[center][h3]Uncovering Shadows[/h3][/center] [u][color=pink]Lyn,[/color] Hysteria (Djarkel)[/u] Anxiety gathered in Lyn’s chest. The longer she was aware of the crowd, the harder her heart rapidly pattered against her ribs. The pace was similar to how Samson trampled through the forest in a flat out run, his hooves slammed into the ground and pushed onward in terror. Like his relentless pace, she was sure if her heart had been forced to endure this much longer than it would run away from her. Instinctively, Lyn’s hand raised to her chest in a faint hope to sooth it. No such luck sadly, she realized in disappointment. Her eyes scanned the various attending vampires, noting each face in her notes. Causally, in an attempt not to draw attention to herself, Lyn glided over to one of the tables, moving from Keri, as she glanced upon the feast. She smiled softly to note several were just right for her carnivorous appetite. She felt a few eyes brush her direction and pressure on her ward, then quickly released shortly. Her figure barely reacted to the invasion while shepretended to browse the selection. It was lucky she would only have to do so many times because she had few childhood memories, a fact she knew wouldn’t go unnoticed forever. Pushing the worry aside, she looked up to spot her quarry. She bit her lip in thoughtfulness as she watched him flutter from one guest to another, his expression active in his interest but quickly moved on. Her figure moved away from the table to slowly follow him when he started toward the balcony. She reached for the handle and pause, her bottom lip sucked in hesitation. Sharply inhaled, Lyn pushed forward through the door. It clicked shut behind her. [h3][center]Diplomacy at Yarosmere[/center][/h3] [u][color=lightcoral]Mar,[/color] Sansar (Yarsomere)[/u] Mar tensed visibly when she noted Yolin linger on Summer. Gradually, her eyes shifted and noted the woman tearing up at the sights, her worry increased when she heard his ignorant words. Mentally she tried to figure how to rein in the woman’s crying as Athalus, came into her mind. He would easily know how to easy this, but Mar hadn’t the faintest idea. Emotional experience was still needed and only slowly gained over time, her own a struggle to contain as it was in the current situation. Frustration building up, Mar’s eyes jerked to examine the scenery instead. When she felt the touch on her shoulder, Mar’s head jerked with a start then relaxed. Summer’s hand rested on upon it and seemed to attempt to comfort her. Something Athalus would’ve done. Absentmindedly, Mar raised her own hand to rest on top as they walked farther into the city. The moment a shiver passed through Summer, Mar leaned in to whisper quietly. [color=lightcoral] “Easy little one. Keep calm and swallow your fear, if they try to do anything defend yourself. If they try to claim you broke a law, claim ignorance of the land’s laws.”[/color] Retracing her head, she returned to study the city. Individuals, mostly adults, had busied themselves cleaning up the leftover debris from some past conflict. A woman paused long enough to idly chatter as her lips pulled into an overly pleased smile, her arms exposed enough to show how stained they were with blood and grime. The woman seemed to hardly notice while she spied a child rush forward past the growing pile. Something else bothered her as she panned about, trying to seek the source until it suddenly came to her. There was literally no life aside from human within the city. No bird, rodent or even small lizard that even Naga spotted while in the wild. It was strange and unsettling to see the lack of animals in a place where they should’ve thrived. She fought the urge to slip her tongue out and taste the air, determining the last time they filled the streets but resisted. Gradually they arrived into the market place where a crowd had collected. Mar bitterly heard the man’s revelation about his savior, noting the details might’ve been skewered by his opinion, as she trailed behind the group. The crowds seemed to part and made way for Yolin and his guests, their eyes widened in fright as they recoiled to the sides. Their host, obvious to the reaction, merely spoke praises of his cooks then sat down. His hand gestured them to follow suit as they settled in. Several soup bowls were placed in front of each seat while he continued to address the college students. As the others questioned Yolin, Mar closed her eyes briefly. Her heat pits near her tear ducts flared then registered the numerous bodies surrounding them at a distance. The guards barely approached as they stood at attention around the collected group, their presence might’ve not even been needed at all. Another strange thing was the fact no one stood within a building's shadow despite the heat beating over head and being near the hottest time of the day. Gently, Mar opened her eyes and nudged with her elbow into Summer (when she finished talking and got her answer) to get her attention. She then pointed toward the fact, not saying a word in order to prevent Yolin taking notice. She hoped the girl was smart enough to notice what she saw clearly without being told. [h3][center][color=#BD3EC2]N[/color][color=#B344C2]o[/color][color=#AA4BC2]x[/color] [color=#9759C3]A[/color][color=#8E60C4]l[/color][color=#8467C4]i[/color][color=#7B6EC5]g[/color][color=#7275C5]n[/color][color=#687CC6]m[/color][color=#5F83C6]e[/color][color=#5589C7]n[/color][color=#5F83C6]t[/color] [color=#7275C5]C[/color][color=#7B6EC5]e[/color][color=#8467C4]r[/color][color=#8E60C4]e[/color][color=#9759C3]m[/color][color=#A052C3]o[/color][color=#AA4BC2]n[/color][color=#B344C2]y[/color][/center][/h3] [sub][@Rtron],[@Lucius Cypher], [@May], & [@Luna][/sub] [center]Naughty, Naughty little fledglings[/center] [center][u]Helena[/u][/center] The once man rushed forward, a gnarled looking undead, as his half rotted face showed the ill signs of inside decay. His jaw was dislocated and hung at an odd angle, still barely able to jerk up and down in a lopsided movement. Arms raised to stretch outward with clawed fingers still attached by their tendons as he lunged. He moved easily for his stiff remains as his teeth snapped oddly together while he moaned hungrily, gradually covering the distance between Helena and himself. [center][u]Colette[/u][/center] The blood that splattered on Colette was more gel like and filled with clots, black little dots settled in the congealed red fluid. It gave off a foul, iron smell even for those not sensitive in the nose department. The undead seemed unfazed by the loss of its arm as she lurched forward and tried to once more grapple the vampire. However, she was going off to help Atticus, the neko pinned by two of her fellow undead. They barely knew what happened when they were knocked suddenly into nearest dead tree, the trunk splitted into two and crumbled into the nearest house. It made a loud crack which was followed by the lightning overhead and the storm’s last warning to seek cover. [center][u]Annabeth[/u][/center] Several undead dropped before Annabth’s arrows, their shambling corpses heaped into a small growing pile. Sampson snorted and pawed the ground, his nostrils filled with the natural stench of death. His mouth opened to emit a whinny of disapproval as he struggled not to bolt, the psychomancer’s influence helping in that regard. More bodies collected and attracted by the struggles between the threes volunteers and the horse’s panicked screams. While Annabeth was a good shot, but she was limited by firing one arrow per round from her crossbow. With the numbers growing and her focus on Sampson’s growing fear, it was not a surprise she failed to see one shambling out of the nearest building behind her. It’s half decayed face turned to the horse’s rear then lunged. Sampson screamed and reared when red hot pain flared across his flank. The movement was sudden enough to toss Annabeth from her perch and into the dirt while her mount kicked out with his strong hind legs, nearly missing her head, into his attacker. The undead man flew backwards. His ribs cracked and ruptured through his rotten flesh, then crumbled into the nearest wall where his neck snapped loudly. [center][u]Tsk, Tsk… Naughty Little Fledglings[/u][/center] The wild mage finally moved. His senses felt the Nox pulse, disrupted by the death of the undead and the teacher’s influence of it His head tilted, seemingly to listen to the numerous vibrations within the unseen then moved to the skies over head. Thick, dangerous looking clouds moved across the skies as flickers of lightning grew with the passing moments. Their sounds cracked loud enough for even the students to hear and seemed to warn them to take cover, a fact Craig had to ignore. Through the two open holes within the crow like mask were two wild, blood shot eyes staring into the air. Nothing dare approach him. His aura made sure of that and blared out in a sickly, dangerous way that warned off all civilizations within the town. staring through with a crow like mask at the scenery. Nothing approached him, his aura blaring out a sickly dangerous energy, as he lifted the strange lantern up to his face. His other hand reached upward then unlatched the glass door. The light twisted and blackened into a dark green one, his lips curved into a wicked grin. [color=cdc0b0] “Tsk, tsk. Naughty, naughty little fledglings. You should’ve left the little Nox students to me. Now… you’ll suffer the same fate within the Nox.”[/color] [center][u]Colette, Helena, Annabeth & Athalus[/u][/center] As the last of the undead were slowly getting out of hand, a strange and fearful sensation wrapped about the hearts of all those within Craigville. The Noxomancer teacher stiffened in confusion as he tried to locate the source. His hands were raised, each Nox student now in possession of a Nox rune made by Val, and a thin black energy warped and shimmered from his fingers to it. Feeding it with power, he twitched when the sensation washed over him. Sweat beaded from his white brow causing him to grit his teeth, fighting the power trying to overwhelm his link to this world. Underneath each person’s feet, their shadows jerked and animated into life. Screams of students erupted when a few less focused individuals looked down and spied the strange beast lurking in their shadows. They jerked upright and stepped out of the circle, their feet gripped by a vice strength then sank into their shadows. Their limbs tossed about to detached the being only to be gone a few moments later. The volunteers were not expected from this fate. All four of their shadows came to life and snapped up their hands, seizing their owner’s figure where they started to drag them into the Nox. Despite their struggle, there would be no escaping from its icy cold grip as the world suddenly went black. [u][center] Within the Nox…[/center][/u] The Nox was a strange place, a twisted mirror world of sorts and often reflected the true nature of things on the surface. It was here numerous strange and unique beasts lurked in an endless struggle. Their forms governed not by evolution or past events, but by the very nature of the Nox. Athalus (who was ghostly and glowing), Helena, and Colette would soon find themselves in the middle of an alleyway, the walls made from black stone, stretching before and behind them. The one ahead bent off into the right and seemed to disappear, their vision no longer able to tell where it lead thanks to the limited light Athalus gave off. Surprisingly… Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. Unknown to the group, she had emerged in the Nox several feet behind them. From her position, she could easily see Athalus’ light and could easily make it there when she woke. However, her horse was nowhere to be seen. He either was never sucked down into the Nox or was somewhere else, the latter a much more worrisome thought because if left alone too long he would become a Nitemare. Now, anyone that researched the Nox would know the reason Athalus literally glowed and look as he did was because the Nox had given him a role: that of a guides. Guides were those individuals that led others, fighters that could influence the Nox more directly, to the very core of the maze they were now trapped within. They unable to affect or be affected by the wildlife-through they couldn’t pass through walls or open doors- within the hostile but they also could easily become trapped since they couldn’t influence the Nox itself. Currently their figures laid out not far from each other and aching with pain they were unfamiliar with, their shapes unmoving. Athalus would be the first to wake as in the background, howls of wild beasts followed by shrieks of dying students erupted around the darkness. However, the direction was impossible to tell. Something click in the shadow nearest them, likely catching the man’s attention when it skittered forward toward Helena, the nearest of the trio. Slowly a deformed, grey mottled creature crept out of the shadows into view. It looked like a cross between a human and some sort of insectoid, stopping short over Colette. It’s delicate little hands touched and propped, a sticky fluid emitted from the palms then started to coat her surface. It hardened and held her fast, her vampiric strength even finding it difficult to struggle out. Not wasting time, it started to drag the vampire back toward the darkness. By this time… the others should be waking up. [hider=Wall Crawler] [b]Name: [/b] Wall Crawler [b]Class:[/b] Medium HT: Fully upright- 6 ft. Hunched down- 4 ft. [b]Species type:[/b] Nox/Surface [b]Image/Appearance Description:[/b] [center][img]https://cdna2.artstation.com/p/assets/images/images/001/506/122/large/stephen-oakley-gorgon-render.jpg?1447656787[/img] [sub] I don't own the image, and using only as representation purposes[/sub][/center] [b]Brief on Behavior:[/b] -isolated hunter usually, unless a mated pair or courting -prefers to attack weaken prey (scavenger type) -ambusher and most common in the Nox [b]Abilities:[/b] [list] [*] Venom Bite: There’s two venom sacs within its throat, which can paralyze for a limited time. When injected, it will take about 2 minutes for it to fully affect the victim usually causing the creature to stalk its would be prey until they finally fall. After a short rest, the prey will recover and be able to move again through they might be a bit achy afterwards for a short time. [*] Web String: It has a small set of spinnerets on the wrists which can be shot or lay down. Depending on the use, it can create sticky threads to entangle its prey then make them helpless. Through over time or with sharp cutting/slashing weapons it can be torn through. [*] Wall Climbing: Using thin, coarse hairs that can be erected on the bare hands and feet, Wall Crawlers can scale up rough surfaces like walls, brick, and more. This makes them high threats within the Nox as they can literally attacking from any direction. [/list] [b]Location:[/b] Nox only [b]Extra:[/b] TBH [/hider]