The Ghostblood Ball

[+Sorana]

"I don't want a spike."

Althea called into the room. And then turned to take a look at the old guy.

"Never saw him before. But I have spent my last few years away from society, so it doesn't really count."

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A different question: I assume it's night, or at least dark outside? No sun shining?

@PrinceDusty

Edited October 17, 2018 by Sorana

[PrinceDusty]

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It is indeed dark outside at this point in time. Just after sunset.

 

[+Sorana]

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That's good. One thing less to worry about

Thanks!

 

[Voidus]

About to reply to loc, Laurelai was interrupted when the area erupted in chaos. A swarm of Mistbeavers appeared, seeming to attack some of the guests at the party, though strangely they also seemed to be completely ignoring others.

But rather than stick around and find out which group she would be in, she began to run with the others who were fleeing the area. Only to have to stop suddenly as one of the Mistbeavers seemed to overtake them all and stare at them menacingly, spike in one hand, it looked them all over. It locked eyes with her and for an instant she felt sure that the next thing she would feel would be a metallic spike stabbing into her.

Wait. Metallic spikes? These must be Hemalurgic.

Hemalurgy, one of the only ways outside of Forging that one could alter the Spiritweb directly. It was a lot less clean than Forgery was, a lot easier to get wrong and more disastrous when it did go wrong. But it also allowed for stable and near-permanent changes to the spiritweb of a living creature.

She hesitated. Just long enough that she saw a blur of silver flying in her direction, and then into the guest next to her. A young Ghostblood that had been near to her when the duel had started.

The Mistbeaver then scurried away, seeking other prey. Voices echoed throughout the grounds, blaming each other, explaining the situation, and cursing by turns. But it seemed that simply telling these beavers that you didn't want to be spiked would be enough to stop them.

I wonder if the reverse is true.

She wasn't sure what had prompted the thought, but for some reason she couldn't quite shake it. There were accomplished Hemalurgists here, and if they were to be believed, accepting one of these spikes would allow them to join the Dark Alley, if ever there was an opportunity to find out who she was and how to change it, this was it.

One of the beavers stopped nearby, checking on the collapsed body of the Ghostblood that had been spiked. It seemed to be double checking the pulse and administering a small surge of healing to help ensure he survived.

"Excuse me." Laurelai asked tentatively.

The beaver looked up at her, its round, brown eyes seemed to be kindly if one didn't see the small metal spikes in their pupils.

"Would it be possible for me to have one of those too?"

The beaver seemed to consider this for a moment, tilting its head and looking her over. Then it turned back, looking towards the man who had suddenly appeared and unleashed this chaos. It seemed to raise an eyebrow in question, and having seemed to receive an answer of some kind, looked again towards Laurelai.

Faster than she could even see it closed the short distance between them, she felt a sudden sharp pain in one shoulder as a spike accurately pierced one of her bindpoints, she felt the sudden presence of something that wasn't her in her mind, in her soul itself. But suddenly, everything made a lot more sense.

She was Laurelai, denizen of the Dark Alley.

[I think I am here.]

Vaisin watched as Alum left, suddenly feeling very alone in this place. He knew where he was, obviously. The Cognitive Realm. He just didn’t know how to get out of it.

At least he’d met his heroes, he told himself. But just like Alum said, his ‘heroes’ hadn’t done much. But then again, most of them were dead, soo...

It just seemed to odd for Vaisin. The plays, the TV shows, they’d made it look so heroic! The Ghostbloods made a mistake by attacking the Worldspike and the DA made a mistake in releasing the Abominations. In the end, it was a problem for everyone and only the promise of Unity could save them.

It all seemed so easy. And now, Vaisin has finally got a chance to see some of those very heroes. His only regret was not seeing the Devaan Sheonar at the Ball. Oh well, always next time.

[Life&Death]

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Oh, I misunderstood Mac. Mr Amber sill avoided the spike, but didn’t leave the area, and Ski is not longer spiked.

 

[I Am Witless]

A spider descended from the ceiling and landed on Mace Klasten's shoulder. It webbed out a message across his upper arm.

Welcome Home. See you soon. - Y

[BitBitio]

Jonas walked in. 

"Hey, dude." He called to Vaisin. "Am I too late?"

[Snipexe]

Drak winged figures appear on the horizon. Buzzing fills the air, and it seems like screams are contained within. The creatures, black as the night itself and just as cruel, surround the ball, awaiting the orders of @MacThorstenson. No figure stands at their head for they are all of one mind. As claws latch onto the roof, and screeches fill the air, the mind link with Mac 

“We await your command.”

[kenod]

"Ooh, those look fun," KoTiel said, grinning. "How do they work, are they Hemalurgy?" Quickly, KoTiel started looking for a way to climb to the roof, so they could get a closer look.

[Snipexe]

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Nah, they’re straight up eldritch abominations. We at ERD have a lot of fun

 

[kenod]

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Could you spike the eldritchness out of them? What would happen then?

 

[old man moomba]

The ship turned on its floodlights, bathing the mansion in a sterile white light. 

 

[Archer]

bea·ver bowl·ing (noun)

/ˈbēvər ˈbōliNG/

1.       A game of sport or recreation in which chubby rodents are rolled at moving targets.

2.       A dance move only Batman could look cool doing.

************

Mace Klasten was enjoying himself. He was beaver bowling, aiming ball of spiked fluff at the everything that moved. He sent one in the direction of Klasten, who was standing stock still, slack-jawed and stupefied.

The younger man dodged it, shaking himself out of his stupor. “I didn’t think you’d really come,” Klasten finally shouted.

Mace shouted back over the din of the thinning crowd. “Of course, I came. I said I would, didn’t I? Good thing too, you’ve made a right mess of things.”

Klasten had questions. Mace made all them irrelevant by throwing another beaver at him. “We can talk later, Lance. Finish the mission!” he commanded as he grappled around for more beavers to throw.

“What mission? Uncle, what are you talking about?” The words flowed like a waterfall from Klasten’s mouth. “Why all the cryptic messages? The information, why did you send it? Mace, why are you here?”

Mace shrugged them off. He raised a finger to his lips. Instead of replying, he just stood still in the middle of the room. A spiderweb of cracks began to appear on the floor beneath his feet. They steadily grew, racing out towards the edges of the room.

A sizable hole opened up in the floor beneath the man. But, as if standing on an invisible platform, Mace remained in place. A casual observer of the scene might have noted that various metallic objects in the room began to slowly move towards him, as if were a giant magnet sucking them in. Mace looked down, into the dark depths below. He winced, as if doing something painful, but seemed to be getting something out of the process. After a minute, he tore his gaze away. Evidently, he hadn’t seen what he’d hoped to.

“It was worth a try,” he said. “Thought they might have moved their rock.”

Mace Pulled himself away from the hole. He stood watching the crowd for a minute. “They’re like the waves,” he commented. “If you watch them long enough, you start to see patterns. And if you’re smart, you can predict where they’re going.”

He began to jog in the direction the fleeing partygoers had headed. “Have you ever seen what happens when mix a perpendicularity with aluminum?” he called over his shoulder. “Neither have I. But I’m down to find out!

[MetaTerminal]

1 hour ago, Archer said:

“Have you ever seen what happens when mix a perpendicularity with aluminum?” he called over his shoulder. “Neither have I. But I’m down to find out!

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Inb4 Mace dies in a violent Investiture explosion. Investisplosion?

Bit, I think Vaisin is in the Cognitive Realm right now.

Alum phased back into Shadesmar, where a small group of Ghostbloods had formed. He noticed that Vaisin was looking lost.

“You alright there, kid? Have you ever been to Shadesmar before? Hang on, I’ll lead you to the Perpendicularity.” He began to hike towards it. “You said you had heroes. Is that just everyone in the SDW, or are there people in particular that you fancy?”

[Le Sigh]

@I think I am here.

Anna looked at the thing that floated into her palm. "Exactly what am I hired for?" she asked the thing in her palm. "What are the details of this occupation?"

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena tied a bandanna over her mouth and nose, then leaped at Mace, giving him a hug. She backed off and grinned, but nobody could see that. That explains why the skin on that corpse was blue-ish, she thought distractedly. Though the one test to see if he's really Mace is to see if he can chuckle like a seal. If he can't do that, he's obviously fake. She didn't have anything aluminum on her, and didn't need to, but she followed Mace anyway. En kraen deicht, we're probably all going to die. This is going to be fun.

[Archer]

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Just saying, the body was very clearly devoured. No corpse whatsoever. 

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They ripped him to shreds, tearing off pieces of meat, then fighting over them. It was a feeding frenzy. The broke open the bones to suck out the marrow. They lapped up the fluids. They even ate some of the metal.

...

"There wasn’t even any body left to bury.”

Also, a seal? My fragile ego will never recover. 

Mace awkwardly returned the hug. His head was swimming with excuses for why he hadn't called her in two decades, or even bothered to mention he was still alive. Luckily, Tena didn't press him on the matter, so he resolved not to bring it up if she didn't. 

"You look... well," Mace said. "You haven't aged a bit. You get some more Breaths while I was gone?" As he walked, he began to fiddle with a handheld device. It was about the size and shape of a book, but it was covered in wires. 

"This is too slow," he continued. He reached out his arms to grab her so he they could steelrun to the perpendicularity. 

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If nobody stops him, he's going to try to destroy it. That will either cause serious issues for future travelers, or blow him to smithereens. *shrug*

 

[Snipexe]

5 hours ago, kenod said:

 

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[Redacted]

 

[Sherlock Holmes]

"Hoo-hoo, what's that?" Tena asked, getting up on her toes to try to see whatever it was Mace was holding. "Thingamajig," she answered for him and smiled, but again, nobody could it. "Also, yeah, I got a few more. Got lots o' money for helping people build their houses, but I spent most of that on Fang's Immortality...." Speaking of dogs, she thought, I should probably tell him that the seekrador that found him is now mine. Wonder if there's any symbolism in that... and thinking of that.... "Say, if y'all were alive during those Sams-cursed sixteen years, why in the holy mother of a grizzly bear didn't you tell me? That's not nice." She burned steel and started filling her metalmind, a small ringlet in her ear, then grabbed his hand. 

@Archer

Edited October 17, 2018 by AxeliustheGreat

[old man moomba]

Fate's Purpose rumbled, lifting into the air. It's guns re-oriented themselves to aim into the crowd, then fired. The guns' payload was, in fact, hundreds of flyers. The flyers fluttered down to the ground, advertising a sale at the Metallurgy and Investiture in the Alleycity. 

 

[Darth Woodrack]

Walker runs into the ballroom with his sentinel jacket blaring behind him his helmet forming on his head and attempts to punch @MacThorstenson in the face at supersonic speeds that @MacThorstenson could not possibly block. 

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Walkers weaknesses: Physcologically can't break a promise and can't kill somebody without giving them a chance to fight back.

Mac: Walker isn't trying to join the craftsmen and doesn't like hemalurgy. In character.

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Archer
I put the out-of-character discussion in a quote box

[MacThorstenson]

1 hour ago, DarthWoodrack said:

Walker runs into the ballroom with his sentinel jacket blaring behind him his helmet forming on his head and attempts to punch @MacThorstenson in the face at supersonic speeds that @MacThorstenson could not possibly block. 

 

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Ya done goofed bud. But I won’t kill him.

this isn’t Mack you are attacking. This is my first RP character recently revived, he’s not on the character list. His names Mac.

Finally, your arm hitting my face at supersonic speeds will shatter your bones in your fist and arm. I hope you can heal from that.

Mac sees a blur charge toward his face and reflexively compounds gold as the fist  smashes into his face, breaking his skull and causing brain damage. Huh, first an arm gets teleported into my head, and then I get punched in the face. Seems like a day for head injuries. Thankfully, feruchemic gold works fast and heals the damage. Mac flies backward from the momentum of the punch. 

By the time he lands, Macs eyes are healed enough to see the mans crushed arm and the rest of him. 

Mac quickly draws in the one power and forms weaves of air to bind the mans feet and arms. Seeing his sentinel coat, Mac assumes that this unfortunate soul was sent to deal with Mac.

Standing up and brushing off, Mac asks

“Can I ask what you are doing here? Trying to punch me like that? It’s downright rude to break a mans monocle you know.” He then turned around and told the newly arrived eldritch horrors to collect as many of @Dwig Jigdenss flyers as they could. No way the DA was passing up on this deal. 

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I will deal with the other stuff in a later post.

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by MacThorstenson

[Snipexe]

The creatures lifted off into the air, and swooped down to pick up the pamphlets, ripping them out of the hands of the bystanders who’d attempted to take them for themselves. They deposited the stack in front of Mac

[Darth Woodrack]

23 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Ya done goofed bud. But I won’t kill him.

this isn’t Mack you are attacking. This is my first RP character recently revived, he’s not on the character list. His names Mac.

Finally, your arm hitting my face at supersonic speeds will shatter your bones in your fist and arm. I hope you can heal from that.

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Walker is double steel. He's just moving faster than everyone else, but doesn't follow the laws of momentum. You still fly backwards and all of the other stuff, but Walkers arm doesn't shatter. I'm mean he did just punch one of the most powerful beings in existence so that doesn't really matter.

"Well I'm screwed," Walker says before vanishing. An eldritch abomination gets flung into a wall before it could reach one of the guests and before it can get up has a katana through its chest and walker is standing over it. Then the dust that he had displaced in his original movement hit the ground. He removed his sword from it's back and decapitated it as it lunged for him. He than disappears and the returned home.