Proper Fireworks (Chyril 25th Late ET) - Open

[Grey Wolf]

There might have been a big celebration that evening, engulfing most of the Citadel, but some people had to work even on a day like that, though truth be told Joseph loved his job. Perhaps calling what Joseph did for his master a job would not be the best way of describing it. It was more that Joseph had an interesting hobby and his master found a way to utilize it for his own goals. His hand moved to brush his thin hair back, the skeletal man catching himself before he touched the wispy strands, knowing that stuff upon his hands would make it even thinner. He frowned and caught himself before he began humming a tune, knowing he was to be silent and keep quiet until the signal came.

Through the stalls piled at the mouth of the alley, he could see a group of drunken sailors singing a tune about catching a mermaid by her tail, their loud voices almost drowned in the noise of other revelers upon the Temple Lane. The piece of flint in his hand almost burned Joseph's palm, the nervous little man tightening his fist around it, the stone's sharp edges digging into his flesh painfully. Unable to hold a soft muttering from coming out, he wiped his right palm against his trousers, feeling the oily substance from it sinking into the fabric and cooling his skin as it began to evaporate. He almost rose and strode to the corner to see what was keeping the others up. "They did not get drunk and forgot did they? If they did......"

[Grey Wolf]

Leaving a man like Joseph wait was a very bad thing, and as he sat there in the dark alley, the wiry man pondered how he should perhaps have a little fire teach his accomplices how to hurry up. I could go to their hideout later and use..... No, I should not. Boss will be pissed if I do that and I don't want to piss him off. Wringing his hands nervously, he began thudding the back of his head against the wall of the Temple, the dull pain serving well to keep him focused.

It was then that a sudden flash of light almost blinded him, eliciting a yelp of mixed joy and surprise from the thin man. One of the tall banners serving as decoration for the massive celebration upon the Temple Road caught fire, the flames licking upwards, nearly ten yards into the air. Joseph jumped from where he half stood and half sat and quickly struck the flint against his dagger, lighting the wick of a lamp he had prepared earlier. He reveled in the dance of the flames, reaching to almost touch it, and then pushed away running down the alley, the string clutched firmly in his hand. He heard the clang as he ran out and away from the new Red Rose Guild, feeling the wave of heat upon his back as the mixture he had used to douse the walls caught fire with a healthy WHOOMPH.

[Ashari]

It wasn't far from Temple Lane to the Red Rose Guild where Ashari had been sleeping for the past few months. As such, she didn't think it unusual to walk. It was nice - sobering even, especially with the company of a friend like Ashtillion was becoming. She needed it after the amount of brandy and brew she'd consumed through the celebration that evening. Already the cool, crisp air was bringing away the buzz of Caesar Andolin Azarin's coronation.

With her mind cleared she was more able to contemplate the occurances of the evening. She'd decided to not go with Ulder to Pax Balthasar, and she hoped that though he wanted her to, that he would understand why she didn't - couldn't. Not now. There was too much going on. There were too many strings she needed to tie before leaving this place. That, and there were too many oppertunities. Her allegiance with Azarin was as good a place to start as any other.

As she walked Ashari planned the night and following day. Go home. Take a bath, sleep. Sleep sounded good. Bring Aeris to Andolin tomorrow morning, in swan form. Leave her to be taken care of there. Speak to some more would-be students- Her train of thought, however was cut off by a bright light ahead as one of the banners was lit aflame. Mother... Her pace was hastened at the sight of the fire, a shield of energy already wrapping around her nimble form. "Ashtillion - look!"

Center. Breathe. Relax. Ashari had manipulated fire before, several times. She understood it, and how it moved. The cool minty energy of her core spread over her body in a tight suit of protection as a hand raised to the pillar of fire erupting from the banner. Calm. Quell. The energy of the fire flickered and jumped. Young energy. Quick and unpredictable. Closing her eyes Ash took a deep breath and on her exhale, released a smothering wave of energy, attempting to dispurse the fire of the banner - not yet realizing that her own Red Rose Guild was the target or that it was busily burning already.

Expanding her vision, beyond what she could truely see with her eyes, Ashari reached to her mind's eye. Who is setting fires on such a night? Concentration. The weaving of threads and fine energies came natural to her, but this was an unusual and new usage of her magick. She sought out the energy of whomever was around, but there was an energy that kept pulling her attention. Fire... so much..- "The Guild!" Her eyes were widened with horror as they scanned down the alley. "AERIS!"

Before she knew they were moving her feet were padding against the cobbles taking her toward her guild house. There wasn't enough time. As she ran, scooping up her dress as best she could, her mind drifted inward to gather a phrase, a message, for Aeris. She sent it out like a signal - no doubt to anyone who had an ear for magick. Aeris! If you're in the Guild get out! Fire! Run! Go! She had no way of knowing whether or not it was successful, unless she should be seen or send a message back somehow. "We have to smother the fire.. or the Guild will be destroyed," she said while remembering the houses and barns doused with water only to be condemned because of the subsequent damage.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

It had not been too long of a walk, but Aerin had done a lot of thinking in a short time and found that being rebuked often tempered ones resolve quite well. She would get home and hit the books…err…book with a vengeance in order to learn at least a little more about magick before soliciting herself at the temple. She needed to have something to show for collateral besides just Professor Pralix’s recommendation.

Absentmidedly, she tinkered with the braclet on her wrist, wondering if the dead woman ad been anything like her andwondered if the body had been more than a chance find and encounter with her darker desires…

What if it had been an omen?

Will I lie in rubble one day, a faceless half-nude hunk of meat for others to iscard after taking what they wanted of me? Aerin asked herself as a distant flickering caught her eye slowly.

"The Guild! AERIS!"

Guild? Aeris Aerin peered at the now-running Ashari and quickly followed suit. Had the name been a trick of the wind? A mis-hearing of her own name shouted by someone that she had met once or twice? The more Aerin thought about it, the more she swore that Ashari had, indeed, been knowledgeable of the redhead’s proximity and called to her for help. As Aerin followed, she felt a buzzing in her ears but was not sure if it was the blood from her rushing heart or something further said by Ashari. Whichever it was, Aerin could almost smell the urgency as the building loomed closer and could tell that the flickering was far more than a simple torch outside of a door.

Fire…fire…firefirefirefire she realized, adding as much speed to her legs as the constrictive dress would allow, not caring if seams gave way from her efforts. Fire… she recalled from her textbook. Fire needs air and something to burn…shit…

She recalled her experience with Professor Pralix’s lens, how he had made her look at fire through the glass and tell her what she had seen. The image had been so awe striking for the young aspiring alchemist that it had been, no pun intended, burnt into her memory – a continuous loop of little red men mating with brown wooden women and shimmering ladies of air. Oh what Aerin would have given at that moment to enroll – the full knowledge of what to do with those images would certainly be handy in this instance.

Nonetheless, Aerin was determined to try anything, no matter how outlandish it may seem, if it seemed like it would help this stranger in her time of need. “Fire can’t get hard… fire can’t get hard… fire can’t get hard…” she whispered to herself, imagining some of the little red men in her memory suddenly pulling and stroking fiercely at their own unresponsive anatomy instead of drilling it wantonly into a mate, their anger self-consuming as they vanished into vapor one by one. Little hard to make ash babies if you using a rope instead of a staff… she thought as she continued both the mantra and the visualization, her feet still clattering along the cobblestones.

[Ashtallion Urdil]

There was no need for the mental message which Ashari had sent as regardless of whether he would indeed hear it, the sorcerer had followed the Guild Mistress from the coronation, staying a slight distance behind. They had yet more to discuss, however it seemed talk would have to wait for now. As he witnessed Ashari running forward towards the Guild, the elementalist did also and quickly enough he felt the heat of the flames even before he seen them.

As had the Mindcrafter done, Ashtallion opened himself to the Aether, the source of his sorcerous weavings. Fire, it was an element with which the Magus had great affinity. Its sheer destructive power and relatively easy manipulation had always appealed to him, was there something there? That his deepest nature was too alike to the element? Never the less, he had forced himself to spend time studying the other elements, generally the aspects which would reap destruction amongst enemies, being a battlemage by training. As such his mind turned to Storm-magicks and the weaving of rain clouds. He had to find a way to put out the fire as quickly and widespread as possible and it seemed the most logical way.

The gilded sorcerer had increased his own gait until he was in line with the Guild Mistress. " Ashari, I will do what I can to put the fire out, or at least prevent it from spreading. I hope I'm enough.... ", he cast the fire a dubious glance, before stopping a safe distance from the Guild building itself. It woudn't do to have a collapsing wall of flame fall on him during his weaving.

Breathing deeply, Asht formed a basic aetheric shield to prevent any potential magical assualts on himself, the source of the fire may have been a darkmage so he did not want to run the risk of being left exposed and unprepared. Into that shield he wove pure force and expanded it to form a small bubble about him, invisable, but with enough energy to repel any physical projectiles. He did not put too much into the shielding though, just enough, before turning to his main working.

Golden eyes, glittering fiercely in the light cast by the fire, reflecting it so that they seemed to glow of their own accord rose to stare at the sky above, black as pitch, the wizard sought out the energy within it. Starting around himself, Ashtallion sought to traverse the air energy, moving along the threads of blue, reaching higher and higher into the night sky. If successful....Ashtallion knew that clouds were formed of water and air, an intricate weaving of the two energies, and would thus pull both together, knitting the two compatible magicks together. His idea was to continue this, pulling water together until it formed clouds heavy enough to them form rain, not torrential, but just enough to douse the flames or at least help in some manner.

All the while, he whispered words of chaining in his adhiel tongue, a focus for his weaving, carried on the winds of sorcery.

" My Will is in my Breath, and my Breath rises on the wind, by my Will I command the Rain and it will obey the Word of my Will.......My Will is in my Breath, and my Breath rises on the wind, by my Will I command the Rain and it will obey the Word of my Will..... "

He would continue the chant unless his weaving proved too ambitious for his power.

[Grey Wolf]

OOC: Now, now. Let us not over-react just because we know what is going on. Separate IC and OOC knowledge before posting please.

The fire that engulfed the fluttering banner raised little commotion of its own, as accidents like that were bound to happen during a festivity on that large a scale. The fire engulfing the Red Rose Guild had already spread considerably before Ashari or anyone else had a chance to see what was going on, whomever had set the whole thing up obviously quite proficient at arson. Her advance was halted by the throng of people, cheering and drinking merrily, the young mindcrafter running into a drunken sailor's arms after only a couple of steps. With a rather idiotic smile he engulfed her in a tight embrace, his alcohol saturated breath washing over her face. "Whasthe 'urry, pretty? 'Ere, 'ave a drink." He snatched a mug from the hands of a nearby man in a grey cotton clothing, and shoved it into Ashari's palm.

Meanwhile Aerin found her dress more than capable of stopping her advance towards the fire, even without the aid of the gathered throng of people. Fabric ripped at one point, her foot stepped upon a loose end at another, and a flicker later she was tumbling down towards the cobbles. Knees impacted the ground first, the dress ripping once more, sharp lance of pain shooting through her knee as skin was peeled away from the muscle in a swift rip. Her descent to the stones that covered the street did not stop there, her palm slipping against a stain from who knew what as it struck the ground and a moment later she found herself face down on the street, her chin too sporting a rather nasty scrape as it struck the stones. World swam before her eyes, the sounds of revelry engulfing her and smothering the breath out of her lungs, a sudden need to relieve the contents of her stomach assaulting her with full force.

With so many people pressed so tightly together, Ashtalion never had the chance of reaching Ashari's side in the few short flickers it took the flames to rise to the roof, though his more cautious approach gave the gilded mage a chance to stay upright unlike Aerin. Pouring energy into his weaving spell, Ashtalion had to know that even a mage of his skill and potential could not create a storm without considerable effort. The sky was clear of the clouds, though with each passing flicker the amount of air and water strands interspersed above the street rose. A distraction to his weave came in a series of shoves and pokes, as people sought to avoid his form moving about the street. Then came a heavy, meaty grip upon his behind, and a quickly muttered apology from a drunken farm boy. "Sorry, mister. Though you were a girl." It was only then that panic began to spread, people noticing the rising flames and making haste to move away from the rising fire. Aerin could almost hear the crack as something heavy trod upon her hand, a flood of mind-numbing pain wracking her body as several bones broke under well over two hundred pounds of pressure delivered by the sole of a heavy-set merchant's boot.

[Ashari]

OOC: Sorry, got the impression from your previous post that the road that they were on wasn't quite so damn full. My mistake. Stupid merrymakers and their celebration... ::stab::

IC:

The crowd surged around Ashari like waves in the ocean. For a flicker, she wished she was with Ketch, submerged in the tide with his strong form bringing her to safety. Each one of his arms moved like wings through the water, flying them out of the mire by his own conviction. The memory, as dark and heartbreaking as it was, gave the girl an idea, one that was forming in her fingers, and delving deeper into her core.

It's time now. Time to prove the Grandmere right. I am the Harbinger. And the power did run through her veins. A thousand times over she had been told by the old woman that she had the power. Ashari was meant for greatness. A thousand times the gift had been passed - from one woman to the next. She was part of the Lineage. Portia was just the beginning, and Ashari had no intention of being the end. She had mastered this power. What she was capable of was just becoming known to her. Tonight, she was going to show them why they ought not fuck with her.

The mage's body hummed electric with strands of her inner power encapsulating her body in a shielded coating. Although the drunken partygoer might've wanted to put the tankard in her hand, it wasn't to be, and as soon as he dropped it it fell to the ground. The clatter was just another sound amidst what could already be called terror, spreading through the crowd. Aerin's plight was lost to Ashari. If she'd known, it's difficult to say whether she would've helped the poor girl. Right now, her concern was everything else. Everything, and everyone. Eyes closed.

Lowering her head, Ash took in a deep breath and exhaled so hard it hurt her chest with the pressure. A storm of energy was brewing within her, and it needed an outlet, one that would start to come upon her next inhalation. Her hands lay beside her, casually, at her sides with shoulders relaxed as she centered. As she lifted her head, so did her hands, coming up on either side of her, pushing amidst the crowd that needed to be out of her way. Rise. Lift. Push. Swim. Ashari no longer had to visualize her wants with her magick. Thinking of them proved to be enough. Air was no different than water, and gravity was nothing more than a trick played by the planet. Nothing was outside of her reach.

Inhale. Palms heavenward, as if in great prayer to the Mother above, Ashari tilted her head back and stared into the abyss above. She would rise above them. Literally and figuratively, until she was atleast above grabbing and mead distributing distance, but not too far away.

There were so many people. So much could happen. So many lives would be lost. All because they wouldn't be able to contain themselves. It would start with Aerin being crushed - suffocated by the bodies above her, and the panick would spread. Rioting people would push against eachother and trample those who couldn't get out of the way. All of it would reflect poorly on Andolin and would mark the beginning of his servitude of the Seven Isles with a massacre of an after party. Exhale.

However, the vast number of people provided a completely new and interesting facet - their own energy. Most were drunk, and those that weren't were unlikely to have much, if any, magickal training. That helped. An un-tapped font, so to speak, one that was replenishable merely due to the number of people around.

Inhale. It was all happening so fast. Mere breaths separated each action as she took in her surroundings and she tried to watch the people with another vision, one that saw things only in the energy they could provide. The people glowed with life's energy and it was a force unto itself. Looking over them, the regular folk of the Citadel, her voice was filled with the light. The power. "Be still!" She demanded of them attempting to cut through their unecessary conversations with her harsh mental magick. Her eyes were swirls of power that stirred within - trapped by the flesh of her body and wanting to escape through her commands.

Ashari's plan was to rob them of just some of their energy... Just a little. Like a leech, her tendrils snaked away from her form toward the inviting and unprotected power that lay dormant in every human being that was around - especially those like Ashtillion, who's power was great, and Aerin, who's power was just beginning to bud. Just a little taste. Ashtillion may have wanted rain, but not Ashari.

If the mind-leeching proved possible, she linked their energy with her own, weaving them together in an inexorable pattern with the purpose of layering it over the flames, over the building, to suffocate the fire and make for whatever interestingly flammable substance the arsonist used to be null and void. Inhale. It would be like a giant blanket, and at the time, it seemed like a really good idea.

[Ashtallion Urdil]

Despite his efforts, Ashtallion reigned in his power. Slowly he recalled his mage-sense that he had extended skyward and pulled his awareness back within the confines of his own mind. His murmuring chant died away with a whisper turned curse as he chargrined himself for not having the strength needed. All thought of storms and rain vanished and he had to think of something else.

His concentration was broken for a few flickers as he felt a hand grip his rear end, and whilst he had always thought his behind particularly fine, he objected to it being fondled in such a gruff manner. Turning, and hearing "Sorry, mister. Though you were a girl." , colour rose to the mages' cheeks, whether from rage or embarressment, he never would say and simply ignored the 'pincher'.

With the Guild-house still burning, the mage looked quickly about for Ashari, but within the throng of panicked people, he knew it would prove difficult. If anything, he moved through the crowded street, trying to get closer to the Guild to try another Weaving.


OOC: Sorry also Wolfie!

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

“Fire can’t get it up… Fire can’t get it up… Fire ca---OOOF!” Aerin’s concentration was broken almost as easily as her skin as both her aspirations for helping and her physical body came crashing to the rocky terra. “Son of a… owww… Motherfu… errfff… I’m gonna kick….AHHHHHHGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!” The spill had been bad enough, but being jostled about while trying to get back up was really starting to piss her off. To add insult to injury, her head was still swimming due to the impact and a small dose of claustrophobia had begun to sink in, making her breasts heave and jiggle in a very non-sexy manner as she swayed back and forth on pain-filled hands and knees.

Without warning, she coughed and choked, whitish brown rivulets dripping from her lips at first, followed by a haphazard spray as her unscraped hand struggled to contain a fountain of pre-chewed food with more failure than success.

Not like anyone had noticed. Her ears felt stopped up and her own throat was making enough noise on its own that the fallen redhead could not clearly discern when the yells and cries of revelry had turned to yells and cries of terror. All she knew from her obscured vantage point is that, for whatever reason, the party had decided to head for the palace.

“Stupid mother fuc---“, she began as she tried once more to rise to her feet only to find what up to that point she had considered to be her ‘good’ hand not only stepped on but almost literally pulverized by a stampeding storeowner, the sound of crunching bone not unfamiliar to her as she had often witnessed Rat and his cohorts break a mark’s finger or toe as a reminder of their debts and due dates.

“---KERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!*” came the last of her curse as she painfully wrenched her severely wounded hand to her chest and coddled the appendage in her vomit-sprinkled cleavage.

To say the least, Aerin had experienced much better days in the past.

Still groggy, nauseated, and in a great deal of pain, Aerin finally rose, her injured knee shaky at first but steadied by the fire behind her eyes as the crowd continued to shove past as if she were not even there. Thoughts of her loss of dignity and her mistreatment by the uncaring, drunken partygoers had her mind filled with a fury unlike any that she had ever experienced before. Her scraped up (but as yet unbroken) hand curled into a fist as she began to look for a smug face to bury it into – male or female – she really did not care which.

Her only hopes of not digging herself into more possible trouble lay within Ashari’s spell calming her as intended, common sense kicking in, or the hopes that one good ‘sucker punch’ would satisfy the animal within so that she could press on and seek help.

OOC: Not 100% sure on the term as far as Tazlure is concerned, but I will allow Aerin to take an ‘auto hit’ from the spell, meaning she won’t resist, and you have my permission to spell her, if needed.

* Ker, she wanted to yell your name like Kirk does Kahn’s in Star Trek II for breaking her hand – luckily, I found a way to let her do that. My apologies as well for assumptions made – lesson learned the hard way.

[Grey Wolf]

Fear. Emotion. Powerful. Overwhelming. Fear gave people strength. Fear could grip them so hard they could not move. Fear kept men and woman alike, alive in dangerous situations. Fear for self. Fear for other. Fear of unknown. Varieties, working the same in the end. It might have been enough, but love surged alongside, filling Ashari's very being with inner energy. Where fear flickered and ebbed in strength and intensity, love flowed calmly alongside, tempering the panicky nature of fear. Fire would burn and injure others, as would the ensuing panic and stampede, time slowing down around the young mage as her skin tingled with gathered energy, her form never leaving the ground, though for a flicker she almost hovered in thin air.

Her command was like an endlessly cold wave of freezing water, even Ashtalion feeling its impact on his mind, the sheer intensity of the demand making his skin crawl with electricity. It was not even an illusion. Aetheric energy gathered within his sought to physically push away that assault against his psyche, his hair rising on its end, air crackling as he resisted the call, though for a flicker even he felt a bit sluggish. As everyone stopped and remained standing where they were, he found it easy to weave his way through the crowd, reaching the building as fire continued to spread, its wooden roof catching the flames, the fire almost merrily dancing against the starlit sky.

Where her head swam moment before, the world stilled for Aerin even her center of balance obeying the powerful mental cry of the dark haired mage who commanded everyone to be still. The voice in her head reverberated against the inside of the skull, amplifying itself, until it drowned all else. The burning pain in her hand was replaced by a dull cold that engulfed her entire body, her muscles refusing to obey, every movement she made sluggish and forced. Movement was still possible, but it required great effort, the feeling of weight resting on her shoulders, as if she had somehow grown weaker in an instant, and though it lingered it did not grow in intensity, just as it did not lessen.

[Ashtallion Urdil]

Ashtallion had to pause as he reeled from the magic Ashari unleashed, its effects slamming against his mind. The sorcerer fought against the power that threatened to dominate him, pushing hard against the command to be still, to calm down. He always prided himself on his control, his mental defences over which he spent much time reinforcing to avoid situations such as this, yet affected as he was, the mage admitted to being impressed by Ashari. She was a Master of her Art, and he was glad they were allies and not enemies. Her power intrigued him further still, and placed fear within him also.

As the folk around him stilled, Asht meandered his way towards the Guild, every so often his hand rose to his head and he had to stop, fighting againt the command. His own aetheric power caused the air about him to hum, crackle, as he used it to strengthen his mental barriers. He would have to talk at great lengths with Ashari to find a way of defending himself against such assualts more easily.

The fire still burned unchecked, its tongues of dancing flames licking their way to the roof and slithering over the wood. All thoughts of storm magicks were brushed aside. He would have to tackle the fire more directly. Ashtallion raised both hands as he neared the burning Guild, his eyes glancing towards Ashari's form as she continued to conjure her own magic. With the effects of her spell still trying to worm its way into his mind, he did not know how focused he could remain while trying to weave his sorcery. The mage sought to send out his mage-sense, to touch the flames with his power. He did not seek to command them just yet, merely to meld with the energy, feel how potent it was and hopefully determine a way to snuff it out.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Aerin had been drunk before. Blind, stinking, pass-out-and-wake-up-in-a-pile-of-strangers drunk before, and it was this same feeling that she felt when Ashari’s spell hit her, the disembodied voice more of a clamor among the voices of the crowd than conscious words that the budding alchemist could discern. But she was not drunk. Far from it. She had tasted not a drop of alcohol before heading out to the coronation and she had not even glimpsed a wineglass at the gates, much less sipped from one, and yet the semi-familiar sensations were definitely there.

If not drunkenness… then death… The thought came unbidden and unhindered into her mind.

I…uhhh… Trapped in Ashari’s spell, Aerin pondered death once more, wondering further if the coldness and sudden loss of pain and strength was a foreshadow of a death which had come upon her arising. If she reached back behind her, would she feel the cold steel of a blade loosing her precious fluids upon the stones with terrible swiftness? Or her throat – had it been slashed so quickly and smoothly that she had not yet become aware of it? Her neck snapped so swiftly within a flicker that neither sound nor pain had come?

She tried to check for those and other possibilities but her mind continued to slow and her muscles, thanks to the spell, lacked any real ability or willpower to even begin the trek to those sites. Whatever the cause, I must have deserved it, eh, Dominicus? she asked, doing like most in her assumed situation and finding ‘death’s door faith’ as she allowed herself the only movement that seemed to come easy, that of succumbing to the weight on her shoulders and weariness in her legs as she plopped once more to her knees and then to her haunches.

“Alone and naked are we born…” Aerin mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper as she lowered her chin to her breasts, the twin globes of flesh that she had – just marks before – found so much pride in their beauty but now, covered in both vomit and ruined hand, saw naught but oddities for another to nickname her by if and when they came along and discovered the flesh that had once been Aerin Seleratus, a hollow shell of a woman who had died an untimely death in the street.

Because she lacked the strength or will to fight it, crying – much like collapsing – was the only thing that Aerin found herself able to do as she awaited the darkness to come calling for her.

OOC: I know she’s not dying. 25 years of incarnations and this is the first one to get like this. My little Barbie doll has a new model out for 2008 “Emo Aerin, Tazlure Edition”. LOL

[Ashari]

Panic subsided.

Everyone stopped.

The whole crowd paused.

Ashari swam through the electric current of her energies as it flowed from her form. If Aerin felt drunk, then Ashari was high. Elation spread from her center to her extremeties, and with it came the power. That power arced off her fingertips in volted waves of etherial energy sending shockwaves in the aether. If anyone was paying attention to the Citadel and it's goings on, then they were sure to notice her as a beacon.

It had only just begun.

Watching as her companion meandered through the crowd she could tell even Ashtillion had felt the temptation. This was an unusual sensation for the mage all in itself for Ashtillion was a great and powerful magick user in his own right. The fact that he, too, was swayed by her command, it caused for prickles to run up her sensually exposed spine. Don't let it take you, Fool of Questions. Don't let it pull you under. The power was always an overwhelming thing, and it was so easy to turn toward the darkness.

The neverending high stretched onward, and her Voice continued with it's power intact. "Stay. Watch. Be still. Appreciate the fire."

If she was not to rise above the crowd (and it frustrated her much that a simple parlor trick such as levitating was escaping her grasp at that particular flicker) then she'd move through them. Her nimble fingers wove between their bodies as she shifted among the partygoers with ease. Her demand hung still in the air. If anyone were to stir restlessly she'd turn her attention to them, overwhelming tranquility present in her eyes, even if deep within they burned with something not of this world.

Closer she came to the fire until the flames warmed her exposed flesh. If/when she was able to get to Ashtillion she kept her words brief. "Suppress the fire if you can. Show me some of that magick that makes you so famous." Here, she gave him a casual wink that was anything but. It took all of her concentration to not allow him to see that she was watching her very world catch in flames before her. That which was physically Ashari braced with feet shoulders' width apart and arms hanging gently at her sides. "Aeris may be inside, I'm going to try to find her with my mind and then I'll help you. She is my main concern right now."

And then Ashari fell into herself. She pulled back to collect her thoughts, collect her mind, and collect her personal energies. It would do no good to run herself ragged before the excitement had even started. Thankfully, the font was deep (she wondered if at this point it might be neverending) and she'd only yet touched the surface. Her next deep breath in was one tainted with smoke, the heady scent of burning wood and fuel filling her notrils as she closed her eyes.

Once more, she let out a mental signal for Aeris, hoping and praying that the girl would respond. Aeris! Answer me. Where are you? Are you in the Guild? Spreading her mental magick to a thin radar she meant to go beyond herself, stretch to the Guild, inside, and to attempt to look for life of any kind. All the while, she was patiently aware of her onlooking crowd and making sure they remained calm.

[Grey Wolf]

It was really simple. Either she would soar over the crowd, or she would control them with her mind. To have both would have been too much even for her, even in the state she was in at that moment, fear and love feeding her with more strength as flickers trickled by. People were like clay under her fingers, shifting at the mere touch, parting before her body like water, giving Ashari free path to the wall where Ashtalion stood. None moved, all eyes turned towards the fire, a sighs passing the crowd like a wave, expressing their joint exhilaration at the beauty of the flames. It was an odd moment. A crowd that would normally panic, whose frightened cries would have been heard to high heaven simply stood and stared at the dancing flames, the calm she had imposed upon them, renewed by every wave of energy that flowed from her, holding people in thrall as far as they could see.

Once the initial wave of command crashed over him, Ashatlion's mental barriers had little trouble keeping his mind free of Ashari's mental influence. Tendrils of his power reached outward, caressing the warmth of the flames, feeling along the heat, spreading outward, engulfing an entire third of the building before they reached the edge, shifting lower, melding with the heat that fire produced. The flames all but sang to him, their hunger for fuel intoxicating, dancing higher and higher, almost human in their desire for more. Always more. They wanted to consume the world. The universe. Tether and Aether and Nether. They wanted to burn it all and never to rest. Higher and higher into the air they soared, spreading along the wooden shingle upon the roof, growing to engulf the entire building, even now reaching across the alley, trying to grasp the Temple of Pan with their heat.

It was not just Aeris, but Aerin as well that received Ashari's mental call, her words echoing in the mind of the girl with an injured hand, suppressing the mental command that had her in its thrall, though she still found her movements sluggish, having to force herself to move, to put mental effort into doing anything, but turning to face the flames and enjoy their beauty. Crowd about her, rose their hands in unison, reaching towards the flames, grasping as if wanting to touch them, as sweat began to trickle from their faces, the heat slowly becoming unbearable, only their magickal barriers keeping Ashtalion and Ashari safe from its grasp. For a moment the mindcrafter felt something akin to a tickle against her outstretched mental probe, but Aeris did not reply in kind. Her skill and powers simply did not allow her to form a coherent response at that time.

[Ashtallion Urdil]

Ashtallion spared but a heartbeat as he exhalted in the thrill of sorcery that rushed through him. Like Ashari, he knew the what the touch of magic felt like, and as the flames sang their destructive chorus to him, the magic sang in his very blood. He could feel the fire, he knew its hunger, its desire to spread and feed, there was nothing evil, it was simple the nature of this element.....its unbridled power....perhaps it was this that most appealed to the Sorcerer, explaining much about his affinity for it.

He rested the sudden desire to enforce the flames, and sought to do the opposite. Almost loathing to quenched such a beautiful inferno, he knew it was the music of the flames, the rush of sorcery, and controlled his desires as every mage is taught to do.

Enough! Stop. Calm and still. Return to the darkness, bend to my will....

The magus mentally recited those words over and over, giving him a focus for what he wanted done. Within the flames, he sought out the threads of air that fed into the fire, helping to fuel its insatiable appetite. If founds, he would pull the energy, sapping the fire of its vital necessity. As he did so, he sought to weave a blanket of force, so as he pulled the air out of the flames, they wouldn't simply fed off the energy that was in abundance all around. The blanket of force pushing away air energy from the fire. He knew it would be difficult, his eyes closing to block out visual distraction and he focused his concentration on quellling the raging fire. His arms and fingers moved in an intricate arcane dance as he wove and manipulated the energies.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Aeris! Answer me. Where are you? Are you in the Guild?

Aerin felt the distraction shake her from her pre-mortum reverie and found that she had been unwittingly following the crowd toward the flames. The redhead blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear her head of the compulsion to follow, but her motions were still not fully her own. Aeris…Not Aerin… Not me… Someone…….inside? Aerin looked once more at the throng around her and then back to the flames. Someone inside…

She could almost hear Rat’s voice in her mind as something he had told her long ago gnawed at her from the deeper recesses of her mind. ’Pain is a useful tool, Aerin, which is why we often employ it. A man dead-set on guarding his last Banner from the collectors with a web of lies will often tear down that very web within the first moments of pain.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because pain clouds the mind and makes people do ‘stupid’ things…’

“Or stop doing them, I hope…[/i] Aerin muttered under her breath before attempting to squeeze her bad hand with her good, hoping that the sudden recurrence of pain would help break her free of whatever was compelling herself and the others to seek out the flames instead of saving themselves.

[Ashari]

Damnit Aeris... I should have taught you more.. I should have taught you better. She swallowed hard, supressing tears that pushed at the backs of her closed eyelids. There was the slightest twinge of something. She's alive. Hope prevailed. She pushed harder. "Aeris!" With all that concentration, she couldn't help that some of it came out in a true verbal accounting of what was happening inside her head. "Where are you? Concentrate. I need an image of where you are." Be safe.. Be safe. Now she wasn't as focussed on her own message, but rather picking up on Aeris. She just needed a hinting of something.. something to tell her the pen was secure.

Atleast she could come to the conclusion that whomever had set her building aflame hadn't first gone through and killed anyone inside. The few who were likely inside were resourceful people. Aeris and Ketch were the only two she could think of who had the poor luck to be inside. What little faculty she'd yet hired had told her they were off to celebrate the Coronation in the large street party for the commoners. They were hoping to use the oppertunity to find some young would-be students. Thank the mother... A silent prayer.

Opening her eyes the tears started to flow and as she took in a deep breath she felt the first wave of the heat. Not on her own skin, but theirs. Her palms burned as if they were being lifted to a torch. What in the nether are they doing?! Ashari spun on her heels to see the raised hands of a crowd of people - people stretching on as far as she could see, and she could see the shifts of movement as they inched forward. "NO!" She felt herself becoming a tool for someone else's motivations. Wouldn't it just be perfect for what they were trying to achieve? If I managed to kill citizens of the Citadel they'd get exactly what they want. Deciding to leave the issue of Aeris for the moment, she returned her attention to the crowd and found her Voice. "Stay-" Her hands raised as if to motion to them that they were not to come any closer. "-Still. Be calm." Although she didn't necessarily mean for the bardic voice to cling to her vocal chords, she couldn't help it as she turned to Ashtillion. "What can I do for you? How can I help? We need to stop the fire from spreading."

Her eyes already lifted to the roof. The building was all but lost already. However, she couldn't allow any other buildings to get caught in the blaze. Here they were so tightly packed together it'd be easy for it to get out of control. "Is there water somewhere nearby? In the Temple? And buckets.. something.. anything. The people will fetch it if I tell them." Visions of the masses following her commands filled her mind. Each one carried a bucket brimming with water to quench the overwhelming combustion.

[Grey Wolf]

Subtle worked at times. Gentle touch had its uses. Precision its place. When fire raged as it did that night, the gentle breeze over the Citadel only serving to stir it higher, time needed for such a gentle touch was something Ashtalion did not have. Where he stymied the tide of flames in one spot the flames spread further outwards, and within flickers the entire wooden roof of the new Red Rose Guild was afire. Off to his right the flames twisted in air current, the edge of the roof breaking the breeze, the air twisting in a small localized whirlwind around the tiny gargoyle perched above the corner. The white marble the rather comedic rather than hideous little creature was made off blackened under the assault of flames as they reached towards the neighboring buildings, the clay covering the Pan's Temple starting to glow from heat. Perhaps if he localized his effort Ashtalion might save a part of the Guild, perhaps even prevent the temple from catching fire. Even a mage of his power could not engulf an entire building in a field of force and push the air out of the bubble he formed. Only a God or Goddess could perhaps accomplish such a task alone.

The crowd reached for the flames, obviously enthralled by their vibrancy, but despite the impression their outstretched hand gave, none moved close to the burning building. They have been ordered to be still and appreciate the fire and they had been doing just that, the feeling coursing through Aerin's body almost erotic as the flames warmed her skin, her eyes beginning to water from the smoke that started to fall upon the crowd. It would be some time before the air became unbreatheable, though the heat was already becoming more than uncomfortable. An aged woman near the front, perhaps fifty yahren of age, swayed heavily, her skin and clothes drenched in sweat. Aerin felt the pain, breaking free of the spell just in time to hear the horrendous screech of jagged bones in her injured hand, the heat she felt from the fire nothing compared to the warmth exploding in her hand as pain threatened to make her dizzy again.

Aeris did not respond still, though the fear fueled Ashari's magic further. Mixed with anger it added to the already powerful energies coursing through her body and for a flicker she saw what the swanmaiden saw. It lasted but a flicker, but to the bard it seemed like burns have passed.

Aeris wrapped her cloak more tightly against her shoulders, feeling the blazing heat of desert sun on her skin even though she could barely see the yellow disc high in the sky. She was sweating profusely, the twisting alleways of the desert city making her dizzy with all the corners and intersections. She was lost. So terribly lost. The thick fog made it impossible for her to see more than ten feet away, the sand it carried clinging to her throat, making it almost impossible to breathe. She moved on, but each step made her more aware of her own weariness, her footfalls heavy as she plodded through the deserted city. It was no wonder such a hell-hole was deserted.

It would have been sad if Ashari had all but lived in a building without knowing at least the basics of her own surroundings. Even though she knew where the nearest well was, a sea of people separated her from the Turtle Fountain Square some two hundred yards towards east. Something else did catch her eyes, as dozens of barrels had been piled against the building just opposite the Guild, each containing over twenty gallons of beer.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

“Gaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhfuckmegentlywithamorningstar…that…HURTS!” she screeched as she broke free of the spell and released her hand, the wounded appendage once again seeking to find further refuge from herself and from pain within the confines of her cleavage. It had worked, though, as Rat had unknowingly promised. Pain had delivered her from bondage and now, hopefully, anger and determination would deliver her from pain.

Her red curls danced around her face, as if mimicing the flames before her, from the swift motion of her head and fire shone in her eyes both physically reflected from without and metaphorically reflected from within as the redhead stood swiftly and glared at both the crowd and flames. Recurring dizziness* aside, the fire within was burning far hotter than the fire without and making the rising heat from the blaze irrelevant to her conscious mind. She had torn her beautiful dress, scraped and dirtied herself in the fall, broken her hand, vomited, and been tricked into thinking that she was dying, all for the sake of this burning building and – apparently - the woman with a similar name supposedly trapped within.

Her eyes moved repeatedly from the flames to the crowd and back again. The fire was spreading quickly. …and all these collective fools can do was watch it burn…

“Fuck…this…” Aerin growled, determined to still help out and to not let her losses be in vain. The old woman before her swayed, presumably from the heat, and Aerin chose to help her sway further if that is what it took to push her way through the crowd and get to an entrance to the building that was, as yet, untouched by flames – if such an entrance existed…

OOC: * Not to be rebellious, Ker, but I've broken my hand before and still finished a fistfight before realising that I was injured. Hurt like hell, but didn't make me nauseated or dizzy. Not 'writing off' the dizziness or anything, but I'm a male and Aerin's a female (obviously) and I think you might be underestimating her pain threshold just a tad. Many women will argue that a woman's pain threshold is higher than a male's due to their bodies being equipped to handle childbirth. She'll be dizzy if you say so, vomit again if need be, but I doubt she'll swoon again unless forced to by you. LOL

[Ashari]

Ashari's mind was filled with vision's of Aeris' sight. Desert? She wondered if the girl was having dreams of her old life. Concerned, her brows drew together. She could be confused... lost in the house... trying to escape. The mage shook her head, not sure of how to proceed. "You're limitted by your own creativity," she murmered to herself. Get it together... figure it out. What would the Empress do? The memory of the cards that Thira gave to her made her collect herself.

There is a clear path. You're meant to figure it out. Look at it from all angles. She considered the fountain further down the road, but it was on the other side of all these people. She could coerce them into fetching the water, but she saw that getting horribly out of control and turning into a mob scene of it's own. Rolling her shoulders back, Ashari looked at the crowd and the waves of heat as they played off the building. "Take three steps back as I count!" She commanded the people, fearing other's falling prey to the flames. "One," she waited for their bodies to shift accordingly. "Two... three." Once more she thought of Andolin. He was enjoying his party... busily dancing with some harlot, no doubt about it, and here she was, trying to stop his city from being devastated.

Fatigue was beginning to settle into her strained eyes. She'd drank too much at the party, and now she was paying the price. Iorn.. gods.. why can't you be here to help me? Her hands were up infront of her, palms facing the throng of unfamiliar faces, but she saw that one girl was attempting to break through. Unwaivering in her commitment, Ashari got a spark of something from the beautiful damsel who clutched her hand to her chest. "Girl, come here." Those daring gray orbs sought out her eyes, luring her close where she could be enveloped in the shield Ash had erected. Expanding the thin silken strands so as to encompass Aerin as well, she hoped the girl wouldn't run off - especially into the flames. "Hello, you're not listening to me... Who is your magic tutor?" The mage watched the redhead like a cat would a mouse, and with just as much enthusiasm with a feline grin. "Name is Ashari, pleasure under different circumstances, I assure you," With this, she turned her attention to the robed mage she'd been walking with.

"Ashtillion!" Her eyes flicked toward the barrels. "What about the beer kegs?" So far, he wasn't having much luck in supressing the flames. This is too much for just us. "The Temple is going to burn, too, if we don't hurry," Heat wafted off the building in an alarming rate. It was enough to keep the whole city warm, or atleast that's how it felt to Ashari. "Asht... what about the people?" Ashari swallowed, unsure of how he might feel about using their energy. "You can borrow - just a little bit, that's all you'd need - just a little bit from all of them. I'll keep them calm, I'll help them relax. They won't fight you. I can't do it myself, Asht... I tried, I just can't. I'm not strong enough. You are, you can do this. We can do this together."

If there was one thing Ashari could do, it was pep-talk. During the siege and orc attacks and riots she'd been the warm little center of the universe. Now, she put it into real practice. She wasn't sure exactly how hard that might be, currently they were acting much like cattle. That suited their purposes just fine, but if something were to change, that might not be the case. I can do it. I calmed them all. I stopped them from rioting. Already, something inside her was burning quite differently from that which warmed her flesh. The young woman tried to encourage it, searching for the cool center of her energy, and waving out serenity and acquiescence with refreshing waves. Calm.

[Ashtallion Urdil]

His efforts at smothering the flames were ultimately proving futile. The sorcerer silently cursed himself, and flicked a sharp and keen gaze towards Ashari. The reflection of the fire danced in his metallic coloured eyes, or was it the light of aetheric energy shimmering behind them? Either way, for many it would have been an unsettling glare, Ashari was not your ordinary woman thoigh, she wouldn't quail under his raptor eyes.

"Borrow their energy? I have never done such thing before.....I wouldn't know how.", his eyes momentarily roamed the throng of people behind him. "Can you pool anything into me? Or instruct me quickly? I can manipulate energy from my surroundings.....but have not yet master drawing it from other beings.

"Regardless of that....", those golden eyes snapped back to the flames that continued to caress, lick and burn their way through the Guild. ".....makes sure no one gets in my way.", with that the sorcerer strode closer to flames, the heat was intense, and he strengthened the shield about him in an attempt to compensate for the waves of scorching air that would assualt him. He had tried for rain, he had tried suppressing the fire. He was growing impatient with his own attempted subtley. Ashtallion was a mage of the elements, he knew fire. It was one of the first weavings he had ever attempted. Now was not the time for the sorcerer to play nicely with his closest element.

Closer to the guild, but still a respectable distance so as not to be totally immersed in flame, he stopped. He did not spare the energy to draw in a deep breath, the heated air would have caused a problem there anyway. Ashtallion closed his eyes, mentally reinforcing the barriers within him...and examined the Flood-gate within himself. That barrier that allowed the crossing of aetheric energy into his own body to allow the shaping of spells, the weaving of energy, the very lifeblood of his existence.

He opened those gates, seeking to draw out more energy. More power. There was a limit, he had never pushed himself to that limit before.....but by the gods if he had to push himself to save the guild, he would. His head tilted back, eyes remaining closed and the mage threw his arms wide and let the magic literally pour out of him. His senses spilled into the flame, no longer with a light touch, this time he literally sought to enter the fire. Aetheric energy would crackle over his body, run in his hair like sparks of lightning, glittering with the same golden hue that coloured his eyes.

Ashtallion sought to dominate the flames, he would hear their song once more, and join with it. Within his mind, he pictured what he wanted to do. It was not enough to still the fire, that was against the nature of fire....too much energy would be required for that, more than he could even attemp to muster. No, within the flames, he wanted to unbind the energy. Release the knots and threads so the heat would dissapate. If that failed....he had one more idea. Yet he dared not try it unless as a last resort.

[Aeris Mourir]

A nightmare plagued the dear pen. Her once beloved city had vanished, and she had no evidence of how. She wandered and wandered and the very sands she cherished burned the bottom of her feet. As the woman walked, she clenched her mantle and if anyone had been following her they would have been able to pick of the feathers that had floated to the desert floor. With all the hardships that spun the maiden in circles she would not give up. She was a rare breed and the elements would be the last to kill her. She swung her cloak around her body and used it's white downy feathers as an insulator and as a reflector of the heat. She pushed on, and a distant cry shattered her dream.

The dream was nothing compared to what she sat in. Warm water. The fountain was being heated and suddenly the dream became more realistic. Still in swan form, she stayed in the pool, since she knew that would be the safest place, but not for long. Without her knowledge, Ashari was already using the maiden as a sight, seeing what the woman saw. The images were overloading, since her eyes didn't fix upon one object. It was choppy at best, her eyelids closing one moment and then opening up to a different view.

The chaos of the fire distracted Aeris. She wanted to flee, she wanted to hide, she wanted to fight. She had spent most of her life in the care of other swans, and she knew that they would be very proud of her. She had made her mark in Amun Rah, and especially with Isis, but it didn't matter. This was the here and now and the woman knew they wouldn't be able to stop the fire.

"Ashari," she whispered. "I know you're out there. I am in the fountain," she ruffled her feathers. "I'll be out in a flash."

She had no time to waste. Her change over was quick and fluid- as soon as her wings revealed arms she already had a blouse in hand. As her other hand appeared the black, leather gloves the Vault Keeper had given her was on. The skirt was next, along with her matching boots. Good thing Aeris got lazy last night and didn't clean her feathers for now they could collect enough water to buffer the flames. She dampened the mantle in the warming pool and wrapped it around her ancestor's diary. Fully clothed and with the book tied on her back with her cloak, she ran to the window, she didn't need the momentum, but using it anyhow she dove through the window. As her feet lifted from the floor a glorious white light was emitted from the house.

[Grey Wolf]

The way crowd stood mesmerized by Ashari's spell, Aerin found it easy to push her way through the people, the crowd parting before her like wheat in the wind, the gap where she stood disappearing as the crowd moved to fill it after her passing. It was mere flickers later that she emerged near the Temple of Pan door, its doors a dozen or so paces to her right. Her path was clear, the temple entrance slightly raised, none of the people standing on the trio of steps that led to the dais it rested upon. Then the entire crowd moved back, moving as one as Ashari commanded them, Aerin finding the lure of bard's words less demanding this time, the pain doing a good job of keeping her focused on her own thoughts.

It was all for nothing. Blaze of glory for the golden haired sorcerer as he reached into his very being, opening every barrier that help the energy coiled within him under control. For a fraction of a flicker he felt the air around him, felt every particle of dust and ash in the air around his body, was acutely aware of the faintest stirring of the air the flames awakened in the street as he came closer. Then there was only fire and it greeted him with open hands, feeding its lust for life into his body, filling his flesh with pure, unbridled energy to overflowing. The limit he had set had been crossed and the fire took a seven mile step over it, his very soul burning from the energy he held within himself.

It was an image within an image within an image. Aeris leapt to her salvation, jumping through the window, and landing on the scorching red sands of her homeland. The Citadel could have been a thousand miles away, only the labyrinthine streets of the smoke choked city standing before her, a sheer cliff crumbling beneath her feet. The sand she stood upon shifted, carrying her closer to the ledge, as it cascaded down the cliff, disappearing into the unfathomless depths behind her. The smoke choked city seemed to float in thin air, emptiness stretching as far as her eyes could see, the small island upon which the city was built shrinking as the sand sifted into the bottomless pit around it. She needed to move lest she lose her footing and fall down into the pit herself, and the street before her revealed so very little of what lay ahead. The air thickened, smoke chafing her throat, driving her to cough.

Ashtalion found himself brimming with energy, the sheer amount of it making his skin stretch, his veins ache, as blood rushed through in scorching torrents. All of it was at his fingertips, and all he had to do was decide what he was to do with it. It was futile to try and unbind the energy from the flames, the flames being the energy itself, eating the substance from around them, destruction of wood and paper and cloth building them to greater heights. Again he found himself fighting a futile battle, struggling to dissipate the fire in one spot while it spread elsewhere, only to have them flames return to where he extinguished them the moment his attention turned to another part of the building. He needed something drastic, something that would touch the entire guild, that would crush the flames in an instant. Subtle would not work here. Flames never were subtle.

[Aerin Penna Seleratus]

Making her way through the crowd had eased neither Aerin's pain nor dizziness - the latter increasing as she drew closer to the heat and smoke, in fact - the act of hitting her head on the cobbles forgotten due to a mixture of chaos and the nature of the wound. Although she had not yet discovered it, Aerin most likely bore a healthy lump where it had struck the cobblestones.

One other thing that had not decreased with the passage through the crowd was her anger and it shone breifly as her head snapped toward Ashari's voice.

"Girl, come here. Hello, you're not listening to me... Who is your magic tutor? Name is Ashari, pleasure under different circumstances, I assure you,"

Aerin's teeth bared in a feral smile themselves, hers more wolven than feline as thick billows of crimson tresses danced around her face, the silken flames licking at porcelain skin. "Ashari..." Aerin half-purred/half-growled as Ashari turned to speak to the other mage, Aerin neither stepping closer or farther from the woman who commanded the crowd. "Aerin...", she answered after a few flickers, stepping toward Ashari slowly. "No tutor in magic, nor in fire...but I know that this cannot be good..." she continued, the flames still striking a resoundingly erotic chord within the girl's breast, the feeling mixing well with the pain, dizziness, and anger to form an almost sadistic euphoria within her, calming her down slightly and giving her humor a dark edge.

Amid the flames, she saw what she thought to be a body fall, but it very well could have been a large chunk of debris finally burned loose of its moorings. "I helped Morgan and Becca search the rubble of the Red Banner... and now this place burns... Perhaps someone wishes for me to die in a fire, but keeps missing his mark..." Her eyes rose skyward with the flames, narrowing for a moment in defiance of her father's chosen deity, Dominicus.

[Maeve]

OOC: Darlings. Due to some concerns uttered by players it has been my decision to take over this scene from here on. I will be starting an OOC thread in Royal Mail to discuss further concerns.

This is an intense thread, and we recognize that. It could kill one or any of you, and PC death is an emotional thing. Thus, while upholding all of Grey Wolfs moderating decisions as correct, we are providing you with a change of moderator so that you not keep a sense of lingering resentment because of it, but accept it as Tazlurian reality. Do not expect the basic premise of this thread to change. All further thoughts --> to the OOC thread please.