Arcane Rivalry [J] [Pw]

[SirBlaziken]

I catch up, last one to get to the fork. "Huh, I'm slower that I thought." I say. "So, which way?"

[Moon Chaser]

Matt follows closely behind the group, smiling. He didn't have a clue what they were up to, but that was half the fun. What challenges would he face, what were they doing and were they serious about the risk of death? These questions bugged him, but rather than scaring him away, it just made him want to find out even more.

[NTN]

      The guard standing outside the jail fell backwards stiffly. What a stick. A slang term for a Biomancer that is helpless, defeated, and drained of his energy, without any branches. Like a stick. Only a coward would fall backwards. A man with the will to fight would have fallen forward and died in the motion of his next attack. But he had lost the will to fight. I froze the inside of the Biomancer with a cold stare, while on the outside the cold of dead consumed him. His branches, the veins through which he channeled his energy, froze as if it were winter, but soon his body was covered in the red of autumn, and he bled to death. I enjoy describing the fate of my victims in great detail. But killing guards is not what I've come here for.
      I broke through the wall of Equinox's jail, sending a Pyromancer on the other side flying into the opposite wall. The Pyromancer's comrades turned and made the grave mistake of looking me in the eye. My vampiric stare stretched open their irises wide with fear. The guards shook themselves into a stance. They charged their Pyromancy and released it, leaving themselves wide open. I grabbed a guard by the face and charged Necromancy in the palm of my hand. His mouth was wide open with fear, which would along with the decaying stench of his body emerge and fill the room, letting his comrades know that death was near. The guard's body and bones rotted, all except for his skull, which held his frightened expression for a moment before it hit the ground and snapped shut. More Pyromancers flooded into the room like a wave of fire. I focused Necromancy on the rest of the guard's rotting body, controlling it so that the decaying parts could stack up. This is the process of reviving a body to a small extent. I drew the fallen skull to the top of the mound and caught a fireball on the skull. "You have fallen into my trap," I said, licking around my mouth and smiling. "You've helped me to create a flaming skull."

      "...A flaming skull?"
      "Yes, exactly. There are so many things you can do when you take advantage of an opponent's attack and use the objects around you."

      Dark energy was tangled in the red flames around the skull, like blue fire coming out of a normal flame. "Let me tell you this... A truly skilled mancer knows how to combine different elements of the arcane. In this case, the fires on the skull are burning on their own, or they are tied to the Pyromancer who released them, rather, and are feeding off his energy as long as they're burning. Now, I've combined my own Necromancy with this stray Pyromancy, creating an object that can make the effects of each element stronger by having them work together. You understand that fire spreads quickly. As the flames crackle from this skull and reach you, they carry the essence of death and decay. So as you burn, your body rots, and these effects will spread as the embers pop and land on you. In conclusion, your death comes quickly but more painfully," I explained. "You scum will understand."
      The skull threw flames onto bodies, and as they burned, they passed on the fire. The guards were dying twice as fast. "Let your own wave consume you," I said.

[SirBlaziken]

((Nice one master))

I see black smoke to my right.

//Hm..... very strange.//

"Hey, I see black smoke rising to the ((Let's say East)) east. There must be a battle going on. Not like it matters, but stay alert."

[quack98]

"This way." I say, walking down the way that leads directly toward the smoke. "I'm sure we'll be fine, don't worry Edan" I say, referencing his comment on a battle likely being present.

[Wolstenholme]

I look down the road but can't see much, I follow Nikolai, a pace behind. "Do you know where the smoke is coming from?" I inquire. It is of no particular interest to me, I just hope it isn't the museum. The smoke, as we turn to face it, covers the moon, blotting out the stars and sky so all was dark.

[MzLuluZombi]

"From the looks of it, that one's sure to leave Equinox with a nasty mark," I comment, losing interest in the smoke after a couple of moments.  I catch up with Nikolai's stride and pause for a bit.  "Chances of the victor attacking us are low, so long as none of us back out of this little arrangement."

[quack98]

"Not the foggiest" I say to Chloe, with a slight smirk on my face as I realise the pun. "We're pretty close now, just around this corner. Should we work out what we're doing before entering?" I enquire, gesturing towards a fairly private alley

[SirBlaziken]

"I agree." I said "So, Chloe said that she would stand guard."

[Wolstenholme]

"I will move with you, I'll be able to survey the area for nearby guards and kill them before they can even see us.... that's presuming they don't have any wards at all. But they will, in which case it will be a hard task for me, I will need someone to guard my exterior so that I can concentrate fully on the guards."

[SirBlaziken]

"Hmmm... Ok, kill. I'd say a bit too much, but ok. So, who will do that?"

[Wolstenholme]

Edan's reluctance to kill amuses me, I may be a day warlock but that doesn't mean I am not prepared to kill someone and this situation, I think, is a case of 'Go hard or go home' in which case I will go hard... Edan has made his choice but does he have the conviction to mexecute the task? "Did you think we were just going to bribe them not to raise the alarm? If they see us  that is exactly what they will do. I can't allow that to happen."

[SirBlaziken]

"I can't kill. Flames are not exactly subtle enough." I say.

[Moon Chaser]

Matt frowns as he listens to the others. "You mentioned guards, so I assume there will be locks and other security measures I can help with, but first I would like to know what you're planning." The idea of running into guards worried him.

[MzLuluZombi]

"No killing."  My gaze is hard on Chloe and Edan, though it isn't quite a glare.  I focus on Chloe when I say, "Use your biomancy to sense guards and warn us; no more, no less.  If we come to confrontations, use something else to kill them."

I look around the alley to take my sight off of them for a moment.  "We keep as a group and we avoid lingering in one place too long.  You venture off on your own, you get yourself out on your own.  Keep your guard up unless you want any warlock worth his salt to sense you."

My gaze is on Nikolai now, neutral.  Hopefully the weight of how serious this is will finally sink in with these children.  "Chloe is right, though.  If we aren't careful enough, the guards will find us and they will arrest us.  Interrogation.  Torture.  I will most certainly be executed for what I know.  You all will likely be executed just to make a point to the people of Equinox.  The higher ups won't stand for this kind of 'magical mischief'."  I raise an eyebrow. 

"Last chance for anyone to back out and claimed they never knew a thing."  The smallest smirk comes back to my face.  "Of course, I haven't told you enough anyway, so you could still have a clear conscience."