Map & Compass [IC]

[TheQueensGuard]

Omen Bridger
Sunderlake Isle: Top of the Bottomless Pit
Mentioned: @Sketching101 @Polaris North @Snowflake @Desert Bee

As the collar clicked and fell from his neck, a cool shudder ran through Omen. He inhaled sharply, a small smirk on his face as he felt his power return to him. He rubbed the side of his neck, eyes closed as he enjoyed the brief moment. Opening his eyes once again, any moment of pleasure was gone as his eyes locked on Addrick as he stepped into the wagon. "Willow, think you can shield me from whatever spell that mage is cooking?"
Omen said, looking around for some sort of weapon before deciding on a chunk of rock near his feet. There was no good source of water around for him too rely on his hydromancy, and his shark-sopia wouldn't be too useful when it came to the empty-suits. His other sopia, the one he named 'the Drowned', could be useful when it came to the knights if their blades weren't enchanted; which they didn't seem to be.
Starting from his fingertips and crawling up his arm to his face and torso, his skin started too wither and fall away. Though instead of bones beneath his skin, a greenish-blue transparent version of himself stood in it's place. His clothes transformed in a similar fashion, though now new rips and tears lined the clothing. The only two things that was out of place was the rock still clutched in his ghostly grip and the blue-raindrop talisman hanging from his neck. A similarly colored mist floated up from his body as he moved towards the hollow suits.
As one of the swords swung down towards his shoulder, the blade passed clean through him. Grabbing the knights wrist, Omen swung the rock down onto the gauntlet trying to pry the sword from it's hand.
​

Amélie Octave
Sunderlake Isle: Chapel Exterior
Mentioned: @Polaris North @Sketching101

"I don't know where they are though."
Amelie frowned some, nodding as they approached the other Templars. She remained quiet til the point where the prison yard exploded into a chaotic mess. She drew her sword incase any of the prisoners made it to her but they were shut down just as quick as it began. She relaxed some and glanced down at Elle. Why had she passed out moments before the prison-break. "'Ey, Jacques. Maybe go check on the ones we dropped off. Wouldn't want any trouble for our priestess."
Amelie motioned down at Elle and knelt over her, checking her neck for a pulse. "What about her?" She asked, slipping her glove off and feeling her forehead for a temperature. "Maybe we should get her a healer."​

 

[Snowflake]

~~Martin Cortez~~

"Tch..." Martin scowled at the prince, this kind of business was typical of the nobility, even more so of the Dragons. All it would have taken is an apology and half of the group would've cooperated, slowly bringing about the other half with them. But no the greedy bastard wanted it all right away with no discussion. So it was that they had to fight the prince and his collection of puppets. At least magic seemed to be returning swiftly. For now, however, all he could do was bring his body up to the exceptional performance and layer illusions over his own body to blur his own image and make it hard to tell where exactly he was standing, giving him a few extra inches to avoid any injury.

In a way, the fight may have seemed fair and equal since there were four mages on each side. Except the prince had a few animate armours. However the mages he was using were as rigid puppets as well, fine aim may not have been in their repertoire. Something Martin would soon find out as he was always just a few inches away from wherever someone thought he was. There was something else bothering him. If these people were being controlled he wanted to see just how far that control goes. He reached out with his mental 'hand' towards the floating woman. It was weak, too weak to even form a proper link deeper than the surface thoughts. He needed more of his energy back and maybe even physical contact to reach in and see what was going on. Perhaps he would also be able to see what the prince's weakness was. "I will require some backup." He said calmly to the gloomy fellow, Iosef, as he moved past him as if sliding across the ground obfuscating where exactly his foot was setting as he walked past and towards the floating woman.

 

[fish-writer]

Silbur Dei Allinari
location: Sunderlake Isle Bottom of the Bottomless Pit​

Silbur was beyond furious. The sensation of Addrick's fingers on the delicate skin of her throat remained, a ghost of uncomfortable heat, and the rage burned away all of the terror she should have been feeling as she plummeted. Her mind scrabbled for ideas, though it returned nothing except frustration. A scream ripped its way out of her, choked with bitterness and lost to the air rushing around her. It was almost a disappointment when the air thickened, and her descent began to slow.

Almost.

As the princess's magic returned in a startling rush, the ground finally connected with her back, provoking an inelegant oof as her limbs sprawled out, like a dropped doll. Not wasting a moment, she sat up, chest heaving, the air crackling around her, filling the atmosphere with the tense promise of lightning. Fingers flexing, Silbur took a quick, assessing glance around, her gaze falling quickly on a rough-looking Theo, and she forced herself to relax, the static fading from the corridor. The way he was looking at her was infuriating, and she levelled a glare at him, lips pressed together and curving down at the edges. Who was he expecting? Ydran come to save him? She was about to ask outright, but thought better of it, swallowing the words. After all, they were stuck down here together, or so it seemed. Play nice, she told herself flatly.

Their surroundings were rather less than ideal. Silbur immediately took note of the miniscule fragments of bone and the pungent odour of death, and she resisted the childish urge to cover her nose. When Theo looked up at the hole, Silbur followed his gaze, considering the absurd amount of time she'd spent falling. "I don't think I could get back to the top. At least, not with this stupid—"

Abruptly, she fell silent, her hands gesturing vaguely to the collar around her neck, her widening eye locking onto the matching collar on Theo's throat. "I'm a fool," she muttered, wrapping her hands around the warm metal and feeling its essence hum beneath her palms. With more melodrama than at all necessary, the princess dug her magic into the metal and yanked hard, the collar shattering in her hands and spilling into brittle, fragmented pieces onto the disgusting floor. Less than a breath later, the collar on Theo's neck also fell off, cleanly split into two separate pieces.

"How about now?" she asked triumphantly. She gestured to the birthmark that swirled on his cheek. "Any tricks up your sleeve?" As the question left her lips, Silbur reached for her butterfly sopia, but paused before drawing from it. If Theo could get them back up there, she could still use her ursine sopia to turn into a bear, and the daydream of biting off Addrick's ugly head was almost too satisfying to let go of. "I could try to fly us back up there," she said thoughtfully, "but I would be better in the inevitable fight if I didn't have to."

interactions: Theo @Sketching101
mentions: Addrick @Sketching101 ​

 

[Polaris North]

Willow Howst​

Interacting with: @Sketching101 @TheQueensGuard @Desert Bee @Snowflake
Mentions:
Location: Sunderlake Isle, Bottomless Pit
​

Willow watched as SIlbur was thrown into the pit, only wincing slightly. Hopefully, those two would be fine for the time being. But she could find a way to get them out once she had her magic and her polymorphy back. The floating woman had come closer and she seemed... artificial. Rigid. Controlled. Puppets, really. But with enough power to remove the collars, and once it popped off, most of her magic seemed to have returned. It felt like drinking cool water after braving the deserts. She clenched her fists and took a deep breath as the prince was taken away by the two mages from the transport. He could wait.

She looked up at Omen and then to the mage. "Will do." She gave the hulking captain an encouraging smile before watching him charge towards the knights. She followed close behind for a few steps to make sure he was well within range and she would be capable of giving him backup if need be but far enough that she would notice the knights' advance if they chose to do so. Biting her lip in concentration, her hands began to produce what looked to be a purple void before thrusting it towards the floating woman. A large, bird-like creature raced out of the void and towards the mage, letting out a powerful yet seemingly distorted cry.

Once the bird was out, Willow began concentrating on creating a barrier for them.

Jacques Lumoise​

Interacting with: @TheQueensGuard
Mentions:
Location: Sunderlake Isle, Chapel​

Jacques had looked towards the waiting area where there seemed to be a bit of commotion. Knowing that there were capable Templars, he had shrugged it off but also tried to tune out what Eco was saying. The four armed man had pride - a lot of it - and would often tell tall tales instead of what really happened. He did typically listen to Eco out of politeness but he was silently glad that Elle was around to listen, though the interest in her eyes was surprising to see. Never had he met anyone who was invested in Eco's stories without thinking of something to one up him with.

Two o'clock.

Elle collapsed onto the ground without warning. Jacques was about to help when the doors to the waiting area was flung open by a stray fireball to which Jacques responded with preparing his own spells just in case. A couple of prisoners had tried to flee but was quickly subjugated by the guards. Well. That was odd. The prisoners shouldn't be able to use any of their magical powers. That was the whole point of the collars. And yet, there they were. Jacques was in the middle of thinking about what exactly went wrong - and what might actually be right - when Eco had ordered him to check on the priestess.

Amelie - bless the girl - was concerned about Elle and frankly, so was Jacques. The girl had grown on him somewhat. "We'll take her to the healer. Eco, you can check to see what went wrong in there." He patted Amelie and gestured towards Ellle, flicking his hand as a nearly invisible sheen of light enveloped the girl who collapsed and she began to float. "We can check on the prisoners on the way." With that, he gestured for Amelie to follow him as he began walking towards the interior, Elle's body floating behind him and he didn't seem to be exuding any effort in carrying her with magic.

 

[Itari]

Sasha's jaw dropped when she saw the huge figure moving. "Wow, I didn't know they made them so big." She turned to Maka and grinned, "Don't worry Maka, I have no plans to let a giant statue kill me today."

Sasha was pleased to find that though she still had a collar, her magic seemed to have returned. Though she didn't have any paper and ink, she still had her tattoos. She let the tattoos on her right forearm become a knife in her hands and dodged out of the way as the large clockwork figure made a swipe at them. She frowned at the giant metal structure. Cutting it probably wouldn't do much to stop it. "I have to admit I don't know much about clockwork. Is there some way to disable it?" The structure was large but thankfully, slow enough to dodge easily and Sasha danced around its attacks and glanced at the priestess on the pedestal, "Maybe we should just kill her." She suggested casually.

Attacking the priestess was easier said than done. In order to get to her, they would have to slip past the clockwork. Though the figure was slow, it was huge and had four arms which made it difficult to find any openings.

 

[Jess Incognito]

ARTURO LEONE

INTERACTIONS: @Kat @ItariChan
MENTIONS:

They could ignore the Clockwork no longer. Arturo's neck craned as the looming image of Ydran materialized before them.

"Fight?" the word scratched its way slowly out of his dry throat. They had no weapons (not that he had ever held a sword that wasn't a child's toy) and they had no magic, he thought, feeling anew the heavy collar about his throat (and he had only barely managed to produce a flame for a cigarette after weeks of attempting with Iosef's brief instruction besides!) Though on both accounts, he was about to be proven incorrect.

He forced his gaze from the four-armed threat towards Maka and Sasha, who both spoke with such a resolute urgency of the situation, Arturo felt suddenly no more useful than a child. He scrambled to avoid the lurching reach of the fourth arm.

"...way to disable it…?" Sasha's words set his mind in motion. He didn't have much knowledge of Clockworkers, but they were far from invincible, that much was true.

"Maybe we should just kill her."

"N-No," he said, straightening his wire-framed glasses, "She can be disabled, but she'll be protecting herself with magic…" At this point he trailed off, not knowing how to proceed. A lifetime of scholarship left him with little instinct for dire situations.

 

[Sketching101]

Sunderlake Isle - The Bottomless Pit [12:08]​

With the swing of Omen's rock, the hand of the knight started to slide off, but it retained its grasp on the sword. As if pulled by a magnet, the hand clipped back onto the wrist. The knight swung its sword upwards at the pirate, and the second knight swung downwards. Both swords slid through the man and hit each other, piercing the plate. Both knights got busy, doing their utmost to pluck their sword out of each other's torso.

"Make them mine." Martin would hear the voice of Addrick as he reached out to the woman's mind. "Make them mine. Make them mine." The phrase continuously repeated again and again in the woman's mind. There was some faint noise underneath that belonged to someone other than the prince, but it was far too deep. It appeared only to be trying to think about how to do a certain task.

Only a split second after Willow managed to get a shield up, a blast of magic shot out of the floating woman, even as the bird flew right for her. The magic didn't give off a physical presence, but rather a similar feeling to that of the lack of magic the collars gave them. It harmlessly dissipated as it hit the barrier, returning the slightest hint of humanity to the woman's face with her shock. Before she could do anything else, she was flung out of the way of the bird flying up by an unseen force.

@Desert Bee @fish-writer @Polaris North @TheQueensGuard @Snowflake

Sunderlake Isle - The Bottom of the Bottomless Pit [12:10]​

The moment Silbur abruptly stopped mid-sentence, Theo's gaze subtly shifted from the hole above them down to the princess. With a satisfying clack, Theo felt the air bottlenecked in his throat burst into his lungs with ease. It took him a moment to fully realize what happened. He reached up to feel the reddish marks left by the collar. Once he was convinced that there was no longer anything tightly wrapped around his neck, he pushed himself up to his feet. He stretched his arms up, interlocking his fingers and letting out the quietest "ow" he could manage. "With the collar off, I might have a way to get us back up. It might feel a bit nauseating though," he said with a mischievous grin. As he seemed to be about to continue, a loud, high-pitched voice echoed through the halls, approaching rapidly.

[ ??? ]

"Creators are here! Creators are here! Creatooooors!" The tiny clockworker approached the pair at an obscene speed. By the time it reached them, it started circling them. "You're here! We can finally complete my first Cataclysm!" It skidded to a halt in front of Silbur, with its eyes getting as teary as possible without actually accumulating any tears. The ball under its body, carrying it, kept rolling in place as the clockworker reached at Silburs hands. "You're 24,301 core-years late, but you're finally here! Come, come, come comecomecome! No time to waste!"

Theo looked at the clockworker, then back at Silbur. "Looks like Enian royalty finds friends everywhere," he said before looking down the way from which the diminutive clockworker scuttled.

@fish-writer

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Chapel Interior [14:06]​

After the giant figure swiped with one of its hands, two others started to move from either side, slowly sweeping along the floor of the church, to clap them where the group was.

"Dearest siblings, this would be ever so easier on my faint heart, should you simply let yourselves into Her embrace," the increasingly irritated voice of the priestess boomed from the altar behind Ydran's image. "To think you would even scheme to slay a devout priestess of Her holiness… A truly tragic sight." As the hands continued to slowly sweep the floor, the third hand slammed down into the ground from above with great force and speed, shattering the ground just like a strong earthquake. For that moment, the Ydran statue's movements had slowed, leaving its hand down in the ground where it slammed, like a ramp up to her shoulder.

@ItariChan @Jess Incognito @The Wanderer @Kat

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Chapel Exterior[14:04]​

Eco clicked his tongue, flicking his right wrists dismissively. "Fine, fine, be off 'en. And you'd bett'r take care of the girl, or Prince Thibault'll be out fer our 'eads."

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Chapel Exterior[14:06]​

As Jacques and Amelie approached the door of the Chapel, the priestess' annoyed voice boomed. "To think you would even scheme to slay a devout priestess of Her holiness… A truly tragic sight." Only a moment after, the hinges of the gigantic, ostentatious door broke off as the ground shook. Very slowly it started to fall outward, revealing the scene inside to the two Templars.

@TheQueensGuard @Polaris North

 

[Snowflake]

~~Martin Cortez~~

Yeah, had a feeling something like that was the case. Martin raised his hand and placed two fingers between his lips then whistled sharply. "Puppet magic, mind control." He shifted the way magic flowed within and around him. No longer a blurred person but many people at once moving in unison. Two more targets for the attackers to consider, each five feet apart from where the real Martin stood. "Willow, distract her!" He shouted before moving forward faster. He felt his flow of magic return to normal his body grow stronger and faster, his mind become clearer and sharper.

The way she was moved out of the way, controlled by someone else. Someone else was moving her, someone that could see the attack and react to it. Before attacking he needed to cut off that someone's vision. Common sense said it was the prince. Unless there were other unknown factors. A hypothesis then. Time to test it. "Non-lethal please!" He shouted back at Willow again. His eyes analysed the space above the mage, the distance between where the prince must have watched from and where she was. He would blanket the area in darkness, make her impossible to see from above. One way illusion to test if the prince needed to keep an eye on her to control her. Martin would wait for Willow to prepare the attack, he would synchronize his own assault with her.

It would start on her mark. If she threw a bird again Martin would immediately throw up an illusion and leap up towards the floating mage. With vision cut off for the prince, it would be harder for her to dodge two simultaneous attacks especially if she has no idea which Martin is the real one. If only he could get his grip on her, his unnatural strength should be enough to maintain it and the touch should allow him to invade her mind. Strange how he would be using it to try and liberate the person and not the information they had. This would definitely be a first time trying it. Hopefully, he had the grit to pull it off.

 

[TheQueensGuard]

Omen Bridger
Sunderlake Isle: Top of the Bottomless Pit

With both knights swords thrusted into each other, Omen used their magnetic grips against them. Pushing the pair towards the pit, he shouldered the closer of the two into the pit. The second followed with the first suit of armor, both disappearing down into the abyss. Rubbing his shoulder, he huffed satisfied with his work. He glanced towards the mage and his companions, he was a bit more susceptible to magic than the others. Wasn't too keen to get zapped by whatever magic that mage was cooking up, but he was ready to help if they needed it.
​

Amélie Octave
Sunderlake Isle: Chapel Exterior

Amelie nodded too Jacques and followed beside him as they made their way to the prisoners. Perhaps she could ask the priestess or the other prisoners about the whereabouts of Silbur. Maybe she could think of a way too ask Elle about the princess, though it would have to be in a way to not garner any attention too herself. Before she could come up with a solution, the booming voice echoed from the other side of the chapel doors.
"To think you would even scheme to slay a devout priestess of Her holiness… A truly tragic sight."
A loud boom echoed from the otherside of the door, making dust and stone shake from the building. The clinging of metal came from the door hinges as they fell from either side of the large doors, before the creak of the door signaled it was fall towards them. Luckily still far enough to not be struck by the door, Amelie gazed in slight awe of the size of the giant figure. Glancing towards Jacques, she was unsure of what to do. "Jacques, do these priestess normally try and crush prisoners and demolish buildings?" To make herself feel safer, she drew her sword out from her sheath encase the prisoners made for the door.
​

 

[fish-writer]

Silbur Dei Allinari
location: Sunderlake Isle Bottomless Pit​

Silbur watched Theo stand, arms folding in front of her. As he started speaking, she perked up, feeling a wild grin curving over her lips in response to the mischief in his expression. Nausea she could handle, but she had an inkling that he was, perhaps, understating the effects. Regardless, she would risk the discomfort, and it would be worth it.

He seemed about to continue, but paused at the appearance of a rapidly approaching voice that set Silbur's teeth on edge. She and Theo both watched as a rolling clockworked emerged, so quickly that she tensed, getting ready to jump out of the way. It seemed she needn't have worried, however, as it began to frantically circle them, exclaiming enthusiastically about a cataclysm. Of course, the speedy little clockworker stopped directly in front of her, attempting to grab at her hands. Frowning, the princess resisted the urge to yank her hands back, letting the excited little thing hold her in an apparent state of deep emotion, before encouraging her to come.

Her own excitement severely dampened, Silbur frowned at Theo's statement, gently extricating herself from the clockworker's grasp. The pull of eating Addrick was strong, and she looked longingly back up at the hole in the ceiling for a moment before returning her gaze to the clockworker. "We have other rather pressing matters to attend to," she said, but her voice lacked certainty. Glancing at Theo with an apologetic grimace, she turned back to the clockworker and crouched down to get a closer look at it. "I can help you with your task, but I must get back up as soon as possible," she told it, gesturing at the ceiling.

To Theo, she said, "You are welcome to make your way back without me, though I would appreciate your company."

interactions: Theo, Clockworker @Sketching101

mentions: Addrick @Sketching101 ​

 

[Polaris North]

Willow Howst​

Interacting with: @Sketching101 @TheQueensGuard @Desert Bee @Snowflake
Mentions:
Location: Sunderlake Isle, Bottomless Pit
​

Willow sucked in her breath as the feeling of the magic washed over her harmlessly. She wouldn't want to get hit by that kind of magic nor did she want Omen and the others to suffer for it. Thankfully, she had her full power back. She clicked her tongue when the woman suddenly jerked up - as if pulled by some unseen force - to avoid her conjured bird which had dissipated into nothingness behind her. Once they were out of danger from the magic blast, Willow had dismissed the barrier.

She gave Martin a small nod, only seeing the multiplying illusions in her peripherals, and then conjured a swarm of insects so that she can't track who the real Martin is. Hopefully it worked as she heard another order from Martin. A non-lethal attack? Willow had given him a curious look before conjuring yet another magical bird. It once more let out a screech as it charged forward, aiming straight for the woman once again. Willow kept herself on guard just in case she had to throw up another barrier - already planning out the dimensions so that she can get Martin into a barrier as well if he's ever in the line of fire.

Jacques Lumoise​

Interacting with: @TheQueensGuard
Mentions:
Location: Sunderlake Isle, Chapel​

Jacques had a bad feeling in his stomach as they continued further towards the inner chapel with Elle floating behind him - still showing no signs of stirring up. Eco was right - the prince was very fond of Elle and if anything were to happen to her, Jacques couldn't assure his own life. He would definitely have to take her to a healer of sorts. Jacques would have made a check up right then and there if it weren't for the fact that he wasn't as skilled with healing magic as he would have liked. Truly, a missed opportunity to learn such vital magic.

Then the priestess's voice seemed to echo around them and Jacques tensed up.

No. No it should be impossible.

As the chapel doors fell down onto the ground to reveal the scene before them, Jacques's lips pulled into a tight line as he flicked his hand to the side and Elle's unconscious body was now slumped onto the wall. The healer would have to wait. His eyes were still on the clockwork priestess and the rest of the prisoners. "Not normally, no." The prisoners were to be prepared, after all. They would need them alive for the... experiment. "But then again, prisoners such as themselves shouldn't be able to fight back." He continued. They should have had all of their polymorphy and their magic completely cancelled by the collars. However, they seemed to not be doing their job.

"Something is definitely not right here." He raised a hand and snapped his fingers - sending a torrent of fire through the prisoners to separate them, stopping short of the priestess's area.

But what should he truly do?

 

[Itari]

Sasha watched as the statue placed its hand on the ground. She didn't hesitate to put her knives away and ran up the arm, kicking off her shoes and scrambling on all fours to find better purchase on the slippery metal. If Sasha was being honest, she really had no idea what she was doing. She had spent her fair share of time fighting, but unfortunately, had no experience with giant clockwork goddesses. But the opportunity had presented itself and it was too tempting to pass up. Wait until Omen heard she had ran up a giant arm. At the top she clung to the statue's hair and the folds of her clothes and looked around for a button or panel or something that might disable the machine.

As she looked, Sasha put a hand by her calf and made a rope from her tattoo and secured one end around the goddess's neck and the other around her waist. From up here, she had clear shot at the priestess. She had never been the best at knife throwing but it was worth a shot. Sasha summoned the knife from her forearm and threw it straight down at her. She missed slightly and instead of going clean through her eye, it made a large cut through her eye and the side of her head. At that moment, the giant statue lurched and Sasha lost her balance and slipped off her shoulders. She yelped and soon found herself dangling by her rope, swining back and forth as the goddess attacked Maka and Arturo on the ground. Sasha desperately protected her head from swinging into the metal and attempted to make a grab at something, anything to stop her swinging.

 

[Sketching101]

Sunderlake Isle - The Bottomless Pit [12:10]​

In the moment she started to cast magic to burn away the insects, the conjured bird connected. In that moment of confusion, she moved out of Martin's way, before swiftly being tackled to the ground by the same man she thought she'd avoided. She struggled to break free, but as Martin's magic started to work its way into her mind, she fell limp. As the presence of her magic subsided, a calm air settled around the mouth of the bottomless pit.

For Martin, the world turned to smoke before him. As he was invading the woman's mind, he was pulled in, like a drowning child drags down their savior. The pull vanished as a familiar voice boomed.

"How disappointing. You showed such promise, Cortez."

Addrick was sat on a stool in the middle of a courtyard.

"If only you hadn't decided to take what was mine… Truly a waste."

@Desert Bee @Polaris North @TheQueensGuard @Snowflake

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Strange Room [??:??]​

"Well--" Theo abruptly cut himself off as a distant, metallic thump echoed from above. Two consecutive thumps followed, getting closer. He squinted his eyes to try and see what was coming, but the fact that he didn't have his glasses didn't help much. Just as he was about to turn back to Silbur and the clockworker, something crashed into the ground on top of the pile of dried blood and crushed bones behind him, ringing a hollow metallic cry. Shaken by the sudden sound, Theo stood still, his body tense, as the same sound rang with another pile of metal falling behind him, and getting ground into the floor. It took Theo a few seconds to turn around to see the suits of armour reduced to a paste, still trying to move around, but only managing to shuffle in place. Theo looked back up at the hole they fell through before taking a couple of steps forward past Silbur and the clockworker, until he was no longer directly under it. "Well--" Again, a sharp metallic whistle echoed, as a pair of large swords fell and planted into the ground right where Theo had been standing a few moments earlier. "Well," Theo said, before looking up at the hole expectantly. Once convinced nothing else was going to interrupt him, he continued with a satisfied smile. "The others'll be fine without us for now."

The clockworker hadn't spared a single glance at the pieces of metal that fell from the hole the entire time. "Yes, yes, yes, I agree! Everyone will be fine without you! Not to worry, we'll be done before you know it!" As it tugged meekly on Silbur's hands, a strange sensation enveloped the two mages. Space distorted, and time vanished. Like a bubble bursting, everything returned to normal. They had made their way to a room with light floating behind glass along the walls, with strange symbols next to each other like a form of script. There was a strange sense of contiguity, as though they had gradually made their way there. The hall they were in was still right behind them, but the small light from the hole had disappeared in the distance. "I can't believe this day has come... Now that you're here, we can finally start!" The clockworker slammed its hands onto a panel in quick succession, and the lights started to move around. Both Silbur and Theo suddenly felt a large amount of magic violently forced out of them, like someone was pulling their lungs out through their mouths. Theo seemed to be about to throw up as he doubled over, clutching his mouth. While the feeling was in no way pleasant, even that wouldn't do much to disturb the ocean of magic within them. In the center of the circular room, light started to rise up. "It's a bit untraditional to start with the Second Pillar, but I'm sure He won't mind," the clockworker said with a childish glee, looking at the two. "Oh, my! Are you two doing okay? I heard it's rough on first timers, sometimes. But don't worry, we only have four more to go!"

@fish-writer

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Chapel Interior [14:10]​

The priestess' aura suddenly intensified. "You… vile, despicable cretin," it cried out, in an uncharacteristic burst of emotion. Just as the large figure of Ydran rose up again, with a hand flying quickly to grab at the pirate hanging off of it, a large pillar of light broke through the ground underneath, shooting up and piercing the ceiling of the chapel. Sasha was thrown back as the light went through the body of the figure, tearing off the skin and leaving behind only a skeleton of gears and cogs for most of its body. The priestess' magic aura dissipated for a moment in that shock. The light that rose from the ground kept streaming up, and seemed to have tunneled its way from a long way down.

"A… Ah!" The priestess pointed at Jacques and Amélie. "Servants of Ydran! You're just in time to be of service."

@ItariChan @Jess Incognito @TheQueensGuard @Polaris North

 

[TheQueensGuard]

Omen Bridger
Sunderlake Isle: Top of the Bottomless Pit
@Polaris North @Snowflake

Omens shoulders relaxed some as Martin connected with the mage, making her go limp. Martin seemed to enter some sort of haze, which was no concern of his. "I'm heading back to the prison for Sasha." He told Willow as he made his way to the edge of the tower. Looking down it, he called over his shoulder. "Come with if you'd like, otherwise be careful with these two. Going to commandeer a ship after that. " He glanced back at Iosef. He didn't know him, though he knew if they were going to successful they'd need allies. "Feel free to come with if you're useful." He motioned to the unconscious man. "If he wakes up we could use him too."
Looking back were high up. There were no stairs or ladders, so he'd have to rely on his climbing skills. If he were to slip, he'd definitely break a few bones if the fall didn't kill him. He looked around the surrounding area. Atop the tower was a good vantage point. He could make out a large body of water in the distance. Some scattered buildings and other land marks. Too bad he didn't have a clue about the geography of the Sunderlake Isle.
He glanced back towards the bottomless pit that Silbur and Theo had fallen down. Maybe the climb down the pit wasn't as long as climbing on the outside wall. It wouldn't guarantee a way out of the tower though.
Starting the climb down the side of the tower wall, he did his best to be careful.
​

Amélie Octave
Sunderlake Isle: Chapel Exterior
@Polaris North @ItariChan @Jess Incognito

Summoning her companions and drawing her pairing dagger, she stepped forward into the church. Ravage appeared from behind her and snarled it's teeth at the prisoners, while Kite landed on Amelie's shoulder-padded shoulder. Amelie couldn't help but look towards the priestess's ghastly figure. "So that is what they look like without skin? Mécahnte*" She muttered aloud as she stepped forward. Collars or not, it would be her duty to stop the prisoners. Though like Jacques, she felt like something was off. "Priestess, what were you doing with the prisoners? Are you the cause of their faulty collars?" She glanced back towards Jacques. They didn't cover this when prepping her to become a Templar.
*Mechante-Gross or nasty.

​

 

[Sketching101]

Sunderlake Isle - The Bottomless Pit [12:15]​

As Omen began to make his way down the side of the tower, a small airship appeared over the mountains some distance away. Over the time it took Omen to climb to the bottom of the tower, it came closer and closer. It landed some hundreds of meters away, down the hill the tower was built on. A figure in shining armour got off the vehicle, followed quickly by others in ornate red robes. One of them was barking orders at the others, and while it was difficult to tell what he was saying, it was easy to discern that the man was pointing at the tower.

@Desert Bee @Polaris North @TheQueensGuard

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Strange Room [??:??]​

Theo raised his head, meeting the clockworker's eyes with a glare full of confusion and anger. Even with the collar, he had never felt his very being violated so profoundly before his magic was forcefully ripped from his body. Just as he seemed to regain his composure, he thrust his foot forward to slam into the body of the diminutive clockworker, sending it flying into the panels of the machine emitting the pillar of light. He raised his hands up as though he was using magic, but nothing happened at first. As the clockworker tried to pluck itself out of the dent in the machine, the plate of metal it was stuck on slid out from under it.

As everything around them started to creak, loosened objects started to fly upwards at an increasing speed. Just as the clockworker was about to protest, the panel it was standing on started rising. "Ready for the nauseating part?" Theo asked, turning to Silbur with an apologetic smile, right before the metal plate that used to be the floor under them started falling upwards.

@fish-writer

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Chapel Interior [14:12]​

"Your duty is to serve!" the priestess cried in a fit of rage, with its voice echoing the halls of the ruined church. "You dare question me in the house of our Mother?!"

Just then, the pillar of light faded away. There was a brief moment of calm and silence before a rapid series of metallic thuds was followed by the ground bursting apart near the hole made by the pillar, shooting up three figures along with glass and metal. For the briefest of moments, Amélie caught a glimpse of a familiar winged woman leave the dust cloud emerging from the hole, and launch upwards.

Theo, Silbur, and the clockworker that brought them into the strange room underground all flew up through the hole in the ceiling of the church, a dozen meters above the roof with a bunch of metal plates strewn about around them in the air.

@ItariChan @Jess Incognito @TheQueensGuard @Polaris North @fish-writer

 

[Polaris North]

Willow Howst​

Interacting with: @TheQueensGuard
Mentions:
Location: Sunderlake Isle, Bottomless Pit
​

Willow was watching Martin and the woman intently but the woman seemed to have gone completely limp with whatever Martin was doing. With this, Omen called over to her - telling her that he was going back to prison to get Sasha. She took a worried glance to the bottomless pit where Theo and Silbur where thrown in. She wanted to check up on them but knew better than to just detach herself from Omen who stood the best chance to get them out this prison. Besides, as much as Omen looked like he could handle himself, Willow wasn't about to leave him alone to fend for a ton of Templars who would, no doubt, gut them at first sight.

"I'll come with you Captain." She called out as she followed him to the edge of the tower. There was no way to go but down - and unfortunately, there wasn't any means to get down. After all, it seemed like it would only be accessible through airship and if there were stairs, they didn't see it. Omen had begun climbing his way down the tower wall. Willow had another idea. Tapping into the once lost feeling of her sopia, she took a deep breath as she sprouted dragon wings and scales began to form on parts of her body. Unfortunately, she had to rip through her clothes for her wings to be free enough to move but she figured she could always find another replacement.

Testing out her wings, she vaulted over the window and began to slowly fly herself down - keeping in pace with Omen. "I would offer to fly you down but I don't think I'll be able to carry you." She observed. His massive physique was surely going to trump whatever strength she had. Thankfully, there didn't seem to be any complications as the reached the ground. The main problem was the airship that had landed, depositing a man in shining armor and a couple of other uniform wearing people. She let out a heavy sigh, keeping her head down and her wings folded behind her back. "Templars? We need to get out of here Captain."

Jacques Lumoise​

Interacting with: @TheQueensGuard @Sketching101
Mentions:
Location: Sunderlake Isle, Chapel
​

Jacques wasn't quite understanding what was currently happening. Aside from the fact that the prisoners were able to use their magic, but the priestess was barking orders at them to be of service. But the priestess had ruined its figure - the pillar of light, wherever it may have originated from, had torn off most of what it had. He had always dreaded heading to the church - the priestess had always been a bit... odd but they all turned their heads away.

Seeing Amélie's questioning look at him made him shrug helplessly. "This wasn't exactly covered in our emergencies either." He turned towards the Priestess, a new flame flickering behind his eyes. "However, the Priestess's actions have caused more damage than she is worth. And for that, even you must be put down." The pillar of light had dissipated and several objects and what looked to be three humanoid figures upwards. He didn't quite catch who they were nor did he particularly care about it.

"I do hope that you will not regret this Amélie." Jacques gave her an idle grin before extending his hand - flames swirled around his arm before bursting forward - a straight shot towards the Priestess before being followed up with another inferno of flames coming from his left hand, aiming to hit the Priestess from her side as an unexpected follow up. "Your princess is surely still around." Jacques pointed out as both his arms still displayed the magical flames he had summoned. He was prepared to fight until the Priestess was gone and he will be free.

 

[Jess Incognito]

ARTURO LEONE

MENTIONS: @ItariChan @TheQueensGuard @Polaris North @Sketching101

Arturo grit his teeth as he watched Sasha deftly climb the mechanical arm. He had no experience in combat, could not feel any instinct rise up within him to spring to action. On the contrary, his logical mind paralyzed him by presenting far too many options with countless risks and unknowable rewards.

Even with Sasha dangling by a rope from its neck, the towering horror continued to swipe at those on the ground with its free arm. He glanced back at the great doors of the chapel as they creaked open to two more figures.​

​

He recognized Jacques only by the brief illumination of the burst of flames he sent down the aisle of the chapel. His sudden appearance was less than comforting. Arturo jumped away from the fire storm, stumbling backwards over debris. He craned his neck as a pillar of light burst through the chapel floor, decimating the fabric covering of the machine and casting Sasha aside. Something followed the beam of light, but Art hadn't readjusted his glasses in time to see what it was. By the tone of the guards' conversation behind him, it seemed nothing was going as planned for any party.​

​

The sight of those gears crunching away beneath the remaining rags of the thing stirred in him, finally, an instinct. He rolled over onto his knees, keeping the snarling feline in sight, and grabbed a floor candelabra from the perimeter of the room. He wheeled around, taking stock of their positions, feeling the weight of the cold cast iron in his hands. Between the bursts of Jacques' flame, Art made his move, rushing the despicable figure of Ydran and thrusting the staff into its exposed inner workings at a well-timed moment. He held onto the metal as long as he could, hoping it was pliable enough to resist snapping under the force of the heavy machinery. Falling away, he tried to orient himself to the commotion and keep well enough away from the hole in the floor.​

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[Itari]

Sasha was thrown off the statue so suddenly she didn't even have time to cry out. Her rope was disintegrated by the beam of light and she was thrown against a wall and then slumped to the floor. Sasha quietly groaned to herself and rolled over onto her back. She was bleeding from her head and probably had a concussion. Make that definitely had a concussion. And a cracker rib. She sat up slowly. In the back of her head, she lamented the loss of her rope. She'd have to get it retattooed when she got the chance. Using the wall as a support, Sasha slowly got her bearings. There was a hole in the ground. And fire. Lots of fire. And a weird cat looking thing.

Sasha slowly edged herself along the wall, picking up her thrown knife along the way. She made her way towards Arturo, keeping distance between herself and the two newcomers. To say she was confused, would be an understatement. She was fairly confident that the fire man and cat lady were not prisoners. Which meant it was likely they were jailors or in league with the jailors. But the fire dude had set the crazy priest on fire. So maybe they weren't enemies? The most surprising thing though was that Arturo had stopped the giant clockwork with a fucking candlestick. The behemoth had been stopped with a measly candle holder, even if it was temporary. Maybe she should keep one of those handy. She faced the other two people, "So you here to help or what?"

 

[fish-writer]

Silbur Dei Allinari
location: Sunderlake Isle Bottomless Pit ➟ Chapel Airspace ➟ Chapel Interior​

Though she would never admit it, Silbur was rather glad Theo had managed not to get crushed to death by metal and had decided to accompany her. The little clockworker was strange, and their bizarre trip to this strange room had unnerved her. When it started to quickly press buttons, and the lights began to move, she turned to Theo, about to mutter something, but a tidal wave of nausea slammed into her chest and lungs and throat, choking out the words as her magic violently exploded from her body. She clutched ineffectively at her ribs, as if trying to hold it inside, and she struggled to look up at Theo, who seemed to be reeling from the same awful sensation. Gagging, the princess took a few staggering steps towards him, her stomach heaving even as the feeling began to fade.

Theo seemed to recover more quickly than she did, and she pressed her hands to her knees, taking deep breaths as she watched him punt the clockworker into the machinery. The sight of it crashing into the metal panels made her feel immensely better, and a wild grin spread over her face. Metal began to fly inexplicably upward, and Silbur flexed her hands, nonplussed, as if reassuring herself that she wasn't the cause.

When she turned to Theo to ask, she paused at the apologetic look on his face, and barely had time to brace herself before the plate beneath the two of them was shot rapidly upwards. "Acceptable," she grunted, attempting not to reveal that her stomach was somersaulting somewhere in her throat. The speed of their ascent blurred their surroundings, and the rush of air over her eye filled it with tears, making it nearly impossible for her to see where they were, until they started to slow. Blinking furiously, the princess looked wildly around, trying to get her bearings as her body seemed to float in that curious point between flying and falling. It seemed that they were in the middle of the bright sky, and she held her hand up to block out the sunlight. Far below her stood what looked like a church, and she could just make out the hole in the roof that they must have flown through.

And then the floating sensation ended, followed by the falling. The feeling was a familiar one, though, and Silbur dropped her knees to the metal plate, clutching the edge of it to try and keep the fall controlled. With an irritated growl, she reached to her side, peeling off a short strip of the metal and reforming it into a knife in her hand, and then peered over the edge, watching the roof of the church come back to sharp clarity as they got closer. "I'll slow us down," she yelled to Theo over the rush of air around them. Taking a deep breath, Silbur focused on the metal, bitterly recalling her time at the academy and thinking that she might have paid closer attention during lessons had they been more falling from great heights on a scrap of metal instead of writing endless theories and performing meaningless little exercises to "demonstrate control."

Sending her magic through the plate, Silbur concentrated on suspending the metal, drastically slowing its descent. Attempting to lift something she was standing on proved to be quite mentally tricky for her, but by the time they were nearly at the roof, the plate had slowed from free fall speeds to more of a lazy float downwards. A headache beginning to bloom at the base of her skull, Silbur leaned over the edge to look down into the hole and quickly assess what they were about to be dropping down into, and she had to blink to make sure she was seeing correctly. A small group of people stood in the chapel, and she only immediately recognised two of them—Sasha at the wall, and Amélie with her companions. No Addrick, she noticed with disappointment. Their attention all seemed directed at a huge statue of Ydran and a half-destroyed clockworker priestess, the latter of which one of the men seemed to be attempting to roast.

The scenario sparked her adrenaline. "Finally, an opportunity to hit something," she snarled. Most of the metal scraps that had shot up with them laid scattered on the chapel floor, having fallen back down at a normal speed. Gritting her teeth in concentration, Silbur reached out for the presence of the metal on the floor, calling some of the larger ones quickly towards her. The awareness of them, and her control over them, grew as they neared, and the scraps and plates molded themselves into makeshift spears a heartbeat before she redirected them, sharp ends pointed at the priestess and flying with all the force she could manage to imbue in them without letting go of her magic elevator, hoping it was enough to punch at least a few holes.

As they passed through the hole in the ceiling, Silbur realized that they would be a target floating slowly downward in a combat zone, so she let her tight magic hold on the plate slip, and they began to fall faster, zooming down to the ground below before finally slowing again and touching gently down on the ground behind Amélie and her companions. It took Silbur a moment, as she stood up straight, to realize she'd positioned Amélie between herself and what Silbur assumed was the enemy, seemingly out of pure habit, and she glared at the woman as though it were Amélie's fault. "This is the most ill-handled prison I have ever seen," she snapped. "Are you aware I was kidnapped by that royal brute?" She flapped her shredded wings to punctuate her ire, ignoring the pain that crackled through her as a result. "And I was assaulted by a clockworker. A different one. Who is responsible for these mad clockworkers?"

Her tirade abruptly faded as she remembered the clockworker that had stolen some of her magic. Theo had kicked it, but what had happened to it afterwards? Did it come with them? She looked around, fingers tightening their grip on the handle of her knife.

interactions: Theo @Sketching101 , Priestess, Amélie @TheQueensGuard
mentions: Crazy Clockworker, Addrick, Sasha @ItariChan , Jacques @Polaris North ​

 

[Sketching101]

Sunderlake Isle - The Bottomless Pit [12:20]​

The moment Willow's feet touched the ground, a small section of the wall of the tower behind her seemed to fold into itself in a familiar way. The hole expanded until it took the shape of a doorway, with a well lit skyship cabin on the other side. In the cabin, they could see the wheel in front of some windows. Just beyond the windows were the Templars moving away from the ship and toward the tower. There was a wooden staff floating on the other side of the portal. After a second, the short staff fell to the ground.

@Polaris North @TheQueensGuard

Sunderlake Isle - ??? Chapel [14:17]​

After a minute or two of falling upwards, Theo could finally make something out of the scene in front of him even without his glasses: A wonderful blue sky. He had a chance to appreciate the view for a brief moment as he felt suspended in mid-air. After the small respite, he felt the sky getting further away, and himself plummeting back down. He found his muscles frozen as he fell, until he heard Silbur.

"I'll slow us down."

The Priestess' familiar's gears ground to a halt. Its arms made a quick, small move. As the flames ran past them and to the Priestess, it tried to move back around, breaking off its joints. The Priestess let out a shriek, screaming unintelligible obscenities as the fire engulfed it. In an instant, without warning, the Priestess and the fires vanished, along with the giant figure.

Theo was still sitting on the metal plate as Silbur started ranting at someone. He couldn't quite make out who the others in front of them were, but they didn't seem to be prisoners. There was also one person on the ground, in full armour, and a tall man in official looking clothes, flames pouring out of his hands. In a split second, the flames were snuffed, and the armoured woman on the ground vanished.

Thibault's Theme

"Wonderful job keeping things under control, Ser Lumoise," a low, dull voice sounded from nearby. A dozen meters away from the chapel's entrance stood Thibault, leaning on his cane, with the young Templar Elle in uniform instead of armour, stood beside him, dead-eyed. Theo appeared to have tuned everything out, and was simply glaring wide-eyed in the general direction of the old man. Thibault took a heavy step forward, glaring at Jacques and Amélie as though he was threatening them. "Round up the prisoners inside," he said, and then subtly shifted his gaze to Amélie. "And dispose of these two. We can't have heathens running around without their collars and leashes."

In the distance, a single airborne skyship floated toward the chapel.

@ItariChan @Jess Incognito @TheQueensGuard @Polaris North @fish-writer