Blizz

Strange Academy: Journey into Mystery

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Location: Haven, Strange Academy
Grimoire:
Skills:
Current Outfit

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Root crawled up and out of the satchel at Rohan's side, fluttering up onto his shoulder. The little wooden creature knew this place, and much like a cat around familiar people, it didn't matter that there were a lot of them. He nestled there and glanced around the Haven. If animals could have facial expressions comparable to humans, his might've been disinterest or boredom. He was content to just sit there until his master had a task for him. He craned his neck around and fixed a statue-still look at Annika.

The owl creaked. At Annika. His beak opened, and the sound of trees came out, not the sound of an animal.

Rohan didn't understand the language she just spoke to him in. For all he knew, his familiar could have- He chose an owl for more reasons than one. His fingered drummed across the staff he leaned against, thinking for a moment. How much should he say to someone new? Well, they were going to work together tomorrow.

"Hello, hello. I'm pretty sure no one's ever asked that question. Well, I was... Somewhere far away." He started off cryptic. "Had places to be, going through the woods one day. I stopped to rest on a hill, and I found a Scops owl in a scuffle with a monster. I killed it, and it turned out the owl was still alive. Just barely."

The owl on his shoulder didn't look like it was ever really alive. When it sat still long enough, it looked more like a carved piece of wood than something that was animated. "I tried to help it, but it was in pretty rough shape. It wasn't the kind of wound you could just bandage up and tend to later. I stuck with him for... I think it was two, maybe three hours. We stayed moving, I figured that maybe I'd find something that could work better than pitch. Didn't get that lucky. I might've just let him go sleep under a tree, but he was feisty. He wasn't about to go quietly. So I found a dead tree and made what I call a Spirit Hallow- Something to keep his soul in this world after he decayed."

Strange Academy: Journey into Mystery

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Location: Haven, Strange Academy
Grimoire:
Skills:
Current Outfit

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Rohan very intentionally said nothing about the moth girl smacking face-first into a suit of armor. Distractions weren't conducive to walking into the Neverish. At the mention of the more trusted people, he took a step forward towards the magic painting and took the cue. He'd been in here plenty of times, it wasn't a bad idea to demonstrate.

"It doesn't bite," He told some of them. He omitted the "unless you ask nicely" part.

Rohan thumped the ground before him with the staff he carried, the protective magic within it and the wrong magic of its wielder were well-known to the the Haven's magical bouncer. "Don't be afraid, that'll get you tossed off the path." And with that, he walked through. It was nice to be back in here, the Haven was, as its name suggested, somewhere he felt reasonably safe. Despite his... Reservations about the hedonistic brothers, it was quite the work of magic to make a whole pocket realm within another pocket realm. And a place to retreat to was never going to be ignored by someone like him.

The smell of smoke and human food, the warmth of a restful fire. The people. It put a grin on his face.

"Alright, old man..." Rohan stayed by the door, stepping out of the way and lingering near Barty. He leaned an arm over his staff, keeping an eye out in case one of the newer students took a while to get in. "What do you think? I give it an hour before any of them black out under the bar."

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

Leah Jordan

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Location: Contest of Champions
Gear:
Skills:

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One of those punches got Leah in the face, and it got on her nerve. It was just three versus most of their whole team left, even if they were individually pretty good fighters, they field was stacked against them. They were breaking down, losing their composure. Leah could tell just by the way Tatiana swung those fists, to say nothing of how she was shouting for help. She strode forward, balancing all her weight on one foot and then she jumped. Leah's other foot planted itself right into Tatiana's stomach, just as she landed back on the ground again. She almost knocked the damn wizard bitch out cold, but it seemed she had a bit more fight in her than that.

"You asked for this, you know. If you don't want your asses kicked harder, just surrender now. We've got you surrounded, you're not winning."

Stats

Leah:

• Health: 27/60
• Focus: 20/60
• Karma: 2/2
• Notes:
  • Edge when attacking with Smash.
• Action:
  Smash
  
  6 + 6 + 2 + 4(Melee) = 18 vs 14 (Tati's Melee) dealing 33 damage

Strange Academy: Journey into Mystery

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Location: Hall of Ancients, Strange Academy
Grimoire:
Skills:
Current Outfit

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With everyone having gone all out to look fancy enough for a high-class TV show, Rohan rolled up to the entrance into the Haven looking rather underdressed by comparison. He sported some muted colors of green and brown, with a cargo jacket thrown over a flannel shirt, thrown over a sweater. It was the nicest fit he could put together, he even patched the hole in the flannel last week. The Haven was a good place for something so high class and fanciful, the witch brothers knew where to find the good caffeine.

Slung over Rohan’s shoulder was a leather satchel, where his familiar slept. The woody creature was nestled in there with all the other things he habitually carried with him, everywhere he went. And in one hand rested a staff held upright against the ground, Rohan’s Mountain Scepter. It gave off a faint, warm aura of magic, a clear sign it was no ordinary stick. Rohan always had this thing with him in there. He trusted that the owners were able to handle their own problems if someone broke the rules, but he like being sure he could handle a problem himself too, if someone got a bit antsy or tried a spell on him.

And, of course, it certainly helped if someone’s drink sat poorly with them.

He saw Connie, who had different roommates and a different coven this year. This was a good chance to catch up.

”It’s nice being back,” He said, when she walked up to him. ”I’ve got the man-dragon who forgot how shirts work,” He gestured to Cal and his transparent fit. ”And someone new. She seemed excited. She seemed happy to be here.”

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

Leah Jordan

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Location: Contest of Champions
Gear:
Skills:

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Was she made of rocks?

"I don't know what the fuck I'm made of, anymore. But you're gonna have to try harder than that to find out, you hit like a wet shoe." Leah barely felt those fists, she felt the crunch of skin against skin more. And then she turned around and pivoted all her weight onto one leg, whirling the other around to batter Thuy with a roundhouse kick. Her foot collided with Thuy's nose, eliciting a sound like a gunshot, and she watched the demonic whore get sent backwards and land flat on her ass. She didn't seem quick to get back up.

"I warned you. I fucking warned you, you ignorant fucking maniacal little shit. But you got right back up."

Leah wanted to keep attention on herself so the less sturdy members of her team wouldn't get focused. If talking like an egotistical jackass helped, then great. Psychological warfare was still warfare.

"Luna, Hotshot, fucking GET HER ASS!!!"

They were starting to get an advantage over the Hex Girls. That was good, and if they could keep Dorian safe while he was brainfucking one of them, even better.

Leah took a step back and gave Tatiana a nasty look. "Come on, then. You want a fist fight? I'll give you a fucking fist fight."

Stats

Leah:

• Health: 41/60
• Focus: 30/60
• Karma: 2/2
• Notes:
  • Edge when attacking with Smash.
• Action:
  Leah rolled 6 + 1 + 3 + 4 = 19, which hits.
  
  [6 × 4 + 4 + 2] ×2 = 60 damage and Thuy is knocked prone, except Thuy has elemental protection up so you fo break her fire shield and she is fine but defenseless.

Strange Academy: Journey into Mystery

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Location: Hall of Ancients, Strange Academy
Grimoire:
Skills:
Current Outfit

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Tree. Rohan wasn't fond of being called that. Much as he lived among the natural world and was hounded by it, he came to this school full of wizards so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the curse and turn into something monstrous. Not that Cal knew as much, but it still irked him.

"Yeah, that's me," He turned around and put on a grin. It was good a newer student was put with students who actually knew their way around the place. Less so that of those just happened to be the horny man-dragon of the school. He didn't even mind Callaghan that much. He was pretty decent with magic and his ability to turn into other things was awfully relevant for the sorts of things Rohan focused on when he had the spare time to study what being human actually entailed on a mystical level. But the guy was just obnoxious in his propensity to fuck everything alive and legal, like the witch brothers who ran the Neverish.

Cass seemed pretty damn eager to decorate. Meanwhile, Rohan had just sat his things down and considered resting until it was time to head out. He knew what was happening tonight as well. He fell onto his bed and lazily waved a hand. The bed shifted colors and magically warmed to above ambient temperature. A small, circular table of ironwood appeared beside the table where he deposited a notebook from under the layers of his clothes.

"You can keep changing just about anything in here," Rohan explained, touching the walls behind him to tint them a few hues darker for the sake of less eye strain. "The walls, the furniture- The space doesn't change, since that'd be more costly and magic isn't free, but you can keep changing it whenever you feel like doing so."

When the letter slid under the floor, Rohan didn't bother with it. He'd been before, it was a good place to be. Safe from the aberrations outdoors, firmly in the territory of Man, and the caffeine was something special.

"I'll see what I've got to throw on when it gets a bit later," Rohan decided. "If you can't find the entrance yourself, ask someone. You should know, though, that one of the brothers who runs the place is an enchanter. He can change how a person thinks and manipulate them. The other just plays tricks. Don't cause trouble and you'll be fine, but it's worth keeping that in mind. If something bad did happen, well, I've got a magic staff for that."

The wooden owl croaked, philosophically, as if it had something to add. It didn't.

Inspo

Table
Bed

X-Men: GenetiX

Everything was becoming a black void. Sound was filling every nanoscopic stretch of this space, all while iceberg-sized chunks fell to reveal the color of the night without stars. The noise was a scream in a voice that lacked a pitch, lacked a voice and a frequency. It could be perceived and not heard, one could only know that it was occurring.

It was strange, the way treating someone with the bare minimum of human decency could change somebody. Stranger still was the gap between what happened in Umbra’s head and what came after.

Human language did not possess a word for the feeling, for humans could not feel anything when they were dead. Its closest proximity would be to call it sleep.

On the outside, it was more simple. The body of Andrew Becker ceased to scream, and collapsed like a doll made of yarn. There was nothing, not even the sound of running footsteps. But in a place only telepaths could go, ot was a much different situation. Ryder and Charles had felt a brain stop functioning from its own perspective. It was different from feeling a consciousness blink off the radar, it was like feeling everything someone felt as their brain began to go offline, while still fully aware until the final second.

By all rights, they should have been snuffed out with him. Their own minds, stuck in his skull, might have been dashed to nothing all the same.

But the last words Umbra heard were not a lie.

Xavier’s mind was shunted back into him. A bit of a rough landing, resting in certain facets of thought not fully settling back in initially, before righting themselves. The feeling was not dissimilar from sharing a mental space with Ryder; Oppressive, imperious, the furthest from gentle.

She came back entire seconds after him.

There wasn’t a scornful glare on her face. Just a tired frown. Ryder dusted herself off, raised her improvised rifle and burnt a hole through the face of what used to be Andrew Becker. Just to be absolutely clear.

And then, she lowered it.

The guards had been ordered to stand down earlier. No one was coming.

”Let’s go home.”

Avengers Academy: X of Swords ⚔️

Leah Jordan

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Location: Contest of Champions
Gear:
Skills:

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Fire, screaming, lightning. Excelsior was a team that came together out of chaos, made by a bunch of teenagers with more issues than the DCU, and involved Danni fucking Kingston. The arena was going chaotic with all the fire and wizard bullshit being thrown around. Leah could hear the enemy team's composure breaking down every time Thuy wailed like a rabid banshee. Good. A big fight like this was akin to chess, in a sense. One or two pieces being taken away here or there meant nothing for either side until the board started to look sparse. They were down two, Excelsior was down one. But on top of that, they were starting to sweat. Leah's next target was their heaviest hitter still on the battlefield.

Leah slipped in behind Andy when the blonde bitch ate the sort of punch that knocked her out once, and made a blind guess through the dark fire swirling around her. She was a boxer, and one of the most base, foundational lessons was to never let an opponent be anywhere than in front of you. Never let the other guy have access to your side, because that was enough to effectively halve what someone could do.

She swung a right hook and felt something crunch. Her punch landed straight where the wanted to, right where Thuy's liver was.

A sufficient punch to a place like that was enough to knock some people clean out, cause vomiting or full body spasms. It was like the reset button for normal humans who weren't prepared for it, the nervous system just didn't know what to do immediately after. Thuy clearly wasn't a normal human, and Leah watched her stumble over in a daze. Knowing her, they wouldn't have long to capitalize on it.

"Don't fucking get up, bitch," She warned.

Stats

Leah:

• Health: 52/60
• Focus: 35/60
• Karma: 2/2
• Notes:
  • Edge when attacking with Smash.
• Action:
  Leah rolled 4 1 1, as this attack has edge the right-most 1 is rerolled and became a 6, meaning this attack is 4 1 6 = 16 + 4 (melee) = 20. Thuy’s melee defense is a 11, so this is a Fantastic success.
  
  Leah spent 10 points of Focus, meaning a +5 is added to her damage modifier. This brings her focus from 45 to 35.
  
  The damage is 6 x 4 + 9 = 24 + 9 = 33. But since this is a Fantastic success, the damage is doubled to 66 points of damage, and Thuy is stunned for one round.

✨ Under Black Stars ✨

Once, when first teaching Annika about the cosmology of everything around them, Jack framed it with the lens of Earth's seasons. There were places reminiscent of Spring, in which life flourished and was emphatically new. Nebulae that recently collapsed with metaphysical beings actively taking shape, demiurgical planes under construction. There were places of Winter, barren and forgotten, with memories waiting to be thawed and reintroduced to the world. Under that analogy, the Everdark was Autumn. It changed, it shifted, and so many things came into a place where they were on a threshold between one chapter and the other. All things come, and all things go, he would say. That was, in many ways, what made this realm and life itself beautiful.

There was a fourth element of this analogy that Jack had taught to her. Summer.

It was not the shadows that answered Annika's question. It wasn't even the house itself, it was something else. She images she saw began to race forward. Through her years spent in this place, it was easy to make out the face of a young Jack Hawthorne among the reflections. A look far less tired, scars more pronounced, less of the wise and imperious image she knew he presented to the world. He's not much older than her in those afterimages, and in a scarce few, he isn't alone.

There's someone else in them, a young man his age, and he's brighter than Jack. There's a contrast, where he's in tune with the watercolor imagery Annika can see, and this stranger is sharper, more defined.

The images in the shadows give way until there's something at the very end of the hall. A hatch made of wood, set into the floor and reinforced with bars of iron. There's a light underneath it, leaking out into the environment.

And the light is warm.

Strange Academy: Journey into Mystery

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Location: Hall of Ancients, Strange Academy
Grimoire:
Skills:
Current Outfit

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It was easy to forget the value of simple things when you had them on a regular basis. A roof over your head, four walls insulated to keep the cold out, a place that probably didn't have predators watching it every waking moment of the day... Taking such things for granted was practically second nature to people who lived among civilization. Rohan, spending so long away from civilization, was often grateful for the things no ordinary person would flinch at. A warm shower felt like finding Atlantis to him, or seeing an old friend after a long time. Out in the woods, there weren't water heaters. One had to jump in a river and dry off in the sun. When dirt got in Rohan's hair, he used an ungodly mixture of animal fat and the finest ash from a fire, mixed with water to sort that out. Used properly, it could strip paint from metal and take off layers of skin.

It was the first thing Rohan took care of when he found his dorm and made sure no one else had the same idea. He stepped back in without looking like he just crawled out of a hole in the ground. His familiar stood statue-still on the back of a chair, looking up at him. Root had the disposition of an old man, sometimes. He sat down and didn't move, and didn't take kindly to anyone other than Rohan bothering him. He gave Rohan an inscrutable look, and made creaking sound.

"Yeah, I know." He opened up the wardrobe and started setting magic items inside, rather than clothes. He had few of those, enough to fit in one of the packs he brought with him, which he sat on the bottom inside the door.