Medili

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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Lorentine Queen | Nighttime

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Dorothea Hohnstein@Jasbraq, Seung Eun-Ji, Manfred Hohenfelter@Force and Fury, and Carmillia Carbonneau@Animus
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"I-I see them!"

The one calling out was one of Mortas' lackeys. He was at the front. As for how he recognized them, Carmillia had described her allies to the rioters as people who stuck out like sore thumbs.

At this point, Carmillia's group had circled most of the lower decks with a schluckodil in tow. The fatigue had been getting to them whereas the beast had been speeding up, no doubt due to the motivating effect of its rage.

"Don't stop! Keep running!"

Without halt, all of the rioters barreled past them. Their job was done, and they were to head back up to the upper deck, as Carmillia had instructed them earlier. She broke off from them and skidded to a stop.

Carmillia couldn't see Zarra around and there was an extra individual she didn't recognize. Regardless, Manfred and Eun-ji were here.

"Schluck!"

The enormous reptilian was upon them.

Manfred's eyes widened. "Eun-Ji, you're up!" he shouted.

Large? That creature is huge. For a very brief moment, Eun-Ji was in awe at the sight of the Schluckodil. Fortunately she quickly regather her thoughts and moved to perform her part of the plan. "Very well. I'm on it!" she said as she quickly gathered enough water from the somewhat flooded lower deck, formed her water clone, and added an image of herself on top of it using an Arcane illusion. For good measure she also pulled in some blood, readily available due to the chaos in and on the boat earlier, and mixed it with the water she used to create the clone.

Thus she sent the clone forward, rushing straight toward the gigantic crocodile.

And the creature, smelling blood and seeing the figure of a prey actually running toward it, instinctively react by opening its mouth wide to devour it.

"Manfred, do you trust me?... I have a plan..." Dory looked somewhat reluctant to say any more, feeling that no one would trust her judgement after what had happened before. "Because I want you to give me my pistol for just a second..." As she waited for a response a memory of her father appeared in her thoughts. 'Remember kiddo, these bastards may be tough, but their senses are very sensitive.'

Automatically, Manfred reached for his sidearm and held it out to her, only thinking better of the gesture when it was nearly in her hand. "As long as your plan works with ours." He lined up his shot, drew from all of the heat, motion, and chaos around him, and from the schluck itself and put all of that into the bullet that he fired.

Dorothea grabbed her sidearm and began reloading it, slowly walking towards Eun-Ji and in turn the Schluckodil. Fear began to set in the closer she came to the monster. "I would suggest closing your eyes." Taking a deep breath, closing the distance on the beast and firing at the beast's eyes. Putting all her focus in making her shot a blinding light. The smell of gunpowder going into the beast's nostrils.

At the same time, Seer also moved to add his own attack to the combined assault against the massive beast. Being a Powergazer, he knew what the best thing he could contribute would be. He removed his eye covering, and from his eyes was fired a mighty beam of intense heat that was one of the things those 'cursed' with the powergazer virus were known for.

The result of the attacks by the three mages was quite a sight to behold, especially considering they were quite the unlikely trio to be fighting against a Schluckodil together. The first attack to flew through the beast's open mouth was that of the bullet Manfred fired with everything that he got. Unlike its armored scales, the inside of the beast was made of soft flesh like any other animal. Manfred's bullet, accelerated through his Gift, gored said flesh deeply thus inflicting some serious damage to the reptile. Still, it was a huge creature. As expected, a single bullet would not bring it down so easily.

By instinct, the creature moved to clamp its mouth shut due to the pain and damage. If it wasn't for Dory targeting its sensitive sense of smell, the plan probably wouldn't have worked so smoothly. As it stood, the thick smell of gunpowder invading the beast's nostrils caused it to thrash around in both fury and panic. While this would have made aiming into its once more open mouth difficult with something like a gun, it was not the case for the heat beam fired by Seer. The Powergazer tried his best to make sure that the beam beng launched from his eyes seared the insides of the beast through the mouth. Only after he couldn't bear it anymore that Seer stopped his attack, putting his eyes covering back on.

The creature flailed around even more, wracked by pain from the internal damage that it had accrued from the mages' assault. And then, it suddenly fell to the ground, a deep rumbling sound coming from within its mouth along with smokes from its seared flesh.

By then, Eun-Ji's water clone had already expired. The real Eun-Ji watched warily, standing close with the others. "... Is it dead?" she asked out loud, more a wondering than an actual question. Yet suddenly the creature moved once more. It was clearly very badly wounded and yet, driven by either vengeance or fury, it briefly charged once more at the mages that had dared to maim it so seriously, jaws ready to take at least one of them to the death with itself. This does not last however, as it then fell again after that brief surge of strength. And just like that, the creature lapsed into the embrace of death...

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Zarra Travendour@BreathOfTheWoof
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Shaking off his disorientation, it became quickly clear to Zarra just how dangerous of a mess he had gotten himself into. Even there in the murky waters at night where he could not really see well, he inherently knew that time was running out. Either he do something to get himself out of the water or he will become yet another dinner menu for the giant crocodiles of Feska. And yet even when he knew this for sure, Zarra Travendour was in the end still Zarra Travendour. Instead of thinking up of a plan that will be the fastest and most effective to secure his own safety, he started thinking of how he can extricate himself from the situation in a fabulous way. After all, that will make it even more awesome for when I tell the tales of my survival against the terrible beasts!

Alas, that unsurprisingly became his downfall. The schluckodils after all will not wait as Zarra busied himself with thinking when he should be taking action. The attack came so fast that Zarra practically have no time at all to defend himself against it. The wind was knocked out of him as a long tail took swipe at him, tossing him around in the waters. Then, in no time at all, the next attack came. Zarra felt it immediately, the excruciating pain on his lower body as one of the crocodiles took a nipping bite at him. Yet due to the huge size of these creatures, even a nipping bite ended up being large enough that it got him in the left bottom all through to his prized male preserver of generations.

He was lucky that his survival instinct kicked in immediately. Before the bite can dig deeper and tear his lower body apart, he once more turned incorporeal, freeing himself from the creature's jaw. This was then coupled with sheer dumb luck as despite the random direction upon which he flew away in his panicked ethereal retreat, it was near the other students that he returned to corporeality...

Still, he remained severely wounded. The tail swipe definitely did a number of his ribs, not to mention of the bite wound and the loss of blood that came with it. Again, Zarra started to lose consciousness. One last thought floated into his mind as the darkness took him. Hey, at least I'm gonna have one heck of a wicked scar to show for it, right...?

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Sometime later...

The lyre had been ostensibly secured, and the riot had settled down. Additionally, the holes on the ship had been patched sufficiently now and the fires that broke out had also been taken under control and extinguished. After vanquishing the schluckodil that had sneaked onboard of the boat, the team managed to find the two remaining Arcanists that had managed to survive by running away and hiding before the croc could turn them into its food. With help from these two mages, the ship can finally move again to head to the shore. In the end, though the start of the mission and the first half of it had been quite of a mess indeed, the team managed to salvage the situation. Calling it a great success might be debatable, but they also definitely didn't fail. As for the Traveler Agents, they disappeared quickly after exchanging simple farewell with the biros. It was deemed best to let them go, as while they weren't comrades, things would have been much worse without their help.

Simply put, the night filled with chaos, tragedies and deaths was over for those onboard the Lorentine Queen. And the Lorentine Queen itself was spared from having this to be its last voyage after all...

With the exception of Leon who had left earlier by himself with the password that Manfred had given to him, the rest of the team were gathering inside a cabin room, allowing them to be undisturbed by unwanted attention. It had now been revealed that Hugo in reality had given Manfred and Eun-Ji two different 'magic words' for use to extract themselves away from the Lorentine Queen. One will bring them back to Hugo's Study, while one will apparently bring them to a certain refuge in the middle of a desert. Dory and Carmillia were then left with two choices: To go with Eun-Ji back to Hugo's Study or to go with Manfred to the desert. As for Zarra, Eun-Ji will definitely bring him back to Hugo's Study with her before he bleeds out and expires. And thus, the choices were there for each of the two young women to choose.

Action Opportunities

1) The Lorentine Queen arc is officially over! The only choice left to make is that of Dory's and Carmillia's: Whether they will follow Eun-Ji back to Hugo's Study or follow Manfred to the desert to help the other team there.

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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_♪

Lorentine Queen | Nighttime

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Leon Solaire@Jumbus
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The man had fully expected for Leon to argue with him, to try to defend himself against the accusation leveled upon him. And if Leon had indeed done that, the man was ready with more of his own retorts or if all else fail to render physical violence upon the performer. All these seemed like valid options in the mind of a grieving drunken man who had just lost family members due to the riot. And yet while Leon did somewhat defend himself, he also somewhat did not. Instead of more verbal exchanges that the man had anticipated, Leon hugged him and then used his words to call for an end to the riot. All of these were not what the man expected. He came here for a fight with the man he deemed responsible for the deaths of his loved ones, yet Leon ended up not giving him one.

Of course, the fact was that words and gestures meant little in the end. Various emotions ran and battled through the man's inebriated mind. A part of him was becoming even more furious at the direction that Leon had turned things to as it denied him the fight that he had craved for, the fight that would have given him some brief satisfaction from dealing with the man he believed responsible for everything. Another part of him that was hurting started to hurt even more as he recalled once more seeing his own brother getting brutally murdered in the chaos of the riot. And another part still was at a loss and confused as to what he needed to do now that a fight seemed to be out of the question.

And whilst the man was deep in his own thoughts, the crowds listened to Leon's words. Their faces showed shame, anger, regret, grief, or the combination thereof. Putting everything else out of the equation, they found Leon's words about the folly of the chaotic riot to be true. Many murmured as they shook their head. "It is true... What have we done?", "How did we let things to go like this?", "This is all very wrong..." Such words came from the members of the crowd. They started to really look at their surroundings too; at the destroyed things and the bodies of the unconscious wounded or even dead. Finally, only now had most of those in the crowd took in the riot for what it was: An utterly foolish tragedy.

Then an aged gentleman added his voice to the scene. While the others remained stunned with realization dawning on their faces, the old man raised his right hand. "He's right, friends. This all need to end... What's done is done, but we can still stop things from becoming even worse." Thus all attention now turned to him, and seeing this he continued. "I wish to survive, and I wish for you all to survive too. Not one more body should be added to this tragedy. Let's end this, good folks." His speech ended, he kept his right hand raised. And then it was like a ripple, a domino effect. One more hand raised up from the crowd, and then two more, then four, and so on until all but a few remained with their hands down; and even these hands too finally raised up as they witnessed all around them with their hands raised.

As for the grieving man who confronted Leon, he raised his fist as if to hit Leon only to end up grimacing and lowering it again. He shook his head before looking at Leon directly in the eyes. "Words won't bring my brother back. Nothing will bring my brother back. Always remember this, Leon Solaire." And just like that, he stepped down from the table and started walking away slowly unchallenged by any in the crowd as he passed them. The crowd watched as he left, and then their attention once more returned to Leon, their hands still raised up to show that all present had chosen in favor of ending the chaos.

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Carmillia Carbonneau@Animus
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She had done it. Her gambit paid off. As Mortas spoke, the rioters finally move once more. Only this time, they started doing the opposite of what they had previously been doing. Instead of fighting each other, destroying properties and looting like opportunistic rats, the rabble now moved with the purpose of ending the chaos instead. Words traveled and spread along with each member of the rabbles that had heard the argument between Mortas and Carmillia. From one person to the other, the chaos was stopped. And with more and more people slowly but surely told by those that they trust as their comrades in revolution, Carmillia can see indeed that the riot might be ended in an orderly manner after all. With her efforts here, regardless of the fact that it was fueled by self interest, and Leon's own effort back in the Entertainment Lounge of the Main Deck... This might not be the last voyage of the Lorentine Queen after all.

Time seemed to be all that was needed until the words will finally spread to the rest of the boat. Already fires were being extinguished by more people instead of only the few good hearted folks. Already, people were lifting each other up and carrying the bodies of the unconscious instead of beating on each other and looting the fallen. How peculiar the power of carefully chosen and calculated words can be.

And then just as things seemed like it will finally resolve itself, a new wave of emotion spread through the people on the boat. "Schluckodils! By the Five, Schluckodils on board the ship!" This wave came from the other direction; from the lower deck. Quickly, panic started to spread as the people on the boat who were mostly Feskans knew full well the terror of the giant man-eating crocs that made the river their home. A new chaos brewed as people panicked, a tsunami of bodies heading for the two upper decks. "Stay away from the lower deck!" "The lower deck is flooding! I saw them, there's like four of those beasts!" Such shouting emerged from the crowd, making the situation worse as fear spread like wild fire into the hearts of the rabbles. Of course, the shouting of panicking individuals driven be fear were often less than accurate... And such was the case here as well. In reality, there was only one of the beast that had snuck into the boat through the large hole in the kitchen on the lower deck. But the rabbles knew not of this truth.

If there was anything at all that can provide some little comfort about the situation regarding these hopeless folks, it was that their retreat toward the upper decks was still a better situation than the chaos of the rioting from earlier.

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Dorothea Hohnstein@Jasbraq, Seung Eun-Ji, and Manfred Hohenfelter@Force and Fury
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It were none other than Dory and Eun-Ji that had stumbled upon Manfred and his temporary ally Seer. His explanation of the situation at hand was short, but it was enough to convey the urgency of it to the two young women. To Dory, it elicited surprise, fear, and then worry for Manfred's own well being. "A-a Schluckodil?.... How did it end up on here?!..." Dory's mask began to crack further as she saw the rather distressed Manfred and heard the news. She quickly took Manfred's hand to see if he was okay. "Are you okay? He didn't attack you, right?" After checking him up she steeled herself. "I know how to kill it..."

To Eun-Ji, Manfred's words elicited an understanding nod. Yet it was also coupled with a question; the Tan Keoulian had no idea what a Schluckodil was. She looked upon Dory, Manfred, and Seer. She gave the latter a cautious look before talking to Dory and Manfred. "A Schluckodil? Pardon the question, I know the situation is urgent but I have no idea what that is. I believe I will be able to aid the best if I have knowledge of this... thing. would you please explain?"

Dory turned her attention toward the Tan Keoulian and answered her. "A murderous beasts like no other, they're the main predator in these waters... and adept at killing humans... filthy scaly bastards..." It was brief, but it seemed to be enough as Eun-Ji nodded and continued to reply to her. "I see. So we are to face a man-killing reptile, to put it simply. I suppose I will just have to look with my own eyes to determine further about how to deal with this creature... And you said you know how to kill it as well, and that knowledge will definitely be most welcome, Ms. Hohnstein."

"Good. Then I suggest we not tarry anymore and quickly get to work before it became too late to save those arcanists." The Traveler agent interjected, and then start gesturing for them to start moving again. Trepidation was still in his mind as he was wholly aware of the fact about him being entirely outnumbered now, yet at the same time he didn't seem to be able to find a better choice than this. He must try, it was the way that he and his comrades have taken, to use their power to save those that need to be saved. "Come along then... We will have our work cut out for us dealing with the beast."

And thus, led by the Powergazer, they start to move again through the crowd of now panicking people, closer and closer to the great and terrible Terror of The Lorentine River.

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Zarra Travendour@BreathOfTheWoof
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Out of the frying pan and into the fire is a very fitting description of the situation that Zarra Travendour had found himself in. Those on the ship had to deal with a single Schluckodil invading the lower deck, and that was a terrible enough thing to have to deal with. Yet the young Perrenchman that now found himself right in the river itself, the territory of the gigantic reptilian man-eaters, the situation was much much worse. Furthermore, he must deal with this situation while also having to fight with an exhaustion that continued to get worse and worse as he kept using his gift and his unique ability as a Greyborn.

He will have to both think and move fast, as the creatures already caught his scent and detected that a prey had entered their domain. It was without a doubt that he will only have one chance to save himself or risk becoming croc food at worst and losing a limb at best. He cannot mess this up. The crocs started to converge on his location, stalking and observing. And soon enough, that will change after they confirmed that it was indeed a creature belonging to their favorite species of prey that had fallen into their watery home...

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Action Opportunities

1) The riot situation was handled well by Leon and Carmillia. Currently, the crowd in the Entertainment Lounge remains there as they look upon Leon, while the rabbles outside are starting to panic due to the discovery that a Schluckodil had infiltrated the boat. An attempt can be made to deal with the panic... Or alternatively the panic can be used as a smokescreen that will allow Leon and Carmillia to move unhindered to do their things.

2) The Schluckodil in the boat had cornered the two remaining Arcanists of the Lorentine Queen. Manfred, Dory, Eun-Ji, and Seer are moving to hopefully take care of the situation.

3) If they are successful, moving the boat back to shore will become a much more likely prospect.

4) For Zarra, the action opportunity is obvious. He should think carefully to be able to save himself without losing a limb or two or even his life.

The Hourglass Order

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Zarra analyzes the situation, while he could attempt to use his powers to shift away, he knows it’d be futile, he’s already strained himself using it and it’s failed him in situations like this before. As he considers his option, he decides the best thing to do is throw the rioters off their game with a good old fashion taunt. He charges his manas as he talks, using what time he can bide as much as possible.

“False crusaders, you don’t care if I’m a noble or not, you just beat people up. Traveler protects everyone from people like you.”

His tone of voice is condescending and inconvenienced, designed in such a way as to sound as deeply self-righteous as possible. He then turns his back on the possible assailant, smug smile still glued to his face as he knows just enraged them all with a single sentence. While they process what he said, Zarra uses the charged energy to fling a nearly hammer into the leader’s face, even if it doesn’t do any damage, it’ll definitely wound his pride. As soon as he does this, he does the only thing an exhausted skinny mage would ever do against 3 grown men; run away. He heads towards the nearest flight of stairs, intending to go to the higher parts of the ship and lose them there.

“What did you say??” Perhaps as expected, the man who was mocking and threatening Zarra earlier, who seems to be the leader, takes the condescension with anger. He is about to rush forward at Zarra, fist raised and with clear violent intent, when the hammer flung onto his face, making him flinch and hold his face from the pain. “Shit, boss, you okay??” one of the others says while the third who was stalking towards Zarra stops in his tracks.

It is then that Zarra takes advantage of the lull in their concentration and runs away. “Hey, get back here!” the first man says. “After that scum!”

The third man is the first to take action as he runs after Zarra, following him to the flight of stairs that would lead to the 1st Upper Deck. The two other men follow behind the third, while the fourth takes his time to pocket some kind of objects before trailing behind the rest. The chase is on.

At the top of the flight of stairs, Zarra continues to take full luxury of the messes the other rioters have created. He picks up a guitar and throws it down the fight of stairs, fully intending to throw the chasers off balance. While his understanding in magics outside of his specialties are limited, he does know a basic level of arcane magic, and uses it to freeze the top of the stairs, still soaked from the various leaks from the ship.

He’s breathing hard as he’s running, he looks around for a place to hide at this point, and hilariously, he chooses a women's bathroom. He can feel himself starting to get nauseous again and he has to hog the stall walls to keep his balance. He gets to a mirror, where he looks much more exhausted than he realized. Somehow, it’s mostly undamaged here, but he changes that by quietly using binding to leave cracks in the mirrors, a sinister strategy in mind. After this he goes into one the stalls and locks it then stands on the toilet holding the wall to brace himself on it. Now all he has to do is wait it out, at least that’s the best possible scenario in his mind.

The third man, who is frontmost, is hit by the guitar that Zarra throws down the stairs, though it doesn’t stop him for long as he just flinches a bit before resuming to chase after Zarra. Still, the brief moment gave Zarra enough time to freeze the top of the stairs without the man realizing it, causing him to slip on it. The man’s back hits the others that are also chasing after Zarra, and almost comically causing them all except for the fourth and backmost man to lose balance.

By the time the men manage to reorient themselves and resume the chase, Zarra is already hiding in the women’s bathroom. “Where did that blasted monkey go?? Nevermind, spread out and find him. Nobody hits me with a hammer and gets away with it!” The leader shouts, loud enough that Zarra can hear his voice though not necessarily comprehend the words, that sound muffled due to where he is hiding.

Soon enough though, Zarra can hear the door of the bathroom open followed by rather heavy footsteps coming in and getting closer to where he is…

Still believing he has the enemy fooled, he remains perfectly silent, however, he build his energy, intending to strike if the buffoon tries anything stupid. The mirror strategy is only a last ditch effort if all of them try to corner him, he can handle a single dude, even when taxed. Thinking on his feet a little, Zarra subtly binds the lock mechanism into itself, making it nigh impossible to open without shattering it, and by the time they do that he’ll already be very ready.

Only one man entered the women’s bathroom. Though Zarra couldn’t see which one, it probably doesn’t matter. The man looks around the bathroom before then mumbling to himself. “Man, what am I doing here…” Seemingly having second thoughts about searching the women’s bathroom while being a man himself, he sighs, and then starts to walk away. The sounds of his heavy footsteps are heading for the exit when it suddenly stops.

“Oh whatever. I’m already here anyway. Besides, who cares in this situation? Ha.” Then his footsteps move closer and closer again until it unmistakably stops in front of the stall that Zarra is hiding in. Almost immediately after that, the door seems to be pulled from outside, though it doesn’t budge due to the little bit of binding magic that Zarra had applied to it. The man stops pulling, and then says simply. “Hey, who’s in there? Come on out!”

Zarra nods incredulously, does he actually think that was gonna work? Being that you can’t see the Gift user’s feet from outside the stall, he’s not just gonna give himself away now. Though he’ll have to be ready for when the guy inevitably tries to view the inside of the stall.

Seeing as how whoever is inside refuses to answer his call, the man concludes that it must be the person he and his pals are looking for, which is Zarra. “Aha! Got you, you rat! Come on out now! You know you got nowhere to go! Heheh!” He starts banging on the door of the stall and pulling with all his might. The door shakes and rattles, but refuses to give away, causing the man to click his tongue in annoyance. “What the hell, what’s with this door?? Bah! Well, let’s see how it will like some hammer banging on it, ey?”

After saying that, the man starts to leave, his footsteps moving across the bathroom towards the exit.

Zarra, genuinely thinking this is a good idea, gets down from the toilet and crawls over to the other stall on the right. He then stands on the toilet of that one instead, reasoning that they’re going to get very annoyed and leave right away when they find out that guy totally cried wolf on his friends. He refuses to budge, thinking about the possibility that the guy is waiting for him outside the door. But, Zarra is a trained mage with the gift, that guy is drunk and itching to fight, it’s pretty clear cut in his mind who can wait out the other.

For a while, nothing seems to happen. After about five minutes however, the door to the bathroom opens again. In come multiple footsteps now, followed by the voice of the same man from before. “Yeah, the rat is hiding in here, boss! Did something to the door of the stall though, it wouldn’t budge!” Another voice, that of the leader that Zarra threw a hammer at earlier, replies with a snort. “Yeah? Well, let’s see what a door’s gonna do against this. Hey, gimme the axe!”

There are some chuckles from the men followed by the sound of footsteps stopping in front of the stall that Zarra previously hid in. It seems clear what is about to happen next.

Zarra actually struggles to not laugh, of all things. Regardless, he prepares his magic as while he thinks he has them fooled, he's taking no chances and prepared to turn this whole bathroom into a glass bombing.

And so the axe falls. Again, and again, and again, all the while the men cheer on their leader. “Time to give up and ask for mercy now, boy!” one of the men says, imagining that Zarra must be behind the door of the stall, petrified with fear. But then, as the axe finally breaks enough of the door for the men to look inside, they find nothing but an empty stall. ”What the- Erik, you said he’s in here!” The leader looks at the man who looked for Zarra in the bathroom by himself earlier. “I swear, he was!... Wait, maybe he’s hiding in this one instead!” the man replies while pointing at the door of the next stall. “Lemme take a look, alright?” Only now he realizes that he can just look under to make sure, and thus he goes to do just that…

"Smash" is the sound of porcelain being thrown into a man's head. While ready to once again expend magic, Zarra did not appreciate the man's attempts to snoop and throw the lid of the toilet directly at his exposed skull. Before the other 3 process the attack, Zarra steals the axe from his hands, officially arming himself since this all started, it's surprisingly heavy. He speaks right away. "I just gave him a concussion. I can keep him from long-term brain damage, *if* you let me free. This was your idea after all. Don't cry victim for defending myself".

“By Oraff! Erik!” The other men react by pulling Erik, now nearly unconscious from having his head hit by significant blunt force, away. “This kid is crazy boss!” says one of the men. Another nods frantically while putting one of Erik’s arms around his back to carry him. “He just bashed Erik’s head like it meant nothing! He’s crazy alright!”

With each passing second, the men grow more and more frantic. The leader eventually decides that the boy that they thought was a helpless kid simply isn’t worth the trouble. “Look, this is all a big misunderstanding, yeah?” he says while gesturing for his men to leave the room. “We’ll leave you alone now. Just don’t do anything rash…” Then he himself bolts as the men all retreat from the room, carrying their wounded friend with them. Zarra had managed to keep himself from being lynched by this particular mob of rioters.

Zarra finally allows himself to breathe and he leaves the stall. He actually takes off the shirt because at this point it's more trouble than streaking half naked. Being his size, one can clearly see his ribcage and other likely unappealing parts of torso anatomy. He checks the corner of the bathroom, making for sure the coast is clear.

The earlier goons are nowhere in sight. While of course the general chaos remains as the riot continues throughout many parts of the ship, it doesn’t seem like there’s any obvious threat that is targeting him around. Of course, that might change for whatever reason considering the general disorderly situation, but for now the coast is looking clear indeed for Zarra to proceed.

The scrawny character exits the bathroom and proceeds to steal the clothing of the nearest person of similar size to him. As Zarra takes the shirt from the bloodied guy, he can’t help notice a giant axe wound in his leg, “Unfortunate” is all Zarra can really muster aloud as he wonders how sloppy of an axe user you have to be to hit someone’s lower body.

The shirt he took has an obvious bloodstain on it, but he doesn’t really care and puts it on anyway, replacing the staff uniform he had asked Hugo for previously, he wouldn’t have needed to if a certain 2 people had actually done their jobs quelling the riot, not considering the fact he had basically bullcrapped to their faces that he’d help with that. Regardless of the state of the ship now, Zarra leaves the axe in the bathroom, thinking it'll be more suspicious to just ominously carry it around. Eun-Ji and Manfred probably already ended the meeting, seeing as he was gone for easily several minutes. Still, it doesn’t hurt to try, maybe he’ll run into one of the other students and join in whatever task they were assigned.

Zarra goes back to the hallway he had ran through, ready to track down the other- Woops. Someone forgot they had frozen the top of the stairs. Zarra had put his full weight into the step, causing his whole leg to slip off and collide with the next step. What happens next isn’t pretty. Zarra goes down face first, having failed to brace his fall with his realigned ankle. It stuns Zarra for a second, and he starts rolling down the stairs. Rather than using some sort of complex levels of logic, as one tends not to do when falling down a flight of stairs, he puts all mental energy into becoming intangible a final time, his last thought being that at least he’ll be safe. Not really understanding the repercussions of this, Zarra manages to defy all exhaustion and become incomporial, and now falling downwards from momentum and into the lower floor of the ship. Zarra goes unconscious from the sudden jolt to the head and mana depletion, still falling.

While Zarra had been out cold for several minutes, He wakes up with a splitting headache. Despite the deeply complex nature of the human brain, Zarra had taken the time to learn how to replace synapses and undo concussions, as he relies on his own intelligence so much that healing the brain always interested him more in classes, well, the ones he wasn't kicked from anyway.

As one could guess from his antics in this mission, Zarra is a problem child. His grades are incredible, but it came at the cost he was always the center of some crazy scenario he created. For example, Zarra incidentally caused a school fire after sarcastically telling a less bright student to "Put sodium in the pool" or when had shifted into the basement of another school without permission and found less than savory things they kept under there.

After relieving himself of the headache, Zarra tries to see where he is… Only, he can't. It's nearly pitch black and he can't do a single bit of ship movement. He ultimately decides to just go back to reality. This was a mistake. Zarra had found himself at the bottom of the river, water pressure and lack of oxygen striking him like a truck. He panics, but remembers a life saving technique taught in elementary binding and chemical class. By turning 2(H2O) into O2 4H+, aka stealing the oxygen from the water and turning it into a breathable bubble around you, you can extend your breathing time for as long as your RAS can allow.

This has the unforeseen side effect that the water above him literally starts boiling as hydrogen gas is released from underneath. Now Zarra just needs to get back on the boat while in croc infested waters. Riveting.

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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Lorentine Queen | Nighttime

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Dorothea Hohnstein@Jasbraq & Seung Eun-Ji
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Taking the stairs up after leaving Zarra, Dory emerges from the Cargo Hold to find that there's nobody in the room outside. Nobody that is conscious, at least, just fallen bodies that are either conscious or dead. Seeing these bodies are not doing any good for her still shocked mind. Were these bodies too somehow the result of what she had done? The reality of course is that these are the bodies of the fallen combatants from the earlier fight between her fellow students, two of the ship's Arcanists, and the traveler agents but there's no real way for Dory to know that right now considering she was unconscious while the fight took place. Dory also knows that she need to keep moving on, not being hold up by bodies. She resolved to help with the situation and do what she can after all, and that is what matters most right now. So she continues on out of the room, getting to the corridor where more bodies are present. A part of the walls in this corridor is leaking water, although Manfred had jammed a chandelier cap on the hole to try to slow it down earlier. It holds for now, though more solid repair will be needed for sure. Alas, it is not something Dory can manage on her own; she's no Binder.

It is as she is traversing through this corridor that she comes upon Eun-Ji, the real one this time, that is coming from the other way. Eun-Ji had went to do a quick scouting of the ship earlier to get a better idea of what needs to be done before then updating Manfred about it and about how she had managed to find everyone in the team and relayed to them about the less than desirable situation of the Lorentine Queen. Afterwards, the two separated again with Manfred continuing on while Eun-Ji backtracked to meet with Dory and Zarra as she had promised.

"Ms. Honhstein" Eun-Ji says as she jogs over toward Dory. She stops in front of Dory, giving her a polite nod even considering the dire circumstances. "Where is Mr. Travendour? Actually, never mind." From what she had seen so far of Zarra, she quickly makes the necessary assumption that he must have decided to go on his own way again. She'll just have to trust that he's going to help. Thus, she decides to move on with just Dory. "I'm glad to see that you've recollected yourself... As I have said, there's much to do." Eun-Ji pauses just a moment, regarding Dory with calculating eyes and recalling what little she knows about Dory. "If I am not mistaken, you are an Arcanist of some manner, yes?"

"Then we can work together on dealing with the fires that had broken out throughout the ship and spreading rapidly. There are some others, people without the gift, that are trying to put out the fires even amidst the chaos... But they will need our help." Eun-Ji gestures politely for Dory to come with her, knowing that the most dangerous outbreak of fire is currently located in the 1st Cabin deck above with its many walls, wallpapers, and other flammable things; too many flammable things that will allow the fire to spread rapidly if not quickly taken care off. Additionally, there are also other fires that they can quickly snuff out along the way. "Shall we, Ms. Hohnstein?"

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Leon Solaire@Jumbus(and his temporary sidekick Firebrand!)
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Leon once more acts to take the stage and draw attention to himself, with the help of Firebrand to provide him the necessary fabulous display of magical illusion this time. The flashy but otherwise harmless display of light that seems to emanate from Leon succeeds in taking the attention of just about every single of the rabble in the entertainment hall. Even the drunkest of them (or perhaps these are the most susceptible considering how inebriated they are) stops whatever it is they are doing at that moment; some still have their fists raised and ready to brawl with each other. A short skinny man, earlier busy taking advantage of the situation by shoving whatever valuable things he can found into his pockets, stops awkwardly before realizing that nobody's looking at him. All gazes are locked onto the extremely famous performer after all. The first part of his plan had succeeded as the fighting and chaos are disrupted.

He seizes the moment immediately by going on an impromptu acrobatics show, showing off his well trained finesse and agility by dancing and leaping from one intact table to the others all while Firebrand continues to support him by making one entrancing illusory light after another. Noises of chaos from the other parts of the ship provides the ambience to the otherwise rather silent show as the lounge that was just as rowdy a moment before is now enchanted by the performance, and soon enough the silence was yet again replaced by a commotion... One of applause, cheering, and whistling from the crowd that had became enchanted by Leon.

It goes on like that for a while, and it seems very likely that Leon and Firebrand will be able to take control of the situation here. More people trickles to the entertainment lounge, attracted by the jolly atmosphere that is a notable contrast from the uncontrolled chaos that is present in nearly all other parts of the boat. At this rate, they might even be able to pacify a large enough number of people that the riot and fighting will be much more manageable for the rest of the team.

Alas, not all of the people among the newcomers trickling into the lounge seem to be too keen to see Leon. One such person, a lanky gentleman that is leading two others, disrupts the show with his own small trick of the gift. He amplifies his voice just enough to overcome the cheering and clapping of the crowd as he gets up onto a table of his own and gestures a clenched fist at Leon in challenge. "Oy! Leon Solaire you charlatan! What game are you playing at??" The crowd goes silent once more as all eyes are now unto this attention stealing man. The man has the look of a half-drunk and furious fellow, staring dagger at Leon. There's also hints of grief in his visage. "The nerve of you! First you promised a show, telling people to go out there to the deck... But what awaited us was chaos! My brother got his skull caved in and his nephew got trampled to death! And now you dare show up and do all these like nothing happened, Eshiran curse your cold heart!"

The crowd continues their silence. Some looks confused, but most seems excited. It seems that most of them doesn't really care much of what the man said, but they are curious of how Leon will react to this man that is challenging his dominance for the spotlight. To them, this is just more entertainment. Firebrand too looks unsure as he looks at Leon, standing near the left entrance of the lounge away from the crowd's attention. All it seems, is waiting for Leon to respond to the man.

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Carmillia Carbonneau@Animus
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Meanwhile, Carmillia is moving away on her search for the agent provocateurs while Leon deals with the crowd. Heading for the upper deck, her trip is cut short as she encounters one such individual that is very clearly fanning the flames of the riot movement. An older man white grey balding hair and a thick beard, skinny yet with quite the force behind his voice, is shouting words of provocation at his fellow rioters. "Keep it up, comrades! Down with the Rednitz scum!" the man said with gusto, right hand balled into a fist and raised high in the air. "Is it not our rights to take what is owned to us from those so-called noble leeches? Indeed it is! Today, this boat! Tomorrow, the country! Down with the Rednitz!"

Two other men, both tall and strong in stature, follows the older man like loyal followers as he slowly walks around the open air walkway of the 1st Cabin Deck. Rioters cheer and raise their fists in reply as the man walks pass them, his words clearly having the effects that he desired upon his so-called comrades in revolution. The emboldened and zealous rabble continue their fighting, plundering and pillaging, either seemingly blind to or just trying to take as much as they can even as fires continue to spread slowly but surely throughout the level. Only a few people in comparison are trying to put out the fires, either because their minds are sound enough to understand the danger of the situation or simply because they are good enough that they couldn't just let the fires spread unchecked.

For now none yet directly accost the pale, white-haired young woman that sticks out like a sore thumb among these mostly male rabble, although she's definitely starting to attract attention for better or for worse. Most doesn't seem to care much for her as of now but a few that pass by her gives her some looks of suspicion, as the overall chaos of the situation seems to fuel the paranoia in their hearts. Between the flame and the general air of hostility, it is clear then that it is best for her not to idly linger for long.

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Zarra Travendour@BreathOfTheWoof
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The young Perrench nobleman had achieved much as he puts himself into action to actually help with potentially saving the Lorentine Queen from having her last voyage, in a way undoing the damage that he and a few others had caused with their earlier chaotic actions during the earlier phase of the mission. Taking full advantage of his ability to quickly traverse the ship by phasing in and out of the material realm, he mended the holes that had allowed water to leak in and even fixed and returned the pipe that he had earlier stolen from the engine room back to where it belongs. Of course, using so much of his gift and unique ability as a greyborn in a relatively short span of time didn't come without its own consequences as he is now starting to be exhausted.

Patching the holes did indeed buy them more time to deal with the situation, but for as long as the riot itself remains unstopped it is just a matter of time until more damages and holes will inevitably be made to the ship...

Back to where he started his first act of pipe thievery, the tired Zarra walks through the area with the machinery when he comes upon a group of four rioters. At first, they seem to give him little care as they're too busy trying to find things to pillage. But then, one of the man stops and gives Zarra a good look. The outfit that he is currently wearing marks him as an employee of the ship... And those are not currently seen in a very good light in the eyes of these rioters. Indeed, it is mostly a case of targeting the wrong people considering most of the crews of the ship are common folks just like them but that is currently far from the recognition of their overly zealous minds. "Oy folks, look what we 'ave here. One of them traitors who kowtowed to the Rednitz scums." The man's words cause the three others to stop what they are doing and turn, all focusing on Zarra. "Aye man, sure looks like one to me now that you said it" said one of the other man. The third crack his knuckles, slowly walking toward Zarra with violence in his mind, while the fourth man seems to think that surely his three friends are enough to rough up a ship crew as he continues to look for things to pillage.

Things, it seems, refuse to be so simple.

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Manfred Hohenfelter@Force and Fury
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Wary of another fight when there are so many lives that can be saved instead, Manfred decides to go on ahead with his crazy idea. He starts to talk instead with the traveler agents facing him. "This isn't the time for petty fights" he starts. "Not when hundreds of lives are on the line unless this madness is stopped. Unless WE stop this." The Magusjaeger keeps staring straight at the agents, unyielding in his gaze. Yet he had also made his intention very clear and extended to them an offer: To cease on the fighting between those with the gifts, instead using those gifts to save lives. The agents remain silent for a while. The Powergazer, despite his covered eyes, seems as if he is returning Manfred gaze with a burning one of his own...

And then he relaxes his posture slightly and nods at Manfred. "On that we agree, stranger. This insanity where the innocents are becoming victims of those who misuse their gifts is not what we stands for." He looks at his taller partner and exchange nods with him. "We will work with you."

Perhaps that idea was not so crazy after all. Though he didn't exactly expect that the agents would actually agree to work together, Manfred also doesn't waste any time. There's not even a single moment to be wasted on being surprised after all. "Great" he replies simply before continuing. "Others are already at work to save this ship, and I am sure they will manage." Well, some of them at least... "But still more need to be done... I'm thinking we need to get this ship moving, put it to shore where people will be able to get back no land safely."

"Then we need to get the machinery to work again. I can aid with that." The Powergazer pauses for a moment, as if contemplating something. "But not by myself. We will need others."

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Terror of The Lorentine River, The Schluckodil
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After Zarra had left, a duo of pillagers end up in the kitchen with the tables being used to patch the giant hole. "Where's all the food, man? Surely there's something good here, it's the kitchen." says one of the man, looking through the kitchen cabinets. "Just keep looking, Franz." the other man replies while also searching through the kitchen for something good to eat. "There's definitely gotta be something we can find. Maybe some really good meat or booze, yeah?" The first man nods in agreement as the two continue their search.

A sudden loud thud emerges from somewhere in the walls, causing the two to stop their rummaging about. The first man, Franz, frowns before starting to speak. "Did you hear that? The heck's that? You hear that right?" The other man shrugs, looking agitated. "I don't know, Franz. I heard it alright, but I don't know what the heck that was. Maybe the boat hits something, eh?" In response, Franz looks at his friend like he is mad. "This boat's not moving right now. How can it hit anything if it's not moving?"

And then there is another thud, louder, followed by a third. The two man gaze at the tables being used to cover the big hole, realizing that that is where the thudding are coming from. Though of course, they don't know that there's a hole there. Frowning, Franz moves closer to the tables against his better judgment as the thudding continues. "Maybe, maybe we should just leave Franz. Let's go..." says the other man, getting more and more agitated by the passing seconds. In return, Franz merely raises his left hand as it to tell the other man to be quiet while he continue to approach the tables. As he draws very close to it, the thudding stops as suddenly as it had started. Silent passes for a few seconds... Franz turns around and shrugs at his friend. "Eeeh. Probably just a fish or something. Nothing to be worried about." He chuckles and starts to walk away from the tables again. That is when the tables give away. Franz turns around once more...

He comes face to face with the open jaw of a giant reptile. The other man screams in terror in place of Franz, who doesn't even have the luxury of screaming as the creature devours him whole in short order...

Action Opportunities

1) Concrete actions are being taken that are making it more likely for the Lorentine Queen to survive the night after all, but it is not done yet. The team need to continue with their effort to make sure things doesn't turn for the worse once more.

2) Dory, if she accepts to go with Eun-Ji to try to deal with the fire, will inevitably arrive at the entertainment lounge where Leon is putting on a show. She can decide to keep staying with Eun-Ji or try to help Leon instead.

3) Furthermore, if she decide to continue with Eun-Ji, she and Eun-Ji will also stumble upon Manfred and Seer. Those with arcane abilities such as Dory can help them with the ship's machinery.

4) The furious heckler that is challenging Leon will need to be handled one way or the other. He might even be used to the team's advantage instead in attracting even more people to watch the banter instead of rampaging through the boat.

5) There are indeed several riot 'leaders' among the rabbles. The more of these that are swayed to help stop the chaos, the easier it will be to ultimately completely put an end to the riot.

6) Fires still remain around the ship, getting worse by the each passing moment. There are those among the people onboard the ship that are trying to extinguish these fires, but they will need help to successfully do so.

7) A Schluckodil had breached its way through the giant hole in the kitchen in the lower deck. Needless to say, it is a very dangerous creature to be let loose.

8) If the Lorentine Queen can be moved, there is an opportunity to beach it or even dock it. However, the violence on the ship may spill out onto shore, meeting up with the violence there and becoming a problem for House Rednitz, masters of this area.

9) If all else fails, there are still those few rowboats that can be used to get some people back to shore.

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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Lorentine Queen | Nighttime
Carmillia@Animus | Zarra@BreathOfTheWoof | Dory@Jasbraq | Manfred@Force and Fury | Leon@Jumbus | Seung Eun-Ji

She dances. Moonlight sparkles against the slow, muddy waters of the Lorentz, turning them into something better for a flicker of time. Carmillia takes Leon’s proffered hard and the two of them sway in a brief, slow waltz to music that exists mostly in their heads. Pressed close against each other in the confined space of the rear verandah, the two are clearly in conversation, though anyone listening from without would be hard pressed to pick out the precise words exchanged.

Zarra, meanwhile, has led Dorothea into the hold, both out of a concern for her safety and his own fidgety need to not be idle. Then, they uncover it: the lyre or… rather, a lyre. The craftsmanship is breathtaking: smooth, lacquered wood in a sweeping avian design and tasteful gold leaf accents. The Perrenchman picks the instrument up and is able to play a handful of notes on it. They reverberate through the cluttered space with the most beautiful sound, but there doesn’t appear to be any magical effect. He and Dory glance at each other, a similar thought perhaps coming to both simultaneously: What does a holy lyre actually look like? What does it actually do?

However, while some are dancing, swept up in an idyllic Malabash summer of revelry, and others’ eyes sparkle with the thrill of discovery, the majority of the ship’s passengers are fighting for their very lives. The anger that the Traveler’s agents stoked was co-opted by the six students, or at least some among them, and then used effectively but selfishly to buy them time to complete one part of their mission. What exists now is nothing short of a riot. People are fighting and many don’t know why. Some simply attack those who attacked them. Others expected a Leon Solaire appearance and instead found a group of angry political agitators trying to shove them out of the way. Alcohol and anger are a potent mix. There are those who are genuinely revolutionary, and others who are simply taking the opportunity to pilfer. Whatever their motivations, perhaps the saddest part is that no nobles - or almost no nobles - have been harmed in the making of this revolt. Aside from the captain, an officer or two, and the ship’s engine room arcanists, the only nobility on board are some of the students. Common people are beating and killing common people so that six youths from a school for elite magic users can sneak away with an item of cargo from the ship.

The violence spills across all decks of the technological marvel that is the Lorentine Queen. An officer, trying in vain to calm down a group of six rioters, fires his pistol into the crowd and gets rushed and torn to shreds. A second, seeking some sort of… his motivations are unclear, unleashes his kinetic magic into the mob. Human bodies are ragdolled into tables, walls, and support beams. A table leg is launched into the wall with such force that it punctures the wooden hall and cold, muddy water starts to pour in. An entire plank peels loose with a crackling groan and the water pours in faster! The smell of smoke fills the air ever thicker as oil lamps crash to the carpet and the wooden deck. Panic, increasing shouts and screams as people grow frightened with those not rioting attempting to flee the destruction wrought by others. A holy man hurrying along as he makes the sign of the pentad, "Oraff keep us, enlighten us Shune, Dami guide us so we don't greet you soon!". Whilst some of the fires are put out by the nascent flooding, others travel upwards, licking at wood and wallpaper and growing, billowing out with waves of heat. At this rate, the ship is going to sink.

It is finally enough to interrupt Carmillia and Leon, who had been dancing as the world burnt around them. The severity of the situation can no longer be missed or misinterpreted by Zarra, Dory, or any of the others except by willful ignorance. Indeed, Eun-Ji, frustrated with the near-complete lack of attention to teamwork and mission objectives, has used her magic to send water clones out and retrieve the team’s various members. Manfred proves momentarily preoccupied. As a couple of rioters swing at him, he is forced to defend himself, using the butt of his rifle and his skills as a Kastang practitioner. Zarra, when he emerges, will be a likely target as well with his staff uniform. In any event, they all find Eun-Ji - or rather magic that looks like her - appearing in front of them, urging them to collective action of a sort.

It was not at all an easy feat for Eun-Ji to create multiple water clones and then control their movements with precision. Still, she had to try. Liquid manipulation was her specialty after all and with the ship taking in water, there was no better time to use it. She used some of the water that leaked into the boat to sculpt them, two human-shaped bodies of water around the same size as herself. Applying the final touch in the form of illusion, she sent them; one to the cargo hold and one in search of Leon and Carmillia. Meanwhile, the real Eun-Ji attempted to hold back the flow of water that had poured into where she, Manfred, and the six commoners were located. It took everything she had to perform all these simultaneously, and she most definitely cannot keep it up indefinitely.

The clone that went to the cargo hold arrived first, stopping from ‘her’ run in front of Zarra and Dory. ”We need you both” the clone seemingly said to them as the image of Eun-Ji moved its mouth. Her words and tone were polite as ever despite the frustration she hid in herself. ”It was a smart decision to go here to seek safety, but we need you both. Everything is going very out of control and this ship might really end up sinking, taking countless lives with it. We need everyone if we are to deal with this crisis. As soon as Ms. Hohnstein is well enough to act, please join me and Manfred outside. It is time to coordinate and actually start working together.” Eun-Ji’s image over the humanoid body of water disappeared then, followed by the water itself losing cohesion and splashing down into the ground.

Finding Leon and Carmillia took slightly more time, although it wasn’t particularly difficult to surmise where Leon would go after his boombastic performance. The clone found the two just as they finished their dance in the covered verandah. ”Mr. Solaire, Ms. Carbonneau, you are both needed. It is quite likely now that this ship is going to sink if we do not act. There are holes on the ship that need to be patched up, fires have broken out and are threatening to spread wildly. But most importantly, this chaos needs to be controlled. Otherwise, countless lives will likely be lost. Please, do whatever it is that you think can help. All of us need to work together if we are to manage this situation.” With her message spoken, this clone too dispersed, returning back to only water that flowed back to the river. All the while, just as the clone of Eun-Ji had spoken, the chaos continued to spread.

It is amidst this chaos that a lyre flies through the air. It is a pretty instrument, though some simply seek to destroy it. One among them, however, seems to recognize illusion for what it is. A tall man with a beard and a bandanna, he plucks it gracefully from the air. This was not the revolution that he came here for. This has been corrupted and co-opted by bad faith actors, and he scowls. Nonetheless, he feels some small sense of solace that he has succeeded in procuring the Lyre of Ipte-Zept for those who wish to change this world for the better.

“Help! Eshiran spare us!” a woman shouts, and he turns. She is sheltering against the gunwale with two small children, shielding them with her body as a pair of enraged labourers brawl with a member of staff. What the hell are children doing in a floating casino? One of the labourers - a huge man - is pushed off balance and starts to stumble into the trio. The Traveler’s agent acts, pushing him to the side with a rudimentary kinetic shove. It isn’t a school that he’s good with. He is and always has been an arcanist, like his fellow agent of change: Seer. He nods at the woman and she nods back, but the situation is critical. He staggers away, looking for a secluded place where he can speak the signal words and he and his partner can be extracted. Yet, his conscience burns. Some violence is necessary. Some death is inevitable, and he has never shirked from that, but hundreds of common people, spurred to violence, their motives used and twisted, are going to die here if he and Seer do nothing. He begins drawing from the fires, quenching them, and expelling the energy as he can to prevent people from harming each other. There needs to be a more concrete solution, though: a more permanent one. Perhaps his arcane abilities can be put to better use.

Manfred has dealt with his immediate threats and he, too, has started to think of uttering the words of extraction that he and Eun-Ji were entrusted with. Yet… can he really just leave hundreds to perish? Slipping out of the rear gambling area, ravaged as it is, he asks her for an update on where the others are and if she’s found them. His eyes scan the river and the shore. If they could just get the ship moving again, they could beach or maybe even dock it. Manfred lacks the skill to run the engines, though, and not only are they damaged, but two of the arcanists are down for the count, one as a result of his action.

It is then that he comes face to face with a tall, bearded man with a frighteningly intense gaze. A bandanna is tied around his head. There is a second, shorter man in his shadow and his bandanna covers his eyes: a powergazer. Manfred prepares to fight but, first, he opens his mouth to speak, another - albeit crazy - idea hitting him.

Action Opportunities

1) The Lorentine Queen is still salvageable, but people will need to act immediately, this cycle, in a coordinated fashion, to prevent the sinking.

2) There are three separate holes in the ship at this point, of varying degrees of severity. These need to be managed to prevent out-of-control flooding.

3) There are many small fires that need to be put out. In particular, wallpaper burns very well and the fire cannot be allowed to consume it en masse.

4) Ultimately, this ship needs to be brought to shore. Two of the ship’s arcanists remain, somewhere out there, as well as two arcane-specced Traveler’s agents, as well as Dory and Leon, who have some abilities with Arcane. Leon, however, is nearly out of juice.

5) There are a few rowboats, but ships in this place and time do not come equipped with a full complement of liferafts.

6) If the Lorentine Queen can be moved, there is an opportunity to beach it or even dock it. However, the violence on the ship may spill out onto shore, meeting up with the violence there and becoming a problem for House Rednitz, masters of this area.

7) Any sort of illusion or internal chemical magic to have a calming effect would be of great value in this situation: both on the rioters, those not rioting but terrified, and on the three factions (arcanists/crew, students, and Traveler’s agents) who have the power to prevent disaster.

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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Lorentine Queen, Main Deck | Nighttime
Carmillia@Animus | Zarra@BreathOfTheWoof | Dory@Jasbraq | Manfred@Force and Fury | Leon@Jumbus | Seung Eun-Ji

The battle against the Traveler Agents had pretty much ended, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the defeat of the agents. The odds were not in their favor after all, considering that they had to fight against five with only two people on their side. Thus for now the threats that they represented seemed safe to ignore as Zealous lied dead, Evanescence severely injured and unconscious from Hilde's explosion, and Forceful knocked out from the kick to his lineage preserving nuts by Zarra and the kinetic strike Eun-Ji applied on him afterwards. Now, the focus of the action had shifted to the performance of Leon Solaire who emerged from the Cargo Hold as identical triplets each holding a seeming copy of the much hallowed Lyre of Ipte.

With purpose and the self-interest that had always strongly motivated herself, Carmillia moved first during the brief moment of confusion that was followed by their seeming Arcane Mage allies starting to move to chase Leon. Even before Hilde ordered a chase of the famed performer, Carmillia already moved to chase after him by her own initiative; one whom motivations were likely misunderstood by the Arcane Mages who still thought of her as their allies. She caught up and then attempted to grab the shoulders of the three Leons, only to found out that she phased right through them, her hands catching nothing but air. Fortunately, whatever magic it was that Leon had used to make three copies of himself did not come trapped like she worried of, it merely made her stumble slightly from the momentum as the three Leons continued on and on. She then saw as the Leons suddenly accelerated and moved significantly quicker as they reached the middle of the narrow passage to the back of the ship. Just as suddenly, the three Leons briefly looked back while smiling mischievously at Carmillia and the others who were chasing them.

All the while, a figure stood in the doorway leading to the Entertainment Lounge. It was yet again another Leon and he shouted to the fighting crowd inside the lounge in deepened voice; all the while the three other Leons were still moving through the narrow passage towards him. “Ladies and gentlemen! Prepare to be amazed! By the one, the only, Leon Solaire!”. Some of the crowd seemed to stop fighting as their attention was taken by the performer... And then, nothing more. Nothing, as the three Leons caught up to the fourth and they all converged and merged. The four Leons were then the one and only Leon Solaire once more.

More and more of the crowd stopped fighting, many confused and dumbfounded. One, a burly and likely drunk man with a blackened left eye, pointed at Leon with a big goofy smile on his face as if he wasn't just in a fisticuff a few seconds ago. "Heeeey, it's Leon Solaire! This the show I heard you promising, good man?"

He received no verbal answer from the man himself, instead getting a greeting towards him and the others in the crowd in the form of the performer's raised arms. Indeed, the drunk man was about to get the show that Leon had promised; he'll be right in the midst of it even, as several things happened in quick successions: Cluster of marbles apparating on the ground and then another cluster rising into Leon's right hand. A beautiful Lyre thrown from the performer's left hand at unnatural speed and against the laws of physics. Yet another Leon appearing from the left exit of the lounge, moving at unnatural speed and unusual movement pattern, heading for the first Leon. And then the two Leons bowed, their movement speed not synchronized but finishing at the same time anyhow, and all these were finished with an explosion of light and loud noises that covered much of the lounge as the bowing Leons disappeared from sight.

And thus unbeknownst to the other actors involved in the affair of the Lyre, Leon started to rest mercifully undisturbed in the relative safety of the Covered Verandah. For now.

At the same time as when Carmillia overtook the rather slow and overweight Jens Becker in her chase of the three Leons, Manfred also ended up doing something to the poor, unsuspecting Arcanist. Following his threat and admonishing of Zarra, he put his gift to good use by slamming a heavy metal cap from a fallen chandelier to the back of the heavily-built man. The man didn't even have any time except to let out a brief yelp of surprise as he suddenly stopped in his track, wobbled forward a few more steps, and then fell stomach first to the ground from the heavy concussion. It is hard to tell whether the strike had killed him or, as Manfred hoped and if Escheran truly willed it, merely unconscious. Even in the case of the latter, the man might just have to live with a reduced brain capacity... Regardless, Manfred did not stop to check on him as he moved on to follow after Carmillia and Leon.

He was standing a few meters behind Carmillia in the narrow passage leading to the Entertainment Lounge when he also witnessed what Carmillia had seen: Leon performing the finale of his show and then once more disappearing without a trace.

Perhaps it was out of a sense of urgency or perhaps it was because he trusted that a certain ally will have his back, but Manfred indeed did not linger long after taking out Jens Becker. He also did not take heed of the other Arcanist that had witnessed what happened to her ally. Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach let out a gasp as she saw Jens Becker took to the floor after his head was bashed in with the heavy metal cap. She quickly turned her gaze toward Manfred, surmising correctly that it was the young Kerreman soldier who had performed the deed. She and her now fallen comrade had the disadvantage of not truly knowing exactly who were on which side. Regardless, she did not hesitate as she raised her hand in the direction of the Magusjaeger, ready to unleash her fury on him...

Zarra had moved to the corridor, sitting by the unconscious Dory. He was in a foul mood after Manfred had threatened him earlier, and he refused to look at any of his fellow students. His focus was entirely on to the scene happening about 25 meters away from where he sat. He could not really tell for certain that the figure standing at the doorway to the Entertainment Lounge was that of Leon Solaire, and from his location, his line of sight was somewhat blocked to the fact that at that time there were still the three other Leons moving through the narrow passage toward the fourth Leon. What was without doubt was that he was within range to hear of Hilde's gasp of surprise after Jens Becker was floored, but due to his own tunnel focus he did not perceive that the Arcanist was about to attack Manfred.

But even if he had noticed it, would he have moved to help Manfred and stop Hilde considering how angered he was at Manfred? Likely not. Indeed, it was not Zarra that ended up performing a chokehold from behind against the middle-aged Feskan woman.

Eun-Ji had stood calmly in place even after Hilde sounded off the alarm to chase after Leon. She believed in Leon, believed that the Lyre will be safe in his hands. She knew that it was not Leon that she had to keep her eyes on but the Arcane Mages that had became their temporary allies in an uneasy alliance; the alliance that seemed to be at its end. She looked on as Manfred took out one of these short-term allies, her body and mind already prepared to do what she need to upon witnessing the act. In an instant and without hesitation, the Skyborn used her gift to propel herself forward. Like a human cannonball, she tackled Hilde as she was about to attack Manfred, knocking Hilde's breaths out of her. Without skipping any beat, her arms were then on the older woman's neck, and a few moments later Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach joined her comrade in a blissful yet forced embrace of slumber. At least for the middle-aged Feskan woman, hers was without a doubt fortunately going to be a temporary slumber.

Eun-Ji said nothing as she let go of Hilde's motionless, insensate body. Briefly, she looked back at Zarra sitting on the ground beside the unconscious Dory. She was about to turn around to catch up to Manfred and Carmillia when she noticed her fellow student starting to stir; something that Zarra would also notice due to his very close proximity to Dory.

Excellent timing. She mulled in her mind as she calmly moved towards Dory and Zarra and then crouched in front of the former. In Eun-Ji's mind, it was really high time that they all regroup. The cost for splitting up and letting certain members of the group to do their own things had been frankly unacceptable; but perhaps they might still be able to salvage the situation if they start to actually work together as a team. A good degree of team work was the basic of every successful operations that she had went to as a Lotus Sentry, after all, and the same should apply with this ragtag group of biros.

Dory can feel a hand on her left shoulder as she started to stir awake. "Ms. Hohnstein, you're awake. How are you feeling?" It was not an unfamiliar voice to her, although the young Feskan woman was understandable still in a haze considering the rude manner upon which she were induced into unconsciousness by her new lover earlier. She would quickly notice that things around her had suddenly changed considerably, and that she were now lying on the ground with Zarra sitting beside her and Eun-Ji crouched on one knee in front of her. Her gun was no longer in her grasp; it was somewhere around for sure but she would have to search for it.

The one other thing she can remember was that she had attempted to shoot Carmillia, and then was knocked out from behind before she can do so by someone who cannot be anyone else but Manfred.

---

Meanwhile, the situation aboard the Lorentine Queen had truly turned for the worse. Fighting had spread to nearly all parts of the ship now, including in the now unguarded section where the vital machinery of the ship were housed in. Things were being thrown around and broken all over the ship, passengers had been thrown overboard, some in a state of lifelessness. At the current rate, it was very likely that the Lorentine Queen will be sunk before the end of the night, and only a quick and decisive action to stop the chaos will be able to prevent that. Otherwise, this will truly become the Last Voyage of the Lorentine Queen. Many lives will undoubtedly be lost and the massive crocodilian species that is only found around the Lorentine river and its estuary, the schluckodil, will likely be having the human flesh that they were quite fond of for dinner...

---

Overview of the situation:

1. Carmillia: After seeing the three Leons emerging from the Cargo Hold and then running off with their Lyres, she quickly reacted and followed him. She tried to grab their shoulders, but found that she ended up grasping nothing as her hand moved through the Leons without reaction from the performer. She continued to follow after, witnessing from the narrow passage the finale of Leon's performance: him addressing the crowd from the doorway to the Entertainment Lounge, and then the Lyre being thrown into the crowd followed by eruption of bright light throughout the lounge accompanied by loud high-pitched noises while Leon himself had once more disappeared.

2. Leon: Continuing his show using his Signature move, he ended things by showing that he threw the Lyre away to the middle of the crowd in the Entertainment Lounge and then causing the marbles he had put there to erupt all at once, engulfing the lounge in light and noises. Then he seemingly disappeared, although in reality he snuck away to the Covered Verandah on the backmost part of the Main Deck, a place relatively safe from the chaos of the riot. He waited there, tired from the exertion of his performance.

3. Manfred: Noticed that Leon's performance is an illusion. He firmly threatened Zarra that he will not hesitate to kill the noble Perrench boy if he abandoned Dory again. Then, he snuck up on the unsuspecting Jens Becker von Magdeburg, knocking him out cold with a heavy metal cap from a chandelier. He then strode away to follow after Leon, drawing his pair of flintlock pistols. Standing a few meters behind Carmillia, he also witnessed what Leon had done.

4. Zarra: A bit slow on reacting to the developments of the situation, he was threatened by Manfred who felt that the Perrench boy shared a responsibility in leaving Dory alone at the start of the riot. He talked back, not appreciating the threat, but still in the end decided to sit by the unconscious Dory. From his location, he was not able to really perceive well of what happened in the Entertainment Lounge. Owing to him sitting beside her, he noticed as Dory started to stir awake.

5. Eun-Ji: Focused on the objective, she did not feel the need to chase after Leon, believing that her ally will secure the Lyre as per the mission given to them. She quickly reacted and moved however, after seeing that Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach was shocked by Manfred taking out Jens Becker von Magdeburg. As Hilde attempted to attack Manfred, she quickly took the unsuspecting Arcane Mage out of the action by applying a chokehold on her from behind. Afterwards, she stayed behind with Zarra and Dory as the latter started to wake. She did not witness of what Leon had done.

6. Dory: Not aware of what have been happening since Manfred knocked her out a few minutes back, she started to stir awake with Zarra sitting beside her and Eun-Ji addressing her. She can remember that she did not manage to shoot Carmillia and that it was very likely Manfred that had knocked her out.

7. The 4 Arcane Mages:
- Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach: Surprised by Manfred knocking Jens Becker out then quickly recovered by trying to attack him. Not quick enough however, as Eun-Ji knocked her out in turn.
- Jens Becker von Magdeburg: As he focused on trying to chase after the Leons, he was knocked out by a surprise attack from Manfred.
- Arne Voller von Meckelinburg-Kahler and Heinrich Wengeman von Glusdorf-Brandenstrass: Status unknown.

8. The Traveler agents:
- Evanescent the Internal Chemist: Defeated by Hilde and Carmillia, she suffered from serious injury due to the explosion cast by Hilde. Unconscious, but alive.
- Forceful the Kinetic Mage: Still knocked out and likely not waking up anytime soon.
- Zealous the Blood Mage: Dead. Still decomposing slowly.
- Seer the Magnetic Mage & Firebrand the Arcane Illusionist: Status unknown.

*For more details on the Traveler Agents and the Four Arcane Mages, please check the Discord server under the Mission-HQ channel.

Critical Situation:

It is now the final moments. If the chaos remains as it is, the Lorentine Queen will very likely be sunk, and thus one part of the team's mission objective will end up in failure. Time is of the essence, and the team does not have it on their side if they wanted to stop this from happening.

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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_♪

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Lorentine Queen, Main Deck, Outside of Cargo Hold | Nighttime
Carmillia@Animus | Zarra@BreathOfTheWoof | Dory@Jasbraq | Manfred@Force and Fury | Leon@Jumbus | Seung Eun-Ji

The fight continued on. With the Arcane Mages in an uneasy alliance with them, things were slowly but surely turning in favor of the students; at least in so far as defeating the Traveler's agents were concerned. As for the Lyre, that will be a complication of its own to handle. Obviously enough, it will be very unlikely for these temporary allies of theirs to appreciate it if the students were to try to take the Lyre for themselves. As for the moment though, the battle took priority for all sides involved.

Slightly away from the center of the fight itself, within the corridor, a tense situation were defused by the decisive action of Manfred Hohenfelter von Meckelin-Thandau. It was not a decision he made lightly, but as painful as it was, something he believed will be for the best in the end. With one smooth and precise strike of his hand, he knocked his own lover out. It was done so skillfully that Dory only had a split second to feel a sharp pain on her neck before passing out cold, going limp with the gun she aimed at Carmillia falling from her hand. Fortunately it did not went off as it fell and clattered on the wooden floors of the corridor, and now with her unconscious figure being held by Manfred, one of the crisis faced by the team had been solved.

Of course, there will likely be a lot to solve later on a personal level between the individuals involved in causing Dory to be so distressed that she took such an extreme action, but it will be most wise to keep that for later indeed.

Surprised, Jens Becker von Magdeburg stopped in his tracks as he watched Manfred knock Dory out cold. He observed them both for a moment, not entirely sure yet that this wasn't a ploy to fool him. This doubt was erased as Manfred looked him straight in the eyes, telling him that his intervention is not required. Whether it be because of his own instinct or the way Manfred conducted himself or both, Jens Becker surmised that this was no trick, and that the gun-holding girl had truly been knocked out cold by the man before him. "Very well..." he said simply as he raised both hands briefly and nodded at Manfred before backing off.

Evanescence continued with her assault, shifting her focus on Hilde. She had pegged Carmillia as the least of the threat due to how helpless she looked, and thus believed that her Internal Chemical attack on the Perrench women will be enough to take her out of the fight. That was soon proven to be a mistake. Just as she was about to launch a more powerful Internal Chemical carnage on Hilde, she felt a sudden bout of vertigo affecting her. "What the-?" she muttered as she shook her head. Unsurprisingly, she quickly identified it for what it was; an Internal Chemical magic affecting herself. Just as quickly, she worked on purging the effects from her system while her eyes searched for the perpetrator, finding her gaze landing back on Carmillia. She frowned in anger, hissing.

"Oh you little bit-" was all that Evanescence managed to spout out of her mouth before a powerful explosion of heat struck her squarely on the torso. The brief time of distraction caused by Carmillia was more than enough for Hilde to build up and fire off an explosion of sufficient intensity against Evanescence, throwing her back violently as she slammed to the wall at the other end of the room. The Traveler agent slumped to the floors face first, the scent of burnt fabric and flesh emanating from her. Hilde watched on for a brief moment. When Evanescence didn't rise back up, she let out a satisfied huff and looked over at Carmillia, nodding her head in approval. "Much appreciated, young lady. I think that solved that annoying little problem, hmm?"

The last bout of action within the room came from the pair of Kineticists continuing to engage in intense contest of both martial prowess and Kinetic Magic expertise. For the latter, Forceful proved able to match his opponent, each performing a rapid series of drawing and casting of Kinetic enhancements one after another to keep the empowered physical fights going. For the former however, the Traveler agent realized rather quickly that he was out of his depth. He was trained in Kastäng pretty well. He liked to think of himself as a pretty good practitioner of the martial arts, even. Still, it wasn't enough. Not compared to the degree of training that his Tan Keoulian opponent had received. And thus, he continued finding himself being slowly but surely overpowered despite his significantly more imposing stature.

The last hammer that ended up deciding the bout, however, came not from Eun-Ji but from her allies whom both had a penchant for chaos.

A sudden thud from the trapdoor, followed by 5 seconds of silence. Of this, neither Eun-Ji nor Forceful particularly paid much attention to. They noticed the noise of course, but knew that taking their focus off of their respective opponent was not a wise thing to do. It was what happened afterwards that finally caused them to disengage, separated several meters apart from one another as they looked at the trapdoor to the cargo hold opening once. Then twice. Then thrice. Silently. And to make things even more bizarre, the great performer Leon Solaire came out of the Cargo Hold the same numbers of time. Again, silently.

It looked to be a blessing for Forceful who were about to be completely overwhelmed before all of it happened. Both Eun-Ji and Forceful kept their focus on each other while also watching the bizarre occurrence happening in front of their eyes. Eun-Ji quirked an eyebrow up slightly. It was obvious to her that this must be some sort of illusion performed by her comrade. And yet, it was also definitely not a typical form of illusion.

At first, it was mostly only Eun-Ji and Forceful that were witnesses to the strange show. That changed when the three Leons started waltzing through the room, each holding an instance of the Lyre in their grasps that they seemed to pretend to pluck. "HEY!" Forceful shouted loudly. "The Lyre! He's got the Lyre!"

At this, everyone's attention were caught, including the Arcane Mages. Hilde's eyes widened in surprise. She recognized who Leon was due to his fame, but she couldn't quite understand why there were three Leon Solaires and why they were all holding the Lyres. Forceful hesitated to give chase as the Leons continued to stride through the room, each one making exactly the same set of movements as one another, separated only by about half a second each. He was wary that the moment he moved, Eun-Ji will immediately react to take him down. Yet he knew he needed to make a decision; with Evanescence seemingly downed by Hilde with Carmillia's help, it was all up to him to secure the Lyre for the Traveler.

It was not easy for him however, as the magical show made him doubt his own sight, if not his sanity. What the heck is the deal with the marble? What in hells is happening here?? puzzled the Kineticist in his mind. Am I the only one seeing all these? Did someone messed with my mind? As Forceful was contemplating all of it, the Leons then 'attacked' him with a poorly aimed blast of fire. By reflex, he jumped back, not immediately realizing that no heat can be felt from the flame.

Eun-Ji immediately took advantage of Forceful's reaction towards Leon's fake fire; she can immediately identify them as nothing more than Arcane illusion. Thus she sprinted right through the fire, enhanced by Kinetic magic and ready to finish the fight with a fatal stab from her dagger. In that moment, Forceful realized his mistake, eyes widened as he looked upon the death rapidly approaching him.

A split second later, he found out that death felt quite different from what he was expecting. He most definitely didn't expect it to be so painful to his pair of cojones. In reality, what he felt was not death for him but for several billions of his precious life seeds that just got killed by extreme blunt trauma induced by Kinetic-enhanced kick, courtesy of the Greyborn that had reappeared behind him. While it was doubtlessly unlucky for his microscopic brothers, it can be argued that this ended up being lucky for Forceful himself, as Zarra's sudden reappearance surprised even Eun-Ji for just a split second.

"AEEEEEEEEEGHH!" her opponent shouted in agonizing pain as his hands flew to his own nether regions. It was cut short when Eun-Ji delivered a Kinetic-empowered jab to his neck. The surprise from Zarra's reappearance and the sudden shift in Forceful's posture, brief as it was, had caused her to reflexively struck Forceful with her empty left hand instead of the dagger in her right hand. Forceful slumped down, still holding his pulverized man-sacks, knocked out cold but alive. Lucky for him. Eun-Ji blinked once, looking down at her knocked out opponent and then at Zarra. She nodded politely at the Greyborn after another second of silence as a sign that she appreciated the assistance regardless of whether it was actually necessary or not. The result was still that the opponent was out of the fight, and that was good for them all.

"After him!" a shout from Hilde suddenly sounded through the air. She didn't understand what the Leons were doing, but when she saw that he continued to dance away with the Lyre in his hands, she simply couldn't take the risk of allowing it. It was part of her job to protect the cargo hold and the items within it, and she'd be damned to let someone take off with part of the cargo, even if that person was Leon Solaire(s) himself. Hilde didn't wait for the others to move, immediately taking off to chase after the Leons. Jens Becker did the same after hearing his comrade shouted, racing after the Leons as they ran through the corridor.

Thus once more, as if practically his natural calling to be the center of attention, all eyes were on to the famed performer and his magical show. Except there were three of him this time, each holding a Lyre and all doing exactly the same moves separated by about half a second each as they reached the other end of the corridor...

---

Overview of the situation:

1. Manfred: Knocked Dory out with a well-placed chop to her carotid artery, averting potential disaster. Currently holding the unconscious Dory, he saw the three Leons briefly reaching out as if wanting to help with Dory before they then continued to dance away pass him and Dory.

2. Dory: Knocked out cold by Manfred, probably for the best. Still, she would be able to easily figure out that it was Manfred that had knock her out. Regardless, her safety now lies in the hands of her allies.

3. Carmillia: Negated the effects of Evanescence's Internal Chemical attack on herself, and then counter attacked with her own Internal Chemical Magic to cause vertigo on Evanescence. Saw the three Leons danced pass with their Lyres.

4. Leon: Used one of his signature moves, Fantasia Act 1, to cause a rather complex sort of magical confusion to allies and enemies alike. Three instances of himself strode and danced across the area, last seen continuing through the other end of the corridor, about to enter the narrow passage that runs through the middle of the ship. After Evanescence was seemingly defeated and Forceful knocked out, everyone's attentions are now on to him as the three Leons are openly carrying their Lyres away.

5. Zarra: Phased back in to corporeality and gave Forceful a good Kinetic-enhanced kick between his legs, forcefully threatening the integrity of the agent's virile potency. Ironically, this saved the agent's life at the sacrifice of billions of his fallen unseen brothers.

6. Eun-Ji: Very briefly surprised by Zarra's sudden reappearance and kick to Forceful's nether regions, but quickly adapted and took advantage of it to take Forceful out of the fight.

7. The 4 Arcane Mages:
- Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach: Took advantage of Carmillia's assistance to attack Evanescence, throwing her back and knocking her out with an explosion. Shouted for everyone to chase after the Leons.
- Jens Becker von Magdeburg: In response to Hilde's shout, he started to chase after the Leons, thinking of him as one of the Traveler's agents due to the three instances of him holding the Lyres and dancing away.
- Arne Voller von Meckelinburg-Kahler and Heinrich Wengeman von Glusdorf-Brandenstrass: Status unknown.

8. The Traveler agents:
- Evanescent the Internal Chemist: Counter attacked by Carmillia with Internal Chemical magic. Quickly purged the effects, but the brief moment was enough for Hilde to blast her with an explosion that threw her back and took her down to the ground. Seemingly, taken out of the action.
- Forceful the Kinetic Mage: Got kicked in the precious family jewels by Zarra, allowing Eun-Ji to easily knock him out as he doubled over in pain.
- Zealous the Blood Mage: Dead. And positively decomposing.
- Seer the Magnetic Mage & Firebrand the Arcane Illusionist: Status unknown.

9. Rioters and Revelers: Currently engaging in a brutal chaotic brawl in and on much of the Main Deck and parts of the 1st Cabin Deck. The spread of the chaos is gaining momentum.

*For more details on the Traveler Agents and the Four Arcane Mages, please check the Discord server under the Mission-HQ channel.

Advent of the Dawn —A Mecha Musume/Tokusatsu-Inspired RP

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Respite

Sydney Harbor | Daytime
@PKMNB0Y

Teodora had separated from Elise after they returned to the airship's engineering bay together to return their respective Chi-Mechframe. Elise's Selene looked to be in significantly worse state compared to the much or less undamaged Supplice, what's with Selene having a large hole on one of its wings courtesy of the Warped's curving homing laser. "Guess we won't be out to sortie again for a bit then. But hey, looking at it positively, that means more time to rest and prepare!" she said as she left Elise with the engineers, giving her fellow pilot one last hand wave as she did so.

Still in her pilot suit, she took a bit of time after that to wind down by looking out of the ship through one of the indoor observation bays, enjoying the quiet and the rather pleasant sight. If only there aren't any Warpeds around, this would just be like any other peaceful day, huh?... she mused silently. Her time in the observation bay didn't last long however, as she soon received a notification that her presence had been requested in the command room. Thus, with one more deep breath and a sigh, she left the observation bay and headed where she needed to be.

Elise was already there when she arrived, along with Ms. Morrison. She gave them both a nod with a smile on her face, then her eyes flicked toward the screen showing the drones footage. "Indeed, Ms. Morrison. Rest, and preparations. We pretty much lost the first round to that creature, after all... But at least we've now seen some of its tricks and behaviors." Then she listened to Morrison's words and mirrored Elise's response to it. "Understood, maam. Nightfall, huh. Perfect, lots of time to both rest and prepare then."

My, jellyfish-based... That explained the transparency and the ridiculously fast regeneration... she mused internally at the piece of information. "I wonder what would the best way to take it down... Oh you know, maybe it have something to do with those... orb things that were swimming inside its body. Like its cores of some sort?" she looked at Elise and then Morrison after saying that, wondering if they had similar idea with her about the orbs being the creature's weakness.

The Hourglass Order

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L O R E N T I N E Q U E E N

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Complications

Lorentine Queen, Main Deck, Outside of Cargo Hold | Nighttime
Carmillia@Animus | Zarra@BreathOfTheWoof | Dory@Jasbraq | Manfred@Force and Fury | Seung Eun-Ji

The most dangerous of all the mages present had been slain, impaled by the sharp end of a makeshift javelin made by Zarra using the pipe he stole from the engine room. Zealous might have been a Blood mage, but even one of his kind remained vulnerable to rapid exsanguination. Still, two adversaries remained for the team to overcome, and things had just been made more complex with the arrival of more unexpected complications: Internal conflict sparked between supposed comrades. Dory, feeling that she had been betrayed, was aiming her gun right at Carmillia. And then, Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach and Jens Becker von Magdeburg. Two of the four Arcane mages assigned to work the engine of the boat and with the protection of the cargo hold, witnessing all of these transpire in front of their eyes.

Evidently, the team were not out of the fire just yet, and things may very well still turn for the worse.

One of the Arcane mages, Hilde, took on the initiative. She strode forward followed by her fellow Arcanist, warily passing Eun-Ji and Carmillia to take a peek into the room. This elicited a barely repressed gasp from the middle aged Feskan woman, who then swiftly turned around to address the students present in the vicinity. Seeing the significant differences of heritage among them, she defaulted to speaking in Avincian; hoping, correctly, that they will all be able to understand her. "What happened here? Who are you people and what are you doing here? Answer, truthfully. Please." her last word were said with an emphasis that made it very clear that she will not hesitate to take serious actions nor will she tolerate any mishap. Jens Becker von Magdeburg, keeping silent with a grave frown on his face, were similarly ready to act.

This all happened before Eun-Ji could even comment on Camillia's announcement that the repression of the riot had failed. She understood very well the volatility of the situation. Three things all needing immediate attention: The remaining traveler agents that were likely to recover very soon, the inquiry by the Feskan mage, and a mad-looking Dory aiming her gun at Carmillia with serious intent to harm or even kill. Meanwhile, Zarra had disappeared by performing his Greyborn trick again and Leon was still nowhere in sight.

A split second later, she made her decision. With a calm expression, Eun-Ji looked straight at Manfred's eyes. Then, briefly flicked her gaze to Dory before looking at Manfred again. It was subtle, yet she can only hope that it will be enough for the Kerreman youth to understand that she were asking him to stop Dory from doing anything rash. With that, she turned her head to look at Hilde while allowing Carmillia to continue taking cover behind her. "I believe those mages inside tried to force entry into the cargo hold, miss. We saw them attacking those guards that are lying in there, attempting to kill them. We, in turn, attempted to aid the guards to stop those mages." Replying also in Avincian, she said her words while maintaining her usual politeness and calmness, adding a respectful nod at the significantly older woman to her motion.

"That so." Hilde responded shortly. Eun-Ji's words were the truth, but she had no guarantee that Hilde and Jens will believe her. The Feskan woman began to contemplate her words while maintaining her cautious demeanor, taking a sweeping look at each of them until her gaze landed on Dory. She frowned. "If you spoke the truth... Then, what of those two?"

It was not a good look for Dory and by extension Manfred. After all, if Eun-Ji and Carmillia helped with fighting off the supposed robber mages, then Dory pointing a gun at Carmillia with obvious hostility made it seemed like she was a comrade of those robber mages. An unspoken understanding passed between the two Arcane mages and Jens Becker von Magdeburg took a few steps forward toward Dory and Manfred, his intense and severe gaze focused on Dory. "Don't do anything stupid, girl." he warned as he slowly and carefully continued his advance.

Before anything further can happen however, both the Arcane mages and the students can all feel a significant buildup of magical energies coming from the room beyond the doorway. A loud, furious shriek resounded through the area. Its origin being Evanescent, the Chemical mage that had stood back up. Pure fury transfixed on her visage, she glared murder at Eun-Ji and Carmillia. "You... You bastards killed him! H-he was my friend! OUR comrade!" she shouted in Perrench. "By the Traveler, you will pay for this, you insects!"

"Traveler's agents! So it's true!" shouted Hilde as she immediately reacted in return. She gave a brief but sharp look at Eun-Ji and Carmillia, as if telling them to prove that they were truly here to help with the defense of the cargo hold.

Immediately after, the agent launched her attacks. The table she were taking cover with before, significantly empowered with Kinetic magic, were flung at Carmillia, Eun-Ji, and indirectly also Hilde. Without letting up, Carmillia can also feel her vision going hazy along with a dreadful sense of nausea assaulting her from within; very obviously the effect of Internal Chemical magic being done upon her. The other traveler agent, Forceful the Kinetic mage, had also returned to his feet. With a mighty shout, he jumped forward toward Carmillia and Eun-Ji, body empowered by Kinetic magic.

Hilde reached her right hand out in reaction, and the table were blown apart into two by a small but measured explosion, the two separated pieces flying pass Eun-Ji, Carmillia, and Hilde before each slamming with a loud thud to the walls.

Eun-Ji drew from the momentum created by the explosion itself, enhanced herself with Kinetic magic, and then disappeared in a blur. This was very quickly followed by a loud booming sound as her right feet collided with Forceful's left hand which he had used to shield himself. The two were then engaged in a battle between martial-focused Kinetic mages, each attempting to draw from the others' momentum while exchanging Kinetic-empowered strikes back and forth. Forceful focused his effort on attempting to grapple Eun-Ji, while Eun-Ji herself kept on the defensive while looking for an opening to thrust the dagger she held in her right hand at a fatal point, keeping to the principles of the Seun-Chi-Go style of martial art. Those perceptive or experienced enough in the arts of combat would notice that the flow of battle was slowly but surely swinging in favor of Eun-Ji as Forceful grew desperate with each and every one of his attacks being parried and misdirected by his much smaller yet far more agile opponent.

As for Zarra? Taking advantage of his nature as a Greyborn had allowed him to remain undetected by both allies and enemies in the chaos of the battle, both sides focusing on those targets that they were able to perceive instead of the one who had vanished out of corporeality. The situation was seemingly in his favor to act with the luxury of the element of surprise by his side.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to any of them, four more mages were engaged in battle. Seer and Firebrand, comrades of Evanescent and Forceful, had noticed Arne Voller von Meckelinburg-Kahler and Heinrich Wengeman von Glusdorf-Brandenstrass enroute to the cargo hold and had decided to stop them from meddling with the effort of their allies. Among the chaos of the riot, which had now spread throughout almost the entirety of the Middle Deck and even to the 1st Cabin Deck above, the four mages were engaged in a lethal dance of death where only two or one of them will walk out of with their lives...

---

Lorentine Queen, Cargo Hold
Leon@Jumbus

Close from it all and yet at the same time removed from them, the world famous performer stood alone within the cargo hold. He can hear all of it, the chaos around him slowly spreading throughout the riverboat. Tonight might very well become known as the Last Voyage of the Lorentine Queen... And there he was, at the center of it all with the real reason; the object that had incited all these chaos. Once more, he was in a way the star of the show. Yet for now, he was without an audience in sight. It was fine, of course...

“Fantasia!”

...Because his show for the night had just about to truly began with the magic word uttered from his lips.

---

Overview of the situation:

1. Eun-Ji: Engaged with Forceful within the room housing the trapdoor to the cargo hold. Seemingly getting the upper hand in a direct physical Kinetic-empowered duel against her opponent.

2. Carmillia: Standing at the doorway leading to the room. Assaulted by Evanescent's Internal Chemical magic that caused her to feel a very bad sense of nausea within herself while at the same time causing her vision to turn hazy.

3. Zarra: Phased out of corporeality. Not currently the focus of attention of neither allies nor enemies, he have the element of surprise to perform his next action.

4. Dory: With a mad look on her face, is aiming her gun at Carmillia. Jens Becker von Magdeburg is slowly approaching her.

5. Manfred: Standing with Dory. Eun-Ji subtly implored for him to make sure that Dory will not do anything rash. Action to be decided by Force and Fury.

6. Leon: Alone in the cargo hold. About to begin his own plan for the Lyre.

7. The 4 Arcane Mages: Currently, they look to be in a wary and uneasy alliance with the students.
- Hilde Arnsberg von Regensbach: Used her specialization into explosive magic to perform a small but highly effective explosion to destroy the table thrown by Evanescent.
- Jens Becker von Magdeburg: Slowly and carefully approaching Dory and Manfred with his focus being on Dory. His intention is actually to disarm her.
- Arne Voller von Meckelinburg-Kahler and Heinrich Wengeman von Glusdorf-Brandenstrass: Outside, on the open air section of the Main Deck. Engaged in a lethal two-against-two duel with Seer and Firebrand.

8. The Traveler agents:
- Evanescent the Internal Chemist: Threw a table at Carmillia, Eun-Ji, and Hilde using telekinesis, and then performed an Internal Chemical magic assault on Carmillia.
- Forceful the Kinetic Mage: Engaged in a losing Kinetic magic duel against Eun-Ji.
- Zealous the Blood Mage: Dead. Skewered on the neck with a makeshift javelin by Zarra.
- Seer the Magnetic Mage & Firebrand the Arcane Illusionist: Outside, on the open air section of the Main Deck. Engaged in a lethal two-against-two duel with Seer and Firebrand.

9. Guards: Both the swordsman and the muscular guard are now unconscious. Seemingly still alive.

10. Rioters and Revelers: Currently engaging in a brutal chaotic brawl in and on much of the Main Deck and part of the 1st Cabin Deck. The spread of the chaos is gaining momentum.

*For more details on the Traveler Agents and the Four Arcane Mages, please check the Discord server under the Mission-HQ channel.

The Friestan Incident, a Fantasy Sci-Fi Fusion RP

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Alien Technology

Dragonspine Mountains, Great Table, Thucydides | Evening
@Kumbaris

Some of the adventurer party, like Srikandi, might indeed be nervous about entering the very bizarre looking gigantic vehicle. As for Anki, however... While she were initially apprehensive about the entire affairs due to how badly the diplomatic part of it had unfolded, the feeling was quickly replaced by curiosity. Her gaze (and her head, as she continued with her habit of rotating it freely up to a full 180 degrees instead of moving her body around) went all over the place as she examined all the very much foreign, nay, alien looking technologies inside the ship. ".... How curious" she mumbled, as she walked closer to a wall lined with cables and all other greeble-like parts filling it. She raised her scepter, softly thudding it against the wall, eliciting the clanking sound typically resulting from metal hitting metal. This was followed with her free hand touching the wall before she then softly whispered an arcane incantation, casting a small Geomancy spell typically used to identify earthly elements and materials.

The result of the scrying, unsurprisingly, showed familiar materials like steel and rubber, but also others that were not so familiar. "Unknown materials. Intriguing." she mumbled to herself. She had half a mind to take apart some pieces of the wall to bring with herself, but also realized that these strangers will likely not appreciate that one bit. With a nod, again directed at herself, she decided to just ask questions about it later to these people. They promised to treat her and her party members as equals, after all. If these strangers wanted information about this world that's foreign to them, then it should be only fair that they too be open to giving Anki and her comrades information about themselves.

Whether this will prove true or not yet remain to be seen. And how these people act, Anki decided, will show whether or not they were truly worthy of any shred of trust at all. For now, she nodded simply at Almira regarding following her to her "Captain's Quarters."

Of course, despite Almira's words, she kept her scepter with her instead of unsummoning it. Ur Terra leaned casually on her left shoulder, ready to be used at all times.