SilverPaw

Echoes of a Moonless Night

I'd hoped to write more this weekend but I didn't get to do that much sadly. I'd say about a third or so is done.

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

	Attire: No cloak Time: 10:00 am -> ca. 10:45 am Location: The Shooting Range -> The Entrance Hall Mention(s): Briefly, some of the archery competition attendees. Interaction(s): @Helo Callum

Thea did win her first match, but though it had been exceptionally close, she unfortunately lost to Vael in the next one. Still, it had been exciting enough, and Wulfric clapped for them both, then for the subsequent winner. Verrick O’Hare prevailed against the baker and new Damien both, making for a much better showing than he’d had against Shehzadi Nahir. The semi-finals and finals had been invigorating to watch, and the prince was more or less satisfied with the proceedings. He left after the finalist was announced, and the first and second prizes were being handed out. Two guards were left behind to accompany Anastasia, while the rest returned to the castle with him.

***

Wulfric hadn't expected to see Callum any sooner than 11 am, though all things considered, it was a good thing he met his younger brother nearly a quarter of an hour earlier than that. The sight of that drunkenly swaying figure put a stop to his swift, purposeful stride, and he slowed down as he looked his younger sibling up and down. Callum had dressed into proper attire, and made an appearance – which was more than he’d have done before their agreement – but that was where the positives ended.

When his brother had indicated he would make himself presentable, Wulfric hadn’t considered he might give up half-way through. Had he somehow thought his subpar efforts would be sufficient – if he had indeed thought anything at all? Had he changed his mind, and decided he couldn’t bother complying, no matter that he had proposed to do so of his own initiative? Or was the allure of alcohol truly so powerful for him, that he’d gone and got himself blindingly drunk as soon as he was left alone to do so?

Either way, it was clearly also his mistake to have relied on Callum to do what should be done with no oversight or guidance. While Wulfric had been keeping an eye on Anastasia, the unwatched half of the troublemaking pair had been up to no good. But of course, he had. Sometimes, it surprised him that he still managed to be disappointed at all when it came to his two youngest siblings.

He paced up to Callum, displeasure etched on his face in the form of a frown, angry tension lining his whole body. Annoyance transformed his gait into a stalk as he neared his sibling. When he was close enough to note the stale stench that still clung to his brother, his nose wrinkled in distaste. “Really, brother, alcohol in the morning?” he couldn’t help snarking. He was acting like some slum-bound bum; drinking throughout the night, then continuing on from where he’d left off (and after being drugged or poisoned, even!) whenever he regained coherency the following day…God. An alcoholic at twenty.

If his sibling had anything to say to that, Wulfric wasn’t much interested. He clicked his fingers, and a servant promptly approached to answer his call. “Get him sobered up – I don’t care if you have to throw cold water on him to do so. And do what you can to make him presentable.” His gaze pointedly tracked the bags under Callum’s eyes, his (more so than usual) sickly pallor, the damp and uncombed hair, and even his picked-at fingernails. The first prince wasn't expecting miracles, as he knew they had less than fifteen minutes remaining. But at the very least, it should be time enough to get his brother washed up, and correct his appearance until he no longer looked like some half-dead creature.

In case it wasn’t clear from the stern stare he’d kept on him throughout, Wulfric said, “Callum,” demanding his attention. “It is your task to ensure this goes as smoothly as possible,” he sneered as he paraphrased his brother’s own words, reminding him of their deal. “Do take care to be on time.” His tone of voice let his sibling know he considered that a part of his cooperative responsibilities as well.

Finally, he directed his gaze to the attendant who had been mutely standing next to the pair since he’d summoned her, some maid he wasn’t too familiar with. “Quickly now,” he urged her to take Callum away and get him taken care of, assuming she’d fetch her coworkers if she needed to. Then, Wulfric strode past without another word; he had his own preparations to handle, after all, though at least his servants had been informed beforehand that they’d be needed.

Echoes of a Moonless Night

Gotcha! Cliché as it is, was thinking of going with a diva of a kitsune at least. Am down to pairing up with someone else or writing her human myself, depending on what others decide to do.

@Vertigo

I've got a punk gal in mind...If that sounds good to you, we could try and work out something.

Echoes of a Moonless Night — Interest Check

Yeah, I'm interested.

The Crooked Lands (Interest Check)

Like I said before, might give this a try.

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

---

---

Wrecking Justin into nothingness was cathartic. Each fury unleashed all her pain, fury, even fatigue onto him, reinvigorating Jacqueline every time a piece of his bodysuit was destroyed. Even after all that, he still lived; but even without a clear idea of what specifically would kill him, she figured she could just pulverize him into nothingness.

Cracking his head open revealed a gem, and she gleefully prepared to swing yet another time. However, Orion was either quicker on the uptake or just luckier this time around, and got the kill. Nonetheless, there was the immense satisfaction in this victory; finishing blow or not, Jacqueline had felled the enemy before her.

A gleeful grin stretched her lips, and she craned her head back to luxuriate in that feeling, if even for a short second. When she next blinked her eyes open, a moose-shaped spirit floated above her. Huh, right. There’d been the hail…and then, there wasn’t, the thing above her shielding her and her allies. Jacqueline looked around, and was quick to find the esper responsible. Then, the cat girl spoke.

“Oooh, fuck no,” she muttered under her breath as the realization hit her.

But there wasn’t any time to answer Mika’s question, or even think about what to do about her. The Diver was still there, still a problem, and if they didn’t deal with it, that’d be a lot of of dead people. Jacqueline followed Fable's lead, Blinking onto the behemoth, and beginning to swing her instrument at it with impunity. As she did so, however, a part of her couldn’t help but think–

Just where the fuck was the damn backup?

---

---

28 | Female | Gemini Agents | Iron Dust
Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Breakthrough
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Zone (4), Pull (2), Restrain (4), Blink (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 750

[Silver Beam][Blink] = -72

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 68

The Crooked Lands (Interest Check)

Here to express potential interest.

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

	Attire: No cloak Time: 10:00 am Location: The shooting range Mention(s): @Helo Leo, @princess Anastasia, @Rodiak Zarai, Nahir, and Matthias, @Potter Ezra, @Aerandir Verrick, @PapaOso Cassius, @Tae Thea

When Leo was announced, Wulfric clapped for him politely. He wasn’t inclined to cheer – unlike his sister and Zarai, who were apparently driven by pettiness to encourage that damnable baker – but he fiercely hoped the Varian would win.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. The two contestants exchanged some words before the match, and though he was so far that not even their facial expressions could be discerned, their body language told him enough. The baker bowed mockingly as he addressed his fellow competitor, and though Leo clearly had a response at the ready, Wulfric noted he was tense and unfocused afterwards.

The first round, the noble managed to edge ahead of the commoner, but it was far too close for the prince’s liking. Then it all went downhill, ending in a disastrous third round, wherein his friend missed twice. Lord Smithwood took the loss as well as could be, but he was certainly unhappy. Shouldn’t have let him get to you, Leo.

It was a shame the Varian man hadn’t won, but far more irritating was the fact that Ezra was advancing. If he dared approach his sister after feeling emboldened by his win…Wulfric narrowed his eyes, but otherwise remained impassive and unmoving while the crowd cheered for the first match’s winner.

This was when some girl came up to them, inviting Anastasia ‘and company’ to Lord Ravenwood’s table. Wulfric did not feel inclined to accept, so merely watched as the group trotted down. At Zarai’s childish action, he gave her a brief, coolly dismissive glance.

With the bench thus vacated, he deigned to perch upon the very edge of it. He arranged his sheathed sabre so as to be easily accessible – not because he expected to have to use it, but simply because it was good practice.

The guards didn’t need further input to know what to do; Graves had standing orders to remain by Anastasia’s side, Blackwell and Reyes each remained at the bottom of their staircases, and McConnell who’d been up top on the opposite side now descended to remain close enough to Anastasia to act if need be yet far enough that his presence remained unobtrusive.

Then, the second match began, and Wulfric observed with interest as Shehzadi Nahir faced against Verrick O’Hare. The latter was the same man who’d passed him by in the entrance hall just half an hour ago. Also, the prince could swear he’d heard that name before…Something to do with windows? He dismissed the strange stray thought, instead enjoying the competition. O’Hare won, and he clapped for him at the Shehzadi’s prompting. It was only because he’d remained in one of the highest rows that he saw the woman join Leo. So, there was indeed some mutual interest there.

Regardless of his sister’s and friend’s claim that the ‘best view’ was down below, he certainly had a very good overview of the general situation where he was. Here and there, he let his gaze slide over to Anastasia, to reassure that she was safe.

The announcement for the third match carried with it quite the surprise. A man who was likely using a pseudonym was going against…Vael ‘of house Damien’. My, my. A new player. He was a decent shot, and though Wulfric did not especially enjoy it, his showmanship was at least as good as his archery. Welcome to the game, he thought as he applauded.

The fourth match was an unknown knight, Sir Larsen, versus Thea. The blonde man did seem like someone he wouldn’t mind seeing from up close–

Don’t go there.

After a stern mental warning, he focused on his friend’s sister. He’d root for the person he was acquainted with, at least, even if he and Thea hadn’t had nearly as many interactions as he and Leo had. Go on, show your brother how it’s done.

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

---

---

The vampire's hand exploded. So did the boils on Jacqueline’s body. This had been expected. However, just because it was, did by no means make it any easier to deal with. A lesson that kept getting repeated with each any every plague (that she managed to remember ahead of time, that was), but could hardly do anything about.

Every inch of her body radiated pain. This, on top of everything else that’d happened to her, was degrees of worse than getting her guts shredded. But if Orion had saved her then by healing her, she’d saved her again by distracting Justin. If her coworker had not, Jacqueline would have been killed then and there, unable to do act in any way to prevent it.

As it was, Justin looked away, and she fell a few feet to the floor with a grunt. Her backup had done what it could by now, so though her leg was functional, her new injuries would remain. But it was better than nothing.

Mind hazy with pain, she struggled and strained until she picked herself up. First into a crouch, and she watched blearily as Orion faced against Justin. The vampire had left her for dead…or had thought her out of the fight – if he’d had any thoughts about a human he’d nearly squished to death at all. And maybe he was right, because Jacqueline didn’t know if she’d manage to get to him quick enough to contribute anything further to his demise.

But she tried. She stood up, and staggered closer. Even though she pushed and pushed herself, if anything, it felt like getting dragged excruciatingly slow through time and space.

But then, she was behind Justin. Havoc in her hands. She swung, pick aimed at his heart.

---

---

28 | Female | Gemini Agents | Iron Dust
Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Breakthrough
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Zone (4), Pull (2), Restrain (4), Blink (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 750

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 140

Symphony of Espers

Jacqueline Leroux

---

---

Justin was damaged, but of course, not yet dead. He whirled on her, and she suddenly couldn’t move. So, that’s what his trick was. Even though he made for a gory image, he was clearly still functioning perfectly fine. He could probably heal somehow or other if given time enough. He had to be finished off now, somehow. All she could do was cast a melody. That’d have to be enough. The very moment she realized what he intended to do – felt the blood rain under his control herding her closer to him, saw his arm raise and grow claws – her decision was made. She channeled magic throughout her body. An attack he shouldn’t be able to see coming until it was too late.

It didn’t even matter when her skin broke out in boils. She strained under the pain, but was unable to move. Inevitably, her eyes teared. It was painful, and it would get even more so. But her melody was primed and ready to go. As soon as the vampire grasped her, he’d be in for a surprise.

---

---

28 | Female | Gemini Agents | Iron Dust
Havoc | Great Axe | Arcane | Pry
Eternal Knight | Perfectly polished
Forged Arsenal | Earth/Metal | Breakthrough
[Quake (2), Mass (2)] Damage X (6), AoE (2), Enhance (2), Powerful (0), Dispel (6), Zone (4), Pull (2), Restrain (4), Blink (4)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: D | SENTINEL: D | 750

[Silver Touch][AoE][Damage X] = -120

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: C | CHAOS: D | 140