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Two Scholars and a Shadow [P GRP]; [P] Caz and Prissy
Topic Started: Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:41 pm (862 Views)
Persona
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Moto grimaced as he saw the women and children being ushered into houses to be kept away from the monsters, people had been hired as mercenaries to help defend the bridges, but Moto, to most people, looked to young for combat when he had been a warrior fighting to save his own world at the age of sixteen, died at the age of seventeen, and was forgotten by his world, his friends only remembered him in dreams now... the Shadow threat there was gone for good since he left the world, unfortunately he landed in a place where he did not know their language, the spell Orpheus had shared let him talk to anyone in the plane, unless it was an obscure language, unfortunately it made him sound like he was reading a book to them. His clothes were still the same from when he entered the world, blue jacket and pants, a white button up shirt, and black shoes, around his neck was a black wire to a device kept in his pocket, but the round headphones hanging on his chest he found looked odd to most people, but this was one of the few ways he could keep in touch with his world, an mp3 player with a three minute battery life.

He turned to see a group of scholars running towards him, being chased by a wolf with shards of ice extending from it's back, he grimaced as he looked down at his hip, the Moonsea cutlass on his hip was from the first connection he had created with Thanatos in this world, he was loathe to connect with him again to create another weapon, perhaps another persona would awaken this time around. He drew the cutlass but didnt' let Thanatos take over, he was confident in killing a big wolf. He let the scholars run past him, he did not notice anyone of note, then again he was staring down a large wolf instead of looking at faces. Moto waited for the wolf to lunge at him, leaping towards him, his pouncing movement was quick and clean, but Moto had slain such beasts like this in his own world, he just had to do as he always did. He quickly side stepped, sticking his blade out and swinging it forward, using it's own momentum to cleave it's leg off, spinning around he cut the tendons on the back of it's hind legs, crippling the beast. Instead of attacking the head though to finish it off, he thrust the blade into it's gut, cleaving it open towards the rib cage, disemboweling the beast.

One of the scholars stood forward, shouting out, "The bridges are being overtaken! We need to retreat to the Academy! It's where we will make our last line of defense!" Moto nodded, following the group towards the academy, where he knew a long arduous battle would take place until they reclaimed the entire city or could single out their commander and kill the creature. Until then he would at least protect the lives of these scholars. Though he felt an odd pressure from the Prison inside his Spirit Body... whatever was commanding the creatures of the White Queen... was unknowingly tapping into the Dark Goddess' power, he felt that the dark shadows would envelop the monsters of the white Queen... his knowledge might be one of the few things that could give them an edge.
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Priscilla
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The woman frowned as the building began to shake, dust falling from the ceiling. She clutched the thick woolen cloak closer to her slender frame, trying to ignore the noise of the siege engines bombarding the city she stood in. She wore a simple wine red tunic and black leggings, with a thick belt around her waist with several pouches hanging from it. A pair of glasses were perched on her nose, the lenses glinting in the light of the lanterns. She was extremely short for her height, barely breaking five feet even with her thick boots. Her hair was a bright crimson and a complete mess, mussed and tangled from the fierce arctic wind. She did not look like she belonged on the battleground, but this woman was Priscilla Vermillion, an emissary from the Istani campus of the Academy of Magic. She tapped her foot on the ground, her arms crossed as she waited for the promised guide to come and meet her. "Seriously, what's taking so long? It's not like there's a war going on." She looked to one of the men who had accompanied her on the week-long journey, a lieutenant by the name of Roland that had offered the services of his men in the defense of Striberg.

"Er, Excuse me, ma'am, but if you would look outside..."

"Yes, Roland, I know. Sometimes I swear that Istanis are born without a sense of humor." Priscilla's sigh was theatrically heavy, with the clear indication of a smile curling up the corners of her mouth. The lieutenant forced a smile in return, turning his attention back to the exit from the structure. It was clear that he wanted to join the fight against the forces of the White Queen, but she had insisted on following the proper formalities and visiting the Academy first. The woman flinched as another resounding crash echoed through the streets, the result of another catapult's load striking home. They made this sound like a trivial matter in their message. Why are the archmeisters so freaking stupid? She had studied at the Istani branch of the Academy of Magic for almost a decade and knew that there was a huge rivalry between each of the different campuses. None of the archmeisters wanted to appear weak to their peers, leading to decisions that were idiotic at best and dangerous at worst. None of the men and women employed by the institution would benefit if one of their campuses were overrun by savages and golems from a distant land.

"Ms. Vermillion! Ms. Vermillion!" The woman flinched at the formal nature of the greeting. She had tried to discourage people from calling her by her surname, but it was inevitable. She turned to greet the man, who was watching her with an expectant expression. He was wearing a thick robe with a small gold and sapphire tassel that indicated he was an Arcane Inquisitor of the Second Order, a rank much higher than her own. She winced, knowing exactly what was coming next. "I was excited to hear that a Mystical Researcher of the First Order would be coming to provide assistance... Wait a second!" The man's eyes narrowed in a suspicious squint, staring at the demure woman like she was some grotesque monster. His eyes slowly traveled from her face down the length of her body as if he was searching for something. "You... You don't have a drop of magic in your body! Is this a joke?" He stared at her accompanying guards as if the envoy had disguised himself as an Istani grunt as a practical joke.

"Yes, I am quite aware. Thank you for the startling revelation." Priscilla reached forward, handing the man the missive she had been given to formally introduce her and pledge the assistance of the Istani campus to their brethren in the north. She crossed her arms across her chest, trying to suppress her irritation and preparing for what was coming next by drawing the glove off of her right hand.

"This is... well, quite unexpected." The man shoved the letter into his robes without even bothering to break the seal, his brow furrowing in a deep frown. "I was expecting a scholar that was fully trained in the mystical arts to assist us in our plight against the forces of the White Queen, but- what are you doing?!?"

The exclamation was due to Priscilla matter-of-factly drawing a small dagger from her belt and dragging it across her palm. Beads of bright red blood welled up from the injury, dripping down her palm. The man reached forward instinctively, his fingers glowing as he prepared to heal the wound. He was stopped by a short, angry shake of the woman's head that sent her crimson hair flashing around her head. The blood shivered, a tendril of the thick liquid floating into above her hand and writhing in the air. She spoke in a bored, instructional tone as the Arcane Inquisitor watched the display with wide eyes. "Haemokinesis is not technically magical by nature, although quite a useful skill. Rare too, unfortunately. Do you know how difficult it is to study an art that is all but forgotten and reviled by those that remember it?" The blood contorted itself into the shape of a small person, which made a very rude gesture towards the Inquisitor. "Luckily, the men at your institution in Istan will welcome anyone who is willing to learn. My rank is based on my academic proficiency, not magical talent. Will that be an issue? I would hate to turn around and make the journey back home, but if my help is not required I could always-"

"No no no! I'm sorry, Ms. Vermillion, no offense was meant." The woman snorted and made a quick gesture with her fingers, the blood making a slurping noise as it was sucked back into her palm. She shook the hand with a slight wince, trying to ignore the flash of pain that accompanied the cut. Priscilla was not ashamed of her gift, but she had to admit it was slightly inconvenient to have to hurt herself to effectively utilize it. "We just received word that the city defenses have been breached, so I'm slightly distracted. Any assistance you can provide will be appreciated!"

"Of course, Arcane Inquisitor. Anything you ask, Arcane Inquisitor. It was a pleasure, Arcane Inquisitor." The woman rushed past him, glowering at the older man and heading for the exterior door. She burst out of the building without saying another word to the dumbfounded man, glancing around to assess the situation. The city was obviously in a panic, citizens running rampant in the streets and attempting to find cover. Priscilla stared at the looming silhouette of the ice castle that served as a base of operations for the invading forces. She began to walk in that direction, followed closely by her accompaniment of Istani soldiers.
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Ari
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Erin Cazmia couldn't contain her excitement. Hundreds of hours of intense work would culminate into this single moment: when some of the highest-ranking, most important and influential people in the Academy would judge her contribution to the world of arcane academia. When they called her name she practically bounced to her feet, keeping her hands clasped behind her back. The robe uniform of the Striberg campus, a deep blue color, billowed behind her with each echoing step against the marble flooring. The room for the judging was massive, and she couldn't help but look around at the high ceiling, the archways and carvings in the stone. At the back center of the room was a long table where they all sat, watching her carefully, judgmentally. She didn't mind. They would love what she had to offer.

"Erin, ah, Cazmia, is it?" a man was the first to ask. "Your father was a friend of mine. Very sorry about the loss." Wow, she thought, that was quick to get to an awkward subject. Did they not know that Erin was adopted and, being apparently the least favored of the family, only received a stupid horse from his will? it made sense, though; Caz barely knew the man. She tried her best to put on a sad face, though, as she thanked him for his condolences.

They quickly got to business after that, asking her a few preliminary questions. She told them how she had studied extensively under the Artificer, learning clockwork and golemancy and runic magic. Finally it was time to show them the result of her research. Erin slapped her pale hand against the wall, causing it to glow bright purple. Tendrils of light radiated from the point of impact, snaking around the entire wall to create an elaborate rune made of interlocking circles and jagged pieces. Once it was complete, she squeaked and ducked out of the way as a creature the size of a wolf leaped from the rune, breaking the magic to pieces.

The committee only stared in a mixture of awe and horror. It was a sort of misshapen beast, its body plan only vaguely reminiscent of an animal due to its four-legged stance. Otherwise it was nothing but a mess of tubes and smooth flesh covered in plates of armor, exhaling puffs of steam. Its tail, which was about as long as its body, swishes aggressively, like a cat about to pounce on its prey. Cazmia clapped her hands together, delighted at the successful summoning of her new creation. "The Aurumic Automaton is a construct: a perfect melding of golemancy, alchemy and the life sciences! It's powered by a self-sustainable network of liquid gold veins that gives it the physical edge it needs to carry heavy armor! If it sheds the armor, it can outrun a human being easily."

As she spoke, the golem paced the room, eying the committee with a killing intent in its rotating telescopic eyes. "Specialized glands at the roof of the mouth release a potent adhesive that can stop a fleeing opponent in their tracks, allowing the serrated steel teeth to deliver a killing blow! It's the perfect hunter-killer for any occasion." When Caz looked back at her superiors to gauge their reaction to her creation, her expression of overwhelming excitement faded to a concerned stare. They weren't smiling or gasping -- they were frozen in horror. "Wh-...what's wrong?"

"This..." said the man who had first asked her about her father, "This is an abomination. Is that real flesh woven into the mechanics?"

"W-well yes, it has to be, or else the veins wouldn't--"

"What encouraged you to create a weapon, miss Cazmia?" another cut her off.

"It's a weapon, yes, but think about the other ways you could use this sort of technology. Golemancy integrated into medical technology. We could improve limb grafts for veterans and all sorts of other good things." Her voice lowered to a pitiful mewl as she tried to wiggle her way out of such a painfully bad situation. Now her pointed, triangular ears were drooping intensely, and she wrung her hands together in an attempt to massage the nervous tension out of her palms.

Another committee member was about to speak when a man burst into the room, causing everyone to turn.

"The Academy is under attack! Everyone needs to get to a safehouse downstairs now!"

"Oh my gosh!" Caz chirped. She clambered to bow at her superiors. "I'msorrybutweshouldgo!" Then she was off, tearing out of the room past the boy who warned them, her killer golem padding after her. Instead of moving downstairs, though, she burst right out of the front doors. Her curiosity about the situation far overrode her need for safety, and she wanted to try out her new friend anyway. The town was a mess: the air was filled with screams and sounds of breaking, guardsmen rushed down the streets, and a few buildings burned. Caz caught sight of another Academy student and shouted in her direction. "Wait! Where are you going?" She burst into a jog after the crimson-clad girl with the pretty hair, and her golem smoothly trotted at her side. "Are you going to counterattack? I want to come with you!"

Another young man was also moving in their direction, and she waved at him. "Hey! Any idea what's going on?"
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Moto grimaced as Thanatos screamed at Moto to let him take control, he could show them how a death god fights, but Moto dismissed that, he knew Thanatos would attack both friend and foe. Though when they arrived at the steps of the Academy he saw more soldiers and people swarming into nearby passages trying to get into some kind of underground facility, he turned to see a group of soldiers being lead by a woman walking out of a nearby house, and another girl running towards them from the main gate, Moto positioned himself so that the woman and her soldiers would pass by him and the girl on the steps could catch up. He nodded as he heard her yell out her question, "If you don't mind miss please wait for me to explain what I know." He stayed silent for a moment to let the other girl catch up, "My name is Motogir Hajime, though I prefer Moto. Now as for the situation... the bridges have been taken and the enemy troops are swarming into the city, the last stand will be at the academy. Though I have a much more... dangerous plan."

He waited a few moments, letting the drama settle in, he cursed himself as he realized Orpheus was trying to dictate his words, he shook his head once and then nodded, "Alright, I believe if we can get a small group to the bridges we could use some of the magical munitions near the bridges to collapse them, cutting of reinforcements and after a few days of staying in the Academy and fighting on it's walls, we could hunt them down, the only problem is the small group would be stuck outside for the few days the people of Striberg are holed up. I don't know what you two are willing to do, but if you could come with me then please follow me and ignore any... oddities you might find in me."

He turned around towards a side street and said a single world, "Thanatos." He knew anyone with a good understanding of magic would be able to see the swordsman that took a ghostly form over his own, a man dressed all in black, a steel helmet in the shape of some monstrous bird skull, the ghostly coffins floating mere inches from his back, like a cape of shimmering steel. He chuckled as his eyes turned red, "Follow me if you wish, I will cut down any foes that come within my reach." As if to prove it a small pack of four wolves chasing down a family in the street he was heading towards, he ran towards them, meaning to only kill the wolves. As he got closer the mother of the small family was about to be bitten, and was only saved as Thanatos threw her to the side, thrusting his blade into the top of the wolf's open maw, ripping it to the side to forcible break it's jaw, twisting the blade free he looked as the other wolves surrounded him growling all the while. He laughed like a mad man as he raised his cutlass, ready to fight whether his so called allies helped him or not, he could see more enemies coming, it would be a long fight to the bridge.
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Priscilla rolled up the sleeves of her tunic as she walked, leaving her arms bare up to the elbow. She winced as she drew the dagger across her left palm as well, opening a second straight cut on her flesh. No blood flowed from the injuries, leaving an angry red line across each hand. Although most of the members of the Academy seemed content with rushing inside to hide from the invading forces, a handful of men and women had the same thought as her and were advancing towards the aggressors. She saw one man make a shooing motion with his hand, a gust of wind accompanying the movement and sending an icy golem soaring down a street. Another woman summoned a constant stream of lightning from her fingertips, strafing the street in front of her with raw power. Not for the first time, the researcher wondered why the White Queen would declare war on an institution as powerful as the Academy of Magic. Even individuals who were not trained in battle magic usually had some talent in defending themselves. And then there were people like Priscilla, who had not been trained for war but had sharp instincts and powerful abilities. The frigid monarch was clearly a fool to attack the Striberg campus.

There was a shuffling noise from behind her, quickly followed by a bright and cheerful greeting that seemed at odds with their situation. She turned to glance at the speaker, raising her eyebrows slightly. The girl was wearing a billowing blue robe lacking any regalia or tassels to speak of, indicating she was still a student at the Academy. You think they would lock down the dormitories at the first sign of an atta- what is that? Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the creature bounding next to the girl. It was an amalgamation of flesh and machinery, steam wafting out of its mouth as it surveyed the scene with rotating, metallic lenses. Plates of armor covered its flanks, thick sheets of metal that would surely deflect melee attacks. Priscilla caught a glimpse of razor-sharp teeth as she stared at the monstrosity, her face blanching. Perhaps this girl wasn't a student after all. She couldn't imagine that anyone except a faculty member would be allowed to craft such a unique and dangerous construct.

"I, er..." She was saved the trouble of answering when a young man began to speak, concisely describing the situation. Priscilla used the distraction of his tirade to compose herself, although she kept a wary eye on the stalking creature. This Moto character seemed quite unremarkable until he reached the end of his rant, speaking a word that seemed innocent but had quite sinister effects. His form seemed to shimmer, a ghostly presence appearing overlaid over his own body. She blinked, lifting up her glasses to get a better view of the apparition, but before she could understand what was happening he ran forward, brandishing a cutlass and immediately getting himself surrounding by a pack of dangerous Arctic wolves. The beasts snapped and snarled at the man as he killed one of their number, cackling like he lived for moments such as these. The woman felt the knot of worry in her gut tighten at the sight, and her fingers fumbled as she took off her glasses and stowed them in a pouch at her waist.

It's official. I'm defending Striberg with a student, an abomination, and a madman. Clearly I've offended someone.

She turned to the blue-robed girl, managing a lopsided smile. "I'm Priscilla. More formal introductions should wait, I believe." She nodded towards the street that Moto had charged down, the grin fading from her face. She could see that a company of soldiers had gathered at the end of the thoroughfare, methodically moving down the road and battling anyone who tried to stall them. There were still a few of the bronze-masked Striberg guard attempting to hold the invading forces back, but it was clear that they were losing ground. Priscilla looked at the girl again, her mien softening slightly as she took in the girl's young appearance. She couldn't be older than twenty. "Roland, have one of your men stay with this girl. Otherwise you are free to engage." The Istani nodded and gestured to one of the soldier, who immediately stepped away from his companions. All four of the men drew their scimitars, preparing for the fight ahead.

Priscilla rushed ahead to catch up with Moto, aiming for one of the wolves to the left of the man. The creature had been preparing to lunge at the young man when she whistled at the creature. It growled when it saw this new prey, stepping away from the cutlass-wielding youth and instead bounding toward her. Priscilla blew a strand of crimson hair out of her face and set her feet in a wide stance, not moving even when the wolf lunged at her. The woman raised her left arm quickly, wincing as the wolf's teeth ripped through the fabric of her sleeve. However, its teeth did not rip into her flesh, instead stopping as soon as they had pierced her skin. Blood gushed out of the shallow incisions, rapidly coating Priscilla's forearm and crystallized into a hardened lattice structure. The wolf growled and tried to bite through the fortified blood, but it was useless. Priscilla smirked at the beast and slammed her right fist into its snout, eliciting a small yip of pain from the canine. It released her forearm, leaving her with both hands free to pummel the wolf's skull with quick jabs. And now I'm in a fist fight with a dog. Great.
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Ari
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"Oh hi Moto!" Cazmia's greeting was like something one would save for a close friend, even though she had never met him before. But he seemed like a nice boy anyway, and his clothing was strange but charming. "And Priscilla! I'm Erin Cazmia; call me Caz." No time for more than that, though, as Motogir explained his plan to take back the city. It seemed like it would be effective enough; the wizard nodded, the look of comprehension on her face showing that she was willing to help to the best of her ability. Both of them ran down to the nearest battle line down the street, and Erin was only seconds after them.

The ghostly form of Thanatos momentarily distracted Caz from the fact that Priscilla, despite looking like a mage and being one of the Academy's evacuees, was a brawler through and through. She was liking them more already! Unfortunately, she couldn't just sit there and observe their fascinating fighting styles; wolves and soldiers were advancing by the second. Cazmia bent her knees a little and slid one foot forward, the motion causing magical power to flare from her body. A strand of purple magic traced over cracks between cobblestones, forming a jagged rune under the feet of their enemies. She paused briefly to issue orders to her thesis, which was whirring softly next to her. "Kill the soldiers and beasts that are invading the city!" In the same instant that she finished her sentence, the automaton pushed off on powerful hind limbs, breaking into a sprint. It darted between allies before launching itself at the nearest wolf and digging its metal teeth into the creature's throat.

The spell was almost done. Cazmia closed her eyes for a few seconds and pushed her open palms downward. The gesture seemed to manage all the raw power flaring up around her body, forcing it into the distant rune. Light shot vertically from the purple lines in the ground. Then she opened her eyes.

The ground exploded from under the feet of the enemy soldiers, and a six-foot monster made of jagged white glass rose from the broken stone. The tendrils of purple magic that had previously formed the rune on the ground had actually broken into tangible pieces upon summoning, now covering the golem in restraints that looked like magical shackles. They served to bind the creature to Cazmia's will -- and prevent it from going berserk against both ally and enemy. The hulking glass golem sent its fist flying into a powerful haymaker, shattering fragments and sending two more wolves flying, trailing blood. Nearby, the alchemical golem leaped over Priscilla's dead wolf so it could reach a line of foreign soldiers that were beginning to advance on the road.

Pleased that her spell had succeeded, Cazmia tossed a friendly smile at the nice Istani soldier that had accompanied her. Then she jogged further toward the fight, calling over to Priscilla and Motogir while she ran. "Keep pushing forward! Don't give up!"
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Moto grimaced as Thanatos fought like a mad man, hacking away at wolves necks and legs, laughing like a mad man all the while. He saw his allies fight to, Caz letting her creature fight and summoning a large glass golem, and the woman he had addressed early was also fighting using some kind of blood red arming. Thanatos did not care for them though, Moto gave him observations and told Thanatos what he missed, allowing Thanatos to know the field even while focusing on the wolves. He sunk the blade into the side of a wolf's throat and ripped it out, blood spraying over his jacket as he looked at the coming soldiers, he spoke a single word, "Swap." His low and growling voice changed to a thick Irish accent right in the middle of the word, his cutlass changing into an ice blue spear.

He spun it over his head as he held it like any good spearman, one hand in the center and the other near the butt of the spear. He laughed as the image over him changed to a man with bright blazing red hair tied back into a pony tail that lead down to the middle of his back, his blue steel plated armor, he smiled as he spoke, "Eesh laddo, in a wee bit of trouble while playin' tha' part of the wee hero, well then allow this old irishman ta' show ye how to wield this spear of ours." He began singing a song in gaelic, no doubt foreign to the people, but to Moto he understood the lyrics, it was a song about battle, drinking, and women, a fighting song for the world's self-proclaimed greatest spearman. He skimmed the spearhead across the ground and swung it upward, sending icicles in a short wave at waist height down the street. Moto and Cu Chulainn smiled as one, so far he enjoyed the irish demi-god to Thanatos, Chulainn actually taught him things, not just taking all of the action.

Chulainn rushed forward, the tip of his spear slashing long gashes into incoming warrior's chests, ice blossoming on the wounds causing them to howl in pain as the ice formed. He thrust the spears into the wounded soldiers, now slowed by the wounds, leaving the icy touch of the spear to freeze the wounds, killing them slowly from the inside. He let the soldiers catch up with him before diving back into combat, this time fighting with the woman's soldiers. His spear struck around his ally soldiers, hitting their foes and slowing them down both in arm and leg speed, giving their troops an edge in one on one fights. He felt the street rumble a bit as the glass golem moved closer, but there was more, a frost giant, how unlucky. He turned back to his allies and yelled out, "I say we let the golem thing take on tha' giant! I have nae way ta' get my spear to his throat and from his height my spear must look like a wee pig sticker." He turned his head to see a soldier rushing toward him, he calmly stepped forward and thrust the spear, taking the man in the stomach, pulling it back out he did another short thrust, this time taking out the man's throat, he had to keep on killing and hope one of his allies could take on the giant.
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Priscilla
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Priscilla slammed the tip of her elbow into the canine's skull, feeling and hearing its bones crack from the force of the blow. She watched the beast fall down, shaking her arm to return feeling to the limb as she assessed the situation. Roland and his men had formed a small triangle, fighting as a cohesive unit as they moved down the street. Moto seemed to be enjoying himself as well, although he had changed from using a cutlass to a long, glimmering spear while she had been distracted. Even more interesting was the glass golem that was devastating any enemy within the reach of its long arms, magical shackles wrapped around its wrists, ankles, and neck. The researcher glanced back at the student with a new sense of respect. Golemancy was a difficult field, but this girl obviously had a gift for it. The alchemical monstrosity ran past her in a blur, gears gnashing together as it bounded towards the approaching soldiers.

She pressed forward with Moto, ignoring the gibberish he was singing and focusing on her own battle. The forces of the White Queen were varied, although a majority of them were the barbarians that had accompanied the invading monarch. Others were mercenaries that had been hired by the Queen to bolster her strength, Imythessians whose allegiance laid not with their homeland but rather who was willing to give them the largest rewards. Priscilla's first foeclearly belonged to the latter group, young swordsman, a lopsided smile affixed to his features as he wielded a rapier with an impressive speed and ferocity. The woman cocked her head to one side as he turned to her, glancing at the thin blade. "Really? A rapier?" The man laughed shortly and darted forward, stabbing straight at the woman's sternum.

Priscilla didn't even bother pretending to block the attack, instead curling the fingers on her left hand into a fist. As soon as the rip of the sword struck her flesh blood began to gush from the wound, hardening into an impromptu breastplate that easily deflected the attack. Before he could react she reached out with her right hand, firmly gripping his wrist. More blood poured out of the cut across her left palm, the liquid forming a sphere around her fist. She crystallized it with a thought, the internal structure of the blood forming a tight lattice structure that was comparable to a diamond in strength and hardness. She wasted no time in bringing down the sphere of blood on the man's arm, almost effortlessly shattering his radius. The fighter cried out in pain, but was quickly silenced when she stepped forward, launching a straight jab at his face and spreading his nose across his features.

"Not even wearing a helmet... I swear, they get more idiotic every year." She let go of the man's wrist, letting him fall to the ground and listening as Moto outlined a rudimentary plan of attack. She eyed the frost giant warily, knowing that her haemokinesis would have difficulty against such a massive being and that beating it senseless would take far too long. She scanned the battlefield, knowing that if they could not hold this street it would allow the invaders free passage directly into the heart of the Academy. "I agree. We can hold the grunts off if glassy there can take out the big guy." She winced as an arrow slammed into her left shoulder. Although hardened blood immediately burst out from the impact and formed a makeshift spaulder, she knew the impact would leave her with a nasty bruise in the morning. "Now, if you don't mind I'm going to go find that archer and make him regret that." Priscilla began to walk in the direction the projectile had come from, wiping her right hand across her bloody breastpiece. She gathered her hair with that hand, making a hair band out of the blood on her fingers to keep it out of the way in a tight ponytail.
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Ari
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After pulling out her quarterstaff and smashing the butt into a half-dead soldier to put him out of his misery, Caz stopped and gaped at the towering man down the street. The frost giant was enormous, white skin and flowing bluish beard leading down to an icy club that looked hard as diamond. Her glass golem didn't hesitate to charge in an attempt to hold it off. Their difference in height was astounding, but what really worried the wizard girl was that club in his hands. Glassy didn't do well at all with blunt weapons, and...

Smash. Caz winced as the giant swept the club straight across the golem's upper body, completely shattering it down to the hip. Bad, bad luck. On the bright side, the glass shards sprayed everywhere, painfully blinding soldiers and embedding pieces of it. All the glass on the ground also impeded their movement. So it wasn't all in vain, and she supposed the golem's legs could still... kick people a bit, albeit randomly. Instead of putting her poor summon through that much more pain, she tapped her staff on the ground and ran her other hand purposefully over a specific rune carved on it. It glowed briefly before what remained of the glass golem faded away, unsummoned.

"Sorry, guys," Caz shouted to her new friends. "I think I know what will do the trick, though!"

Raw magical power flared up around Erin's body once more, distorting the air like rising heat. She held out her free hand to the air, where a huge glowing rune appeared between the clouds. Once again the golemancer channeled her power through her limb and to the rune, giving it the mana necessary to summon another golem. The edges of the clouds spun away from the floating rune as the spell tore a hole in the sky, revealing a plane of red, yellow and black behind it. A flaming meteor shot out from the hole, breaking the rune as it passed through it.

Its impact with the ground just behind the frost giant was just as violent as the glass golem's summoning, sending out a fiery shockwave that scorched the tips of the soldiers' uniforms and leaving a crater in the street. Cazmia visibly flinched, still not quite used to the destructive power of her own spells. She opened her eyes to see if her summoning had been successful, lightly chewing her bottom lip. She really hoped no one would make her pay for all the damage she was doing to the street. It's for the benefit of the city, dammit!

The meteor, which was still burning hot in the center of the crater, actually turned out to be a golem that had curled into a nearly perfect sphere. It uncoiled like a lizard, revealing bits and pieces of dark red obsidian that gave the elemental a vague shape. Initially quadupedal, it rose to its hind legs so it could slash at nearby soldiers with its clawed hands. The fire golem advanced to the frost giant when the way was clear.

When it reached a certain distance, it lowered to its haunches, gave its flaming tail a quick swish, and pressed all of its strength into its hind legs. Then it leaped, claws on all four feet outstretched. The denizen of the Elemental Plane of Fire pounced onto the back of the frost giant's shoulders, digging burning obsidian claws into his flesh. The massive man stumbled back and removed one hand from his weapon so he could try to tear off the creature, roaring in pain. Frosty skin melted, burned, blistered; the golem, hungry like many of Cazmia's summons often were, bit into the hulking man's neck and shoulders and tore off chunks.

"Oh, just kill him already!" Caz admonished, half-joking.

The giant fell to his knees, allowing the alchemical golem to leap onto his face. They continued pushing down the road. By the time they reached the frost giant, who had fought to the best of his ability despite the no doubt blinding pain he was suffering through, he had just fallen dead. Caz stumbled after Motogir and Priscilla, a little out of breath from so much summoning and maintaining so many summons at one time. She could hold on for a while still, though.
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Moto grimaced as he watched the glass being shattered... he saw glass shards fly around and impale enemy soldiers while injuring many others. Chulainn on the other hand smiled and laughed, whooping all the while as he noticed the flare of magical power, a large deadly looking being with sharp claws and frightening speed. He took the spear and spun it to the side, using the haft to smack the side of a man's helmet, spinning around him and thrust at his lower back, skewering him through the spine. He turned to put the haft of his spear in the way of a heavy blow of a hand and a half sword, he pushed the foe back and dragged the tip of the spear across the ground and sent it upwards towards him, skewering the foe with small icicles across his stomach, sternum, and face.

Moto turned to see how far they had gotten... it wasn't much, they needed to make more headway... he had no Persona that could do that, how he wished Thor and Taka-Mikazchi were active, their lightning powers could have leveled the enemy, though so could his current Persona if they had their full powers, it just proved how much he had lost. He brought himself back to the battle as he felt a chill run down his spine, Shadows, he looked at the enemy, some of them seemed to start yelling and shouting in pain, a black substance coming out of their tear ducts and ears, slowly devouring them until only black blobs formed. Thanatos screamed in his head, "It's one of the Thirteen! They're finally taking one of the big guys out to fight you. Remember I beat it last time when I went wild, this time you won't have my raw power, warn your allies before it takes full form!"

Moto agreed immediately, he called out, "Don't touch the black ooze with your hands and don't let it touch you!" He looked around for Caz and the other woman, "Caz! Miss who leads the men! Try to get around the ooze! I'll take care of it!" He knew it was suicide, but without proper training that one of the Thirteen could be a deadly foe. He watched as the ooze started to slowly come together, he already knew what form it would be, a being made slowly of arms, long black shadowy arms the size of small houses, no real visible body, just a mass of entangling arms, one holding a mask, six of them for movement, and another five wielding swords. He took the spear and control of his body, Chulainn knew how to fight soldiers, Shadows were his duty, the ghostly image of the irish man faded, he now only drew upon the knowledge of the warrior, the rest was up to him.
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Priscilla heard a noise from behind her that didn't bode well for the glass golem, but she saw no reason to turn back and attempt to assist with the frost giant. She could manipulate the blood of others to a limited degree, but none of her abilities would work on a creature with as large of a circulatory system as the massive humanoid. Instead she focused on the small force of archers that had taken up a position behind an overturned cart and sending deadly bolts rocketing down the street. From this distance she could see that they were wielding a large, bulky weapon the likes of which she had never seen. It was a crossbow with a large pull lever and an intricate system of pulleys. She could not begin to fathom how the bows work, but she knew that even a mundane crossbow could punch a hole in a steel breastplate at close range. Her experiments at the academy suggested that her crystallized blood was even stronger that metal armor, but she wasn't looking forward to testing those results in this setting. Priscilla grimaced as she sprinted forward, dancing back and forth to make her a more difficult target.

The crossbowmen soon noticed her advance and focused their aim, sending a wave of bolts flying towards her. Only one of the bolts in the first barrage struck her, the sheer force of the impact sending her stumbling back. Blood seeped out of the wound and formed armor around her flesh, but there was a small chip in the hardened substance that suggested she was not completely immune to attack. She grit her teeth together and ran even faster, trying to reach the sniper's encampment before they could reload their weapons. When she saw the stocks of the crossbows pointed towards her she threw herself to the ground, wrapping one arm around the corpse of a Striberg guard and lifting it in front of her. The body shuddered as bolts slammed into it, easily piercing the fur-lined leather armor and passing all the way through the corpse. However, their speed was significantly slowed by the makeshift shield, allowing her defenses to completely protect against the projectiles.

Before they could crank back the bow once more Priscilla was among them, moving with a speed and ferocity that was unexpected from a woman of such short stature. Another globe of blood formed around her right hand, allowing her to lash out without worrying about the armor her opponents wore. They were the barbarian forces that had accompanied the White Queen to Striberg, over seven feet tall and with broad shoulders, wearing sets of hardened leather armor. They shouted out in their rough, foreign tongue as they tried to defend themselves, but Priscilla was a terror to behold. She aimed kicks at groins and punches at noses, using tactics that would be frowned on in a civilized match but were ruthlessly effective. In less than a minute three of the barbarians were on the ground, unconscious. The last two men had managed to draw their heavy, machete-like blades and were staring in mute horror at the fiery-headed woman in their midst.

Priscilla was breathing heavily, watching them from between slits in the shell of blood that had formed over her face. The bloody armor had spread to cover almost her entire figure by this point. It fit on her frame like a second skin and lacked a resemblance to any normal suit of armor. It looked more like the shell of an insect or crustacean, with odd socket joints and strange contours. She leapt forward at the men, lashing out with one foot. A long spike of crystallized blood lanced out of her foot, taking the man by surprise and easily piercing through his armor. She winced as the protrusion broke off in the man's gut, knowing that losing that much blood would weaken her significantly. Still, the brawler did not hesitate to advance on the remaining barbarian, launching a flurry of punches at his torso. He hacked at the woman with his sword, but each blow was deflected by the armor wrapped around her body. His own armor proved inept at protecting him from the hardened blood, several ribs cracking from her relentless flurry of attacks. Priscilla's final attack was a wild haymaker that shattered his jaw, sending him tumbling to the ground to join his comrades.

"There we go. Much better." She bent down next to the man she had stabbed, grabbing the dagger of hardened blood and yanking it out of his corpse. Priscilla allowed the blood to seep back into her armor as she walked around the group of downed men, stomping down on their bows to break the weapons beyond repair. That done, she glanced back at her companions to see how their fight was going. The giant had fallen and was currently being devoured by the alchemical monstrosity and another golem that flickered with bright flames. What was even more unusual was a monstrosity that had appeared in the street, some manner of creature that seemed to be fashioned from pure shadow. She frowned underneath her mask, unsure of how to attack such a being when Moto shouted out that they should try to circumvent the beast. Priscilla glanced at the boy, eyes narrowing slightly. She didn't know if he could be trusted to fight such a thing on his own, but she didn't want Roland and his men to die against such an enemy so far from home. "Roland, listen to the boy! Leave that thing alone! Caz, you should follow me."

The scholar began to work her way past the hulking, tentacled monstrosity, edging along the storefronts to avoid its grasp. Hopefully Caz would have the sense to follow her and leave the odd enemy to the young swordsman. They could always attack it from behind if her seemed to be getting overwhelmed. Priscilla rounded the scholar to see another company of barbarians awaiting them, their faces covered in white warpaint. She sighed underneath her bloody mask, knowing this would be a long, tiring fight, especially considering how exhausted she felt already. She glanced at the student, trying to make her tone jovial. "I don't suppose you have a golem for this, eh?"
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Holding the walls for stability, Cazmia clambered after Priscilla after a quick confirmation of the danger they faced. Her two golems took to the rooftops, their claws clattering over shingles and eyes scanning for enemies. Erin herself had some difficulty just following after Priscilla. While she had specifically crafted her Aurumic Automaton so it had its own mana supply after its initial summoning, her fire golem required a steady stream of mana in order to maintain it at full power. This usually wasn't a big deal as Caz often fought while mounted, keeping her highly maneuverable even when she was mana-deprived. Here, she had to scramble through narrow corridors while her horse smugly munched on expensive feed on the other side of town. Physical exertion and heavy mana use didn't coexist for her.

The fire burning around her golem's body became a light smoldering as Caz forcibly cut off the flow of magical energy to her summon. It also ran a lot slower, struggling to keep up with the armored mechanical golem. The fix wasn't really that good -- Erin still had to deal with a net loss of energy -- but it at least let her continue a lot longer. The group quickly emerged onto a new street dominated by more foreign warriors. Propping most of her weight on her staff, she returned her fire golem to its full power just before both of her creations leaped off the rooftops into the fray. The alchemical golem landed hard on a man's shoulders, forcing him to the ground, while her fire golem landed between soldiers and proceeded to attempt to eat them alive. Hopefully the opening would cause enough chaos to allow Priscilla and the Istani soldiers a decent means of taking them all down.

Caz frowned as she watched her golems fight. The automaton was a successful experiment, a single-minded killing machine, but her fire golem -- like many of her others -- was possessed with an insatiable hunger. It would often stop in the middle of battle to tear apart leather armor and consume the flesh beneath. Because of this behavior it received many wounds; its entire body was covered in frozen cuts that looked painful for a fire-based creature. Unfortunately, she was at her limit. Any longer with the fire golem and she wouldn't be able to press forward with the others. Caz closed her eyes and unsummoned the beast, causing its fire to dissipate and its obsidian parts to clatter lifelessly to the ground.

When she opened her eyes, a barbarian slammed the handle of his spear into her neck, pinning her to the wall. Unused to direct combat, Erin instinctively dropped her runic staff so both hands could fly to her neck, trying but failing to prevent the weapon from crushing her throat. His white-painted lips curled into a smile revealing yellowed teeth.
Edited by Ari, Thu Jan 5, 2012 5:38 pm.
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Moto smiled as his allies ran around it, putting plenty of distance between themselves and the Shadow forming. He switched the spear to his cutlass, in only a moment the spear was his cutlass once more. He saw the creature and it's enormous size it it filled up the street with it's massive arms and hands, one of the hands held a mask up to look around, and upon seeing Moto, it charged him. He took up his blade and dodged to the side as the extra hands created swords from shadows and swung down at the spot he was just in. He kept his movements quick and circled it, using it's inability to turn well to his favor, his blade flashed and carved through large chunks of shadow.

He grinned as he found beating this thing a second time around was far to easy, his mind churned for the memories of what happened when he beat it last time, and his grin changed to a frown, ... it had created several other shadows the last time he defeated it. He growled in frustration as he saw it starting to make wide sweeps with the blades, causing him to run away instead of going to the side, he was just to small, to slow, and to weak. He changed back to his spear and dragged it across the ground, sending small bursts of icicles at it, skewering the hands and forcing it to stay back. He realized his only real shot at killing this shadow was to destroy the mask it held, and for that he would need more help, he looked around to see a single mage cowering nearby, Moto spoke to him as the Shadow started to recollect itself, taking a moment to heal as Moto stopped swinging his spear around, "Do you know any kind of magic that can get me to it's mask?" Moto was in no mood for messing around, he was all business at the moment, and that mage hopefully understood it.

The mage looked up at him and winced, "Y-yes... I know of a way t-to get you up there... but you won't like it, n-not at all. I c-could use a spell t-to control the air t-to create st-steps for you to run up, but my control right now is n-not very good." Moto stopped him from speaking more, "Do it." The mage nodded and began chanting as Moto turned to charge the Shadow, which immediately charged back, swinging two swords low, meaning to cut Moto at the hips and neck, but neither connected as Moto started to run up steps made of air. He barely escaped the slashing swords, the shadow swinging it's arms trying to hit Moto, but to no avail, he was to close, and with that he thrust his spear into the mask, cracking it. The Shadow's body started to disappear as it's body went into death throes, one black tendril smacking Moto and sending him onto a nearby roof, he groaned in pain as cracks appeared on his face and body, a black shadowy mist coming out of them, he grimaced as he knew what that meant, normal people would bleed blood, his body didn't have blood, but would instead leak out his Shadow that was being kept inside his human shell.

He stood up and started back towards the bridges, hoping to meet his alliesalong the way as he went hopping from building to building.
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Priscilla
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The researcher grunted as another blade scraped against her chest, leaving a shallow indentation in the layer of crystallized blood. Her response was instinctive, a backhanded slap that nevertheless cracked the barbarian's cheekbone thanks to the sphere of hardened blood. Priscilla coughed and rubbed her chest with her left hand as she surveyed the street, grimacing behind the safety of her mask. The battle was not necessarily going badly, but neither was it going well. Roland and his men had exchanged their scimitars for the long-handled glaives they kept on their back, using the longer reach of the polearms to keep their enemies at bay. Still, the overwhelming numbers of the enemy was proving too much for even the tough Istani veterans, and she could see blood staining their uniforms from a number of wounds they had accumulated. They had slain over three times their number, yet there was no end of the barbarians in sight. The golems that the student had summoned were proving useful as well, but as she watched one of them disappeared back to its elemental plane, leaving only the unusual alchemical construct on the street.

Priscilla looked behind her to see what had caused Caz to banish one of the golems, her eyes going wide as she saw one of the barbarian's that had somehow slipped through their ranks. The hulking man had pinned the student up against the wall with his spear, smiling cruelly. She quickly assessed her options, although she knew she was too far away to incapacitate him before he could kill the girl. She grit her teeth together, mentally reaching out over the distance towards the barbarian's circulatory system. The globes of blood around her hands melted as her concentration faded, instead covering her fingers like gauntlets. She could sense every beat of the brute's heart, feel every inch of the blood pumping through his arteries and veins with every contraction. She pointed towards him and wrenched her hand to one side, mentally willing the blood to obey her command. The man screamed as it responded, a fiery burst of pain spreading throughout his entire body as the blood shuddered in his veins.

Before he could recover Priscilla was there, slapping the shaft of the spear aside so it was no longer crushing the girl's throat. She spun quickly, straightening the fingers on her right hand and slamming them into his sternum. The blow was almost useless against the hardened leather, but that was not the true target of her strike. She had combined an advanced martial technique with her haemokinesis to develop a new attack that she had pompously named the Blood Fang Strike. She used the momentary contact to drastically lower the temperature of a volume of blood, and her opponent's circulatory system did the rest. The man cried out as the icy cold spread through his chest, making his skin turn light blue and shiver uncontrollably. The brawler wasted no time, systematically stabbing her rigid fingers into his nerve clusters, freezing more blood with each blow and reducing him to a quivering heap of agony.

"You alright?" The researcher glanced at Caz, trying to ignore the ache in her chest from constantly fighting with so little blood in her body. Anemia had never been a concern for haemomancers because they could magically create more, but her own abilities were limited by the amount of blood in her body. Underneath the mask her face was wan and her eyes appeared sunken, sure signs of an iron deficiency. She hooked one foot underneath Caz's dropped staff and kicked it into the air, catching it in one hand and offering it to the student. "Don't you fall apart on me, girl. You'll never graduate without some moxie." She grinned to take the edge off the words, laying one hand on Caz's shoulder. "Let me help."

She closed her eyes and focused on the girl's heart, although this time with beneficial intentions. She gradually increased the rate at which the organ was pumping, escalating her heart rate while fortifying her circulatory system. The combination of the effects would allow the girl to move with preternatural speed for a short while regardless of her physical capabilities. Priscilla staggered slightly as she lowered her hand, feeling the strain of maintaining her layer of blood armor while overcharging the student's speed. "There... You should be faster now. Don't get caught again..." She composed herself and nodded down the street, indicating the quartet of Istani holding back the White Queen's forces. "Let's push them back to the bridge." She began to jog in that direction, although noticeably slower than before.
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Caz fell to her feet, coughing. Her fingers instinctively went to her throat, as if rubbing the injured area would somehow cure the fact that it was almost crushed. Priscilla asked if she was alright, to which Caz gave a little nod. She took her staff back from the Istani and smiled at her comment about moxie. Let's hope, the arcanist thought, that she would make it back to the Academy after all of this was over.

As her hand slipped from her throat the runic mage realized that her blood was boiling. No -- her heart was beating fast, filling her body with adrenaline that took away her listlessness completely. Caz stare at Priscilla wide-eyed, searching for an explanation. Upon receiving one, the girl stumbled forward at high speed, gave her newest friend a quick hug, and then careened off into the thick of battle.

Oh thank goodness, her alchemical automaton was still functioning at full power! Too bad it was almost completely covered in blood. She would need to clean the machine thoroughly before resuming her thesis defense. Caz bore in on a barbarian coming up behind the golem an spun, slamming the butt of her staff into the back of his knee. The instant he fell the girl followed through with a sharp hit to the back of his skull, using her enhanced speed to put more power into the blow and break it. "Come on," she croaked to her thesis. Even though her voice was only a whisper, it managed to hear her and follow after the mage.

Erin darted through the crowd, occasionally lashing out at enemies to trip or cripple them so that the squad of Istani soldiers or her golem could properly take care of them. The runic mage pushed herself into a run until she effortlessly leaped over the wreckage of a fallen building, pressing her hand into the shattered stone to lift her legs over it. She landed in an area of the city that was completely cleared of enemies. On one side was the coast of Striberg, where several huge ice bridges had fused to the iceberg of the city. In the distance was an enormous castle floating on ice.

She turned back toward the streets and caught a glimpse of the monster being destroyed and Moto approaching them from the rooftops in that direction. Cazmia pushed onto her toes and waved at the familiar man, a wide grin on her face. By now her entire throat was heavily bruised -- its appearance also aided by her increased blood flow -- so it was apparent she couldn't talk very well. The girl would have to settle with her usual wild gesticulations in order to get her point across.
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