I am working on the last update for Episode Two now. After discussion with my Co-GM, we determined you guys have done enough for some skill rewards. Please edit these into your CS's before this post here reaches Day 8. I have noted in parenthesis where the skill should go on your CS.
The Witch Country: November 5th, 12,508 - 10:40 PM
Asha had been about to leave, but what Fleur had said interested her. She could admire that way of thinking - taking up arms against an unjust system, demanding to avenge wrongs. The Big Wild Land Over the Ocean ran on vigilante justice to a certain extent. The laws often fell short when it came to doing what was right and punishing those who had sinned. "I wish you luck in your quest, Witch Queen," she told Fleur with a genuine smile. "You would like my country. Perhaps I will show you the Ancient Ways," she mused, before Asha simply walked off and rounded a corner, seemingly vanishing from sight. Fleur wouldn't be able to Sense her having used Magyk or anything, but Asha definitely wasn't there anymore.
It is getting rather late in the Witch Country. In most countries, this would mean that people would be going to bed. But here, it means that the individual covens are likely gathering and preparing fires, dancing and singing and eating the last meal before the Witching Hour approaches. Witches are children of the night, after all - why go to bed so early?
The Small Wet Country Across the Sea: November 5th, 12,508 - 8:40 PM
The Queen's Room - the Palace, the Castle...
As Ahote searched the Queen's room, he would find a few things of interest. There was a golden ring with an emerald gemstone - around which a tiny dragon was wrapped. This was the same ring that Puck had tried to propose to Valda with - what was it doing here in the Queen's Room? It didn't seem like Valda to keep something like that around her, given the man who it used to belong to, so that may strike him as odd. He would have heard stories about Puck and the events of last winter during his time here with the Royals. Ahote will also found a glass shard wrapped in cloth, tucked away in a drawer. Maybe it's something significant - or maybe the Royals are just weird? The noise in the corridors seems to be dying down.
The Keeper's Cottage - Draggen Island, the Marram Marshes...
This time, a diary will stand out to Luna on one of the cluttered bookshelves. The front cover says Propertie of Goldelia HEAP in peeling golden letters. If opened, the text is faded and smudged from either age or carelessness when using the ink. There are a few sketches in there - one of them depicts Luna's maternal grandmother, Queen Kaimana as a young girl. However, there isn't much time for looking through the journal before the ground starts to shake and rumble, as if Draggen Island were about to collapse and sink into the marsh.
Antonije, Myrus, and Violet
Location: the Palace Grounds ( I8, U7, P7) Skills: ExtraOrdinary Magyk, Charms and Spells
You MUST specify where you are on this battle map each time. Red text indicates an evil NPC (vampires in this case). Objects on this map are not necessarily to scale.
Note: -Oliver is the vampire that killed Mavis and initially attacked Myrus, and then bit Amarantha after Antonije tried to control it -Nyx is the second vampire to try to attack Myrus, only to get attacked by Sylvi -I'll be using the vampires names from now on, since they are now randomly generated and listed on the battle map!
As Mona rushed across the grounds to where Prince Myrus and Lennox were fighting the remaining vampires, she nearly trampeled a Palace Guard in the process. Luckily, he was quick enough on his feet that he managed to jump out of the way in time. Mona's marble fell short, missing her intended target (Venus) and instead, the marble hit and killed one of the newborn vampires. If Violet is to be believed, then this likely is for the best - vampirism is a plague, a disease.
Nearby, the decapitated Asphodel obliged to Lennox's deal, thirsting for blood and unable to really procure it now without a body. This was most likely the last drink of his lifetime. Asphodel's voice was raspy and faint, likely due to the loss of vocal chords and the like, but Lennox would be able to understand a few key words - well, two key words really. "...Paid... SnowPlains..."
Myrus' eyes widened slightly. He knew that he wasn't one of the geniuses in the Castle, but he understood Asphodel's meaning perfectly. "Why would the Eastern SnowPlains pay these creatures to attack us on Bonfire Night?" he asked, looking at Lennox for answers. Was that a new military strategy these days? It just made Myrus sick to think about. "Answer my question," he ordered Asphodel, finding a bit of inner strength.
"...Blood..." the head demanded.
The Prince stared at the vampire's head for a moment. His eyes darted over towards Mavis' corpse and he took a deep breath. "Answer the question!" he ordered again, before placing his boot on the forehead of the vampire and he began to shift his weight. If he applied enough pressure, Myrus was thinking he might manage to cause the head to cave in and kill the creature - but right now, he just wanted to threaten.
Somehow guarded from the chaos surrounding them, Antonije was just looking at Sylvi for a moment. He was hesitant to allow her to live like this - was sort of life was that? He wanted her to stay sweet, pure, and innocent - and now, she was becoming a creature of the night. If they both died, then they could be together as ghosts. She wouldn't turn into a vampire. He took a slight breath, about to use his telepathy to kill her, but he just couldn't do it. He couldn't look her in the eyes and kill her as he had killed others before.
"...Then do what you need," he told her quietly, before he closed his eyes. If she hurt him, she would be okay. He probably deserved it, with all of the things that he had done. He had been trying to right his wrongs, to save the Castle from those who had failed its people - but maybe he had failed at that too. He had failed at the one thing that mattered most - protecting Sylvi. "It's okay, I don't mind..."
Violet stared at Amarantha unblinkingly, her green eyes turned a grisly shade of yellow. Yellow eyes were unheard of among wizards. Those who dabbled with the Darke had flecks of black amidst the green, but never yellow. Whatever Violet was, she wasn't really a wizard anymore - not one who followed Lyte or Darke paths. "Congratulations, you know someone who no longer exists," Violet spat. "I hope this Apollodora saves the Castle - and does not fail it as you have!"
There was a blast of light as Violet sent a ThunderFlash at Amarantha, her aim slightly skewed and she hit the ground just a few inches away from her target. Had she not missed, it would have killed Amarantha. Pure hatred shone through her eyes as Violet prepared another Magykal attack. The odds of her missing again were slim - unless, perhaps, it had been intentional? At the very least, Amarantha would no longer be Transfixed.
Halley Banner
Location: Wizard Tower - the Courtyard Skills:Chaos Magyk, Medicine
Halley took a slight breath, having hoped that her brother would have grown out of his temper. He was a husband and father now. He had responsibilities. And how was punching Arnora so badly as to damage her nose beyond natural repair an appropriate response? Halley crossed her arms, frustrated to no end with her brother. For all of his ego and proclaimed superiority, he still threw fits. "Allow me to apologize on behalf of my brother as well, as I know he won't," Halley told Arnora sympathetically after Myth had left, though also with the characteristic spite of a sibling. She studied Arnora's nose for a moment, before Halley's hands had a soft glow around them and the same glow appeared around Arnora's face. The nose repaired itself in a matter of moments as the Mistress of Chaos warped reality to suit her needs. "9,995 years old and I swear, he still acts as if he were in his two thousands sometimes..."
She was also pretty certain that none of Bruce's anger issues had made their way into the legends cherished by the Land of Long Nights. Societies could be so terribly sexist at times. For instance, she remembered Cuyler blaming her for the destruction of the Castle - as if something about her was inherently evil and wished to hurt people, no matter what she did? It was better to just leave Midgard alone unless they needed someone of her strength to save them. They would never accept her as they could her brother and sisters.
"You are all free to go deal with the Castle threat - as heroes of Midgard, not forces of Asgard. I am here for Loki and his threat is far greater than whatever mischief is happening here," she said calmly. "Arnora, if you are staying, would you please attempt to track Loki once more? I am curious to see where he is now..."
Leda gave Kiera a grin. "Nothing's fun unless it's dangerous," she told her confidently. Playing things safe wasn't really the rainbow speedster's M.O. She liked to rush in headfirst, take out Ultraviolet, and cut down her enemies in the blink of an eye. As much as she had 'studied' the Flash when she first discovered her abilities, she felt a lot more kinship with the Reverse Flash. The life of a demigod was violent and they didn't spare the monsters they faced - they killed them and sent them down to the pit. However, as Kiera asked her if she had ever met her mother, Leda's smile faded slightly from her face.
"Technically yes - but really, no," she said, a bit cryptic at first. "My mother is the Messenger of the Gods. She's constantly running around the universe, delivering messages - she'll even do so for demigods if she has the time. So yeah, when I send an Iris Message I know she's there but... I've never had a proper conversation with her or anything," she shrugged slightly. "Unless you mean my mortal mother. Never met her either. I was raised by my grandparents in Southern England." She much preferred talking about Kiera's questions on the armory. "Here, much easier to show you," Leda said, getting up and leading Kiera to the armory, where Desdemona and her sister already were.
Frost International HQ - Downtown Washington D.C.:
As if Emma had heard Jinx's mental complaints about the size of her vocabulary, she seemed to purposefully choose more and more extravagant words as she answered their questions. She was the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, but that didn't mean she couldn't also be extremely petty. And if Requiem and Jinx stopped to think about it, it would be easy to tell why - Sebastian Shaw hadn't informed her of any of this. Her supposed partner was treating her like just another suspect in this crime - that's why she was furious. "I will not be able to acquiesce to that request, Jinx," Emma said coolly. "You are in my abode - my realm, if you will - and I cannot allow you to go along unobserved. My telepaths have great power and a proclivity for this line of work, but theirs pale in comparison to my own abilities."
She curled her lips a bit in disgust as Jinx popped his bubblegum. "As for the marks on the floor, well... It appears the mongrel who stole from us was an amateur." She was eyeing Jinx innocently, though her gaze also could have been seen as accusatory. Only a member of the Hellfire Club could have stolen the Sentinel. Jinx and Requiem were suspects in this theft, just as the others. She grabbed a tablet from one of the nearby work stations and quickly typed in a string of code, before passing it to Requiem. It had the security footage, as requested.
"Two armed guards, three telepaths," she said, answering his question. As for his last one? "I am. I have a suspect in mind."
Sunshine and Spirit Box
Location: the Morlock Tunnels Skills: Mediumship
"Hey, this is loads more fun than group therapy with Brenda," Casper said with a smirk. "Some of the people there shared way too much information... The things I could tell you about Kathy C. from Ohio, oh boy, I could write a book on her!" Tome had already left through the portal and it seemed that James had pretty much finished up his work on the generators, but Casper had no doubt that he would be able to find him again soon enough. He had found his brother by accident after going to Sephora that day, arriving just in time to see him getting into an ego match with a Purifier, so hey, finding James again would be easy.
"Yay, Max is gone!" Ben cheered, a bit too happy that his 'competition' for Jack's affections was gone. It wasn't like he could have much of a relationship with the stretchy mutant. Casper was able to see and talk to ghosts, but he wasn't able to project their images so others could see them. Any relationship Ben and Jack had would have to be facilitated by Casper playing telephone - or Jack dying.
As James took Casper's wrist, he blushed slightly at the gentle touch. The sort of men that Casper usually ended up involved with were a lot rougher than that - it was a nice change of pace. "Disappointingly sober, but hey, fine otherwise," he told James, before giving him a kiss on the cheek. "My knight in shining armor!" He grinned widely at him, before thinking for a moment. "Here, this is my number," Casper said, before telling James the number. "Give me a text or call when you want to get coffee."
Sunshine was finishing up the food she had made, still holding onto Fred the Dead Rat. While her discovery of the dead creature initially had been a joke to her, just another way to mess with people (i.e. Tome) but for some strange reason, she hadn't abandoned the corpse. She was keeping the rat close to her, as if it were one of her prized possessions. As Jack came up and approached her, her shoulders hunched defensively ever so slightly, but enough to be noticeable. "It'll look badass," she told him, rolling her eyes.
Sure, other people might have considered getting a brand as a deal breaker, but Sunshine didn't really care. She had lived her entire life on the run, searching for a place to belong to - somewhere to call her own. If the price of admission was giving up on any future prospects as a model or an actress, then whatever. Vanity wasn't worth being put back out on the streets and in danger. Plus, the Purifiers were clearly become worse - they had been insufferable ever since 7/15. She didn't want to give them another chance to hurt her. They had taken enough from her.
"Besides, not being a Morlock is dumb. Might as well just kill yourself if you go out on the streets."
Location: The Asylum - Inside Skills: Cool Headedness, Deduction
"Probably not the worst way to die, with what's been happening lately," Cecily quipped, using a bit of dark humor for the moment. Dying from an elevator accident was practically preferable to anything Juno could plan. She doubted that Juno would give them kind and painless deaths - not that an elevator was painless, but she was certain Juno would involve some element of torture in their plans. Her eyes were on the map though and she was able to orient herself, figuring out where the nearest staircase would be to take them off of the main floor. "Staircase is a few doors down," Cecily explained, heading over there.
She put her hand gently on the door knob and tried to give it the slightest turn, just to see if it was unlocked or not - she had watched enough horror movies to know to be careful when opening a door in the creepy, rundown asylum. However, the door was either locked or stuck or jammed or something. It wasn't going to budge open either way. She had a brief image of Roy just shooting the door knob off, but she was worried asking him to do that would just result in the door getting even more stuck. "Do you think you could open it? It's not budging," she asked her partner and father figure. "Probably don't shoot at the handle, though... Kicking it down might be a better option, though it'll draw attention to us." The haze was still clouding her vision and didn't seem to be going away.
Watts raised a slight eyebrow as Belladonna had an outburst and then headed off. He figured that almost all of the inventors in the room at this event would either love each other or hate each other - and definitely, no matter what, at least one fight would break out. The type of scientists and engineers who rose to that level of power tended to have the egos to match. Putting them all in one room with alcohol and at an event someone else was running, so they didn't need to worry about things going smoothly? That was a chemical mixture that creates chaos. He winced slightly as Alannah decided to do her rendition of the noise of nails on a chalkboard. "Could you not?!" Watts snapped at her.
He was going to answer her question, only everyone else beat him to it. "I would be rich, but I have two bright kids that need to go to college," he told Sapphire matter of factly. "And we should keep Stark away from the alcohol," he recommended. Watts figured that there would be some sort of suit on hand for him to wear. Of course, there was the problem that he needed his actual suit in order to use his abilities to keep the peace. Normal clothing didn't protect him from moving at high speeds and dealing with the enormous frictional force.
Walnut heard someone cry out Why?! and she had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Nothing good had happened since they set foot in this place. They were no closer to having the torment of being blackmailed and extorted lifted. But of course, once the lights were out, it was time to cry in despair - as if that was the first truly unfortunate thing that had happened to them. Another voice - perhaps the same one? - then asked if they were all fine. Walnut supposed that at least was a decent question - under the cover of this darkness, anyone could have picked up a weapon and attacked one another with anonymity. She kept on listening to what others were saying. A new voice heavily implied that Titian had escaped the room under the cover of darkness - either him, Cobalt, or Moss, but context clues pointed towards Titian.
She didn't hear music anymore, but a chill was starting to set in. It wouldn't be too long before it became rather cold in here, making Walnut wonder if it would be better to remain and allow Titian to be caught by the household staff - or to leave and escape the oncoming indoor winter? "Given that we have yet to hear Mr. Titian, I believe whoever spoke earlier is correct - he likely is no longer in this room. He speaks too much to be quiet," Walnut said. "If we do choose to leave the room - which will help with the heating issue, assuming someone can find their way to the door and open it... I do not think we should stray too far. The favor of the household is important for our survival."
Virginia nodded, understanding Vlad's instructions after thinking through them for a moment. His diction and speech patterns weren't what she was used to, but she managed to figure out what he wanted from her. Doing as he asked, Virginia untied the rope and then gave the corpse a decent shove, so as to help Vlad get the corpse up onto his shoulders. She wished that Mary was there to go ahead to the Church - she was better at communicating with them. Virginia looked a bit like a Soulless with her pale skin and she hoped they wouldn't mistake her for one.
"Yes, this is Ny," Virginia said, after Ny had introduced himself and went forward clearing people out of the way. "He is a friend I met back in Carlisle," she said, without giving much more detail to it. It was Ny's choice to reveal what details he wanted to about himself - and all that was really needed to be shared was that he was a new friend of hers. Of course, she imagined that Vlad would be able to figure out that Ny knew Ludwig from what he had said, but Virginia still had another task Vlad had asked her to complete - she needed to go forward to the Church and ask for them to be able to take Ludwig's body to sacred ground. The haze in her eyesight was worrisome, but she pushed onwards nonetheless and headed into the Church.
She wondered what the Dark Mother was thinking about that.
Maeve Brennan
Location: On The Road (Heading Towards Gretna Green): Skills: N/A
"Ah've only recently become employed by de Lady Kirkpatrick," Maeve explained, her voice still thick with her native Irish accent. As for whether she enjoyed it? She hadn't worked for her long enough to really know that. Her friend, Calum, had perished so soon after she had met him. Lady Kirkpatrick though had managed to arrange for her daughter's safety and education. She then gave Colette a pleasant smile. "I do enjoy de work," she told her. "De Lady Kirkpatrick is inspirin', ain't she?"
Once they finally reached and surpassed the edge of Annan, the road got a lot bumpier and Maeve held onto her seat tightly, trying to stabilize herself some but she was still being bumped around. The pace had quickened as well, so that was something.
New York Sanctum - New York: July 15th, 2021 - 7:50 P.M.
Doctor Strange was a little bit annoyed with Roman's questions, as he had pretty much just finished answering those very same ones for the other group. It was natural though that information would need to be repeated, given the size of what they were operating with. He gestured at the necklace he wore, the Eye of Agamotto, and moved his hands in front of the amulet. It opened it, revealing a bright, shining green gem - the Time Stone. "The power of the infinity stones does not come without a cost. The debt always comes due," Strange warned Agent Carter. "As for how it works - the multiverse already exists. For each choice we make, there becomes an alternate world where we made a different one. Some universes are doomed to die from that simple fact... It is pointless worrying about them. However, use of time travel will merely replace the current threat with a larger one down the road. Our world's apocalyptic event was supposed to be the mass registration of mutants and the rise of O.M.E.N., yet the X-Men altered the course of history and now, we have Ultron."
"If you alter the course of history to remove Ultron, another threat will rise to replace him. It is inevitable." Of course, he then realized that a lot of people in this group hadn't realized that he had moved over there. At least it meant that he didn't need to address Niah asking why he never told her about the Time Stone - but he hoped his words about the cost of using the stones and the cost of time travel would be enough for her to figure that out.
"We need to travel to Wakanda for materials," Shuri told Strange. She knew that they could fly to Wakanda, but using the sling ring would be faster. It wouldn't hurt having the Sorcerer Supreme on hand as well.
Doctor Strange nodded, using his own sling ring and opening a portal to Wakanda. On the other side, there was a grassy field on the outskirts of the city. Ultron had taken over the country, so they'd need to find a way to infiltrate and get the vibranium without being noticed. Thankfully, they had someone with them who could turn them all invisible. "Of course," he said. "This is as close as I can get you without Ultron detecting the magical energy." It wasn't a problem for the Serval Industries group, as Serval's detection systems weren't as advanced as Wakanda's - and naturally, Ultron was using Wakanda's own technology to keep it under his thumb.
"I'll stay here, I'm not exactly ideal for stealth..." Banner admitted. Someone needed to protect the New York Sanctum anyways, just in case Ultron found a way to get through the magical barrier. Shuri had already gone through the portal and Bonnie gave Niah a slight smile of encouragement.
"We've got this, Agent," she told her, before stepping through the portal as well. She knew that this very well could result in her death. She knew that every time she left the Sanctum that she may never come back. It was more than likely that she would never see Flynn again, but she had to at least try to restore the world - she owed it to everyone who wasn't there anymore. Their sacrifices would mean nothing if they just gave up.
"Everyone remain quiet, this will only work somewhat if you don't talk too loudly," Susan said, having gone through the portal as well, before she used her powers to turn everyone who was going invisible. They would be able to see each other, thanks to her expert level control over her abilities, but no one else could view them. It would make it easier for them to sneak on through.
Serval Industries - Virginia: July 15th, 2021 - 7:50 P.M.
Once everyone went through the portal and emerged on the other side, they were in front of a ten story glass building. Some of the windows were broken and bits of glass littered the ground around them, a few of them stained red - hopefully paint, but the S.H.I.E.L.D. team would know better than that. There were dark clouds in the sky and it was unbearably humid, upwards of 80 degrees fahrenheit despite it being so late in the evening. The sun was just starting to set, so things would hopefully cool down but that wouldn't remove the humidity, which was the real horror, making everyone's clothes stick uncomfortably to their back.
"The virus should be in the Research and Development laboratory," Scarlet Witch explained. Her eyes went up towards the top of the building, resting on the eighth floor. How she knew the layout and schematics of this building so well, she hadn't mentioned. Those who knew her S.H.I.E.L.D. file well would have a decent chance of being able to figure it out. "Eighth floor," she then told them calmly.
"Last one there is a rotten egg!" Spider-Gwen cheered, before she did a running start at the building and leapt onto the glass wall, sticking to it with ease as she started to rapidly climb. It was a good thing that she didn't have a fear of heights or anything and Captain Marvel smirked a bit. She could appreciate that type of spunk, but two could play at that game.
"I'll go ahead and scout, make sure we don't run into any surprises," Carol told the team. She powered up and shot up towards the top of the building after Spider-Gwen, before flying in through a hole around the eighth floor. While there were a few others in the group that were able to fly, at least Tinley would need to take the stairs up to the top. Flynn's flight was fatal to anyone who burned easily (most people), and the Scarlet Witch and Raynor could only really propel themselves through the air. Leaving Tinley behind would have been a horrible thing to do and likely result in her death. Besides, this would give them a chance to clear the building from the bottom up, ensuring they wouldn't find too much trouble on the way out.
"Let's go, then," Raynor muttered, before going in through the front entrance. The glass doors had been shattered and replaced with giant pieces of cardboard, which Raynor easily ripped and tossed aside, not really caring about why that might have been done there. The first floor looked like it was a lobby area. The couches were in horrible condition, the lights flickered on and off constantly, and even some rats were scurrying around the floor. While there were no bodies, there were signs of a struggle everywhere - abandoned belongings, overturned tables, scorch marks on the wall, blood stains, a child's favorite toy...
"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Raynor said, glancing back at his team mates. He made a few balls of light with his powers and released them upwards, allowing them to get a better look around. He didn't notice the arrow flying straight for his neck until Wanda deflected it with her hex powers, the ruby red energy knocking the arrow to the ground. He gave her a slight nod of thanks, before following where the arrow had come from. A young woman stood on the counter, armed with a bow and arrow, aiming the next shot already.
"Take another step and the next one won't miss," she threatened, hatred in her eyes. There was a brand on her face in the shape of an M and on her wrist, she wore a metallic bracelet with Ultron's mark on it. She worked for him - most likely as someone who caught rebels and brought them to one of the work camps in exchange for food, money, or resources.
"Are you sure about the no killing thing?" Wanda asked Abercrombie, a bit annoyed with it. Things were just so much easier when you could just kill your enemy and move on, not needing to worry about them coming after you again.
Achronum
kittyluna45
Scrawl Banditta
Not a Sayan
KazAlkemi
Neziul
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Blizz
BlueSky44
