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RP GOAL - Find Penny?

[@DoubleChecker] - Severin Vaust Asset Goal: ?
[@Book] - Liu Fei Asset Goal: ?
[@pkken] - Vetreus Draedora Asset Goal: ?
[@Red Hood] - Esther Keaten Asset Goal: ?
[@Nakushita] - Penny "Iron Maiden of Pax" Asset Goal: ?

[hider=Music]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0euNw-4YOo
[/hider]

[h3][center]The Maelstorm[/center][/h3]

The clearing erupts into a maelstrom of conflicting energies as the Voice of the Verdant unleashes its power.

The arcanic chains binding the Penny-faced entity strain and then shatter as it unleashes a wave of raw life energy. Freed, it raises its hands, and the ground beneath Severin erupts. Two massive, sharpened roots, thick as spears, shoot upward with lethal force, aiming to impale him.

But in the split second before the roots can strike, Fei Liu moves. He is a blur of motion, a skeletal whirlwind that slides behind the necromancer. With a firm, practiced grip that is neither gentle nor crushing, he snatches Severin and yanks him backward, using his own body as a shield while moving at an impossible speed. The two sharpened roots burst from the ground where Severin stood a moment ago, punching through empty air with a violent WHOOSH.

As Liu pulls him clear, Severin, unfazed by the high-speed extraction, extends a hand. A shimmering, hexagonal shield of azure light materializes, enveloping not only himself and Liu, but also expanding to cover Esther just as the secondary attack strikes.

Thorny Razorvines, animated by the Voice's will, lash out like whips from the edge of the clearing. They snap harmlessly against the newly formed barrier around Esther, their paralytic thorns scraping uselessly against the magical energy. The vines aimed at Vetreus, however, find their mark. With no one to defend him, the thorny tendrils wrap around the draconian's legs, digging in deep and holding him fast.

Esther, seeing the chaos unfold, stands her ground. She begins to play her harp, a frantic, complex melody that weaves a dome of shimmering, multicolored light around the immediate area. Her Disharmony spell intercepts the lashing vines and the erupting roots, the unpleasant, discordant sounds of her magic clashing with the raw life energy of the forest, causing the attacks to momentarily slow and weaken.

The Voice, its initial, powerful assault thwarted by the party's swift, layered defenses, prepares to strike again. But before it can, Severin unleashes his own counter-attack from the safety of Liu's grasp.

A second set of spectral chains shoots across the clearing, but this time they are accompanied by a creeping, unnatural darkness. The chains wrap around the Voice's limbs once more. Simultaneously, a sphere of absolute, pitch-black void coalesces around the entity, swallowing all light. From the outside, the party can see the struggling, Penny-shaped silhouette within the sphere of darkness, but from inside, the Voice is rendered completely blind.

[hr]

[h3][center]The Internal Struggle[/center][/h3]

Inside the prison of her own body, Penny fights back. As the entity's power surges, she pushes against its control with her own will, her thoughts a sharp rebuke against the ancient being's actions.

The Voice, momentarily blinded and bound by Severin's spell, falters. The golden light in its eyes flickers erratically. Penny's mental resistance, combined with the external magical assault, creates a fissure in its absolute control. For a brief moment, the serene, goddess-like expression on Penny's face contorts into one of confusion and pain—her own pain. The entity is powerful, but it is not used to a vessel that argues back. The "instrument" is proving to be discordant.

The Voice is now blinded, bound again (however temporarily), and facing internal rebellion. The party has created an opening.