TheWendil

Grimoiric Heart

Out of the darkness came forth the light. The Magical Girls of London entered the scene swiftly and powerfully. The Pageless were blindsided by the sudden assault, beginning with Lumière’s arrival. Several of them fell victim to her slashes and blasts as if divine wrath was given by an angel up high. Those slain dissipated into a spurse of darkness and blackened pages, dissolving away into the night air back to the recessions of history. Those that weren’t soon turned their anger and inhuman hunger towards the Magical Girls, crawling, leaping, and throwing themselves at whoever they could find with claws and evil intent.

There were some Pageless still fueled by instinct and ignored their hatred of Magical Girls to feed themselves upon the enchanted humans.
No sooner did they prey closer to their targets did bolts of fire come between them. Startled, they sensed magic emanating from the makeshift barriers, eyes glowing a blood red to match the fire and sending them into a frenzy. They clawed and smashed their way through Burning Heart’s grounded arrows, sensing the hesitance and fear coming off the humans. Burning Heart’s deterrent worked in making even the entranced civilians back away, though not for long as the Pageless came closer….

A large whistle sung through the air before the first ready to consume their targets were sent flying and abroad. More steel beams smashed through the Pageless as none other than Lilac Shimmer arrived. With great strength on her part, the flames were further buffeted by a cage of steel beams to protect the humans. The Pageless now turned all their rage to the Magical Girls. They sprinted towards Lilac and Burning Heart, a deep pressure surrounding their claws as they pulsed with darkness and power. Soon they’d be swinging to and fro to rend the girls apart, leaping atop one another in maddened desire.

Some of the Pageless however, began to turn away once they sensed a fourth Magical Girl arrive on the scene. Although Captain Goodhope hadn’t cast a spell, her magic was enough counter to the negativity that had since filled the area before from the Pageless. Hissing an inhuman screech, a good dozen of the Pageless turned tail away from the horde, eyes glowing in the night. Whether they were fleeing on instinct who knew, but there was something else that drew their attention. It felt very familiar to a Magical Girl….no, a Grimoire. A fresh Grimoire entered the world.

The split off Pageless leapt further into the construction site to hunt down their new target. While the others could try and fail to feast or slay Magical Girls, the call of a Grimoire was much too great. Indeed, so great was it that more and more Pageless who finally noticed the magical presence started to ignore Magical Girl and civilian alike and followed the scent of a new story.

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Tower of Fable

The cloud that drew even Runa’s attention moved at a remarkable speed. By the time the group got to actually moving it long sing blanketed the entrance of their camp. The stones rotted where they stood. large chunks of the structures fell apart and crumbled to dust as the call of death spread out like a living plague. Although Runa’s instincts led the group out of harm’s way for now, the constant hush of a cold breath to the back of their necks was a heavy reminder of the threat that continued to hound them, hound all in the Abyss.

It was by this instinct that led Runa towards the pitch dark opening of the caverns where all light was swallowed. One by one they were expected to cross over the other side, rewarded with more twisting and turning internal structures that only made the head hurt the longer one stared at them. Near-immediately in crossing the black expanse did the air change. It was minute, small, but noticeable all the same, yet no sign of anything physical changed around them.

The lights provided by the tunnel cracks did well in keeping the path open to their eyes but there were still patches of darkness here and there. The staircase Runa led them to each held little corners of darkness embedded in the walls as if trying to find refuge from the glaring light that provided them sanctum.

“What are you doing Riku.” The voice was just as cold as the air the princess breathed, if not colder. It was one very familiar to her ears as well.

There, hidden in one of the larger crevices of darkness around the group, was a flash. The owner of the voice stared back at the girl whenever she locked sight and caught a glimpse. “What is that ridiculous outfit. What are you doing here?” the figured said in veiled hisses, dripping with a steady frustration that matched her expression. If Thomas noted the concern of his newfound friend, it wouldn’t be for long. Just as soon as he’d turn away, his own eyes would catch sign of another dark crevice.

Staring back at him from its opening was a man. He said nothing, only looking through the boy with a stare that could pierce stone and bone. Flesh seemed to be as thin as paper compared to the man’s sight, one that read Thomas over.

“Playing pretend Magical Girl, Kanbaru? Get real," snarled a voice only the hunter could hear. There was no specter to manifest before her, no physical shape like the others. There was only the annoyance that bristled against Kanbaru’s ear from the darkness, one all too familiar.

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Grimoiric Heart

Does this happen to still be accepting or do you have enough players already?

@The World

We're accepting. There's another person finishing up their CS, so I can accept one more person.

Grimoiric Heart

Good point, I have to ask. Are you the type of GM that waits until everyone have posted before moving the plot, no matter how long it takes?

@Izurich

No. If the plot needs to move on, it moves on.

Grimoiric Heart

There’s not an immediate rush to post to me so people can just post whenever they have the time.

Grimoiric Heart

Really? I was under the impression alters were a rare phenomenon, given how they are described in the 0th post.

@BrokenPromise

Being rare doesn't mean they don't try to recruit them when they can. Most Alters just give them the middle finger though.

Grimoiric Heart

I’m not really sure how I could describe his powers in more detail, but I’d be perfectly happy to place some form of restriction or limitation on them, if you’d like.

@Ponn

This would probably be for the best then. So far it seems the only application of it is just tearing things and rearranging them, but any sort of eldritch reality bending has potential to be too powerful. A limit works without taking away what you have already. That said.

As it is now, his mystical abilities are exclusively for combat. He can’t create portals, reshape large swaths of his surroundings, or anything like that. It’s just an attack he can use on an enemy, or a single object. (Is that the kind of clarification you're looking for?)

@Ponn

Yes, this clarifies it nicely for me and serves as good limits for him as well. Just note this in the CS and it's good to go on my end.

As for the story beat you mentioned, I wasn’t implying that the Ministry would keep her in a lab, just that they would want to study her performance in the field, but I can remove it if you’d prefer.

@Ponn

You can keep it. As said, whatever happens in IC, happens, just that the Grand Ministry doesn't have any special plans for her right now. After all, they recruit Alters all the time. Their interest in her may lead to other things in the IC later.

Grimoiric Heart

@Ponn

I would like some more specifics on how Thyerg’Xolys' reality rending works. It's a bit too vague where it could be abused.

Initially, Olivia believes that the Ministry is so eager for her to attend Marrywell Academy because of her exceptional potential as a Magical Girl. How will she take it when she discovers she’s actually there to serve as little more than a glorified test subject?

@Ponn

The Grand Ministry would more likely be interested in her power as an asset to them, not really through a potential experiment piece or test subject. I can't guarantee this exact story beat will play out like this but we'll see. Aside from this and the clarification on the Beast's power, she's fine by me.

Grimoiric Heart

I lied. There's a first post. We should still be waiting on 2-3 people for their CSes but events won't be altered too much in starting now.

Grimoiric Heart

The city of London was much bleaker than normal on this night of nights. The shadows crept a bit longer, the air was just a bit colder, and the skies changed from the golden glow of afternoon into the misty pastels of evening. It wasn’t long before darkness overtook the land; and yet, despite that fact, the world below remained illuminated in light. The mark of civilization continued to act as a candle among the night, mass city life thriving and throbbing. The usual denizens came and went as they did, the average Londoner none the wiser.

But there were darker creatures at play. A whiff of magic sifted the air to guide anyone who would lend an ear away from the harsh lights of night life buildings. A hard day of work meant a hard evening of little solace after all. The magic tainted its path like a whisper of honeyed doom addled into the ears of the weary, of the abandoned, and the distrodden. The darkness moved with them as one by one, those citizens who made easy prey and had negativity in their hearts were corralled by the magical lure. They all gathered towards the outskirts of the city, at an abandoned construction site. Steel and dirt were their gates to enter their “kingdom”.

The enchanted citizens shambled like reanimated corpses, though only a handful in comparison to London’s population. They were to be the fuel for the monsters that placed such a curse on them. Only foul creatures who hailed from the shadows of history and the darkness of all stories could be responsible for the mass feast ready to begin. The Pageless.

They crawled along the steel beams of the construction site like an infestation of bugs. Red eyes lit up the otherwise pitch-dark setting. They bored down and leered at their new prey. Sharpened claws rended and tore through their metal perches with eager desire. This was the Pageless’ true nature, to feed and to consume all the stories of the land; and what better story is held by a human life? The enchanted citizens remained trapped in their stupor. Some even wore dopey smiles as they awaited their fate….

And yet there was a new breeze to be found in the night. The call of magic was met in force, by more magic. The presence of light and magical stories was caught aware by the Pageless. Many of them paused in their bristling, the swarm set alert to the appearance of their sworn enemies: Magical Girls and the Grimoires they carried. Naturally, the Grand Ministry had already caught wind of the situation and sent what resources they had available to counter the dark threat.

More importantly, there was another factor at play. The Magical Girls who would heed the Grand Ministry’s call were aware of this, three objectives listed off to them in their mission: Destroy the Pageless, protect the citizens, and above all else, find the new magical energy that was blossoming somewhere in the construction site. For tonight, a new Magical Girl would be born, by choice or chance.

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