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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Dec 15, 2023 22:17:41 GMT -5
Some Days EarlierWith no warning and after only a short time apart from her new friend, Astrid, as a being of pure lightning, phases through the wall of Cypress’ room at Shade’s Valley. [1] When she emerges, her voice echoes and rumbles like thunder as she excitedly proclaims, “Pack yer bags! I think I found Everett!” [Present Day]In only a short jaunt from Astrid’s house, she and Cypress make it to Thorock. Dusty city on the coast as it is, though not quite as ashy as Darkveil (especially not since Mount Drakolt gained a new status as a simple crater), the city in the smoky mountains sits at the crown of the world more or less. Ah, if only Baan had his own crown – the dwarven leader would likely quite like that, especially as his town criers shout his proud proclamation that he accomplished the impossible – he captured the nefarious Red Rogue! Now people of his city can rest easy knowing the thief won’t be visiting them in the night! Of course, after her near-death adventure last year, Astrid knows well that the Red Rogue is an organization that operates across Charon during Winter’s Crown. This year, she had chosen not to go rob the rich since last time she and Blue somehow happened upon Cantio’s parents’ house and robbed them blind – consequences she has still not experienced though she does largely avoid Sol City when she can – however, upon hearing that a one-armed crusader was jailed by Baan, she immediately thought of Cypress and whisked the faun off on adventure. The problem they now face is how on earth are they going to break who they think is Everett out of prison and away from his captives. If anyone sees Astrid, they’re going to know immediately that the snot-nosed noble kid from Sky Peak who definitely has it out for Baan is involved. So, first, she needs a disguise. The only thing she can think of is Beist’s potion, which can turn her into another race entirely. This combined with not using her lightning magic might just be enough to throw them off the trail. So, Astrid pulls out two vials of Beist’s potion and offers one up to Cypress. [2] “This will change ya ta another kinda person,” she explains. “Like ya could be a human or a draconynh or anythin’! I dunno what I’m gonna be yet, but I think I gotta be big. Or maybe small ta help with sneakin’ in…”
1. Full elemental manifestation - phase through objects 2. Beist’s Transmutation Tonic Quest details: Quest Name
| Free the Red Rogue
| Participants | Exactly Two ( Other participant can be working on opposite quest. ) | Location | Anywhere | Post Requirements
| 6 posts 200 words per post | Reward
| +2 Renown Access to listed shop | Description | Popular red rogues from past years have been assaulted and kidnapped by hired goons, nobles wanting to keep them until after winter. Many of these rogues are being held captive in camps all across Charon, and need to be rescued. If the Night of the Red Rogue is to happen this year, then those rogues need to be freed! Help us by going in, fighting off the hired mercenaries, and freeing the Red Rouges before Winter's Crown! |
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Dec 31, 2023 17:52:06 GMT -5
Some Days Earlier…Cypress sits quietly in her room, hooves folded neatly beneath her while she dabs her quill in a small container of ink at the edge of the table. She’s focusing very hard, trying to copy what she sees in a pamphlet from the Golden Consortium— specifically, an illustration of Dewshrooms to pair with the previous page. She’s gone through multiple pages of the same journal, copying over plants from her Golden Consortium pamphlets that she thinks might be important to have the next time she scampers out onto the road… if ever again. It’s a bit of a far-off dream, but after parading around with Astrid for a few days, Cypress has had a bit of a taste of what independence feels like without being scared of what comes next or where she might go after. It’s an exhilarating feeling, and she keeps thinking that she would love to have her pamphlets just in case she has the opportunity to forage around, but carrying around so many pamphlets is just too much. She sniffs in the quiet of her room, listening to the distant sound of children playing downstairs while she sets the end of her quill in— —and then suddenly, Astrid appears through the wall of her room.
Cypress would, under normal circumstances, be very happy to see Astrid; but under these circumstances where Astrid appears suddenly and without warning, her heart leaps into her throat in shock. Cypress jerks in alarm, gasping and knocking her small cap of ink off the table with the start of a scream that is suddenly cut off when Cypress promptly blips out of existence (1. Peel from Reality). Silence fills her room for a few moments before she will eventually reappear and finish the shocked scream from right where she left off. Present Day...Astrid’s arrival was a shock to Cypress; but Astrid and her news were both very welcome after Cypress had calmed down, ceased not-existing, and also stopped causing plants to grow from every surface that she touched while she calmed down. (2. Plant Growth)Astrid found Everett! Cypress’ eyes glittered with excitement at the revelation, but were quick to fade when Astrid had mentioned that he’s in jail. Everett? In jail? On Winter’s Crown!? How awful, he must be terrified in there! And on a holiday! (Or, does Everett remember what Winter's Crown is? Cypress is not sure.) She was quick to agree to the idea of a jail break for Everett’s sake, though; and she let herself be whisked off to Thorock, where she now sits with Astrid while they come up with a plan of action; or, at the very least, the essence of a plan of action. Cypress perks her ears when Astrid pulls a couple of vials from her bag; the satyr’s eyes glitter quizzically as she takes it, tilting the liquid so that she can see the way its colours reflect and change in the dim light of Dragon’s Cradles sky. “What?” She bubbles, eye widening. “ Really? Like, you can just be something else with this?” She tries to keep her voice low, but flowers are already peeking out from between her hooves. (2. Plant Growth) “ Wahhh…” She grins, tail wiggling excitedly while she tips the liquid another way to watch it change just slightly. “ So, how does it work? Do you just drink it and… and like, think about what you want to be?” She hesitates then, ears flicking back while she continues to ponder. “ You don’t need magic to use it, do you? Like, what if it turns me into something awful? Like, a slug? What am I gonna do as a slug?”
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 2, 2024 21:02:37 GMT -5
Some days before… Astrid isn’t really sure how to react to Cypress just suddenly… disappearing, but then again, when the faun finally returns, it is an appropriate reaction to simply just scream. It takes a few minutes for the two of them to calm down and laugh it off, and afterwards, Astrid explains her brilliant plan, which puts them…
…in Thorock.
(Ew.)
Honestly, based on what little Astrid knows of Everett from Cypress, it makes sense that he would have participated in the Red Rogue activities and it makes just as much sense that someone like that would end up in prison because of Baan. She really hates that guy, and this is just another reason why.
“Aye, yeah, it changes what ya are! Just think about what ya wanna be, an’ it should work. Sometimes it’ll take a couple a’ tries, an’ maybe we coulda practiced it before comin’ here, but it’s too late ta be thinkin’ about all that!” With a grin, Astrid holds up her own potion. “Nope! Ya don’t need ta use no magic ta drink a potion! That’s the magic a’ alchemy!” And it’s the only magic Themster Morrigan Moonweaver will ever get to do until they get over their curse, which… Astrid should check on that progress. Things have just been so busy!
Then her expression falls. What if Cypress becomes a slug?? What’s gonna happen then?? Astrid has no idea, so she shrugs and lifts her potion bottle anyway. “Then I’ll carry ya inside an’ it’ll still be an adventure together!” Tapping her glass against Cypress’, Astrid downs the odd potion and thinks hard about being something big and unrecognizable. Slowly her skin starts to turn into black scales, spikes start to grow along her back, her hair falls away, and her size becomes something very large and imposing – at least, comparatively. Before Cypress, Astrid now stands as a seven-and-a-half-foot tall draconynh with black scales, a long tail, and rippling muscles.
With new height comes new vocal cords, and Astrid’s voice rumbles deep in her throat. “How do I look?”
Beist’s tonic - giant heart, baloth muscles (mechanically, leg)
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Jan 2, 2024 22:30:49 GMT -5
When Astrid’s expression falls, Cypress feels a small wave of nerves crash over her; she’s not actually sure what she expected when she suggested the possibility of turning into a slug; but it definitely does not help her fragile composure! Cypress takes a shaky breath, looking nervously into the concoction she’s holding between her hands; it’s a marvelous thing, really… a sort of alchemical miracle… someone worked so hard, slaved over this recipe, until they made this… It’s so admirable… and she’s never really had the experience to just… Down a potion so casually! She really wants this to work. She taps her fingertips against the curve of the bottle, a sheepish smile crossing her face when Astrid promises to carry her inside for an adventure should she turn herself into a slug. It does a bit to help her nerves, but she still feels a little worried; it’s only natural, given what they’re doing, probably.
Not everyone plans a jailbreak, right? … Gosh, what’s Mister Cyran and Miss Del going to think when they back…?
She shakes her head to shoo away the thoughts, lest she start down another rabbit hole that wrings at her nerves. It’s lucky for her that Astrid’s grins and laughter are pretty contagious, so she clinks her bottle against hers after giving a faint nod and smile. “Alright.” She chuckles, uncorking her potion with a short inhale, and tipping her head back to drink. She takes Astrid’s instructions and thinks about something small and agile. Something quiet that could scurry its way through the prison without leaving a trace behind it… and something that is not a slug. (1.) For a moment, she doesn’t actually feel any different; and then, Cypress begins to feel a tingling in the tips of her fingers; and for just a moment, she wears claws; scales begin to lap up her arm— and then, Cypress feels an almost painful pressure deep in her chest. It’s enough to make her wince. The transformation overlaps itself; the scales fall away and so do the claws; a second pair of arms emerge from beneath her own, beginning to turn a velvety taupe as her hair becomes feather-like antennae. Fragile wings emerge from her shoulder blades, unraveling close to the floor like a cape, and scattering flecks of dust across the ground around her. As the potion’s effects wear off, the pressure starts to subside; and Cypress feels just a little dazed by it. She holds one feathered hand over her chest, trying to process the strangeness of not-quite-being-herself, and then blinks up at the huge Draconynh that is Astrid. “Huh!” She squeaks, her voice higher pitched than she remembers. All four of her hands cover her mouth in awe. “You’re so tall!! You look so cool!” She peeps, feathered mantle bouncing while she hops on her heels. “Do I look any different?”
1. Beist's Tonic — Wings, Night Vision 2/4 Arms are not usable, just for MOFF aesthetics.
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 2, 2024 23:00:08 GMT -5
Astrid golden-green eyes watch intently while Cypress transforms alongside herself. At first, it looks like the satyr will become a draconynh too when suddenly something shifts and changes and then… She’s a… a bug.
Well, this is what she gets for worrying about being a slug!
“Uhhhh….” Astrid’s expression is nearly blank with surprise, then she shakes herself out of it and looks Cypress up and down. “Yeah, yeah, aye, ya do. Ya look real different fer sure. No one’s gonna recognize ya, not one bit.” She hopes the same can be said for herself, but being a whopping two-thirds of herself taller is really bizarre.
After a lot of hesitation, avoiding eye contact, trying to find anything else to think about, Astrid finally asks, “Did… Did ya mean ta be a bug?” Given the scales from the initial transformation, she really does not think that this final result is the expected result, but this is the result nonetheless. If that’s the case, she’ll need to take the findings to Beist because surely the strange magic Cypress possesses did… something.
“Either way, I’m rarin’ ta go. Let’s go bust in an’ save our guy!! Come on!” Without warning, Astrid scoops Cypress up onto her spiky back and charges out of the alleyway straight toward the prison, which is surrounded by a massive wall with guards posted all around. A field of faint static electricity surrounds Astrid and Cypress[1] as she opens a pair of pitch-black wings and soars over the wall.[2] “YEEEEAAAAAH!!!” she shouts in the most threatening voice her draconic body allows.
Guards shout and arrows fly at them, and the electrical field knocks them away as Astrid lands on a parapet. This plan is really poorly thought out, but hey, starting at the top of the prison tower makes some sense! Before anyone can get their bearings, Astrid slams her super muscly leg through the roof and creates a hole for her and Cypress,[3] which she immediately jumps inside to avoid another rain of arrows while the alarm bells ring outside.
“We’re in!”
1. Static Field (all hit preventions consumed) 2. Bat Wings [post 1/3] 3. Baloth muscles
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Jan 5, 2024 22:44:52 GMT -5
Astrid's expression makes Cypress a little worried.
The once-satyr stops bouncing on her heels, fluttering rose-dusted wings while she looks up at Astrid with as much concern as her little moth face can muster on it. "That's... good, right? We were going for unrecognizable..." she suggests, looking down at her hands to judge the change, herself— and her eyes promptly go wide in alarm. She realizes very quickly that she's wielding two more arms than she's used to. "Wha—!?" she squeaks, wings opening as two of her hands fly up to cover her mouth; and then Astrid asks if she meant to be a bug.
"No, of course not!" she stresses, flexing her trio of hooked fingers while she tries to figure out where she went wrong. "I just... I wanted to be small, but... I thought more like... like a Dracoling..." she trails off, her antennae drooping while she tries to process it. A moth did not even cross her mind... how did she become a moth, if she was only meant to think of it? Her mind drifts to the pressure in her chest during the transformation, and she has to wonder if...
She blinks, looking up at Astrid when the girl-now-gator promptly scoops her up. "W-wait! Ast—" Cypress flaps her four arms while she's in the air, then clings onto Astrid tightly. Astrid wastes no time barreling forwards to begin their mission with a deep, bellowing war-cry. Cypress winces, burrowing her face into one of her arms as wind rushes over her, ruffling the feathers around her neck and the antennae on her head. When she opens her eyes, they're up in the air; and there are guards everywhere.
Cypress does her best not to panic and she does so poorly.
As arrows fly through the air, ricocheting off of electricity, a few strays decay in mid-air when Cypress casts panicked glances at them; a swirl of red and blue behind her eyes lights up as they turn to dust. (1) Far beneath their feet, several of the guards trip over themselves after the path below starts to ice over, following Astrid's line of flight, and creating a few frozen crystals along Astrid's scales. (2)
Finally, the Draconynh bursts through the roof and into the Prison— but, there's alarms going off! And a giant hole in the roof! "We're in, but everyone knows we're in here!" she squeaks back, still holding onto Astrid. "They're going to be co—" The weight on Astrid's back disappears, and Cypress re-appears in the air a few feet away. (3) She squeaks in surprise before falling; and she's just barely able to recover before she hits the ground. Her taupe wings spring open, catching her as the stone tile of the prison beneath her explodes into a swirl of ferns and flowers. (4)
After a moment of wide-eyed processing of her situation, Cypress takes a deep breath and knits her four hands together. "I'm fine! I'm fine, everything's fine!" She touches the ground, causing a rosy dust to fall from her back. Her stomach feels tight with bundles of nerves from the flight in, and the ferns seem to be reacting to it as they curl their leaves. "But— but what about the guards? They're gonna be coming in after us, right?"
1. Age Item 2. Ice Over
3. Blink 4. Plant Growth
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Jan 7, 2024 20:57:54 GMT -5
While the entrance into the prison could have been better in just about every single way, Astrid doesn’t like to waste time overthinking things because inevitably a plan is not going to go accordingly. In fact, that kind of makes things more fun. If they get stuck in a situation that they can’t get out of easily, she’ll just get them out of there expeditiously. That’s what potions are for! Saving your arse when others can’t!
Look, Cypress agreed to this adventure (for some reason), and Astrid’s going to make sure it’s fun if nothing else. And she will surely keep Cypress from getting hurt. But there’s no hammers and armor this time. Those things are too recognizably Astrid’s, so instead it’s twisting magic and showing Cypress that a bit of spontaneity isn’t a bad thing. And look! Cypress is doing great in helping them stay uninjured as they barrel through the air and through the roof!
Admittedly, breaking through the roof of a prison housing criminals was not the best course of action, but at the end of the day, this will all look bad on Baan, and that’s something Astrid selfishly cares a lot about. “It’s fiiiiine!” Astrid bellows, a haughty smile on her draconic face. Despite the transformation, a light scar interrupts the scales on her cheek, something that is usually tough to notice when she’s not soot-covered because of how well it healed over with magic.
Suddenly, Cypress disappears, and Astrid’s confident expression melts away like the glaciers in Frost Gale. She whips around, looking for the moth girl in a panic. She has no idea if Cypress’ magic might teleport her outside the bounds of a usual spell, especially when it doesn’t seem like she did that on purpose! Relief washes across Astrid when Cypress reappears not far away, but a bramble of plants suddenly appears with her. Astrid struggles not to laugh at it. It’s really funny. This is all so silly. She’s having a great time.
“We’re just here ta break one guy out, so don’t kill no one on accident. Folks don’t deserve that just ‘cause they’re doin’ their jobs.” There are a lot of implications, like Cypress ever killing someone on purpose. The satyr would never, but Astrid is also quite used to things being this chaotic while adventuring with Blue, who sometimes forgets that factoid.
The door at the end of the hall swings open, and a swath of guards rushes in, shouting demands at them. Astrid tunes them out and rushes past Cypress, effortlessly moving through the plants to charge them.[1] “Just stay behind me! We’re barrelin’ through! MOVE IT, SOLDIERS!” And like a bowling ball through pins, Astrid plows through the guards.
1. Raider’s loincloth
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Feb 13, 2024 21:08:20 GMT -5
Cypress’ eyes widen when Astrid speaks, “ Wh— Well, I don’t wanna do that!” She panics, a rosey flush spreading across her face at the implications that she could accidentally kill someone; which is a real possibility for her, honestly! She doesn’t know what she’d do if… if… she tries to shake it off and nods with blind vigor, instead; she pats her cheeks to try and straighten out her negative thoughts. She’s nervous, and a little overwhelmed, but she really can’t let herself be too nervous! If she goes down a rabbit hole of nerves, she doesn’t know what she’ll end up— —the door slams open behind them, and the feather-like moth fluff around Cypress’ neck puffs in surprise. She spins around to face the shouting guards, big moth eyes wide; but then, a whoosh of wind passes her, and Cypress is watching Astrid charge forwards through the plants and towards the guards. “ Barreling through!?” She squeaks, rushing after Astrid as the guards proceed to get absolutely battered by Dracstrid’ charge. “ Wait, hold on!” She hops over a couple of fallen guards left behind, but feels someone grab her leg with a bark of, “ Stop!” She bristles, feeling a strange sensation of being tugged backwards, but falling forwards at the same time; and she tumbles a little on her feet when the sensation fades. She turns to look over her shoulder, witnessing— oh god, is that her? Is that what she looks like!? She really is a moth! She’s got four arms and everything!! (1)
The guard who’d grabbed her leg looks stunned for a moment after seeing the split, and when Cypress’ mirror image proceeds to stomp at his face, he pulls away only to get a face full of bramble; but he releases her all the same. “You’re falling behind!” Her mimic whispers, grabbing her wrist and pulling her after Dracstrid before she loses too much distance; Cypress scrambles after herself and Dracstrid, hop-scotching her way over fallen guards as she rushes into the next room after her. “How far are we going!?” She calls, glancing back over her shoulder to the door they’d just barreled through— and no sooner does she find herself hoping the guards are incapacitated enough not to follow, the stone beneath the doorframe rattles and launches upwards— sealing off their entrance and the guards inside. (2)
Oops.
She supposes that'll technically keep them from following. She hopes they have good picks here to get those guys out, though.
1. Replicant 2. Stone Wall
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 13, 2024 21:32:06 GMT -5
“Ya’ll be fine!!” Astrid shouts before charging ahead through the guards like an angry rhinoceros. Guards go flying in all directions, unable to avoid the very strong, very tall draconynh barreling through the narrow hall. If she needed to, Astrid would have plowed through the door or wall itself, but luckily, it’s not necessary. “Sorry!” she shouts, only slightly apologetically as she looks back over her shoulder to see not one but two Mothpresses!
“Oh, look, ya managed another replicant!” she laughs. “Hope that one’s on purpose!” Suddenly, the stone floor shoots up and seals the door, and Astrid’s reptilian eyes blink in surprise. “Great idea! That’ll keep ‘em from followin’ fer at least a minute.” If the prison is well laid out, then there will be another way for them to escape besides the window. If not… Well, maybe they’ll need to bash through the new wall on their way out.
“I dunno how far we’re goin’,” Astrid says, stopping for a moment and putting her hands on her hips. It isn’t like this place has a map for her to refer to. Maybe she could have found one or had this place scouted out. “We started out up high, so best we can do is… Keep lookin’. Anyway, I’ll keep ya safe. Hop on if ya want!” For a brief moment, Astrid squats to let Cypress climb on if she wants, then she takes off running down the hall before charging down a set of stairs and blasting through each floor one by one. Guards are scrambling to keep up and not be bulldozed in her path, and Astrid does her best not to critically injure anyone.
“Tell me if ya see him!” Astrid calls to Cypress.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Feb 25, 2024 17:50:44 GMT -5
The mimic next to her giggles; embarrassment washes over Cypress, and she turns her fluffy antennae back with a shake of her head, “No, it wasn’t on purpose!” She stresses, stumbling when the other Mothpress lets her go. They slow down, Cypress working to catch her breath as she glances behind her at the sealed entrance.
How does she emphasize that it wasn’t her idea to—
“Thanks!” Mimicpress chirrups in her place, earning a befuddled look from Cypress.
“For what?” She chips back, earning a glance from her replicant, who has begun rocking back and forth on her heels.
“You’re welcome, too.”
“For what!?” Mothpress repeats, wings flaring slightly; but her baffled, somewhat agitated response only gets a giggle out of her mimic. Is this even her? She puffs at her mimic, crossing her four arms in something a pout, when Astrid speaks. Both of the Mothpress glance her way, but Mimicpress notably has more of a carefree air about her while she bobs on her heels. She instantly takes up Astrid’s offer of climbing up onto her back; hopping into the air to take hold, and then looks at Mothpress. She holds out her hand to help her up.
Still puffy, Mothpress poutingly takes it and hugs onto Astrid to avoid being knocked off when the reptilian stands and begins charging again. Mothpress peeks up over Astrid’s shoulder, while Mimicpress peeks over the other. “I’ll let you know!” She agrees, two of her hands holding Astrid’s shoulder, and the others clinging to the upper part of her arm.
She tilts her antennae left and right, keeping her big blue moth eyes wide in search of— something red flashes by, and Mothpress perks up and gently baps at Astrid’s shoulder to get her attention. “Hey! Is that him?”
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Feb 25, 2024 20:13:28 GMT -5
As often as Astrid makes use of the Replicant spell, she finds it incredibly funny to see how the magic manifests for others. This new Mimicpress seems so carefree and unbothered by the absolute chaos the lot of them are in. Astrid can’t help laughing. If she weren’t trying to preserve her magic for a sticky situation, she’d send in a gaggle of Alphabetstrids through the prison to find someone matching the description. The problem is that most of them wouldn’t make it back, so it’d ultimately be a waste of the mana.
With both Mothpresses clinging to her back for dear life, Dracstrid tears through the halls, occasionally sailing through the air to boot a guard here and there or lock them in a closet with some half-genuine apologies. A couple of them she even manages to simply leap over, though once or twice she comes close to scuffing the Mothpress duo against the ceiling. Luckily, she doesn’t. Wild as this might be, she’s having fun, and she hopes Cypress is too.
Then, she feels the tap on her shoulder and skids to a stop, talons grinding against the stone floor. “Huh? Where?” she asks. “I dunno, yer the one that knows what he looks like!” Following their pointing, Astrid rushes back to a cell with someone clad in red inside. If she couldn’t see in the dark[1], it would be hard to make out their face in the dim light, but she sees a very confused-looking one-armed man. “Ah! One arm an’ wearin’ red! Ya must be our guy!”
“Huh? Your guy?” he asks, hesitantly getting to his feet and regarding the strange monster children (who he doesn’t know are children) with suspicion.
“The red rogue!” Dracstrid says. “Don’t worry, we’ll get ya outta here.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s me,” he says. “Or at least I’m one of them. Are you also from the organization?” He glances down the hall, hearing the approaching shouting.
“Sure am! Caused a fuss in Sol City last year. This year we’re gettin’ back at Beans!”
“B-Beans??”
“Sorry, Baan. Long story. Anyway!” Without a single note of further explanation, Astrid grabs two bars of the cell and with all the might of a bull, she pulls the bars apart. The metal groans and creaks as she does, but eventually, she gets it far enough apart that their damsel rogue can squeeze through. In the light, it’s easier to see that this is not indeed the Everett that they thought they were looking for, but with the approaching guards, is there time to argue the point?
“Alright, make space, we’re gettin’ the heck outta here!”
And once everyone is presumably settled on her spiky dragon back, Astrid rushes off.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Mar 2, 2024 15:55:52 GMT -5
“ Ack!” Mimicpress flips over Dracstrid’s shoulder while she’s trying to get a view of the ‘him’ that Cypress tries to point out. After all that Dracstrid’s put them through while she hauls ass through the jail, Cypress is almost surprised to see the lizard-girl’s sudden stop be her other half’s undoing. Habitually, she reaches out to try and grab Mimicpress to keep her from going over, but her little moth talons clasp around air. The moth replicant manages to avoid getting poofed, though— doing a relatively sloppy but impressive front flip before flaring out her wings and catching herself before she hits the ground— laughing the entire time. “ Ba-daaa!” She celebrates, as if doing a fan-fare for herself. “ We should do that again!” Cypress deflates, melting into Dracstrid’s shoulder and resting her chin there. She’s not sure if she’s relieved or disappointed her replicant is still— the thought is knocked directly from her head when Dracstrid turns and rushes back to find the one armed guy, nearly whipping her off in the process. Cypress makes an indecipherable squawk, clinging tighter to Dracstrid until they stop. Mimicpress arrives seconds later, doing leisurely little flips as if she has flown her entire life.
In some weird way, Cypress guesses she kind of has.
The moth girl shakes her head, peeking up over Dracstrid’s shoulder to greet— — oh that’s not Everett. That’s definitely not Everett! He’s much too rugged. Who’s this guy!? “ Ohhhhh, this ain’t him.” Mimicpress announces before Cypress can, putting her four hands on her hips while she hovers in mid-air. The moth girl on Dracstrid’s back shoots her a mildly unamused glance; she can’t tell if Mimicpress is kind of annoying because this is what she actually acts like (it is not) or because it’s kind of like Mimicpress is already inside her head, announcing her thoughts before she gets to them. “ Obviously it's not!” Cypress counters back, glancing at the stranger from where she is on Astrid’s back. As it turns out, he is the one-armed red rogue… but not Everett, which is a little disappointing, but somehow she’s relieved, too. That at least means Everett didn’t get arrested here. … Unless he got arrested somewhere else… “ Heh, Beans.” Mimicpress snickers as she floats back to Dracstrid and clings to her opposite shoulder. Golly, Dracstrid is strong. Together, the moth girls help the not-Everett onto Astrid’s back for easier transport— aaaaand the guards are coming, great! So there’s not much time to figure out what the next part of the plan is. Cypress winces when Dracstrid rushes off, “ Don’t forget the top’s blocked off!” She chirrups over Astrid’s shoulder— which actually, is kind of a problem because most of these guards are coming from the entrance downstairs, right? " Which way are we gettin' out from!?"
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Mar 3, 2024 19:27:12 GMT -5
“Huh? Wait, this ain’t the guy??” Dracstrid says, looking back and forth between the two Mothpresses and their red rogue with a confused expression on her face.
The Rogue also looks confused. “Not your guy?? I am one of the Rogues!” he protests as if they will just leave him here if he’s not.
“They say yer not the guy we’re lookin’ fer,” Dracstrid says with a shrug. “But a Rogue’s a Rogue! No time ta waste! If ya ain't a rogue, I'll just turn ya back in.” Once the moth girls scoot aside, Astrid hoists their Rogue up onto her back and barrels forward through the halls.
“I ain’t forget!” she says while charging ahead. The chorus of heavy bootsteps approaches them rapidly as they reach a crossroads. Up the stairs or down the stairs. “Buuut looks like goin’ out the way we came in means less guards. Probably.”
“Probably??” the Rogue echoes. “Wait, how are we getting out the top??”
“By bustin’ another hole through the wall,” Dracstrid says as if that’s obvious. Before he gets the chance to ask the question, Dracstrid turns to keep booking it up the stairs. Despite the obvious danger, she seems to be having a great time. That’s when a crossbow bolt suddenly embeds itself in the wall just beside her and her riders. “Oi, watch where yer shootin’ that thin’! Yer gonna put someone's eye out!” she shouts at the approaching guards.
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Post by Cypress Springleap on Mar 13, 2024 21:35:58 GMT -5
“ Nope!” “ Nuh-uh.” Both Mothpress’ answer, one significantly more worried about this entire scenario than the other. Mothpress looks apologetically at the rogue as Astrid hoists him up onto her back, “ You are, just not the one I thought we were gonna find. Sorry.” She remarks; she immediately winces when Astrid finally charges forwards, heading back towards the top of the prison. “But—” Mothpress starts, ignoring a squeal of delight from Mimicpress as they tear through the halls; but instead of being interrupted by Mimicpress, the rogue interrupts her thoughts this time. Mothpress shuts her mouth, sighing her exasperation when there’s a rigid sounding ‘thwnk’ from nearby.
She winces, burrowing the side of her face into Astrid’s back when she notices the cross bolt vibrating to a halt. “ Ast—” she starts in a worried voice, but is interrupted by a small gasp from beside her and a ‘Fwmf!’ of sparkles. She winces, staring with wide, moth eyes at the spot where Mimicpress had been before, as the crossbolt that presumably hit her clatters off Astrid’s back and onto the floor. Panic seizes her fully then, and Mothpress squints her eyes shut just before they begin to glimmer with the essence of arcana. The stone beneath them groans as the flora that Cypress generally summons around them bond together into something else entirely. The shadows of branches are cast across both the heist-goers and the guards as a grand pine-tree— too tall to reach the ceiling— boughs between the floor and ceiling with a snap and crack of its branches. (1)Another cross bolt pings off of its trunk, rattling angrily until it slows.
1. Summon Possession (Tree)
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Post by Lady Astrid Stormstone on Mar 15, 2024 23:06:20 GMT -5
Another distant click followed by a fwump and clattering of a bolt to the floor throws Astrid slightly off balance with Mimicpress suddenly gone. And before she can even react to that, a massive tree manifests in the hall, and loud cracking threatens to snap it in half. Dracstrid blinks and glances over her shoulder at Mothpress before looking at the tree with a wild grin.
“What the hells??” the rogue wonders, looking at the tree with wide eyes.
“Sometimes she makes plants appear!” Dracstrid says. She gleefully jumps up and grabs the top branches of the tree, pulling on it with all of her and her passengers’ weight until the cracked trunk snaps and the top six feet of the tree break off in her hands. “Perfect! A nice weapon fer smackin’ folks back!” With the guards quickly approaching, Astrid grips the trunk and swings it like a bat. Needles fling off the branches at high speeds,[1] rocketing at the guards and pushing them back down the hall enough to give Astrid some space to start rushing back up the stairs.
Boots from above stomp down to meet them, and Astrid wastes no time smacking guys to the side and out of the way with the tree, which they very much do not expect. A dragon, a moth, and a one-armed guy, all charging up the stairs with a tree from the outdoors? Who would expect that, honestly.
“This seems like a badly planned breakout!” the rogue shouts.
“Sure ain’t a good one, that’s fer sure! But better than nothin' mister picky pants!” Dracstrid replies with a laugh. “Sorry soldier guys! I know yer just doin’ yer jobs, but get outta the way!!” When she knocks a couple of people back, Dracstrid stomps a hole in the floor at the bottom of the stairs[2] so they can’t be followed easily. Then she tears upstairs to the top floor where guards are still struggling to get through the stone wall manifested by Cypress earlier.
“S’cuse me!!” Dracstrid shouts, absolutely blasting through the wall with her shoulder.[3] Guards topple backwards like pins. She tosses the tree at them to distract them then leaps into the air with wings flared out.[4] “Hold on tight!” she says as she lifts them all up through the hole in the roof.
More surprised shouts from the guards on the walls as they point at the now escaping creatures and their cargo. Seeing a hail of arrows heading their way, a wild wind starts whipping around the three of them, blocking the projectiles.[5] “Okay, let’s get the heck outta here!” And as fast as her wings will take her, Astrid flies the lot of them away from the prison.
The only thing trailing them is the increasingly distant screams of the rogue. "AAAAAAAAHHHHhhhhhhhh!"
1. Tree ability 2. Baloth Muscles - leg 3. Baloth Muscles - arm 4. Bat Wings 5. Elementalist - Howling Gale
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