The Ghostblood Ball

[Cyanic]

Cenet didn't like being 'killed' neither was he a fighter, that meant he had no reason to be here right now. He stood up and found a different room to retreat to. Leaning against the wall and waiting for the commotion to die down.

[Voidus]

As the main body caught fire, several other people also rushed in to combat the creature. Cutting it to pieces, burning it with powers of their own. Some retreated back to a safe distance or seemed to be waiting the combat out.

Just then, Laurelai felt a familiar surge of Investiture from within.

Suddenly she lost her footing, slipping and falling onto the ground with a soft thunk. Her hand slid along the floor as well, feeling the thin sheen of grease that now covered the floor.

Well that's not the worst thing that could have happened. She thought, watching as a few other guests also tripped and slid across the now slick flooring of the ballroom.

[MetaTerminal]

Alum had been temporarily distracted, but as the monster caught fire it drew his attention.

Interesting. A mass of rope, coiling and killing as one massive hivemind? That must have taken a large amount of Breaths to pull off. He stood, summoned his Shardblade, and immediately fell flat on his face as the floor became frictionless.

Storms. I was never very good at ice skating. Alum scrambled for a wall, planning to push himself against it to get momentum, but ended up pinwheeling on the spot, his chair spinning away.

[I Am Witless]

The spiders quickly webbed the young man in his shock suit to a pillar so that he wouldn't slip.

"Beat 'em up!" He yelled.

[+Sorana]

Althea followed Night over to the monster, trying to keep track how many people already attacked. It was strong, the fact, that is was still allive, made her proud. It shouldn't have been here, but in the end it didn't matter. It would be interessting to see how long it was able to hold out against so many.

Summoning Brashen as a halberd she ran forward and aimed the pointed end at a point deep inside the twisting mass of lines.

@I think I am here. @PrinceDusty

[I think I am here.]

6 hours ago, AxeliustheGreat said:

She Commanded the ropes to release her

Quote

Umm, I don’t think you can just Command Awakened ropes to release you if you didn’t Awaken them. Still, let’s say it dropped you anyway.

Also, did Voidus just coat the whole floor in flammable liquid in the middle of a fire? Noice.

The Monster raged on. It grabbed a random person and threw them  against the wall. Their bones cracked, and the Monster resumed its attack. Suddenly, it was on fire, the ropes making up its body lighting fire and burning. The Monster did not feel emotion and it did not fear pain, but it knew fire would kill it and wanted to finish off this party before that happened.

The Monster saw as a few of its ropes whithered away. Multiple surges of Division and Aon Sheo working in unison, all at once. A few of its ropes got chopped clean in half by Shard-weapons, and a few more go destroyed through other means.

It had a secret, though.

***

Lusk woke up with a groan as he saw what was taking place. A monster, attacking the party. But that wasn’t what interested him. What interested him was the Breaths.

Every time a rope ‘died’, instead of the Breath going back into the Spiritual Realm where it belonged, it went back to one of the non-destroyed ropes! So in the whole battle thus far, with as many ropes destroyed as there were, not one Breath had actually been wasted. They were all being transferred to the alive ropes at death, making them stronger and more lifelike.

Lusk’s eyes widened. The Ghostblood engineers, they’d mastered the Command! They’d been planning for their weapons to do this all the way since the Seven Day War. It seemed their Awakeners had improved over the 16 Year Peace.

As more ropes died the alive ones grew stronger with their Breaths, and when the Monster seemed to have almost 10 ropes left of its body, it split and attacked multiple targets at once.

***

The Monster was strong. Though it had originally been bigger, now all the energy used in keeping it alived was supercharging what was left. Suddenly, when it was low on numbers, the Monster split its 10 ropes.

Each attacked a different target that had been fighting the Monster. With each rope being faster and a small target, it was a surprising move.

But while nine ropes attacked and distracted the party-goers now, the tenth one fled back into the hole it had created when it had entered, fleeing before anyone could comprehend its departure.

[Gancho Libre]

Ioc paused. It had brought Riathor into one of the small rooms on the side, but there seemed to be a disturbance in the main room.

"Wait here," Ioc ordered, then vanished.

~~~~~

"Right," Riathor muttered. "As if,"

He opened the side door of the room and plunged down the hallway to the ballroom.

What he saw amazed him. Nine swinging ropes seemed to be attacking the party guests!

Riathor sighed. "You know," he said to himself, "I had come here to relax,"

Shaking his head, he stepped onto the ballroom floor.

And slipped.

Right. He flared Steel and launched into the air.

~~~~~~~

Ioc reappeared in the air over the center of the ballroom, which was, strangely, directly over what seemed to be a swirling mass of ropes which swung at the guests. The ropes moved inhumanly(?) quick, entangling and ensnaring guests. 

Also, it was on fire.

Also, there seemed to be either a) no friction or b ) a coating of oil on the floor.

Ioc shook his head. Whatever was happening was obviously out of everyone else's control. 

Ioc fell onto the Awakened beast. If only it had a Shardblade.

Immediately, one of the ropes came up to meet Ioc. Ioc smiled as the rope wrapped around its form.

Ioc Adhesed the rope to its body, the Lashed itself away, yanking the rope out of the mass.

Ioc forced itself to think of the rope being external to its body and teleported, leaving the wriggling rope behind.

Then, Ioc pulled out its Firebringer's Lens and gave it the once-over.

~~~~~~

Riathor saw Ioc do this and smiled. A being that powerful could only take on one rope at a time?

Riathor flew to the mass of ropes, the above it to the chandelier that hung over it.

Riathor smiled, burned Duralumin and Settlpushed on the part where the chair attached to the structure.

Riathor flew into the ceiling and hit hard. he flared Pewter to keep from crushing himself.

The chandelier groaned, then snapped free, falling onto the ropes beneath. Not all of the ropes were crushed and/or severed, as the mass was wider than the chandelier itself, and no guests were harmed as far as Riathor could see, but still, that trick knocked out quite a few of the awakened monstrosities.

'Take that, Ioc.'

~~~~~~~~~

Ioc gaped. When did Riathor get so... awesome?

Anyway, There were still several ropes to be dealt with. They looked to be even more agile and strong.

Ioc thought, then smiled. It pulled out its Bestower's Lens.

And gave the ropes Ioc stillness.

In an instant, Ioc's arms and legs were flailing around, and Ioc collapsed on the floor. It could still see, however, that the ropes were frozen in midair. That should make it easier to kill them.

Ioc's flailing took his gaze from the beast for a second, and the Bestowing lost its connection.

Ioc jerked its head back to the ropes, and all fell still again.

except, for, of course, Ioc.

"Hurry!" it said through clenched teeth. "I can't hold it for long!"

Quote

You have exaclty thirty seconds to kill the non-moving ropes before they resume their attack.

 

[Ink]

Rilu watched the fight, trying not to slip. Nine of the original large mass of snope remained, and somehow, by flailing his arms crazily, he had frozen the ropes. Rilu sucked in Stormlight from a nearby sphere, then, trying out his second surge, Cohesion, he made the ground beneath him solid. He took a step, and did the same thing. He could actually walk across the oily floor, by causing rit to bind to itself. He ran towards the ropes, pulling out his knife. It wasn't time to be a coward. He slashed one, and moved to cut another.

Quote

I think this is how cohesion could work, partly, right? 

 

[xinoehp512]

Nogard strode into the hall, Soulcasting the oil under his foot into air as he walked. People sure seemed to be upset about something, given the general mayhem. He took an apple out of his pocket and chewed on it thoughtfully.

[+ElephantEarwax]

Groot, comes back into the room, and seeing the monster, begins to pull pieces from the floorand throw them towards the beast. "I am GROOT!"

[Cyanic]

Cenet heard the commotion die down and he stepped out back into the main chamber. As soon as he step foot, a piece of Awakened rope bound itself to his walking stick and started constricting. Good thing too, if it tried to suffocate him, while he wouldn't sustain any damage, he would look ridiculous with a length of rope being tied onto his unseen head. Looking ridiculous sometimes made people see someone as more relatable or approachable, but other times they'd just stop taking you seriously. So he tried to avoid ridiculous situations as much as possible, which wasn't too hard at the least.

He looked around and saw that some other ropes were being dispatched fairly easily, which was good. The nature of the rope-beast looked like Awakening, or BioChroma, whatever people wanted to call it, though that usually didn't happen, that hivemind behaviour.

He Highcalled more Knowledge to ascertain the exact nature of the ropes. They were apparently enhanced entities that were capable of passing their own Breaths to others of their cluster, likely even to other things. The exact command was also placed in his mind, though that was also a variable, interestingly. Soon this 'verse was going to create homunculi and artificial intelligences, exciting for someone he was sure, but just mildly interesting for Cenet himself.

He thought of asking one of the more combat-ready attendants to rid of the rope around his walking cane but as he looked at it, it seemed an interesting accessory, so he decided to keep it on for now until he decides to keep it more permanently or to clean it later.

-

@Life&Death

He walked over to someone who was also sitting in a chair, a man who looked a bit on the old side, at least for human standards, but was interesting as he was sitting out the commotion. He Highcalled to know what the man's abilities were, since he was particularly interesting. He couldn't Highcall Knowledge to read the man's mind, to know his past, where he was, to know of his plans, or even his name, as those were all dynamic truths, ever-changing.

He was a dragon, particularly a dragon from this 'verse, or specifically from the Cosmere section of this 'verse. While their fundamental nature was a slight variable, he did note that his abilities were that of other dragons from other 'verses, give or take some differences.

Cenet started making conversation, "good evening," he said, then gestured at the empty spot a chair's space away from the man, "is this seat taken? I'd like to speak with you about business but would prefer to be seated for such," he concluded with a polite chuckle, the singular rope-beast still trying to strangle his walking cane.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Cyanic

[+Ark1002]

It ignored the flaming oil covering the floor. It had seen worse, much worse. It walked up to it, summoning a shardblade.

"Meet Vortex. He will end your misery."

It cut, dividing and activating his most dangerous Aons, all on his spren.

The creature perished as he lept away.

[+Sorana]

7 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

The Monster raged on. It grabbed a random person and threw them  against the wall. Their bones cracked, and the Monster resumed its attack.

Quote

Cool, that's me

Althea felt some vines grab her and then she flew through the room. Instinktively she breathed in stormlight and crashed into the wall with a sickening sound. She felt some of her bones give way and her world turned black for a moment. Then she hit the floor. It hurt, hurt even more as she landed on some of her broken bones. Gasping in pain she struggled to keep concious, thankful for the stormlight raging through her body. It took a few moments for the pain to subside and another few until she was able to pull out more spheres to breathe in. At least it felt like moments for her. When she was able to get to her feet, the monster looked a lot less threatening than before. Typical her to miss most of the fun. Slowly she walked over, carefull to hide the fact, that she was still hurting. She would wait and see, if it was neccessary for her to resume fighting, or if the problem just got solved.

[Life&Death]

3 hours ago, Cyanic said:

Cenet started making conversation, "good evening," he said, then gestured at the empty spot a chair's space away from the man, "is this seat taken? I'd like to speak with you about business but would prefer to be seated for such," he concluded with a polite chuckle, the singular rope-beast still trying to strangle his walking cane.

“Feel free, good sir. I never discuss business without some chocolate, would you like some?” Reaching into his suit, Mr Amber  pulled out a small bag. “My name is Mr Amber. What is yours?”

[old man moomba]

Rick wandered over to the food, that monster was boring. He began to pour an exact decalitre of every drink on the drinks table into his flask. He then turned to his quarterstaff "well, this is boring. Every time I try to get free food, something has to happen." Rick nodded to himself, then yelled "!sdraY cibuC" and tossed the staff up. The staff fell back down. "Dangg, I forgot. Here we go. !sdraY cibuC .ot uoy llet I esoht dna em dnefeD !sdraY cibuC" then tossed the staff up again, it then exploded into about a thousand tiny Lifeless snakes, which formed a  protective barrier around Rick. 

[Cyanic]

Just now, Life&Death said:

“Feel free, good sir. I never discuss business without some chocolate, would you like some?” Reaching into his suit, Mr Amber  pulled out a small bag. “My name is Mr Amber. What is yours?”

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Amber," Cenet bowed, "my name is Cenet," he said as he sat down, taking a piece of chocolate in an invisible hand, which gave the effect of the candy piece just floating up. Cenet had tried to eat before, some 'verses ago. It passed through his self uneventfully, but he was sure the process of eating itself was a variable for him. He'd even Highcalled that and even the variability of it was a variable.

He shrugged, not giving it much thought as he shoved the chocolate into his unseen face, the candy disappearing, like being hidden behind a piece of cloth that was invisible but not transparent. There was no taste, nor even any sensation. Well, it didn't matter much anyway.

"So, as I said with business," he begun, having just disappeared the chocolate, "I am a ...man?" he paused, "... a sapient, that deals in information. and I'd thought to come to speak with you as you seem interesting and I believe you have much information on various topics that you can trade me, but before that as a sample to entice your patronage, sir, you may ask me any question regarding anything, of yourself, of the world. If I'm unable to answer, you may ask another one," he said all this with a smile in his voice and a polite tone, as his face couldn't be seen.

[PrinceDusty]

Night growled as he slid past the beast. He stopped using Abrasion and turned, then used the Surge again and slid back, repeating the same motions he had gone through before. His Shardblade severed ropes, the resonance of Division and Abrasion burned them and turned them to dust.

[I Am Witless]

The young man couldn't see what was going on from his position stuck to the back of the pillar, but he continued to call out encouragement.

"Put 'em in an Iron Maiden! Kick 'em in the crotch! Blow them up!" His head started banging up and down, and then he started singing.

"SOOOOOOOO understaaaaaaaaand, don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years. Face uuuuuup, make your staaaaaand and realize you're living in the golden years." He then fervently played riffs on an air guitar, a difficult thing to do when your arms are stuck to stone.

[Ink]

The frozen ropes released, just as Rilu elsecalled to the cognitive realm. There, he could see the ropes, though they were bright lines, and when one dissapeared, the light moved to the remaining ones. A strong Investiture powered it, then. Rilu elsecalled back, right behind a pillar. He stuck the oil together beneath his feet, and would stay here until the battle was over.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Tena realized that her pants were a little singed. She kind of thought that that sucked. She patiently waited for somebody to just freaking slay the snake. 

"Hello," she said to Silas's date, holding out her hand. 

[I think I am here.]

One by one, each of the nine attacking ropes got demolished. Only the tenth, which had escaped through its initial tunnel, had escaped before it could be destroyed. That was good. It meant that this rope, the last remaining of the Snope, held all the Breaths that originally made it up. All 1,291. In one rope.

That was good. No Breath had been wasted. It meant another Snope could be made with the same Breaths.

The rope wandered down the tunnel and dissapeared.

***

Lusk was fully conscious as the Snope was killed. He saw how each fighter, with their own unique powers, took it down. Useful. But now, lots of the interior was broken. That’s wasn’t good. Signalling some Ghostblood underlinings to fix this place, Lusk stood on a chair to address everyone.

“Hello all! We are very sorry at this problem coming up. It’s highly unprofessional, and we hope you can forgive us for it.

“It appears as though the Snope was part of some... containment breach. Luckily, it’s one of our weakest monsters in our arsenal, so hopefully no one got too hurt.

Lusk looked around. “So again, thank you for taking the Monster down, please don’t think anything of it, and we’ll make sure to upgrade our containment procedures.”

And update our Monster, he thought to himself with a little smile. Now that we know all the ways you fight a Snope, the next one won’t nearly be as easy.

Lusk took a deep breath. “But there is something good to come out of this! As you probably know, the Ghostbloods have some of the finest drinks, and most of them we only serve in the heat of action! So, due to our condolences, please accept one of the best drinks we have, on the house!”

He signalled for some underlings to pass the drinks around. He neglected to mention they each had a light amnesiac in them. If all went to Plan, they wouldn’t even remember they fought something.

As the drinks got passed around, Lusk looked at the 5 Ghostbloods who’s been tasked with fixing the ball. They were the best of the best. One of them was a Forger, and the others were all Nicrobursts. Lusk saw as they all grabbed onto the Soulstamp the Forger held, and flared its power immensely as the Forger pressed it into the ground.

Immediatly, the Ball fixed itself as a wave of light washed over it from the stamp. Floorboards got fixed, the ground wasn’t frictionless, the chandelier had never been broken, there was no gaping hole in the ground. Everything was as it was just before the Monster had come. A broken thing couldn’t be seen.

Cotton-Eye Joe started playing.

“Enjoy the Ball!” Lusk said, walking to the side of the ballroom again.

Edited October 10, 2018 by I think I am here.

[MacThorstenson]

In the aftermath of the fight, Mac still sat, puzzled by the appearance of the thing.

The ghostbloods weren't that incompetent, They were incompetent, but not that incompetent. Looking at the GB in charge, he saw him give a little smile.

So it was purposeful, interesting. Why would they invite everyone to a ball, then unleash a monster? Well, if you throw a ball and invite possible enemies, then you invited them to get information, about plans and stuff, then everything that happens is to get more information. I wouldn't be surprised if the private rooms are being watched, and the food that everyone's taking is being tracked. They probably released to monster so that we could fight it, and they could watch us fight it. And why do that, unless they want to have that information on hand? and soon? Because people's fighting styles change with time. The GB's are definitely planning something again. Ooh, I do love political intrigue. Mac walked over to Mack, who was taking his armor out of defense mode, and whispered in his ear: "Everything you do is being watched, don't talk to me anymore. Meet me in the alley." With that, Mac continued to enjoy himself, invisible to any heathens without spikes.

[PrinceDusty]

Night blinked. Everything had returned to normal, and he wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole interruption. He looked around for whoever needed help, but no one seemed to be severely injured and unable to heal themselves- not that his Dustbringer surges would be able to help, anyway. In fact, a few Homeless appeared to have been ignoring the fight entirely. 

His thoughts turned to Lusk, of the Ghostblood Council. The Ghostbloods must have had bigger plans going on than what Night knew about. He was slightly annoyed, as he figured that as the Representative to the other guilds, he should know the full intent of the Ghostbloods as to more clearly communicate their needs. 

Night drank one of the glasses of egg nog being passed around. Cotton-Eye Joe was starting to get old, so he signaled to the musicians through a combination of American Sign Language and Aviar noises to change the song to Local Long Distance Relationship by Saint Motel.

 

Sigh. As his duty as Ghostbloods PR required, he started working his way around the ballroom, apologizing to the guests. He found Rilu hiding behind a pillar and introduced himself. @Inklingspren

Edited October 10, 2018 by PrinceDusty

[Silva]

Mejin raised an eyebrow at the guy who stood up on a chair's words. Weakest monster? She very much doubted that. That was a classic move - say something is your worst when it's one of the better. Easier to cause worry. Mejin mentally noted to look more into creatures. Investiture she had finally gotten down, but dangerous sentient things she had yet to get around to. 

No sign remained of the attack, to her surprise. Soulcasting and Forgery could be good, but to get that perfect took talent Mejin figured the Ghostbloods were going all out, trying desperately to intimidate the guests. Strategic, but risky. She could respect that.

Despite the fact that the worst had likely passed, Mejin stayed where she was. Out of the way.

[Ink]

29 minutes ago, PrinceDusty said:

Night blinked. Everything had returned to normal, and he wasn't quite sure what to think of the whole interruption. He looked around for whoever needed help, but no one seemed to be severely injured and unable to heal themselves- not that his Dustbringer surges would be able to help, anyway. In fact, a few Homeless appeared to have been ignoring the fight entirely. 

His thoughts turned to Lusk, of the Ghostblood Council. The Ghostbloods must have had bigger plans going on than what Night knew about. He was slightly annoyed, as he figured that as the Representative to the other guilds, he should know the full intent of the Ghostbloods as to more clearly communicate their needs. 

Night drank one of the glasses of egg nog being passed around. Cotton-Eye Joe was starting to get old, so he signaled to the musicians through a combination of American Sign Language and Aviar noises to change the song to Local Long Distance Relationship by Saint Motel.

 

Sigh. As his duty as Ghostbloods PR required, he started working his way around the ballroom, apologizing to the guests. He found Rilu hiding behind a pillar and introduced himself. @Inklingspren

"Hello," Rilu replied, simply. After everything had been fixed, he had been about to take out his book. It would have to wait, though. Again.