Ryonara

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

Honestly my main concern is Torus's wildshape. I just checked and he shifted recently, so I think it'll be safe for him to take a shortrest right now and pad out his health for his giant hyena form. If the healthier ones can keep watch, we could do a short rest here.

Tower of Fable

_{I'm falling down into my shadow,
Failing to control my breath
As I embrace the deadly night
If you are scared, never show it in your eyes
Near those pumpkin carriages
‘Cause all the witches see right through your lies
See you in my dreams, yeah, baby
I’ll still be there if it’s a nightmare}

Umi nearly flinched as Touka aggressively denied talking to Umi about herself. She decided that maybe she should give Touka some space; it wouldn't be good to be pushy about it. "Yeah alright, fair enough. But if you ever feel like talking, just come find me. I'm all ears." Umi backed off from Touka as Cait mentioned that she's not always open, as well as what their team name would be. Umi was extra surprised that she actually looked to Umi for a team name, then to Rose, then to Tokuda. "A team name huh? Hmm." She looked to the others. Before their Seirei awoken, it was only five of them. A name based off those five would be good. There wasn't really a unified color scheme though. Everyone looked flashy and cool but not uniformed in any way. Looking down at her card though Umi was struck by inspiration.

"Our team name... Is Black Pentacle!" Umi drew out star on the counter using some of the blood that was still on Umi's skin. Though for Cait she would see the start upside down like an actual pentagram. "It's symbolic of combining everyone's colorful personalities together. And Pentacle is a five pointed star, since stars can come with different points but pentacles have five exactly. One point for each original member." It wasn't long before Umi's blood congealed and did indeed turn into a black pentagram. She looked up to Cait with a smile. "Also thank you for the potions! I don't have much money right now, but is there any sort of quests we can do for you? Something that easy that could get us a few more supplies or cash?"

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

I honestly have no idea what to do, I’m saving spell slots and if we aren’t taking a rest my song of healing isn’t going to be useful here. I suppose I could cast invisibility on whoever is going to take the lead, which is either going to be Kyra or Torus to take advantage of the stealth advantage.

Tower of Fable

_{If I make another move, if I take another step
Then it all would fall apart. There'd be nothing of me left
If I'm crying in the wind, if I'm crying in the night
Will there ever be a way? Will my heart return to white?}

Umi just sort of stood there with a blank look on her face as Touka explained what exactly she was. Dumbing it down, Umi knew that Touka was an ally. Maybe not a friend, but an ally. So That was enough for her. Another girl got summoned too, a cat girl named Smitten Kitten, and then the owner of the pub showed up. The barkeeper, Cait, gave them free potions too! Umi took one but before she could drink it Rose came to heal her. Suddenly all of the pain went away, her bruises shrunk, and she stopped bleeding. It felt nice. "Oh! Thank you Rose." Umi smiled as it seemed like everyone was recovering from that harsh fight. Honestly, Umi felt like beating herself up for her overall poor performance. They couldn't land a single real hit on that guy and he had managed to run circles around all of them. But they were alive and stronger now, so she wasn't going to dwell on the negatives.

Pocketing her potion Umi walked over towards Touka, bowing her head respectfully once more but this time not acting so meek. "As I was saying before, it's nice to meet you, Touka-san. We are allies now and I'll be relying on your strength. I can tell you're not really friendly so I won't make you like me, but as long as we're together I want to be able to help you help me. So with that in mind can you tell me about what you can bring to the table? What your powers, strengths, and weaknesses are? This way I know how to make the most of your talents and not put you in a bad position." As Umi chatted with Touka she overheard Rose request for an airship. The idea of flying through the skies were awesome, but also seemed rather far fetched. They just got here and got their first Serei cards, the chances that they'll get an airship anytime soon seem slim. And besides that they still needed to find out how to even go to other levels in the tower. "Rose-san, I know you're excited to find treasure but we still need to figure out where we are first, and how we get to other parts of the tower. If this place is like a video game I'm guessing this tavern is suppose to be our first starter town. We should try to find other magic doors like the one Kanbaru summoned for us to fight bosses or raid a dungeon, or I guess we could just walk out of these doors and see what's around. And maybe start a bit smaller than an airship. Carts and horses maybe?"

---

_{Can you tell me who you are? Can you tell me where I am?
I've forgotten how to see; I've forgotten if I can
If I opened up my eyes there'd be no more going back
'Cause I'd throw it all away, and it all would fade to black}

Kitten just looked at everyone as they started talking, trying to get a feel for their personality and intentions. She could tell a lot of them were new and naive and she didn't really expect much from them. She didn't hate that, but at the same time she felt like they were going to do stupid things that she'll have to get involved in. Again. Though hearing that Kitten was a "Serei" bothered her a bit. She could tell that she's not in her original world, so there's a good chance this is just a dream version of herself. But was she real? Was she just some figment of imagination? That sort of existential thinking wasn't something Kitten liked to think about so she ignored it. Smitten Kitten was Smitten Kitten. She was real enough.

Kitten turn her attention back to Akiko, who apparently summoned her. She was very hesitant to call Akiko her "master", or anything that would give Akiko any real authority over her, so she'll just call her by name. "Akiko, right? Right." Kitten didn't shake Akiko's hand but she did look into her eyes, giving the bard a small glimpse into Kitten's Memories.

There Akiko would see Kitten alone in a dead end alleyway, facing off a mysterious woman on a motorbike. The biker ran right towards Kitten but suddenly she vanished, followed by a loud crash, explosions, and Kitten mounting the biker with a claw to her throat. "Don't worry, I will kill you. But first I have some questions, and I know you have answers."

"No offense, but I'd rather that we not get too personal. If what astroturf said is true we're only spirits anyways. Ghosts of our real selves. I doubt that it'll be very meaningful to get close to us or try and change who we are or what we can do." Kitten tried to use some of her stronger abilities but nothing happened, causing her to sigh a little and sit down on a table. "And while I hate to say it I'm not nearly as strong as I should be right now. Most of my stronger abilities have been locked away and unless you happen to have like, two million EXP crystals for me, I can't get any stronger than I am right now." And just as Kitten was starting to feel somewhat comfortable enough to at least sit and talk to everyone here, some huggy floozy grabbed Kitten from behind. "Oi! Unhand me you cow!"

Kitten had a bit of a hard time at first since she was caught off guard and her arms were stuck to her side, but once the lady went to grab the other girl Kitten was able to slip an arm out and press it against the loud lady's face. "I don't even know you lady, hands off!" Eventually she would let Kitten go, and instinctively she went over to Akiko. Kitten didn't mean to, it's just out of everyone here she was the only one Kitten could "trust", and that's only because she had her card. Hiding behind the bard Kitten glared at Rose. "Touch me again and I'll cut you!"

Tower of Fable

_{Will tomorrow ever come? Will I make it through the night?
Will there ever be a place for the broken in the light?
Am I hurting? Am I sad? Should I stay, or should I go?
I've forgotten how to tell. Did I ever even know?}

"Wah!" Umi yelped in surprise as her card ended up summoning someone! She looked like a girl taller than Umi with green hair, a red scarf, and a black bodysuit of sorts. And oddly enough it seemed like Kanbaru knew her as Touka. Though when Umi looked at her card she saw a still portrait of Touka with the name "Dark Magical Girl Red Wire" instead. Putting two-and-two together, she figured that this Touka must be someone who Kanbaru knew where she came from. Specifically, her world. Umi thought everyone came from Miso City since that's where she was at, but considering the aberrant nature of the Tower it was only natural that other people from other worlds could also be drawn to this place. It would also explain why everyone seemed to adapted to quickly to the tower and had their weapons already. For them, this wasn't anything new or unusual. For a newcomer like Umi she was just starting to figure things out. Looking at her gauntlet again, she tried to fiddle with it but wasn't sure how to make it unlock. Something during that explosion somehow managed to open it up but now it was shut tight again. Oh well.

Umi approached Kanbaru and Touka, bowing her head slightly as she tried to ignore the soreness in her body. "H-Hello, Red Wire T-T-T-Touka-san! My name is Umi, and... I guess I just summoned you from my card here." Umi held her card up to look at again. She still wasn't sure if this was something that's suppose to happen or not. Why didn't Kanbaru's card do the same? Or maybe hers only opens doors? Either way Umi put the card into one of her pockets and bowed again. "Sorry if I summoned you while you were busy. I'm just learning how to use these strange powers I got. I guess I can summon you now to help us! If you want to, that is!" Umi said rather flustered. She didn't want to sound bossy or anything. Her title, Dark Magical Girl Red Wire, sounded like a villain's name. Umi might not be the best at academics but she's street smart enough to know someone with a name that is both silly and badass like that isn't someone she should take lightly, especially since she doesn't know her. At the same time though Umi didn't want to look weak either so she stood up straighter and cleared her throat.

"I mean, I didn't summon you just for fun. I'm still learning my powers but I need them so I can save my friend who's trapped here. If you can help me I would appreciate it! But if you can't or don't want too, then we can both just move on and I won't bother you again."

---

_{Can I take another step? I've done everything I can
All the people that I see I will never understand
If I find a way to change, if I step into the light
Then I'll never be the same, and it all will fade to white}

Meanwhile as Umi was chatting with her Serei, Akiko summoned a small girl with cat-like features. She pounced out from the card, jumping off the table, the ceiling, and the wall to land a good ten feet away from Akiko. She positioned her body low to the ground as if ready to pounce again but soon stood up and dusted herself off. She scanned the room curiously but with a hint of danger as well. She didn't know what was going on or who these people were so she was on edge. Aside from some silliness going on with a group of girls, the nekomata looked back at Akiko, walking towards her and sniffing her. From her scent she knew that she was likely going to be stuck with her for a while, and she sighed. "Well... I guess you're not the worse person I've had to work with. My name is Smitten Kitten, Kitten is fine too. Mind explaining who you are and what I'm doing here? This doesn't seem to be Deepground since my hud isn't coming up and I can't log out." Smitten Kitten stood with her hands on her hips looking up at Akiko and expecting an answer.

Tower of Fable

_{Maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real
But it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel
So I'm tired of all the pain, of the misery inside
And I wish that I could live feeling nothing but the night
You can tell me what to say; you can tell me where to go
But I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know
If I make another move there'll be no more turning back
Because everything will change, and it all will fade to black}

Umi smirked seeing the shield boy go after the real copy, with everyone else's attacks either hitting him or his ghosts. This locked him down for just a moment not only allowing them a few good hits but also gave Umi some breathing space as she now only needed to dodge meteors and one ghost man. Umi kicked up a lot of grass and dirt as she dodged, rolled, and ducked out of his way but sure enough nothing touched him. But just as things seemed like they were looking up it all went downhill. As the original separated himself from the shield boy the ghosts started exploding. The meteor shower became even more chaotic even after the caster went down, spraying lava and stones around randomly. Umi barely had time to brace herself as the ghost she fought lunged at her and exploded, sending her flying back towards the original.

Everything hurt. Despite trying to minimize the damage by feebly blocking and even rolling as she landed, her body was wracked with pain. She was barely able to get onto her knees as the original threw up another card into the air that summoned some sort of black hole. Umi could already feel it pulling her up as it started, and she tried to resist as best as she could. But all she could do was grip a handful of dirt and a small stone as she felt her body getting pulled towards the yawning portal. "Dammit! Dammit! This can't be it! I won't let it end like this!" As Umi was being pulled up she noticed the strange gauntlet on her arm, which she thought was a claw, seemed to have popped out into some strange arm mounted weapon. She didn't really know what to do about that so she simply took her rock and threw it at the original mystery man. Unlike Umi herself, the stone was unaffected by his magic and would sail straight towards him. She didn't get to see if it struck him though as she was taken out of this realm.

Umi frankly expected her entire being to get torn to pieces like noodles as she got closer to the black hole. At least that's what was taught to her in science class. But instead it seemed like they landed back to where they started. Or so she thought. Her body still felt sore from that explosion as she got up from the floor and she noticed two things: First was that they were in some sort of pub and second she had a blank card in her hand. This looked like the same sort of card that Kanbaru had received. Umi vaguely remembered seeing the mystery man some some cards but she was too focused throwing her rock at him to realize he gave them to the others.

Taking a few steps forward Umi nearly collapsed, catching herself on the nearby bar counter. Her wounds started bleeding, especially the one around her shoulder where she was cut by the magic sword. She could see her legs had some bruises from the explosion too. Her arms felt like someone had smashed them with a baseball bat (Something she's actually quite familiar with), and it was hard to move her fingers. And yet despite all of this, she couldn't quite call it pain. Sure it hurt, and she did wanna go lie down, but it almost felt like this sensation was just telling her that she was still living. Either that or the adrenaline was numbing her senses and she'll be crying like a baby in a few minutes. Either way Umi took a seat and looked at the card.

"Huh, I got a card too. Is it going to let us go somewhere else now?" She held the card out in front of her like Kanbaru did, trying to use it to summon forth some light or something. At first nothing seemed to have happened which just left Umi confused. She shook it around, tried to peel it, bend it, lick it, but nothing happened. She was about to give up when it started glowing, just like how Kanbaru's did before. "Whoa!"

Tower of Fable

_{Ever on and on I continue circling
With nothing but my hate in a carousel of agony
Till slowly I forget and my heart starts vanishing
And suddenly I see that I can't break free
I'm slipping through the cracks of a dark eternity
With nothing but my pain and the paralyzing agony
To tell me who I am, who I was
Uncertainty enveloping my mind Till I can't break free, and-}

Umi saw her dirt attack just pass through the mystery man and her hand failed to grab his leg, even when he didn't bother trying to dodge. "A ghost!?" Umi stilled dodged back and avoided immediate retaliation. But as she did another mystery person arrived, and soon there were a whole group of them. At least one was attacking the others and keeping them divided while Umi had the misfortune of being attacked by two. A blade cut into her arm, causing a burning sensation to shoot up her shoulder. "Ouch!" However she didn't let that wound slow her down. Even if she was outnumbered she was able to deftly avoid further attacks, dodging and weaving between their unsought. It was obvious however that these two intended to keep everyone separated. Quickly Umi scanned the situation and started thinking about what she can do, what they can do, to survive and defeat this man.

First and foremost was that this person is able to summon copies of himself, ghosts perhaps, that they can't physically touch. But maybe their weapons can or whatever passes as magic here. Umi observed that while her dirt and grapple attack went right through them the other copies dodged the magic spells. Either they were just showing off their speed by dodging literal lightning fast magic (Possible) or they could actually be hurt via magic. Additionally not all of them fought using the strange floating swords; one summoned a meteor storm that sent down flaming rocks onto them. So they had a lot of tricks up their sleeves.

There was a lot going on no one knew about, and it could be possible that they aren't suppose to win this battle. "But fuck that." Umi thought as she narrowly avoided a simultaneous blade spam, looking down at their feet. "So what if this world is against me? That's nothing new. That's the story of my life." Umi put as much distance as she could from the two attacking her so they don't have her in a pincer, and started dashing towards the area where the meteor storm was happening. It was going to be a dangerous gamble but she had more than enough situational awareness to watch for her enemies and the rocks falling from the skies. More so than she normally would have; something about this Tower made Umi feel stronger than before. Faster, more observant. Greater.

"I don't know what this guy is capable of but he doesn't know me either. If he thinks he can beat me, beat us, just because we're new to the Tower, he's sorely mistaken." Umi's plan required careful planning and careful tactics. She made sure to watch for any ghost man trying to sneak up on her, but she was only interested in the real copy. She had eyes on him since he attacked but felt there was some small cue in the form of his footsteps; the ghosts phase through physical stuff, such as grass and dirt. If their movements didn't disturb the grass than they were one of the ghosts. But if the movements did, it was the real one. "The real one's movement will move the grass! If physical stuff won't affect them, then they won't leave a trail either. Watch out for the ghosts but take out the real one right there! Use magic to hurt the ghosts, or even this meteor shower against them. I doubt they have friendly fire on!"

My Hero Academia: Another Story

While everyone was off at the gym training and having a heart-to-heart chat, Damian was in the library. He wasn't sure how to feel about what had happened last Friday. Obviously it was terrible how the students got hurt and what they went through. That being said, the reason he wasn't able to even make it to school that day was due to the birth of his new baby brother. He had gotten a call from his father about his mother's contraction and had to leave school in the middle of lunch to take her to the hospital, as his father was in the middle of an operation against some low-level criminals. So it was an awkward thing to think it was a terrible day when he was also witnessing the miracles of childbirth.

All Damian knew for certain was that he was going to be awkward to talk to the others about it. He heard after he came to school that day that few students ended up leaving, likely due to the attack itself. He could read the mood and knew many were trying to move past it, but the lingering doubt haunted them all the same. What they needed was some hope, and that wasn't going to come from lip service. Though Damian wasn't there to help them fight he could help them in other ways. Speaking to a few of them he learned a bit about the quirks the villains had, particularly one about the scorpion lady. A physical mutation quirk was hard to hide and would serve as an important clue as Damian searched through the government quirk registry. Thanks to his dad's connections (And his permission), Damian had access to the local registry of quirks in the entire California state. It wasn't going to be easy though. While physical mutations were easy to spot, the database had a lot of people with scorpion based quirks.

Still it's not as if every criminal and villain in the world is off the grid. There's a reason why some of the most powerful and heinous villains are constantly on the run or make the effort to hide their quirks. Unless all of the villains they've fought had parents who never bothered to register their quirks or simply weren't raised very well, chances are their quirks had been registered on a government database. The chances of them being late bloomers and developing their quirk after they had turned to villainy is also extremely slim. From what the others went through, those villains weren't just thugs throwing around their weight. They were well experienced with their quirks. They had to have had it for a long time since their youths. Another factor while Damian was researching was if the person with the scorpion quirk had a known criminal record. Such records were accessible to the public, and again thanks to his father Damian can simply put in a name and try and find out if anyone that pops up has any prior convictions. Anything as minor as littering to as serious as terrorism.

This wasn't the sort of exciting action-packed work most heroes-in-training imagine, but it was important work nonetheless. As they say, "Knowing is half the battle". Knowing more about the enemy, what they're capable of, and who they associate with is of vital importance. Sipping tea from his cup Damian closed his eyes and leaned his head back. "Man... I just wanna be helpful."

Tower of Fable

_{And I'll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful}

Umi was one of the first to step through with Kanbaru, taking a careful look around her surroundings. It was nighttime, but it wasn't very dark thanks to the open field and the stars. She looked around to see if she could find a moon around here and get some sort of bearings about where she was at. She doubt that time moved conventionally around here, so assuming that this place wasn't actually just outside of the tower, the moon could make for a useful navigational tool. Aside from the sky, the area around them was a wide, open grassland. The grass wasn't too tall, maybe about ankle high, but there wasn't anything around as far as Umi saw. No hills or trees or buildings. She supposed if they kept moving toward though, they'll find something.

But before the group could get too far a new figure showed up. Once more Umi was surprised and raised her arm up, but maybe this one was friendly? However this person didn't say anything as he just raised his hand out as had some cards floating in front of him. At first Umi thought he was going to give them some cards just like Kanbaru, however instead he had summoned swords and used them to attack! He moved faster than Umi had thought he would and in a flash he was already on Kanbaru. In that flash Umi acted, letting her body carry her swiftly.

First thing she did was go low to the ground and scooped up a handful of dirt and grass. A dirty trick for sure, but it was one that Umi had learned during her earlier years protecting herself. She didn't know how to fight, but she had quick hands and keen aim as she hurled a handful of dirt into the face of the unknown assailant. but this was just a feint for her real goal; a swift leg sweep to knock the attacker down and give someone else an opening to strike. With one hand throwing dirt into his face the other reached out to grab the man's ankle and with uncanny strength, pulling his leg out from under him so he'd drop to the ground. Umi of course knew better than to engage an armed person in hand-to-hand combat, so shortly after her attack she'd try to move away and keep a safe distance.

"This guy is bad news! Someone get him while he's down!"

And in the distance, a certain star seemed to shine particularly bright...

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

"Dammit all." Parum cursed as her dagger failed to hit it's mark. Doubt crept into her mind as blood pumped through her veins. Without her rapier she didn't have a very strong melee weapon, but what other range options did she have? Just keep insulting the gremlins and hope for the best? No! She couldn't just cower behind her allies and speak of her fears while they risked life and limb to fight evil! She knew she wasn't strong, nor was she particularly brave, but dammit if she was going to be useless. Even these kobolds showed more courage as one of the winged beasts dove down to attack Orchid while he had left himself open from his reckless leaping attack. Parum rushed forward, pulling her dagger from the kobold's corpse. Kyra had used Parum's known knife to finish what she started.

Ducking behind the big green brute the kobold's dagger was able to bypass his shield, but before the kobold could retract his blade Parum was already there. She struck swiftly and with keen precision as her dagger plunged into the kobold's neck, twisting it violently as she pulled the dagger out. She stepped away and looked towards the kobold Torus still fought, surprised to see him still alive. "Let's wrap this up quickly!"

Info

HP: 18/23
Bardic Inspiration: 1/3
Spells:
Level 1 - 1/4
Level 2 - 2/2

Parum picks up her dagger as she moves towards the kobold that attacked Orchid.

Dagger Attack = 22
Dagger Damage = 7