30 | Faith Ringgold | She/Her " You broke the rules. You know what happens if you do it again" @NoriWasHere
Description:
Faith is not the tallest woman as she stands at a height of five foot six. She has moderate curves that fill out her medium height. She is often spotted with her hair coiled, and it’s evident that she takes great care of it. In terms of clothes the less the better to Faith. The only thing that’s common to her sense of fashion is her love of fishnet tops. Jewelry is essential to Faith and she’s always seen with a beautiful gold necklace. It is speculated that she had sealed an apparition in it when she first got her powers.
Faith was born and raised in the area around the 317. Her childhood was uneventful if anything, but she’s always had a call to create. She began her art journey young and never stopped exploring what art means to her. When she graduated, she began to do art full-time, and was doing okay until the Stygian Snake changed the trajectory of her life. Cornered by monsters, she underwent a kindling event and was given visions of a great forge that made powerful relics. With her abstraction available, she spent the rest of the war helping those who could not help themselves. After the war, she made herself busy trying to build up her own little zone of influence in the city.
Abstraction:
Faith is a blue-orange-gold lux with the channeler being a hammer.
Forgemaster: Faith has the ability to curse individuals and turn them into monsters who are bound to an object.
The Devil: Faith can turn individuals into monsters and has used this ability to profit greatly. The process is a ritual that she can do either alone or with a group. She typically works best in a candlelit room with chanting to help focus her spell. To start, she must have a victim and a control object. The control object can be anything but Faith will typically have a sword or another weapon handy for dramatic flair. Second, she must prepare a salve. She typically makes this salve under the power of the full moon, and uses ingredients like wolfsbane, mandrake root, and nightshade. This salve, and this ritual, is meant to channel obedience into the new monster. She will apply the salve by painting it onto the body of the victim and will use signs of power, loops, and curves, before lastly painting the silhouette of the monster above the victim's heart. Once complete, she will do a small chant that burns the markings into the victim. All that is left is for Faith to swing her hammer down onto the silhouette of the monster while channeling her power and then the monster is born from the flesh of the victim, and for Faith to transfer the obedience to an object of power.
The monsters are always unique, and she can not have more than one of the same one at any time. As such, Faith is often found scouring old tomes and books to increase her inventory. She has sold several of these bound monsters for a significant amount of money and has several more bound to her will around the 317.
The Details: Faith can create specialized nearly sentient tools to aid her in many different pursuits thanks to her golden lux. She can conjure a sewing needle, a tape measure, scissors, and other crafting tools. These tools will be created with a specific purpose, and once summoned they will fly out and execute. She can mix in her blue lux if the need arises. She primarily uses this to create the very clothing she wears and offers this service in the basement of The 317. Whatever article of clothing is made this way will be fitted to perfection, and it will be something without equal. Faith can be open to an equal exchange of skills and talents for these services. She knows that whatever suit, dress, or costume she creates will be perfect, and the customer is likely to return.
Octavia.Wilde
28 | Octavia Wilde | She/Her"Awwww looks like you walked right into that, sorry!" @NoriWasHere
Description:
Octavia is a short, petite woman who stands at a height of five feet and two inches tall. She has a lithe frame that is covered from the top of her shoulders to the tops of her feet in tattoos. There is no rhythm to the tattoos and most appear to have been done by very talented artists, and the line work, color work, and overall the quality is very high. She has got all of her tattoos from some of the very talented artists over at the 317.
She is the older sister of Jasper and she was present in St. Portwell during the attack on the Stygian Snake though she did not join the coven. Instead, she used her abstraction to help out where she could. She focused her abilities on fighting the Stygian Snakes monsters, and had a small army of them at her side by the time the fighting was over
Abstraction:
Spray Paint Spell Slinging
Octavia has a Red/Yellow Lux and her channeler is her ring which allows her to empower her spray paint cans and activate the sigils they create.
Spray Paint Spell Slinging: Octavia can enhance her spray paint cans with her lux, allowing them to paint sigils in the world that, when activated, can do a variety of different things. In a simple term, Spray Paint Spell Slinging focuses on hitting hard and hitting fast from range. She can create ice spears that fire on a target, enhance friends and structures to withstand punishment, and even summon defeated monsters to fight at her side. When Octavia activates her lux by pressing her ring to her spray paint can it will glow a dull white color. The paint from these cans will spray out and she can then form them into sigils, which she can then activate remotely with her ring.
Ice Shot: If Octavia wishes to use her Ice Shot, she must first create its sigil. The sigil is relatively simple to create, a circle with solid dots inside. There is no specific quality or number of dots, and as long as she is able to create the sigil it will work. However, the size of the sigil will effect what the spell is capable of doing. A small circle with three small dots will mean that three darts of ice get shot out. Whereas a large circle with ten bigger dots will ensure that Ice Shot shoots ten razor-sharp spears of ice. The fresher the paint, the stronger the sigil, and the more potent the spell becomes. She can create these sigils ahead of time, however, this would lose effectiveness before long.
She can further enhance this by making a sigil within a sigil. By spraying a second, larger ring around the sigil she can change Ice Shot into a more consistently firing spell. She can paint these sigils on walls, on canvas, on people, and any other surface that can hold the paint.
Creeping spears: Octavia can also send a wall of jagged ice forward. This wall of ice advances fast, and will move thirty feet in two seconds after activation. This will impale, push, and can even crush those unlucky enough to crush them under its weight. The sigil is three jagged v’s, with the top and bottom one hitting the circle they connect to. Octavia must ensure that there is a clean line where the sigils intersect.
The Wall: If defense is needed, Octavia can use a sigil that is a rectangle that sits inside a circle. The bigger the sigil, the bigger the wall however the height of the wall will always be the size of the rectangle. Therefore, if she would want to close off a passage the sigil would need to be the size of the passage itself.
Solid Support: If Octavia instead wishes to protect someone, she can paint the sigil of Solid Support on their back. The sigil is a more complicated one, and it is another circle with a person holding up the top of the circle. Once again, like Ice Shot, the bigger the sigil the stronger the effect however detail starts to become important. If the person is not making contact with the circle the power of the spell will not transfer properly. When activated, the sigil will freeze to the surface of whatever it is placed on.
She can also use this spell on solid surfaces to reinforce them. A door with the sigil on it might take three to five times as much force to breech, and the same goes for walls.
Sypha.Fuchs
28| Sypha Fuchs | They/Them "I hope you aren’t squeamish" @NoriWasHere
Description:
Sypha is neither short nor are they tall, and they stand at a comfortable five foot six inches in height. They are often found wearing nice dresses, and a big coat during this season. Both her ears are pierced but they’re typically hidden under a mid length bob. They are always found wearing expensive rings and jewelry.
Sypha is a non-binary individual who hails from Boston. They spent most of their younger years on the East coast. They worked in an art gallery for a few years before they underwent her kindling event when a rogue agent attempted to bring a great evil into the world, and was only saved my the timely intervention by PRA agents. With their new abstraction, Sypha was quickly brought into a coven in Boston before they discovered the 317. They quickly joined their crew and came on board, bringing their abstraction and art selling knowledge to the team.
Abstraction:
Sypha is a green lux adept who can use their own blood to either heal, or destroy, a target.
Exsanguinate: Sypha channeler is a Swiss Army knife. Their abstraction is called Exsanguinate and it allows them to use their blood in many ways, but always with a cost. In order to use their power they must first open their body up and allow the blood to flow, most commonly through the palm of their hand. When engaged, or when needed, they can shoot off up to ten tendrils made from their blood and can hit many targets at once. Once they hit, these tendrils burrow into their target where they await the next phase of the spell.
Crimson healer: Sypha has an innate healing ability that allows them to recover from most non-fatal injuries in rapid succession. They can extend this healing magic to various targets through their blood tendrils. The more targets they use it on the slower the heal works. This can mend broken bones, heal most lacerations, and can even fix complex internal injuries. This healing comes at the cost of blood loss. The connection consumes blood through the tendrils in both directions, meaning the longer Sypha heals the more blood both they and their target lose. There is a real risk that both could pass out.
Scarlet fever: Sypha can infect enemies through their tendrils with a fast-acting blood disease that causes a high fever, nausea, and dizziness. Rarely is this disease fatal, and a person can recover within an hour after the last dosage of this fever. This will once again inflict blood loss on Sypha through the use of their tendrils.
Sanguine Slash: They can also use their tendrils to slash, and manipulate objects. To slash at a target, Sypha must first gather and shape their tendrils into a blade shape, push more of their own blood into it, and then it is usable to slash. To manipulate an object or a person, they can impale a target with as many tendrils as needed, and then use the tendrils to pick up and throw the target.
Jordan.Fuchs
26 | Jordan Fuchs | He/Him " You’re going to need to explain yourself more if you want to get in here." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Jordan has always been tall. It was the greatest shame that someone as tall as nearly six feet eight inches was not athletic in the slightest. He wanted to play basketball but he could never stop tripping over his own feet. He typically is found wearing his glasses, fuzzy sweaters, and rolled-up jeans. His hair is kept short and clean.
Jordan was from Boston but followed his sibling Sypha across the country a year after they left after he had a paranormal encounter leading to his own kindling event. He’s always had a knack for telling a story through the visual medium, and he’s truly tried to blossom in this new location and with this new group. He typically acts as muscle for the 317.
Abstraction:
His channeler is an old stopwatch, Jordan is a green lux adept who can manipulate his own body to enhance his strength, durability, healing, and can take it all a step further with each one.
Dr. Jekel: Normally Jordan is able to bolster his healing, strength, and durability. He can focus his power back into his body and heal all wounds, bolster his durability to survive most attacks and go beyond even peak human strength. He is a fighter, ready to protect and defend everyone he calls dear. His healing is faster and stronger than his own sisters.
Mr. Hyde: If the situation calls for it Jordan can push himself even further, transforming his body into a hulking mass of muscle and anger. He grows to a height of seven feet, with muscles being the predominant trait visible. He gets faster, and stronger, and can go toe to toe with monsters and strong apparitions. The downside is he is no longer himself, at least in a sense, in this state. His suppressed anger, rage, and desire to cause harm become his personality and there is little one can do to bring out the sweet, innocent man that Jordan actually is.
Summer.Li
22 | Summer Li | She/Her " They say that art can take you places." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Summer is a short petite woman who tends to be the biggest light in any group. She tends to dress in her way, with suspenders and fishnet undershirts, and any combination of jeans, shorts, or skirts. Her hair tends to be a variety of colors and the texture is a bit over processed currently and it’s visible to the trained eye. Her face is always a chaotic mishmash of colors, and a random oil splattering on her cheek.
Summer is a second-generation woman whose family came to St. Portwell twenty-five years ago. Since she was born she has been a prodigy of invention. She spent her youth building and getting into trouble when her ‘inventions’ caused damage. When she was young she was downtown during the rampage of the snakes' minions and underwent her kindling event. Ever since she’s been inventing new and improved ways of using both her and her twin's abstraction.
Abstraction:
Summer is a Red-Orange lux and Master Craft is Summers abstraction. She uses it to create weapons, automatons, and swords for Faith’s monsters.
Weapon Master: Summer can craft, enhance, and perfect various weapon designs. These can range from simple empowered swords to complex abstraction-fueled designs such as the Plasma Launcher. The Plasma Launcher is a complex mechanism that fires the plasma abstraction of her twin brother, using specially designed containers to house the volatile energy. It is a complex, unreliable weapon that only Summer understands however when it works it is devastatingly powerful. Her Weapon Master skill also gives her the ability to receive these weapon blueprints as if brought about by inspiration.
Homunculi: Summer has built a small army of robotic servants powered by her own abstraction. These homunculi can range from small bird-like drones to several durable and tough fighting units with numerous guns hidden in the sides of their arms. She has to ensure that they are always at a full charge, and often spends her night pouring her lux into these machines. The robotic soldiers are placed strategically around the 317, ready to fend off any unprovoked attack.
Ritual services: As well as offering her skills to the defense of the 317, Summer is deeply involved with the rituals, namely Faiths. She will custom forge weapons to serve as the binding object for Faith, and she will pour her own lux into these weapons to make them as deadly as possible.
Jason.Li
22 | Jason Li | He/Him " You don’t know what you’re about to experience ." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Jason is the fraternal twin of Summer although he is a decent bit taller. He has long hair, piercings, and tattoos. His fashion sense is boring, and he’d usually wear black pants, a cheap hoodie, and a random band shirt. Sometimes he spices things up by wearing vests and jean jackets and going for the double denim.
Jason grew up much like Summer. Expectations were for him to become the best at whatever career he decided on. It did not matter to his family what that was, and this mindset was drilled into him from a young age. It never really clicked for him until the attack and his kindling event, which caused him to see the world in a different way.
.
Abstraction:
Plasma Caster: Jason is a Red-Orange-Green lux and he is able to summon, and manipulate, a ball of plasma. His channeler is a zippo.
Plasma Caster: Jason is able to summon a ball of plasma that he can manipulate in specific ways. He can throw the ball, turn it into a sword, or reduce it in size to help him cut through his metal art.
The power of the sun: When Jason throws the ball of plasma, it loses stability and explodes on impact. This scatters the plasma over an area burning through anything it gets in contact with.
In my hands: Jason can channel his plasma into more applicable and useable forms. He can turn the plasma into a long blade-like object and live his Jedi fantasy. This blade can cut through most objects with ease but prolonged use will eventually begin to burn himself. He can focus this into his fingertips to give him a plasma cutter.
Alex.Phillips
29 | Alex Phillips | they/them " Quick, follow me if you wish to survive." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Write their description here.
Alex is a young non-binary person who is neither tall nor short. They tend to dress plainly, wearing leggings and sweaters over anything more practical or more appropriate. They have large glasses that make their eyes seem bigger than they are. Their hair is kept at a short bob length, and she has no piercings or tattoos which make them the odd one out at the 317.
When Alex was younger, they were nearly killed by the Stygian Snake and the minions that followed. Instead of dying, they awoke with a strange presence inside of them, and their wounds healed. Tjeu suspect that this was due to Britney, and the offer for Alex to join a cult soon thereafter cemented that thought. Alex did not join, instead, they ran away from the fight as they struggled to understand the new voice in their head. Eventually, they were approached by Faith and Octavia and offered a permanent home at the 317. Even though they do not sell or produce art themself, they have a powerful connection to it. Abstraction:
Aberration (adjoined.)
Alex can utilize paintings to transport, trap, change our reality, and seal using paintings.
Down the rabbit hole: Alex can link together paintings and open a portal through the canvas. Anyone can step into these portals and will be transported to a world influenced by the two paintings. If there were dinosaurs in one, and robots in the other, the tunnel between the two would feature some combination of both. The individuals in the paintings will be very much active, alive, and aware you do not belong. The occupants of this realm will not attack, at first, but if one lingers for too long they will force the unwelcome guests out of their home. Alex is allowed free passage through the paintings and the denizens of them appear friendly towards him.
If someone follows Alex uninvited he can compel the subjects of the painting to grab hold of them as he makes his retreat. Once he’s out he can sever the connection, condemning the trapped person to become a part of the painting forever. When this happens, the trapped person, monster, or apparition will appear in both paintings. If the connection is severed as they are trying to leave the painting through a portal, whatever is still inside the painting will be removed from the rest of the body.
And back out: If the need arises Alex warps reality around him through the lens of his Aberation. When he does this, everything will appear to be changed into whatever style the Aberration wants. Thus, a modern building could appear to be an old Western. When reality is altered like this Alex can sense all nearby paintings and open a portal to whatever painting he wants in the nearby area.
Jackson.Smith
27 | Jackson “The Punisher” Smith | He/Him " What’s the difference between a hippo and a zippo..." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Jackson is a tall, thin, man with nary a muscle to his name. He typically keeps his hair short, and his beard long and mostly unkempt. He prefers a simple attire, with sneakers, plain jeans, and old band t-shirts. Besides the obvious acne scars that dot his face, evidence of a battle long since won, there is nothing that decorates his face. He has never had a tattoo or a piercing.
Jackson grew up in Seattle and was often bullied throughout his youth. He likes to think these traumatic memories gave him his sense of humor, however, that would require him to have a sense of humor in the first place. He had a chance run-in with a paranormal being late one night, which forced him through his kindling event. Ever since then Jackson has had delusions of grandeur and has tried to use his powers to finally break into the comedy scene. A scene that he does not belong in.
Ever since he was practically run out of Seattle, he has called St. Portwell his home. He is often spotted at one of the few bars that host an open mic night, or browsing the art selection at the 317.
Abstraction:
The Punisher: Jackson is a Pink Lux adept who is able to make friends and foes alike do simple commands through his jokes. These jokes do not have to be good, and often the worse the joke the stronger the effect of his abstraction. His channeler is a necklace that has a microphone. When he goes to use his abstraction, he has to have one hand on his channeler. He can compel people to do three things with his abstraction. Give up, give in, and give it all.
Give up: Jackson can influence his jokes to carry a knockout punch. He focuses all the memories of his pathetic younger years before he gained his power. The feeling of helplessness, the feeling of being powerless, and the feeling of not being enough. This is an area-of-effect spell and can be used to sway the feelings of everyone in a nearby area. This is a form of Mind Control. If the spell lands, it will force those afflicted to throw their hands into the arm, swear at the joke, and leave the area before they can be subjected to another one
Give In: As well, Jackson can influence his jokes to give them the delivery of a lifetime. He focuses all his aspirations for the future, his goals to a comedian with a special, and his desire to be loved into his jokes. This is another area-of-effect spell that forces those who fall under its mind-controlling powers. With this spell, he can compel people to give in to his suggestions. Whether that is to clap at his joke, demand an ecour, or give him what he wants. He has used this power to skate by in Seattle, and it was what got him run out of the city by the local paranormal powers.
Give it all: His final spell is one that only works on a single target. He can use his joke to compel someone to give it their all, whether in life or a fight. This spell provides clarity, focus, and strength of mind to its target and can help bolster emotional fields as well.
Lori.James
21 | Lori James | They/them "My music is unlike any you’ve heard." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Lori is a nonbinary individual from Columbus Ohio. They are short, with long hair that is kept in a ponytail. They typically wear long skirts, tube tops, and various stylish jackets. They often have their headphones on listening to their music, trying to find their faults even if none exist. They will also always have their violin and the maestro’s bow.
Lori grew up in Columbus Ohio. Their early years were busy, and there was great expectation as to their musical future. Yet a traumatic paranormal event, at a young age, has a funny way of derailing even the most stubborn of destinys. Once their kindling event was over, and the maestro’s bow found its way to her, they knew that they were destined for more than before. But it was not the path that their parents had expected. As such, they moved to Seattle two years ago and to St. Portwell later that year. Ever since they have arrived they have made advancements through the ranks of the 317.
Abstraction: Aberration Agent
An Orchestra Of One:
Lori is an agent, and when they play their music together with the maestros bow they are able to gift their friends buffs, corrupt and control those around them or bring death to their enemies. Every time they plays, the maestro plays with them and Lori truly becomes a one person orchestra
Supportive melody: When they plays her song Supportive Melody they bestow a protection spell on those they consider friends. This spell provides a buff to emotional fields, absorb impacts, and gain a boon to their strength. The buff lasts for as long as the song does, and she can loop the song as many times as needed.
Corruption Spreads: If they need to, they can change up the tempo and go into a slow ballad. This ballad is one that spreads corruption to all who hear it, and this corruption begins to pull away control from anyone who hears it. It is not something that they can control. The corruption will target everyone. Once the corruption starts to take hold, the victim will start to have black tendrils that spread across their face just underneath the skin. The victim will start listening to the music more intently, and will be suggestible to commands. This can be commands such as fight for me, protect me, and kill yourself.
If the corruption reaches its crescendo, by Lori ethier hitting a corruptive note or by finishing the song, the target will become consumed by it and will lose all free will and become a thrall to the music. At this point Lori’s wish is their command, so if Lori wishes for them to die they simply need to think it so.
Zeri.Palmer
20 | Zeri Palmer | She/Her"Listen, listen, listen I really love this place and I am so grateful for your continued support of me!" @NoriWasHere
Description:
Zeri may be short, but she packs her frame with curves and confidence. She is always spotted with a smile. It seems that nothing can truly bring her down and this upbeat appearance is infectious. She typically dresses in some colorful dress, and accessories with reckless abandon. She typically wears her hair in a loose, single braid that stretches down in-between her shoulder blades, with several rouge strands sticking out in any direction.
Zeri is from Florida. Her early life revolved around finding new ways to repurpose junk, and often this involved turning it into an artistic statement. She was pushed to focus on the important subjects yet this was not her calling. Eventually, an alligator man aberration forced her through her kindling event and she spent the next few years coming to terms with her new found power. Through the grapevine, she heard of an art collective across the country that was not only filled with people like her, but also a place for her to grow as an artist, She knew that she had to make a move, and she did.
Abstraction:
Zeri was a white lux user with a bag of buttons as her channeler. Zeri has the ability to see through walls and other obstructions as if they were not there, and she can mark areas with a button to create a ‘camera’ that she can access remotely.
Nowhere to hide: Zeri has the ability to see through solid objects to a distance of seven feet. She can use this ability to check a room, the contents of a box, or even what someone has in their pocket with the distance dependent on how much power she channels. Her eyes will flash a dull white color for close range and a vivid white for her full power look.
Button Camera: If Zeri instead wishes to keep an eye over an area she can enchant eight of her buttons to serve as her eyes in remote places. These buttons will still look like a normal button, and she’ll have to attach them to whatever surface she wishes, but when she taps into their feed they’ll glow a very dull white color.
Thomas.Agresti
25 | Thomas Agresti | He/Him " This area is rich enough, I could totally tape a banana to a wall and make a killing." @NoriWasHere
Description:
Thomas is not a tall man. He’s been called a short king his entire life and it has not gone to his head. He has long locs that are well-maintained, and he is often spotted wearing some intricate or fashionable ensemble. He has various piercings and tattoos however most are hidden under his clothes.
Thomas moved to St Portwell from New York fifteen years ago. He’s always been a shy, reserved person and this truly became more prevalent after the snake attack and his kindling event. Ever since then, he’s tried to further his trauma by focusing on his art, and this led to him joining the 317 early into their operations.
Abstraction:
Thomas is a purple lux with his channeler being a bracelet. Thomas has the power of telekinesis and can push, pull, crush, and throw objects or people at will.
Overwhelming force: Thomas is able to manipulate objects up to three hundred pounds. He is able to pull them closer, push them away, and lift the target up by simply engaging their channeler and making the appropriate hand gesture. If he wants to crush a target, he has to first grab at the target with his power and once he has hold he simply needs to try and make a fist . The more durable and strong the target the harder it will be to make a fist.
About five years ago, a man found his way to St. Portwell. He kept his head down and avoided the paranormal groups in the city, and started leaving flyers on telephone poles and street corners for woodworking services. Flooring, roofing, a fix for a broken cabinet, anything that didn’t require paperwork and paid. He was content to nickel and dime his way around without much fuss, but an accident with his magic, he found himself chasing down a small wooden creature that sprang to life and ran off on him. Chasing the tiny creature down to avoid a predicament, the man encountered Octavia of the 317.
A fight broke out, thanks to Octavia’s temperament. After everyone calmed down, the man simply introduced himself as “Rohan,” saying he accidentally created the creature he was chasing. Octavia was impressed by the golem’s sophistication, and decided to welcome Rohan to the 317. He readily accepted, since he had been living out of an old Toyota Corolla until then. After he moved in, Rohan started producing magical works of craftsmanship for a living, and applying his trade to the mundane world when possible.
The story that Rohan tells others, should they ask, is that he is a second generation Japanese American, whose parents came over before he was born. He doesn’t talk to them anymore, but does give out the names of his actual parents when asked. When asked about his name, Rohan says that it was an old nickname he got after getting drunk as a kid, when it’s really just a fake name to escape his old life. Rohan is known in the 317 to have not a single evil bone in his body. Always patient with others, always gentle with his worlds, and he never has anything bad to say about anybody. Rohan is everyone’s friend, and always listens when someone is going through something.
Abstraction: Afflicted | Namiki’s Last Laugh
Rohan was cursed by a very old creature known as Namiki. He was a tree spirit that rebelled in conspiring against mortals, and setting up schemes that ended in them sealing their own fate. In essence, he was a wicked trickster of the forest, and some rumors said that his plots allowed the forests of Japan to flourish in spite of human development. Rohan was a special case, as he managed to outwit Namiki just barely enough to injure him gravely. At least, Rohan thinks he outsmarted the tree spirit, as Namiki is now a pile of ashes in the wind.
Rohan’s Abstraction consists of magical properties, and physical changes to his body that can be seen by the blind. Any object he makes out of wood, such as a new door or a wooden box, possesses some innate magical ability. Rohan cannot make something out of wood that doesn’t have magical power, but he can influence what effect it has. Often, he will focus on willing things to be supernaturally sturdy when he doesn’t need something fancy. This prevents things from being broken, but also prevents the blind from suddenly having fruit grow from their new kitchen cabinets.
There are patterns and certain creative concepts that Rohan has figured out, which he can use to further specify the magical properties he wishes to create in something. An example of this is his Ashen Scepter. It is a wooden staff with bands of metal at both ends, made from charred ash wood. Ironically, it can spew a stream of fire capable of burning away virtually any mundane material it comes into contact with, such as metal or stone. Other examples include carving the likeness of an apparition into a box for a more powerful method of sealing, making a ring out of Purple Heartwood to enhance purple Lux, and using wooden nails in place of metal nails to make a structure repair itself overtime.
When Rohan touches wood with his bare hands, it is magically nourished and strengthened as if he were healing it. The longer he does this, the more healthy a piece of wood will become, to the point that plywood could grow fresh bark. In some cases, Rohan can bring dead trees back to life, and mend broken wood like human bones. This is useful, but like other parts of his Abstraction, it cannot be turned off. This can be awkward when he is replacing rotten floorboards, which are suddenly no longer rotten.
Rohan’s curse also comes with physical changes, which can be seen rising up through his skin. Around his heart and lungs are patches of petrified wood, which spread out across his skin just subtly enough to be easily concealed. This makes him more vulnerable to being set on fire than the average person, but gives him a way to heal his injuries by simply standing in the sun for a while. Lastly, in his veins is tree sap, rather than blood. His “blood” can spread the petrified growth to others if they get it on them, and can’t get it off. This is very painful to others, and will slowly turn them to wood like a gorgon would turn them into stone.
Rien.Driessan
25 | Marijn “Rien” Elian Driessan | They/Them "If you're looking for someone who cares, keeping looking. You won't find that here." @FernStone
Description:
Born and raised in the Netherlands, Rien spent their early childhood shifting between foster homes along with their twin sister, Katja. As a result the two were incredibly close - they were practically all they had. Things got easier when they were adopted at ten. Both were incredibly artistic, with Rien leaning towards painting and Katja towards music.
But as they both got older Katja got more sickly, before being diagnosed with a terminal, degenerative illness. At fifteen, just a few weeks after their birthday, she passed away. This caused Rien’s kindling event - suddenly they’d lost the only person that mattered to them, and were thrown into a world of magic they hadn’t known about. Using their black lux Rien desperately tried to find some kind of remnant of Katja… but she’d moved on. A year later, their adoptive parents decided it would be best to get a fresh start, and moved to St. Portwell, USA (just a year after the Stygian Snake’s rampage).
While studying art at university, Rien joined 317. It was a place were they found some solace and understanding. However Rien is generally a detached and uncaring individual, fearing growing attached and losing someone again. They take carefree to the extreme, to the point of seeming to not care about anything. Rien is five-four with dyed hair and multiple piercings. They also have various tattoos - most importantly to them, a treble clef on their chest (above their heart) that curls into a K. Rien acts as 317’s sealer, when the need arises… and when they’re not getting high.
Abstraction: Adept - Black & Gold Lux. Channeler: an old, fraying friendship bracelet.
Rien is a Black and Gold Lux adept who primarily specialises in trapping and sealing Apparitions in paintings, before summoning them back out of the paintings. They have four primary spells.
Seek: Rien can use their painting to hunt down nearby Apparitions. They essentially channel their black lux as they paint, pointing them towards any Apparitions in the nearby area.
Enrapture: Using their black lux, Rien is able to manipulate Apparitions to make them easier to seal. They use the painting they plan to seal the Apparition into for this, luring them towards it and forcing them to be enthralled by it.
Trap: Using their paintings and black lux, Rien has a much easier time sealing Apparitions. This spell enhances their sealing, making it much more likely to succeed. It reduces the size of sigil needed for sealing, allowing them to use smaller canvas even for powerful apparitions.
Pull: Rien pulls a sealed apparition out of the canvas they sealed it in. Using a combination of their Gold and Black lux they’re able to control it to do their bidding. Once they’re done with it, they can easily put it back inside the canvas. They can only summon two apparitions at a time, and to summon another after that they must put one of the active ones back in a painting.
36 | Luis Gabriel Cox | He/Him "Here at Dollhouse... we have it all."
Description:
The leader of the Dollhouse organization, former organ trafficker, and current boogeyman. Luis was formerly a hitman in the employ of the Russian mafia; whenever they needed someone to disappear, Luis was that man. He used to make "good use" of the people he killed by selling their organs. However, he had a debt that he owed them,m and they turned against him, sending men to kill him. When Luis was dying, she came; Hemorrhagia the Apparition. She offered him a deal that she couldn't refuse; she would grant him immortality,y and he would be the head of her new organization.
Suddenly, Luis became a boogeyman within the criminal underground (Luis the Undying, they called him) and the black market... where he used magic to change the game. He assembled Doll-House with the sole intention of building a new organization of criminals and black market dealers. Luis is a very cunning and ruthless man but takes no pride in killing and prefers to avoid it unless necessary. Luis is a tall and slender man at six-five with lean muscle. He's half-Cuban, half-Caucasian, and has a man-bun and a beard. Likes to wear white button-up shirts.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Natalie.Parts
35 | Natalie Texas Parts | She/Her "Locked and loaded, babe!
Description:
A former Marine who enlisted at a very young age but left after two contracts and retired to Florida due to dissatisfaction with the Marines (She still flexes about being a "Devil Dog"). Natalie became a Miami-Dade sheriff... a dirty one at that. She would turn the other way, or someone would disappear for the right price and become heavily involved in the criminal underworld. Primarily organ trafficking. Once she discovered her Adept Heritage, she was drawn to Luis the Undying. She became the second in command of his Dollhouse organization and is in charge of the mundane side of their organization. Natalie is a usually harsh, loud-mouthed, and sarcastic woman who gives little thought to class or tact. She curses constantly and talks a lot of shit... and she's a huge gun nut (her channeler is a gun). Natalie is a short (about five-one) Caucasian woman with brown hair who always wears a cowboy hat for some reason. She always has one of her two revolvers if she doesn't have one.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Heinrich.Thòrmer
56 | Heinrich Thòrmer | He/Him "..."
Description:
An associate of Hemorrhagia and the Apparition of a Nazi scientist that, in time, lost faith in the whole Nazi idealogy. However, Heinrich didn't lose the fact that he was one of the greatest scientific minds in the world, and after becoming an Apparition, all he was interested in was science. He wants to use magic to expand the fragile limitations placed on science. Heinrich found himself joining the Dollhouse and became Luis' third in command - in charge of the experimentation side of their organization.
Heinrich has long lost all humanity and sees humans as mere tools and test dummies at worst. Because of this loss of humanity, Heinrich doesn't even use a human body... but instead inhabits a strange human-sized mannequin doll that stands twelve feet tall (he's hunched over most of the time so he doesn't look that tall). While it may appear feminine, this doll-like body has no face. This body looks like it's made of ceramic, and he walks in ways that make it look like he should fall over. The worst part about this frame is that it hides tools inside its body and has blades hidden in its arms and legs. Whenever he talks, he speaks in a whisper.
Abstraction:
Unknowmn.
Shaquita.Walker
??? | Shaquita Desiree Walker | She/Her"... You present a clear and present danger to our plans."
Description:
The mysterious boogeywoman of the Dollhouse organization and one of their most fearsome, brutal, and cunning members.
She primarily acts as the bodyguard for Dollhouse's leadership, but sometimes she is an assassin or a "repo-woman" for any Abscised that tries to cut and run. It's a mystery where she came from, but she is effective, and she has killed everyone who has had the displeasure of being on the opposing end of her pistol. While Shaquita is silent, when she does speak, she speaks with a lack of affect and is to the point. Not just that, she is very intelligent, occasionally participating in Dollhouse's planning. While she is a mystery, she is interested in the Sycamore Tree Coven and has done extensive research into them and can name every member by name - not that she would let that slip. Shaquita is a tall, well-built African-American woman who stands at six-three and typically has a scowl.
Abstraction:
Unknown. She is strangely immune to psychic intrusion.
Ezekial
It's Complicated | Ezekial, just Ezekial | He/Him"A flower represents a lot, you know."
Description:
One of Dollhouse's top members and arguably one of their most potent.
Ezekial's early life is... strange. He wakes up in a destroyed warehouse with "Ezekial" written on his hand and a hunger like no other. He figured that was his name, but he had no other memories. This place he woke up in was a mystery because there was no life there as far as he could travel, just the aftermath of something - a war, maybe one of the Calamities. After aimlessly wandering around, hungry, he just coincidentally came across an open portal, and seeing nothing here, he threw himself through it. That was where he finally encountered other people!
And what he was hungry for.
Ezekial discovered his Abstraction had something to do with consuming souls, and by devouring souls, he powered various abilities - one of which was dimensional travel. Thus, Ezekial traveled throughout the All-Verse, searching for a purpose and his origins while consuming souls. Eventually, Ezekiel found someone who could help him: Sunshine Jones. She tempted him to join the Inner Circle, and with their resources, they discovered his origins; he started in a universe known as Shade as a person named Marcella Marrou. Marcella was an Adept who used Black Lux, and she went around shade-sealing Apparitions and keeping the universe safe.
That was until one of the many multiversal threats out there showed up and went on a rampage. This one in particular was Mr. Death, an Apparition that feasted on souls on a large scale. He wiped out Shade on a large scale, but Marcelle didn't give up; she gathered a coalition - some from other worlds - and waged a desperate final stand against the Apparition. They got thoroughly trounced, but Marcella had one final, desperate trump card, an ultimate spell that would only be saved for emergencies.
Sealing the Apparition inside of herself.
The spell worked, but it didn't go exactly as planned... you see, instead of sealing the Apparition inside of herself, she accidentally caused a merge of herself and the Apparition. This merge caused the death of the previous two lives and created an entirely new being: Ezekial. He had no clue why that name was written on his hand, but it's his name now, and Ezekial worked with the Inner Circle, becoming one of their top members... Until James Vanburen and the Accordance began their annoying crusade against them all. Ezekial started to see the writing on the wall; his time in Inner-Cirle had ended, and if he stuck around, it would not end well for him. So, Ezekial did the unthinkable.
He went into the Void.
In his head, it was the one place where the Accordance would not dare enter for their safety, so it was the perfect place to hide out. Ezekial desperately consumed as many souls as he could and then used them to tear open a portal into the Void, where he hid for a while. He avoided the Eldritch Abominations and other spooky beings that inhabited the Void, but his plan hit a stag when he realized there were no souls to consume. He required souls to tear open a portal back into reality; thus, he was stuck out there to perish and fade away slowly.
Until a member of Dollhouse fished him out when he was in his death throes. They recognized him as one of Sunshine's inner circle members who went to Dollhouse and inducted him into the organization. There, he acts as a flex role between the assassin, kidnapper, saboteur, and other deceptive roles - though he's often sent to different dimensions to find artifacts for them. Ezekial is a very flamboyant, somewhat short man who stands at five-seven and usually carries a flower. He speaks in a low tone, and you'd be surprised to catch him shouting.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Tanya.Malcom
31 | Tanya Liberty Malcom | She/Her"I got a letter for ya', signed with love, ya' bombaclot!"
Description:
A mysterious woman disappears in the streets of St. Portwell as fast as she appears. Tanya is a short woman who stands at five-one and is Jamaican by ethnicity. She speaks with a thick Jamaican accent and speaks so fast and loudly that it's sometimes hard to understand Tanya. Despite her short height, she makes up for it with a presence that outweighs mob bosses and carries herself with cool confidence. However, Tanya's place in the city of St. Portwell is strange because she acts as a courier, a sort of mailwoman. She appears, drops letters off to people of interest, and disappears. Usually, these people are the leaders of the various Paranormal factions and certain other members. Tanya acts as a letter girl who delivers messages between these people and whoever she reports to. Some may note that she used to operate out of Miami.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Stephany.Moore
34 | Stephany Christina Moore | She/Her"I uncover the secrets that others cannot see, and in those secrets, I find my true purpose."
Description:
A crucial member of Dollhouse's business side: Stephany is Dollhouse's Appraiser.
Stephany is a native of Miami, Florida, and didn't have a fascinating life at first. Sure, she was upper-middle class (By Miami's standards), but her father ran a reasonably popular restaurant while her mother stayed home. She had many friends who loved exploring and having fun, though sometimes they liked exploring the Everglades. However, one hike went slightly south when an Alligator-Abominable attacked them, they escaped but the event triggered a Kindling-Event in all of them. These new powers opened a new purpose for the girls... and they loved nature and the Everglades like no other! After becoming familiar with magic, they covered the different factions within the city of Miami and the supernatural chaos it was in.
They decided to form their own: The Everglades Wardens, a Coven dedicated to protecting the Everglades' ecosystem from magical malfeasance. Together, they sealed any hostile Apparitions that roamed the Everglades, relocated any Abominable to other dimensions, decreed that no Paranormal was allowed, and warded them off if they entered. For Stephany, it was the time of her life! It was a time of belonging, fun, and adventure! Even though she wasn't a fighter, she discovered her affinity for learning about the Paranormal and devised many spells that assisted their Coven. She had a talent for it and wasn't going to squander it.
However, the Everglades Wardens began to drift apart before her very eyes! She tried to keep them together, but they had other obligations and responsibilities, and Stephany felt lost. However, Stephany drifted around to see if someone could fill that niche... but Dollhouse opened a new niche for her. Dollhouse knew her unique talents (because they had a spy in the Everglades Wardens all along) and offered her a position to be their Appraiser for when they were sold or selling artifacts or Apparitions. She was hesitant initially, but Dollhouse ensured that all of their employees were well-paid, and Stephany couldn't resist making some money. Over time, she learned how messed up the organization was but didn't care as long as money remained in her pocket.
Naturally, Stephany went with them to St. Portwell when they moved. She remains as out of place as possible in the organization, being a chubby, bubbly woman with glasses and blonde hair.
Abstraction: Adept - White Lux. Channeler: A Feather Quill.
Artifact Lore: When Stephany touches an artifact and utters an incantation, she is instantly flooded with comprehensive knowledge about the item. This spell reveals its name, origin, creator, and detailed descriptions of its magical properties. Additionally, Stephany gains a brief history of the artifact, highlighting significant events and notable previous owners. The knowledge she acquires is vivid and precise, enabling her to understand the artifact's full potential and the context of its existence.
Apparition Insight: By muttering a specific incantation, Stephany can focus on an Apparition, whether it is sealed or free, and be flooded with knowledge about it. This spell allows her to learn the Apparition's history, name, and Abstraction. Furthermore, through this connection, Stephany can understand the Apparition's intentions and emotions, gaining insight into its nature and motivations.
The Blueprint: Casting this spell enables Stephany to create a detailed visual map of an artifact’s internal structure and enchantments. The spell reveals the internal workings of its magical components, illustrating how they interact and exposing hidden features. This blueprint manifests as a glowing holographic image, allowing Stephany to study the artifact in great detail.
The Archive: By casting this spell, Stephany gains access to a magical archive containing comprehensive information about all known Apparitions and artifacts. This vast knowledge repository provides detailed historical records, descriptions of mystical properties, and known interactions with any entity or item she encounters. The archive updates in real-time, ensuring that Stephany always has the most current and accurate information.
Adaobi.Okeke
38 | Adaobi Okeke | She/Her"Transform the impossible to the possible..."
Description:
Adaobi Okeke grew up in Eziama, Nigeria, where she was fascinated by tales of spirits and otherworldly beings from a young age, often delving into local folklore and traditions. Her life took a dramatic turn when she inherited a powerful Apparition passed down through her family for generations, known as "The Witch Doctor." It gave her access to a unique abstraction which allowed her to manipulate other Apparitions physically. Initially, Adaobi struggled with this newfound power, unsure how to control or understand it. She spent years learning to harness her abilities, seeking out shamans, healers, and spiritual guides across Nigeria and Africa for guidance.
Adaobi's journey eventually led her to the bustling city of Lagos, where she began using her powers to help those plagued by Apparitions. Her reputation grew, attracting the attention of various magical and criminal entities. Recognizing the need for a broader understanding and more significant challenges, Adaobi decided to leave Nigeria and explore the world. Her travels took her across Africa and eventually to Europe, where she encountered many supernatural phenomena and further honed her skills.
Her path finally led her to Miami, a city teeming with both the criminal and magical. Here, she caught the eye of Dollhouse, who was impressed by her unique abilities. Dollhouse recruited her, and Adaobi quickly rose through their ranks due to her exceptional talent in manipulating Apparitions. Within Dollhouse, she found a place where her skills were valued and essential to their operations. As one of Dollhouse's most crucial members, Adaobi took on the role of head "Programmer." Adaobi's appearance is unique because when she was Adjoined to the Witch-Doctor, various white symbols appeared on her skin, such as tattoos. Other than that, Adaobi speaks with a thick Nigerian accent and stands at five-six, which is relatively fit due to eating well.
The Vulture is one of the Three Calamities, formidable beings of destruction that roam the All-Verse, leaving devastation in their wake. The Vulture is a nightmarish fusion of bird and beast, with colossal wings that blot out the sun, feathers like dark steel, and glowing eyes. Its body is a grotesque abomination of skeletal remains and decayed flesh, perpetually decaying and renewing. Its shadow brings a sense of dread as it soars from dimension to dimension. It is drawn to places steeped in death, from ancient battlefields to mass graves, where it feeds on the energy of the deceased and grows even more powerful. The Vulture's passage is marked by a resurgence of the dead, who claw their way out of the earth to serve their new master.
Abstraction: Abominable - Deathstorm.
The Vulture's Abstraction grants it unparalleled control over death and decay. With each beat of its colossal wings, the Vulture summons winds that carry necrotic energy that reanimates corpses, transforming them into twisted, degraded versions of their former selves. The resurrected dead are not mere shambling zombies; they are imbued with necrotic energy that enhances their strength and ferocity, making them formidable opponents. If a Paranormal-Being is resurrected, they retain the ability to use their Abstraction, adding to the Vulture's already immense power. The Vulture’s power to raise the dead is not confined by time. It can call forth those who perished centuries ago and the recently deceased, drawing them from their graves and into its service. This resurrection has no known limit, allowing the Vulture to amass vast armies of the undead wherever it goes.
The Vulture can sense the presence of death across dimensions and draws it to areas where death is most prevalent, such as ancient battlefields, mass graves, or disaster sites. Wherever there is death, the Vulture follows, ensuring it is never without a supply of corpses to reanimate. In addition, its colossal wings, made of feathers like steel, allow it to soar through the skies with incredible speed and agility. These wings are not just for flight; with a mighty flap, the Vulture can generate destructive waves of air, capable of toppling buildings and tearing through the most formidable defenses. These air blasts are imbued with the same necrotic energy that fuels its resurrection winds, causing anything they touch to decay and reanimate any dead within its path.
Despite the Vulture's potent necromancy, its physical capabilities are as equally frightening. Its body is solid and durable, a grotesque amalgamation of skeletal remains and decayed flesh. It can withstand immense damage, shrugging off all but the most potent Paranormal attacks. Furthermore, the Vulture can teleport between dimensions, spreading its influence across the All-Verse.
Goro.Hatanaka
28 | Hatanaka Goro | He/Him"We can change the world by reaching out and connecting to others, even people we personally dislike."
Description:
The embodiment of everything the Hatanakas stood for: honorable, courageous, adventurous, generous, and protective of everyone he loved. He is also seen as the gold standard in the Old Coven.
The older brother of Yoko Hatanaka, Goro was, like Yoko, born in Shirakawa-Go, and his early life was marked by books, studying, and learning how to become the next patriarch of the Hatanaka Family. From a young age, he showed wisdom beyond his years and potential like no other, and his parents put their utmost faith in Goro by getting him the best education they could afford. Though the boy knew there was more to the Hatanakas than just being old money, those old books they kept locked away in the basement told different things. After digging through them, Goro learned about the world of magic and could only feel wonder. He read about the adventures the Hatanakas went on and what they were capable of - where others would see it as tales of fantasy; Goro knew that all the information lined up.
Naturally, the boy kept this to himself but looked at his home village in a new light. However, one night changed everything for Goro; he found himself facing one of the beings in his books: a Yokai. He got thoroughly trounced and almost killed, and this event unlocked a new potential in Goro: his Kindling-Event. He got to talk to his ancestors, who went on all those journeys, made all those weapons, and saved their world so many times. It renewed him with a new sense of purpose... even though the Yokai was still kicking his ass. However, he was saved by a girl with a magical ōdachi, who introduced herself as one of the Spirit Wardens that protected Japan: Akira Shinjo, and then the two parted ways.
Afterward, Goro returned to those books and read so much about one place: The Hatanaka Sanctuary. He found the gate, but unfortunately, he couldn't find any way to get in, so he had to go to America to meet with his grandfather, who taught him how to get in. After Goro got in, he found a place of wonder and amazement, his private universe, and entered the castle. Goro found the remaining Hatanaka spellbooks and vigorously studied them, learning all the spells he could. It was easy for him, more accessible than most, as he learned the three cornerstones of the Hatanaka Spellbook: Ritual, Armandant, and Weaponmaster.
Goro returned to his grandfather, who was amazed he learned about all of this as a teenager; he called Goro a prodigy. Goro would need to use these spells to their fullest potential when the Stygian Snake attacked St. Portwell. One of the Yokai's minions almost killed Yoko, but he saved her with one of the blades he created and joined the Sycamore Tree Coven. He was one of the influential members of the Old Coven, who used his talent with Orange Lux to boost the Abstractions of heavy hitters like Trinity and create artifacts and weapons for the Coven to use. In between that, he was managing his crazy sister and trying to temper her ego and rage and stop her from causing too much trouble in the Old Coven. During this time, Goro got close to several members of the Old Coven, such as the Blackmore siblings, Kenshiro Murakin, Stormy Carson, Jack Hawthorn, Britney Williams, Kari Wilson, Jinhai Han, Sloane Faris, and so forth.
The Stygian Snake was defeated, and Goro mourned all who were lost, but their time in America ended, and Goro and Yoko were sent back to Japan. This created a new sense of purpose in Goro, who returned to the Old Coven for a bit before its eventual dissolution. However, Goro knew that unlocking the true potential in magic required one to connect to others and learn from them. When he graduated, he attended university in St. Portwell to be close to the magic and his Old Coven members. He collaborated a lot with the lots of Kenshiro Murakin and Kari Wilson to create several different artifacts. Though he was initially disappointed in his sister for turning her back on magic, she eventually came around, and he trained her in all that he had learned.
However, their Grandfather was on his deathbed, and his dying wish was to find their family's missing artifacts and reinvigorate the Hatanaka Legacy. Goro knew he was up to the task, but his rambunctious sister wanted to come along, and while he would have loved for her to come along, she just wasn't ready. He told her to train more in the Hatanaka Sanctuary, then set off. He kept in touch and returned constantly to help Yoko with her training...
... Until he went missing while chasing after the Aberration Killer in New York.
Abstraction: Adept - Orange-Lux. Channeler:
Ritual: Goro's mastery of Ritual Discipline centers on channeling Orange Lux through ancient rituals steeped in profound symbolism and spiritual connection. Using Soul's Radiance, he enhances allies' Abstractions with kanji-inscribed stones, boosting their strength. Song of the Heart fortifies Emotional-Fields against magical influences. Fortitude of Spirit reinforces and shields allies from emotional and mental manipulations. Harmony of Ascendance links participants to empower a chosen individual while temporarily dampening others' abilities. Spirit Ward enables Goro to imbue locations with barriers that prevent Apparitions and Apparition-based Aberrations from entering.
Armantant Goro enhances mundane objects with formidable magical abilities through precise Orange Lux manipulation. Sharpness imbues objects with supernatural cutting prowess, glowing with Orange Lux to slice effortlessly through materials. Armor-piercing grants objects the ability to breach magical defenses temporarily. Hardening reinforces objects with unparalleled durability and offensive strength. Extend magically elongates objects. Impact magnifies objects' kinetic force. Absorption converts incoming magical energy into stored power within objects and can be released as an explosion. Parry erects temporary defensive barriers that deflect physical attacks. Flash grants Goro brief bursts of incredible speed to deliver devastating strikes. Swift temporarily boosts his speed and reflexes for agile combat maneuvers. Disruption imbues objects with the ability to disable the effects of any artifact they strike temporarily. Awaken amplifies the magical properties of any artifact Goro holds.
Weaponmaster: Goro's Weaponmaster Discipline transcends traditional enchantment, harnessing collaborative magic with other Paranormals to empower objects. Through rituals and ancestral symbols guided by Orange Lux, Empower enhances weapons and artifacts with versatile magical attributes. Whether imbuing a weapon with elemental fury alongside a Red Lux Adept or granting an artifact truth-revealing abilities with a White Lux Adept.
Mass-Production Goro's Magnum Opus, a spell of profound ingenuity and cunning. Goro channels his Orange Lux into a designated artifact through an intricate ritual and replicates these attributes across multiple other objects. Each object imbued with this spell inherits a diminished version of the Artifact's original enchantment.
Britney woke up in her bed; Greyson was beside her like normal after their ‘fun’ a few nights ago, she felt he should be promoted to the bed at the very least. It was cruel to make him sleep in the bed like some bum, after all. Yesterday, she met with Lila, then she met with Stormy, Adora, Amara, and Jack, and then after that, she met with Lynette (in which Amara displayed all the reasons why she gave Britney very bad vibes). It was exhausting navigating their problems, complexities, and the fact that she had to walk on eggshells - which was her fault; she wouldn’t dance around that. Yet, all that was on Britney’s mind was what Kenshiro said at Kari’s house…
"... The Paths are secure: Master Kai's Wardenry was perfected in The Viscous, and he had thousands of equivalent years to perfect their security... Noone outside the Palette Clans have knowledge of their workings. By my estimation, looking at her Coin Collection, there were no broken knots or undone ties, meaning they've remained bundled and nobody found them in the freezer. If she had any sort of hand in this, she was either brainwashed, or forced! But if 8th Street was breathing down her neck, then Emily G. Reed is the first fucking person I'm interested in seeing. Because I already...-"
While Britney admitted that what came afterward was something she didn’t like one bit - and it was something that she could have handled much, much (... You trying to lowkey - but not lowkey - put the blame on whatever you think happened to Kari, on me, Kenshiro? Because you do realize that, considering her abstraction and the pattern in the murders, she is more than likely to be Father Wolf, right? Right?), better. She got defensive when she should have just let Kenshiro and Clancy run their mouths and not give them the time of day. Yet, there was one crucial factor here - one that probably went flying over the heads of everyone present except for Britney. One important thing in Kenshiro’s rant that kept looping through Britney’s head:
"If she had any sort of hand in this, she was either brainwashed or forced."
It was clear Kenshiro didn't trust her, and while she didn't particularly care for his opinion, the implication was clear: if Kari was involved, it wasn't her own volition. But who had that kind of power? And why? She replayed the conversation again in, dissecting every word. Before Britney just sighed and gently grabbed her cell phone off the nightstand, she sent Auri a quick good morning text before asking for Kenshiro's number. A few moments later, she received his number, and her finger hovered over the call button for a few moments. Before she gently slid out of bed and walked down the hallway... then hit call.
”Kenshiro? Heeeey! It's Britney,” Britney tried to say in a chipper tone. ”Can we talk?”
Kenshiro hadn’t been terribly thrilled about a call from Britney Williams, but he wasn’t about to let that get in the way of Coven business. The same situation affected the both of them, so there was little time to bicker back and forth when work had to be done. Like most meetings, neutral ground with Blind witnesses proved to be the most intelligent venue, so Ken wound up wearing some more “typical” Shimmer clothing. Sweatpants and a sweater, which easily hid his jingling and rustling tactical vest full of spell materials in case the worst happened.
Still the wooden sandals, however… And as he clacked his way down one of the Coastal Harbor Mall’s thoroughfare, he kept an eye out for the face he recognized. Though, he got two faces. Ken mostly remembered Greyson Devola as a blank face; many told him and advised him to stay away, as he was involved in some sort of criminal element here in America. But Ken was used to Tennogama, well known as the Emperor of Dirt in their histories for his early life spent as an underworld clan boss.
Pleasantries were exchanged, but it only took them getting to a slightly more private spot before it was down to business. And it was already frustrating, given the topic.
”Look, I know I got defensive back there, and you're right to feel the way you do,” Britney began. ”But, I wanted to discuss the nature of the security you placed on Kari's vault... I just can't get what you said about Kari being brainwashed or something out of my head.”
While Greyson munched away on a soft pretzel, Ken’s sour face turned away and he cleared his throat in nervousness. "W-well… If you must know, I have it on good authority that the chances of Kari being alive are high. So, it’ll just be a matter of finding her. Which means, yes… Mind control. What of our School’s masterwork concerns you in its security features?”
Greyson laughed in his seat, dipping the pretzel into some cheese. ”Holy fuck, you could knock the wind out of an air balloon with syntax like that.”
”Cut it out, Greyson,” Britney laughed, giving him a playful slap on his thigh. Before she put her hands together on the table and looked Kenshiro head on, ”I’m not going to give a thousand theories on what happened to Kari because we’ll be here all day - what I do want to know is exactly how it works. I know you’re confident in it, but, you know...”
Britney shrugged, eyes drifting to the side. ”... Infinite possibilities, and all.”
"I have been considering that…” Ken definitely didn’t look like he wanted to be having this conversation, but ultimately it was Coven business. It had to be discussed. But, he wasn’t going to let Britney Williams have information for free. Not after what he’d learned from Kari. "But, frankly, you’re the last person who I want to go over my business with… We weren’t particularly close during our time together all those years ago; and back then, I didn’t have any inclination as to what you were doing. Didn’t hear anything until after I came back a few years ago.”
Pausing, his hand slipped down into his sweater pocket and lightly brushed against the Emperor’s Tanto, only to grab his water bottle for a drink instead. It made a gentle squealing noise as he chugged away, water replaced in the bottle by air. Greyson’s eyes narrowed, and he cleared his throat. ”Frog in your throat, Ken?”
Ken shook his head in reply. "No, just good sense.” He took another small tug of water, head turning back to Britney. "You hurt a lot of people, Britney. And I don’t think I’ve heard a single person suggest that you could have something to do with what’s been happening.”
Greyson slowly released the last bit of pretzel he had, sliding the paper wrapping and the little cup of cheese wiz on the table they were sitting at. ”Now, I didn’t hear you accuse anyone just now, right?” he asked in a suddenly serious tone.
”Now, hold on,” Britney put her hands up as she leaned back in her chair. ”What do you mean by that, Kenshiro?” Britney raised an eyebrow.
"I merely suggest-” Ken began, his face unflinching under the scrutiny of the duo. "-that you have a great many enemies. People who, a decade ago, may’ve been friends that you took advantage of. Lots of pain spread out unevenly across the board… Someone looking for revenge, because not enough was done to help them.”
Throwing his hands up into a lazy shrug, Ken flicked his fingers and tilted back in his chair. It hovered motionlessly as he sat in it, then started to rock gently. "I’m not saying you’re taking your plants and going around playing Father Wolf… But if we get through this and find out our killer is one of your victims, I won’t be shocked. Does that make any sort of sense?” he cooly asked.
”Oh, yo, fuck this guy, Brit. Come on, don’t fucking humor that shit.” Greyson snarled, throwing up his hand dismissively.
”Yeah, you know what? Forget I asked,” Britney rolled her eyes. ”Let’s circle back to why I even hit you up in the first place: I just want to know the details of the lock. There could have been something you missed, that’s all.”
Kenshiro smiled, giggled, and tilted his head back. "It’s a dark fucking forest… You know? Like, the realm it all exists in is just a great, long set of tunnels between the walls of realities. Something savvy enough, smart enough, or strong enough to claw through reality from a different point could potentially travel outside the beaten path and find the caches. Mine was fairly rudimentary, otherwise unprotected. I hadn’t considered it at the time, because I saw no sign of damage to the structure.”
He had untitled his chair, slapping back down and looking at the both of them. "But I travel through the Hidden Pathways constantly; never once have I found any sort of disturbance from outside or inside. It’s just a bamboo forest. Thick, like, to the point where it’s solid. Some people think it's a bamboo dimension, but I don’t know myself.”
”So, Kenshiro,” Britney began. ”Do you think it’s possible someone ‘smart enough’ could have popped the lock without you noticing or leaving a mark?”
Kenshiro's lips curled inward as his face grew disappointed. "No, I figured I would just waste your time talking…” he responded, one hand making a questioning gesture.
”Sarcasm too? Dude, be happy I'm not-” Greyson glanced at Britney, then took a deep breath and stopped while he still had air around his head. ”W-whatever… Are you serious or not?”
Ken grinned. ”Yes, Greyson… I'm very serious. I saw no damage or disturbances, and my initial summation was that it was untouched. But I'm not a smart man. I've placed a great deal of faith throughout my life in methods created by someone who… I have questionable faith toward now.”
”So, in other words, there is a possibility that someone else could have broken in,” Britney said with a nod of her head. ”It isn’t much to go off of, but it’s now fifty-fifty on whether or not it could be Kari that popped it. Though, we’re going to drive ourselves crazy with the whole ‘is Kari Father Wolf or not’ conversation.”
She sighed. ”And if you don’t mind me asking, who created the seals? And don’t worry, I ain’t got nothing but time today!” She laughed, looking at Edict. ”... Well, not sure about him, though.” ”You know damn well I’m on your time, Girl.” Greyson grinned, gently tapping her arm with the back of his hand before scooping up the last bit of pretzel.
Kenshiro shook his head and smiled. ”Who created the concepts, or who put them there in the first place? The former is an ancient Sage called Kai of the Ten Paths. He was lost in a realm called Viscous for many thousands of years, and it’s said that he perfected mastery over all ten colors of Lux, and when he was done, he opened a hole into the Hidden Path, which he carved through himself to create the interdimensional gateways that we of the Palette Clans use to this day…” His finger had been skirting across the table, leaving a glowing purple and gold trail that luminesced and faded away in an instant.
”But, the latter was me. I put the seals on the wall, made the connection, built the hidden coin slot and the wall scroll that I had plastered to the wall with my own energy. And it wasn’t tampered with.”
”So, again, it can go either way, and we’re just gonna waste our time coming up with conspiracy theories,” Britney laughed before she stopped to roll her eyes. ”So, do you know what exactly is in those notes? An idea? I’m not sure why we should even care that the notes were taken in the first place unless Kari was already in some deep shit.”
Kenshiro shook his head with a frown. ”She was doing a lot of trans-dimensional research. I don’t know why, but certain realms I was in that were more affected by the Stygian Snake were ones that she would… Pay attention to me more? I could feel her watching. Hard not to, like a warm hug.” His eyes narrowed. ”I can only assume her work was important. She’s been in demand from the groups around the city for quite some time now.”
”I mean…” Britney then awkwardly laughed, putting her hands together on the table. ”... It’s not hard to see why. Information is power, more power than everyone in the Coven combined.” She paused for a moment.
”Just the Stygian Snake? What about the other multiversal threats flying around like the Floral Wreath?”
He shrugged again, shaking his head. ”Nothing’s been heavier than that… But I also can’t say for sure because I-” his voice wavered, got a bit smaller, and he turned his head. ”-don’t, really, know what the Floral Wreath’s influence looks like. I mean I can assume, but I’ve seen hundreds of planar jungles.”
”Well, the Floral Wreath looks like a plant-zombie-apocalypse,” Britney explained. ”... Did you know if Kari was smart enough to cipher it all?”
Ken’s confusion turned to gentle fondness. He thought about all the times he came back to Kari waiting for him, knowing he was on his way home, and seeing her buried in some notebook. ”I think she’s smart enough to do anything she puts her mind to…”
Britney nodded her head.
”I think that answers all of my questions, Kenshiro,” Britney said as she climbed up to her feet, and gently grabbed Edict’s hand. ”Thank you for your time… let’s go Greyson.”
She led Greyson out of the mall…. When they received a particular text from Auri.
The Greenwood Coven.
Interactions: None.
The Coastal Harbor Mall.
Aislin strutted around her apartment, phone pressed to her ear as a devious smile spread across her face.
It connected.
“Heyyy, Adora. You free? I got a coupon for free shakes at the mall - you wanna come with?”
”… Sure thing, Aislin,” Adora answered. ”I’m not doing anything right now… I’ll be there in an hour.”
An hour came and went, and Aislin found herself standing in front of the Shake Shack at St. Portwell’s Coastal Harbor mall. She was dressed in a black hoodie and rainbow leggings, sneakers scuffing against the polished floor. In her hands were two shakes, one she was contently sipping on, waiting for Adora to meet her at the designated spot.
”... Hey there,” Adora said as she walked up, wearing an orange hoodie (which she had her hands tucked into the pockets of), sweatpants, a matching facemask and some running shoes. She pulled a hand out of her pocket pointed at the shakes,
”... That's the only one you drunk out of, right?” Adora laughed, her smile hidden behind her face mask. ”... I don't think we that close, ha.”
Aislin laughed, shaking her head. “Nah, nah, I would never, you only get the best. Untouched!”
She held out the other shake, grinning, “I hope you like vanilla.”
”Wow, I feel like you’re calling me basic,” Adora laughed, as she took the shake and pulled her facemask down.
“What? Noo!”
As Aislin sipped on her own shake, she pointed to an outlet down the hall, past the rushing bodies. “I heard Suncore’s got some new games and vinyls in, wanna check them out?”
Unbeknownst to them, there was a grey figure casually leaned up against the railing of the second floor, watching them from above. They had a grey hoodie on, cap and hood pulled over to obscure their face. But if anyone would look closely, they’d realize it was none other than Luna, sneaking around as usual.
Adora shrugged.
”Sure. Lead the way, sis,” She responded.
Aislin gleefully tugged on Adora’s sleeve as they headed into Suncore. Keeping up with the hype of digital downloads, Suncore tried to keep customers coming back with their wide variety of exclusive vinyls, physical copies of games, and merchandise. Lots of merchandise.
Aislin hopped over to the vinyls section, sucking on her shake until her eyes widened. Pulling out a vinyl of one of Erykah Badu’s albums, Mama’s Gun, she held it up for Adora to look at. “Hey? Isn’t this that band you used to like?”
Luna’s grey figure was half hidden behind the mountain of plushies, pretending to examine them oh-so carefully.
Adora chuckled, ”... Erykah Badu ain't a band, she’s a singer!” She grabbed the vinyl, then presented it to Aislin. ”... This album is a classic! Dunno if it's your thing, lots of funk!”
Aislin smirked, “If you think it’s that cool it’d be a crime if I didn’t at least check it out, riiight?”
Two people walked up to them, and it took Adora a second to recognize them.
“... OOOOH SHIT!” James Carmicheal loudly said. He walked up, wearing a matching black Nike hoodie, sweatpants, and Air Force 1’s. He had on a black backpack with the Nike swoosh.
“... James, don’t be so loud,” Naomi said with a roll of her eyes. She was wearing a black romper with a leather jacket over it and some combat boots.
“Oh my bad,” James grinned. “... ooooooh shit.” He whispered, only to get another eye roll from Naomi. He looked at Adora and said, “You’re the one who beat the breaks off that girl at the Halloween Festival!”
Aislin’s jaw dropped a bit as her head tilted.
Adora shuffled in her feet, grabbing her arm. ”... Yeah, don’t mention that.”
“Say less, say less,” James said, “We were hoping to get your number so we can link again sometime, but uh…”
“... Duty calls,” Naomi chimed in.
“Who’s your friend?” James asked.
”... Oh, this is my good friend, Aislin,” Adora answered.
Aislin coughed a bit before she shot a smirk towards Adora.
“You dont think I'd recognize my new friends?”
She warmly extended a hand out to James and Naomi. ”Good to see you two again.”
But then she paused, a lightbulb going on in her head as she side-eyed Adora. ”So thats's why you were covered in blood…”
”... We’re not talking about it!” Adora raised her voice, awkwardly smiling.
“Yeah, I definitely remembered you!” James laughed before getting an elbow from Naomi.
“It's great to see you again, sis,”
A phone had been half propped up by a huge duck plushie as Luna discreetly snapped photo after photo of an interaction between Sycamore and Greenwood.
”Small world, ain't it?” Adora said before she took a sip of her shake.
“We just run into Sycamore everywhere we go! Sycamore! Sycamore! Sycamore,” James laughed.
“How are ya’ll doing?” Naomi smiled, “Have Jack talked with ya’ll, yet?”
“Doing alright. Had a, well, run in with 8th Street, but we’re alright.” Aislin admitted, before her head turned in the direction of Naomi. “Jack? No, not that I think so, nothing special. Why? What’s up?”
Naomi shrugged, “We briefly spoke of an alliance between Greenwood and Sycamore. He said he would bring it up to ya’ll, but it sounds like he didn't get a chance.” She laughed.
Aislin stared for a moment before her eyes grew to the size of saucers, and she sucked in a gasp.
“Noooo waaaay… You mean I'll get to be friends with you guys twice over!?”
She did a little happy dance on the spot, shake swishing in her hands, and Adora just broke out laughing.
“I didn't think this day could get any better! Have you talked with Auri about it yet?” Aislin said.
Naomi shook her head, but couldn’t help but smile.
“I gave Jackaboy my number,” Naomi shrugged. “He hit me up every now and then to touch bases, but that’s it. We haven’t talked to Auri yet. We would like to because of our alliance with the 317. We could have like a whole ass triumvirate!”
“Love it when you use big words,” James grinned, putting a hand on her shoulder.
”I mean,” Adora shrugged. ”Jack mentioned it last night, but the issue is that the Coven is a bit…”
She awkwardly laughed. ”... Disorganized. I mean some people are trying to organize it, but, um, heh…” She laughed.
”... It’s a bit of a lost cause.”
“I mean,” Naomi shrugged. “How bad can it be? You don’t have a goofball like Ruby as a leader.”
”... Auri’s a giant goofball,” Adora’s face went flat. ”I wouldn’t trust her with my life.”
“No worse than Ruby.” Naomi shrugged again. “She shows up to half our fights drunk.”
“Auri may be a bit late on the catch, but she cares about us,” Aislin smiled softly at Adora. “Leadership that cares is always a good thing, though I do totally agree on the whole uh, getting a bit more organized thing.”
Aislin turned to Naomi, speaking up after a sip of her shake. “We should totally talk to Auri about this! Banding together now is such a great idea.” Before Aislin grew a little self-conscious. “I dunno if Auri will listen to me, though…”
Her gaze flicked to Adora. “Who would Auri listen to the best…?”
”Beats me,” Adora shrugged. ”Maybe Amara?”
“I mean, we can just hit her up - ya’ll dying and now ain’t the time to play games,” Naomi shrugged. “Ruby wants a big sit down between the two of us anyway before we decide on anything.”
”Yeah, why wouldn’t she listen to you? Did you piss you off little miss sunshine?” Adora turned to Aislin and laughed.
Aislin smiled, feeling bolstered up from Adora’s comment. “Aha, I didn’t make Auri made, I don’t make anyone mad- at least,I don’t think so.”
She turned back to Naomi, “Well, the sooner the better, I think. Maybe I’ll even talk with Faith and the rest of the 317 about alliance with the Sycamore - can’t hurt, right?”
The muffled thunk of a hard-nosed plushie meeting the ground, caused Aislin to turn her head, catching a glimpse of someone ducking down behind the mountain of merchandise.
“Uhh… guys? I think we’re being watched.”
”Shit…” Adora said under her breath.
Naomi smiled awkwardly before she asked.
“... Where they at?”
Aislin pointed to the duck plushie display, “Uh, pretty sure they’re behind that.”
Meanwhile, Luna was sweating, crouched, back pressed against the wooden display, phone squeezed in her hand and eyes to the door. She still had a chance to run…
“Sweet Jesus… Why did you point?!” Naomi shook her head before her glowing webs appeared on the floor in front of Luna. Creating a net that would catch her if she wasn’t paying attention.
“Sorry, sorry.” Aislin said sheepishly, one palm waving frantically.
“Shit-” Luna gritted her teeth, her gaze on the webs at the last minute. She dove to the side, wings giving her a boost, in an effort to dodge the webs and make it to the door. Thus, Naomi gave both of her hands a wave, as she created a wide net of webs to block Luna in.
And Luna ran right into the webbing, her momentum unfortunately making it much, much harder to dodge the wall of webs. She crashed to the floor, her momentum halted, wings getting tangled up in the webbing. She immediately formed a white knife in her hands, attempting to hack away at the webs, whilst pressing another hand to her hood, trying to keep her identity hidden. The knife got stuck in the webs.
Coming from the floors and ceiling were more webs, intending to bind Luna.
“... One of ya’lls, help out!” Naomi asked as James dropped his backpack and pulled out Shango’s Axe…
Luna tried to reach for a physical knife in her pocket, but found her motion more limited. She stretched against the webbing, ebbing out the knife bit by bit until she had a decent grip on it, pressing the release that flicked the blade out. Tossing it once in the air, she switched her grip so the blade was downward, attempting to cut away at the webs that stuck to her arm-
Before she froze, her sunglass-covered eyes on the axe. The axe. The one Mother had coveted for years before turning her eyes elsewhere… The axe that had the raw power of mother nature…
Aislin had been furiously sucking on her shake, anxious, before she stepped in. Wood from the duck display table bent into ribbons, reaching for Luna's feet and constricting around them. Luna furiously kicked her feet, but to no avail.
Luna cursed under her breath, her wings fizzling out before coming back in full force, temporarily freed from the webs. She flew hard, wings flapping furiously as she tried with all her might to break free, eyes on the door.
Naomi waved her hands, creating more webs - but James grabbed her arm and said,
“Slow your roll!” James said, holding the axe with a grin on his face.
“But-”
“... Not in here!” James laughed. “I remember when we were discreet!”
Then he leaned in, and whispered something in her ear.
Naomi sighed.
The webs disappeared.
“... After her ass!” James shouted.
Aislin watched James and Naomi's exchange with a slack jaw, then shrugged with a grimace, and released the wood ribbons wrapped around Luna's legs.
Luna didn't bother to look back. With her newfound freedom, she took off, an arc of light with her wings through Suncore's metal detector and down the mall's hall.
Aislin exchanged a bewildered glance with Adora before dashing out the front door of Suncore, “She's getting away!”
“That’s the point!” James laughed as he ran past Aislin with a grin on his face. “Too many eyes in here! You wanna interrogate someone in broad daylight? In front of dozens of people?”
“Fair enough!” Aislin said with a matching grin as she ran.
Naomi quickly bolted past Aislin with speed… while Adora downed as much of the shake as she could before she broke off into a sprint - one that was faster than one could expect.
“Ah, shoulda laid off the donuts-” Aislin said, already feeling somewhat winded, watching the others sprint past her.
Luna only spared a half-glance behind her, watching the group give chase. She gritted her teeth and sailed directly for the front automatic doors of the mall, slowing down for a fraction of a second so they would open, before launching herself into the sky outside.
“Perfect!” James laughed as he quickly picked up speed, forgetting all about subtlety as he glided along the ground after Luna. When he made it outside, he made a finger gun at Luna, before letting off a stream of electricity intended to stun her.
Naomi ran over to his side, followed by Adora. Aislin was a few paces behind Adora, but still running at top speed.
Luna quickly whipped out a white shield, but due to it having no insulating ability, she was quickly overcome by James's electrical attack.
Before getting too high in the air, Luna was stunned, hitting the ground hard and rolling to a stop. Smoke and dust fell off her form as she struggled to move, hood still low over her face.
“F-fuckin’ hell, again…?!” Luna could be heard murmuring, still gripping the knife tightly in her hand as she tried to half-sit up.
Naomi quickly stuck her hand out and let out a net of glowing white webs that would bind Luna. James approached Luna, sticking his hand out, which cracked with electricity. He grinned as he said,
“Drop the knife, sweetheart, and I’m saying that for your own sake because it’s conductive!” He commanded with a laugh. “Tell me, why were you taking pics of us? If you wanted us to model for you, all you had to do was ask! We don’t bite!”
Naomi rolled her eyes before she pulled out her cellphone and sent a quick text message to the Greenwood group chat, letting them know what had happened. “Let’s not do anything hasty! We just want to ask some questions.”
Adora walked up and kneeled behind the back of a car, taking cover as she watched the scene unfold. She pulled out her cell phone and took some pictures of her own. Aislin crouched down beside her, slowly sipping on her shake that had somehow survived the run.
“Not how I pictured our shopping spree to go…”
”... I don’t got money like that, anyway,” Adora shrugged.
Luna twisted in the net to no avail - she was stuck. Her shaded eyes glanced from Naomi to James, weighing her options, before she conceded with a low growl, and dropped the knife.
One could almost hear the wry aloofness in her voice as she spoke, little mouth twisting into a grin.
“You got me all mistaken. I wasn't taking pictures of you. I was just lost.”
“Hmph,” James said, “The way you bolted paints a different story, sis...”
“Who are you, then?” Naomi asked, shooting a strand of web to pull the knife away from Luna. “Maybe this is just a big misunderstanding…”
”I’d be damned if this is a misunderstanding,” Adora said. ”I’m going to send these pictures to Auri, Jack, Amara, and Stormy… and Brit…”
Aislin sucked in a breath, “Don't forget Drake.”
”Maaan, fuck Blackmore.” Adora whispered back at her.
Luna's eyes hovered over to the car Adora and Aislin were hiding behind, eyes tightening. A few seconds past, before she grit her teeth, hanging a bit limper in the web.
“Fuck… fine. Luna Inoue. I… was a Sycamore. Burned a few bridges, and now I spy to feel like I'm a part of the team. Happy?”
”Wait…” Adora trailed off.
“... That’s really strange, you know,” Naomi noted, narrowing her eyes at Luna.
“Yeah! Maybe you should get a hobby, lady!” James laughed, electricity still crackling. “Stalking people ain’t healthy!”
“You know phones exist, sis?”
”Luna Inuoe… Brit told me that she was selling us out to someone….” Adora trailed off, tapping her chin a few times. ”Phantasia… Vorpal. She was gunning for Brit, Jack, Stormy, and Auri for sealing the Void Heart…”
“Sooooooooo….” James trailed off.
“Yeah, ‘sooooooooooo’,” Naomi trailed off, keeping her eyes on Luna. “You’re after-”
”... Why are you spying on us, Luna…?” Adora stepped up, both of her hands in her pockets. She kept her eyes on Luna, absolutely fearless, as she walked a circle around the incapacitated capo. ”Didn’t you also get caught at Kari’s house by Blackmore and Stormy…?”
She narrowed her eyes. ”... Some fuckin’ spy you are.”
“Wow, burnt,” James chuckled.
”So, tell me, you say you’re Sycamore but burned bridges, but also want to ‘feel like you’re apart of the team’...” Adora came to a stop, before she asked, ”... Why don’t you just be part of the team then? All we’re is trying to do is survive, and your mafia is gunning for us. Can’t you see how fucked up that is? How fucked up your logic is?”
There was a long pause as Luna’s eyes locked on Adora, watching her as she made her little circle. Before her gaze dropped to the ethereal webs sticking her in place. There was a hoarseness in her voice.
“Was. Was gunning.” Her fists clenched as she sat there. “House of Cards is already burning. The new boss doesn’t care for Sycamore, for my pet project. No, they have their eyes set elsewhere.”
Luna let out a sick, sad chuckle, looking up at Adora. “So it’s just me. There’s no one else, Adora. Just a sad little spy that hasn’t kicked the habit yet, that absolutely loves those eyes of yours on me.”
“That’s uh, actually kinda weird.” Aislin slowly approached, half-hiding behind Adora as she gazed down at Luna. “Are you… really that lonely? Isn’t this a bit extreme? Why do you want to hurt Auri and the rest?”
Luna’s eyes pinched behind her sunglasses, and she wiggled uncomfortably in the webs. “Ugh. How do you expect me to answer all that, Aislin? I don’t want to hurt anyone. The person who wanted that is… well, she’s dead now.”
Luna sighed, trying to lean forward in the webbings as her gaze locked on Adora. “Listen. I have more evidence to believe 8th Street is hiding something. A lot of your problems, mine too, can be solved by capturing one of their members and interrogating the ever-living shit out of them. They know something, something that we need if we’re going to come out on top of this. And I’m referring to your Father Wolf, not anything else…”
Adora was silent.
”... If you’re talking about 8th jacking Kari’s notes,” Adora paused to roll her eyes. ”We already know.”
She shook her head, ”But, if you got something else; you can share it with me and I can pass it along with the Coven and you can keep it moving. I don't trust you far as I can throw you.”
Luna sighed. “I don't have anything else… yet. But… come on, do I look like a threat to you?”
She gestured with her hands that could still move a bit. “Nothing for old time's sake…? What will it take to convince you I’m on your side?”
Adora was silent.
”... I don't know you, Luna - and I ain’t the sentimental type,” Adora began. ”You should be asking yourself that question… ‘How can I, an open stalker and a traitor, convince Adora Phoenix-Prescott to trust me?’ And don’t act like you didn't have options because you had a lotta them!”
“... I wouldn’t,” Naomi quietly added.
“What did the others say?” James asked Naomi.
She quickly pulled out her phone and said, “Jess, Ruby and Amelia are about to come over.”
Luna tilted her head at Adora. ”I wouldn't have let them hurt you, you know. Your my project, after all.”
At the mention of more coming, she repressed an eye roll. “More Greenwood? Adora, you might as well call Auri, make your alliance while you’re at it.”A spluttered giggle escaped Aislin’s throat, before she covered up for it in a cough. After taking a few breaths to recover, she turned to Adora. “What are we gonna do? We can’t just keep Luna tied up forever…”
Adora was silent before she took a few steps closer to Luna.
”Look. You. I don't know what’s going through your head, but take the hint,” Adora began. ”We want nothing to do with you and your mafia. I will stop you if you try to worm your way back in.”
Adora rolled her eyes as she walked back to Aislin, and said to Naomi, ”Cut her loose.”
“Wait, you sure?” Naomi asked.
”Do it.”
The webs disappeared with a flick of her wrist, but James kept his hand up to Luna.
Adora crossed her arms, ”Now go. Fly away. Stay away from the Coven. We have enough problems as is.”
Luna’s eyes narrowed as she slowly stood back up. “Yeah, yeah, I can take a hint.” Her eyes drifted over to Naomi. “I’ll need my knife back.”
Naomi dropped the knife, then kicked it at Luna.
”Go.” Adora repeated. ”Don’t make me say it again.”
Luna silently picked up her knife, turned, and walked away. She soon blended into the scenery, before she spread her wings and took off, disappearing into the distance.
Aislin watched silently, before exhaling a huge sigh of relief. “Man, every time I wanna have fun…” She shot an apologetic look at Adora. “You handled that amazingly.”
Another sigh, before she eyed Naomi. “Wait.. did you say Ruby is on her way. To like, here?” A ghost of a smile was trying to haunt her lips again.
“Naw,” James said. “To the moon, girl!”
Naomi shook her head, “Ruby, Jess, and Amelia…” Naomi answered before whipping out her phone and saying, “Oh, wait, lemme call them off before they-”
Leaves and winds came and formed a tiny twister that grabbed dust and debris. At it's peak, Amelia, Jess, and Ruby (with her tree branch with charms) appeared some distance away. They walked up with Ruby in the lead.
“... Ya’ll caught a spy, right?” Ruby said to Naomi. “Where is she?”
“Well, ummm…” Naomi shrugged, looking to Adora.
”Hey,” Adora waved her hand as she walked up. ”... It's great to see you again!” “Hey, sis,” Ruby said with a smile. “It’s great to see you again, but we’re… handling business. So, where’s the spy?”
”I told them to cut her loose,” Adora said with a sigh, before looking at Aislin as she said. ”... She was after us, anyway.”
Aislin made a grimace as she glanced back at Adora. “The friggin’ mafia… I don't know why she's so obsessed with us.”
Before she smiled wide, and walked up to Ruby, pulling her hand into a clasp, squeezing to convey her enthusiasm. “My favourite Greenwood is here. Everything will be fine now.” She said, winking at Adora.
”... I hope so,” Adora put a hand on her hip.
“It’s great to see you, too, sis…” Ruby chuckled.
“Awwwwwwwwwww!” Jess shouted, throwing her hands in the air. “I was looking forward to some action! We ain’t get into a single cool-ass fight since VVV!” She snorted, laughing afterwards.
“Sorry for the false alarm!” James said.
“Eh,” Ruby shrugged. “Better a false alarm than an actual situation, I suppose… So, who was that?”
”Some weirdo… Luna Inoue,” Adora explained. ”She works for some mafia, the House of Cards I think they’re called. They got beef with some members of Sycamore...”
“We, uh,” Naomi awkwardly laughed, looking off. “Ran our mouths in front of her.”
“Well, what did ya’ll talk about?” Ruby said, crossing her arms.
“An alliance,” Naomi began. “Between us, and our good friends at Sycamore...”
“Jack hasn’t spoken with ya’ll about it, yet?” Ruby asked.
”Ain’t hear nothing about it, but I don’t think the creepy bastard got a chance too!” Adora laughed.
“Well…” Ruby shrugged. “... Why don’t we just talk about it now? We’re not doing anything, and we have three of the four Maidens with us… Pearl is busy working at her parent’s restaurant right now.”
Aislin’s eyes widened, realization dawning on her. “Wait- here? Now!?” She quickly rummaged through her bag, pulling out her phone, mumbling excitedly to herself. “I-I gotta call Auri. Adora, who else do you think needs to be here?”
”Jack, Stormy, Amara… Brit…” Adora shook her head. ”Whoever don’t sit on they ass.”
Aislin laughed, “Stormy definitely doesn’t, I’ll call them too.”
“Not right here, goofy,” Ruby laughed. “Surely you all have a base or something…”
Aislin half-smirked at Ruby, “Right,” before she tapped her screen impatiently, then pressed the phone to her ear, hoping the call would connect with Auri.
“... Aislin!,” Auri answered. “Hello! How are you?!”
Excitement lit up Aislin’s face. “Heyyy, I’m good. You’re never gonna guess who I’m with.” A quick wink to Ruby before she continued talking on the phone. “I uh, are you free? And is your flower shop free? Greenwood wants to do a little meet ‘n greet.”
Auri was quiet for a moment.
“... I can close down my shop for an hour.” She answered.
“Auri, you’re the best! We’ll head right over!”
As Aislin hung up her phone, she smirked at Adora. “Auri said yes, we even get to use her flower shop.”
Her gaze turned to Ruby, “Let me make a few more calls, then we can head right over.”
Auri Auclair.
The Greenwood Coven.
Leon
Edict
Interactions: None.
Flowers and Canvases.
Jack had been waiting for this to happen, ever since that disaster of a festival. Greenwood was about to show up, and negotiate an alliance with the Sycamore. He teleported in and out of Auri’s flower shop with a few extra folding chairs that he conveniently acquired from an undisclosed location, and sat them out for others to sit. He wasn’t entirely sure just how many of Greenwood’s members would be in attendance, but his encounter with them implied there were a lot of them.
It was late in the evening, enough that Auri had been able to close up shop after most people were off the streets. No blinds would see a huge group of people, one of which waved an axe around, walking into the place at this hour. The last time Auri had such a big gathering here, Jack almost got his head taken off by Drake.
He checked his phone, it wouldn’t be long now.
”Auri! They should be here any minute now!” He called out from the main floor, once the chairs were all set up.
“Okay! Is it-” Auri called out, before the door opened - with a little jingle from the bells. Adora pushed the door open, Aislin right behind her. She looked around before she asked,
”... Shit,” She began, glancing over her shoulder at Aislin, ”Guess we part of the setup now.”
”You’re just in time, Greenwood is due to arrive shortly,” Jack said.
”... That’s the problem!” Adora dramatically said, throwing her hands up. ”Ever heard of ‘Black People Time’?” She grinned.
”No.”
”How do I explain this? It’s like…” Adora tried to explain, before she just started laughing and said, ”... It’s a special Black Magic Spell or whatever!”
“Teach me sometime.” Aislin said with a smile as she stepped further into the flower shop, eyeing the chairs before glancing up at Jack. “Hey! Good to see you.”
She smacked her forehead. “I totally forgot to bring refreshments. Adora! We don’t have any refreshments!”
She started tapping away at her phone, trying to keep the play-desperation out of her voice. “Maybe, maybe, we can Uber something…”
There was a rumble at the door, a gentle rustle, and a Giant ducked through the low doorframe as a relatively infrequent face grinned in. ”I guess I’m early?” Looking around, the grin didn’t leave his face. He was dressed like he was a vampire or something, and had a black shawl or cloak covering his massive frame. ”Jaaaaack… What’s up, Man?” he asked. His head shot a glance at Adora, and he threw up his arm in a mock jab, the other open for Jack to shake.
The placement was ambiguous; Leon was prepared for every handshake in the book, and had the reflexes to snap into any of them.
Jack returns the handshake, in a boring way. ”Leon.”
In his other hand, a pack of 20 water bottles in plastic and cardboard wrapping appears, teleported with his magic and hanging by his fingers. ”I brought water, if that’ll do, Aislin.”
Aislin nodded gratefully at Jack, “That’s a huge step in the right direction, now they won’t die of thirst on our watch.”
Her glance looked up at Leon, her smile widening. “Wasn’t sure you’d show up, Leon. Glad you could make it! Today’s gon’ be a momentous day.” Noting that there were a few more chairs to deal with, Leon took a few long strides to scoop them up. ”What’s with you and the plastic chairs, Auri? I remember you did that presentation last spring, and you did the exact same thing even though half the people just moved them and stood around.” he laughed. ”I “borrowed” those, since Greenwood is likely bringing all of their people here. Don’t ask where I found them.”
Leon gave a slight side eye to Jack. ”You... Borrowed them? Jack?” he almost laughed aloud.
”He Jacked them,” Adora said, crossing her arms. ”Pun intended.”
Jack shot Adora the most blank stare that was humanly possible. Aislin burst out in bubbly laughter, hearing the most hilarious thing ever. “Nice one.”
“... Jack got them for me!” Auri shouted from the back room. “My boyfriend is getting us all pizza! Give him a little bit.”
“Pizza?! Thank God. We’re saved.” Aislin sighed with relief, tucking away her phone.
”Where is Stormy? Amara? Brit? Don’t tell me everyone is gonna be late.” Adora shook her head. ”And there’s like eight of them I think, we don't need this many damn chairs.”
Leon laughed aloud at this point, starting to fold chairs back up. ”There’s no way… Not a chance, everyone’s gonna be standing! And I-”
Speak of the devil and they shall appear, Stormy and Amara both walked through the door right as Adora mentioned them.
”I was busy, sorry if I’m late.”
”Yo.”
Leon pointed up at the two of them. ”Aaaaaaayyyyyy We were just talking about you guys. Stormy, what’s up Baby Boy?!” he gave a much warmer reception to his once extremely close friend.
”Good to see you, Leon. Still St Portwell’s boxing king?” He asked, grinning back at the giant. ”As it should be, Brother.” he got closer, pulling him in for a hug.
Aislin grinned, “Hi Stormy, hi Amara!”
”It's a whole ass reunion in here,” Adora rolled her eyes. ”While we wait for our guests, can we talk about Luna? Or should we wait for Brit?”
”Luna? Who?” Leon laughed, not remembering most of the lost members.
”The one who was stalking all of us when we went to search Kari’s home,” Jack explained. ”Drake found her spying on us, and we do not know how much information she has yet. According to Britney, she works for a mafia, and they want some of us dead. I am one of those people, apparently.”
”... We also just caught her stalking us, Adora added. ”The Greenwooders tied her down. She claims they are under new management, and they don't care about us anymore.”
Adora shook her head, ”But I don't buy it, not one word. She seems fucking nuts.”
Aislin grimaced at Adora, “Just wanted shakes… our time at the mall really went downhill, huh? Greenwood had good timing, jeez.”
”So what’s our plan if they decide to stamp us out?” Amara asked, taking a seat.
”... Beats me,” Adora shrugged. ”But no time like the present to make one:.. But where’s Brit…?”
Aislin made a face, then pulled her phone again. “I can call her, if ya want.”
The door clinked open again, the bells rattling to inform of intruding bodies. Only, it wasn’t Britney first. Greyson Devola’s face, sans his usual Channeler. As he entered the room he looked around with a grin. ”Oh man, what a party…” Leon’s head snapped back.
”Woah, Devola? You…” ”Hey, I’m not here alone-.” he started, holding the door open for Britney to come through.
”Heeeey everyb-” Britney bouncily strutted in, playful smile on her face, before coming to a dead stop. Expression going flat. Before she quickly put it back on. ”... How is everyone doing?! It's great to see you all even if it's albeit under weird circumstances…”
Aislin gave a forced smile, “Hi Britney, Greyson.”
Leon's face changed to a slightly smug and self aware smirk. ”It's always nice to see you too, Britney. Better seeing you both together.”
”Oh yeah? Someone at the Temple writing Sycamore Tree fanfiction? What's the scoop, guys, where's the uh… Hippies?” Greyson shook his head at Leon as he spoke.
”They are late,” Jack answered, flatly.
Adora shook her head, ”To make things quick; we caught that basket-case Luna stalking me and Ashy here, and I want to talk about how we gonna handle her ass because... Those weirdos are up to something.”
Adora rolled her eyes as she shrugged.
”Can’t motherfuckers just leave us alone? We’re only trying not to get murdered!”
Aislin paused, before her eyes sparked, “Ashy…? Ashy?!” She glanced over at Jack and Leon and puffed out her chest. “Yeah that’s right, behold the freshly nicknamed.”
Before her smile lost a bit of it’s light, concern seeping into her tone. “She hasn’t done anything recently to hurt us, from what I can see. But-” Her gaze shot over to Greyson, a flash of disdain unable to be hidden, “-Criminals can’t be trusted. We could try reporting her to the police if she pushes things further, get a restraining order…”
”Which police?” Stormy asked. ”They’re organized criminals, so they won’t care about a restraining order. And they’re also paranormal criminals, but I don’t think the PRA is going to care about her unless she makes a flashy show of magic in public.”
Aislin shrugged, half-grin flashing across her face. “Fair enough.”
”Well, Liao might.” Amara cracked a humorless grin. ”The way I heard it, she thinks she owns this city. And when the Iron Dragon-god I hate that name- Sets her mind on something? There aren’t many people out there who change it. Piss her off enough, she’ll go looking for all of them.”
Edict grimaced a little bit hearing about Luna. He had his own feelings toward her, and this interaction was only reinforcing them. ”Hey, listen… I know it’s not gonna sound great coming from me, but… Well… Luna’s Mom passed away recently. The one from her side of the Family. Maybe now would be a good time to bring her in? I get it, shady Greyson plan, but ultimately if you guys need to handle it a different way, I’ll let you. I’m not here to be a pushy asshole, y’know?” he offered to the group, hoping it’d get them off of Luna for the moment.
”Bring her in how? She’s a mafia capo, and we’re not her Family. Isn’t that how it works? Family comes first?”
”Greyson…” Adora said, ”She obviously ain’t well in the head. And we got enough basket cases as is…”
Adora shook her head, ”We need to find a way to get her to leave us the fuck alone.”
Aislin rubbed the back of her head, breathing out a stream of air through two blown up cheeks. “Weeellll…” She glanced at Adora, and grimaced. “We could scare her. Scare her real good. I know someone over at the 317 who can trap people in paintings. We could… uh…”
She paused, shoving a hand over her own mouth. She mumbled with a groan. “Gosh, what am I saying, even Luna doesn’t deserve to be jumped and locked in a painting.”
”Look, I… Is it so hard to think that we could have been a family? Not even in the Mafia sense, but like… Genuine friends and, like, people who all love one another? That’s all people want. Acceptance and love. And, if they stumble, to not be kicked immediately for it.” Edict shrugged. ”Or hey, maybe I’m talkin’ shit. I wouldn’t know anything about her situation, not like we ain’t involved in the same shit or anything.”
”It’s reasonable,” Jack acknowledged, leaning up against the wall by the front door. ”We were family once. All of us. But she chose a different life. Regaining the trust that was lost is not so simple as apologizing, certainly not after spying on us.”
”Just as not easy as it isn’t for me, Jackie boy…”
”... Leon,” Britney spoke up. ”Can you check and see if she - or anyone else - is spying on us right now?”
Leon considered what Britney said, and a small release of his seals gave him the chance to catch individual scents from around them. Trying to smell exterior Lux users, he only got a wiff of the slowly approaching Greenwood Coven. ”I don’t smell anyone. Not strange, anyway. I don’t really know how Luna smells, but we all uh… Well, y’all stink, and it ain’t your fault. It’s the magic. Like, Greyson, you reek man.”
”Oh geeze, thanks Leon. I really appreciate the info, man.” he replied sarcastically.
”On the subject of Luna… We have to do something that ensures her people don’t come for us after we’ve taken care of Luna.”
Stormy sat down in a chair. ”They're more organized than us. They have been for a long time now. It won’t be difficult for them to respond to us, in any case.”
Aislin smacked her forehead. “Crap, I forgot about that… Thanks, Stormy.”
”... That's why we’re not going to kill her, or hurt her in any way,” Britney added. ”It might sound crazy… But I agree with Greyson. We should bring her in. ”
Aislin's jaw dropped a bit, surprised. Before she grimaced, and fell silent.
Britney was silent for a moment as she looked everyone over. ”... But we don't like make her an actual member. We give her the run-around but give her just enough information so she doesn't catch on.”
”And let me watch her! I mean, again, I get why you guys may not want that, but… Well, I’ve been doin’ good with Layla.” Leon coughed. There was no reason, surely.
”What do you mean by that one?” he asked. ”Well, it was the Void Heart thing, right? So… I mean… You know about that, Leon.”
The giant man gritted his teeth slightly.
”That might be the best choice we have. What about the rest of them? Are they going to just let this slide?”
”Probably not without some serious prodding. Seems like there’s some business between them and the city’s favorite Cult that’ll probably end with meeting a bigger fish.”
Leon gripped his hands together tightly. ”Oh, go ahead man. Do what you always do.” Leon condescended.
”It’s not good for either of us, Leon, I’m not trying to act like its your family’s fault. Just… Well, you’ll probably kill Luna before we get the chance to if she doesn’t smarten up and get away from House of Cards.” Edict tried to offer the olive branch.
”The only way we can justifiably escalate to killing Luna,” Jack warned, ”Is if we know for a fact that we can kill all of them. If we escalate to that level, they will match us.”
”We’re not killing Luna, guys! We’re not, no. Sorry. She’s done some shitty things, but I’m absolutely not letting her go down like that. Not when…” Edict paused. ”Not when I don’t think she’s any worse than I am. And, Auri? You called me back. So, why are we treating her like this?” he asked, trying to rally for compassion.
”... I mean, do you follow people around malls, taking creepshots?” Adora snorted.
”I’m with Edict. We can’t afford to do something like that, and it’s not right. But, Edict…” Stormy turned around and looked at him. They didn’t always see eye to eye, but he knew Greyson had a point.
”Are you positive you can keep the House from reacting poorly to this? No matter what we do, it’s going to end with a downside unless you can pull the strings perfectly.”
Aislin sighed, spinning one of the chairs to face Stormy and taking a seat. “I’m all for pretending to be Luna’s friend. But I’d take that a step further, and have one of us dedicated to spying on her, quietly squeezing her for info.” Her eyes lazily slid to Edict. “And, no offense Greyson, but uh… I’d prefer her ‘friend’ to be someone else. You know how it is…”
Edict threw up his hands in a gentle fashion, so as not to piss off everyone in the room. ”Honestly, Stormy? I can't make guarantees. My old man is the Don of the North-West. Technically, he's HoC's Boss just like he's my Boss. But, he… Well, he kind of knows? About them? And, after the last time I had to buzz him, I'm pretty sure he's piss scared of magical people. So, the oversight is kind of left on my Uncle? Who… Well, he's kind of frothing at the mouth to kill whoever killed Phantasia.”
Edict looked a bit defeated after spilling all that. He looked down at Aislin. ”I… I know. I don't blame you, really. But, who else is closer to her? Who else can get her to spill the beans about her status? The real beans, not bullshit to protect herself.” He took a deep breath, prepared to say something controversial. ”I mean, fuck… I'll just say it. The only reason I ever had a problem with anyone is because I couldn't separate the two halves of my life. It made me deceitful and untrustable. Now we're all real adults, and I'd like a chance to prove that things are at least a little different.” he shrugged.
Aislin twisted her face up, considering Edict’s words. Before she sighed, and raised a hand in weak gesture. “Yeah, yeah, you two have history. I… I still don’t like it. But bottom line, we need to know more about Luna than she does of us. As long as we keep one step ahead of her…”
”I mean, you say that someone else should be her friend,” Britney injected, looking at Aislin head on. ”But, you also never gave an alternative as to who should do it. I understand your concerns, but who else can do it?”
Aislin grimaced, being directly spoken with by Britney. She kept her mouth shut, and offered a shrug.
”Hey now,” Adora put her hands up. ”Why do all ya’ll want a crazy bitch in our midst? Some bitch who’s openly a traitor?”
”We don’t want her here,” Britney noted. ”It’s just that we gotta handle this situation in a certain way. It’s obvious that she will keep stalking us. if we hurt her; her Mafia will just going to come after the rest of us - and that is not something we need right now. I’m not sure just what they are planning, but this way we can control the situation. She’s not looming over us and reporting critical information to her bosses. And we can prevent our more… impulsive members from jumping the gun and hurting her if and when she gets caught again.”
At this point, Auri came out of the back wearing a blue striped sundress, the Butterfly Staff in her hand. Britney glanced at her before she continued.
”... But, we should definitely make up a plan to handle the House of Cards, just in case.”
”I don’t know what you guys are so worried about. It’s not like you guys are the ones in the crossfire.” Leon interjected, eyes staring at Auri and the staff as she entered. ”Or why we’re tip-toeing around why the House of Cards has any sort of problem with us in the first place. It’s shit like this.”
The giant man stepped forward, a slightly uncomfortable look on his face. ”Bottom line, it’s fucking Void Heart. And fuckin’... Layla. Which is why Greyson’s been gassing the chick in the first place, and why he wants to be the one gassing fuckin’ Luna too. Like he’s gonna have to get his hands dirty fighting his Mafia buddies anyway? Fat chance.”
Edict shrugged his shoulders. ”To be fair, I don’t really know why we don’t just let Void Heart’s toys just self-destruct. It can’t be any more dangerous than, oh I don’t know, trying to trap the poor girl in a room and traumatizing her by taking her fuckin’ Casper away.”
”You have a very interesting definition of “dangerous” if it doesn’t involve letting that parasite feed on her,” Jack noted.
”The issue with letting the toys ‘self-destruct’ is that the two of them clearly don’t have an issue with creating problems that we have to solve,” Britney answered. ”The shitshow at the strip club a few weeks ago is proof of that.”
”Ummmmmmm….” Adora awkwardly shuffled in her feet before she raised her head. ”I’m a lil’ bit lost here; what the fuck is the deal with the Void Heart? What happened to him? And what the fuck does he have to do with all this?”
”Alizee died. Her ghost, Void Heart, jumped to Layla Hycinthus. Once some people found that out, they decided that they didn’t want him getting in the way anymore. Nobody really knew that Void Heart is my family’s responsibility. So we had to be the bad guys, and now Void Heart is sealed away in something important.” Leon barked, clearly frustrated by the situation.
”... And how is he your family’s responsibility?” Adora crossed her arms, shifting her weight sassily to one hip.
Aislin’s little jaw dropped, and she sucked in a breath. “Waaait a second…Alizée's dead? Alizée Altieri?!” A hand flew to her mouth, muffling a string of quiet profanities.
”I mean, from what I heard she was going around hurting people,” Adora looked at Aislin. ”So, good riddance. I’m not sure what Layla’s deal is, but… I don’t like her vibe either.”
Aislin grimaced, looking back at Adora. “Gee, I thought Layla was always alright. Wasn't she…?”
”The Void Heart poisons the mind of whoever it adjoins to,” Jack answered, a scowl across his face. ”Alizee never once enjoyed what she did, but the abomination drove her to the brink of insanity. We should have sealed it years ago.”
”... But, you didn’t,” Adora flatly noted. ”You should have realized after a certain point, like… how do I explain this? Like, she would have been so accustomed to the Void Heart in her life that snatching it away from her would have been like….”
She shook her head, ”... Fuck, it would have been devastating if it really fucked with her head like you and Greyson claim. At that point, you probably would have had no choice but to kill her anyway…” She put one hand on her hip and threw the other one up, shaking her head.
Jack glared daggers at Adora, she just struck a nerve and he did not like that. For a moment, he didn’t even know what to fucking say to that. ”She needed help. Would you want to be left to die when you are left helpless like she was?”
Adora raised an eyebrow, before she asked the golden question, ”...But did she want it?”
He fell silent.
”Listen, guys, it’s… A lot deeper. Layla aside, the leader of the House of Cards is a woman named Phantasia Vorpal… Or, was. She’s dead. But, I… Well, you know me!-” Edict pushed out a faked laugh. ”Trying to stop this shit before it got any more out of hand, I’ve been meeting with her. Good ol’ Phanny. Got in her head? Saw that a long while ago, when the old House of Cards casino burned down, it was Alizee and Void Heart that saved ‘em. Phantasia took a life debt to Void Heart. So, when you all decided to kick the bee’s nest, you accidentally pissed off the ground hornets too.” Edict finished.
”Jesus fucking Christ, Auri…” Amara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Auri awkwardly tugged at her collar.
Aislin shook her head. “I don't think I understand everything here… But this is a lot more complicated…. Isn't it?”
She hummed, eyes glancing to Jack. “Layla never told me what happened. But whatever you guys did, they're connected to this somehow, right?”
“I’m amazed the Void Heart could see past his own agenda long enough to save someone else…” Auri shook her head. “But, you said she was?”
Britney looked at her before she said, ”Phantasia got iced.”
“Oh, dear,” Auri said, silent for a moment before she said. “... Then is her replacement also after us?”
Aislin perked up a bit. “Good question for Luna…”
”Luna said their new guy wasn’t after us, remember?” Adora shrugged. ”But, again, I don’t believe it for a second.”
“Right, right.” Aislin groaned. “If only we had a way to get in her min-” Her eyes fell silently on Greyson.
Edict coughed. ”Listen… I saw Val at her Mom’s funeral yesterday. When I talked to her, she seemed like she was understanding my trying to push her away from pursuing things, but firstly she’s just as magic as her Mom. She just… Is more cautious. Less ego means she’s more willing to do things to stack her own deck. Phantasia got cocky, figured I was still a goofy little kid, and paid the price for it…” he paused, looking around before raising a finger.
”And no, I didn’t kill her. But, anyway, things are looking positive for the moment. If you guys trust me, I can try and prove that you’re all right to do so by just… Taking care of it. And if it goes south, I won’t keep you all in the dark. I’ll… Y’know, ask for help.” he finally conceded.
“I don't have to like it to see that it's somewhat logical… I think this is a decent plan of action, for now. What do you guys think?” Aislin said, shrugging as her eyes passed around the room.
”... I still think we should a plan to handle the House of Cards just in case it goes south,” Britney said as she finally took a seat, putting her purse on her lap. ”I trust you can handle this, Greyson, but they seem… erratic, from what I hear. I know they have beef with the Temple, but hair-triggers like them will always find another reason to go on the warpath.”
”Like any of you are ready for a fuckin’ war again? Please. Leave the heavy lifting to the Temple and be happy when I crush Father Wolf’s neck in my jaws. I ain’t the same uppity cunt I used to be, and I’m not holding back to be friendly. I don’t think Sycamore Two is gonna cut it the same way. Too busy being worried about trying to kill our family when there’s a monster out there hunting us like animals…” Leon’s voice and face both oozed disgust.
”... Yeah, trust the people that tried to fuckin’ shoot at us,” Britney said with a roll of her eyes.
”Your “family” plays with fire, and you think we’re to blame?” Jack asked, just a little pissed off now. ”Furio is lucky I didn’t decorate my home with his entrails after he attacked us for protecting a vulnerable person from a predator.”
Aislin tilted her head, an embarrassed look on her face. “Am I missing something…?”
”Jack, man, I’ll refrain from finishing your fucking lunch this time because I don’t feel like ruining Auri’s flower shop: But please, don’t act like you guys didn’t have a chance to just give her up when they explained the situation! Do you all know what that girl was dealing with before Void Heart? What she’s currently dealing with? Do you want to explain that to them too, Mister Mafia Therapist?” Leon growled toward Edict.
”... Getting a lil’ spicy in here,” Adora laughed, jabbing an elbow into Aislin’s side.
Aislin half-grinned back, “Jeez, I'll say.”
Again, Edict shrugged. This wasn’t his favorite thing to be doing, since he could see dollar bills burning in Leon’s eyes. ”It’s… Not great? Not sure if anyone remembers, but she’s attached to a few nasty ghosts herself. They use her like she’s a meal ticket essentially, and in return they protect her. At least, that’s how I think it works from being in that little noggin’ of hers.”
Leon pointed at Edict. ”Exactly, take one fucking predator away, let another back in. The girl is fuckin’ cursed, she needs to be with people who can actually help her! Not a bunch of adults who aren’t well adjusted to begin with and can’t even take the time to coordinate properly! The Temple has the resources! But none of you seem to get that!”
Adora was silent.
”... This is the first time I’ve heard about this,” Britney noted, raising an eyebrow. ”Well, if the Temple is so wonderful and can do so much to improve that child’s life, then have at it.” She scoffed, throwing Leon a dismissive hand wave, turning her head away.
“I didn’t know all of this was happening to her…” Auri noted. “But, can’t we just seal them? Or find a more benevolent Apparition to ward them off…?”
”I could ward them all off,” Stormy said. ”But I’m almost entirely certain that Layla would rather kill me than let me get that close to her.”
”That’s kind of the problem. She’s so, well, scared of these ones. They’ve been with her all her life.”
”I live with shit just like that. Got a Wampus Cat trapped in my apartment as we speak. Fuckin’ wretched way to live being a little kid getting tortured by a ghost, but I can’t excuse my Father for bringing something like that into my home. It fucked with me and my siblings as kids. But at the end of the day, I don’t want the fuckin’ thing dead. I’d like to come to an understanding with it and live peacefully and healthily.” He shook his head. ”That’s what the Temple’s all about at the end of the day. We don’t wanna have Voidy sealed up, but if he can’t behave and nobody’s strong enough to control him, he’ll stay that way. And then all we can do is try and help her heal and deal with what she’s got.”
Aislin hung her head a bit, “I didn't know it was that bad… Did… Did anyone talk with Layla before sealing the Void Heart? Is anyone talking with her now, besides Greyson?”
”We did not,” Britney flatly answered. ”We couldn’t risk tipping the Void Heart off.”
That’s when Leon dropped the bombshell. ”She showed up at our door this morning. She’s going to be taking her oaths, and she’ll begin her therapy once she’s properly inducted into the Temple of Charming and Graceful Individuals as a fully fledged member.”
Edict’s jaw dropped. Britney rolled her eyes. Aislin nearly choked on her own spit. ”What?”
”U-u-uh, oh… Leon!?” ”And to answer your question? No! Obviously nobody asked Layla’s opinion! Because Void Heart was with her when they would have… And what’s more consensual than a bunch of people ganging up on you and trying to take the only thing making you feel safe and secure away from you? So, guess what? She’s nobody’s problem, and House of Cards is certainly no problem.” Leon finished, holding back on saying anything worse.
”Then, she will stay away from us, then? The Temple are going to stop Voidy from going around trying to suck people off, right? Kidnap them in broad daylight?” Britney asked, giving Leon a flat look. ”Part of the reason -Well, pretty much the entire reason- I wanted Voidy sealed was because he was a liability. He was only going to make things so much more difficult for us.”
Leon smiled. ”See, this is why the Temple should be seen as an asset for us. My Mom is in love with us. She’s even willing to let my younger brother date Patty Vanburen, she’s so hell bent on keeping all of us safe and secure. The way I see it, if Greyson’s getting second chances here, my family shouldn’t be everyone’s new punching bag. I deserve to earn some trust.”
Adora tilted her head upon hearing ‘Patty Vanburen’. Britney kept her mouth shut.
Edict gave Leon a flat look, but didn’t say anything against him. He really wasn’t in that kind of mood, and was deeply trying to project Greyson 2.0.
Jack took a long, slow, deep breath in. And then, another one out.
”He has a point.”
“I didn't know the Temple was like that…” Aislin said thoughtfully.
“I believe in giving everyone second chances, despite my injuries due to them,” Auri sighed. “I don’t think it’s fair to dogpile Leon and the Temple like this bec-”
The door opened, and Auri (and everyone else’s) head turned to the door to see her boyfriend, Justin Haggar, holding a stack of pizza boxes. “Justy!” Auri ecstatically said before she ran over to him. “Let me help you out…” She grabbed a few pizzas off the top.
“Yeah, where are we going to put these?” Justin asked. “... There are no tables.”
Auri was silent for a moment.
“... Oh.” She began. “Darn.”
”Oh, good grief,” Adora said as she ran over to the folded chairs and unfolded them. ”Ya’ll need to think outside the box....” She shook her head as Justin and Auri put the pizzas down.
Justin looked around.
His eyes narrowed.
“... I’ll take my leave,” Justin disappeared out the door as quickly as he appeared.
”... He had the right idea,” Adora laughed as she quickly grabbed a slice of pepperoni pizza. She took a bite.
“Dig in, everyone,” Auri began. “Just save some for Greenwood.”
”…If he had walked in here one minute sooner…”
Aislin could only laugh to herself, the tension that invaded the room moments prior somewhat dispelled. She picked up a slice of pizza and lifted it in a mock toast, her trademark grin back on her face. “Long live the Sycamore.”
”I’d save a lot. Chances are, Greenwood’s coming through here higher than my blood pressure.” Leon tried to joke, hoping he could disperse at least a little tension as he went for a slice himself.
Edict recognized the shop it came from, and couldn’t help but stick his nose up.
”You got a mob feud with a pizza place?” Amara asked, grabbing a slice.
Suddenly, the smell of weed overpowered all the smells in the flower shop. It overtook the smell of potted plants, pizza, and whatever perfume or cologne they had on. There was a few knocks on the door, before it was thrown open… Jessica was the person who held the door open, looking around. Her eyes were bloodshot red, and she smiled.
“Waaaaaaaassuuuuuuup dudes,” Jessica threw them the shaka hand sign. “I hope we weren’t too late…”
“Maaaaan, get your high ass out the way…” Ruby ducked underneath Jessica’s arm, a blunt in her mouth. She was wearing a red sweater with a pink scarf around her neck, blue jeans, and mac and cheese Timberlands. She walked in, and looked around, before saying, “... Waaaaaaaassuuuuuuup dudes.” Then throwing the shaka sign.
“... I am so sorry,” Naomi shook her head as she walked in; James was right behind her. “We tried to stop them, but they kept gassing!”
“Yeah, they got more gas in ‘im than a helium balloon!” James laughed.
Kashmira coughed a few times as she walked in, holding a metal tray with some pastries that had to be Indian with a layer of plastic wrap over the top of it. She wore a green hoodie and sweatpants combo with some white sneakers and a black leather purse over her shoulder… but she had red henna designs drawn on her hands. “*COUGH* Hello, friends! It is great to meet you all here! I know it was short notice, but I made you all some *COUGH* snacks!”
She looked around, “This is Dhokla, my Grandmother’s recipe! I also brought some Henna cones if you wanted to put some on your hands and feet for this occasion!!”
Aislin's excitement couldn't be contained as she gave everyone in Greenwood a wave. “Heyyy, good to see you guys yet again! Kashmira, sign me up for some henna, I love that stuff!”
She then moved in beside Ruby, nearly drooling at the mouth. “Hey, heyyy, Ruby. We're friends, right? Help a friend out? I'm sober as heck!”
A hand flew to her mouth. “Oh wait! The leaders should do something. Like, a peace move, or whatever,” She glanced at Adora, a full-on serious look on her face, “Should they kiss?”
Adora raised an eyebrow as she twisted her face. Auri awkwardly laughed.
Leon couldn’t contain his laughter as he slowly approached Ruby for what he assumed would be the typical sisterly behavior that had always been expected of them as kids. His arms outstretched for a hug. ”Not a kiss, you horny fucker.” he laughed aloud.
The only response was Aislin's tinkling laughter.
“It’s great seeing you,” Ruby laughed as she hugged Leon back. “You giant motherfucker...” She laughed some more before turning to Aislin.
“Yo, what type of shit ya’ll be on?!” Naomi laughed as she dug into her hoodie pocket, and pulled out a bag of the most premium Zaza known to man. “This ain’t your regular gas - this shit will put you in a coma!” She threw it to Aislin. She grabbed it as quick as she could in her little hands, her face lit up like a child's on Christmas Day.
“Naomi, you’re the best!” Aislin chimed.
Leon happily hugged Ruby back. ”Things ain’t the same without you. Mom’s got this ex-nazi bitch as one of her Crones? Dude, it ain’t a good look.” he said, grabbing the blunt she was smoking and taking a fat rip off it.
“Oh my God,” Naomi shouted. “She eats ass! That blunt is infected with booty!”
”Who do you think she learned it froooooooom.” Leon growled, his tongue lolling out of his mouth comedically. It was, by all accounts, a magically long tongue.
Aislin burst out laughing again, already rifling through her bag where she knew a certain bong lay in wait. She jerked her head to the table.
“We got pizza, guys, feel free to take a slice and grab a seat.”
Her gaze turned to Auri. “You uh… should probably lead us in prayer, ya know?”
“Umm…”
Everything that just happened took a few years off of Jack’s life. But he couldn’t complain, since he was technically responsible for this meeting.
”Welcome, all of you,” He said, popping one of those dohkla squares into his mouth. His eyes widened a bit. ”…These are wonderful. Thank you.”
”Good lord, you guys are blasted tonight.” Amara cackled.
“Wonderful, I’m glad you like it!” Kashmira said with a smile, before walking over to Amara and offering her one. “Would you like one, too? I’m doing henna later to celebrate this joyous occasion!”
”Not sure I know what a Henna is, but I’ll take free food. Respectfully.”
Aislin grinned at Amara. “It's a skin stain, like a tattoo, and it looks really pretty.”
Kashmira raised both hands, revealing the henna she had drawn on her own hands.
“Who’s the leader here?” Ruby asked.
“That would be me,” Auri said as she stepped up, holding the butterfly staff in her hand.
“You know, I wish I had my tree branch on me,” Ruby said. “We could do something cool like crossing staffs.”
“Or kissing.” Aislin stage-whispered with a wide grin.
Adora gave her a queer look.
“Ah, we should have,” Auri said, “You are the leader of the Greenwood Coven, I presume? Miss…”
“White,” Ruby answered. “Ruby White. The Spring Maiden,”
Then she looked between the rest of the Greenwood Coven, before saying, “Greenwood, let’s introduce ourselves to them. Get to know our new friends…”
“I’m Jessica Rosefey, follow SunnyMuscleMommy on Instragram, yoooo…” Jessica threw up the peace sign before laughing.
“... Her high ass is the Summer Maiden,” Ruby jabbed a thumb in her direction.
“I’m Kashmira Sarai! Or Dr. Sarai,” She introduced herself, “I’m the healer for the Greenwood Coven.”
“I’m Amelia Dallon, the Fall Maiden,” She introduced herself.
“Currently, Pearl Cho, the Winter Maiden, is busting her ass at her job,” Ruby shrugged. “So, she will not be attending.”
“I’m Naomi Rodgers! I met a couple of you last week!” Naomi said.
“Same,” James said, crossing his arms. “I’m James Carmicheal.”
He walked over to Stormy and put his hand up, “Thanks for keeping my girl safe back there - dab me up!”
James was dabbed up by Stormy, way better than when he was dabbed up by Jack. ”Stormy Carson. Nice axe.”
“And I am Autumn Hayes,” She calmly noted.
Ruby cracked a grin as she took a puff of her joint. “Well, what are you waiting for? Are you going to introduce yourselves, my lovelies…?”
Before she looked at Leon, “... Except you, we’re already familiar with your ass!“
”A few of you already know me, from when we met last week,” Jack answered. ”Jack Hawthorne, for the ones that haven’t. I almost killed one of you, that night.”
“... Why would you say that?” Naomi rolled her eyes.
”Amara King. Nice meeting you guys.”
Aislin shrugged, gently loading bud after bud in her little party bowl as she sat in her chair. “Most of you already know me, but I'll re-introduce myself anyway.” She looked up and grinned. “Aislin Rose, artist and toker at your service.”
”Ador-”
“Appie,” James laughed, “How could we forget you!”
Adora shook her head.
“I was hoping to get your number, sugar,” Ruby said, taking a drag of her blunt. “But, duty calls.”
”No time like the present,” Adora stuck her hand out, and Ruby put her phone in her hand, and then Adora punched in her number before handing it back to Ruby.
Britney was silent, before waving her hands, ”Britney Williams, magical expert.”
”Greyson Devola, former Sycamore Tree Wallet… I mean, Treasurer. Not that there's ever really been a treasury, just other people have jobs now.” Edict grimaced.
“It’s great meeting all of you; I hope that we can really get to know each other,” Ruby gave her a narrow look, before turning to Auri. “... Auclair!”
“.... Oooooooooh boy!” Jess said, throwing her hands behind her head. “Should we tell her?”
“Tell her what- oooooooooooh!” James awkwardly tugged at his collar.
“Tell me what?” Auri tilted her head.
“Guys shut up,” Naomi rolled her eyes. “Let’s not put her on blast in front of her Coven. We’ll talk about it in private.”
“Riiiiiiight,” Ruby turned to Sycamore as she took a few steps forward. “Again, it’s great to meet you all, but I figured there are a lot more of you?”
”This is who we could get on short-notice,” Adora took another slice of pizza, then watched as Kashmira put down her snacks and grabbed a slice of cheese pizza and ate it.
“Well, I would prefer to meet your entire Coven,” Ruby said. “But if you are all vital members, we can begin.”
Auri smiled at her.
“The floor is yours, friend.”
“Good,” Ruby began, “The Greenwood Coven has been around for a long time… comparatively to most of the factions that rise and then fall, we are one of the oldest. And I can accurately say that this is the most dangerous the city has been since the aftermath of...” Ruby scanned the room and noticed Adora getting very uncomfortable in her seat. She shook her head.
“... You-know-what,” Ruby paused, “I know you all had a run-in with Emily the other day, but there are far bigger fish in St. Portwell’s pond than her and her stupid goons. Something big is brewing, but I’m trying to gather allies to fight against it. I got the and the 317 on board, but here’s my issue...”
Ruby looked between the various members of Sycamore around the room before she said, “... Far as I can tell, the Sycamore Tree Coven reunited to end that string of murders, and nothing else…?”
Aislin had her lips on her bong but stopped just as she was about to light it. Nothing else? Were they really so shallow?
“Well, I mean… I’d like it to be more than that. It’s nice having everyone together again. Feels like old times…” Aislin said.
”There's a lot of personal bonds, Rubes. Ten people may not like one another, but everyones got at least one friend keeping them held on the raft. It's…-” Leon paused, trying desperately to avoid the phrase clusterfuck. ”-Well, you're no stranger to complicated things. Some people feel like Aislin, happy to be around everyone. Other people are… Probably plotting to kill the people around them out of convenience.” his eyes definitely didn't flick toward Edict as he finished.
”Some of us can’t really afford to come back fully,” Amara said. ”Some of us never left. Me, though, it’s home. That’s good enough for me, so if this lasts long enough that we’re all still standing afterwards, I’ll be here.”
Aislin smirked at Leon and Amara's responses. “Exactly. Some of us are here for more than just figuring out this murder problem… And killing each other.” She let out a laugh.
”If I’m being honest here,” Adora shrugged. ”After we solve this serial killer nonsense, a lot of us are going to cut and run. Me included.”
Aislin gave a sad look, but said nothing.
”From what I saw, it’s unlikely that we will be sticking together…” Britney also shrugged.
“That’s what I’m saying,” Ruby said to the Coven, pausing for a moment before she continued. “Right now, this alliance has the power to change things, and push the tide against the assholes like the Wolfpack, the Elite, and whenever the Nazis like Berlioz rear their head again.”
“Probably do a better job than the Feds!” Naomi laughed.
“Greenwood… We are more than willing to help you stop your killer because we do not want anything to happen to Sully,” Ruby began. “But, we want this to be a two-way road… We want some help from time to time as well.”
“Greenwood has enemies?” Aislin asked.
“8th St are our sworn rivals… but we also don’t fuck with the Elite, Wolfpack, or whatever Nazi is still out there,” Ruby answered. “And if you think they won’t bother ya’ll… trust me, they’ll find a reason…”
”Personally, I can guarantee that I will be here after the murders are solved,” Jack said. ”And I will work towards the goal of improving the state of St. Portwell, alongside whoever else is still present. So if Greenwood requires my assistance, you’ll have it.”
”Yeah, me too.” Amara grinned. ”I don’t know if I’ll be moving back, but I’m pitching the fuck in regardless. I’m in.”
”I’ll gladly help long as we’re keeping St. Portwell safe,” Britney nodded her head.
”I don’t think I need to repeat myself,” Adora shrugged.
Leon and Edict, coming off of the tiff from before, shot each other an awkward glance as everyone was proclaiming their love for St. Portwell and their desire to protect it.
”I mean, we were… Mostly born here, right? Even if not, it’s home now. We’re meant to be here to protect it and make it as beautiful as can be.” His giant arm jostled Ruby in a gentle way. ”That’s Temple One-Oh-One.”
Edict’s nose scrunched, probably trying to ward off being a further smart ass. ”It’s the Coven for me. Unfinished business. Make the haters wish they were lovers.” he finally commented, grinning as he looked around the room at his fellow Covenmates.
“I’ll assist when I can,” Auri said. “I cannot speak for the rest of my Coven, however.”
”Well Jesus, Auri, don’t sound so enthused about some help getting a killer off our back.” Leon shook his head.
”I don’t think any of us ever asked to get caught in a political mess like this,” Stormy noted. ”But we’re here now. What’s done is done, so if you’ve got our backs, then we’ve got yours.”
Aislin smiled, “Yeah. I already like Greenwood. If you were in trouble I'd come runnin’. Another alliance sounds like just what we need.”
Ruby smiled.
“Now, that’s what I want to hear,” Ruby said.
“So, the alliance is official?” Auri asked.
“Not quite,” Ruby said, “Like I said before, I want to meet your entire Coven.”
”... Trust me,” Adora shook her head, laughing under her breath. ”You don’t.”
“Awwwww, I’m sure you’re all swell people…” Ruby gave Adora a catty smirk.
Britney awkwardly tugged at her collar.
“Hopefully, we can get along,” Ruby began. “Because, all four of us together can raze the 8th Street Manor to the ground and run Emily, her scissor-sister Vashti, and her bitch-ass sisters out of town. Then, I’m going to light a fat blunt using the fire of their mansion. Like not a regular blunt, it will look like a Loony-Tune cigar. It’s going to be bigger than Leon’s dick.”
James and Naomi rolled their eyes, as Jessica laughed, throwing her arms behind her head. Aislin smacked a hand against her forehead.
”Just keep your expectations tempered, Sis. We can’t expect everyone, and if you really do, you should expect a brawl before it's over. This is probably the most level-headed that a room full of us is gonna get.” Leon offered, trying to reign both sides toward something that made a bit more practical sense.
“Yoooooooooo, broooooooooooooooooooo!” Jessica said, turning to Ruby. “We should tell them about our spy in 8th!”
“... Oh, yeah,” Ruby shrugged. “We have a spy, Malik Jakane, in 8th St. He’s been there for a while now.”
“He can feed us info!” Jessica said.
Edict’s eyes boggled out of his head. He’d long since pulled out a cigarette since the entirety of the Cypress Hill Concert showed up, and he nearly swallowed it on the inhale. ”I’m sorry, who?!” He’d been mostly keeping his mouth shut. He wasn’t feeling a tremendous amount of love at the moment - The feeling of desire to wriggle his way into the heads of others to get pictures for himself wasn’t so strong.
”Like, surely you can’t be talking about the same Jakane that’s in my head… Ain’t no way that old man is runnin’ with all of you no matter how much chiba you’re pushin’.”
“I’m not,” Ruby laughed. “You’re thinking of Malik senior.”
“We got his way hotter son!” Jessica laughed.
Edict’s face couldn’t suppress the surprise. ”O-oh… Huh…” he trailed off.
Ruby smiled, putting a hand on her hip.
“You didn't know he nutted in a woman before?” Ruby laughed.
”Is this someone we should know?” Jack asked.
“Nah,” Ruby laughed. “Well, I know Shayton - Malik Sr - was at the strip club fiasco.”
”He can teleport people away just by looking at them… That was a surprise.”
”Yeah, that’s what happens when you run in front of a bunch of unfamiliar paranormals, dumbass,” Amara said, laughing.
Edict did his best to blow it all off. ”He just… Did some work for House of Cards is all, and I guess he threw his lot in with Wolfpack. He never struck me as the biker type as a kid.”
”Anybody got anything else they want to bring up?”
Jack began tracing shapes in the air with magic.
”I don’t,” Stormy said. ”You all know where to find me if you need me.”
Leon narrowed his eyes as Jack began to fade away. ”No we don’t… Well, most of us.” Subtly, he threw up some finger guns.
“We don't got nothing else to go over,” Ruby shrugged. “So we’ll be going now.”
James grinned, as he turned towards Adora.
“... You, don’t beat the breaks off anyone else!” He said, followed by a bout of boisterous laughter.
Adora just rolled her eyes in response.
“Can we grab some pizza, brooooo?” Jessica asked Auri.
“Take as much as you like,” Auri answered.
Ruby walked over to the pizza and took two boxes. Winds appeared in the flower shop as Greenwood bunched up.
“We’ll be going now,” Ruby grinned at them. “We’re trying not to make any big moves right now but we’ll be in touch.”
The winds raged as Ruby shouted.
“Don’t be a stranger!”
Then they vanished. Aislin gave a hearty wave, watching long after they left.
”I should be leaving, as well.”
In front of Jack was a large, heavy wooden door that had appeared out of thin air, with kanji writing carved into its surface. On the other side of it was a building on a cliff, with a kaleidoscope of colors and images swirling out in the sky.
”It is a significant relief that we will have more allies, soon,” he said. ”I’m sure we can survive 8th Street’s next tantrum, now.”
Leon casually looked at his phone. ”Aw, look at that… I’ve got places to be. Adora? How about we meet tomorrow, hit the bags for a while and catch up? Unless, you think you’ll be up in a few hours. I’ll be there. You know the spot.” And with that, he was out the door and into the night again.
With everything winding down and everyone going their separate ways, Aislin finally took a light to her party bowl, holding in the smoke before she let out a fierce cough.
“Ahhh, now that's some good Zaza!” She said with a laugh, her head feeling like it was floating twenty miles high.
She quietly dismantled her bong, bagging the rest of the Zaza and throwing her bag on her shoulder. She stood there for a long, stoned moment before she turned to Adora. “Let's hang out again soon, sis. Yeahh?”
Before she smiled at Auri, gave a little salute, and slowly, painfully slowly, walked out of the flower shop, and into her car. With the tunes turned up, she headed home.
As the others were leaving, one was arriving a few minutes earlier than her agreed upon time. The bell on Auri’s door jangled as Sloane Faris entered, her head turned back to the street, watching the familiar car drive off. She turned her head forward and suddenly stopped in the threshold, her eyebrows subtly shifting in surprise. Her eyes darted towards Auri, the extra chairs, the other coven members, the leftover pizza boxes, and then back to Auri as Sloane pinched her nose to block out the skunk-like stank. The smell was so strong that it even made Sloane’s eyes start to water.
“Should I wait outside, Auri?” said Sloane, her words coming out slowly as if Sloane was reconsidering every single one, trying not to sound hurt. She stepped one foot back through the door. “I’m clearly intruding.”
Jack still hadn’t left. ”Sloane… I didn’t think you were coming at all tonight.”
“Oh no, not at all!” Auri said with a smile, then gestured to the pizza. “Help yourself!”
”... Well, this was a waste of time,” Britney whispered to Edict then shook her head. ”Let’s blow this joint, Greyson.” She grabbed his hand and gently and quietly guided him out the door.
”Could have been an e-maaaaaaail…” Edict chided as he was guided out and away from the shivering time bomb that was Sloane Faris.
”Well, it was nice, ya’ll,” Adora rolled her eyes as she grabbed a pizza box, and walked towards the door. Before she was out the door, she stopped and said, ”Thanks for the dinner!” Then she was out of the door.
Stormy and Amara followed the scent of Adora’s bootycheeks.
Jack shook his head, and shut the magic door before walking through it. It stayed there, slowly flickering with shades of purple and gold, before fading away. ”I brought water, if you’d like,” he said.
”Greenwood wants to meet the entire coven before making this official.”
“Mm, can’t wait. So nice to be involved,” said Sloane, her voice dismissively flat. She opened up a pizza box, blinked twice, and closed it without grabbing a slice. She glanced at her watch.
“This takes some time. We should probably get started,” said Sloane to Auri before giving Jack the side eye and then looking toward the door with little subtlety. “Have a good night, Jack.”
A small part of Jack felt that if Sloane had been informed of this earlier, she would’ve been disappointed anyway. Of course, he wasn’t going to say that.
”I have an artifact vault to construct,” he said. ”If anyone needs me, I’ll be tampering with reality.”
He opened the door up again, and walked through it. It snapped out of the air, and he was gone.
Auri smiled at Sloane.
“So… let’s get work, shall we?”
Interactions: None.
The Board Walk.
Jack checked his phone, 7:42 PM in Shimmer. Here in the Eleventh Path, the day didn’t end. It was always bright and sunny, but it was growing late back home. He had been occupying himself by moving books, maps, and everything else that he considered sentimental from the Shadowzone to his wing of the building. Flicking his wrist, the pericosm flickered into the likeness of a wide bookshelf, which he stacked with his collection. Chronicles of Adept history written from across the All-Verse, an anthology of history’s greatest paranormal legends, bestiaries that told of the many patterns that Apparitions followed in their manifestation, and more were placed upon the shelves; Nice and neat, organized meticulously, Jack knew he’d be here much more often than the Void.
The room was lit by the gentle glow of purple Shadowflame, as Ma Kiki had called it, giving the place an eerie feel that suited Jack perfectly. But it wasn’t enough to take away from that nagging feeling he had been plagued by since the meeting at Auri’s shop. It felt like everyone had something against Alizee but him, he had been expecting doubts, but it was obvious that she had become something of a menace in their eyes. What got to him most, though, was what Adora had said about helping her.
Did she want it?
It irritated him, that someone could just chalk it up to not wanting to be helped. Of course it was only natural that some things could not be fixed. Some things were never set in stone no matter how much was done to make them so. But they didn’t even try. Ten years, and they didn’t track her down? Why did it take this long for Auri to decide he needed to be dealt with?
Thinking about it disappointed him, just about as much as he was disappointed in himself. He might have left her to fend for herself, but they stayed. Alizee deserved better.
He stepped through a door, and returned to Shimmer on a roof. It was dark out, cloudy. No moon tonight. Jack pulled out his phone and texted Auri. This would keep him awake for days if he didn’t get to the bottom of it.
Auri, can you send me Adora’s number?
Sure thing!
Auri promptly replied.
Once he had her number, Jack called Adora. After some ringing, she answered,
””… Hello?
”Adora. It’s me, Jack,” He said. ”I know it is late, but I think we need to talk about something. Are you free right now?”
There was silence.
”… Ye-yeah, s-sure,”
”Is there anywhere in particular you prefer to meet? I can teleport there, so as not to inconvenience you.”
”… The boardwalk?” Adora answered.
”Of course. I will wait for you here,” he said, teleporting between two buildings and walking across a street.
”I’ll be there,”
He waited for her out by the ocean. He hated the ocean, it was too vast, too absolute for the liking of a man who didn’t believe in absolutes. Jack sat down on a bench, staring out at the waves and thinking of how he’d get through the conversation without making it sound hostile. Which was, in his opinion, quite difficult since he felt hostile.
But he didn’t want to alienate Adora. He didn’t want to scare her more than he already knew he did, and end up with another case of Leon where he couldn’t look her in the eye without seeing red.
So he waited.
After a little while, Adora walked up, wearing an all-white combo of hoodie, sweatpants, and some running shoes. She walked past Jack, before coming to a stop.
”… What do you need?”
”I need answers to something. I didn’t want to do this in front of the others at the meeting yesterday, but it has been on my mind since.” He turned and looked over at her.
”…What did you have against Alizee?”
Adora sighed, facepalming,
”… Is this about what I said in the flower shop?” She began. ” I didn’t mean it like- okay, I never liked the vibe of her from the jump, and I didn’t like that she dragged a kid into the fight.”
”We were all children,” he said, calmly. ”And no, it is more than that. Britney knew she was a threat, Drake knew she was, and it has been ten years. Leon said that his family have the resources to help Layla, and Alizee was with them for much longer, and they did not help her. I can’t help but notice that there is a pattern there.”
He leaned back in his seat, measuring his words carefully. ”I am going to look past what you said at the meeting, since I know she caused a great deal of trouble for us all. But you’ve been here much longer than me, what happened to her after the coven dispersed?”
”… You’re asking the wrong person,” Adora shrugged. ”I hit the door first, and the only person I had contact with since the Coven fell apart was Kari…”
”And Kari had been close to her in the old coven. She never mentioned Alizee after? That there might have been a way to help her sooner?”
Adora shrugged.
”… She never mentioned Alizee when I talked to her, but you know Kari was a sweet gal. She probably was looking for something. She just…” Adora shrugged. ”Never talked with me about it because she was probably too focused on trying to help me. And I went ahead and just pushed her away…”
”And her notes were stolen before we could find them,” He sighed. ”Meaning that even if she did have a way, we wouldn’t know… We could have helped the others who were in her situation,” He said. ”Like Luca, or… I’m getting ahead of myself.”
Jack stopped for a minute and stood up. ”I asked you and not Leon because, well, he is Leon. I don’t trust him.”
”... But, look, Jack-” Adora cut herself off with a sigh before she shook her head. She turned on her heel to face Jack. ”What is this really about? Just come out and say it. Just speak your mind already, and let’s get it over with.”
Jack turned around and hid the fact that he was caught off guard from his face. Was it that obvious?
He locked eyes with Adora, and then gave in. ”…What you said about her at the meeting, it struck a nerve,” He admitted. ”I told you I won’t hold it against you, and I will not, but why? She was not the only one of us in need of help, the only one twisted by magic. What made her so different?”
Adora hung her head, and gave it a little shake before raising it and speaking, ”Look, Jack-o, I wasn’t trying to insult you, or Alizee. I wasn’t trying to disrespect anyone. If it felt that way, I’m sorry,” Adora shook her head before saying, ”But, what made her different is obvious: it’s been ten years, and she hadn’t reached out to anyone, right? Didn’t tell anyone ‘Oh hey, can someone help me get this parasite out of my life?’ Not you? Not Blackmore? Not Britney? Not Stormy? Not Auri? Not Jinhai? Not anyone?”
Adora slapped her hand on her hip before huffing, ”At the end of the day, there is a world of difference between needing help and wanting help. Hell, it’s like the mess with that white-haired bitch. Did she ask for help at all?”
”How do you ask someone for help when they won’t let you? As I understand it, Drake had been hunting her like an animal, looking for a chance to stop her by force. Leon’s cult only used her for the Void Heart, they wanted her shackled to it,” Jack said, keeping his cool as best he could.
”Of the people who stayed behind, how many of them do you think would consider giving her the chance to ask for help?”
”Besides the obvious, I honestly don’t know,” Adora shrugged. ”I can’t speak for the girl since I was never close to her. Maybe she did deep down, but didn’t know how to act on it.” Adora sighed as she conceded, shaking her head.
”But, neither of us are Greyson. We could never know what was going on in her head. Maybe you’re right. Maybe she loved that Apparition with all of her heart. And sadly, we never can know.”
”I knew she was at least in pain, because of the Void Heart. While I was in the Void, I saw her occasionally. She had a connection to the Void like me, and through her Abstraction, I’d see scarce traces of her,” Jack said, relaxing. ”The Void Heart drove her mad, Adora. In a way that was ultimately recoverable, but mad nonetheless. We were not able to have conversations from that distance, but… Alizee suffered.”
”I’m sorry to hear that; I really am. And even though Alizee hurt people, and gave us a lot of problems to solve, I don’t think she deserved what happened to her,” Adora sighed. ”But, that raises the question…”
She stared at Jack silently. Her face was stony.
”... Did you ever offer your help?”
”Of course I did, Adora,” Jack answered, audibly exasperated. ”Weeks digging through the coven’s archives for answers, months of researching Apparitions and their bonds to the soul- Reza even wounded the Void Heart with the Noble Vow once, and that was a mild inconvenience. Alizee was in much the same condition as Luca is now.”
”Then…” Adora closed her eyes, and then sighed. ”... You got every right to feel the way you feel about what I said.” She shrugged.
”It just wasn’t my place to say it.”
He looked away, and stared out at the ocean for a brief moment. This was, to Jack’s surprise, a lot easier than he had imagined.
”I might’ve said the same thing, in your position,” He said at last, and then looked back at her. ”I forgive you.”
Adora stuck her hand out.
”... Let’s call it good, then?”
”Yes, by all means.” He stuck his out, too.
Adora shook his hand, smiling at him… awkwardly. There was silence.
”... Though, if another situation happens like with that white-haired bitch,” Adora started, ”Please try and handle that better. Let her fuck around and find out.”
”In my defense, the plan would have gone perfectly if someone hadn’t followed us into the void with a gun.”
”No, I mean,” Adora shook her head. ”Ya’ll didn’t ask her if she needed help at all. And she obviously didn’t want it if she immediately sold us out to those mafia dickheads.”
”I suppose that is fair. Point taken. She worries me, almost as much as Alizee did. Those phantoms Leon mentioned at the meeting are no different from the Void Heart. I didn’t think it could do such a thing.”
”Hell, she should be worrying all of us,” Adora shook her head. ”Maybe we can make things up to her by actually asking her if she’s okay - but I think that ship sailed, Jack-O.”
”Then what could we do?” Jack asked. ”A curse is not the same as an Apparition. Even if we had something as powerful as the Brass Needle, or a master yellow Adept, some curses are more like a chronic illness than something treatable.”
Adora laughed.
”… Well I’ll tell Stormy to get to it, then,” Adora began. ”Meantime, I’m going to talk to her. Might not go anywhere but hell if I don’t say I never tried.”
He nodded.
”I need to find the location of an artifact, while you are doing that. I may have found a possible way to unadjoin Luca to the Rot.”
”Hit me up if you need anything, Jack-O,” Adora said, as she took a few steps back towards the shore. ”I’m only a phone call away.”
Edict
Interactions: None.
Blowin' that Joint
”… Man, I can’t stand his ass.”
Britney vented out loud, crossing her arms as she sat in the passenger side seat. She huffed.
”’I ain’t the same uppity cunt I used to be’! Oh, ‘I’ll crush Father Wolf in my jaws!” When all l was trying to do is make a plan for that crazy mafia!” Britney mockingly imitated Leon’s voice, rolling her eyes. ”Like, if you could do it, you would have done it by now, motherfucker. Nobody wants to hear you meat-glaze.”
Britney rolled her eyes again, ”Hopefully, next meeting, I can bring up the subject, and we can make some headway instead of talking in circles…”
After losing his prized vehicle to poor conceptualization, Greyson had “requisitioned” a much newer and more bedecked vehicle to cruise around in. Some European brand he could barely pronounce the name of, with a flappy paddle gearbox and way too many screens. It felt cold compared to the old manual Cadillac… He was trying to distract himself by thinking about that, rather than getting into whatever Britney was complaining about.
But he couldn’t exactly ignore it. Frankly, he had a lot of money invested in Leon’s assets, and he couldn’t let anyone ruin the paper trail that kept him (and many others) clothed and fed. Not even Britney. ”Brit… You know-” he paused, thinking for a moment and trying to choose his words as carefully as possible. ”-Shit, man… Why’s this all gotta be so hard? Why can’t we just come together on something?” he frowned finally, shrugging his shoulders.
”Listen, I’ll spill the beans… Leon and I are business partners… Well, technically their whole organization is my partner; I usually deal with his Mom or Sister. But… I’ve… Taken a few of their oaths. They wanted me to do so, because I… I know where the special shit comes from. I had to take ‘em to get involved enough that I could make money off ‘em. So, regardless of anything else, I’d like to play it straight with them for the time being.” he cleared his throat upon finishing, expecting the relative silence of his own explanation to be consumed by a hellstorm.
”Wait, what?” Britney came to a stop and looked at Edict. ”... Are they those ‘mutual friends’ you spoke of that got the Cards off my ass?”
His facial expression didn’t change despite the bold faced lie that came out of it. ”Yes. Because they know what the fuck’s happening too. And they’re not gonna leave you out to dry even if you don’t like them, especially not Leon. He may be pushy, he may be a dick, but hearing what they think and how they feel about shit? Especially Ms. Lynette…” Greyson’s voice trailed off, and he cleared his throat again as a nervous tick. ”They don’t wanna end paranormal lives… They’re obsessed with people like us coming together, and being a community, ‘cuz they think some day they’re gonna restart the world. Obviously that’s a bit too far for me too, but I think we can use their proclivities to our advantage.”
”... Restart the fucking world?!” Britney scoffed. ”I thought that bitch Lynette was crazy before, but now…” She could only laugh.
”But, they shot at us, Greyson! Jack got blasted, and Auri got brained,” Britney noted out loud. ”I know you’re making money off them-” Britney suddenly stopped. She paused for a few moments before saying.
”Actually, let’s just drop this. I won’t shit on Leon or his people no more, okay?”
Greyson threw one of his hands up vaguely, sliding it across an invisible plain, trying to ward her off of that train of thought. ”Nah, like I understand that shit. I get it, and I’m not happy about it, and if you feel like you want somethin’ done about it, I’d be more than happy to get together with them and demand more. But, like, talk your shit. Cuz yeah I’d be pissed too. It ain’t gonna affect my business unless we start causing actual trouble with them, that’s all…”
He grimaced, looking a bit remorseful. Obviously he didn’t want her feeling like she couldn’t talk to him… ”It’s my turn to show you that you can really trust me with that shit.” he offered, hoping she’d take it as a chance to comment further.
”... What did you have in mind?” Britney asked with a raised eyebrow.
He shrugged. ”I mean, I really didn’t have anything, besides being willing and open to listen to you, and to keep your secrets as your man, you know? But, obviously I’m down for anything for you. You want me to make things tough on ‘em, I’ll do it.” Greyson offered with a great deal of sincerity. ”Ain’t no “your problem my problem” shit, right? They’ our problems.”
”Look, it’s just not my place to intrude on your business like that,” Britney said with a sigh. ”I knew what you were into from the jump - so...”
She threw her hands up with a shrug, ”... That’s on me. Not you. You don’t have to make anything tough on them. I just don’t like them.”
Greyson shrugged his shoulder, reaching a hand out and placing it on Britney’s thigh. His face screamed sympathy. ”I’d like for them to be gone… First chance I get. Just… I doubt it’ll be until after this fucking Father Wolf shit, man… Like, this morning. Kenshiro had the balls to insinuate it was your fault? It makes moving and maneuvering hard on all of us.” He shook his head, frustrated by the situation as it stood. ”But, whatever. ‘Least I got you for now, huh? And we can bitch at each other like old times.”
Pointing at the glovebox subtly, he wagged his eyebrows. ”There’s a cigarette case in there with some joints rolled up… You wanna just cruise wit’cha boy?”
Britney gave him a devious grin.
”Ooooooooh boy, you bad!” Britney feigned shock as she opened it up, and pulled out the case. ”I hope you learned how to roll joints because, like ten years ago, you couldn’t roll for your life; I’m sorry.”
She laughed as she opened it up. ”So, are we going to roll back to my house, or are we just gonna pull over? I mean, you’re just gonna mind-blast any cop that appears...” She shrugged.
”Would like to at least avoid that.” She said as she rolled her eyes.
He laughed loudly. Of course she wasn’t gonna have him driving and smoking, no matter how much of a problem it probably wouldn’t have been. ”Of course we’ll pull over… You put on your music, we’ll hit a nice spot out in the hills. You can tell me ‘bout all the life I missed while we blow a little smoke.” Greyson’s eyebrows raised again, his face staying cool and neutral otherwise; trying to be nonchalant about it as possible.
”And yeah, I’ve had a bit of practice. I can do it one-handed too.”
Alright, virgins! It's time to unveil the NPCs for the upcoming Elite Arc! Pretend I wrote them all in one night and not over a few days on my phone and just touched upon the rambling on my PC.
Blake.Schmidt
53 | Blake Nathan Schmidt | He/Him"Splendid!"
Description:
Blake Schmidt was born into a life of privilege and wealth, inheriting Paragon Tech Solutions from his late father, Gerald Schmidt, a brilliant inventor and entrepreneur. Under Gerald's leadership, Paragon Tech Solutions became renowned in advanced technology, specializing in AI systems, high-tech security, and consumer electronics. However, when Blake took over, the company's trajectory shifted; lacking his father's genius and vision, Blake relied heavily on the talented individuals he hired, passing off their innovations as his own.
Despite his lack of proper expertise, Blake's charisma and natural charm, coupled with his family's established reputation, allowed him to maintain the façade of a visionary leader. His time at Paragon Tech Solutions saw the company expanding into new markets and securing lucrative government contracts. Still, these achievements resulted from his employees' efforts and his inherited wealth rather than his capabilities. The company’s flagship product, the Paragon Sentinel, a state-of-the-art home security system integrating AI-driven surveillance and smart home technology, became a household name, bolstering Blake’s public image as a tech genius.
Blake's real passion, however, lay in the pursuit of power and influence. Disillusioned with the mundane world and driven by an insatiable desire for the supernatural, he became obsessed with the idea of magic. After fruitless attempts to gain magical abilities through various organizations, Blake formed his group, the Elite, comprised of wealthy individuals who shared his ambition. Despite his bumbling and often oblivious nature, Blake's determination and sheer luck allowed him to amass a collection of magical artifacts and build a network of dangerous minions.
As the leader of the Elite, Blake seeks to make the Elite the largest Paranormal faction out there. His vision is grand, but his leadership is marred by questionable decision-making and a lack of clear direction. Blake remains blissfully unaware of his shortcomings, convinced of his genius and destined for greatness. His relentless pursuit of power, driven by his ego, propels the Elite forward, albeit chaotically.
Blake’s personal life is as questionable as his professional one. He is notorious for his lecherous behavior and constant flirtations with women, often crossing the line into outright harassment. This has earned him a reputation as a pervert and a sex pest, making him a subject of disdain and mockery. Blake is married to Phillis Schmidt, and they have three children: Cassandra, the eldest; Angela, the middle child; and Daniel, the youngest.
Blake desires the Stygian Snake, the key to gaining the power he desperately craves.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Phillis.Schmidt
50 | Phillis Diana Schmidt | She/Her"In this world, you need more than just ambition. You need the right allies and the right tools to make your vision a reality."
Description:
Née Warren.
Phillis was a renowned model who appeared on the covers of top fashion magazines and walked the runways of the world’s most prestigious fashion shows. Her beauty, charm, and keen business sense set her apart in modeling. Phillis met Blake at a charity gala hosted on the beach. Their instant attraction was undeniable, and their romance quickly became the talk of society pages.
Despite Blake's less-than-savory reputation, Phillis believed she could help him channel his ambitions more constructively. They married in an extravagant ceremony, combining their considerable wealth and influence, and the rest was history.
When Blake inherited Paragon Tech Solutions and later formed the Elite, Phillis found herself drawn into his world of high-stakes power plays and magical pursuits. Her beauty and charisma made her a valuable asset, and she soon became his number two in the Elite.
Phillis primarily balances out his more impulsive nature, and Blake entrusts Phillis with a powerful Artifact. She plays a crucial role in Blake Schmidt's plan to empower their wealthy associates within the Elite and his end goal to gain control of the Stygian Snake.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Angela.Schmidt
29 | Angela Kirsten Schmidt | She/Her"If it doesn't make your heart race, it's just not worth doing."
Description:
Blake and Phillis Schmidt's eldest daughter, Angela, lived on the edge for as long as she can remember. Born into wealth and status, she thrived on the adrenaline rush of parties, lavish events, and the allure of endless nights fueled by her father's money. Her cunning and sharp wit were overshadowed by a reckless pursuit of pleasure that bordered on self-destruction.
Angela's lifestyle was a whirlwind of excess and indulgence, characterized by wild party antics that often spiraled out of control. Her evenings were a blur of expensive booze, designer drugs, wild and unprotected sex, and the company of her equally reckless peers. She pushed on without regard for consequences, chasing euphoria left a trail of broken relationships and tarnished reputations.
Despite her intelligence, Angela's hedonistic pursuits masked a more bottomless emptiness and dissatisfaction. She sought refuge in the chaotic glamour of St. Portwell's nightlife scene, where every night was an escape from the pressures of her family's expectations and the weight of her privilege. Within the Elite, Angela saw an opportunity not only to maintain her destructive lifestyle but to amplify it. She viewed the organization's resources as a means to fuel her addiction to adrenaline and chaos.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Cassandra.Schmidt
25 | Cassandra Elizabeth Schmidt | She/Her"Why bother with consequences when you can have everything you want?!"
Description:
Cassandra, the middle child of Blake and Phillis Schmidt, embodies wealth and privilege. from a young age, she was immersed in a world of excess, where her every whim was indulged without question. Cassandra quickly learned to leverage her family name and fortune to navigate the social circles of St. Portwell.
Her teenage years were marked by a relentless pursuit of pleasure and excitement, often pushing boundaries and testing the limits of her family's patience. Cassandra's wild parties and lavish spending became infamous among St. Portwell, and she frequently appeared in some gossip magazines. Cassandra reveled in the attention and admiration that came with her lifestyle, utterly oblivious to the consequences of her actions. To her, it was all about the rush of the moment, no time to think about the consequences of her actions.
As she entered adulthood, Cassandra's behavior only worsened: she became famous for impulsive decisions and utter disregard for authority. Her relationships were fleeting and soulless, driven by attraction or resources rather than genuine connection. Yet, Cassandra harbors deep insecurities and fears of being overshadowed by her siblings and peers.
Within the Elite, Cassandra's role is mainly ceremonial: she's just there to bolster the family's influence over the families "beneath" the Schmidts without requiring any real contribution. Cassandra could care less about the Stygian Snake or Blake's lust for power but is unfortunately pressured into it, so the Family has more sway and influence within their organization.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Daniel.Schmidt
18 | Daniel Maverick Schmidt | He/Him"I'm the one that can truly lead."
Description:
Daniel Schmidt, the youngest child of Blake and Phillis Schmidt, stands out as the most competent and ambitious member of his family. Born into the luxury of the Schmidt dynasty, Daniel grew up witnessing his father's bumbling leadership and his sister's reckless behavior. Unlike them, Daniel displayed a natural and keen interest in the family business from an early age.
As a teenager, Daniel often felt frustrated by the lack of recognition for his talents. While his father, Blake, basked in unearned glory and his sisters indulged in hedonistic pursuits, Daniel quietly excelled in his studies. He absorbed everything he could about Paragon Tech Solutions and the mysterious world of magic - which he learned about far before his father.
He spent countless hours in the company's research labs, learning from the brilliant minds his father had hired. Despite his dedication and evident skill, Daniel was frequently overlooked, his potential dismissed by those who viewed him as just another privileged Schmidt. At 19, Daniel's frustration had reached its peak. He felt a profound sense of boredom, knowing he had so much to offer but no one willing to take him seriously.
His salvation finally came from the Elite, while Blake, Jiao-Long, and Jason focused on their grand visions; Daniel saw the Elite as an opportunity to prove himself. He became determined to gain access to artifacts and apparitions, believing that mastering these magical elements would finally earn him the respect and recognition he craved.
Within the Elite, Daniel's role is that of a quiet yet relentless seeker of knowledge and power. He tirelessly researches ancient texts, studies the properties of various artifacts, and hones his magical skills in secret. Unlike his father, who relies on luck and manipulation, Daniel is methodical and strategic, driven by a genuine passion for understanding and mastering magic.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Jiao-Long.Liu
62 | Liu Jiao-Long | He/Him"If we don't use magic wisely, it will destroy us!"
Description:
Jiao-Long Liu was born into a wealthy and influential family in Hong Kong, known for their ruthless business tactics and extensive connections in various industries. Jiao-Long was groomed to take over the family empire from a young age but had different plans. Unlike his parents, who desired power and control, Jiao-Long was driven to impact the world positively.
Determined to carve his path, Jiao-Long left Hong Kong and moved to America, where he could pursue his vision. He founded Liu Biomedical, a cutting-edge company focused on medical research and biotechnology. With a keen intellect and a relentless work ethic, Jiao-Long quickly established himself as a pioneer in the field. His company became renowned for its groundbreaking research in genetic engineering, regenerative medicine, and innovative treatments for chronic diseases. Under his leadership, Liu Biomedical developed several life-saving therapies and technologies, earning Jiao-Long widespread acclaim.
Despite his success, Jiao-Long remained humble and approachable, always prioritizing the well-being of his patients and employees over profits. His good-natured and compassionate demeanor won him many allies, but his idealism sometimes made him naive to the world's harsh realities. Jiao-Long’s journey in America also led him to cross paths with Blake Schmidt. Though vastly different in personality and values, the two men found common ground in pursuing the extraordinary. Jiao-Long’s scientific brilliance and Blake’s entrepreneurial spirit complemented each other, and together, they founded the Elite, an organization dedicated to harnessing the power of magic. Jiao-Long viewed the Elite as a means to advance his research and help humanity on a grander scale, while Blake saw it as a pathway to ultimate power.
Jiao-Long's vision for the Elite was markedly different from Blake's. He envisioned the Elite as a benevolent council dedicated to protecting St. Portwell and its inhabitants from the dangers of the supernatural world. He believed the Elite should act as guardians and benefactors, using their powers and resources to maintain peace and order in the city. This vision often put him at odds with other members of the Elite, who were more interested in pursuing personal gain and power.
On a personal front, Jiao-Long is devoted to his family. His wife, Chunhua, shares his compassionate nature and supports his endeavors wholeheartedly. Their son, Hank, at 13, is full of energy and curiosity. Jiao-Long is raising him to take over Liu Biomedical one day. He nurtures Hank's interests in science and medicine, guiding him to appreciate the importance of their work and instilling in him the values of compassion and innovation that define the company. While Hank's current interests lean towards adventure and discovery, Jiao-Long patiently integrates these passions with the family's legacy.
Abstraction:
Unknown
Chunhua.Liu
55 | Liu Chunhua | She/Her"We have to use our knowledge and resources for the benefit of mankind."
Description:
Chunhua Liu was born in Shanghai, China. Her parents, both teachers, instilled in her a deep respect for education and a love for learning from a young age. Chunhua was an exceptional student, excelling in her studies and demonstrating a natural talent for the sciences. Her academic prowess earned her a scholarship to one of Shanghai's top universities, where she pursued a degree in biomedical engineering. Her dedication and brilliance caught the attention of her professors, who encouraged her to further her studies abroad.
Chunhua's determination and talent secured her a spot in a prestigious biomedical research program in the United States. This opportunity allowed her to work alongside some of the brightest minds in the field and gain invaluable experience. During one of these collaborative projects, she met Jiao-Long Liu, a driven and visionary young scientist from her home country. Their shared passion for medical research and a mutual desire to positively impact the world quickly brought them together. Their professional relationship soon blossomed into an actual relationship, and they married shortly after completing their respective programs.
Chunhua and Jiao-Long founded Liu Biomedical, and despite the demands of their company, they managed to maintain a strong relationship. They had two children together, Linda and Hank, whom Jiao-Long wants to take over the family business when he reaches age. Within the Elite, however, Chunhua acts as Jiao-Long Liu's trusted second-in-command despite her unfamiliarity with magic. She recognizes the necessity of utilizing magic responsibly while harnessing its capabilities for humanitarian purposes.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Mika.Liu
38 | Liu Mika | She/Her"Would you like some tea?"
Description:
Has the nickname Melissa to blend in with Americans more.
Born as Jiao-Long Liu's illegitimate daughter from a hookup during his early career, Mika's life began in Japan under the care of her mother, Emiko Tanaka. Her upbringing was marred by her father's absence, whose involvement was kept secret to preserve his public image and relationship with Chunhua. However, in Mika's teen years, after Emiko died from breast cancer, Mika was brought to America and introduced to her sister Lin and brought into the fold. Despite her status as an illegitimate child, Jiao-Long had big plans for Mika: he wanted to make her the future head of Liu Biomedical. Recognizing her potential, he oversaw her education and early career development. From a young age, Mika was enrolled in prestigious academies, mentored by top scientists, and given opportunities to shadow executives within the company. Jiao-Long ensured that Mika received a comprehensive education in biomedical sciences, aiming to prepare her to take over the family business. Mika was excited, seeing this as her birthright.
Then Hank was born.
Jiao-Long completed 180 and decided to make Hank the future head of Liu Biomedical over her, thereby putting years of preparation and training to the test. This created an intense resentment towards her father and brother, perceiving his favoritism towards Hank as a rejection of her potential. This made Mika want to prove herself, and the golden opportunity arose when the Elite was created. In the Elite, Mika occupies a unique position; while officially, she supports her father, Jiao-Long, as his deputy, privately, she harbors ambitions to surpass and supplant him. She views Blake as an incompetent leader and sees herself as the rightful heir to lead the organization - and knows that there is no future for the Elite under that boor. Her drive to take over the Elite is fueled by a secret desire to impress others and prove herself worthy, not out of any grand goal.
Mika is highly sophisticated, intelligent, and wise, though she's often judgmental, uncaring, and dismissive of others, particularly those she perceives as lacking in intellect or class. Her deep love for her sister Lin is a cornerstone of Mika's character. She sees in Lin a kindred spirit and fiercely protects her, viewing Lin's genuine warmth and kindness as a contrast to her cold and dismissive demeanor. However, Mika harbors an obsession with tea stemming from her refined taste.
Abstraction:
Unknown. Though, Mika is strangely immune to abstractions.
Jason.Valos
59 | Jason Samuel Valos | He/Him"Money, power, and respect."
Description:
Jason Valos wasn't born as Jason Valos.
But as Andre Ramiah. Andre was born and raised on the streets of Chicago; his early life was marred by crime and gang life. As a young gangbanger, Andre navigated the dangerous world of street violence and crime. His life took a dramatic turn when he went through his Kindling-Event during a shootout, awakening his Red Lux. This newfound power gave him an edge in the criminal underworld, and Andre knew better than to throw away such an edge. Thus, Andre became a magical mercenary known as "Goldtooth." Goldtooth's reputation spread through the criminal underworld of Chicago and the neighboring states as he undertook a series of heists and odd jobs, amassing significant wealth and notoriety. His skills in magic and crime were unmatched, and his cunning and ruthlessness made him feared.
Then he stopped.
Once he had accumulated enough riches, Andre decided it was time to leave it all behind and quit while he was ahead. He relocated to the West Coast and crafted a new identity. A suave businessman, Jason Valos, was born. Relocating to the West Coast, Jason invested his "inherited wealth" into a string of nightclubs, hotels, and casinos, building an empire that catered to the wealthy and powerful. Jason Valos, alongside Jiao-Long Liu and Blake Schmidt, co-founded the Elite, positioning himself as the pragmatic third pillar in their hierarchy, driven by his insatiable quest for wealth and power. However, he passionately dislikes both and only puts aside his hatred of the Liu and Schmidts for pragmatic reasons.
Despite his criminal origins, Jason Valos is a charismatic and ambitious individual. His vision for the Elite is vastly different from that of his associates. For Jason, the primary goal of the Elite is to get filthy stinkin' rich. He is less concerned with ruling the magical scene or protecting the city; instead, he focuses on profit and expanding his empire. Jason's personal life is as complex as his business dealings. He is married to Gabriela Valos, and they have two children (Gabriela Jr, and Jake) together. However, he has several illegitimate children scattered across the United States, such as Johnny and Jaska Valos.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
The.Fenrir.Sisters
24 | Astrid, Freya, Sigrid, and Ingrid Dewynter | She/Her/They/Them"Why play it safe when you can light up the night? Grab that cash and leave 'em wondering what hit 'em!"
"Chaos is the game, and you're gonna lose!"
"One minute we're in, the next we're out!"
" We're the storm nobody saw coming!"
Description:
The Fenrir Sisters grew up on the outskirts of St. Portwell, where they were raised in a beautiful five-star trailer park. From an early age, the sisters were drawn to trouble, finding a sense of camaraderie and adventure in petty crime. They started small, stealing from convenience stores and causing mischief around their neighborhood. As they grew older, their antics just escalated, fueling a need for excitement in an otherwise bleak environment. Their reputation as troublemakers preceded them, and the sisters shared an unbreakable bond, standing united against the hardships of their upbringing.
By the time they turned 18, their antics had caught up with them, and their parents threw them out of the trailer park. Cast adrift with no clear path forward, they turned to a life of petty crime to survive, roaming the streets of St. Portwell in search of easy targets and quick cash. However, there was a lot more to the sisters than just their bond... they were all afflicted with a curse (it also made them be born as quadruplets, don't ask). It was not just a curse; the sisters turned it into a blessing to bring their thefts to the next level.
During one of these reckless escapades, they caught the attention of Dean Walker, leader of the Wolfpack after Judas' demise. Dean gave them a chance to elevate their criminal endeavors, and the sisters always adored the Wolfpack after their rise to power, so they took the opportunity without a second thought. The Fenrir sisters are a group of identical quadruplets rarely seen apart and dress and act very similarly. They are very short at five-one but very well built due to hitting the gym and their lifestyle of hauling ass constantly. They are a very chaotic bunch in the Wolfpack, even for their standards, one that gives into their intrusive thoughts far, far, too quickly. They claim to be "Norse Pagans," but not one of them understands it and just thinks it sounds cool.
Abstraction:
Unknown.
Ezekial
It's Complicated | Ezekial, just Ezekial | He/Him"A flower represents a lot, you know."
Description:
One of Dollhouse's top members and arguably one of their most potent.
Ezekial's early life is... strange. He wakes up in a destroyed warehouse with "Ezekial" written on his hand and a hunger like no other. He figured that was his name, but he had no other memories. This place he woke up in was a mystery because there was no life there as far as he could travel, just the aftermath of something - a war, maybe one of the Calamities. After aimlessly wandering around, hungry, he just coincidentally came across an open portal, and seeing nothing here, he threw himself through it. That was where he finally encountered other people!
And what he was hungry for.
Ezekial discovered his Abstraction had something to do with consuming souls, and by devouring souls, he powered various abilities - one of which was dimensional travel. Thus, Ezekial traveled throughout the All-Verse, searching for a purpose and his origins while consuming souls. Eventually, Ezekiel found someone who could help him: Sunshine Jones. She tempted him to join the Inner Circle, and with their resources, they discovered his origins; he started in a universe known as Shade as a person named Marcella Marrou. Marcella was an Adept who used Black Lux, and she went around shade-sealing Apparitions and keeping the universe safe.
That was until one of the many multiversal threats out there showed up and went on a rampage. This one in particular was Mr. Death, an Apparition that feasted on souls on a large scale. He wiped out Shade on a large scale, but Marcelle didn't give up; she gathered a coalition - some from other worlds - and waged a desperate final stand against the Apparition. They got thoroughly trounced, but Marcella had one final, desperate trump card, an ultimate spell that would only be saved for emergencies.
Sealing the Apparition inside of herself.
The spell worked, but it didn't go exactly as planned... you see, instead of sealing the Apparition inside of herself, she accidentally caused a merge of herself and the Apparition. This merge caused the death of the previous two lives and created an entirely new being: Ezekial. He had no clue why that name was written on his hand, but it's his name now, and Ezekial worked with the Inner Circle, becoming one of their top members... Until James Vanburen and the Accordance began their annoying crusade against them all. Ezekial started to see the writing on the wall; his time in Inner-Cirle had ended, and if he stuck around, it would not end well for him. So, Ezekial did the unthinkable.
He went into the Void.
In his head, it was the one place where the Accordance would not dare enter for their safety, so it was the perfect place to hide out. Ezekial desperately consumed as many souls as he could and then used them to tear open a portal into the Void, where he hid for a while. He avoided the Eldritch Abominations and other spooky beings that inhabited the Void, but his plan hit a stag when he realized there were no souls to consume. He required souls to tear open a portal back into reality; thus, he was stuck out there to perish and fade away slowly.
Until a member of Dollhouse fished him out when he was in his death throes. They recognized him as one of Sunshine's inner circle members who went to Dollhouse and inducted him into the organization. There, he acts as a flex role between the assassin, kidnapper, saboteur, and other deceptive roles - though he's often sent to different dimensions to find artifacts for them. Ezekial is a very flamboyant, somewhat short man who stands at five-seven and usually carries a flower. He speaks in a low tone, and you'd be surprised to catch him shouting.
Centuries Old | The Floral Wreath | It/Its"̶͚͘"̶̘͋"̸͙͓̾"̸͔̳̽"̶̰͝"̷̡̪̑̔"̵̓̏ͅ"̸̡̮͌"̸̙̌"̸̖̚"̵̠̞̈́"̵̻͉̚"̶̭͍̑"̷̩̫̈́̉"̸̛͈̣̀"̵͕̓̔"̵̼̪̏̈"̷̼̺͂"̴̧̂̓"̷̺͆͆
Description:
One of the Calamities.
The Floral Wreath is a nightmarish creation born from the twisted experiments of a mad scientist across multiple dimensions. Originally designed as a botanical marvel, it quickly spiraled out of control, gaining sentience and developing a hunger for domination. The Floral Wreath's appearance varies as it adapts to different environments. Still, its core features include vines that writhe and pulse, flowers that bloom with toxic pollen, and roots that burrow deep into the earth, spreading its influence like a plague.
As it spreads through dimensions, the Floral Wreath leaves behind a wake of overgrown vegetation and mutated landscapes. Its presence is marked by the rapid growth of invasive plants that choke out native flora, transforming once vibrant worlds into verdant nightmares. The air around it becomes thick with the scent of pollen, carrying its mind-altering spores that infect and mutate living organisms into twisted, plant-like hybrids under its control.
Abstraction: Abominable - Overgrowth.
The Floral Wreath's Abstraction grants it unparalleled control over plant life and the ability to spread and mutate vegetation rapidly. Its primary ability is large-scale manipulation of plants and soil, allowing it to reshape landscapes, create jungles overnight, and craete flora that towers over cities. It can animate plants as its minions, from small vines to towering tree-like guardians that protect its domain.
One of its most dangerous is a virus that every plant it generates is infected with. This virus alter their victims biology, merging them with plants and enhancing their physical capabilities while enslaving them to the Floral Wreath's will. The infected become part of its ever-expanding army, spreading its influence further with each converted creature. This Virus can bypass Emotional-Fields to an extent - the Paranormal can stave off its effects but over time they will be dominated by the Floral Wreath if they are not treated/cured.
The Floral Wreath's presence corrupts ecosystems, turning them into extensions of its twisted garden. It can produce toxic pollen clouds that induce vivid hallucinations, or even outright kill through suffocation. In addition to its mastery over flora, the Floral Wreath can create portals that allow it to invade new dimensions. Its teleportation abilities enable it to move freely between dimensions, spreading its influence across the All-Verse and transforming worlds into nightmarish jungles under its control.
They were wide awake immediately, falling off the bed and spearing a pillow with a blood tendril.
"NO, YOU CAN’T DO THAT AS A MAGICAL GIRL, LISA!" Ella, still asleep, screamed. She sat bolt upright, pointing at the air.
Saskia stopped panicking, standing up and slapping Ella awake. Such a pain when she sleep talked - well more like shouted. Rare, but annoying.
"BY SAILOR MOON- Wha?" Ella, who was finally slapped awake, looked confused.
"Rise and shine, it’s training day," Saskia intoned.
Lisa yawned.
”… You organized a train to get ran on us?” Lisa asked, before rubbing her eyes. ”Aw, you shouldn’t have…”
”Sadly not," Saskia said with a slight laugh. "Greta called last night and suggested we work on new spells… then we'll be able to kill Morningstar in new, inventive, torturous ways."
"Oh yeah, Greta said hi, Lisa!" Ella added cheerfully.
”... Awwww, and you didn’t tell me?!” Lisa groaned. ”Gretchen’s my homie! You could have woke me up- aw, nevermind!”
"You were dead asleep," Saskia intoned.
Looking around awkwardly, Lisa laughed, ”Where will we work on them? Here?” She asked. ”I, well…. I’ve been cooking up a few ideas, but we need more room for them! Also, one of them is going to be really messy, so, um….”
"I don't want mess in here! Not if it's like yesterday!" Ella said.
"Don't worry, I have an idea. Someone who can find us a place." Saskia nodded, picking up their phone from beside their bed. They then went to their near empty contact list and called… Lupe. She answered, and said,
“Maaaaami, what’s up?” Lupe began, “Did you run Dollhouse back their rock?”
"Yup, all sorted. We killed Ignatius too," Saskia said nonchalantly, before getting right down to business. "You know a place without anyone around we can go to? Like, an abandoned building or something?"
“What? Ya’ll gonna get freaky, mami?” Lupe laughed. “Ummmmmm… off the top of my head, there’s an abandoned mall on the outskirts of Mirage Springs. Morningstar used his Society goons to subtly break shit until it was too expensive to run the bitch, mami!”
"Oh yeah, super freaky," Saskia said, in a tone that very much didn’t sound like a joke. "That sounds perfect. If it’s already destroyed it doesn’t matter what we do… Is it on maps? So we can find it."
“I’ll send it to you!” Lupe chipperly said, after a few moments, Saskia got a text from Lupe with a link to its location on maps. “I’m busy right now, mami. But who knows! Maybe I’ll show up with some booze later!”
"Sounds fun, maybe see you then, bye." Saskia hung up, checking the location. They then turned to the other two. "I found us an abandoned mall."
"Oh, oh, that sounds fun!" Ella jumped out of bed, throwing her hands in the air. "Let’s go! Oh, we should grab snacks on the way!"
"Sure," Saskia said. "Lisa can make a flying spider, and we can grab breakfast on the way."
”You should make a spell that makes you grow wings!” Lisa said to Saskia. ”I’m tired of being the Taxi all the time.” She stuck her tongue out as she gestured towards the door.
”Let’s go, friends! Let’s give some poor barista with arachnophobia a heart attack!”
Lisa pried the wooden boards aside, which was easy because someone had done it earlier. She opened it wide enough for her giant Jumping-Spider with wings to crawl inside. The place reeked, but that was expected with an abandoned building with loads of debris, trash, and used condoms littering the floor. Lisa kicked it aside with her booted foot, and then turned around to face the trio…
”... Should I go first, or what about Ella? Since you’ve been fiending to make that spell?” Lisa grinned. ”Shit, it’s been awhile since I’ve developed some spells!” Then she awkwardly laughed.
"Oh, we can’t all do it at the same time? I guess it's more fun to do it one by one and watch! Ooo, okay, let me go first!" Ella grinned, hopping from foot to foot.
Saskia folded her arms with a nod, stepping back to watch Ella. She was fine with going last. There were a few spells they had in mind, so it would give them time to decide what to focus on.
"Alright! I want to make everyone a magical girl like me… but I’m going to enhance the outfits to protect you! It’ll be super cool, let me test it out on you, Saskia!"
Saskia grimaced. "Do I have to?"
"Well… no… Lisa?" Ella turned to Lisa with wide eyes.
”... Do I have to get naked first?” Lisa asked, grabbing the bottom hem of her dress.
"Not unless you want to!"
”Then go ahead!” Lisa shouted, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Alright, here goes!" Ella raised her Channeler, pointing it at Lisa. A rainbow light coated it, before it also coated Lisa. It was just like what happened when Ella transformed, without the ridiculous posing! "I’m going to give you a cool spider one!"
As Ella said this the rainbow light died revealing Lisa with her clothes transformed into… a really boring magical girl outfit. It was like her own, but black. Very generic. No spider theming. Ella pouted.
"It’s still a work in progress! I should be able to make it anything I want!I dunno if the protective stuff works either."
"I can stab Lisa to find out?" Saskia intoned, pulling out their knife.
Lisa smiled.
”.... Do ittttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!”
"Alright." Saskia walked over and calmly stabbed Lisa in the shoulder - where she wouldn’t bleed to death if the outfit didn’t protect her… which it didn’t. The knife went right through it. "Awwww," Ella pouted, a different rainbow light shooting out her Channeler towards Lisa when Saskia had pulled the knife out, healing her. "Guess it needs some work… I gotta practice loads and loads!"
Lisa chuckled, looking at Ella.
”… You think?” She then turned to Saskia and said, ”… And woooooooooow! You didn’t even need to think about that! It’s like you were waiting to do that for awhile.” She stuck her tongue out.
"I enjoy stabbing people," Saskia shrugged. "It helps me remember where all the veins are, so I know where to stab to kill someone… or let them bleed out painfully."
”You love to penetrate people don’t, you?” Lisa laughed. ”Oh! I think it’s my turn to go next, I have something cool in mind!”
Lisa turned towards the open space before them, illuminated by a white light.
”So, um, here I go!”
Lisa awkwardly said, as she closed her eyes and stuck both her hands out… and out of the ground in front of her came… a spider leg. It twitched as it poked out of the ground; it wasn’t large, around a foot in length. Lisa turned back to the three with a grin on her face.
”... This is my newest spell; I call it the Chitionous Spear,” Lisa said with a nod of her head. ”The point of it is that sometimes I think it’d be easier just to have a direct weapon as opposed to summoning spiders all the time!”
However, the leg fell apart seconds after she finished speaking, and Lisa shook her head.
”... It just needs just a little more work.” Lisa sighed. ”But! I know a lot about the anatomy of spider legs!”
"Oh cool," Saskia moved to squat in front of the leg that had fallen apart, narrowing their eyes at it and inspecting it. Really, a spider leg was similar to a bone. "It does look pretty close to working. Kind of like my bone spears… Doesn’t grow out of your body though."
They tried to figure out if they could give Lisa advice to actually help her. They held out a hand, bone spear coming through it, before snapping it off. They then chucked it to Lisa. "Maybe this’ll help figure it out?"
Lisa grabbed it, held it in her hands, and her face contorted into confusion.
”... How is this supposed to help?” Lisa tilted her head.
Saskia shrugged. "A spider leg is kind of like a bone, right? Figure out how that doesn’t fall apart."
They stood back up, stretching their arms up. They looked at Lisa. "My turn, I guess. You said about growing wings… I have been thinking about it."
Saskia pulled off their sweater and tank top, standing in just a sports bra - they didn’t want to deal with holes in their clothes right now. They grimaced, bending forward. Two wide gashes appeared on their back, blood trickling down it. It was intensely painful as a grotesque mass of sinewy muscle and bones pushed out of their back. One formed more of a proper wing shape, stretching out to their right, while the other was stunted and deformed.
It was painfully slow to experience and watch. Minutes of grotesque flesh wings pushing out of their back. It was difficult to keep their balance once they were complete. "It needs to be faster, and they don’t always form correctly."
”Oh, cooool!” Lisa grabbed both of her cheeks (on her face), dropping the boner spear. She bent forward to pick it up. ”You’re like an angel… of death!”
"Right? It’ll be better when I’ve mastered it," Saskia nodded, stretching out the wings, and giving the good one a flap. It didn’t do much. "I’m going to grow the bones at the end to be sharp so I can stab people with them."
”... Even more penetration?!” Lisa laughed, before she shrugged. ”Now and here’s why I said things might get messy…”
Lisa focused on a pile of rubble some distance before them… specifically the pipe sticking out of the top. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Out of thin air, a web net connected the pipe to a stone on the ground. However, Lisa walked over to it, pulling it apart with only her index finger.
”Snare!” Lisa shouted. ”Another spell that’s useless against someone with fire powers, but the point is to make webs in the environment! Again… needs work.”
"Fire kinda fucks us, huh," Saskia mused.
"I can handle fire!" Ella shouted, looking at the webs Lisa had made. "I don’t get how this is different from the webs you tie me up with."
Lisa stared at Ella for a moment. Face completely flat.
Before a web net snared Ella’s foot - weak enough to be snapped by even the slightest flex of her foot.
”... That’s how.”
"Ohhhh…" Ella pulled her foot out of it easily. "I see! Well, I don’t really have anything else exciting! I just want to speed up my colour absorption so… I’ll practice that while watching you two!"
Ella grinned brightly, beginning to slowly absorb the pink of her t-shirt while watching them both, practically not blinking.
"Alright, fine… this one’s more boring," Saskia shrugged. Using the blood from the wounds on their back, they formed a longer, thinner tendril than normal from their hand. It was kind of whip shaped, and they flicked their wrist to hit it against a piece of debris. Upon impact the blood splattered everywhere, the remainders pulling back towards their body. "It’s difficult keeping the shape when it’s so thin. I’ll figure it out quickly, I’m sure."
"Ooooooooh,” Lisa looked on in excitement. Before giving Saskia a mischievous grin. ”… You made that for that special torture you want to do to Ella, right?”
"Obviously," Saskia nodded, looking at Ella, who couldn’t say anything about it because of the spell she was practicing. "I was jealous you got to tie her up so much."
”... It was one time!” Lisa said, before she raised her hand. ”... And for the finale.”
Lisa’s hand was covered in a black, flaky, and deformed exoskeleton. It was twisted and hardly conformed to Lisa’s features at all - and it was one finger flex away from falling off. Lisa awkwardly laughed.
”… Exoskel-” The chitin glove fell off. ”… Well, that was exoskeleton.” She sighed, staring at it on the ground.
”Kiss my ass,” Lisa stuck her tongue out at Saskia. Before she turned to Ella, ”… Speaking of ass, pull an ice spell out yours!”
"Uh, ah, okay! I haven’t really thought about this one!" Ella flailed her arms about a bit, before finally raising her Channeler. "SHINING SNOW BLAST!"
As Ella shouted the ridiculous name, she held out her hands and… the most pathetic display of a few snowflakes burst out of them.
Lisa burst out laughing.
”Now THAT will strike fear into Morningstar.” Lisa continued to laugh.
"It’s not complete," Ella pouted, shaking her hands. "I don’t really know how to work with something that isn’t light or colour! It’s totally different!"
"Just try to channel your inner Ice Queen," Saskia suggested.
"I don’t have that!" Ella wailed.
”... Just stop being a coward and think of Sailor Mercury!” Lisa shouted, then laughed. After laughing, she rubbed her chin, ”... Isn’t it a little scuffed that Houndy sent us against a bunch of people who use fire?!”
"I'm trying!" Ella wailed. Murmuring about channelling Sailor Mercury under her breath, she started gearing herself up to go again.
"Maybe he just wanted us to die again?" Saskia suggested. "I wouldn't be surprised."
"No way!" Ella yelled. As she did she held out her hands, and a stronger blast of snow came out of them. It still wasn't enough to do any damage but it was better!
”... Now you can cool me down on a hot summer day!” Lisa laughed. ”But, I mean, to be faaaaaaaair… we killed most of them anyway so-”
A heeled boot went through the boarded up entrance, and wiggled a little bit. Then tried to pull back, to no avail.
“... Mami!” Lupe began. “A little help here! I’m stuck!” She laughed
“This didn't go as planned!
"I got you," Saskia chuckled lowly. They used the fully formed wing, both still coming out their back, to smash through the boarded up entrance and help free Lupe.
"LUPE! HI!" Ella shouted, waving.
Lupe fell on her ass… then laughed for a few seconds before climbing to her feet and climbing through the entrance. She was holding a brown paper bag in hands, and waved at the three with a smile.
“... Hi girls!” She said, before resting the bag on a chair. “I got liqooooooooooooooour, ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!”
Then she looked around.
“Mami, ya’ll trainin’, right?” Lupe asked. “Shouldn’t ya’ll be naked and hailing Satan for more power or something?” She followed that statement up with laughter.
Utterly forgetting who she was talking to.
"That works?!" Ella shouted, looking down at her clothes.
"No way…" Saskia shook their head. They were the most on their way to being naked, but that was out of necessity because of the wings. Which they should pull back in but… it would be a lot of effort and hurt. "Morningstar is basically satan. It would empower him."
“ It was a joke, mami,” Lupe flatly said before she laughed, digging through the bag.
”... I wouldn’t mind if we got naked,” Lisa tapped her fingertips together. ”Everyone else though, not me.”
"I'm not getting naked unless you do," Saskia replied.
”I got naked in the shower!” Lisa shouted.
Lupe triumphantly raised a bottle of spiced rum into the air.
“... Ya’ll ready to spice this up?!”
"YEAH I AM!" Ella shouted. She raised her hands in the air and let off another blast of snow - still not good as an attack but it was kind of cool as it fell down on them all, Saskia had to admit.
"Let me get these in first," Saskia said, pointing to her wings. As they did the painful process of pulling them back into their body began, with the horrendous sound of skin ripping and bones cracking echoing around the abandoned mall.
Lupe loudly gagged.
“... What the fuck, mami?!” She followed that by laughing. Lupe turned to Ella, “Aw, cool, you can shoot ice now!”
Lupe aimed the bottle of rum at Ella with both hands as far out as her arms could go.
“Shoot the bottle with snow, mami. Just the bottle. The bottle.”
"Ok, I'll try! I'm not well practiced at it!" Ella scrunched up her face, holding out her hands. She shot snow at the bottle… and also a bit of it but Lupe's arms. But it was just like being hit by snow caught in a gust of air, not damaging at all. It was more targeted than before, though. ”Free drinks cooling!"
“Ayyyyyyyyyyyyy, maaaaaaaaaami!” Lupe triumphantly raised the bottle of rum in the air and shook her ass a little bit. Before she stopped, she looked at Ella, “If my AC breaks next summer, you gon’ hook me up, right?” She smiled, putting a hand on her hip before she said,
“I forgot to bring some soda to mix it with,” Lupe began as she turned the top of the bottle, and there was that satisfying snap. “So, we’re drinkin' it straight for your next lesson.So, who’s ready to get a little hair on their concha!?”
”... Aren’t we training?” Lisa asked, tilting her head.
“Okay, just a little bit if you want to,” Lupe raised a finger.
"I'll take a bit to dull the pain," Saskia intoned, grimacing as the wings finally disappeared into the gashes on their. They bent down to pick back up their sweater and pulled it back on, hiding the horrendous looking wounds.
"Gimme a shot! I bet we can train better after drinking!" Ella shouted, bouncing forward with a grin, and without a second thought Luped handed her the bottle of rum.
“I also forgot cups, so you’re just gonna have to guess, mami,” Lupe laughed. “And don’t worry about the germs - we kissed each other, after all!”
Meanwhile, Lisa walked over to Saskia and grabbed onto her arms and said,
”Hold still!” Lisa said as the healing spiders forced their way out of her pores and crawled onto Saskia before they dug into her flesh to heal her. ”Dr. Turner has saved the day!”
"Thanks Dr Turner," Saskia chuckled, pain immediately subsiding. "Maybe I should work on a healing spell… no, it's less thrilling if I do."
"What do you mean?!" Ella screeching, pausing her long drink right from the bottle of rum. "Bleeding out isn't thrilling at all!"
"It isn't when you're boring," Saskia shrugged. Then they held out their hand, thin vine whip wrapping round the bottle and pulling it into their hand. They smirked. "I'm getting better at that one."
”Oh!” Lisa shouted. ”Maybe I can teach you mi- oh wait, you’re not a Gold Adept… shit.” Lisa awkwardly laughed.
”Do something that freaks out the normies! Like vomit healing blood on them!”
”That would be fun," Saskia took a sip of the rum before holding it out towards Lisa. ”Maybe I could mix it up a little. Sometimes blood, sometimes stomach acid, sometimes lumps of flesh."
”… You’ll be coughing up more stuff than Ella did after her uncle got done with her!” Lisa laughed.
“… Dios mios, mami,” Lupe facepalmed, “And that’s directed at both of ya’ll.”
Lupe sighed, “Why don’t you two just touch people to heal them like normal people?!”
”I AM touching them,” Lisa said. ”With spiders!”
"Just touching them is boring, anyway," Saskia shrugged. "Our way is more fun."
"No it isn't! It's terrifying! The way the spiders burrow…" Ella shuddered, hugging herself.
”Toooooooooooooooooooo beeeeeeeeeee faaaaaaaaaaaaaaair…” Lisa put her hands behind her back and put a cutesy look on her face. ”They annoyed me into it! I was like, ‘I only heal spiders’, and then they were like ‘People are dying, Lisa’! And I was like ‘So what!? They should stop dying!’’ They kept going on about it, so I was like, fiiiiiiiiiiine!” She followed it with some devious laughter.
”You should have seen Olivia’s face when I first used it on her! I don’t think she’ll ever forget that,” Lisa began. ”And Jade grabbed my hand while showing me how to heal people! It was the best day ever!”
"I don't think Olivia will forget anything you used on her! I bet she's got spider PTSD or something!" Ella shouted.
”Good!” Lisa shouted. ”That’s what she gets for grabbin’ muh titty!”
”She's probably fine," Saskia shrugged. "They tried to get me to learn but stopped trying when I just hurt people with blood."
”Wow, scrub,” Lisa laughed.
“Actually, mamis,” Lupe put a hand on her hip. “Ya’ll Adepts, right? Like, what color are you all?”
"Only green," Saskia said.
”Green and gold!” Lisa shouted.
"Green, red and orange!" Ella shouted.
“Wow, so we’re all green,” Lupe laughed, before she turned to Ella.
“Ooooooooooh, mami!” Lupe said. “Remember that spell when I was running from you three!? I think I can teach that to you, but, um… I don’t think you would learn a copy-copy of it.”
"Oh yeah the one where you went all neon and colourful and ran away! That was so cool!" Ella nodded, grinning. "I wouldn't be able to do the running, right? That's… purple?"
“I mean, you can still learn a version of it, mami.” Lupe shrugged. “But, it’s not about speed, mami. It’s about being fabulous! Okay, hold on!”
Suddenly, Lupe exploded into a pink fireball with arcs of electricity bouncing off it; she flew around the room a few times before circling back and coming to a skidding stop. Lupe dusted herself off, then smiled at Ella as she said,
“Okay, okay, I know that looked complicated, mami, but it’s not!“ Lupe began. “Clear your mind, focus on the energy ‘round you, mami! Then let your Lux guide you like you’re dancing to the music of the universe!” Lupe spoke as she walked over to Ella and grabbed her hands.
“Trust your lux and try it, mami! Let the world see how fabulous are!”
"Ok, let me try!" Ella nodded. She put her feet shoulder width apart and held out her channeller before yelling,
"PRISM POWER ELECTRO BALL!"
She turned into a ball of vivid, rainbow light, with multi coloured electricity sparking off her. She managed to move a little bit in it, before fizzling out and returning to normal. "That was so… amazing! Just like a magical girl!"
“Mami, you’re a natural!!” Lupe said with a smile as she ran over to Ella, wrapping her arms around her. “You just needta’ practice! Practice makes perfect, mami!”
”Just channel your inner homosexual!” Lisa laughed. ”And your outer one!”
"I am a proud lesbian!" Ella shouted, hugging Lupe back and full on lifting her into the air. "It was so fun! Kinda similar to my super prism kick but... everything! I never tried completely transforming!"
“Aye, mami!” Lupe shouted, laughing. “Put me down!”
”You're not very efficient with your lux mixing," Saskia commented. Though it was good that Ella was able to learn from Lupe, since Lisa and them… really couldn't help her. Their magic was too macabre.
"It's hard with three types! And I do… a bit!"
“Aye, mami!” Lupe said. “That’s why we’re here, to practice!”
Lupe grabbed the bottle.
“... And to drink and have a good time!” Lupe shouted.
”Yeah!” Lisa shouted as she threw up a fist. Lupe grinned, downing a good amount of the rum straight. Lupe also threw a fist in the air, shaking her behind.
Eons old | The Great Maw | He/Him"All will become part of my dominion."
Description:
The Great Maw is a terrifying Aberration-Abominable, monstrous entity that instills fear across the All-Verse. His origins are unknown, but it's been recorded to have been around since creation itself. The Great Maw's appearance is a nightmarish blend of dragon and demon. Its massive, serpentine body is covered in obsidian-like scales, with veins of molten lava coursing through them. Its presence is accompanied by an oppressive heat, making the air around it shimmer and distort. Towering above its victims, the Great Maw is a living embodiment of fire and destruction, a creature born to incinerate and annihilate.
Throughout the All-Verse, the Great Maw wreaked havoc, leaving behind a trail of scorched earth and ruined civilizations. It sired many sons with human women, creating a powerful, fire-wielding offspring lineage. Despite its destructive rampage, the Accordance managed to subdue the Great Maw. They bound the Great Maw and cast it into the Pit using immense magical chains forged from hundreds of Orange-Adepts across the All-Verse. There it remains, creating a firey hellscape around it, where only the brave enter.
Abstraction: Abominable - Dominion
The Great Maw's Abstraction, known as the Dominion, grants it unparalleled control over fire and heat, making it a force of unprecedented destruction. Its most devastating attack is the ability to shoot beams of heat so intense that they instantly vaporize anything in its path. These beams are a concentrated manifestation of the Great Maw's fiery power, capable of cutting through the most rigid materials and reducing entire structures to slag in seconds.
Beyond these beams, the Great Maw can manipulate fire at the macro level. This ability allows it to summon and control massive infernos, create towering pillars of flame, and even conjure firestorms that can engulf entire cities. The Great Maw can precisely shape and direct these flames or unleash them in a chaotic, all-consuming blaze. Its control over fire extends to manipulating temperature, enabling it to create areas of intense heat that can incinerate anything within its radius.
The Great Maw also possesses extraordinary physical strength and durability, making it a formidable opponent in combat. Its scales are nearly indestructible, capable of withstanding the most powerful attacks. This near-impenetrable hide, combined with its immense size and strength, allows it to crush and demolish any obstacle. The Great Maw can easily tear through buildings, rend the earth, and overpower even the most resilient foes. In addition to its pyrotechnic abilities and physical prowess, the Great Maw can create portals. These portals can connect different dimensions or instantaneously transport the Great Maw and its minions across vast distances. It's teleportation is also powerful enough to allow it to enter and escape the Pit and Void at will.
Thousands of Years Old | The Rampage | He/Him"̸̦̚"̸̧̧͓̬̤̮̝̰̪͉̣͕̥̼̫̂̄̌̔̀̕"̴̢͚̩͛̾̾͌̃"̵̫̭̬̹̠̯̥̫̼̜̐̾͐̿͝͝"̶̨̧̬̜̰̠̬̳̮͕͓̮̰̫͉̠̗͕̝͚̺̐͋̃̽̽́̽̏̑̽̍͛̿̕͘͜͠͝"̸̯̝̜̊"̸̢̨̨̧̪̥͓̬͓͇̱̹̹̙͙͉̳͇̲̼̝̗̟̞͉̽̐̏̽́̽͐͜"̸̡̡̰̙͎̘̬̼̼͙̲͍̹̝̖͕̘̱͍͖̰̻͈̱̩́͑̔͆̅͆͌̊̈́̀͆̋̂́̓̈́̌͝ͅ"̷̨̢̡͍̯̫̤͖̙̥̺͋͜"̸̡̧̯̣͇̩̳͈̜͈̗̻̫̦̰̳̣̞͈͓̟̓̊̅̿̅̀͂̐̀͝ͅ"̵̦̱̼̪͇̙͇͕̟̪͉͍͑̈͑̇̋͜"̵̢̲̤͂͗̿͐"̵̫̭̬̳͍͖̮̝̗̠̭̠̠͑̊͆͒̂̐̂̆͛̈́͘̕͜͜͜͝͠"̷̧̢̯̳͚͍̺̟̪̼͚̘̦̲̺͈̠͖͉͇̜̳̮̟͎̤̆̂̎̏̃̐́̀́́̏̄̑̄̏̏̆̽̾͊̕̚͠͝͝"̴̝̈́͊̈́̋͛͌̾̀̑̀̂̂͊̽͌͌͑̑͆̊͘͝͠͝͠"̸̨̩̳̳̫̣̫͚̦̳̦̲̼͙̩͕̻͇͙̈̅̐̽͊̈̈́͗̎́̆̿͐̊͗̇͂͌̓̆̃͑͛͘͠͝"̴̪͎̯̙͕̺̹̰͓͓̟̝̙͍̺͗̉̇̆̈́̽̽͝͠"̶̡̹̦̤̟͇̯͍͖̞̭͒̐̒̂͆̀͐̊̏̋̋͌̂̉͘̚͜͠͝͝"̸̢̨̢̛͚̟̱̜̮͓͓̪̰̉̽̂̅̀̀̌̆͌̈́̂́̾͜͝͝"̶̹̱̮͎̈̀͐̅̃̎̑̈́̑͂̀̌̕͝"̷̨̨̧̡̧͈͍͓̲̙̺̙͍͉̥͕̝̭̞̳̙̫̑̆̀̆͂̊́̅͒̔́̓͊̀̀̌̈́͂͋͜͠ͅ"̴͚̻̹̝̻͕͚̗̻͎̳͕̹̲͕̰́̑̐̀́̍͂̔͗̀͐̀̀̾̅̉̇͆̕͘̚̚͘
Description:
The Rampage is an immensely powerful Apparition born from the ancient cataclysmic Crimson War, a conflict where countless civilizations across various universes went to war, fueled by hatred, vengeance, and unending rage. The sheer destruction and violent emotions of trillions of beings across multiple worlds merged into a single, nightmarish Apparition: The Rampage. The Rampage embodies the collective fury and violence of the Crimson War and begins its crusade across the All-Verse, annihilating everything in its path.
The Rampage's appearance is terrifying: a towering figure wreathed in flames, its skin a dense, fiery red armor that seems to pulse with malevolent energy. It has blazing eyes that burn with an insatiable rage, massive horns jutting from its head, and claws capable of rending through the most rigid materials. The Rampage's presence is marked by an aura of intense heat, making the air shimmer and distorting light around it. Its very form is a constant reminder of the devastation it represents, a living embodiment of the cataclysmic Crimson War.
When the war finally ended, the survivors from various dimensions realized they had created an unstoppable force. The Rampage's destructive power seemed limitless, and its rampage across the All-Verse was legendary. The Rampage was finally subdued and trapped in the Pit by the All-Blade. A coalition of All-Verse's greatest champions managed to weaken The Rampage and use the All-Blade to seal it within the Pit, at the cost of most of their lives. The Rampage's legend has spread across the All-Verse, symbolizing destruction and rage. Its name alone strikes fear into the hearts of those who remember the Crimson War and the devastation it wrought. Even in the Pit, The Rampage's influence can be felt, and many fear the day it might escape its prison and resume its rampage.
Abstraction: Apparition - Fury.
The Rampage possesses several formidable abilities that make it one of the most feared entities in the All-Verse. Its primary ability is accelerating to blinding speeds, turning into a crimson blur. This Blinding Charge creates shockwaves that can level entire cities, and upon stopping, The Rampage releases a massive explosion of destructive energy, devastating everything within a several-mile radius. This explosion generates intense heat and concussive force, capable of obliterating structures and causing severe damage to anything within its range.
In addition to its speed, The Rampage has immense strength and durability. It can crush mountains with its fists and tank even the strongest Paranormal attacks. Its incendiary aura, a field of intense heat and flames, incinerates anything too close, melting steel and turning the ground into molten lava. The Rampage can also generate seismic shockwaves by stomping the ground, creating massive chasms and volcanic eruptions.
The Rampage's rage fuels its regenerative capabilities, allowing it to heal from injuries rapidly. This regeneration makes destroying it incredibly difficult, as it can recover from nearly any attack. The Rampage can also unleash a thunderous roar, its most destructive attack. This roar can shatter buildings, symbolizing the collective rage of all who died in the Crimson War. The roar's shockwave is so powerful that it can level entire city blocks, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. Furthermore, The Rampage can tear open rifts between dimensions, allowing it to travel from one dimension to another with ease, and this portal creation is so potent it can enter and escape the Pit and Void freely.
"Within its petals lies a hunger that knows no bounds, consuming all, even its own user."ORIGINS & CREATIONS: | A coven created the Ruthless Bloom in the universe of Shade. They sought to embody nature's wrath in a single artifact, merging botanical beauty with a monstrous appetite. The witches' collective hatred and desire for vengeance against their oppressors breathed life into this malevolent flower. |
TYPE: | Life-Draining Artifact |
LOCATION: | Thrown into the Pit for the good of humanity. |
NOTABLE OWNERS: | Morgan the Terrible: A witch who used the Ruthless Bloom to terrorize villages, feeding the flower with the souls of the innocent. |
The Ruthless Bloom is a grotesque artifact, deceptively beautiful with its delicate, pale pink and white petals. Nestled within these seemingly innocent petals lies a maw lined with sharp, fang-like structures, ready to consume anything or anyone that comes too close. The Bloom’s surface is often covered in a fine layer of dew, giving it a deceptively fresh appearance despite its vicious nature.
At the heart of its power lies the ability to Devour Life Force. The Ruthless Bloom can consume the life force of any living being that comes into contact with it. This process is excruciatingly painful for the victim and rejuvenates both the Bloom and its wielder. When the Bloom devours a being, it also absorbs their knowledge, allowing the wielder to gain valuable information and skills from their victims. The Bloom can use the absorbed life force to heal its wielder’s injuries, making them incredibly difficult to kill. The presence of the Ruthless Bloom instills an overpowering dread in those nearby.
However, wielding the Ruthless Bloom exacts a horrific toll. As its powers are used, the wielder undergoes nightmarish transformations. Initially, the skin has slight discoloration and an unnatural sparkle in the eyes. But soon, twisted vines begin to erupt from the flesh, tearing through skin and muscle in a visceral display of agony. The body contorts and twists as bones elongate and warp, transforming the wielder into a grotesque mockery of a human form. The skin becomes tough and bark-like, covered in thorny growths and pulsating with a sickly, unnatural fluid. Limbs warp into gnarled, root-like appendages that twitch uncontrollably at blinding speeds. Flesh splits and peels away in layers, revealing writhing plant matter intertwined with necrotic tissue, the stench of decay ever-present.
As the transformation progresses, the wielder's internal organs mutate, merging with plant life in a horrific symbiosis. Roots and tendrils snake through veins and arteries, spreading like a cancerous infection. The heart becomes a twisted knot of vines, beating with an unnatural rhythm. The lungs fill with spores and fungal growths, making each breath a painful rasp. The mind deteriorates, consumed by an insatiable hunger that mirrors Bloom's own. The wielder's thoughts become fragmented, driven by a primal urge to feed and grow.
In exchange for these nightmarish mutations, the Ruthless Bloom grants a form of floramancy, allowing mastery over plant life on a grand scale. This power enables manipulation and animation of vegetation, creating grotesque plant monsters driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh.
[center][b]"You're a fine warrior. Call me sentimental..."[/b][/center][table][row][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/139ceac154751673f3ae0a9fe3c9db14/tumblr_n5ns5eDSUE1spjmjdo1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/8de527f156d1dcdab59303529f9a2963/tumblr_n5ns5eDSUE1spjmjdo2_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/fdd81701556b497cef877cce8608411e/tumblr_n5ns5eDSUE1spjmjdo3_r1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][/row][row][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/f4c53df62090bdfc77fc8d4af49bd3bb/tumblr_mp19k0oeBn1spjmjdo1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/tiUPmOX.png[/img][/center][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/973255b1496b1e15ea88881ee0842923/tumblr_n5ns5eDSUE1spjmjdo4_r2_400.gifv[/img][/cell][/row][row][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/92b4cd3f3f69445efc0b66dbf4040d4e/tumblr_mp19k0oeBn1spjmjdo3_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/076f8a0494600005276b223a9c34f4df/tumblr_mp19k0oeBn1spjmjdo4_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/91ef2adb4acfaae1ed6e5882900137f2/tumblr_mp19k0oeBn1spjmjdo2_r1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][/row]
[/table][center][b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oBfsNh4c_E]"...but I wish we'd met under different circumstances."[/url][/b][/center][hr][hr][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/RKmK4q0.png[/img]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/N7tTd5u.png[/img]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpOgr4s3GrE[/youtube]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/hFWozfG.png[/img][hr][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/1efdG4h.png[/img][/center][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent][indent]Currently updating...[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent][table][row][/row][row][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/f12910313dd47ea9cead1c314f8ab833/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo3_250.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/fe472fa332e424f66ed2837f2eaf23c9/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo4_250.gifv[/img][/cell]
[cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/fb00b50c1dbf289d9140c30a7a332011/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo8_250.gifv[/img][/cell][/row]
[row][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/ec26b8c0fcc1da9903b62bf0022ce62c/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo5_250.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/468eaf4ed38d54774f2d3fd269296f74/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo6_250.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/23bf4bb5ad09c631a81860f2f822ccce/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo7_250.gifv[/img][/cell][/row][center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/30d05b58ba9137c6662a93a96bfa527a/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo2_400.gifv[/img][hr][/center]
[center][b]"I'm a dominant..."[/b][/center][/table][center][hr][b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v31J3arX5Kg]"... This is my job."[/url][/b]
[img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/e91570ee96f9a973747062884eeea1ce/tumblr_ntbm31BkSa1sznb4xo1_400.gifv[/img][hr][/center][table][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/XFCLhxV.png[/img][/center][row][/row][row][cell][center][b][color=forestgreen]REALLY PUNCHY GUYS[/color][/b]
[sup]_______________________________[/sup]
[b][@redbaron1234]
[@Kamen Evie]
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[@Oddsbod][/b][/center][/cell][cell][center][b][color=forestgreen]THE DISAPPOINTMENT CLUB[/color][/b]
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[@Dragonbud][/b][/center][/cell][cell][center][b][color=forestgreen]OTHER SCRUBS[/color][/b]
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[@silvermist1116][/b][/center][/cell][/row][/table][table][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/GXlptHc.png[/img][/center][row][/row][row][cell][center][b][color=forestgreen]SETTINGS[/color][/b]
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[b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/183613-the-tyrant-shell-universe]The Tyrant Shell Universe[/url][/b] - Mechapunk (Mecha and Cyberpunk mixed together).
[b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/183624-the-black-fall-universe]The Black Fall Universe[/url][/b] - Modern-Superhuman tale.[/center][/cell][cell][center][b][color=forestgreen]LINKS[/color][/b]
[sup]_______________________________[/sup]
[b][url=https://discord.gg/4FznNGS]The Collective[/url][/b] - My Discord Server.
[b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/183740-the-ghost-lounge-a-1x1-thread-thats-destined-to-go-places-bad-places]The Ghost Lounge[/url][/b] - My 1x1 Thread.
[b][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/183358-the-ghost-archives]The Ghost Archives[/url][/b] - Character storage.[/center][/cell][/row][/table][table][row][/row][row][cell][img]https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/928186361494425545/93DB229F54AD7363FF943FAF9627A2056CE6A354/[/img][/cell][cell][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/wmKBNmF.png[/img][/center][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/aab171d51ab0877e8cb44ef26725c12f/tumblr_mmijotYZ851spjmjdo1_r1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][/row][row][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/a8b92dee73766c54e1c588067f7b05e9/tumblr_mmijotYZ851spjmjdo2_r1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/c6db94e7f43a0116556b31237e9394cb/tumblr_oetl2fk7YA1r9ibuko1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/d85b9d9f883fcf1e71cad4d1b5c574e2/tumblr_oetl2fk7YA1r9ibuko2_400.gifv[/img][/cell][/row][row][cell][/cell][cell][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/827528918c7f7bf2672681b30b851654/tumblr_otjspp0ccf1u0vn73o1_400.gifv[/img][/cell][cell][img][/img][/cell][/row][/table][center][b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnvqcSKho5w]"Oh, I'm afraid we have no allies. No allies nor enemies. I love EVERYONE!"[/url][/b][/center][hr]
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