Crowvette

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alexandria

@KillamriX88

Alex's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when Wolf took out his phone. "Um... Ah..." She was torn. Maybe having Wolf around would help, but maybe it was too soon. Maybe it was best to give Vera some space. But then again, maybe not. Alex was utterly unable to predict how Vera would react to anything after their last meeting. She didn't doubt that Wolf and Vera both had missed her - it actually made her feel better to hear it - but it was clear that there were other things going on that made Vera act the way she was.

Or maybe it wasn't another thing. Maybe it was Alex herself.

"S-Speaking of, how has Vera been...?" She had to ask. "Like, uh."

Alex found herself unable to word her question. '"Has she been punching you too?" isn't exactly something I can ask...' Alex thought.

"Has she been stressed out?" Alex blurted out. It revealed perhaps too much about their meeting, but Alex had to ask. If it was something simple, maybe she could help, and make up with Vera.

Something told her it wouldn't be that easy, though.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at the Battle at Terauchi Temple

Io was certain that Kazenosuke wasn't lying, though the potential double meaning of what he said amused Io. Of course, this was no time to explore wordplay. She simply gave him another wink as she moved on.

The two forces met, the difference in numbers being clear within the first exchange of blows. Io tried her best to focus in on specific areas - leaders, skilled warriors, those who would rally troops. Destroying them was important to reduce the effects of the numerical advantage. Before long one such Varjan made an appearance - some kind of brute that charged without a second thought.

'She is strong, no doubt. But compared to Gringor...' Io had confidence it was something the high orc could handle. What was important was keeping the rest of the Varjans from following in her wake and overwhelming the Shizuyaman defenses. Her reckless charge was something Io could exploit.

Io weaved a spell to cut off the warrior from the main force. It would give Gringor a fair arena to fight in and create a chokepoint for the Varjan forces behind them. The spell conjured a crude wall of blight magic, one that would harm living but not undead - a commonplace spell for necromancers. Any Varjans that would try to cross it would likely die trying. Io hoped that plenty would learn the hard way before they regrouped and dealt with the change in the lay of the battlefield.

"I've cut her off! Now is your chance!" Io shouted to the Task Force members on her side.

Io narrowed her eyes as she noticed the corpse the warrior carried. It was clearly meant to be some kind of intimidating message, but she kept that detail in her mind should she need to help Gringor. It was not common for the dead to be a factor in a battle, but any battle with a lich was uncommon to begin with. Io would wait for the right time - both with this particular warrior, and the growing number of dead within the battle as a whole.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alyona

@Spin The Wheel

Alyona almost felt a pang of regret seeing the boy fumble around after being drained. Almost. Despite everything, he tried to keep up a cool facade. Alyona could respect that. If she truly wished him the best, Aly would wish she never sees him again. Maybe he'd come to reflect on this time as the moment he learned not to trust everyone he met. Or perhaps that was Aly projecting her own view on the world with such a thought.

"It's a big city. But who knows, maybe we will meet again. Fate is like that." Truth be told, Aly wasn't sure if she was joking or not when she said that. She gave him a last wave as she turned to leave. "[Goodbye.]" She added in Yekaterinan, the farewell hopefully being clear even without a translation.

After she had made some distance from Jeremy, she couldn't help but notice a lightness in her pockets. As she checked, Alyona realized that the fighting from earlier had torn a hole in them, and she had dropped a significant number of her Yekaterinan candies... Most likely right where she stood talking with Jeremy. 'That kid better notice them. I'm definitely not going back to get them.' If his taste was as bad with candy as it was with sodas, maybe the Yekaterinan candies would actually be agreeable to him. Apparently, what was considered a treat in Yekaterina was nothing like a treat in Rhea. If they ever did meet again, she would have to see if he liked them.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at Terauchi Temple

@Hammerman, @Rezod92, @Crowvette, @Nakushita, @Restalaan (GRI & SKA), @AzureKnight (ATS & HIN), @PaulHaynek

In the face of planning one attack, another ensued. The Varjan attack came right upon the heels of Eula's warning. Io needed more time, but it seemed like she was not going to receive it. The barrage of Varjan artillery threw the entire village into chaos, the sounds of confusion amidst the war horns in the distance.

Before Io joined the Task Force to meet the Varjans, she quickly worked out some calculations in her head, taking a look at the temple. It would be a hasty estimation, but protecting the temple from attacks from afar seemed as important as from Varjans on the ground. She dashed inside the temple with unnatural speed, her grimoire flying open as she put together a spell in her mind.

Using the same enchanted ink that she used to craft her scrolls, she quickly scrawled an incantation of deflection upon the foundation of the temple. Subtly and slowly, a dome of slightly visible energy formed around the temple. It would divert projectiles that may otherwise land on the temple. Io would have wanted to protect more, but it was all she could manage at the moment. She needed to use her reserves of magic efficiently, given the fight she was about to join.

"The temple should be protected from their artillery now. Take refuge there if you cannot fight." Io gave out the order as she barged past anyone inside the temple. "I will fight with the others."

Io rushed to join a group, forming up with Kazenosuke, Gringor, Skarsneek, Kikyo, and Yurine. She reached out, the enchanted scrolls wrapped around her moving as if they were alive and obeying her commands. She quickly passed by the defenders, giving them enchanted scrolls to aid their fighting power.

"Strength enhancement." She curtly said to Gringor as she gave him the scroll.

"For your speed." She gave the dexterity-enhancing scroll to Kazenosuke.

"It improves your endurance." She handed the toughness scroll to Skarsneek.

As she passed by the others, her robe became more loose as she distributed her scrolls which (apparently) held the time-worn garment closer to her body. Gently glowing tattoos over areas of her skin showed that she, too, had her own enhancements ready and activated. "I have warded the temple from projectiles. We must defend it from the ground." She gave her fellow defenders a quick nod as she fell into position in the back line.

Io did not have time to call her zombies to her side, unfortunately. Though they were not skilled warriors, any extra hands would help. 'Perhaps I should try to enhance them to help in a fight.' As another war horn sounded, Io had to add to her own line of thought, 'After winning this battle, of course.'

The Glynwood Institute For Thaumaturgical Studies

Iris

@Ignorancebliss @Light @Scribe of Thoth

Iris shook her head at the mage's questions. "Ah, well, the beds at the temple were always better served for anyone older that really needed them..." She put a finger to her chin, following a train of thought aloud, "And the younger ones always wanted the beds, too, so I let them use them whenever the elders weren't using them..." In reality, Iris basically excused herself to the bottom of the priority list for the beds at all times. It made everyone else happy enough that she didn't mind.

Iris frowned after explaining herself. It seems like there was a touchy subject uncovered - she would never have mentioned it if it brought up something uncomfortable. Before she could apologize, a new student introduced themselves, thankfully changing the subject of the conversation. "I come from a town in the north known as Macefield." She quickly remembered something her mentor told her to say, and added, "Named after the spice, not the weapon." She didn't quite get it, but for some reason there was always confusion about the name. Iris didn't even know what a mace was, other than the spice.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alyona

Alyona had got that question before too. "Luckily for you, it doesn't work that way." It was definitely one of the top things people asked in the situation. The thought of permanently inflicting her curse on someone else made her smile, but the idea primarily existed in the realm of fiction. Much like her smile.

Of course, the boy had agreed, and Alyona was even nice enough to assure him that she wasn't contagious. It was time to seize the opportunity before he developed second thoughts. She reached out with her right hand, focusing intently for a moment.

Alyona had perfected the art of leeching from a willing victim after lots of practice. A lance could easily pass through the entire body without issue, draining from everything it touched, causing all sorts of issues. That was what happened in a fight, and it was fairly good at disabling someone. Working on someone willing took more finesse. Just draining from a single point with a deep lance hit would concentrate the negative effects in a single area, and oftentimes left the donor feeling rather irate at her when their arm suddenly refused to work. It had taken a long time for her to learn exactly how to project lances that were small and numerous to take from many spots at once. It was harder than actually learning how to encase her teeth in lances (something she did to sell the vampire angle more, but retired for... so many reasons), but it was worth it. It did require close contact, but that was almost a given.

She grabbed Jeremy's arm, each finger projecting a thin lance that went right through his clothing as if it wasn't there. She leaned in close and wrapped her free arm around him - the same arm also running draining lances across his back. "There's no biting, either. So be glad about that." She whispered. She was hoping more to mess with his focus and draw attention away from what she was doing than actually attempting to inform him.

The lances did their work well, and almost instantly Alyona felt the rush of her stolen energy. As always, the desire to push further was there, but she pulled away after only a few moments. She didn't have the luxury of making a bigger scene than she already was making. She aimed to drain enough to make inflict soreness, perhaps the tingling of an asleep arm for some time, but not anything more.

"Haah... I think I can at least walk home now." Alyona stretched, visibly becoming more steady on her feet in the moments since leeching energy from Jeremy. "You're a lifesaver, kid."

@Spin The Wheel

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alyona

@Spin The Wheel

Aly didn't like it when they asked further questions. She was hoping he'd get the idea, but she WAS keeping things vague on purpose. She would just have to suck it up and commit to the act. "I don't just heal up like normal. I need to take it from others." She took a small step forward. "That's a way you can help me. It won't leave a mark on you at all, I promise." She let her voice waver as she proposed the idea - adding in perhaps a tinge of desperation might help, though it was mainly just because of the various bruises she had protesting her movement. She didn't have the best read on the boy, but she was banking on looking hurt being the ticket for getting his sympathy. He at least seemed innocent enough not to ask for something weird. It would have been just her luck to get a middle schooler who would ask for a kiss in return or something.

That last part she said was actually true, though Aly was careful not to guarantee it was painless. Her lances didn't break skin or cut through anything, so there would be no mark from being drained. However, from firsthand accounts, she knew that it wasn't exactly pleasant to be hit by one either. From her end, though, she thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of leeching energy from people. Alyona never put much thought into describing it - she wasn't a poet and didn't intend on becoming one any time soon.

Tales Of Shizuyama (Far-Eastern Monster Girl RP)

Io at Terauchi Temple

~ @Hammerman, @Rezod92, @Crowvette, @Nakushita, @Restalaan (GRI & SKA), @AzureKnight (ATS) ~

Io's arrival was fortuitous, as it seemed to be just in time for some sort of strategic planning meeting. The thought of planning instead of recklessly charging towards the nearest enemy greatly pleased her, for obvious reasons. She already began working on how she might be able to tailor a strategy towards this. She briefly frowned as she dismissed her initial thoughts - plans that would take entirely too long to employ, and/or require a prodigious amount of graverobbing. Neither would go over well. Io was still adjusting to working with humans - she hoped that the others in the task force were doing a better job of acting as good representatives to the locals.

"I believe," Io chimed in to Ayu's last statement, "That 'unorthodox' is our modus operandi." It was an equal part lament and praise, in Io's eyes. "But can we trust someone doing business with the enemy?" Io echoed the concerns that she was sure the rest of the task force felt. She held back a flurry of other potential questions she had - the fine details of geography, weather conditions, number of enemies, the type of foodstuffs they prepared, how many of the guards slept face up... The kind of information that could make or break magical strategies. Those would come later, if some kind of magical trick was needed to even the odds. Io secretly hoped there would be a need.

The Glynwood Institute For Thaumaturgical Studies

Iris

Iris was, for the moment, occupied enough to forget her hunger. Several students had shared introductions, and she was trying her best to commit them all to memory. After all, she would be working with them directly, not unlike her brother and sisters at the temple. She had been warned that people will not be as kind, but it seemed to Iris that these fellow students would be plenty amicable.

Iris gracefully straightened out her scarf when Dionysia called attention to it, in order to show off the symbols and emblems decorating it better. "I made it by hand. Though, the designs are of course styled after icons of the Worldsoul, and I merely adopted them..." Iris meekly looked down, not wanting to appear arrogant to her fellow students. "It is customary to make one where I am from."

Iris's face felt hot. She was beginning to come to terms with how far she was from home - meeting new people, in a strange, luxurious place teeming with food... She felt flustered talking about herself.

Switching her attention to the discussion of Pebblebrook, Iris chimed in. "Quaint? I had the pleasure of staying with a wonderful mage in Pebblebrook." Iris spoke with wonder in her voice, clasping her hands together. "It was amazing to have an entire room to sleep in for myself! It even had a bed! I had never had such amazing sleep."

Iris's genuine wonder showed off perhaps more than she intended about her life at the temple. She quickly cast her eyes down again, silently wondering if she was bragging too much. After all, beds were likely a luxury not everyone had access to. She should have stayed humble and not brought it up at all.

Royal Rumble: Rumble over the Heavens

Alyona

"No point. That kind of stuff won't help me." Alyona tried to crush the empty can in her hand, but she couldn't quite manage it - the imported can had stronger walls to stand up to international shipping and she was still at her limit. She settled on tossing it.

She took a deep breath and stood up, bracing herself against the wall. She needed the deep breath to brace her body for the strain of standing, but it also steeled her for an embarrassingly theatric move - which she, unfortunately, had done too many times in the past. "There's only one thing you can do that actually helps." Leaning closer to Jeremy, she met his eyes with an intense stare. "You've heard of vampires, haven't you?" Alyona finished her statement with a smile that showed off her perfectly white teeth.

It wasn't her favourite method of getting to leech off of someone, but it had something resembling a success rate in the past - and might actually work better in Rhea where superstitions were different from Yekaterina. Alyona dreaded walking home with her injuries more than she dreaded some random kid on the street thinking she was a weirdo, at least. Plus, it wasn't a crime if they agreed to it, according to Alyona's nonexistent knowledge of Rhean law.

@Spin The Wheel