Nanaya

Iris Ascendis

@Estylwen@ERode@Sifr@Psyker Landshark@AThousandCurses

AUDITORIUM

The woman's attention was drawn towards the unconscious Gulliver, a glimmer of contempt flashing across her features before returning to neutrality as she acknowledged Otis. With a slow nod and a sigh and a few rhythmic taps against her staff as she beheld Gulliver, she would look to Otis and gesture for him to return the unconscious brat to his chair. "Yes, Mister Bronsteel was to act as a final test for the students to overcome this morning. His Ethos was uniquely tailored for such a task, and the board of directors insisted he be granted the special privilege of overseeing Mannekin security for this exercise. The, um..." Two glances, one shot first towards the broken Foreteller and a lingering second on Ciara, seeming to tie this into her inquiry as well.

"The summoning of that giant and the 'divine culling' as it has been so strikingly said, were things that Bronsteel took upon himself. Perhaps he didn't expect to make such fast friends, but either way, it's something he'll be punished for. For the moment, though, he had earned his seat here today regardless of the result. Had he succeeded, he would have well and truly been Wingram's only student this year. In that, he wasn't wrong. Return him to his chair."

From the other end of the room, the doors opened as a middle aged human man in a tattered brown cloak, hood pulled up over his head - who Ciara would recognize as Michael - slowly shuffled inside with a broom in one hand and a dustpan in the other. Whistling a tune of exasperation as he took in the auditorium's state, he exclaimed a horrified, "Fuck me," a little too loud, not anticipating how silent with tension the rest of the auditorium was. He simply stumbled to work with his chosen janitorial weaponry, scooping up shards of wall, floor and chair with complete futility. The scarlet woman scoffed upon seeing the janitor's attitude, and returned to look upon Otis and Ciara once more.

"Now, if that's all, time has run out. We'll begin orientation now."

Turning to face the crowd below the stage, her eyes narrowed as she took in a few dozen students scrambling about the room, no free seats in sight, nor any powers to call upon to secure one. Just as their panic reached a boil...

Slam.

With a smack of the woman's staff against the wooden floorboards of the stage, all students without a seat in the auditorium would find themselves vanished instantly. What remained was a respectable amount of promising youths, though clearly not quite the turnout the scarlet sorceress had wished for. "This will have to do, then," she muttered, her staff clenched tight.

"Students of Wingram! I am Principal Raja, the one who will guide the hopeful stars gathered today. It has been a long and tiring affair to reach this place, I'm sure. The company on your carriages was almost assuredly found wanting, the nights cold without insulation, and the morning of arrival a mad dash filled with pain and screams. I mean it when I say that those that remain are those I would entrust the start of a promising future for. Those that lose themselves at the starting line would only perish or be crushed by reality in the weeks, months and years to come. We do not, after all, just train you for life - we train you for purpose. For renewal."

Runic patterns glowed on the back of the mechanical lizard at the woman's side. Raja traced a pattern in the air in its direction with her finger, and seconds later, the entire body of the lizard split open as countless blue lights escaped from it. They took to the skies, dancing about the room, looming overhead. After the utterance of an incantation by the principal, these lights each began to shoot towards students with purpose, each one seeming to have a specific target - but ultimately, each student in the auditorium would have their personal space intruded upon by these azure wisps, hovering just in front of them in their seats.

"These are Adapa. Grimoires and tomes for a modern age - for a world in which Astra demands we move beyond the struggles of the Five Year Apocalypse. So long as they're with you, they will allow you to use Vaal Shakta's Essence Mail and access the radios and television channels afforded to Shaktan citizens, among other things to be discussed at a later date."

Davil would glow with starry-eyed wonder upon hearing this, and immediately reached for the blue wisp in front of him without hesitation. Not even a second later, he slumped over unconscious in his chair, instantly comatose. Raja took note of this with a sigh, seeing a few others in the crowd attempt this at that very same moment, all meeting the same results.

"...As I was about to get around to, however, the Adapa is a fickle being. It has its own will, you see, and it's not a creature that bestows knowledge and support to the hesitant. It will attempt to assimilate you, as you do it - tug of war with the self, as it were. It will pull you, mentally, into the weakest moment of your life and attempt to bind you there. Your reason for being here, now, must be stronger than it was when you first gained that resolve. Be certain of your path, more now than you ever were, and the Adapa will become the greatest tool in your arsenal as a shield of the Union."

She would slam her staff upon the ground three more times in quick succession, echoing the start of the final entry test.

"You have endured a battle of the body, but a battle of mind and emotion awaits all of you inside. If you're defeated in this battle, our medical team will be able to separate the Adapa's dominance from you in time, though your time as a Wingram student will be brought to a swift end. Prevail, and you'll enjoy everything that awaits beyond this. Touch the designated Adapa that has arrived in front of you when ready, or else leave this place if you already know in your heart that you cannot win."

For those that touched their Adapa, they would be dragged into the most vulnerable point of their life, forced to relive it and overcome it. All the while, the Adapa acting as a voice of inner doubt, mentally stabbing away at them with precision only known by a mind intimately connected to their own - fusing, and sharing.

Iris Ascendis

I will never use the Status Bar, but Nanaya, just use Danbooru for your pic-hunting needs. As far as I'm aware, they have a blanket ban on AI works and they still link to the artist's twitter/pixiv, so you can use it for a jumping off point for searches anyhow.

@ERode

Miiiight just do that then. I often use pinterest, and that place has more AI than I could ever comprehend.

Next round in a few hours!

Iris Ascendis

Wait, I'm dead. I just realize Chloe doesn't have the abilty to fly lmao.

@AThousandCurses

Oh yeah, she just stomped towards Iraleth back on the bridge and got blasted.

Iris Ascendis

Sheesh, that was a particularly long one. Apologies, but it had to get out there!

Yaaay!

Sorry to hear about a tough day...

@Estylwen

Nothing a little writing can't solve. Only thing that's gonna stop me from RPing on the regular is death, probably, and that's thankfully coming no time soon.

Iris Ascendis

@Estylwen@ERode@Sifr@Psyker Landshark@AThousandCurses

AUDITORIUM

"Mmm, 'fuck around and find out,' is it?"

Small rumblings shook Valen's torso, face cast downward as he tasted the words like the wine he sipped, staying quiet while allowing others to finish their own ramblings. With another drink to empty his glass, the boy's posture shot upright in his throne with a chuckle - a sweet toxin in his stifled laugh. He was this universe's center, here and now, and he could not be happier for it. The threats that others shot his way seemed to slide off him like rain off of an umbrella, and his body language, expression, and even his heart rate for those that could sense such things - all were normal, leisurely and controlled. He well and truly believed that he could unleash a Fireball upon dozens of innocents and get away with it, if he willed it.

His attention turned to Iraleth as matters settled down, eyebrows somewhat raised with a slender smile as she spoke venom of the Leuvalt family name. When she turned away, the cracked sneer would grow thinner and thinner, as if a strand being stretched to its limit. "We will end today's discussion on a disagreement, then, fair squire. You who wish to see the young vanquished in the name of virtue, and I who admit freely the truth that the world is built by those who conquer for the sake of themselves. Even now, as you posture, rebound takes you. Should you continue that way as days pass into months and indeed years, you will join the fates of all the foot soldiers who perished in naive martyrdom: forgotten and unrequited."

His wine glass was filled to the brim once again, though it was again unknown when such a thing happened. He stared into it as another small chuckle escaped him.

"My way would spare you that fate."

Looking over to Hildegunde, he would eye her weapon, scoffing. "The same goes for this one. I have witnessed many soldiers wield such primitive weaponry in fair Rekordia. You are as expendable as a bargain bin toy soldier with none of the usefulness. Those, at least, are capable of distracting the children during the cold winter nights."

After which, he would close his eyes, leaning back in his throne and simply becoming unresponsive to any and all that would talk to him - a face of pure comfort on his features as he waited out the last minutes before the end. He clutched his hands tightly to the grips of his throne, the wine glass having disappeared from his left hand without witness.

Mentally, Davil would speak to the collective. To no one in particular, yet to anyone tuned in to Davil's messages at that moment. "Man, what a dick," is all he'd think as he sighed, awaiting the final moments while shifting uncomfortably in his seat, leaning as far away from Valen's direction as possible.

Meanwhile, at that same moment, Rio's focus had entirely shifted from Valen to Otis. Almost falling to his knees, revealing that he'd merely been posturing with the last of his strength, his eyes found hope when the Mannekin arrived with a chair. "...I won't say thanks, and I won't owe you nothin'. But I will remember."

Rio simply eyed Otis a moment as he limped back towards Chloe with the chair. Upon reaching that corner, he would plop Chloe's unconscious body into his lap once he was seated. He took a long, exhausted exhale as his eyes closed, his Ethos phantom disappearing as he finally allowed his guard to loosen. He'd briefly crack open an eye to look towards Chunji, his body clearly finding even speech a struggle right now. "You wanna find a chair soon, I think. Seems like people're lining up now. Finally, some peace."

To Chunji's eyes, he would indeed see something new immediately as he glanced around the room. Whether it was newly arrived or simply obscured in the prior heat of battle, it was now clear as day that some kind of mechanical lizard creature, roughly the size of a dog, was crawling on the ceiling. It had a large white staff with a sapphire at its center tied around its back, and it was slowly crawling and observing from above. He could tell that, without his Ethos, the thing would be well and truly invisible. Upon looking at the limp girl, he would see her continuing to bang against it with her cane, surprisingly loosening the structure a great deal despite the weak pokes. Upon looking at her internals, however, something odd was made clear to him.

There was nothing in her right leg.

What that meant was unclear, in the moment. He could see the complex inner workings of a human body, in full as normal, with one exception: her right leg was a hazy blackness. It was as if there was nothing there but the shape of a leg, moving like one, except there was well and truly nonexistence. It was as if something was blocking his vision from seeing the truth, a haze surrounding her right leg that was invisible to the regular eye. And after mere seconds of glancing at this, a feeling would almost settle in Chunji's gut - a feeling as if something were watching him, staring at him, observing him while he himself observed others. Something immaterial out there, somewhere, watched him now, and knew that he had glimpsed an inexplicable something. The girl, meanwhile, continued to bang away obliviously, cheering happily once a fragment of Foreteller's shin had broken apart. She handed it over to a half-orc boy nearby, who began sticking it to other pieces of metal with some kind of magic or Ethos until it formed a shoddy shop class stool that she hastily sat upon.

Lines would have formed, the common rabble obeying desperately as they awaited their chairs pleadingly. Most of the fight seemed to be out of people by now, replaced only by fatigue and the desire to be done with what was perhaps the most demanding morning of their lives. There appeared to be anywhere from eighty to one hundred students divided into these lines awaiting salvation, unsure if they would achieve it.

It was as minutes passed and the clock struck 9:59 AM, while chairs were hurriedly handed out, that students would begin to see a strange mechanical lizard slowly descending from the ceiling, a sapphire staff on its back glowing like the sun. It would glide ethereally onto the stage, and the moment its metal limbs touched the wooden floorboards, the staff all at once flashed and dimmed. By its side, now wielding the staff, was a woman wearing a dark feathered dress, standing at attention as she stared out with a knowing smile to the students on stage and those seated.

"We stand mere seconds away from the appointed start time. Be seated. For those that are not seated in the next forty five seconds, we will happily accept your participation next year." Without a doubt, it was the voice of the woman from over the school loudspeaker earlier today.

There would be some that would fight for seats, or attempt to - and yet, the moment anyone so much as raised their voice in anger, they would find themselves unconscious with a glare from the woman. And in another blink, their bodies would vanish from the auditorium entirely, as if they were never there at all.

"Please make your peace and be seated, or else leave with dignity. I ask for silence as this clock strikes on the hour, as befitting the chosen that have made it this far. There will be time for acknowledgement and lectures alike at a later time, but for now, order is... in order."

Iris Ascendis

Been a busy and tough day and a half, but a post'll be coming in the next few hours!

Iris Ascendis

Yeah, everyone can make posts again at this point.

Iris Ascendis

@Estylwen@ERode@Sifr@Psyker Landshark@AThousandCurses

AUDITORIUM

Rio glared daggers at Chunji, but nevertheless let him work on Chloe's wounds. "I'm not exactly medically trained, here. My efforts're already being stretched pretty thin as it is, and quite frankly I'm just..." Upon trailing off, the boy turned his head to the side with the click of his tongue and his fist against the wall. Averting his gaze from Chunji, he stared into the brick patterns his hand bruised against, frustration as clear as day across his features. "Thanks."

The would-be defender then turned his attention back to the stage as the tension was brought to a boil, looking upon Valen with feral fury. "You just make sure Chloe stays safe from the weirdos around here. Guess I'll use what's left. Here I was thinkin' I was through the worst of it." The sound of something snapping inside of Rio's body rang out - his shielded phantom appearing at his side instantaneously. "This is gonna hurt, but... hell with it. Third Shield: Repel!"

As those words were uttered, Rio kicked one of the shields on his own Ethos-summmoned phantom. For a moment, he seemed trapped in stasis, held in place mid-motion. Then in the next, he was rocketed backwards like an arrow loosed from a master archer, clearing the distance of the auditorium in seconds as he tumbled, rolled and landed on his feet in front of the crowd - in front of Valen, looking up at him from below. The arrowlike boy raised both his hands in front of him, breathing heavily and bleeding profusely while locking eyes with the throned noble. This would happen moments after Ciara and Iraleth had also arrived with their own interceptions. "I'm ready for the rematch right now, shithead. Believe it or not, I'm at the top of my game right now - you've never seen me this powerful. Same goes for these other do-gooders, I'd wager," Rio would speak breathlessly, more cuts seeming to open across his exposed skin as seconds passed, as if simply standing here now was injuring him. Those knowledgeable in the basics of essence would recognize this as a telltale sign of what professionals call 'rebound', in which an essence user's body begins to shut down from the inside and out simultaneously after prolonged overexertion of essence manipulation.

Nevertheless, Valen took all of this in, and slowly looked upon his assassins with neutrality - or the most he could look upon them, with the current and very sharp restrictions upon himself in place. A glass of wine dangled in his other hand, though it was unknown when it had arrived. His incantations had ceased the moment that the trio was upon him, though he looked none the worse for wear emotionally. His eyes first met Iraleth, unrelenting steel in those orbs. "Ah, 'vaunted' Nero, is it? And all of his integrity, cast to the pits of Kazaar-knows-where, brought to ash by found family. Or, I suppose, Astra-knows-where is more fitting in this day and age, yes? After all..."

The glowing patterns in the air in front of him faded, the spell canceled.

"After all, it is us Leuvalts who have dictated history's course not once, but twice. Though Nero and Klara were each foolish enough to abandon their family in pursuit of such things. Both dying young, both giving themselves up to what they believed was a higher calling. Both... having tragically never found the peak of their potentials. Gods, they could have been; not weak whispers on the wind like dear young Astra born out of Klara's desperation, but true and feared powers."

And then, his focus met Ciara.

"Shadow magic, is it? I suppose Vaal Shakta is more lenient with practiced Umbralists, but I was not aware that the good Verne lacked the sense to ship your ilk off to Mirris. Hero King Theodore would light ablaze at the notion of Umbralists in plain sight, all too willing to slash you through with the famed Mortalion. I suppose the world is changing with each passing day, and we now find ourselves united: those that worship the Leuvalts and those that worship dark art madmen like First Shepherd Meer in the same halls, blades trained at the same enemies."

He would sip upon his wine, were he allowed at this point. Savoring the flavor, looking into his own reflection in the burgundy liquid. For the first time, a 'true' smile had graced his features. It wasn't one of joy, but gave off the aura of a man who had found twisted pleasure in the words he had just spoken, reflecting on them and finding comedy in this moment in which many threatened his life.

"Am I so wrong, perhaps, for wishing to see who would break or even perish at something so simple as a puff of smoke not fit to light House Leuvalt's estate torches?" His every word and expression was mechanical and pointed, giving no care for what others thought of his musings.

"Yet rejoice, brave heroes. The combined might of three whelps, dead on their feet with not even a pulse to sustain them momentarily, has stayed my hand this day. I merely wished to see what the response would be. A jape, in the tongue of you commonfolk."

Iris Ascendis

@AThousandCurses

Nah, no edits needed!

@ERode

Might be right. Could make a smaller mid-round post in a few here.

Iris Ascendis

And thar. Into the GM's court.

Also, to state it OOCly, it's Otis's intent to announce those accepted and release the chairs when time is pretty close to running out. I'll leave it up to you, Nanaya, to decide on when that time is.

@ERode

My next post will be the time when that becomes relevant, barring any other circumstances that might arise!