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Carnatia de Luson




Carnatia watched as Vesemir and Gray Flame conversed in old elvish. As the former daughter of a Duke Household Carnatia was familiar with modern Elvish used in Varenheim, but as was the case when Gray Flame beckoned her to speak with the Ent earlier, she couldn't quite decipher the old elvish they were using.

It appeared that the two were arguing, until eventually, Gray Flame relented, retracting his hand before turning back to Carnatia.

"If you believe I deserve those words of blame, then I accept it. However, there is a reason for my caution. We are not supposed to speak about the shadows in detail, especially not in this Land of Twilight. Discussing what they can do and how to counter them is like declaring an open challenge that might be answered by even more perilous treachery. And for that reason, I preferred to keep them away from everyone's mind by not telling, letting them not be engraved too deep in everyone's mind, forgotten and ignored."

Carried by the howling wind that suddenly blew around them, both could hear the whispering intensified into pugnacious curses and loathsome wailing.

"But my dear Carnathia, since we have opened Pandora's box and you asked if there is something we can do from our side..."

He beckoned the noblewoman to follow and offered his hand.

"Before we go further, A fair warning! This... what I am about to do will be very taxing for those who are untrained, and we don't know what's ahead of us after we escape from this darkness. Sieze my hand if you would not heed my warning, and repeat what I say."


Carnatia wanted to ask in more detail what exactly they were doing, but given the situation of the phantoms' activity rising into a crescendo, she decided not to. Despite all her misgivings with Gray Flame, Carnatia realized that the mysterious elf was trying to help in his own convoluted and cryptic way, and so she did believe that what he was offering was an attempt to help.

To be honest, having just met, Carnatia did not care enough about any of these people on a personal level to risk herself to save them, however...for one, in terms of pragmatism, losing party members this early into the expedition is not ideal, but more than that, as a party...to Carnatia they were bound by unspoken social contract that was integral for any party to function. Just as how to her, Gray Flame had broken that contract by withholding vital information, helping each other in peril was integral to trust between party members, which in turn, was paramount for an effective party on an expedition.

Indeed, fulfilling that unspoken social contract as a 'party' was the duty of each and every single one of the members, and so...

Carnatia seized Gray Flame's extended hand.

"I'll follow your lead on this...for the time being, at least."

She then repeated the words after Gray Flame.

"Im liuth difyn anan Ar Malik faldirian
Uin sharri nan Së eän
Adh uin sharri ghāsiqin húrun
Adh uin sharri húnas caran núlëd
Adh uin sharri ḥāsidan malam ḥāsad"


@Mas Bagus
AILE SCHULZE




Aile watched her opponent contemplating his next move. She had him cornered, but after drawing his last card, from his expression, it was clear that he drew something that could get him out of the situation. Though at any rate, the man probably shouldn't trade his duel monster cards for poker.

Her opponent was clearly not the sort of person that the Duelist Society was searching for.

As a junior member of the Society, Aile was not yet privy to a lot of their ongoing, such as whether that 'freak lighting storm' that had people freaking out and was cited as the reason for this tournament was actually connected to the supernatural side or not. She was, however, aware that the true reason for this tournament was to look for new recruits. Aile herself had been assigned to participate in the tournament to look out for people with potential that the organizers had missed.

Her opponent finally decided what he would do...which was to set a single card face down in defence position.

'...Yes. Clearly not the one the Duelist Society was looking for,' Aile thought.

With his opponent ending his turn only by placing a monster in a defence position, Aile was reasonably certain that the monster he had set down was a flip effect monster. That or he drew a hand trap and just set a monster to help stall. Regardless, it was probably better to avoid attacking the monster and activating the flip effect just in case.

Seeing the cards in her hand, and on the field she had just the solution.

"First, I summon Noble Knight Iyvanne into the field."

She placed the red-haired Noble Knight beside her Noble Knight that was already on the field, Noble Knight Artorigus, before picking another card from her hand, placing it in the spell/trap card zone beside Noble Arms-Gallatin, which was equipped to Artorigus.

"Next, I activate Noble Arms-Arfeudutyr, equipping it to Iyvanne. Iyvanne's effect activate, summoning a single token into the field."

She took the blank cards provided to represent the token, placing it next to Iyvanne. She then immediately picking it back up, along with Iyvanne, before placing them in the graveyard.

"Using these two as material, I summon the link monster Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights. Isolde's first effect activates, allowing me to add a warrior card from my deck to my hand."

It did not really matter, what Aile was aiming for was its second effect. Nevertheless, she added the card Noble Knight Medraut to her hand.

She continued, "Using Isolde's second effect, I'm discarding 4 equip spell cards from my deck to graveyard to summon the level four Noble Knight Custennin. I am then using Astorigus and Custennin as material to XYZ summon Artorigus, King of the Noble Knights."

She noticed her opponent's face souring, the more she continued her play. If Aile had to guess, he was probably complaining in his head how long it took for Aile to finish. Judging from his simple beat-down deck, he was one of those players who still romanticized the old days of Duel Monsters where special summons did not lead to more special summons.

It was not as if Aile did not understand the sentiment, only recently returning to the game herself, but it was what it was.

"Activating King Artorigus' effect, I am now equipping three equip cards from the graveyard to him."

This was part of the reason why she needed Isolde first instead of just XYZ summoning Artorigus directly. Well, she only needed one specific equip card in the graveyard instead of four, she supposed. But she did want that card just in case. She didn't want to leave the slightest thing to chance, after all.

She then placed three equip cards from the graveyard back to the field, and among them was the card Noble Arms-Clarent.

"Activating Clarent's effect. By paying 500 life points, the monster equipped with it will be able to attack your life point directly this turn. Now, as for the battle phase, King Artorigus attacks your life point directly."

With the equip cards on it, King Artorigus had just enough attack to annihilate the last of her opponents' life points, giving her the win.

"Good gam—"

As she reached out for a handshake, her opponent scoffed, "Tch. This is why modern duel monsters suck. What was that? Summons after the summons, and then just completely hitting my life point directly for 3500 damage?"

"I somewhat understand the sentiment but such is the current—"

"And you! Look at you, you're probably just some rich girl who used daddy's money to buy all the rare cards!"

"..You are not exactly wrong, but such is the nature of a trading card game—"

"Bah! Excuses, excuses!"

Aile sighed at the unreasonable man. She simply ignored him and stood up, leaving the table. The man made further commotion as she ignored him until eventually, one of the staff, with the nametag 'Wheeler' escorted him outside.

She then noticed the man with the staff with the nametag 'Burke' approaching her.

"You all right?" her current guardian in Domino City asked her.

"Hmm...? Oh, that troglodyte earlier? I don't pay people like him any mind, so don't worry, Bill."

William Burke sighed, "Troglo—? Come on, yeah, he was kinda asking for it, but seriously, you should work on that sharp tongue of yours."

Aile shrugged, "What was wrong in calling a man with such behaviour a troglodyte? A person considered to be reclusive, reactionary, out of date, or brutish. Fitting perfectly, no?"

William sighed again, "Never mind. Anyway, I assume you don't think he has the potential?"

"Obviously not. What about on your side? Anyone catch your eyes yet?" Aile replied.

William nodded, "Yeah. Valentine notes a girl using metalfoes. Goes by Claire Turner. Oh, and I also saw that kid you beat in that last tournament, you know the one with the dragon deck? Kid's pretty good too."

"Tobias Westen?" She sighed, "He's here, is he?"

Tobias Westen was a boy a year below her in Domino High School. She had known him by reputation. And she had met—and beat him—in a previous tournament that she entered to familiarize herself with modern rules since she stopped playing Duel Monster after her father became distant.

The boy took his defeat rather personally, though on Aile's part, she...really did not care about it. No, Duel Monster was not why she found the boy so irksome. It was the fact that in school, she had added so much to her headache. He has a bit—well a lot—of a rebellious streak. The teacher had tried all they could to discipline him, including taking him off the baseball team despite being their star player. Sadly, it only exacerbated the problem. The teachers were at their wits' end, and they did not want to do anything to push the issue too much because that would be liable to cause problems. Naturally as was the case with all things the faculties cannot be bothered with, it fell to the teachers' general gofer, to the student council. Meaning her, as the student council president.

She had tried talking to him, of course, only to be dismissed by the boy as he ran off—unfortunately, her stamina was nowhere as good as a baseball star player, former member or not. And he still keeps causing issues, which led to the teachers complaining to her, which increases her headache.

...Aile wondered if beating him up in Duel Monster would be considered a form of stress relief.

Carnatia de Luson




"Darkness misleads in many ways, miss Carnathia," he said. There was no casualness anymore in his voice; it was cold like the frigid air of the night itself, and shadow suddenly crept upon his hooded head. With him standing there facing away their guiding lantern, Gray Flame looked like he was one of the animated phantoms himself.

"And because of that, I cannot predict the treachery they may inflict upon you or others. Remember to always follow the light, and do not touch or stare too much. Those were my advice, and I deemed them sufficient. For in a world of darkness and shadow, excessive instructions and hypothetical knowledge could lead to disastrous consequences for those with less understanding."

Then that shadow receded and his voice softened again.

"I am glad you returned safely, it was very wise of you to avoid them."

"These are not a magical phenomenon, neither was an illusion or something constructed." he shook his head and walked beside her, facing their frozen teammates. There was another eerie pause like he was refraining himself from explaining the very nature of the mystical phenomenon they were experiencing.

"These are the remnants of those who perished here, who were trapped in the realm of the living and distorting it. Fated to relive their past tragedies over and over. Those who are unfortunate enough to be caught in that past, should either ignore it or take a riskier approach; to fight that past and interrupt the loop. Those who succeed will return, and those who are not... well, they might join that past."


If the softening of Gray Flame's voice and his remark about Carnatia's success in avoiding the phantoms gain him any sympathy, Carnatia did not show it, "And at no point during the camp even when I asked you what else should we expect you could have warned us about this 'world of darkness and shadow' as you put it? And told us the effective methods to deal with it? I do not think that warning would be counted as excessive instruction, on the contrary, perhaps had you warned us, fewer people would be trapped on that side instead," Carnatia insisted, as she gestured towards the rest of the group who were still frozen among the phantoms.

Before they could argue further, however, an increased activity of the shadows around Roxas caught their attention, as Gray Flame hurriedly moved toward the elf at the sight of a spectral hand gripping her arms, causing lacerations.

Carnatia watched an incision appear in his gloved hands as he approached, clearly an attempt to keep him away.

Carnatia sighed as she called out, "Sir Gray, since you appear to be the most knowledgeable on this matter, is there anything we could do to assist from this side?

@Mas Bagus






"There was some mention of Ludwig. The ghost believes that they could be holding him in a house on the Lower East Side, but that's not narrowing it down much."

Ian nodded, "That is still a wide area to cover, but it's something at least. Good job."

Despite having gained a lead, however, Ian frowned. The fact that 'some groups' were holding Ludwig confirmed that it was a kidnapping, rather than Ludwig simply wandering off on his own. Meaning, that whoever they were dealing with had the means or resources to subdue an old Kindred of the 9th generation like Ludwing, which was...concerning, to say the least. He was confident in his boxing skills, especially enhanced with the Brujah disciplines, but something or someone who managed to subdue an Elder like Ludwig was not someone to be taken lightly.

Enzo then continued, "Can you text that to one of them? I'd do it, but the ghost is going to be browsing on my phone for a bit."

"Browsing on your...? Never mind, I'll leave you to it then," Ian replied. He then took out his phone and messaged Elizabeth.

As was the case when he messaged Steele earlier, just in case, he wrote it in a coded message.



Went and created Tobias' deck in Master Duel so I could test it out in solo duels... and then realized that Terraforming is banned on Master Duel. >_<


I used Project Ignis to test Aile’s deck myself
Carnatia de Luson




“Carnathia, can you hear me?” he inquired with a heavy voice, both hands clutching her shoulders. “Where are the others? Tell me what happened.”

Behind her, the others, from the tallest Forbann to their healer Roxas, stood at their places, unmoving as if freezing in time.
Carnathia was returned with her rapier drawn, and that was worrying.

"Did you fight those phantoms?"


As Carnatia came to, she sheathed her rapier back and massaged her temple, as she replied, "What did you mean where are the others?"

She glanced back at the rest who were frozen in their place, before continuing, "I presume they are still ensnared in the phantoms' illusions. As for what happened...I possess an ability that acts as a forewarning against 'attacks', warning me that the phantoms would trap me in an illusion of sorts, were I to pay too much attention to them—as you have warned us, something that I would like to get back to later—therefore, I did my best to avoid them. Though perhaps in the end I was still caught in it. There was a rider with decorated plates and winged helmets towing elves. At that point, I was unsure of what was real or illusory, so I drew my rapier just in case. It ended up ignoring me completely, though."

She then sighed, "Speaking of, Sir Gray, you warned us to not look at the phantoms too much nor to touch them. It couldn't be that you were also aware doing so would have us be ensnared in their illusion and simply opted not to tell us, could it? Because if so, I have to say you are a highly unprofessional guide...though I suppose now is not the time.

Turning to the rest of the group who were still frozen in place, Carnatia wondered about their next course of action, before turning back to the rest.

"What are we to do with those unable to escape the illusion? Is there any way to have the phantoms disperse? Would it be wise to engage them? If they were beings created from magical phenomenon, perhaps their construction is similar enough to magical constructs that I could attempt to unravel it."
@Mas Bagus
I'd like everyone's input on this, seriously: simulate it, or just roleplay it (for the love of gods, just vote for one; "I'll just go with whatever" is completely unhelpful)


I'm more leaning on roleplay myself. But yeah a platform to help collaborate and manage the duel would help
I fully expect Aile to be the strongest


Hmm...well, I don't know about Aile being the strongest. Like I said, I'm still really new to the mechanics post-synchro. So how I would justify my lack of knowledge in character is that Aile is also just recently starting to get back to Duel Monsters after the entire debacle with the Conspiracy and Duelist Society. But she's rich, so she has no problem getting cards.
Sure no problem. Like I said, no rush on my end
Carnatia de Luson




As Carnathia rushed toward the white light, the whispering from the phantoms intensified, yet they did a little to slow her down.

When she was already behind those five soldiers, her steps were suddenly halted by the presence of a rider wearing decorated plates and winged helmets. The faceless captain stopped to scan his surroundings, yet he appeared unaware of Carnathia's presence.
Red were the eyes of his black horse, and as the raider commanded his steed to walk away slowly, it sniffed the night air like a vicious hound.

Towed behind the raider were two elven civilians, dead now, with bodies disfigured beyond recognition, dragged along with knots on their necks and the ropes attached to the raider's wild mare.


Looking at the rider with a winged helmet towing behind two elves, Carnatia wondered if she had unknowingly caught in the phantoms' illusion despite her best effort. She was sure that she had discarded the whispers of the phantoms as excess, and had focused solely on the lantern's light, and yet...

Neither Gray Flame nor Vesemir had given any more warnings regarding the phantoms aside from 'do not look or touch' and Carnatia was sure she had avoided either, so was this rider...a real non-illusory existence then? Or had she been unknowingly caught in their illusions through methods she was not aware of?

'...If Sir Gray knew of other methods the phantoms would ensnare us into their illusions and fail to warn us, I swear—'

She shook her head and calmed herself down. Now was not the time. With the mass of phantoms just at the periphery of her visions and the darkness all around, it was a bit hard to quite make out where the others were. And trying to listen for any signs of the others was an exercise in futility, as the whispers of the phantoms drowned every other sound. Only the light of the lantern remained, acting as a beacon.

And so Carnatia drew her rapier, as she continued forward toward the lantern's light. If the rider was an illusion, then he should prove no real danger to her. If it was real, then she would be ready to fight.
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