Event The Catalyst

A known student of Elena is seen stumbling throughout the city displaying effects of severe overgiving.

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The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

The Catalyst

Postby Savis Maren on February 21st, 2019, 8:44 am

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The throes of obsession gripped Savis Maren by the throat. Her silver eyes saw the familiar visage of her ally Madeira Craven, and yet in her chest burned the fires of truth that waxed within her soul. The Nuit did not react as the Spiritist did, with unbridled madness, but instead, her mind created the justification she needed for hateful obsession to rule out her sense of reason. Hidden truths, the Nuit thought.

Secrecy. What else is hidden? the thoughts grew louder and louder until the scaled medic ran towards Savis and Madeira both. The Nuit and Spiritist, so embroiled in their hypnotically induced spat, failed to notice when she leaped forth and threw the both of them to the ground. Two mages fell and the Nuit was thrown entirely off balance. She collided into the ground, and in the scuffle her white dress stained gray with the shifting dust that threw itself all over her. Boiling rage overwhelmed the undead, the obsession giving way as she felt a gag wind along the corpse flesh of her throat.

Savis Maren heaved, shaking her head over and over in an effort to clear her mind. Slowly, Savis Maren rose to her feet, her narrowed silver eyes shifting between Madeira and Ponrose. Harsh laughter poured from her lips as she brushed her fingertips along her elbows, where the echoes of pain settled firmly into her mind. The electric sensation of her nerves colliding with her djed had not yet worn off, and the laughter was forced between gritting her teeth.

Madeira and I were just forced into attempting to murder each other... And what's worse... the source of this foul, powerful magic is also capable of unleashing rifts? What waits on the other side? the Nuit wondered as she began to regain her composure. The need to sort through the situation logically splintered the fear that threatened to dwell within the undead. Savis Maren reached into her satchel before throwing the bag to the floor. The rattling of several tools accompanied the 'thud' as it hit the floor, and in Savis' hand was the crystal sphere she'd yet to use.

"It looks like she's most sane when she's hurt," the Spiritist began to explain. Savis Maren saw the reasoning in it all, how the hateful screeches turned to sobs, even as the multitude of portals stretched into being around them. The Nuit allowed her djed to suffuse into her gaze once again, and saw the erratic surges of djed that bordered each of the rifts until they vanished one by one, leaving only the one closest to the little girl, attempting to suck her in. As Madeira continued speaking, the Nuit narrowed her eyes,

"Did I miss the election? Who died and made you queen?" she asked, though her words were baiting, the jest in them meant to calm Savis' nerves. She seemed to run into these occurences... a life-or-death situation arisen and the Shinya were nowhere to be found.

"Very well, your highness," she said, seeing the logic in Madeira's argument, but unable to contain the vestiges of her obsession-induced rage. The wicked sing louder than the rest, she ruminated as the djed rose along the lengths of her left arm. She pried at the raw nerves, gritting her teeth until she let a pained gasp escape her lips. The djed within Savis Maren was still strong, but she reckoned that the agonizing detachments, performed over and over again, would be detrimental to her well-being. They had to end this now. Rather than using both arms, she willed merely her dominant hand, keeping the physical fingers of her right hand clutched over the Defender's Sphere, and the tap of her nervous digits created the outline of the kite shield, which strengthened in but a moment.

Reaching forward, Savis Maren threw her astral arm towards Ponrose. She wove past the portal and gathered momentum. She raised her astral arm high into the air, then swung it downward. Her limb sought to crash directly into Ponrose's ankles, spectral fingers closing over the meaty flesh of her calf. Then, she sought to apply pressure.

The Nuit gritted her teeth, uncertain silver eyes looking to Madeira Craven as she threw the last of her resistance into her strike. The Nuit felt the shiver of her projected limb, and sought to call it back towards her. She fell to her knees, initiating one final attachment as she held the magic crystalline shield in front of her frail body.


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The Catalyst

Postby Gemma Parker on February 21st, 2019, 4:31 pm

"I'm so sorry!" She said as soon as she opened her eyes. "I meant to- I mean- Is the baby ok?" She stammered as she tried to get up and help the pregnant woman, but in the end it was Gemma that recovered last. She moved closer to the woman, but it wasn't needed. It seemed that everyone was back on the same side and all fighting the same person.

The pregnant woman took charge, ordering Gemma to take action. At that moment she realized who the pale woman was. She had not had time to register her features, but now she noticed that she was Savis, the same woman who had accompanied her back at the observatory several days back. But there was no time to think through anything that that could mean. She had her orders.

Gemma didn't need to be told twice. She was already in motion as soon as she made sure the pregnant woman was safe. But rather than sprinting into danger as she had before, she decided it was better to take a circuitous route since it seemed the two heavy hitters were intent on distracting the crazy woman.

Gemma stepped away from the two and into the shadows of the nearby buildings and flipped up her hood. It wasn't much, but the darker green and brown colors of her clothing would hide better in the shadows than her light hair and skin. She did her best not to make much sound, but gravel still crunched under her feet whenever she hit a loose spot. Still, she continued to try and get around to the woman's blind side between her and the portal. Gemma assumed that if she could not see the woman through the portal, the woman could not see her.

She then checked the scene, hoping that the woman was sufficiently distracted. In the end, though, it really didn't matter if she was or not. Gemma had to act or the girl might get hurt. She crept closer and closer, the energy of the void making her sick to her stomach, and sweat began to form on her brow. She looked back to the other two women, looking for a signal to see if now was the right moment or not. And as soon as she saw her opportunity, she would attempt to grab the young girl around the mouth and stomach and pull her to safety while whispering assurances in her ear.
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The Catalyst

Postby Neologism on February 22nd, 2019, 4:19 pm


Ponrose was sufficiently distracted, tugging the girl along the base of the building and trying to get away from the scene. She still mumbled to herself and shrieked at herself, and her face was bleeding from every possible orifice now, a fact that Ponrose was blissfully unaware of but that terrified the girl to the core. A small child, no more than eight with soft brown skin and dark eyes and hair. She had been braver than the rest of her little Tenten playgroup and she was quickly paying the price for such actions. Still, a child’s courage only lasts so far in the face of true terror, and nothing was as terrifying to this child as the overgiving mage that dragged her along. This fear had paralyzed the child into mechanically moving her feet forward so that she would not trip, but she was holding her wrist as far away from her body as possible. Still, despite as far as she tried to separate herself from Ponrose she did not see Gemma coming. One hand wrapped around her mouth and the other around her abdomen and the little girl could not help the shriek that fell from her lips, muffled by the Konti’s hand.

Almost instantly the gilrl recognized the healer to not be a threat, almost any stranger was safe in comparison to the mage that had been dragging her. Ponrose herself had not seen the Konti either, but as the girl was yanked from her hand, the crazed mage’s attention was drawn. ”No!” She shrieked, a strong bout of hypnotism falling flat in her voice. To any with aurisitcs, they would see the surge of magic and the odd way it derailed itself once it left her bleeding tongue. ”You can’t take her! I need her!” She gasped, stopping and then lurching forward towards Gemma to retrieve her bounty that she hoped would lead her to safety.

A portal opened around her ankle and then zapped out of life just as quickly as it had arrived, growing to no more than the size of child’s fist. Another appeared near her shoulder, and then another by her wrist, staying a little longer and gaining more traction. The strange voiding that Ponrose herself had not called was finally brought to the overgiving mage’s attention, and it terrified her. Rightfully cautious of the other side, Ponrose leaped back from the portal where her wrist had been moments before. It zapped out of existence, but before she could reach for the child once again, Savis’s astral projection had swept by her ankle, takking the unstable limb from her. Without much sense of the world around her, let alone balance, the screaming mage fell to the ground, face first. There was an uncomfortable crack as the cartilage in her nose pressed against the cobble, flattening it in unnatural ways.

A moan erupted from her lips and Ponrose rolled over, clutching at her face. The overgiving had already been dribbling blood from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears so the blood caused by the broken nose was almost unnoticeable, but this time Ponrose could feel it.

”Stop.” Madeira’s strong and confident hypnotism rang through Ponrose’s third moment of clarity. The whispers had not been able to break through the pain that the nuit was causing her, but Madeira was able to. Ponrose blinked, still clutching her nose and looked up at the pregnant woman. Her eyes boggled as she tried to put together what was happening, not having totally been aware of the past few chimes’ events, only that the voices were speaking to her and she had to get away. “I know you’re in there. Don’t listen to the whispers, fight it.” Madeira’s words broke through the mist in her brain just barely, and while Ponrose could hear them for once, there were other voices as well.

You’re better than she, look at her, swollen with life. Pshh! Easy! The mumbled voice came through Ponrose’s lips and she squirmed where she lay, clearly uncomfortable with its presence and trying to fight it. ”No! I don’t want to!” She shrieked back, having a conversation with herself right there on the cobbled floor of the Tenten, dragging down the rest of Madeira’s words ”I don’t know how!” The shrieked fell into a sob and then Ponrose’s voice grew soft. ”I need help, I need someone to help me, I can’t stop!”

Ponrose stopped clutching her nose, and struggled to her feet. She was not lurching for the child or lashing out at any of the three women who confronted her. It seemed, although tainted by the crazed muttering of the second voice in her head, that Ponrose was struggling for her luciditiy. The small scared woman inside was showing through the aggressive mage they had seen merely ticks before. Unfortunately the overgiving didn’t stop. Her face was leaking blood so steadily that her limbs were growing pale and her vision blurry. Small fruit-sized voids opened up close to each of her limbs, lasting for a few ticks and then disappearing. The rate was nearly four per chime, and although they were not yet large enough to take parts from her, they were cutting into her skin where the portal opened too close. As if searching for comfort, Ponrose stumbled forward, reaching out for Madeira. Her hands were not arched and clawed like she had for the children, but soft and open, wanting for some semblance of comfort in the clearly painful existence she harbored. ”Help me,” She whined at the expecting mother, and then the worst happened.

A portal opened in the cobble at Ponrose’s feet. It was large enough that a single foot could fall into the horizontal plane, falling into the Other Side without the necessity of a pull. This threw Ponros’e stumbling walk completely off and she fell forward, her left leg falling in up to her mid-thigh. The portal was small and clearly not intentional, but growing quickly. Scared, Ponrose reached for Madeira’s ankles, as if the woman would hold her in This Side, keeping her from the doom filled possibilities. She tugged on Madeira’s leg, trying to pull herself out of the void before it closed… or got bigger.

Note :
Guys! This thread is really fun and I’m so happy it is going as quickly as it is! We might actually be able to do a lot more than I thought we had time for! :D

Also Madeira: I rolled a 40 for Ponrose to grab onto your ankle.

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The Catalyst

Postby Madeira Dusk on February 23rd, 2019, 6:41 am

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Finally, something seemed to be going right. The Konti snuck away, and Savis, after a few customary words of venom, let her right arm go limp as she extended her projection. It took less than a tick for the cards to change hands, for the little Konti to rip the hostage out of the mage's hands as Savis tripped her with her invisible force. The Konti, a brave protector to the core, was dragging the little girl out of harms way as the mage screamed. The Nuit fell to her knees when her part was over, her gaunt face drawn and exhausted with that last show of force. The Defender's Sphere, which Madeira recognized from Savis' collection of magical items, activated and protected the Nuit with a dome of protection.

Then it was just Madeira, her brief surge of hypnotism already dying on her lips, the force too taxing to maintain without ending up like Penrose herself.

”I need help, I need someone to help me, I can’t stop!” the mage was pleading, her voice thick through her bloody mouth and crushed nose. She was bleeding from every orifice now. Madeira thought back to the rambling of her mad uncle Frode, and all his dire warnings of personal magic she half listened to. Was this the last stage of overgiving? Was it too late for her?

The aggressiveness seemed to have drained out of the woman when the girl was ripped away from her. She was fighting for her lucidity, even as little holes in reality blossomed around her body like flowers around a grave. Pleading like a child, her voice gone soft around the edges, she stumbled towards the Spiritist. Her hands were open, her arms reaching, looking for comfort and the help she was promised.

Madeira only saw the little holes of nothingness that followed her, and was rooted to the spot in horror. "No", she croaked as the woman shuffled closer. "Stay back!"

A plinky little music box and a spray of blood and teeth. Ssanya dancing in the arms of a little blue man. Her breath hitched as the awful memories resurfaced, as if pouring from the void the mage could no longer control. Don't worry Rose my lovely Rose, you'll be safe in my garden soon, a voice whispered from that empty blackness. There will be no other ugly flowers to hide your beauty there.

A open portal ate into the cobblestone, and a single misplaced step swallowed the mage's leg. She pitched forward, looking for anything to save herself, and her desperate grasping hands found Madeira's ankle. Clinging to skirts, pulling at the Spiritist will all her might, she tried to drag herself free of the doom that faced her. Fear and pain was written in every line on her face as she looked up to Madeira to save her.

There was a muffled crackling sound, like ice snapping on a frozen lake, as Madeira wound back and kicked Penrose in the teeth.

The grip on her ankle loosened and the Spiritist ripped free and stumbled back, breathing like a cornered animal. Everything in her body was screaming for her to stay away from the unpredictable voider, to run from the effects that were overtaking her body and threatening everyone around it. Nothing in this world could make her face that blackness again. She wouldn't go near the mage. She couldn't.

But neither could she let the mage suffer the nightmare of falling into that endless nothing. She raised the bracer crossbow on her wrist, and aimed it for Penrose's heart. Immediately her arm burst into sickly greenish flame, the sleeve and flesh sizzling away until nothing but a skeletal black claw remained. It was a dramatic illusion that meant nothing, the bolts inside the crossbow were still only souldarts.

"Dira, save this woman from her torment", Madeira prayed. Her voice was firm, but her wrist was not so steady as her words. She steadied her shaking by bracing her arm with her other opposite hand. "Show her the mercy of your embrace, and help her in her crossing. For souls change but do not end, and there are fates worse than death." Her finger rested on the trigger under her wrist, looking for a clean shot.

OOC :
The quick pace is thanks to Gem and Sav, I'm barely keeping up with you speed demons! Glad we get to pack more into this quest though. I'm having a great time. :D

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The Catalyst

Postby Gemma Parker on February 23rd, 2019, 7:11 pm

Gemma's heart was beating like the hooves of a racehorse against the track. The little girl ran away as soon as she was free, and Gemma let her go. She had not thought to pray over the girl, but now whispered a silent prayer for Rak'keli to heal the girl wherever she was.

She patted down her body, and everything seemed to be in place. 'I can't believe that worked. She thought. She hadn't even thought about the consequences of being so close to a freaking black hole of nothingness. At this point, there could be no denying the presence of magic here. Gemma knew nothing about non-gnosis magic except that it existed, and she didn't even know much about gnosis magic other than what she had learned about her own mark. But this was so far outside of the realm of thinkable occurrences that she had to assume this was, in fact, magic of some kind. But then why did it seem so out of control? Sadly, none of this helped Gemma right now.

She heard screams from behind her, and turned to see the crazy lady (mage?) half inside of one of the black holes, but this time it was on the ground. Was that a good thing? Was the pregnant lady somehow attacking with the same crazy magic that the crazy lady was using?

Who the darkness belonged to didn't matter, though. Help had yet to arrive, and once more the pregnant lady was in danger. The crazy woman reached out and grabbed the standing woman's ankle, but with a surprising display of aggression for a woman of her condition, the pregnant woman booted the crazy lady in the face. It was at this point that Gemma realized she needed to mentally assign nicknames to the various unnamed parties, because it was getting exhausting trying to think of the two as "crazy lady" and "pregnant lady". She decided on calling them Fran and Sally, respectively.

All this was happening as Gemma started to run again, and she lamented her slow speed. She had never really needed to run anywhere before, at least not on land. She ran toward Sally (that was the pregnant lady) to try and help her get free of Fran's hand. But the boot had landed, and Sally was now safe a few feet away. She looked like she was fine now, at least for the moment. But that left Fran.

Fran was almost half inside the blackness, and at least for the moment seemed too injured and weak to get herself out. She might have been crazy, but she was still a person who clearly needed help. And with her being the only injured person in sight, Gemma ran right up to her, reaching to grab an outstretched hand with both oh her hands. Her booted feet tilted against the cobblestones to keep from being pulled into the nothingness as she uttered a prayer under her breath. "Goddess, help me. Heal this woman." She grunted and called over her shoulder, not really to Sally, but maybe to anyone else that could help.

"Grab onto me and help me pull her out!" All the while she hoped and prayed that her healing mark would do something, anything, to help this woman's damaged mind and body.

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The Catalyst

Postby Neologism on February 24th, 2019, 11:50 pm


The second blow to the mage stunned her considerably. Although she was already moderately clear headed, although still desperate for help, the effects of her overgiving seemed to lull for only a few ticks as her mind and body seemed to reset with the pain. She slipped, and almost as if they could see the shocks to her brain in real life, there was a small popcorning of portals popping in and out of view near her head. As Gemma tried to pull the deranged mage out, blocking Madeira’s view of a good shot, there was a blood curdling scream that pierced through the adrenaline that pumped through the entirely of the Tenten peak. At least for Ponrose, everything stopped for a few ticks. Her eyes, blurred with the red of anger and blood almost could not take in the sight before her.

Madeira’s kick had made the unstable overgiving portals reset momentarily, which meant the one with half of Ponrose’ leg inside of it had closed, taking the part of the mage with it. Gemma found it suddenly easier to pull the overgiving mage to safety, with half her leg missing and the portal which pulled at her gone, it was an easy matter to help Ponrose flip over so that she could prop herself up on her elbows. The mage gasped as she looked down to where the portal had been moments before. She couldn’t feel the pain just yet, but she could see the blood pool growing where her leg should have been, and any hopes of remaining grasped to reality disappeared. Without hesitation, she screamed again in a ferocious anger, as if someone other than herself was to blame for this unfortunate loss. With her back to Gemma and Madeira, the only one in her sight was the nuit, still focusing on reattaching her arms. Anger surged through her, and Ponrose leaned forward, two arms reaching out to create a portal just in front of the nuit. Because of the distance and Ponrose’s state of being, Savis was able to see the anticipation on Ponrose’s movements. Currently incapacitated by her own projections, she had no option but to walk swiftly out of the way. The stiff dead body she inhabited only got her far enough to be out of the reach of the portal’s pool

And then she was gone. Disappeared behind a building to save herself from the finale of Ponrose’s overgiving that day. Ponrose was not done. Enrage she turned to Gemma and Madeira, eyes focusing on the pregnant Spiritist. Another Obsession rested on her lips as she spoke to the blond human, her words coming out no more than a snarl, but the hypnotism clear in it. ”Shoot the Konti.”

As she spoke, she reached for Gemma as well, her arches claws extending the powerful djed in them to open a portal behind Gemma. Only before she was able to, a single pale hand fell on hers, an odd contradiction of relaxation to her arched tension. The elderly man that now stood in the middle of the fight seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, although a keen eye might have seen the blur of his immense speed. Almost instantly as he laid his hand on hers, long strands of djed began weaving their way around her arm, pulling taut to her skin, and leaving a strange film over her limb. It looked almost like liquid metal that one could see through, quickly growing across her arm and shoulder-blade, engulfing her face. Ponrose didn’t seem to recognize what was happening as it did, staring at her arm in awed shock.

Within a tick, two more Shinya jogged up. One woman extended her sword to Ponrose’ neck, a slim lithe Katana that would behead the woman in an instant if she wished. The other man laid a hand on Ponrose’s shoulder, and within a tick another shield began growing and weaving it’s way around the woman, accenting the silvery metallic with a rustic liquid rock that seemed to grow across Ponrose.

The younger man began speaking to the woman in a strange unknown language, and almost instantly Ponrose relaxed, her arm dropping to her side and her weight falling back onto the ground. Through the shields covering her face, one could see her expression glazed over and awe-stuck as if she was watching something not there, and in an odd way, it did not anger her. Any popcorn voids that remained about her person disappeared as soon as the elder man’s shield had completely encompassed the woman, and once the younger man’s did as well, Madeira would feel the weight of the obsession lift once again. The hypnotism assigned by an overgiven mage seemed not to have the same lasting effect as one in a sane head, as if the djed they wielded was as unstable and dangerous as they were.

”You, are you a healer?” The youngest man turned to Gemma immediately, directing sharp green eyes to her pale blue ones. It was words from a racial prejudice, where a human such as himself expected all Konti to be of some mystical form with one or more blessings from Gods. ”We have to stop the blood flow, now. It will work through the shields.” He said, already pulling a leather strap from his weapons harness, pulling the staff that was bound with it out and resting it on the ground. He handed it to Gemma, as if waiting for her to take lead on the healing, but with the obvious urgency of the wound. ”What else happened to her? Is anyone else hurt?” His rapid questions were directed at Gemma while she worked, trying to gather as much information from her as possible.

Another Shinya appeared by Madeira’s side, her staff in one hand, and the other she gently reached out for the pregnant woman’s shoulder. She could see an unsteadiness in Madeira’s eyes but was obviously concerned with the civilian interaction with the overgiven mage. ”Ma’am, I need you to take a few steps back with me, we want to get you out of here and looked at.” Her touch was hesitant, but her voice was strong and militant after years of training with the Shinya. The six person squad was effective, their only fault being the time it took a civilian to alert them to the situation. Two more Shinya were hanging back, holding the crowd off at the end of the avenue, watching the area surrounding for other danger. ”I need you to tell me what happened.” The woman spoke to Madeira, guiding her away from the scene as far as she could, but only by a few meters at most.

Rolls :
Ponrose got an 86 for hypnotism against whatever Madeira’s resolve is.

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The Catalyst

Postby Madeira Dusk on February 25th, 2019, 1:42 am

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    OOC :
    Success! Rolled 96


    “Get out of the way!” Madeira roared at the Konti who had rushed to help, bravely risking herself for the mage where Madeira couldn’t.

    But the words were drowned out by an almost inhuman scream of pain, as the portal unexpectedly closed with the mage’s leg still inside. Still doing all she could to save her, the Konti dragged her away and flipped her over. Blood was pumping out of the clean slice of her limb, but the mage wasn’t done. She opened a portal in front of Savis. The Nuit got away, but barely. Slipping between the buildings she fled with her arm still hanging useless at her side.

    Wild with pain and rage, she twisted and focused on Madeira instead.

    “Shoot the Konti”, she demanded. The air seemed to shiver around the words as they slammed into the Spiritist like a physical force. Madeira sucked in a breath and braced her soul as the hypnotism sought purchase in her mind, its obsession seeking that hidden impulse of obedience that Madeira hid from the world. But she was a hypnotist too. Not nearly as strong, or half as skilled, but she recognized the manipulation the woman had already beat her with once and was able to guard against it. The hypnotism reached her but couldn’t quite find the hold it so easily exploited last time, and it dissipated harmlessly.

    “That won’t work twice you crazy bitch!” Madeira pulled back the trigger and fired at the mage. But Penrose was already reaching back, opening a portal behind the Konti that was trying to save her. The shot was wide and fell afoul of the portals gravity, and skittered away into the void.

    But before Madeira could even think of reloading an old man appeared out of nowhere in a blur of speed, and he laid a strangely comforting hand on the mage’s shoulder. At once the mage was incapacitated, though Madeira didn’t recognize what had her bound. Other Shinya showed up behind him, one with a Katana and another with the same strange magic as the old man. Madeira let her arm drop, and the Dead Hand crossbow extinguished with a hiss, leaving her body as whole and undamaged as it was before.

    ”Ma’am, I need you to take a few steps back with me”, another Shinya appeared behind her, and Madeira flinched at the contact. “We want to get you out of here and looked at.”

    Madeira obeyed, retreating with the other woman, though her eyes never left the overgiving mage. With urgency in her voice the Shinya demanded to be told what happened.

    “Maddy!” Emma’s panicked voice cut through Madeira’s reply. The ghost was barrelling straight through the two Shinya that were holding back the crowed at the end of the street, her arms held out towards her master. The ghost was a mess of snot and tears and weeping sores as the collided with the Spiritist, hiccuping violently. “M-Maddy! I was s-s-so scarred!” Madeira brushed back her hair like she was a solid being as the girl used all the soulmist projection she could summon to twist her fists into her skirts.

    “It’s okay, kitten. We’re okay. Shhhh, baby, gently now.” It was all Madeira could do to summon what acting ability she had to disguise how beaten and wretched she felt, so as not to scare the fragile girl further. She turned to the Shinya while the girl wept loudly into her waist in a storm of whipping, agitated soulmist.

    “I don’t know who that woman is. She’s voider, and a hypnotist, and was overgiving worse than I had ever seen. She was looking for someone, a woman, when she attacked a little boy. Then she tried to drag away a little girl before the Nuit, the Konti and I stepped in. Nobody was seriously hurt, except for herself.”

    But it was a close call. The memory of that black void, of having her mind hijacked and trying to kill her only ally, left her cold. If the Shinya hadn’t stepped in she would have killed the mage herself. She held tight to Emma and shuddered.

    “She’s not a Tower student, I don’t recognize her, and they don’t teach either of those magics. So who is she? What was she even doing out here in her state?”
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    The Catalyst

    Postby Gemma Parker on February 25th, 2019, 3:03 am

    Gemma stumbled back seemingly in an instant. She fell to the street with Fran half on top of her, and struggled to get her off of her and then into a sitting position. That was when Gemma saw the woman's leg. Or rather, the spot where the leg had once been. In its place was a gushing stump, and Gemma's face grew pale. She knew what her gnosis mark was capable of and what it was not. This was far beyond her gifts. She had some basic first aid training, but only enough to know that when someone lost a leg, they lost a lot of blood. Sure, she knew how to tie a rope around a limb to stop the blood flow, but she also knew that doing so made infection likely. But if she didn't do something, Fran would die. And even after all the carnage she had caused, thanks to those present, she had not become a murderer. And in any case, it was not Gemma's place to judge if a person should live or die. It was her place to make sure that this woman survived long enough for the judge to make that call.

    This time she actually saw Fran reach out and seemingly rip a large hole of blackness into existence just in front of the third member of their group, who just for a moment Gemma thought might have been the same pale woman that she had seen while stargazing. But that thought came and went, as she continued praying to her goddess once more.

    "Goddess, please help. Don't let me lose anyone." She said, pushing the gnosis power into Fran even from where she stood behind her. The portal was stationary, so she had to think Savis was ok, at least for the moment.

    Then the woman whipped around, the crazed look still in her eyes.

    "Shoot the Konti.” She said.

    "What? No, don't do that, that's a horrible idea. Just shut up and let me help you." She complained, of course having no understanding of hypnosis, and so not understanding the danger she was in. Gemma saw Fran's hand come up in the same motion as before, and she was about to try to brute force the arm down to her side in an effort to prevent any more holes of blackness from forming, but just then, time seemed to slow down all around her. An aged hand was suddenly on Fran's. In fact, Gemma almost touched it in her effort to interfere with Fran's antics.

    Gemma felt frozen in place, and even let her healing prayer falter for a few ticks as she watched the mystical force field wind and wrap its way across Fran's body and face, finally seeming to bring peace to the addled mind.

    "Whoa..." She couldn't help herself. She was so close to it all. It was... mesmerizing.

    But a militaristic voice snapped her out of her awe, bringing her back to the present. She recognized these figures as both good and in charge, so she did her best as a subordinate to assist in any way she could. Her heart still fought against the slowing time, trying its best to speed everything up again. But Gemma was in a more calming presence than that of her own anxiety. And though she was intimidated by the show of force, somehow she envied the peace she was sure she had seen on Fran's face.

    Even still, she nodded to the young man who was addressing her. "Yes, sir." She said, simply. "Understood."

    As he dropped the leather and rod to the ground, Gemma got to work, kneeling beside the incapacitated woman and devoting her full attention to healing Fran while uttering prayers to her goddess with every breath that was not otherwise used for speaking. She shoved her hand into her bag and grabbed some items from her healer's kit. She grabbed a long tan bandage wrap, and a handful of gauze. Thankfully she always had these two simple items in her kit. But she hoped it would be enough.

    She breathed another prayer to her goddess as she grimaced at the wound. It took only a glance to see that the portal had made a clean cut, as gruesome as that was. She held the pad of cotton in her right hand and put her whole hand over the woman's stump, hoping the woman's state was controlled enough not to cause convulsions of pain from this procedure.

    She put pressure on the wound as she prayed to Rak’keli to heal the wound, knowing this was too severe for the divine power normally allotted to her. With her left hand, she grabbed the long bandage and began to wrap it around the wound and the cotton, only removing parts of her right hand so she could slip the bandage under her hand. But even with the wound wrapped, she could feel blood soaking through. She grabbed another thick cotton pad from her pack and pushed that over the bandage and wound. It wouldn't be enough. She looked down at the ground where the Shinya had dropped the leather and rod. She knew what she needed to do.

    She took the leather and wrapped it around Fran's upper thigh, a few inches higher than the wound. She crossed the leather and pulled it tight. She then held the leather with one hand while putting the rod over the crossed leather. She then tied the leather over the rod and twisted, praying all the while. "Please help me save her." She whispered.

    She twisted until the blood flow stopped and she could not feel a pulse above the cord. The tourniquet would shut off blood flow, she knew, and that was the most pressing issue at the moment. While she worked, the man asked her for a situational report. She was distracted with the tourniquet, but she was able to multi task enough to answer.

    "Two kids with minor wounds, but they ran off. The pregnant woman behind me was in a hand to hand fight, hit in the head, and tackled to the ground. She seemed fine, but get her baby checked." She paused and put one hand on the rod that held the tourniquet tight, breathing hard. This was so intense, so real. It was nothing like helping patients at work. She was in the middle of the street. People were watching.

    "We need to get this woman on a stretcher and get her up to The Catholicon. Her injuries are the worst by far. She seems to have some kind of aggression and insanity, but I've never seen anything like it. She showed brief signs of lucidity, but then they were gone just as fast. I'd keep her like that until she can get the mental help she needs. Maybe even sedate her." She almost wiped her wet hands against her dress, but then she realized they were soaked with blood. She paused as she looked at the blood dripping from her fingers. She decided instead to brush her hands against Fran's clothing, just enough that they were not dripping anymore. With that, she stood up.

    "I suggest that we see if we can find materials for a stretcher in these buildings. Maybe ask the bystanders. I've done all I can do for now, but she needs immediate medical attention." She looked over to Sally, who was talking with other Shinya off to the side. She looked great for all she'd been through, and that worried Gemma more than it set her at ease.

    "There was also an old woman, but she ran away. I didn't see what happened to her, but she looked weak. I didn't get to see if she had been wounded or anything." She said, looking back to Fran's leg to see if the blood was seeping through the top bandage yet.
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    The Catalyst

    Postby Neologism on February 25th, 2019, 3:54 am


    The Shinya that was assisting Gemma let out a sharp whistle, alerting one of the Shinya on the end of the street, paying attention to the crowd. Without hesitating, she swiftly began walking towards her partner, assessing the situation. Only when she got close enough did she pause briefly. It was clear she was a newer recruit than the four Shinya that had descended on the situation first. It provided reason why her and the other young one had been chosen to stay back and heard civilians away from the scene rather than participate directly. Still, the young woman paused for only a tick before continuing forward, seemingly aware of what should be done. ”Help me with her.” He said, and the young woman pulled a sash from her waste, wrapping it beneath Ponrose’s bloody stump and tying it over her shoulder. With little effort, the woman picked up Ponrose’s legs while the man took her by the shoulders. With an eerily quick pace that spoke only of magic the two walked swiftly towards the large looming building of the Catholican a few streets over.

    The older man, who was clearly the leader of the group and the first of the Shinya at the scene placed a gentle hand on the Konti’s wrist. ”She will be okay now, you did the best that you could.” His words were hollow and without reassurance, but it was a clear attempt to care for the deranged mage who had just caused so much damage. He then stood, still holding the Konti’s wrist, and gently led her towards Madeira. He then took the woman minding Madeira aside and listened to her words for a few ticks. Gemma and the pregnant woman had a few ticks to talk, coming down off of the adrenaline of the moment as they were.

    After consulting the other Shinya, the man stepped over to them, offering a shallow courteous bow. ”Hello, my name is Ilam, and yours?” He spoke, with the same militaristic tone and no smile on his face, although somehow he did not seem hostile, his shoulders relaxed and no hands on his weapons. Ilam was tan skinned with short cropped hair and a clean shaven face. He wore the typical Shinya uniform but with clear markers of his rank. The lines in is cheeks and forehead spoke of years of stress rather than ease, and it was clear his entire life had been devoted to the protection of the Shinya. Dark brown eyes glanced down at the crying ghost girl clutching Madeira’s skirts, and it seemed not to affect his expression, although his eyes lingered on the oddity enough to show he was debating something about what he was seeing.

    ”I’m sorry you were stuck in this, Gemma, Madeira. And who is your girl?” He asked, nodding to Emma, if she still materialized. He seemed barely interested in the pleasantries of introducing the child, and was quick to begin laying out the situation. ”This,” His hand gestured absently to the scene behind him. ”Was an instance of an mage with severe effects of overgiving.” Now that the area immediately surrounding them was cold of action, one could see the damages the quick few chime brawl had done to the street. Cobbles were upturned and there were clean cut holes in the street where Ponrose’s voids had opened up. Blood streaked and pooled in odd places, clearly outlining where the mage had started bleeding from her face, where she had hit her nose, where she had lost her leg…. Every event seemed to be painted on the cobble beneath them, and since they had lived through it, they would be able to see what each scar and wound to the ground meant.

    ”To ease your minds, I shall have you know that events as severe as these are incredibly rare, although they do happen when magic is involved. Our intelligence tells us this mage was one of Elena’s students, a young woman named Ponrose Ruhi.” His voice carried a monotone disinterest as if he was reading a report off, although no paper was in his hand. ”She studied voiding and hypnotism, although she was not a student of the Towers, you are correct. Still, she had been left unattended in Elena’s labs when she had pushed her limits and fell into this state of overgiving. We were surprised by the damage she had done in such a short time, Elena had not even reported her missing to us yet so we were unaware of her overgiving, otherwise we would have stopped it before it became this bad.” The younger Shinya that had attended Madeira cleared her throat, and the older man with seemingly no emotion glanced at her, a flash of confusion on his face.

    ”We would like to extend any care you may need to recover from this, you both did a heroic thing keeping her from hurting the general public, but we hope this does not aversly offend your health.” Her voice was toned with concern as she nodded towards Madeira’s swollen belly. ”We are happy to accompany you to the Catholican, and take responsibility for any costs. We will find the nuit to thank her as well.” There was an odd sour note in her tone, as she was clearly trying to stay professional. Still, the city did not take kindly to stealing the bodies of the dead and even those who had to be impartial had to swallow their prejudice. Perhaps Savis had suspected such when she left, perhaps she was losing all her Ichor in an ally somewhere, one may not know.

    ”Have you got any questions?” The older Shinya asked, once it was clear the woman was done speaking, his dark eyes switching between Madeira and Gemma quickly.

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    The Catalyst

    Postby Madeira Dusk on February 25th, 2019, 7:46 pm

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      As Madeira was talking to the female Shinya, the older man, with Konti in tow, politely interceded. He left the Konti and Spiritist together as he sought a private word.

      For the first time Madeira was able to really look at the woman who was dragged into this mess with her. She was young, younger than she first expected. But the last Konti she met was well over a century old and hardly looked middle age, so it was impossible to know for sure. She had a sweet, gentle face and a healing mark on the back of her hand that shimmered in the light. Her accent identified her as a Lhavitian-born, and everything about her was soft and kind.

      "Thank you, for helping us back there", Madeira smiled for the Konti even as she consoled the weeping ghost. "If you hadn't stepped in Savis or I wouldn't have made it. Neither would that little girl. I'm Madeira Craven, it's a pleasure to know you. Are you alright?"

      She offered her hand to shake, her fingers spiked with gaudy rings as they always were. Once the introduction was over the older Shinya came back with an introduction of his own.

      ”Hello, my name is Ilam, and yours?”

      It was strange that the man gave only his first name and no title, but Madeira wasn't about to call the stone-faced man out on it when there were more important things to discuss. She gave her full name and watched him eye the ghost with deliberation.

      "The girl is Emma", she answered his question warily. She pulled back the edges of her soul, breaking the barrier that kept ghosts from entering her body. Emma, still with her fists full of skirt and head buried in her waist, almost seemed to trip into her as the body she was leaning against could no longer hold her up. With a last hiccup the girl stepped into Madeira and vanished, and without her constant noise the scene was almost eerily quiet.

      With no further delay the Shinya started laying out the situation with a clarity the Spiritist appreciated. The overgiving woman was Ponrose Ruhi, an unsupervised student of Elena. He assured them that such episodes were extremely rare, which Madeira couldn't help but doubt. A city where the use of magic is not only accepted but idolized doesn't have a problem with over ambitious overgiving mages? Not for the first time she thanked the gods she was raised on world magic, where there was no risk of using ones own dijed.

      The Shinya offered them both a trip to the Catholican, which Madeira agreed was probably best. She smoothed her palm over her belly, feeling the fluttering kick of the baby inside. It felt healthy, or at least no different than before. But Allister would fret if she did not at least make sure everything was okay. Yet the sour tone of the Shinya's voice a moment later seemed to frost over all the gentle, familial warmth in her pale eyes.

      "The Nuit is called Savis Maren", her voice turned icy in the face of IIam's single crack of composure. 'You'll find her at Infinity Manor in Zintia, if you want to thank her personally for saving the lives of your citizens while we were waiting for you."

      He offered to answer any questions they had, and Madeira leapt at the chance. Iiam was more forthcoming than she expected, and she was fully prepared to take advantage of it.

      "With all due respect, sir, what will you do with Penrose now? Nobody fully recovers from overgiving like that. Even if her body survives her mind might never be the same. And what of Elena, who's negligence nearly got someone killed?"
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