EXT to INT - Eldritch Tunnels
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The fog still clings heavily to the ground, cloying in the air and saturated with the sticky sort of humidity one would expect with the tropical clime. With it comes the scent of death, the rot that pervades the ocean seeping in through the mainland as if to oppress the senses of those that choose to venture from their homes. The forest is not quiet around the tunnel entrance but the noises heard are not typical of the wildlife one endemic to the area. Skittering claws, chattering jaws can be heard nearby, whispers and cackles reaching the ears of those gathered. Shadows of beasts move in the periphery of view only to disappear when looked at directly. The three Windgrace siblings are gathered near the cavemouth to meet and direct those that attend downward into the inner sanctums. The night is dark and above sits a waning moon.
Dinah (dollihead Resident): How long had it been now?
Di had been preparing for this for...well. easily two weeks now. Ritual preparations for something of this scale were unknown to her. Even the family rite wasn't this big in scale. She was nervous. She didn't GET nervous.
Then again, if they got this wrong there'd not be the space to get anything wrong ever again, much less be nervous.
She was unglamoured, choosing to not waste valuable focus on disguising herself when anyone that came down with them today would almost definitely experience WORSE than what she looked like.
Patience. Patience. Focus.
Soon, it would all be over.
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes): | Having accompanied his siblings to the cave's entrance, Dorian would take up his accustomed spot, not too far from his twin, then take in the evening. To his mind, the fog and evening seemed to be priming themselves, just as his party were. Though he was less initiated into the mystery and magic, he knew where he fit in, and thus focused on taking in the surroundings, the sounds, sights, smells and personages like he was on guard duty. His face was an impassive unglamoured golden mask of itself, while he sent warm feelings psychically toward his sister to assuage her nerves; it was easy for him to be calm. He had endless faith in his siblings.
Calliope's discomfort fades as she moves further from her home. The scent of rot and the uncertainty that comes with moving through the fog, make for delightful distractions and she tramples through the flora with a comfortable jog and growing smile that grows wild as she sees the Windgraces ahead. A frantic wave is offered until she's close enough to avoid yelling. "Heyyyyy! Who's ready to accidentally make everything worse by meddling with forces we don't understand or control to get rid of problem? Is it just me? King and Queen sent me ahead and said I wasn't to bring a single molotov cocktail, but I mean, is it really any different than what we're doing?"
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp): As eager as Willow was to have the mist dispelled, to say that she was not 'jazzed' to take part in a ritual designed around gods would be an understatement. The headmistress took rather significant pains to neither indebt herself nor pledge herself to any power other than what her own will and wit could manage. She was determined to end today with no more entanglements than she had going in which left her looking both determined and slightly aggrieved as she picked her way down towards the cave entrance. At Calliope's enthusiastic voicing of her own internal concerns. The leathery familiar in her arms and Willow shared a mirrored slow blink before the witch drawled, "Indeed," at Calliope's statement before she inclined her head to the Windgrace siblings. "What do you need us to do?"
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Elijah has perhaps been preparing for this as much as Dinah has. The dedication to getting this rite right, his first ever with his favorite professor and her family, is just as intense as that which he has focused on building his mechanical wings. Wings that were almost in prototype stage. He arrives muttering to himself, fingers twitching in gestures as if casting a spell and shadows leaking free of his mouth to tangle in hair that’s been let to grow long. The distance between the Esher house and the tunnels is short. He doesn’t bother to glamor up. Most people who see him think the shadows trailing after him like wings are just fog anyway. The glitter of dust trailing behind him? That’s just a trick of light, surely. He pauses at the edge of the tree line and stops muttering; pale purple eyes lifting to cast about and take in those who have gathered. A hand lifts to tip a hat that isn’t there and the pix furrows his brow slightly. His fingers turn the gesture into a twiddle of greeting and he
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): curiously eyes Calliope but then also edges away from her and closer toward Dorian. She said the royalty words and he doesn’t want to get tangled up in that. A nod is given toward Willow. He vaguely recognizes her. Maybe. From school? He thinks.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The gathering does not go unnoticed. Those with more sensitive senses whether they be physical or more magical can tell that the things roaming the forests around them have turned their attention to the group and begun an approach. Eli is tracked as he makes his way there and Calli is followed by slithering, squelching things in the undergrowth. From the atop the earthen mound that houses the tunnel entrance several eyes peer out from behind the rock there, watching out of a fluff of shadowy blackness before disappearing. The siblings recognize at least one of the creatures nearby - they have guardians of their own keeping the tunnels safe, after all - but not all of the beings that are coming to pay a visit are under their sway. The eldest, tall and dark-haired, makes an insinuation that they should make their way downward before too long.
Dinah (dollihead Resident) 's expression softened from the grim severity of preparation at the sound of the brightly-coloured chaos given flesh in front of her. She bowed her head
"we are going underground, so i am not entirely certain a molotov cocktail would be quite as efficient anyway. it's quite damp and somewhat confined down there" she explained, gesturing to the gap in the stone behind her.
"Small advantage? I do at least know and understand the forces at play, but that doesn't help us in the slightest, but it's something" she forced a thin smile towards Willow, and a slightly more sincere one directed to Eli as he arrived too.
With everyone external to the family having arrived, she took a deep breath and turned to head into the protection of the dark, explaining the ritual as she did. Meticulously, in excruciating detail, leaving nothing to chance or interpretation. The chants, the necessity for it to be NEVER silent from that chant until she gave the signal for silence. Willow and Eli would be joining Drystan and one
Dinah (dollihead Resident): of her attendants who was already inside at the 'Watcher' pillars; The tear, the flower, the butterfly wings and the vampires blood.
"you can choose your own quarter, if it please you. You will need to shed your own blood for it though. No less than seven drops. better to be over than under. we DO have a healer on standby"
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) beheld Calliope with widening xanthic eyes, and couldn't help but tuck his chin and chuckle at her quandary. When he takes note of Eli nearing him he smiles in earnest and greets him with an upward nod. After a moment he'd look to Willow who'd spoken and with a resting smirk on his lips glance to Dinah for her answer. It was not for him to answer questions, and he was glad for his comparatively humble position as the muscle. Though he sensed something like the very air priming itself, he just kept his ears perked and a watchful eye on the immediate environs with that resting semi smirk lingering.
When Dinah moved to head inside to get things started, he cast a final glance around the treeline, then turned to follow her, murmuring, "Tally-ho." What he felt and portrayed on his face rather than trepidation was anticipation that bordered on welcoming some action. The fog had persisted so long and finally there was something he might be able to fight to get it lifted? He wasn't sneaking up on anyone in
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes): plate, but moved in the armour as if it was as accustomed as the suits or riding gear he ordinarily donned. Dark though it was, his footsteps were solid and sure, given how often he'd traversed the pathway.
Calliope beams when she spots Eli and crosses one foot over the other as she dances her way to him, elbow extended upwards as if to rest on his shoulder, except she's too short to reach, so she settles for a simple nudge instead. "If things go bad, I'll get you out first, otherwise your old lady will cry at me and ugh do I hate tears." When Di mentions the shedding of blood, her neck snaps to look at the leader of the ritual. Then her jaw opens wide revealing thorn teeth and her arm comes up to the gaping maw, just stopping short of biting down. "Wait, we need to be in the right place for that don't we?" Eli is abandoned with a hop and skip towards the northern quarter with the blooms she'd collected. Thumbs up is given and thistime it's claws pressed to flesh, waiting for a signal to split it open. When Dorian's golden are are turned upon her however her wide smile softens, and she leans from side to side, curiosity tainting the expression.
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp): Despite the very colorful distraction that Calliope presented, Willow's full attention was on Dinah and her instructions. Without breaking her focus, she gave the familiar in her arms a slight squeeze before dropping the feline down to the ground where it would pad off silently to be a second set of eyes and ears for the witch while she was distracted with the rite. Her head tipped to the side, before she inclined her head slightly, "I'll take the South," Willow said with a brief, bemuse smirk towards the butterfly that she knew full well who had provided that particular reagent. It wasn't just perverse humor. There was strength, after all, in having connection to reagents and despite her... complicated history with the Professor, it was long one built in blood, and passion and distaste. It would be the direction she'd likely be strongest in with the way her own magic worked. Picking up the hem of her skirt, she made her way into the cave to follow Dinah and find the ritual space.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): The nervousness that is roiling within the pixie is producing the plethora of dust that is sifting away from his body. At his back, the soft whirl of machinery can be heard as the excess of aether his body exudes is captured and spun into the device. There is barely a glimmer of the potent pixie dust in the air – imagine what it would be like if he did not have that technological device embedded into his spine? He presses his lips together in a small smile to Dinah, Drystan, and the wall of Dorian actually teases the expression into a grin. The bump from Cali gets her a flustered glance and then an abashed look. “Um. That is incredibly kind of you.” Never thank a fae and all that. She slides away and he watches her a moment before turning to ease down the tunnel after the Windgrace family with steps so quiet that Dorian’s sure stride obscures his footfall. The Pix listens intently to the instructions given and with a small twist of distaste upon his face for the butterfly wings, he heads for the
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): tears to the East. A specially prepared ritual knife is drawn from a sheath at his waist and with no reservation, he slits a cut into the side of his palm, into the meat, and looks up for the signal on when to make his offering.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The path down into the tunnels is dark and claustrophobic. Thick roots bend and swoop from the roof and walls, jutting up in places along the ground to make the footing uneven and difficult to navigate. The dim moonlight from outside fades quickly only to be replaced by the glow of candlelight from the chambers underground. The initial chamber is marked by a strange central structure, one statue off to the left and a large stone doorway to the right illuminated by something beyond its earthen corridor. One lanky brunette lingers under the stone arch, the doctor's face pulling into a smile as he greets the party heading to the ritual chamber beyond. He says nothing that might be distracting, instead giving the siblings a head-down nod before the pale blue eyes skip to the others. Eli gets a warm smile and a flutter of fingers and Willow gets an almost-respectful "Professor Lockewood" above a sinuous smile. Then the smell of fae blood in the air tugs his attention Calli-ward but rather than comment on her
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): particular presence he simply chuckles and extends an arm to gesture at the initial chamber he occupies. "The less-than-ritually-inclined should linger here. If anything comes through that cavemouth we'll need to do our able best to ensure it goes no further."
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): Drystan moves to occupy the spot to the West with the vampire's blood.
Dinah (dollihead Resident) led them deep into the dark. she'd had to modify the wards to let the fae in; normally they would be shut out at the doorway. Ignoring the echoing cackles of her guard in the dark down one of the side corridors, her gaze touched upon the Doctor and he was given the ghost of a smile before she drifted over the stones to not disturb her circles. Three of the robed cultists were present, hooded and cowled, but Di gave each of them a nod. "Julius, keep your eye out back the way we have just come from. Randy- " oh how she hated that name. "Keep watch down the yidhra tunnel and alert Calliope and Dorian to anything untoward. Emily. Be ready. All three of you join the chant and do NOT stop until I give the signal" she rattled off instructions to each in turn. She leaned down to pick up the blackened, corrupted and semi-crystalised remains of Maximilian's skull and she studied it for a moment.
She reached her hand for the altar in front of her, daubing her fingertips in whiteish, fine grey ash, and she dabbed
Dinah (dollihead Resident): it onto her eyelids.
Time to begin with the casting of the circle.
"Yog-Sothoth Nafl’ftagn, your servant calls to you
The Flaming Circle locks everything in!
The Flaming Circle locks everything out!
Umr At-Tawil!
Iak-Sathath!
Accar, Zour and Maroud! Lock the circle and let no evil pass through. "
With a gesture to each of the Watchers, she nodded. Blood Sacrifice time.
Soc Dice HUD: Keramu Resident rolled a 4 at a plus 0.
Lance enters the room from whatever side of the room is the entrance! His gaze shifts to the others present, offering a nod in form of greeting as he skulks around to where he is presently standing.
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) tromped his surefooted way down and when he passed by his sister he would give her a very unsubtle wink. This before he moved over uneven stones to take a loop around to the far side of the chamber from where they'd entered. This he thought would put the most common means of ingress into the cavern in easy view, he wasn't just ignoring Niles' advice. In fact, he came back around and set himself up on the others side of Hastur from Calliope. Only then did he look at the tall German to greet him with a nod in turn.
The mystical part of the family, and thus the tunnels were not his domain, though he was ever a reverent visitor there. Someone had to come down and remind Dinah that there was indeed a house that they all lived in sometimes when she got into her books.... ...and all she got up to down here.
For now, though, he'd watch where everyone stationed themselves, momentarily thumb his saber loose from its scabbard a centimeter, then let it fall again. This was as close to a nervous gesture as he
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes): displayed: baring the blade of his weapon. He stopped the rhythmic snicking sound of this though as his sister began to speak the words.
Calliope stands by the flower, though her eyes are everywhere else, new ones forming bubbling up under the skin only to break free and peer in multiple directions at once as she prepares to face a threat from any direction, except directly below her, or in Niles' direction. She's not looking at him. She will want to start yelling and biting if she looks at him for too long and she knows this is not the time. That has to be saved for the middle of the ritual once things start to go wrong. For now she winks in return to Lance with on ly one of the eyes in her head, though the moment she hears the name Julius every single eye focuses on the one carrying that name. "H- Hi." The cultist gets a shy smile and tiny wave before she falls silent to both play up the bit and avoid disrupting the spell.
Soc Dice HUD: Willow Hollysharp rolled a 10 at a plus 3.
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp) was all business as she took her place, shedding any sort of doubts or concerns the moment she stepped past the circle. Willow left her shoes behind before she entered, leaving the expensive pumps in a small pile near the cave entrance, hopefully out of the way of getting trampled. From one of those voluminous sleeves, she drew an old blade, well taken care of and well sharpened. With the rules of the ritual and the steps fixed in her head, Willow held her hand out steady and certain as she let the drops of blood fall onto the stone, her expression impassive as the crimson drops soaked in.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Pooling the rich red blood in his palm, Eli’s eyes stray down to the liquid. Motes of dust swirl within it, dislodged from his palm, and so the vitae sparkles and glows. Potent toxic magic is infused with this most essential of ingredients lending just that much more umpf to the sacrifice he gives. The three acolytes that Dinah directs are given a glance and Jules gets a narrowed eyed look. There might be a flare of .. discontent in that gaze.. but the Pixie buries any sort of jealousy he might have for Dinah’s favorite cultist and returns his focus to the task at hand. He will not fail. Still, the emotional response stirs the shadows trapped within him to push up from beneath his skin and send intricate designs of chaotic ink writhing across the glittery surface. The Pix is an open book to any who knows how to read its pages. At Dinah’s command, he presents his sacrifice and lo, it is way more than 7 drops. He then places the crystal enshrined tear upon the pillar as directed in the ritual.
Soc Dice HUD: Riven Rowe rolled a 11 at a plus 3.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The circle flared to life, glowing dully with the etheric energy gathered. Drystan's palm opened as a sliver of blood carved itself free before pooling in his palm. He too added his sacrifice. Each spill of blood bid the intensity of that light to grow until an unearthly green painted their faces and the stones beneath their feet, illuminating the ritual chamber and the corridors beyond. It was early yet for the entities they were attempting to summon to arrive but the passages around them shook, one of the tunnel's guardians cackling as it went to the entrance to deal with whatever was making its way down. Those that could see the tunnel leading back to the surface glimpsed the flood of creatures bursting their way through, some of them immediately snatched into the maws of the tunnel's less than human guards while others came through to meet defenders with tooth and claw and sludge. Niles could be seen dispatching some of the first before calling the attention of others in the tunnels to come to the
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): defense. Two creatures crawled their way across the cavern floor, salamander-esque with angler-fish jaws and wreathed in a thick mucus ((First roll is Drystan's ritual roll, second roll is the enemy mob attack roll incoming ))
Soc Dice HUD: helio5igma Resident rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Soc Dice HUD: helio5igma Resident rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Dinah (dollihead Resident) turned to watch each of the assembled as they bled on the stone and laying their offerings down. She set down the skull carefully and picked up her own ritual knife, though there would still need to be the beginning of the chant first. the calling of attention to them.
Her gaze drifted to the figure behind Calli, the King in Yellow, and she steeled herself.
With Julius in position too, she gave him the nod to slice his palm. FAR more than the seven drops required, but better than misjudging it. The hooded figure had looked toward Calli, before turning his attention back to the rite at hand.
The sound of Chuckles cackling made her look up towards the entrance tunnel and she grimaced. With one hand raised, she counted down her fingers to ready them all for the simultaneous chant that the others would continue once it was done.
Three.
Two.
One.
"Signatus!" was cried up to the echoing ceiling by dinah and her acolytes. Hopefully the rest too, as the cultists began the chanting round of the
Dinah (dollihead Resident): power-word. Keep it sealed. Keep it locked in.
Soc Dice HUD: dollihead Resident rolled a 8 at a plus 3.
Lance exhales as he sees the beasts approaching. A deep sigh that spreads the smell of lilies throughout the room. Only, this smell is anything but innocent, and perhaps those familiar with the more-spirit-than-man would realize that in this situation they really ought to start holding their breaths... Or at least start taking smaller ones a lot farther apart.
"I do hope I can expect hazard pay for this," the man quips, moving towards the entrance of the ritual room so as to place his flesh in between the beasts and those conducting the spell, "I sincerely doubt to escape this without any stains or tears."
With that, a more focused exhale is conducted, blowing a veritable cloud of poison towards the pair.
Soc Dice HUD: Keramu Resident rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) took one listen at what was coming and prepared to dash that direction toward the way they'd come. This was definitely not going to be one of those quiet rites that he got to observe from start to finish with time to think about how complicated it all seemed. How mystical the change in atmosphere and tremblings of reality where it met with magic. This was going to be one of the lively ones.
Though encumbered with armour, his extraordinary strength and speed made sure this was no hindrance. Upon laying eyes on one of the slimy-mawed salamander creatures, he'd draw his blade. Having experienced Lance's tactics before, he'd wait a moment, drawing a quick breath of the cavern temple's dank air. Next he was giving Calli a brief side-eye with a smirk before launching his way toward one of the beasties. He did not waste a moment but strove to pierce the creature's hide near its monstrous head with his saber. Though his armour had been blessed by his sister, his sword had only been blessed by the care routine
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes): he'd had centuries to perfect. Centuries of training all leading to this chance encounter with a mouth made of nightmares. The least he could do for Mr. Song was help open the creature up more fully to the poison than amphibious skin and that wide mouth allowed. He stabbed rather than sliced, hoping that spearing the creature might put a quick end to it.
Soc Dice HUD: Alexandros Lycomedes rolled a 7 at a plus 3.
Calliope bounces towards the nearest abomination with a smile so delighted it borders on delirious right until a cloud visibly descends over the creatures and she backpedals to avoid going into the visible spread. When she'd come ready for battle not with armor, but with thorns grown around her form, and claws made for piercing, but not a single way to avoid poison. "I didn't realize the circus was in town. Time to get honking I guess." She pulls free a bud from her tail, transmuting it into a familiar form she'd used before to filter out toxic mushroom spores, though it cannot spare her if she speaks, given the shape covers only her nose. It's only once the clown nose is affixed her face that she dares to brave the cloud.
Murke (MurkeHeol Resident): *brave the cloud and lash out with claws against the mucus coated creatures.
Soc Dice HUD: MurkeHeol Resident rolled a 12 at a plus 3.
Willow Lockewood (willow.hollysharp) was aware of the approaching horrors but her focus remained fixed on the chanting, her voice steady and firm after she'd set the butterfly wings carefully in their place on the pillar. She ignored the slight trickle of blood from the wound. She didn't heal fast naturally and there was no time or extra energy to spare to seeing to the minor wound. Her gaze flicked once - just once - to the hallway and the defenders to clock how close to disrupted they might be. For the moment, the line seemed to be holding and Willow could only hop that would last long enough.
[11:20] Soc Dice HUD: Willow Hollysharp rolled a 13 at a plus 3.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): This ritualistic magic is a very precise art. For the Chaotic pixie, it takes a lot of effort to remain focused and intent on the exact steps needed to make the ritual work. He has no time to think of rivalries, or even insecurities. Pushing that all away, he focuses on the inhaling of a breath and then the exhale of the word of power, lilting voice lifting beyond its whisper soft inflection to concentrate on setting the ward with the others. This bit is outside his wheelhouse, sort of. His hermetic studies have taught him of the importance of magic circles, but his natural magics do not lean this way.
"Signatus!" A faint swirl of glittery dust swirls about him as he keeps the chant going, needing no prod to continue his part and extend his will into the intent of the magic being wrought. He hears the noises of those that seek to disrupt their rite, but again – he will not fail. Placing his trust in the protectors, he remains focused on his part.
Soc Dice HUD: Riven Rowe rolled a 11 at a plus 3.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The air in the ritual room gains a weight beyond the humid moisture of the underground tunnels as ritual offerings and spoken words open gates to the beyond. Drystan speaks his power word and keeps up his chanting despite the chaos of combat nearby and the temptation to engage the beasts himself. The ritual presses onward, gaining momentum and waiting on Dinah's own anointing to focus the power they've summoned on the altar. In the other chamber Lance's poison seeps into the amphibious creatures and halts their movements. They seize, burbling from the sting of poison permeating their bodies. Calli's claws rend into one of the beasts, carving it into slimy filets that melt almost gelatinously across the ground as its body falls while Dorian finds his saber embedded in the wet hide of the second, causing the creature to wretch and flail its mucus-coated tail at his side. Close upon their heals is a tide of others. A reptilian biped with dangerous-looking scales protruding from its tail leaps through the crush
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): of beasts being held off by Niles and the star-vampire at the front line while others seem to burrow out of the ground itself, three dog-sized creatures with tendrils where their heads should be and muscular legs and two drenched humanoids that clamber through the holes the've dug, their bodies warped by the addition of barnacles and bloat and the wayward tentacle. (( Ritual success: 1, rolling for Drystan's ritual cast. Lex rolling for the mobs. ))
Soc Dice HUD: helio5igma Resident rolled a 8 at a plus 3.
Dinah (dollihead Resident): Signatus, Signatus, Signatus...
The cry rang up from her acolytes, who would keep repeating the chant. Over and over and over, when one would blend into the next. 'At no point should the circle be silent from this word', the instructions had said.
With her acolytes repeating the word over and over, the powder of Ibn Ghazi beginning to seep in through her pores, she lifted her own ritual knife made of sharpened obsidian and sliced it across her palm. She healed so quickly that the blade slipped backwards too, ensuring enough blood would spill onto the consecrated altar-stone in front of her.
Blood would be the key to attunement. They would soon know if they had gotten the attention of the Divine.
Soc Dice HUD: dollihead Resident rolled a 12 at a plus 3.
Lex Dashrix: ((Rolling Amphibious remnants attempt to charge past if successful or unopposed the remaining one will breach the ritual chamber))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 7 at a plus 1.
Lex Dashrix: ((Rolling for Reptilians attack on defenders))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 10 at a plus 3.
Lex Dashrix: ((Rolling Doggos attack on defenders))
Lex Dashrix: ((Rolling Drowned ones Attack on Defenders))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 10 at a plus 3.
Lance sighs once more, filling the air with more of that toxin of his as he watches the pair before him struggling against the beasts. Perhaps it was too much to hope for a reprieve after vanquishing the pair, but it wouldn't stop the butler from hoping for a break anytime soon. Or at least, someone to take over the grisly business of murder from him.
Again he exhales toxins, the scent of lilies growing heady and thick as the man's breath clouds the underground tunnels. Those unfortunate enough to breathe in more than a mouthful would feel their stomach begin to turn, and the tips of their fingers begin to numb - and perhaps a sinking feeling in their chest as well. Lance is clearly not just playing around, which is both boon and bane considering that the lethality of his attacks are at the mercy of the wind.
Soc Dice HUD: Keramu Resident rolled a 8 at a plus 3.
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) with his breath yet held, pulled his blade loose from the salamangler he'd pierced, and spared a moment to watch Calliope do her thing... ...with a clownish nose. From that moment on he liked his chances fighting at her side. Though he'd felt the beast's flesh give way, though he'd watched the colourful mystery beside him rending flesh, it had barely been the span of a few moments. He'd focus then toward what else was coming, simultaneously enlivened and surprised at the volume of foes it seemed were coming. With otherworldy fire in his eyes, he'd square himself up to face the next wave with his back to the ritual chamber, presuming the amphibians were accounted for. (no roll, readying for next salvo)
Calliope considers the steaks she'd inadvertently created out of this creature she should most certainty not eat. There's a shrug before a few cuts are shoved into the vines and flowers which serve to support golden flesh. She's fairly certain that monster steaks belong in a bra. Though as there's suddenly not-dogs in view there's a pause when she's unwilling to harm them, but she looks down and pulls out what she'd just shoved in, they're haphazardly thrown in vaguely the dog's direction to see if they'll go for the food, while she moves to cut off the remain amphibious remnant from breaching the room as both Dorian and the cloud focus in the room itself. She trusts that the skilled warrior can handle himself and that the one who cares more about clothing than being able to eat will possibly solve the problem of Niles for her (with only the collateral damage of everyone else in the room). They both get a thumbs up as she breaks off before both thorned arms reach to grapple the reptile.
Soc Dice HUD: MurkeHeol Resident rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Soc Dice HUD: Willow Hollysharp rolled a 10 at a plus 3.
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp) glanced to the entrance briefly, keeping her voice among the chants steady and strong although the hand on her ritual knife tightened. The temptation to drop magic and reach for the plants to defend herself was strong. Willow did not enjoy relying on others for anything much less her personal safety. But her willpower had been forged over a good millennium of magical training for exactly this purpose. She would not falter and she would not break.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Turning inward to face Dinah as she slices her own palm, Eli lifts his hands to either side and continues the chant. His wound begins to close but it is on no way as quick of the priestess in the middle of the circle. The Pix’s features are taunt in a show of concentration. He pushes his will into every annunciation of the word and keeps his focus on the others holding the circle with him and the actions of the professor before him. This is his first real working. She’d said that he would need to take the leap and commit to getting working knowledge and so he has. He takes a breath for every drawn out chant, voice lifting and dancing in what might be construed as a song. Each word releases a tendril of shadow into the room to writhe about his form. Undirected, it slips toward his back to flare outward like the wings he had once possessed. Out of the very corner of his eye he spies Murke shoving bloody meat into her bra and then tugging it out again to offer it up to the not dogs. The very action almost
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): makes him stutter in his incantation but sheer willpower keeps him going. A blush has bloomed though and he is decidedly /Not/ glancing toward the battle in any way at all now.
Soc Dice HUD: Riven Rowe rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Soc Dice HUD: Alexandros Lycomedes rolled a 11 at a plus 3.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): Dinah's blood spatters onto the altar before her offering and that spilled on each cardinal point rise into the air. The red liquid swirls before dispersing as if drunk by the air itself, causing a brief stillness in the ritual chamber, even as Calliope crushes the remaining amphibian to the ground between the outer chamber and the ritual casters. The creature does not move after the thorned embrace though it does leave Calli covered in a sticky layer of ick. It doesn't deter the reptilian from charging, attempting to take advantage of her amphibian hug-time to run past toward the casting group. The dogs with their flailing tentacle heads don't seem to be inhaling the poison, either for the moment withstanding its potency or unaffected entirely. Their backs arch and they lunge at Lance, whipping tendrils to wrap around and pull at him, the closest of them finally parting its tendrils to open a hidden jaw and take a bite. The drowned ones charge Dorian, fists adorned with razor-sharp coral ridges and tendrils
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): tipped with barbs aimed toward what parts of him they can reach. Near the front the lanky doctor hacks and spits, shouting a "Mr. Song do you MIND" towards the back. He doesn't strictly need to breathe but he can certainly taste the toxin on the air and feel the sting at his eyes and has to make a conscious effort to try and maneuver himself further towards the cavemouth. Luckily the Star Vampire under Dinah's command is busy chewing on something just outside the tunnels. Drystan continues his chant. (( Ritual successes: 2 ; rolling for Drystan and Lex rolling for beasties ))
Soc Dice HUD: helio5igma Resident rolled a 6 at a plus 3.
Dinah (dollihead Resident) swallowed. Of all the parts of the rite that had been making her the most nervous. She glance towards where the battle was occurring and she tensed. they would need that silence.
A deep breath. The chant of 'Signatus' continued to ring out.
"I, Dinah Windgrace, whose secret name is Astraea, pledge my alleigiance to the Elder pathway.
By Aletheia
By Shub-Niggurath,
By Mother Yidhra
By the two snakes,Mlandoth and Mril Thorion
By Nyarlathotep, The black Pharoah
By that which created the Voids,
By the imprisoned,
By Azathoth,
By the free,
By the King in Yellow,
By the One who Must Not Be Named"
She took another deep breath, squeezing her palm. the wound had healed already but it was still sore.
"s'uhn-ngh athg li'hee orr'e syha'h,"
And just like that, she had doomed herself.
Soc Dice HUD: dollihead Resident rolled a 5 at a plus 3.
Soc Dice HUD: dollihead Resident rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Lance does not respond to Nile's upset - he is in fact too busy being a chew toy. Which is in and of itself an attack, kind of. The toxins present in Lance's breath are even more so present in his flesh, and should they draw it, his blood is practically purely comprised of it. Which means that the dogs are merely awaiting their death, and Baihe... has time to look elsewhere.
Specifically towards the Reptillian, making its way past Calli and towards the ritual.
While it may not seem that Baihe, the tiny serpent cradled around Lance's shoulders, can do much... That is of course only if you take her at face value. She uncoils herself, tensing slightly... And then leaps from Lance's shoulders, growing in size until she reaches the size of a python, growing further still... and only stops when she slams against the wall. Whether that is by her own, or with the reptilian in her jaws.
Soc Dice HUD: Keramu Resident rolled a 8 at a plus 2.
Lex Dashrix: ((Dogs roll))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 8 at a plus 3.
Lex Dashrix: ((reptile roll))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 12 at a plus 3.
Lex Dashrix: ((Drowned ones Roll))
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) had tried to make of himself a big golden roadblock in the tunnels so he'd behave like a bollard to the deep ones and hold his ground with blade in hand. Given he was so armoured the Deep Ones had, apart from mail and plate, a very fleshy face to strike at once he was fending off one, swiping at another. When one tagged him on his moneymaker, opening up a wound on his face, the grimness in his features redoubled and he'd go on hacking his way from one to another to another, doing a dance of not always successful dodges in between. As much as he enjoyed brawling, he didn't do so terribly often, and rarely with such lethal creatures. In doing all of this he had to take a breath though and let in some of Lance's toxins. He was fairly resilient to such things, but it didn't cease the sting accompanying the sweet odor. He'd take some solid limb and body blows with an 'oomph' here and an 'urk' but keep throwing himself into it until there was nothing left to swing at.
Soc Dice HUD: Alexandros Lycomedes rolled a 9 at a plus 3.
Calliope begins to transmute the already dead and crushed amphibian's flesh, to warp it so that it matches her own mango flesh. However, her head snaps back towards Dinah with the name, and for a moment so consumed by her interest, she fails to notice the charging amphibian, especially as her eyes begin to water from the toxin in the air which the filter in the clown nose cannot protect her from. However, once it's past her she sees that Dorian has it handled and turns her attention to the the drowned ones. With the newly added flesh to her own mass, she stretches, using her own metamorphosis to lash out at them with brute force.
Soc Dice HUD: MurkeHeol Resident rolled a 8 at a plus 3.
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp) continued the chant, though her part was largely done but for being one voice among many. Willow turned towards the entrance to watch with a wary eye to see if their defenders would falter, the blade in her hand though it was tool more than weapon. The plants under her feet and root system would serve her better if there actually came to a needed defense. Without letting her chant break, since there was no more need of her mystical focus, Willow turned her attention to the greenery outside of the ritual circle that would rustle as the greensinger prepared to weave barriers if they ended up needed.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Concentrate, concentrate, focus- holy fuck is that a huge fucking snake? Eli jumps maybe a foot in the air and arches as if ready to take flight. Only he is missing his wings so instead of taking to the air to escape the rather large predator, he thumps back down onto the ground and stares at Baihe with a very real terror. Snakes can eat Pixies. He hasn’t had that worry much in this form but of course nightmares have come slithering their way into this event – right when he has to be at his best. He wilts, visibly- but he keeps saying the chant. Copious amounts of dust are now drifting from his frame and the whirl of the atheric device on his back picks up as it struggles to keep up with his delude of emotionally charged aether. What the techno magical device does not capture is released in a puff of thick dust that coats everything around him and clings to the air, shirling in the unseen currents. He is wavering a bit here. But his trust in the Windgrace family keeps him going. He won’t budge till
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Dinah does. He turns his focus back to her and his eyes widen when she shares her hidden name. The expression pales next to the look she is given when she calls on the gods and he steels himself for what comes next. They are entering territory far more terrifying than a huge snake that might maybe eat him. The chant goes on. Na na na na na..
Soc Dice HUD: Riven Rowe rolled a 6 at a plus 3.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The quiet that pervaded the ritual room takes mere seconds to fill with discordant noise heralding the presence of beings old and terrible. Wind whips around to bend but not snuff the candles littering the chamber, coiling around Dinah like the grasp of something unseen, stealing breath and chiling bone. A shiver passes through all casters present but only one had promised her soul to the gods they summoned and only one is caught in the full whorl of their otherwordly gaze. The gods are listening, speaking in overlapping whispers in Dinah's mind.
In the chamber beyond the dogs relinquish their hold on Lance having tasted enough to consider more biting much bad bad news. They shake and hurl and flail their tendrils, backtracking to put distance between them and instead flinging broken stone in Lance's direction as his poisons began seeping into their skin. Baihe's coils find no grip on the reptilian creature, the smaller scaled being faster on the move as it changes direction. The presence of things greater
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): than itself in that ritual room fend it off from the casters and instead it grapples with Calli, attempting to drag her off and causing her flailing limbs to miss the drowned ones dogpiling onto Dorian. Their soggy bodies do find themselves carved and slit but the blows they land cut just as deep, spilling more Windgrace blood onto the stones. Dorian is being overwhelmed, what cuts and pieces of them he hacks off dropping to the ground and crawling across it to grapple at armored limbs and slow him down.
Dinah (dollihead Resident) could feel it, the sheer POWER of what it was that the ritual had turned onto her. It was crushing. It was exhilarating, and terrifying in every capacity, and all at once the knowledge of what it was that she had just DONE to herself chilled her blood to icewater even before she felt the touch of the Gods who had turned their gazes upon her. She could FEEL her heartbeats in the silence beyond the wind and echoes, the whispers and secrets and screaming, She remained perfectly still. Perfectly immobile with her hands hanging limply at her sides as she counted and she was lifted from her feet.
...Beings of perfect precision in amongst the chaos, the correct number of degrees in the impossible angles... Feeling the secrets as they were told to her, the knowing, the KNOWING...
Her lips moved in wordless sounds, the darkness of her eyes darting in several directions and rolling back into her skull.
Fingers flicked at her sides as if she was trying to swat something away from her, the knifeblade of her
Dinah (dollihead Resident): tail coiling around herself and pressing to the underside of her own throat .
"t-tsss..." the start of a word sputtered out between gritted teeth. "ssss...still...he sleeps...unawoken... s-still...The time for the unmaking is not yet...not yet not yetnotyet to pass... The time...the time of...The one who must not be named is...is not yet upon us. Lift the fog, lift the fog, obscurity.. Tolle caligo..."
Her arms lifted, splaying her fingers apart as far as they could without the bones splintering backwards, and she pushed, directing the forces she channeled into spreading outwards from her, out far from her, far past the sea... spread and split and pull apart...
Lance stands - having been presumably dragged down by the dogs. Rocks pelt him, which admittedly do hurt, but are in fact better than teeth. Amid the chaos, still Lance cannot be dissuaded from giving himself a once over - inspecting the damage to his person caused by tentacle and fang. He should be able to receive a bonus for this, he thinks, or at least a new outfit courtesy of the Windgraces. If he plays his cards right, maybe both.
However, to plan that far ahead would require him to survive the night (not that that was ever in question, however), and so he turns his gaze to the creatures still present in the tunnel. None seem so inclined as to push past anymore, and so a mental request is issued to Baihe - queuing her to coil up in the middle of the way, in case any change their mind.
Then, having future-proofed his plan of defense, his attentions shift back to the Dogs, where they most likely remain pelting him with stones. Almost as if playing on their apparent distaste - or fear? - of his flesh, the m
Lance steps forwards, exhaling poison all around him. Numbness spreads, nausea deepens, the more you inhale the further reality seems to become, until your insides become outsides and you lose your touch - literally - on reality.
Soc Dice HUD: Keramu Resident rolled a 7 at a plus 3.
Lex Dashrix: ((Doggos Roll))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 13 at a plus 3.
Lex Dashrix: ((Drowned ones))
Soc Dice HUD: Lex Dashrix rolled a 8 at a plus 3.
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) favors the side of his body that has been compromised a wee bit, but keeps his feet, stabbing, slashing and hacking when not elbowing, blocking and repositioning his feet. The gore and duration remind him of nothing so much as old battles in more primitive times. Back then he was less practiced, knew less about the world beyond the veil. Now he didn't even have time to consider what manner of strange creature he was embroiled in combat against, it was just block-shift-blow in varying combinations, amidst taking his lumps against a group of drowned ones. The best thing he has going for him, powerful siblings aside, was that for all the pain and adrenaline, he wasn't wearying yet. He is relieved to hear past what he's focused on that his sister's arcane words were yet ongoing, meaning the rite hadn't been interrupted despite the tangle of waterlogged flesh and barbs he's in among.
Soc Dice HUD: Alexandros Lycomedes rolled a 10 at a plus 3.
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp) dropped her chant the moment that Dinah began to wrest control of the power to bend it to her will. There was no more aid that Willow could give to the ritual. The rest was up to the woman dealing with the Old Gods and Willow wished her well though she was grateful and pleased to leave that path to one willing to walk it. She stepped forward with intent, clear on putting an end to the battle and this entire nasty affair. While the hand holding the blade remained at her side, she flung the other one out towards the tunnel palm out before she clenched it into a tight fist. With that single gesture, thick roots, wrapped in thorns would errupt from the ground at the witches command to aid those struggling under the weight of their opponents.
Soc Dice HUD: Willow Hollysharp rolled a 7 at a plus 3.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Eli can feel it. The swirl of power in the room. If he were more sensitive, he might see it centering on Dinah and then moving through her. Regardless, he can see her reaction to it. The chant has accomplished its purpose and thus dies upon his lips. He observes the effect – fingers itching for a pencil to sketch out the expression on his professor’s face. His attention shifts briefly toward the other points of the circle, toward the nightmare of a snake as it slithers away, Cali as she is absconded with one of their attackers. He cannot help her and the snake doesn’t look like it wants a meal of him. Pale violet eyes slide back to Dinah just in time to be pushed back by the power she forces outward and away from her. He stumbles back against the altar, sagging. The explosion of duct has weakened considerably – only the motes he’d released before still take to the air. He dares to feel hope that all has gone well and their purpose has been attained. He has great faith in Dinah – she will not
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): fail. She my fuck herself over in the process, however. His expression is one of concern as he takes her in and his shadows react unbidden to his intent – inly darkness slithers toward his professor, ready to catch her should she fall. The dark fae remains where he is at his point, he is not 100 percent sure he can leave his position like Willow so he will not until the rite has been completed and the price paid.
ᴄᴀᴇʟ (helio5igma Resident): The blade pressed against the underside of her throat dug, breaking skin and beginning to carve, etching symbols into her flesh only to have them heal and be carved anew by another god. As the swirl of Eldritch power rushed from the room it seemed to take Dinah's breath with it, likely leaving her breathless and crumpled as her mind was borne outward to guide the dispersal of the Mist. Throughout the island the fog was caught as in a net, dragged along and out to sea and leaving those that had been adled by its presence tired but somehow lighter. Beneath the surface of the ocean shapes, dark and gnarled, fled with the dispersal of the Mist and left the waters behind them churning but devoid of the beasts that had trolled the depths. The island seemed to take a breath.
Lex Dashrix: As the ritual reaches a fever pitch the sounds of battle and the dead and dying echo through the winding tunnels gibbering things int eh dark surge toward Niles and the Starspawn as if in reaction to the rising pitch of power int eh ritual chamber itself threatening to overwhelm the defenders. The twisted canids surge forward in a reckless blitzkrieg driven by their long slumbering masters to end this rite. Teeth tear and hooked barbs rip into the butlers flesh and one pair of jaws closes around Baihes neck as he begins to shake the enormous snake and be shaken in turn. The toxic ichor in their veins spills forth and the frothing hounds burn jaws and teeth melting and bodies seizing as the concentrated poison takes hold. The reptilians flee into the tunnels their fruit scented prize struggling still against their grasp they will live to fight another day perhaps though their prize is unlikely to be so easily subdued for long. Dorian surges to his feet nearly overwhelmed and lays about him with his blade
Lex Dashrix: hacking the risen dead to smaller and smaller pieces until the stray fingers and viscera can only flop uselessly. The vines and roots rise from the floor ceiling and wall at Willows command and descend upon one approaching the golden warrior from behind entwining squeezing and pulling unto the once dead is drawn and quartered with a sickly squelch. Only a single coral encrusted druagr remains as the power of the spell reaches its culmination. As the wave of power hits the final drowned one it collapses into a skittering pile of twisted isopods squirming in the air and light. The fighting in the tunnels grows quiet as the fog and it's master alike are banished from whence they came.
Dinah (dollihead Resident): Her Acolytes would know what to do. When the ritual was completed, they would be able to tend to dispersing the circle, and Emily the healer would dart around to apply the salts to the cuts of those on the Watching Quarters. Julius would be able to handle the circle itself, because dinah would certainly be in no position to do so.
Her eyes, all of them, were rolled back in their sockets, and as the knife of her own tail started to carve, she dropped like a marionette with it's strings cut, spilling herself onto the altar stone in a graceless sprawl and knocking the skull and candles skittering.
The tail-blade kept carving.
As her mind was swept away from her, and the power spread, she remained motionless. Was she even breathing? it was hard to tell from here.
Limp and clammy, utterly unmoving and sightlessly staring out towards the stones, dinah remained.
Lance grumbles to himself quietly as he pulls himself up yet again from the ground, hands tearing the tentacles and teeth from his body. It had been so much easier when they were still alive to do it themselves. Unfortunately, they had made this bed for him and now he would have to lie in it. Or well, no he didn't. He could get up from it. Honestly he much preferred that part. His gaze is thrown back to the ritual clearing, where he spies Dinah falling to the ground... And chooses to stay away. His breath is still horribly toxic after all, and he needs to catch it.
Dorian (Alexandros Lycomedes) thankfully couldn't see the toll being taken on his twin, but he felt she was there as she always had been. He had to keep focus on what he was doing, not thinking about how many more foes than him Niles was facing, nor about how he'd rather be in his sister's bed with her. When the last of them seemed to be in bits, with the cavern itself having come to his aid under Willow's command, his first impulse was to turn to look for Dinah.
On his way over to her, he cleaned off his blade cursorily on his own greave in the jog toward her. All of his gear was going to need a lot of loving care. It seemed she would too. He'd kneel at her side until she came to, whereafter he'd endeavor to escort her back to the surface. With a limp that he was trying to conceal because he was starting to feel the pain of blows that had landed only now that the peril was so much less mortal.
Willow Lockewood (Willow Hollysharp) did glance over at Dinah, making certain that she was being attended to. Willow trusted the other mage, that she knew what she was doing and those serving her were the best equipped to do so. So Willow would trust them to the aftermath, "I'll clear the tunnel and ensure any pieces remaining are disposed of," The witch said simply, turning to leave as she said she would, the tendrils of plants grabbing body parts and dragging them down into the soil where they'd do no harm to random humans. "Pray, do call upon me if you need me further." And with that, the woman vanished, pausing only to scoop up her heels in one careless hand as she padded barefoot across the bloody loam looking remarkably and distressingly unruffled at the carnage strewn about.
Quin Li (Riven Rowe): Luckily, Eli’s shadows were waiting to capture Dinah as she tumbles toward the alter, catching her form and easing the descant so it is less jarring. With a certainty, her frame would and could heal – but she need not experience any more than she had to. Eli carefully steps away from his post to stand over her, hand offered to the healer as she spreads salt over what remains of his wound. The shadows that curl about him nudge at and reposition the professor so that she is laid out, a pillow from the nearby room dragged over to cushion her head. Still, the pixie himself does not touch her. He simply stands over her until Dorian arrives and then steps back and away, pulling the darkness with him. Then, once ascertained that the ritual closing had been completed and that the acolytes had completed their tasks, he too departs – giving Baihe and Lance wide berth.