wonder, her face split by a bright smile. She waved, causing the skeleton to awkwardly mimic the gesture. Giggling she looked to Rebecca. "How'd I do?"

"Well done!" Rebecca hopped off the bed, clearly impressed. "Don't tell anyone this, but it took until my sixth try to get it my first time. You've clearly got an aptitude for this sort of magic. Perhaps even more so than myself. With a little bit of practice, you could have legions of the undead at your beck and call, enough to carve out a fortress of your own."

A burst of laughter rocked Clarissa back and forth in her seat. "Not likely, I've never had much of a talent for anything useful. I'm charming sure, but that's about it." Once her fit of mirth had passed she gave Rebecca a somewhat serious look. "Thank you though. This is... fun, and rewarding. It feels good to learn something so fascinating."

A somber look came over Rebecca's face. "Few enough witches find necromancy 'fascinating.' All the ones I've met wanted nothing to do with me, even when I was alive. That's why I never joined a coven before. I was an outcast among outcasts. You, Medusa, all the witches here... you're my family. The only one I can really recall."

"I'm glad you came! I've never had anyone but Lorelai offer to teach me anything, and Lorelai's mean so." Clarissa looked around a little sheepishly. "You're really nice, and necromancy has got to be the coolest thing I've seen in years, maybe ever. I haven't the faintest idea why you'd be treated so poorly."

She pointed to the rabbit who - much to Clarissa's pleasure - mimicked the expression. "Dead is supposed to be the end. It's not ressurection sure, but the idea that it can move and act. It's like stealing from the underworld. It's exhilerating."

Rebecca snapped her fingers-or at least tried to. All she managed to do was flick a decent-sized chunk of flesh across the room. "Damn. I'm going to have to clean that up later. And you hit on why I was so ostracized, though you didn't realize it. Even other witches don't think the boundary between life and death is a plaything."

As horrifying as it probably should have been, Clarissa just giggled as her eyes followed the piece of dead flesh. "I guess I can understand that, but aren't we supposed to push boundries? And change things? Oh well."

She placed her arm around Clarissa shoulders. "And the idea that you would be virtually cut off from here, unable to come back without someone to guide you? Most people, even if they have magic, don't want to confront their own mortality. It's only at the end when they realize, 'Hey, maybe the crazy woman who spent all her time with corpses would be really handy right about now.' And by then, it's too late."

Laughing again Clarissa nodded. "No one wants to die, ironic then that they're so afraid of death they impede the witch that may someday turn it back." She sighed. "Isn't that the story of witches though? Fear of the unknown and small minded people pushing us out? Occassionally sending us down dark roads of power just to survive? For every 'black' witch out there there's also a hunter, or a mob, that pushed her there."

"True enough. I was a hero to many back home. Used my gifts to solve a murder that had bedeviled the town watch for a week. But when I got sick..." She shuddered. "I've seen Hell, Clarissa. I knew what was lurking, waiting in the dark to greet me when I died. So I did what I could to avoid that fate. Anyone else in the town would have done the same, were they capable. But they weren't, and they hated me for it."

Clarissa patted Rebecca back in comisseration. "When I was a girl I used to put on plays for my friends using shadow puppets. When the townsfolk found out... We've all heard the story, or a variation of it." She grinned again. "People will always fear what they can't understand, but at least we've got each other, and a coven of good people."

Suddenly she frowned. "That is, if it doesn't tear itself apart first."

Rebecca's eyebrows shot up. Sure, everyone around the castle had seemed rather tense recently, but this was the first time she'd heard that there may be full-blown dissolution of the coven. "Tear itself apart?" she asked, alarmed. "Whatever do you mean?"

"You haven't heard?" Clarissa supposed that wouldn't be so strange. While she had no idea why Rebecca wouldn't be more popular the witch probably knew her own situation better than she did. "Lorelai and Medusa... things are not going well between mommy and mommy. It's looking like it might get bloody, it's certainly going to get stormy though."

"Clarissa... believe me when I say this, you are the closest friend I have in this world, or the next." A somber look came over Rebecca's face. "So when I tell you that I cannot take sides in this conflict, you know where I am coming from. A long time ago, when I was caught using my magic for the first time, I was made to swear an oath that I would never use my gifts to harm anyone. To save lives, rather than end them. Over the years, I've taken that promise into my own heart. I can raise my hand against neither Lorelai or Medusa. Should the time come when I have to make that decision, I would far rather consign myself to the Inferno."

"Hopefully you won't have to, maybe things will blow over, but I've got a feeling that they won't this time." Clarissa's eyes were sad. "I don't want to take sides either, but I've got to stay afloat somehow. I don't want to be caught in the middle alone."

She sighed. "Maybe we'll get lucky, and it'll all finish up before we're called on to make a choice. Although if I have to... I don't know, Medusa seems the likely bet."

"I-I need to leave for a while. Go to the woods, mull some things over on my own. Do not send anyone to find me. I may come back in a few days, I may not. Regardless, I must thank you, Clarissa. For everything." With that, Rebecca turned and departed, heading for a murky and uncertain future.

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

titanpad.com/gWQLaDhJJX

Psst @Aerandir, does Alexina wanna make a first pass at Lorelai?

Or should I have her jam a bunch of demons in Liz and call it good cry by herself. ;)

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

On Combat

Tiers of power:

Novice

Hunters: A little luck, a good plan, and the high ground brought you here. The long night is just beginning hunter, wet your blade, hone your instincts, and hope you don't become prey before your time.

Witches: So you've cast a few spells? Have some control over your gift? Well done, but that's just the beginning. Magic is intoxicating isn't it? Find yourself a coven quick sorceress, lest you find yourself alone in the dark.

Acolyte

Hunter: Welcome to the long night, hunter. You can finally number yourself amongst the ranks of those that run towards danger instead of away from it. This is a dangerous road you walk, check your pride boy, if you want to live another night.

Witch: True control is gained here. You're beginning to understand the basics of magical theory, but you're still mostly in the dark. Every old nightmare started here sorceress, but not many made it any further.

Disciple

Hunter: Well done, you've made it to the heights of what most hunters will ever accomplish. If you hung your blade up and started a family no one would blame you, the taverns know your tales by heart anyway. Maybe that's not enough for you? Is it because you're mad? Or does something pull at you? Blaze your way through the blood and dark hunter, you're beginning to understand.

Witch: How many sacrifices did it take to get here? Do you controll your own little coven now? Maybe you've retired from black magic and became a medicine woman? Old tomes no longer have anything of value for you, words are not power after all. Seek the old ways, the dark ways. Close your eyes against the bitter wind, push on witch.

Adept

Hunter: Your form is nearly peerless, and you know more about the beasts that stalk the night than most hunters alive. People recoil from you in fear. Why? Is your killer instinct really so obvious? False friends fade, and tavern tales turn to dark whispers. Did you really think you were just human? Maybe you still do, hopefully you'll never live long enough to find out.

Witch: You're a walking nightmare. Spells pile up at the back of your long memory as quickly as the bodies of rivals and hunters do in your wake. You bloodline's gift speaks to you, offering up even more power readily. The outer planes echo with your power. No one makes it this far without delving into the dark arts, and they're called dark for a reason witch. Can you really stand any more?

Master

Hunter: Welcome scion of the hunter's moon. You're among the most powerful killers in the world. How does it feel at the top? Knowing you have more in common with the beasts you hunt than your mortal counterparts? Somewhere along the line something inside you spread its terrible wings, pushing you to transcend mortal capacities for violence. Are you awaited in heaven? Valhalla? Or does the pit eagerly watch for your fall? Stand alone against the deep dark hunter, no one else can.

Witch: When did you leave your humanity behind? When did it become so easy to sell yourself for power? Welcome bringer of the great dark. Your descent is now complete, you've completed your magnum opus and left the world behind. Or did you? Why do you still linger here Wise One? Did you leave something behind? Maybe you didn't like what awaited you at the end of your long journey. Reality buckles against the weight of your transcendant will, what great work awaits you next?

Alright, so with player versus player conflict around the corner (likely) I thought I'd get ahead of the curve on this. These are guidelines for the 'power' of a character. My hope is to use these as descriptive aids to help navigate any and all combat scenes.

Evenly matched is evenly matched. Someone can reasonably expect to defeat three opponents a step below them so long as they don't give a crucial advantage. Two steps down opponents are considered trivial, although in large swarms can prove troublesome.

I'd like players to try to get an idea about where their character (or characters for most of us) are at on this scale. Do not place yourself at Adept or Master without justifying your argument to me in a PM. That doesn't mean I'll say no, but don't get your hopes up. Also I hope this goes without saying, but there is certainly room for a character to move up the chart pending development and the like.

Note: This represents combat ability. If for some reason your witch takes an hour to use their power, but it can completely rewrite memories or whatnot there's no particular reason for them to be high up on this list. Combat is 'mostly' an opt-in feature of this RP, at least for witches.

Note 2.0: I'll be adding this to the OOC as well, just thought I'd put it here for you guys to look at.

Keep having fun!

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

_{in collaboration with @Wildeyes}

"A Dragon and her Shadow"

Lorelai paced the small clearing near camp. She hadn't heard from Alphonse yet, and she should have by now. Sousiel either although she was less concerned about that. The cost of the expedition had been far too high, blooding Taran unceremoniously, hours of wasted time, and... Vespa. She closed her eyes against the threat of tears, Lorelai didn't have time to mourn, not yet.

"You better not have fucking died on me Alphonse, I'll... kill you?" She laughed bitterly into the silence of the clearing.

"Oh, no, please don't. I have so much to live for." Alphonses voice reached Lorelai's ears, apparently from no where. She turned around, to see Alphonse standing not three feet away from her, clutching his stump, wrapped in his cloak.

"On second thought, they all require two arms, so go ahead and just end it all." Alphonse held his head up, revealing his neck. "Just make it quick."

"You're not that lucky are you Al?" Lorelai grinned at Alphonse, wincing when she noticed the stump where his arm used to be. She made her way over to him and pulled away the cloak to inspect the damage. "By the hells Alphonse, what happened to you?"

"The whole place was set up for an ambush. I was able to avoid detection by most of the revenants, but if the rest had earned their attention....it didn't look pretty. I sprung the trap, it cost me an arm, and...." Alphonse sighed, "Sousiel's gone, Lorelai. I'm sorry."

Lorelai's eyes widened in a near panic. "She died!?" She retrieved her ritual dagger from its sheath at her hip. "How long ago?"

"No more than a few hours. She fell in battle while protecting me and the coven. She was a good friend to me, for the short time we knew each other." Alphonse maintained a solemn tone.

"She sometimes does that yes." Lorelai replied distracted. She bared her forearm and with her dagger made a long jagged cut along the bottom. Her blood and an acrid black smoke seeped from the wound. "She doesn't get to die until I say so however, so rude."

Alphonse's brow furrowed, as Lorelai proceeded with her apparently dark arts. "Wait." Lorelai proceeded heedless to her friend.

Lorelai pressed against the borders of the world as her blood thinned them. Her voice lifted in the Dragon's Tongue, exalting Sousiel's might and tenacity in that gutteral language of demons that held no words, merely intent. Her blood, which had pooled on the ground beneath her arm, began to boil.

The boiling blood expanded across the ground, far faster than its volume should have allowed. Faint screams could be heard as the inferno yawned open with Lorelai's blood as the medium. All the while her song continued, growing in volume and fervor. Finally Sousiel's arm appeared, reaching out of the now black blood to gain purchase on the world above, the witches nostils were assaulted with the stench of brimstone and fresh viscera as she pulled her self screaming from the pit.

Trudging slowly towards her mistress Sousiel ran her tongue across the cut in Lorelai's forearm, the wound closing at its touch. Her eyes were drowsy and pained as she turned to Alphonse and gave a small wave. "Hey." Before collapsing.

"Sup", Alphonse responded, as she hit the ground.

The blood, and the verge it represented, evaporated back into acrid black smoke as Lorelai ceased her chanting. She stooped over the prone and naked form of her familiar. Removing her cloak she covered the demon. "You don't get to die until I do... Didn't I tell you that Sousiel?"

"It would have been nice if you had told me that you could do that." Alphonse said dryly. Certainly not filled with relief. Nor irritated that he had gone through the emotional rollercoaster of witnessing yet another friend's death.

"You'll have to excuse the fact that it slipped my mind, you know, amid the rest of my responsibilities?" Lorelai quipped back, slight irritation in her voice. She sighed, her voice calm again as she continued. "The others made it out, a little worse for wear, largely thanks to you I presume."

"I'm glad to hear it. Oh, before That slips my mind, I'm pretty sure that elder Ruvina is dead. I'm not sure how, but she's a wraith now." Alphonse's cocky smile was back. "I don't have concrete proof, but the undead in that castle were made by a wraith. There aren't exactly a lot of people who could be a wraithly necromancer."

"I've got your proof. We encountered her and most of her soldiers on our approach." Lorelai's voice was bitter. "The whore just couldn't let go... and now Elina's without a leg and Vespa... Vespa's." she trailed off.

"Is the old bitch at least laid to rest and out of our hair? Or better yet, damned."

"She's left to roam here, for an eternity alone, with no hope of being restored to life through whatever foul ritual she'd devised." Lorelai spat bitterly. "I'll come back here in a century or so, to see how mad she's gone, and laugh at her pathetic state."

"Sounds good and damned to me." Alphonse said with bitter satisfaction. "I don't think I have anything else to report. Do I need to hear anything else?"

"Just that Medusa will have to answer for this... in blood Alphonse. Her incompetence has cost us enough. And me more than that." Lorelai said grimly as she scooped Sousiel into her arms and began to make her way back towards the carriages.

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

_{in collaboration with @agentmanatee, @Ellion,and @Shagranoz}

"Taking Measure"

Phagora, Taran, and Alexina moved down the corridor, back towards the castle's main entrance. Phagora still had to use her sword for balance, but she was learning to block out the pain to an extent. "Wonder how the others did, but the fact that the undead were that thick in there was not a good sign. Lorelai alone should have torn most of them to shreds, and the others were no slouches either." A nervous look came over the half-demon's face. She was still new to the coven, but she'd grown to like many of her fellow members.

Taran walked closely behind her, fliching everytime she lose balanced. Despite what she said earlier, he still felt beyond guility for her pain. It also didn't help that a small echoing voice in his head kept saying that he should have let her burn to a crisp insiting that it would make him happier than he had ever been before was scared him was that he wasn't sure where that voice had come from, nor what it was doing in his head, because it wasn't a thought he had ever had before. "...I hope she is okay," said Taran, truthfully, he hadn't thought much of the other since they parted ways. "Phagora, are you sure there is nothing I can do for you?"

"No. That finger has done all it can, at least for right now, and I don't think there's anyone here with healing powers." Phagora glanced at the pyromancer. "I meant what I said, Taran. Don't dwell on it. Even my father, with all of his power, can't turn back the sands of time." She didn't want the youngster to obsess over his actions. It just wasn't healthy.

By telling him not to 'obses' over it what she really did was force him to obsess over it internally. When they exited the castle, carnage lay all about. Taran saw a few of the witches, all nursing wounds as bad, if not worse, than Phagora's. To the far left, he saw Elina, she was missing a leg and seemed to be pass out with Lorelai. To the far right, there lay Vespa's body, clearly unmoving. The rest of the bodies were either unfamilar, thus the enemy, or so mangled that Taran was unable to recognise them.

The closer they got to Lorelai, the harder it became to walk. What first started out as bodies every couple of feet, soon turned into a carpet, with then turned into an ever growing, never ending sea of the undeads bodies.

Finally Taran, Phagora and Alexina were able to reach Lorelai, with Taran making sure to support Phagora every step of the way. "Mistress," Taran started, then hesitated on what to say. "Mistress, I... How badly are you hurt?" there really wasn't much else to say.

Lorelai turned towards Taran. Her heart swelled weakly at the sight of her three siblings, they looked a little worse for wear. Alexina seemed to be bleeding from several wounds, Phagora looked singed, and Taran had a hundred yard stare that she hoped would fix itself soon enough. "I... I'm fine, just a flesh wound. As you can see the rest of us weren't so lucky." She turned back to Vespa's lifeless form. Her eyes threatened tears again. "Vespa... didn't make it."

Genoveve had been tending to Elina's wounds mostly, but the appearance of Phagora Taran and Alexina meant she was needed nearer to her mistress... after all if a coup was being planned then Genoveve needed to be sure to protect the drained Lorelai as long as they did not know who they could trust. She hobbled painfully towards the group, trying to make sure and favore her uncracked leg. She smiled weakly looking at them, all seemed to be physically wounded sans Taran who appeared scarred in other ways. She dropped down next to Lorelai before she spoke,"I-indeed we were not all so lucky... Elina is very damaged and will require help moving back to the carriages. My injuries are comparatively minor, despite what my limp would suggest.", she smiled sadly at them and Lorelai. Then she turned to look at Vespa's still corpse and gulped,"And... someone will need to carry Vespa...", she placed a hand on Lorelai's shoulder as she spoke.

"A sister lies dead upon the ground. I hope her killer suffered ten agonies for every one she did." Phagora's face turned hard as stone, and ice crept into her words. "Medusa knew, didn't she? About the horrors that lurked here? That's why we were caught unprepared. None of you were told. She probably feared the growing power of one of you, and sent you to die so she wouldn't be overthrown. In trying to prevent her fears from becoming reality, she has made them reality herself! Let Castle Bloodrose tremble, for we are coming!" Phagora turned to Taran. "You're the only one of us here who isn't hurt, so you should carry Vespa's body. Lorelai, you and Genoveve don't look too bad. You two can get Elina into the carriage. We've got plenty of work to do."

Taran could hardly keep up with the rate of Phagora's orders. "Wait, what?" he said, finally, once her orders had ended. "I'm sorry. I don't mind helping, but you can't know for sure that Medusa knew, you're only guessing," He felt bad, questioning Phagora after what he had done, but he also wasn't ready to go charging after Medusa on the chance that she knew that she was sending them to danger. "I think you are just blood thirsty right now,"

Lorelai turned to Taran. Her eyes held no traces of the Lorelai that was always kind to her younger siblings, or was quick to share a suggestion or comfort. These were the eyes that hunted Hector Digard to his grave. That gazed satisfied upon burning villages and screaming hunters. "Medusa knew, she knew because I knew. She sent me here with you Taran, an unblooded neophyte to the old ways. With Elina, who's too frail for war, and without the resources we needed to ensure victory."

A gutteral sylable conjured one of her many servitors, who scooped Elina from the ground and began to walk towards the carriages. "She didn't know the extent of it, I'm sure. The crime is the same. Reyna and her daughters had bad blood and she knew it, but sent them with me anyway. For that I'll have her head, and my vengeance. Her leadership brought this on us, and what comes on her as well."

"You're just upset because Vespa is dead. I though someone as wise as you would know that vengeance isn't a reason to fight. It isn't going to bring her back. You're just looking for someone to blame and you picked Medusa,"

Lorelai suppressed the urge to rip the boy's head from his shoulders and bathe in his blood for the insolence he'd displayed. "There is someone to blame Taran, that's me. I'm killing Medusa in part because of what she cost me, but mostly before her foolish hatred of me takes anything I might have left from me. Or leads to more uneccessary deaths." She gestured to Vespa. "That could have as easily been you, or anyone else. I'll not let her foolishness cost me, cost us, anymore that it already has."

Genoveve didn't want to, but Yeris had her glare at Taran quietly, a false hatred in her eyes as she looked at the young witch. Sh let Lorelai say her peace before chiming in on her own,"M-medusa is one of the most powerful witches in the coven. If-if she had wanted us to be safe she would ahve co-come along, and left someone else in charge of Bloodrose Taran. Lorelai is right, she has to be removed.", slowly she pushed herself to her feet, grimacing from the growing pain in her shin... walking on it so much was not a good idea. Regardless she tried to help pull Lorlelai up after her,"And I, for one, w-will do whatever Lorelai asks of me... now and uhm.. forever.", she smiled at her mistress innocently enough.

"Mistress Lorelai, when we met, I swore a blood oath to obey and protect you. My life is tied to that oath, so if I am to survive, I must support you in this. But that is not why I do so. My mother taught me that the only friend a witch has is another witch. Any witch who lets a member of their coven die, whether through inaction, incompetence, or corruption, deserves nothing less than the same fate." Phagora climbed into a carriage. "It should not be more than a few days before we return, but that is plenty of time to recover our strength. Let us be off, for the sooner the deed is done, the better."

"I think you are all making a....rushed choice," said Taran, although he could tell his argument wasn't really even worth speaking. "I cannot stop you from doing this and I won't try. And...Mistress you know I mean you no ill will and I don't want you to think horribly of me...but...unless I know for certain that Medusa planned this.....I cannot fight her,"

"We'll all do as we must in the days to come Taran, if you were to fight blindly I'd think less of you, and only then." Lorelai ruffled the boy's hair before heading towards the treeline. "I just hope we never meet on the wrong sides of the same battlefield Taran. I need some time before we leave... to put some things in order. I'll be back shortly." With that she disappeared beyond the foilage.

Genoveve frowned as Lorelai seemingly ignored her hand and simply disappeared. She huffed but decided Lorelai would do what Lorelai would do. She turned to Phagora with a pained smile, "C-could you maybe... help me out Phagora? I think my... shin is cracked and worsening whenever I walk on it... I'd rather not ruin my leg after the battle heh heh... ow.", she leaned against the tree stump, hoping Phagora would help her out.

Phagora's little trinket wouldn't be of much use here. She couldn't use it herself, and since it could only be used for selfless acts, Genoveve couldn't use it on herself, either. That didn't mean she didn't have any options, though. Ripping off the sleeves of her robes, she was able to use a stick to improvise a splint. The bone would mend the slow way, but it wouldn't get any worse in the meantime. Perhaps she could give Taran some instruction in the artifact. That would work. "Get plenty of bed rest and talk to me in the morning. If you have to go somewhere, hop on your good leg as long as you can."

Taran watched as all of the witches went their different ways, exhausted enough to find a quite bench to lay down...forever on. Before he left, he picked up Vespa and placed her gently inside. Honestly, he'd never spoken to the woman before, which was perhaps why he didn't care so much about her death, but it hurt Lorelai and that was enough to make him morn the loss of the witch. He shut the cabin behind him, and went to go find a hole to go hide in.

Spells in the Dark (18+ For dark and suggestive themes)

@agentmanatee

If I could get you to color your dialogue over here this would be ready to post.