Era 9 Episode 2

[Qianweilian He/him]

13 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Eza froze. She’d hoped he wouldn’t recognize her. That was a foolish hope.

”We… worked together, briefly.”

Perses and Asylum didn’t exactly end things on the best of terms, considering that the former had blown a hole in the latter’s head. Hopefully his animosity towards them didn’t extend to her. She’d outright thanked him for killing Asylum, so maybe that counted for something.

She tried not to think about Asylum. That meant thinking about the monster they’d made her into. The face she didn’t quite recognize in the mirror anymore.

@Qianweilian

@Through the Living Mist

@Steel Speedster

@Koloss17

14 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Midas, New Hallandren, Garrison

The entire garrison was in chaos. An attack like this had happened before, quite recently in fact. But the people who had done that weren't soulcasters. With how paranoid the guard was lately, the only reason Midas could fathom such a thing could happen was someone that had an inside source. However, such a thing wasn't worth worrying about right now. 

Most of the enforcers were off on patrol, but they would be back any minute now that the awakened alarms had gone off. Each officer had a small chip that reacted immediately if there was an emergency like this, pinging them to return to base. It was installed in the standard uniform quite recently, and had never actually been used until now. Midas hoped it had worked.

Until then, it was up to him to stall the intruders until backup arrived. Heading to the prison center, which mercifully remained intact due to the aluminum lining, he quickly was face to face with the intruder. Black, marbled skin, the intruder ran with what appeared to be murderous intent, straight at him. Though he had only read reports of him, and seen the man in low quality camera feed, he knew that this fused was Ebon.

Wasting no time, Midas flung his awakened rope-dart at the fused, hastily commanding it to go for the eyes, along with sending a separate command to the awakened grenades under his shirt to arm themselves.

@KnightSkye Reforged @Through the Living Ink @Through The Living KSauce

Perses, Smokestack

Perses, quite frankly, had no interest in getting involved in any of what was going on. That was, until he noticed that he recognized one of their voices. A girl's, who burned iron brighter than any person he had ever encountered. Directing his query at the girl, whose name he had since forgot, he spoke with more genuine curiosity than he expected.

"Don't I know you?"

By the time the words escaped his lips, he remembered where he knew her from. An old acquaintance of his had brought her along, to a heist so very long ago. "You're Asylum's kid, aren't you?"

@Lunamor @Qianweilian @Through the Living Mist @Steel Speedster

18 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Eza flinched when she heard the thud of something impacting against the rim of the trapdoor. Based on some tiny lines leading to pewter dust below her, that was Fenna. She resisted the urge to slam the trapdoor shut on her fingers. She might need to rely on Fenna’s mercy later. 

She looked over at the person in the street when she heard her rescuer question him. He was spiked, one in each eye. Those were familiar spikes. 

Perses.

She knew this creature. The first thing that she’d seen him do was murder people. The last thing that she’d seen him do was order monsters to murder people. The fighting had destroyed the constabulary it took place in, causing it to collapse on most of the people the monsters hadn’t killed. One of them was her friend. 

This was the monster who had killed Eighth. Her hands tightened into fists, and she again wished for her daggers. She wondered how hard it would be to pry the spikes from his eye sockets out with her fingernails.

Then she looked at the man next to her, the person who had risked his freedom, and probably life, to rescue her. If she tried to strike out at Perses, he’d surely try to kill them both, and most likely succeed. She wouldn’t let him kill this man too.

Eza looked up at her rescuer, speaking softly but urgently.

“That man is more dangerous than those behind us. We need to leave now.”

She looked around, orienting herself. She recognized the clothing shop across the street- she’d nabbed a particularly nice belt buckle from it.

“I know where to go.”

@Steel Speedster

@Through the Living Mist

@Koloss17

@Qianweilian

 

20 hours ago, Steel Speedster said:

Thav, Smokestack

Thav froze as he felt an Allomantic signature nearby. Whoever it was was burning multiple metals. Thav could make out steel and bronze. That meant would have detected him as well. More than one metal almost certainly meant Hemalurgy. Had he been tracked?

Thav tapped zinc, thinking through his options, before extinguishing his metals. He was now blind to the other Allomancer's movements, but hopefully they were just as blind to his.

@Koloss17

 

Fenna, Underground

Dashing down the hall, Fenna saw Aradan and Eza reach a ladder. With a flare of pewter, she pushed herself even faster. Unfortunately, while her light weight made it easier to propel herself, it also made her more susceptible to drag, limiting her speed.

As she reached the end of the hallway, she saw Eza disappear through a trapdoor at the top of the ladder. With a flare of pewter, Fenna launched herself upward, grabbing onto the rim of the trapdoor.

@Qianweilian @Lunamor @Through the Living Mist

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

The spiked man didn’t respond at all to a gun pointed in his face. He must be able to burn steel! Instead, he talked to the recently rescued prisoner. Who was Asylum? What an odd name. Regardless, they were still being chased. Carefully stepping towards the woman, Aradan put his hand on her shoulder. “We have to leave. Now. We’re still being chased. You said you know a place to go?”

@Lunamor @Koloss17 @Through the Living Mist @Steel Speedster

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

12 hours ago, Through The Living KSauce said:

Starseeker, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison

Starseeker followed Limel slowly, his eyebrows furrowed as he focused his Life Sense on two beings with considerable levels of Investiture. Eventually, he realised that they were Ebon and Midas, and he felt Midas' Investiture drop. Awakening.

10 hours ago, Through the Living Ink said:

 

Cayansa, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

The late arrival was calling instructions over the smoke like a rapidly flashing spanreed - inefficient, but at least you knew someone was there. Cayansa covered their mouth with their sleeve and followed. Aluminium? Again? What is it?

Reyx, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Reyx hovered in the smoke, invisible to the eye but, unfortunately, well aware there were people around who could detect Investiture. Midas and Ebon were outside the prison centre; the Fused already had traces of blood on his hands.

Oh. Reyx thought, followed by, He'll be fine, followed by, Both of these people have been nothing but kind, even if one's a Fused and the Garrison weren't the most useful. Why is everything so complicated?

... Where's the Soulcaster, anyway?

The mistspren hesitated, looking at the conflict that was unfolding, then began to focus on detecting other uses of Investiture nearby - difficult, given the amount of ... Awakening, had they called it? But most of that was from inside the Garrison. There was a faint pulse from where one of the outside walls had been. 

@KnightSkye Reforged @Koloss17 @Through The Living Coder @Through The Living KSauce @Slay the Living Hoid

 

Quote

Okay so first thing's first Ebon was already within the aluminum structure when he ran into Midas. So I'mma say Limel, Midas, and the others all went in together and then Midas headed off to face Ebon

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel guided the others through the fog. Seconds passed, and for a bit, he worried he was taking them in the wrong direction. But then the smoke parted, and the wall was there. Coughing and covering his eyes, he ran over to a circular gate and pressed his palm to it. The device read his signature, and parted to allow them in. Once they were all in, the metal door shut behind them.

There was little smoke inside. They were standing in a brightly lit corridor, with heavy alarms going off. Somewhere nearby, Limel heard a scream, and felt his spine straighten. He turned to the others just in time to see Midas run off. Limel didn't know where he was going, but had no intention of following him. Midas would head straight towards the danger; Limel didn't very much like that idea, thank you very much.

So instead, he looked at the radiants clustered around him, and feeling distinctly overwhelmed, tried to give a reassuring smile.

14 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Midas, New Hallandren, Garrison

The entire garrison was in chaos. An attack like this had happened before, quite recently in fact. But the people who had done that weren't soulcasters. With how paranoid the guard was lately, the only reason Midas could fathom such a thing could happen was someone that had an inside source. However, such a thing wasn't worth worrying about right now. 

Most of the enforcers were off on patrol, but they would be back any minute now that the awakened alarms had gone off. Each officer had a small chip that reacted immediately if there was an emergency like this, pinging them to return to base. It was installed in the standard uniform quite recently, and had never actually been used until now. Midas hoped it had worked.

Until then, it was up to him to stall the intruders until backup arrived. Heading to the prison center, which mercifully remained intact due to the aluminum lining, he quickly was face to face with the intruder. Black, marbled skin, the intruder ran with what appeared to be murderous intent, straight at him. Though he had only read reports of him, and seen the man in low quality camera feed, he knew that this fused was Ebon.

Wasting no time, Midas flung his awakened rope-dart at the fused, hastily commanding it to go for the eyes, along with sending a separate command to the awakened grenades under his shirt to arm themselves.

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon stopped as the Awakener turned a corner before him. He smiled. Finally, a challenge. Ebon reached down to his hip, ripping out his second dagger from where it was stabbed into his flesh. His blood spurted out onto the floor, and the pain cleared his vision. Ebon adapted a defensive stance. As much as he would like to enjoy this fight, his time was still running out. It would only be a matter of time before the Crimson Breath came for the operative. So this would need to be quick.

The rope-dart came flashing at him, and Ebon lunged forward, slipping underneath it and slashing up with his daggers to slice the awakened weapon. Then he rolled, and ran towards Midas.

Quote

I'm good finding out about what Midas has got as we go along. I do want to ask, however, how you want this to go down. Cause I'm pretty set on getting Ebon to that cell.

 

[Koloss17 She/They]

4 hours ago, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel guided the others through the fog. Seconds passed, and for a bit, he worried he was taking them in the wrong direction. But then the smoke parted, and the wall was there. Coughing and covering his eyes, he ran over to a circular gate and pressed his palm to it. The device read his signature, and parted to allow them in. Once they were all in, the metal door shut behind them.

There was little smoke inside. They were standing in a brightly lit corridor, with heavy alarms going off. Somewhere nearby, Limel heard a scream, and felt his spine straighten. He turned to the others just in time to see Midas run off. Limel didn't know where he was going, but had no intention of following him. Midas would head straight towards the danger; Limel didn't very much like that idea, thank you very much.

So instead, he looked at the radiants clustered around him, and feeling distinctly overwhelmed, tried to give a reassuring smile.

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon stopped as the Awakener turned a corner before him. He smiled. Finally, a challenge. Ebon reached down to his hip, ripping out his second dagger from where it was stabbed into his flesh. His blood spurted out onto the floor, and the pain cleared his vision. Ebon adapted a defensive stance. As much as he would like to enjoy this fight, his time was still running out. It would only be a matter of time before the Crimson Breath came for the operative. So this would need to be quick.

The rope-dart came flashing at him, and Ebon lunged forward, slipping underneath it and slashing up with his daggers to slice the awakened weapon. Then he rolled, and ran towards Midas.

 

Quote

Hey, whatever you want to happen can happen. Midas is an NPC, here to help forward your character. If you want to get out unscathed, that can happen. If you want to be battered and bruised by the time things settle, that can also happen. I have no attachment to Midas, so if you want him to be killed off, that’s fine by me. Perhaps you could elaborate in DMs how you want this fight to go down?

Midas, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon sliced at the rope, fraying it. Awakening strengthened objects, but they could only be strengthened so well. With the strands of rope still holding on to the light dagger at the end of it, Midas pulled back on the rope dart, giving it another immediate cast with one hand. With the other, Midas threw one of his grenades, which exploded in a flash of light directly in front of him. This one only let out a small blast, and one that likely wouldn’t deal any real damage. Instead, within the capsule was a reinforced rope mesh designed to constrict and hold on contact with a person. It was built to withstand a shardblade slice, so Ebon’s daggers shouldn’t even scratch it. 

[Lunamor she/her]

6 hours ago, Qianweilian said:

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

The spiked man didn’t respond at all to a gun pointed in his face. He must be able to burn steel! Instead, he talked to the recently rescued prisoner. Who was Asylum? What an odd name. Regardless, they were still being chased. Carefully stepping towards the woman, Aradan put his hand on her shoulder. “We have to leave. Now. We’re still being chased. You said you know a place to go?”

@Lunamor @Koloss17 @Through the Living Mist @Steel Speedster

Eza jumped slightly at the hand on her shoulder. The man was right. She couldn’t afford to stop and talk to Perses.

”Follow me.”

She took off running towards the left, ironpulling on the largest blue line she could find to boost her speed. She was quickly beginning to tire, the past several days with very little food or sleep wearing on her. At this point, there was little chance of her outrunning her rescuer even with the use of iron.

@Qianweilian

@Koloss17

@Steel Speedster

@Through the Living Mist

Edited March 29 by Lunamor

[Hoid Slayer He/Him]

2 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Midas, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon sliced at the rope, fraying it. Awakening strengthened objects, but they could only be strengthened so well. With the strands of rope still holding on to the light dagger at the end of it, Midas pulled back on the rope dart, giving it another immediate cast with one hand. With the other, Midas threw one of his grenades, which exploded in a flash of light directly in front of him. This one only let out a small blast, and one that likely wouldn’t deal any real damage. Instead, within the capsule was a reinforced rope mesh designed to constrict and hold on contact with a person. It was built to withstand a shardblade slice, so Ebon’s daggers shouldn’t even scratch it. 

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

As the rope was suddenly pulled back, Ebon held tight to his dagger as his arm was wrenched toward Midas. With his superhuman strength, he was able to hold on, but as the last strands let go, he saw a chip of obsidian fly away with them. He growled, and strengthened his Rhythm.

As Midas smashed the grenade in front of him, Ebon knew what was coming - the Crimson Breath used similar tech - and so he immediately dove to the side, rolling towards the wall and just barely avoiding the mesh that would have adhered to his plate. Recovering quickly, now only a few meters in front of Midas, he leapt - prepared to stab his knives into his sides and shift before the killing blow.

Quote

Sending a PM

 

[Koloss17 She/They]

2 hours ago, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

As the rope was suddenly pulled back, Ebon held tight to his dagger as his arm was wrenched toward Midas. With his superhuman strength, he was able to hold on, but as the last strands let go, he saw a chip of obsidian fly away with them. He growled, and strengthened his Rhythm.

As Midas smashed the grenade in front of him, Ebon knew what was coming - the Crimson Breath used similar tech - and so he immediately dove to the side, rolling towards the wall and just barely avoiding the mesh that would have adhered to his plate. Recovering quickly, now only a few meters in front of Midas, he leapt - prepared to stab his knives into his sides and shift before the killing blow.

 

Ebon moved faster than Midas could react. But that's what the awakened armor was for. His cape wrapped around him in an instant, blocking the knives before they tore into his flesh. Blood pumping, Midas burned chromium and launched a punch at the fused's face.

Growing up in the streets of Luthadel changed a man. Made him tougher, angrier, more resilient. He had learned how to fight before he learned to read, and he learned how to take a beating before he learned to speak properly. He'd never known his mum, nor his dad, with the only family he ever had being himself. After surviving the streets, surviving the pits, surviving his whole world shattering in the blink of an eye more times than he could count, nothing scared him anymore. And definitely not some bedtime story Rosharans would tell their kids before they went to sleep. He had fought worse and survived. How bad could this one be?

4 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Eza jumped slightly at the hand on her shoulder. The man was right. She couldn’t afford to stop and talk to Perses.

”Follow me.”

She took off running towards the left, ironpulling on the largest blue line she could find to boost her speed. She was quickly beginning to tire, the past several days with very little food or sleep wearing on her. At this point, there was little chance of her outrunning her rescuer even with the use of iron.

@Qianweilian

@Koloss17

@Steel Speedster

@Through the Living Mist

Perses, Smokestack

He watched as the young iron savant rocketed away. The constables were getting closer, and Perses didn't feel the need to be here when they turned the corner. Dropping a coin, he steelpushed away, onto the rooftops. He wouldn't go unnoticed, not by a long shot. Given how noticeable his bone-laden cloak made him, and the fearsome reputation he had earned, he rarely felt the need to go unseen anymore. Perses' stealth no longer became about operating unseen, it rather became who saw him. And with a constabulary already chasing after someone, he felt pretty confident it wouldn't be them.

The rooftops of Smokestack weren't that much of a hidden place. The general populace had enough lurchers and coinshots that people had learned to glance up just as often as they glanced side to side. But that only mattered when the rooftop-goer in question needed to look over the edge. 

Staying to the centers of buildings, using his steelsight to stay out of any potential onlookers' line of sight, Perses carefully tracked the fleeing group, including the straggler. A pewter junky. One doesn't see those every day. As he followed, he made sure to stay aware of his surroundings, gathering as much intel as possible. While he didn't want to get involved, with a trio like this and a police chase underway, it never hurt to stay informed. I suppose food can wait for just a bit longer.

@Through the Living Mist @Qianweilian @Steel Speedster

[KaladinsSenseOfHumourSpren He/Him]

23 hours ago, Through the Living Ink said:

 

Cayansa, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

The late arrival was calling instructions over the smoke like a rapidly flashing spanreed - inefficient, but at least you knew someone was there. Cayansa covered their mouth with their sleeve and followed. Aluminium? Again? What is it?

Reyx, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Reyx hovered in the smoke, invisible to the eye but, unfortunately, well aware there were people around who could detect Investiture. Midas and Ebon were outside the prison centre; the Fused already had traces of blood on his hands.

Oh. Reyx thought, followed by, He'll be fine, followed by, Both of these people have been nothing but kind, even if one's a Fused and the Garrison weren't the most useful. Why is everything so complicated?

... Where's the Soulcaster, anyway?

The mistspren hesitated, looking at the conflict that was unfolding, then began to focus on detecting other uses of Investiture nearby - difficult, given the amount of ... Awakening, had they called it? But most of that was from inside the Garrison. There was a faint pulse from where one of the outside walls had been. 

@KnightSkye Reforged @Koloss17 @Through The Living Coder @Through The Living KSauce @Slay the Living Hoid

 

12 hours ago, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel guided the others through the fog. Seconds passed, and for a bit, he worried he was taking them in the wrong direction. But then the smoke parted, and the wall was there. Coughing and covering his eyes, he ran over to a circular gate and pressed his palm to it. The device read his signature, and parted to allow them in. Once they were all in, the metal door shut behind them.

There was little smoke inside. They were standing in a brightly lit corridor, with heavy alarms going off. Somewhere nearby, Limel heard a scream, and felt his spine straighten. He turned to the others just in time to see Midas run off. Limel didn't know where he was going, but had no intention of following him. Midas would head straight towards the danger; Limel didn't very much like that idea, thank you very much.

So instead, he looked at the radiants clustered around him, and feeling distinctly overwhelmed, tried to give a reassuring smile.

Starseeker, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison

"Where's he going?" Starseeker asked quickly, nodding to Midas. He kept his stormlight levels up so he that he didn't have to breathe in the smoke. His Life Sense told him that Midas was moving around another highly Invested soul. Starseeker also felt Midas' Investiture drop significantly, before rising for a short burst. Was he in a fight?

"Can you check what's going on?" he whispered to Crimson.

"Aluminium walls is; I cannot move through them," his inkspren replied.

@KnightSkye Reforged @Koloss17 @Through The Living Coder @Through the Living Ink @Slay the Living Hoid

Edited March 30 by Through The Living KSauce

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

13 hours ago, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel guided the others through the fog. Seconds passed, and for a bit, he worried he was taking them in the wrong direction. But then the smoke parted, and the wall was there. Coughing and covering his eyes, he ran over to a circular gate and pressed his palm to it. The device read his signature, and parted to allow them in. Once they were all in, the metal door shut behind them.

There was little smoke inside. They were standing in a brightly lit corridor, with heavy alarms going off. Somewhere nearby, Limel heard a scream, and felt his spine straighten. He turned to the others just in time to see Midas run off. Limel didn't know where he was going, but had no intention of following him. Midas would head straight towards the danger; Limel didn't very much like that idea, thank you very much.

So instead, he looked at the radiants clustered around him, and feeling distinctly overwhelmed, tried to give a reassuring smile.

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon stopped as the Awakener turned a corner before him. He smiled. Finally, a challenge. Ebon reached down to his hip, ripping out his second dagger from where it was stabbed into his flesh. His blood spurted out onto the floor, and the pain cleared his vision. Ebon adapted a defensive stance. As much as he would like to enjoy this fight, his time was still running out. It would only be a matter of time before the Crimson Breath came for the operative. So this would need to be quick.

The rope-dart came flashing at him, and Ebon lunged forward, slipping underneath it and slashing up with his daggers to slice the awakened weapon. Then he rolled, and ran towards Midas.

 

 

28 minutes ago, Through The Living KSauce said:

Starseeker, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison

"Where's he going?" Starseeker asked quickly, nodding to Midas. He kept his stormlight levels up so he that he didn't have to breathe in the smoke. His Life Sense told him that Midas was moving around another highly Invested soul. Starseeker also felt Midas' Investiture drop significantly, before rising for a short burst. Was he in a fight?

"Can you check what's going on?" he whispered to Crimson.

"Aluminium walls is; I cannot move through them," his inkspren replied.

@KnightSkye Reforged @Koloss17 @Through The Living Coder @Through the Living Ink @Slay the Living Hoid

Cayansa, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Cayansa followed Limel into a metal-lined room, glad to be able to stand without quite as large a risk of smoke inhalation. The note-taker from earlier smiled nervously at them; Cayansa got the impression he felt distinctly underqualified for this. That made two of them. 

"What's your name?" they asked him, trying not to let their voice shake. Where did my healing fabrial go? No one will be burned - unless the presumably-Lightweaver also brought a fight.

Cayansa gestured to the walls, which were made from a cold, silvery metal they'd never seen in such large quantities. "And is this made of ralkalest?"

@Through The Living Coder

Quote

Reyx (sort of Cayansa's mistspren) is trying to find the person who did the Soulcasting; would you like to RP with them or do you have other plans?

@Slay the Living Hoid @Koloss17 @KnightSkye Reforged @Through The Living KSauce

[Qianweilian He/him]

8 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Perses, Smokestack

He watched as the young iron savant rocketed away. The constables were getting closer, and Perses didn't feel the need to be here when they turned the corner. Dropping a coin, he steelpushed away, onto the rooftops. He wouldn't go unnoticed, not by a long shot. Given how noticeable his bone-laden cloak made him, and the fearsome reputation he had earned, he rarely felt the need to go unseen anymore. Perses' stealth no longer became about operating unseen, it rather became who saw him. And with a constabulary already chasing after someone, he felt pretty confident it wouldn't be them.

The rooftops of Smokestack weren't that much of a hidden place. The general populace had enough lurchers and coinshots that people had learned to glance up just as often as they glanced side to side. But that only mattered when the rooftop-goer in question needed to look over the edge. 

Staying to the centers of buildings, using his steelsight to stay out of any potential onlookers' line of sight, Perses carefully tracked the fleeing group, including the straggler. A pewter junky. One doesn't see those every day. As he followed, he made sure to stay aware of his surroundings, gathering as much intel as possible. While he didn't want to get involved, with a trio like this and a police chase underway, it never hurt to stay informed. I suppose food can wait for just a bit longer.

13 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Eza jumped slightly at the hand on her shoulder. The man was right. She couldn’t afford to stop and talk to Perses.

”Follow me.”

She took off running towards the left, ironpulling on the largest blue line she could find to boost her speed. She was quickly beginning to tire, the past several days with very little food or sleep wearing on her. At this point, there was little chance of her outrunning her rescuer even with the use of iron.

@Qianweilian

@Koloss17

@Steel Speedster

@Through the Living Mist

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

Aradan watched as the spiked man lifted up into the sky on a coin. Rusts. So he could burn steel. Glancing over, he saw the prisoner running hard. She was clearly exhausted and using iron to boost her.

Quickly, Aradan flared his pewter and dashed after her. Looking into the distance, he also pulled on a distant line. That's a nice trick. Easily keeping pace, he focused his attention on scanning their surroundings. Their pursuers were nowhere to be seen.

Glancing back, he saw the spiked man jumping over rooftops, trailing them at a distance. Aradan turned, "Hey, you. That man...the spiked one, is following us." This is quickly becoming the most interesting twenty four hours in my life.

@Koloss17@Lunamor@Steel Speedster@Through the Living Mist

[Koloss17 She/They]

Quote

@Steel Speedster I’m intrigued at how Thav might have reacted to all of this. I’ll probably wait until you respond to continue with Perses.

 

[Steel Speedster ♂]

17 hours ago, Lunamor said:

Eza jumped slightly at the hand on her shoulder. The man was right. She couldn’t afford to stop and talk to Perses.

”Follow me.”

She took off running towards the left, ironpulling on the largest blue line she could find to boost her speed. She was quickly beginning to tire, the past several days with very little food or sleep wearing on her. At this point, there was little chance of her outrunning her rescuer even with the use of iron.

@Qianweilian

@Koloss17

@Steel Speedster

@Through the Living Mist

12 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Ebon moved faster than Midas could react. But that's what the awakened armor was for. His cape wrapped around him in an instant, blocking the knives before they tore into his flesh. Blood pumping, Midas burned chromium and launched a punch at the fused's face.

Growing up in the streets of Luthadel changed a man. Made him tougher, angrier, more resilient. He had learned how to fight before he learned to read, and he learned how to take a beating before he learned to speak properly. He'd never known his mum, nor his dad, with the only family he ever had being himself. After surviving the streets, surviving the pits, surviving his whole world shattering in the blink of an eye more times than he could count, nothing scared him anymore. And definitely not some bedtime story Rosharans would tell their kids before they went to sleep. He had fought worse and survived. How bad could this one be?

Perses, Smokestack

He watched as the young iron savant rocketed away. The constables were getting closer, and Perses didn't feel the need to be here when they turned the corner. Dropping a coin, he steelpushed away, onto the rooftops. He wouldn't go unnoticed, not by a long shot. Given how noticeable his bone-laden cloak made him, and the fearsome reputation he had earned, he rarely felt the need to go unseen anymore. Perses' stealth no longer became about operating unseen, it rather became who saw him. And with a constabulary already chasing after someone, he felt pretty confident it wouldn't be them.

The rooftops of Smokestack weren't that much of a hidden place. The general populace had enough lurchers and coinshots that people had learned to glance up just as often as they glanced side to side. But that only mattered when the rooftop-goer in question needed to look over the edge. 

Staying to the centers of buildings, using his steelsight to stay out of any potential onlookers' line of sight, Perses carefully tracked the fleeing group, including the straggler. A pewter junky. One doesn't see those every day. As he followed, he made sure to stay aware of his surroundings, gathering as much intel as possible. While he didn't want to get involved, with a trio like this and a police chase underway, it never hurt to stay informed. I suppose food can wait for just a bit longer.

@Through the Living Mist @Qianweilian @Steel Speedster

3 hours ago, Qianweilian said:

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

Aradan watched as the spiked man lifted up into the sky on a coin. Rusts. So he could burn steel. Glancing over, he saw the prisoner running hard. She was clearly exhausted and using iron to boost her.

Quickly, Aradan flared his pewter and dashed after her. Looking into the distance, he also pulled on a distant line. That's a nice trick. Easily keeping pace, he focused his attention on scanning their surroundings. Their pursuers were nowhere to be seen.

Glancing back, he saw the spiked man jumping over rooftops, trailing them at a distance. Aradan turned, "Hey, you. That man...the spiked one, is following us." This is quickly becoming the most interesting twenty four hours in my life.

@Koloss17@Lunamor@Steel Speedster@Through the Living Mist

Fenna, Smokestack

Fenna froze, hanging on the edge of the trapdoor as she heard a new voice outside. She shivered, suddenly flashing back to the bloodstained floor of a constabulary and a horde of reanimated corpses.

Suddenly remembering that the Prince of the Alleys was supposed to be a Seeker, Fenna hurriedly extinguished her metals. Her fingers slipped as she suddenly became weak and heavy, but she caught onto the top rung of the ladder, keeping herself from falling. With great effort, she hoisted herself up and onto the floor of the building. Her vision fuzzed as exhaustion started to overwhelm her, and she lost track of the conversation outside.

Eventually, fearing she would lose consciousness, Fenna turned her pewter back on. Standing slowly, she saw that there was no one outside the building, but she caught a glimpse of two figures fleeing down the street ahead. There was no sign of Perses, and she half though she had imagined his presence. Gritting her teeth, she stored weight and started off after Aradan and Eza.

Thav, Smokestack

Thav began to creep in the opposite direction the pulses had come from but hesitated as he heard faint voices. One of them seemed familiar, but he couldn't make out any words. He glanced up and down the street. Seeing no one, he dropped a coin on the ground and jumped, Pushing off the coin to propel himself to the second story windowsill of a nearby building. Dropping another coin at his feet, he Pushed again as he hoisted himself up to the roof.

Moving in the direction the voices had come from, Thav placed another coin and leapt to another roof. He dropped low as a figure suddenly flew to the top of a building a block or so away. His blood went cold as he connected the pulses he had felt with the cloaked figure. This was not a safe place to be.

But he was fairly sure he had heard Aradan's voice nearby. Thav dared burn bronze.

He picked up four sets of pulses. Two people burning iron were moving swiftly away, followed by someone burning pewter. The other was the figure on the roof, burning bronze and steel.

Tapping zinc, he completed his analysis in an instant and quickly turned off his bronze again. If it was Aradan, Thav doubted he could catch up. He hoped that he hadn't been detected during his brief moment of power, but he reached for his aluminum pistol and began to scoot backwards.

@Qianweilian @Lunamor @Koloss17 @Through the Living Mist

[Lunamor she/her]

15 hours ago, Koloss17 said:

Perses, Smokestack

He watched as the young iron savant rocketed away. The constables were getting closer, and Perses didn't feel the need to be here when they turned the corner. Dropping a coin, he steelpushed away, onto the rooftops. He wouldn't go unnoticed, not by a long shot. Given how noticeable his bone-laden cloak made him, and the fearsome reputation he had earned, he rarely felt the need to go unseen anymore. Perses' stealth no longer became about operating unseen, it rather became who saw him. And with a constabulary already chasing after someone, he felt pretty confident it wouldn't be them.

The rooftops of Smokestack weren't that much of a hidden place. The general populace had enough lurchers and coinshots that people had learned to glance up just as often as they glanced side to side. But that only mattered when the rooftop-goer in question needed to look over the edge. 

Staying to the centers of buildings, using his steelsight to stay out of any potential onlookers' line of sight, Perses carefully tracked the fleeing group, including the straggler. A pewter junky. One doesn't see those every day. As he followed, he made sure to stay aware of his surroundings, gathering as much intel as possible. While he didn't want to get involved, with a trio like this and a police chase underway, it never hurt to stay informed. I suppose food can wait for just a bit longer.

@Through the Living Mist @Qianweilian @Steel Speedster

 

6 hours ago, Qianweilian said:

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

Aradan watched as the spiked man lifted up into the sky on a coin. Rusts. So he could burn steel. Glancing over, he saw the prisoner running hard. She was clearly exhausted and using iron to boost her.

Quickly, Aradan flared his pewter and dashed after her. Looking into the distance, he also pulled on a distant line. That's a nice trick. Easily keeping pace, he focused his attention on scanning their surroundings. Their pursuers were nowhere to be seen.

Glancing back, he saw the spiked man jumping over rooftops, trailing them at a distance. Aradan turned, "Hey, you. That man...the spiked one, is following us." This is quickly becoming the most interesting twenty four hours in my life.

@Koloss17@Lunamor@Steel Speedster@Through the Living Mist

 

2 hours ago, Steel Speedster said:

Fenna, Smokestack

Fenna froze, hanging on the edge of the trapdoor as she heard a new voice outside. She shivered, suddenly flashing back to the bloodstained floor of a constabulary and a horde of reanimated corpses.

Suddenly remembering that the Prince of the Alleys was supposed to be a Seeker, Fenna hurriedly extinguished her metals. Her fingers slipped as she suddenly became weak and heavy, but she caught onto the top rung of the ladder, keeping herself from falling. With great effort, she hoisted herself up and onto the floor of the building. Her vision fuzzed as exhaustion started to overwhelm her, and she lost track of the conversation outside.

Eventually, fearing she would lose consciousness, Fenna turned her pewter back on. Standing slowly, she saw that there was no one outside the building, but she caught a glimpse of two figures fleeing down the street ahead. There was no sign of Perses, and she half though she had imagined his presence. Gritting her teeth, she stored weight and started off after Aradan and Eza.

@Qianweilian @Lunamor @Koloss17 @Through the Living Mist

Eza cursed. They appeared to have caught the attention of Perses. She didn’t know why, but with him, any reason was a bad one. She spoke softly to the man running next to her.

”His name is Perses. He’s done some very bad things. Take the next left, then right.”

Based on gossip around the Mistwarrens, Perses was a Seeker. He was also said to control fire, explode people with his mind, and be Death itself, so she wasn’t completely confident in the rumor. It was, however, one of the most consistent rumors.

She glanced behind her and could see Fenna still barreling after them. Without iron, she couldn’t outrun her. With iron, Perses could likely easily track her. She cursed again, then called over her shoulder.

”I really don’t think you should be following us, Fenna!”

She tilted her head in the direction of the two very faint lines leading to Perses’s spikes. She probably wouldn’t have noticed them were it not for the man pointing him out.

”We both know what he can do.”

She then suddenly turned left into an alley, using an ironpull to quickly redirect her momentum and planning on turning right as soon as possible.

@Through the Living Mist

Edited March 30 by Lunamor

[Koloss17 She/They]

3 hours ago, Steel Speedster said:

Fenna, Smokestack

Fenna froze, hanging on the edge of the trapdoor as she heard a new voice outside. She shivered, suddenly flashing back to the bloodstained floor of a constabulary and a horde of reanimated corpses.

Suddenly remembering that the Prince of the Alleys was supposed to be a Seeker, Fenna hurriedly extinguished her metals. Her fingers slipped as she suddenly became weak and heavy, but she caught onto the top rung of the ladder, keeping herself from falling. With great effort, she hoisted herself up and onto the floor of the building. Her vision fuzzed as exhaustion started to overwhelm her, and she lost track of the conversation outside.

Eventually, fearing she would lose consciousness, Fenna turned her pewter back on. Standing slowly, she saw that there was no one outside the building, but she caught a glimpse of two figures fleeing down the street ahead. There was no sign of Perses, and she half though she had imagined his presence. Gritting her teeth, she stored weight and started off after Aradan and Eza.

Thav, Smokestack

Thav began to creep in the opposite direction the pulses had come from but hesitated as he heard faint voices. One of them seemed familiar, but he couldn't make out any words. He glanced up and down the street. Seeing no one, he dropped a coin on the ground and jumped, Pushing off the coin to propel himself to the second story windowsill of a nearby building. Dropping another coin at his feet, he Pushed again as he hoisted himself up to the roof.

Moving in the direction the voices had come from, Thav placed another coin and leapt to another roof. He dropped low as a figure suddenly flew to the top of a building a block or so away. His blood went cold as he connected the pulses he had felt with the cloaked figure. This was not a safe place to be.

But he was fairly sure he had heard Aradan's voice nearby. Thav dared burn bronze.

He picked up four sets of pulses. Two people burning iron were moving swiftly away, followed by someone burning pewter. The other was the figure on the roof, burning bronze and steel.

Tapping zinc, he completed his analysis in an instant and quickly turned off his bronze again. If it was Aradan, Thav doubted he could catch up. He hoped that he hadn't been detected during his brief moment of power, but he reached for his aluminum pistol and began to scoot backwards.

@Qianweilian @Lunamor @Koloss17 @Through the Living Mist

Quote

it is worth noting that seekers will be able to determine a few things from Perses.

1) he is almost alway burning bronze. If he has access to it, he will leave it on a light burn to immediately store into his timninds. If he wants to use bronze, he will do so via tapping his tinminds that have bronze stored in them. He has quite a few bracers under his clothing, as well as a few tin implants that he got around the same time he got spiked. They could also tell that this bronze is on a low burn, but is more powerful due to him being a bronze savant.

2) he is generally only going to burn A-steel and A-iron (which are hemalurgically granted, so particularly adept seekers would be able to notice that) when he needs to use the effects of them, again storing the senses for use in his tinminds. He uses those quite frequently, though given that both iron and steel produce the same sense, he generally has enough to spare.

3) if they are really good, or have specially trained for it, seekers would be able to pick up on his F-tin. This has been said to be possible by Brandon, though requires a "tweak" whatever that means. Given Perses is an F-Tin (and A-Bronze) savant that can push his bronze sensing capabilities far beyond an ordinary seeker, he is able to detect feruchemy with ease, but that is a rarity. 

And to anyone with steel or iron sense, Perses would (unsurprisingly) be a dead zone. He has aluminum vials and aluminum-lined pouches, being careful not to have anything metal be within visibility.

Perses, Smokestack

Perses continued his tracking, being sure to stay out of sight as much as possible. Tapping his hearingminds, he tracked the conversation of the group. With bronze, he could pick out that they were all metalborn, with the pewter junkie being an A-iron twinborn, allowing them to move blisteringly fast, fast enough to keep pace with the lurchers as they flew across the district.

Perses felt a pulse behind him, and then another. Both went out too quickly for him to be able to distinguish them, but it seemed to be allomancy followed by feruchemy. Had he been more focused, he would have been able to catch what they were, but as he was focusing on three things at once, it was a struggle. What are you doing now? Belias said in his head, distracting his concentration further. Trying to focus. Get out of my head. Perses heard a light chuckle, but thankfully nothing further. 

By this time, the constables had been long abandoned, but Perses was sure a report would be made about whatever had happened. If needed, he could get that report, but it was a struggle. Even if the report was made via graphite or metal-based ink, Perses would have to get it read for him. Some day, Perses would have to learn how to do it himself, but he had gone his whole life not needing it, and with only recently gaining the abilities required to make it useful, such an opportunity hadn't presented itself.

In his mental distractions, thoughts that were both his and not, he had been getting further and further behind the group. Rusts, chasing metalborn when you're noticed is difficult. So with his mind fatigued and his intrigue waning, he stopped giving chase. He had gained a lot of good information, and though he had no clue who those people were and what they were doing, he knew enough to mull over.

@Lunamor @Qianweilian

[Qianweilian He/him]

21 hours ago, Lunamor said:

 

 

Eza cursed. They appeared to have caught the attention of Perses. She didn’t know why, but with him, any reason was a bad one. She spoke softly to the man running next to her.

”His name is Perses. He’s done some very bad things. Take the next left, then right.”

Based on gossip around the Mistwarrens, Perses was a Seeker. He was also said to control fire, explode people with his mind, and be Death itself, so she wasn’t completely confident in the rumor. It was, however, one of the most consistent rumors.

She glanced behind her and could see Fenna still barreling after them. Without iron, she couldn’t outrun her. With iron, Perses could likely easily track her. She cursed again, then called over her shoulder.

”I really don’t think you should be following us, Fenna!”

She tilted her head in the direction of the two very faint lines leading to Perses’s spikes. She probably wouldn’t have noticed them were it not for the man pointing him out.

”We both know what he can do.”

She then suddenly turned left into an alley, using an ironpull to quickly redirect her momentum and planning on turning right as soon as possible.

@Through the Living Mist

23 hours ago, Steel Speedster said:

Fenna, Smokestack

Fenna froze, hanging on the edge of the trapdoor as she heard a new voice outside. She shivered, suddenly flashing back to the bloodstained floor of a constabulary and a horde of reanimated corpses.

Suddenly remembering that the Prince of the Alleys was supposed to be a Seeker, Fenna hurriedly extinguished her metals. Her fingers slipped as she suddenly became weak and heavy, but she caught onto the top rung of the ladder, keeping herself from falling. With great effort, she hoisted herself up and onto the floor of the building. Her vision fuzzed as exhaustion started to overwhelm her, and she lost track of the conversation outside.

Eventually, fearing she would lose consciousness, Fenna turned her pewter back on. Standing slowly, she saw that there was no one outside the building, but she caught a glimpse of two figures fleeing down the street ahead. There was no sign of Perses, and she half though she had imagined his presence. Gritting her teeth, she stored weight and started off after Aradan and Eza.

Thav, Smokestack

Thav began to creep in the opposite direction the pulses had come from but hesitated as he heard faint voices. One of them seemed familiar, but he couldn't make out any words. He glanced up and down the street. Seeing no one, he dropped a coin on the ground and jumped, Pushing off the coin to propel himself to the second story windowsill of a nearby building. Dropping another coin at his feet, he Pushed again as he hoisted himself up to the roof.

Moving in the direction the voices had come from, Thav placed another coin and leapt to another roof. He dropped low as a figure suddenly flew to the top of a building a block or so away. His blood went cold as he connected the pulses he had felt with the cloaked figure. This was not a safe place to be.

But he was fairly sure he had heard Aradan's voice nearby. Thav dared burn bronze.

He picked up four sets of pulses. Two people burning iron were moving swiftly away, followed by someone burning pewter. The other was the figure on the roof, burning bronze and steel.

Tapping zinc, he completed his analysis in an instant and quickly turned off his bronze again. If it was Aradan, Thav doubted he could catch up. He hoped that he hadn't been detected during his brief moment of power, but he reached for his aluminum pistol and began to scoot backwards.

@Qianweilian @Lunamor @Koloss17 @Through the Living Mist

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

Aradan kept following the prisoner, using iron to keep pace.

Quote

You can just get to wherever we're going if you want.

@Steel Speedster@Lunamor@Koloss17@Through the Living Mist

[Steel Speedster ♂]

On 3/30/2026 at 1:35 PM, Lunamor said:

 

 

Eza cursed. They appeared to have caught the attention of Perses. She didn’t know why, but with him, any reason was a bad one. She spoke softly to the man running next to her.

”His name is Perses. He’s done some very bad things. Take the next left, then right.”

Based on gossip around the Mistwarrens, Perses was a Seeker. He was also said to control fire, explode people with his mind, and be Death itself, so she wasn’t completely confident in the rumor. It was, however, one of the most consistent rumors.

She glanced behind her and could see Fenna still barreling after them. Without iron, she couldn’t outrun her. With iron, Perses could likely easily track her. She cursed again, then called over her shoulder.

”I really don’t think you should be following us, Fenna!”

She tilted her head in the direction of the two very faint lines leading to Perses’s spikes. She probably wouldn’t have noticed them were it not for the man pointing him out.

”We both know what he can do.”

She then suddenly turned left into an alley, using an ironpull to quickly redirect her momentum and planning on turning right as soon as possible.

@Through the Living Mist

2 hours ago, Qianweilian said:

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

Aradan kept following the prisoner, using iron to keep pace.

@Steel Speedster@Lunamor@Koloss17@Through the Living Mist

Fenna, Smokestack

Fenna opened her mouth to reply to Eza, but at that moment, her pewter reserves ran out.

Without the strength to push herself forward, air resistance kicked in immediately, extinguishing her momentum. Fenna lost balance and stumbled, sliding a short way along the street before coming to a halt.

Dazed, she reached for another pewter vial and downed it, restoring her strength, but her quarry had already disappeared.

@Lunamor @Qianweilian

[KnightSkye Reforged They/Them]

On 3/28/2026 at 3:35 PM, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon waited till the outer walls turned to smoke, and shifted. In his transported form, he could view the environment around him as he slipped from the roof to the floor and into the smoke, a dim light among the flickering flames no one would think to look twice at. He heard the screams of the constables, saw their forms racing through the fog. Saw them race towards Lux. Despite him, he felt a weird hope for the boy to escape. Even weirder was when he realized the thought of Lux being interrogated hadn’t even crossed his mind.

After a matter of seconds, Ebon reached the interior wall. Lined with aluminum for this very purpose, Lux hadn’t been able to affect it. Ebon watched as a gate opened in the wall. Four guards ran out of it, decked in armor. Two carried guns. As the last one moved to close the door, Ebon wrapped around his legs and slipped through the crack before it sealed. Then the door clicked shut behind him, and he reformed.

Ebon looked around. In here, there was little smoke. It was a well lit passageway, and alarms were going off. His mind flashed back to the warehouse. The explosion.

He had to move.

Ebon began walking, then running down the corridor. There was no point in hiding anymore. Their cameras had already detected him; with more time, he could’ve disarmed them, but time was not on his side. He turned a corner. The first officer he reached wasn’t alerted of his presence, and let out a yelp as the knife was buried in her back. The second - a scribe, he looked like - tried to run, but Ebon was on him in a second. He noticed something around the body’s neck, and pulled it off to get a closer look. It was a tag, with the officer’s face on it. Ebon flipped it over. Another picture, of the officer, smiling, standing next to a little girl. Ebon ripped the picture out, and pulled out the slip tucked in behind it. A map of the garrison. He smiled, and began to run towards the holding cells. Footsteps chased him. The alarms continued to ring, louder and louder.

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel glanced quickly through all his notes.

”Yes. Could you please describe the Fused’s physical appearance with as much detail as possible?” He flipped to a blank page in his notes, and leaned forward attently. Then the walls turned to smoke.

As the others all looked around, Limel jumped. Then he remembered the procedure.

”Everyone, follow me!” No one heard him. He had to raise his voice. He took a deep breath, then yelled. “LISTEN.” Everyone turned to him. Huh. His cheeks blushed. That had worked.

”Don’t panic. The garrison is prepared to face this kind of threat. While this is inconvenient, I assure you, the situation is under control. We just need to follow procedure.” The manual instructions came out of his mouth in a flood, as his mind raced. What was it they had to do again? Oh, yes. “I will guide you to the core of the garrison. It is lined with aluminum, and protected. Follow me.” Limel looked at the anxious faces, then at the smoke and light around them. It was daunting. Gripping his notes as stiffly as he could in his sweaty hands, wishing he’d brought a bag, Limel began to walk into the fog.

@KnightSkye Reforged@Through The Living KSauce@Through the Living Ink@Koloss17 I think Midas is still over here

Kaiden, New Hallandren, Garrison.

"Damnation!" Kai stopped barely a half second short of fully summoning Skye. A shardblade appearing would be bad right about now. 

He followed Limel warily, keeping an eye out. Who was soulcasting the building!? Damn that fool Midas. If he hadn't leached away all of his Light, he could have sucked all the smoke out of the way immediately. What sort of fool leached a Windrunner, of all orders!? 

He sighed and followed, trying to cooperate with Limel and Midas for now. 

On 3/28/2026 at 10:12 PM, Koloss17 said:

Midas, New Hallandren, Garrison

The entire garrison was in chaos. An attack like this had happened before, quite recently in fact. But the people who had done that weren't soulcasters. With how paranoid the guard was lately, the only reason Midas could fathom such a thing could happen was someone that had an inside source. However, such a thing wasn't worth worrying about right now. 

Most of the enforcers were off on patrol, but they would be back any minute now that the awakened alarms had gone off. Each officer had a small chip that reacted immediately if there was an emergency like this, pinging them to return to base. It was installed in the standard uniform quite recently, and had never actually been used until now. Midas hoped it had worked.

Until then, it was up to him to stall the intruders until backup arrived. Heading to the prison center, which mercifully remained intact due to the aluminum lining, he quickly was face to face with the intruder. Black, marbled skin, the intruder ran with what appeared to be murderous intent, straight at him. Though he had only read reports of him, and seen the man in low quality camera feed, he knew that this fused was Ebon.

Wasting no time, Midas flung his awakened rope-dart at the fused, hastily commanding it to go for the eyes, along with sending a separate command to the awakened grenades under his shirt to arm themselves.

@KnightSkye Reforged @Through the Living Ink @Through The Living KSauce

Perses, Smokestack

Perses, quite frankly, had no interest in getting involved in any of what was going on. That was, until he noticed that he recognized one of their voices. A girl's, who burned iron brighter than any person he had ever encountered. Directing his query at the girl, whose name he had since forgot, he spoke with more genuine curiosity than he expected.

"Don't I know you?"

By the time the words escaped his lips, he remembered where he knew her from. An old acquaintance of his had brought her along, to a heist so very long ago. "You're Asylum's kid, aren't you?"

@Lunamor @Qianweilian @Through the Living Mist @Steel Speedster

"Kai. Hey listen!" He turned his attention to Skye.

"What?"

"Midas just turned down a hall, by himself." she raised an eyebrow. "Going after him I assume?"

"Not yet. Gotta try to doing things there way." he saw her disappointed expression "...for now."

On 3/29/2026 at 1:02 PM, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel guided the others through the fog. Seconds passed, and for a bit, he worried he was taking them in the wrong direction. But then the smoke parted, and the wall was there. Coughing and covering his eyes, he ran over to a circular gate and pressed his palm to it. The device read his signature, and parted to allow them in. Once they were all in, the metal door shut behind them.

There was little smoke inside. They were standing in a brightly lit corridor, with heavy alarms going off. Somewhere nearby, Limel heard a scream, and felt his spine straighten. He turned to the others just in time to see Midas run off. Limel didn't know where he was going, but had no intention of following him. Midas would head straight towards the danger; Limel didn't very much like that idea, thank you very much.

So instead, he looked at the radiants clustered around him, and feeling distinctly overwhelmed, tried to give a reassuring smile.

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon stopped as the Awakener turned a corner before him. He smiled. Finally, a challenge. Ebon reached down to his hip, ripping out his second dagger from where it was stabbed into his flesh. His blood spurted out onto the floor, and the pain cleared his vision. Ebon adapted a defensive stance. As much as he would like to enjoy this fight, his time was still running out. It would only be a matter of time before the Crimson Breath came for the operative. So this would need to be quick.

The rope-dart came flashing at him, and Ebon lunged forward, slipping underneath it and slashing up with his daggers to slice the awakened weapon. Then he rolled, and ran towards Midas.

 

Kai waited about 15 seconds, hearing fighting down the way Midas went.

"Storm this. Sorry Limel, but I need to go work on that. Can't stay here and do nothing." He shouldered his way through, summoned his plate, and jogged down the hall towards the fighting.

@Through the Living Ink @nerpSruomuHfOesneSsnidalaK @Slay the Living Hoid @Koloss17

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

On 3/28/2026 at 12:35 PM, Slay the Living Hoid said:

Ebonaryle, New Hallandren, Garrison

Ebon waited till the outer walls turned to smoke, and shifted. In his transported form, he could view the environment around him as he slipped from the roof to the floor and into the smoke, a dim light among the flickering flames no one would think to look twice at. He heard the screams of the constables, saw their forms racing through the fog. Saw them race towards Lux. Despite him, he felt a weird hope for the boy to escape. Even weirder was when he realized the thought of Lux being interrogated hadn’t even crossed his mind.

After a matter of seconds, Ebon reached the interior wall. Lined with aluminum for this very purpose, Lux hadn’t been able to affect it. Ebon watched as a gate opened in the wall. Four guards ran out of it, decked in armor. Two carried guns. As the last one moved to close the door, Ebon wrapped around his legs and slipped through the crack before it sealed. Then the door clicked shut behind him, and he reformed.

Ebon looked around. In here, there was little smoke. It was a well lit passageway, and alarms were going off. His mind flashed back to the warehouse. The explosion.

He had to move.

Ebon began walking, then running down the corridor. There was no point in hiding anymore. Their cameras had already detected him; with more time, he could’ve disarmed them, but time was not on his side. He turned a corner. The first officer he reached wasn’t alerted of his presence, and let out a yelp as the knife was buried in her back. The second - a scribe, he looked like - tried to run, but Ebon was on him in a second. He noticed something around the body’s neck, and pulled it off to get a closer look. It was a tag, with the officer’s face on it. Ebon flipped it over. Another picture, of the officer, smiling, standing next to a little girl. Ebon ripped the picture out, and pulled out the slip tucked in behind it. A map of the garrison. He smiled, and began to run towards the holding cells. Footsteps chased him. The alarms continued to ring, louder and louder.

Limel, New Hallandren, Garrison

Limel glanced quickly through all his notes.

”Yes. Could you please describe the Fused’s physical appearance with as much detail as possible?” He flipped to a blank page in his notes, and leaned forward attently. Then the walls turned to smoke.

As the others all looked around, Limel jumped. Then he remembered the procedure.

”Everyone, follow me!” No one heard him. He had to raise his voice. He took a deep breath, then yelled. “LISTEN.” Everyone turned to him. Huh. His cheeks blushed. That had worked.

”Don’t panic. The garrison is prepared to face this kind of threat. While this is inconvenient, I assure you, the situation is under control. We just need to follow procedure.” The manual instructions came out of his mouth in a flood, as his mind raced. What was it they had to do again? Oh, yes. “I will guide you to the core of the garrison. It is lined with aluminum, and protected. Follow me.” Limel looked at the anxious faces, then at the smoke and light around them. It was daunting. Gripping his notes as stiffly as he could in his sweaty hands, wishing he’d brought a bag, Limel began to walk into the fog.

@KnightSkye Reforged@Through The Living KSauce@Through the Living Ink@Koloss17 I think Midas is still over here

On 3/28/2026 at 11:32 PM, Through the Living Ink said:

 

Cayansa, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

The late arrival was calling instructions over the smoke like a rapidly flashing spanreed - inefficient, but at least you knew someone was there. Cayansa covered their mouth with their sleeve and followed. Aluminium? Again? What is it?

Reyx, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Reyx hovered in the smoke, invisible to the eye but, unfortunately, well aware there were people around who could detect Investiture. Midas and Ebon were outside the prison centre; the Fused already had traces of blood on his hands.

Oh. Reyx thought, followed by, He'll be fine, followed by, Both of these people have been nothing but kind, even if one's a Fused and the Garrison weren't the most useful. Why is everything so complicated?

... Where's the Soulcaster, anyway?

The mistspren hesitated, looking at the conflict that was unfolding, then began to focus on detecting other uses of Investiture nearby - difficult, given the amount of ... Awakening, had they called it? But most of that was from inside the Garrison. There was a faint pulse from where one of the outside walls had been. 

@KnightSkye Reforged @Koloss17 @Through The Living Coder @Through The Living KSauce @Slay the Living Hoid

 

On 3/29/2026 at 11:15 PM, Through the Living Ink said:

 

Cayansa, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Cayansa followed Limel into a metal-lined room, glad to be able to stand without quite as large a risk of smoke inhalation. The note-taker from earlier smiled nervously at them; Cayansa got the impression he felt distinctly underqualified for this. That made two of them. 

"What's your name?" they asked him, trying not to let their voice shake. Where did my healing fabrial go? No one will be burned - unless the presumably-Lightweaver also brought a fight.

Cayansa gestured to the walls, which were made from a cold, silvery metal they'd never seen in such large quantities. "And is this made of ralkalest?"

@Through The Living Coder

@Slay the Living Hoid @Koloss17 @KnightSkye Reforged @Through The Living KSauce

Quote

I would love for someone to give lux some trouble

Lux, New Hallandren, New hallandren Garrison

Lux quickly pulled up a smoke illusion around him, using his past experience of changing the garrison (at least part of it) into smoke to pull up a convincing lightweaving.

Suddenly, he had a thought.

Someone could be sensing my investiture.

He made a split second decsion, and called on Fractal.

Fractal. Can you sustain this illusion of smoke and go run around and try to hide? Dispell the illusion if someone gets too close to you, and make a run for it. I'll do the same.

Ah, Lux. What have you got us into now?

Is that a yes?

Yeah yeah yeah. I'll get right too it.

@Through the Living Ink @KnightSkye Reforged

[Lunamor she/her]

7 hours ago, Qianweilian said:

Aradan Liese, Smokestacks

Aradan kept following the prisoner, using iron to keep pace.

@Steel Speedster@Lunamor@Koloss17@Through the Living Mist

 

4 hours ago, Steel Speedster said:

Fenna, Smokestack

Fenna opened her mouth to reply to Eza, but at that moment, her pewter reserves ran out.

Without the strength to push herself forward, air resistance kicked in immediately, extinguishing her momentum. Fenna lost balance and stumbled, sliding a short way along the street before coming to a halt.

Dazed, she reached for another pewter vial and downed it, restoring her strength, but her quarry had already disappeared.

@Lunamor @Qianweilian

Even after the faint twin lines leading to Perses’s spikes had long since vanished and Fenna had disappeared into the night, Eza continued to take random turns. Eventually, once she was satisfied they weren’t being followed, she finally slowed down, breathing heavily. She led the man towards the Mistwarrens, which was the opposite direction of the way she’d initially started fleeing, keeping an eye on the rooftops nearby all the while.

She finally made it to a door with a strangely pristine-looking handle. In a practiced motion, she yanked on a particular thin blue line leading to within the lock. It’d taken her a while to find one with a system precise enough to throw off most other lurchers or coinshots and buy her some time if they came knocking, but not so precise that she struggled with the lock too. With a click, the door swung open.

She strode inside, motioning for the man to follow her. Eza closed the door after him by ironpulling on the handle and yanked on a different line to reengage the lock.

“My name’s Eza.”

Inside was a strangely bare looking room, adorned only with a small cot and blankets covering suspicious piles of stuff. All of the blanketed piles were clustered together in one corner of the room. She made a beeline to one such blanket, yanking it away to reveal several large aluminum-lined pouches. She dumped one of them out to reveal quite a lot of coins. Every single one was blemished or dirty in some way- these were her spending coins. She wasn’t too sure what exactly all of it was worth, but she figured it was worth a lot. She pushed the pile towards her rescuer.

“Here’s the money I promised. Thank you.”

She held her hand out for a handshake.

Edited April 1 by Lunamor

[Koloss17 She/They]

Quote

Once more, I wonder how thav is thaving @Steel Speedster. Does he continue pursuing the others, or does he track Perses? Now that Perses has relented his chase, whatever move you make will probably influence Perses’, so I want to hold off until then.

also random musing I had @Lunamor: given Eza’s savantism, would she be able to see people’s metals in their stomachs? I don’t know if it’s in high enough concentrations for her to see it, hence why I’m asking.

 

[Lunamor she/her]

51 minutes ago, Koloss17 said:

 

Quote

Hmm, I’m not sure. If they’ve recently swallowed metals she’d probably be able to detect them. I think she’d need to be able to see trace metals in a person’s body to do so otherwise, which is like ironsight level. Sanderson in a WoB said it’s a very very rare ability to be able to have ironsight in the same way Inquisitors did without having spikes through your eyes and that only Marsh in Era 2 knows how to do it. I think it might be a bit much for Eza to have that after only being a savant for 2ish years.

 

Edited April 1 by Lunamor

[Koloss17 She/They]

1 hour ago, Lunamor said:

 

Quote

Completely valid.
 

not to style on ya, but Perses would totally be able to see all the metals in someone’s body if he wanted to :P. Now, Eza has the major advantage of being able to actually use iron quite well. Perses is both less experienced and is dealing with significantly weaker pushing/pulling abilities than Eza has.

Basically his iron and steel spikes are smaller than an inquisitors (part of what led to him falling behind in the chase), and also means that if anyone would get into an ironpull/steelpush match against him, he would almost certainly lose, unless they are really small.

 

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

6 hours ago, Through The Living Coder said:

Lux, New Hallandren, New hallandren Garrison

Lux quickly pulled up a smoke illusion around him, using his past experience of changing the garrison (at least part of it) into smoke to pull up a convincing lightweaving.

Suddenly, he had a thought.

Someone could be sensing my investiture.

He made a split second decsion, and called on Fractal.

Fractal. Can you sustain this illusion of smoke and go run around and try to hide? Dispell the illusion if someone gets too close to you, and make a run for it. I'll do the same.

Ah, Lux. What have you got us into now?

Is that a yes?

Yeah yeah yeah. I'll get right too it.

@Through the Living Ink @KnightSkye Reforged

Reyx, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Reyx glided towards a portion of the wall that was almost entirely smoke. If that was the case, why could they sense Investiture there? Less than they'd expect for a Soulcasting of this scale, but they supposed a lot of Light would have gone into the destruction.

Cayansa? they called, checking the human had reached safety. No reply. Cayansa!

They were probably safe - this was a Garrison, a bastion of truth, they had to be safe. They'd been in that room earlier, with silver walls and people who asked a lot of questions, which was good, and Skye had got in but maybe shouldn't've been able to. Aluminium, maybe? It had the same properties as ralkalest, only there was more of it. 

Alright, Reyx. They'll be fine. You came here to do something.

Turning visible, they cautiously called out. "Hel-"

A quantity of Investiture darted from the smoking corner and began zipping about, making it difficult to detect amid the Lightweavings. A spren? A Cryptic, if their Radiant's surges were anything to go by. 

"-Oh? Wait, come back!"

@Through The Living Coder

Edited April 1 by Through the Living Ink
Clarity

[CoderDrag0n8 He/They]

13 hours ago, Through the Living Ink said:

Reyx, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Reyx glided towards a portion of the wall that was almost entirely smoke. If that was the case, why could they sense Investiture there? Less than they'd expect for a Soulcasting of this scale, but they supposed a lot of Light would have gone into the destruction.

Cayansa? they called, checking the human had reached safety. No reply. Cayansa!

They were probably safe - this was a Garrison, a bastion of truth, they had to be safe. They'd been in that room earlier, with silver walls and people who asked a lot of questions, which was good, and Skye had got in but maybe shouldn't've been able to. Aluminium, maybe? It had the same properties as ralkalest, only there was more of it. 

Alright, Reyx. They'll be fine. You came here to do something.

Turning visible, they cautiously called out. "Hel-"

A quantity of Investiture darted from the smoking corner and began zipping about, making it difficult to detect amid the Lightweavings. A spren? A Cryptic, if their Radiant's surges were anything to go by. 

"-Oh? Wait, come back!"

@Through The Living Coder

Lux, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Lux wondered how to deal with this.

He decided to use a little bit of lightweaving here.

Using Lightweaving, he made some sound come from Fractal, hoping the person would mistake the spren for a human.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Lux asked with a voice not at all like his own, coming from the spren's direction.

[Ink and Embers Any pronouns]

10 hours ago, It is I, God. said:

Lux, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

Lux wondered how to deal with this.

He decided to use a little bit of lightweaving here.

Using Lightweaving, he made some sound come from Fractal, hoping the person would mistake the spren for a human.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Lux asked with a voice not at all like his own, coming from the spren's direction.

Reyx, New Hallandren, New Hallandren Garrison 

"Who are you? What do you want?" a voice seemingly lacking any defining characteristics called out. It came from the direction Reyx could sense the Cryptic in. 

Alright. Stay calm. They're probably not an agent of chaos, right? ...They set the Garrison on fire. 

"I'm Reyx?" they called back, sounding far less confident than they had any right to feel. "Who are you?"

@It is I, God.

[Qianweilian He/him]

On 3/31/2026 at 6:55 PM, Lunamor said:

 

Even after the faint twin lines leading to Perses’s spikes had long since vanished and Fenna had disappeared into the night, Eza continued to take random turns. Eventually, once she was satisfied they weren’t being followed, she finally slowed down, breathing heavily. She led the man towards the Mistwarrens, which was the opposite direction of the way she’d initially started fleeing, keeping an eye on the rooftops nearby all the while.

She finally made it to a door with a strangely pristine-looking handle. In a practiced motion, she yanked on a particular thin blue line leading to within the lock. It’d taken her a while to find one with a system precise enough to throw off most other lurchers or coinshots and buy her some time if they came knocking, but not so precise that she struggled with the lock too. With a click, the door swung open.

She strode inside, motioning for the man to follow her. Eza closed the door after him by ironpulling on the handle and yanked on a different line to reengage the lock.

“My name’s Eza.”

Inside was a strangely bare looking room, adorned only with a small cot and blankets covering suspicious piles of stuff. All of the blanketed piles were clustered together in one corner of the room. She made a beeline to one such blanket, yanking it away to reveal several large aluminum-lined pouches. She dumped one of them out to reveal quite a lot of coins. Every single one was blemished or dirty in some way- these were her spending coins. She wasn’t too sure what exactly all of it was worth, but she figured it was worth a lot. She pushed the pile towards her rescuer.

“Here’s the money I promised. Thank you.”

She held her hand out for a handshake.

Aradan Liese, Mistwarrens

Aradan took Eza's hand and shook it. "Thank you. My name is Aradan. I am—unfortunately—new to Alleycity. I wouldn't normally take anything, but I have nowhere to sleep or to maintain myself. I, however, am extremely curious and unnerved by the spiked man who chased us. Who is that? What powers does he have? Is he a Steel Inquisitor? Why were you locked up in that complex? The woman who chased us appeared to recognize you."

"Why is that? I apologize for my questions, but I generally find that information is powerful. And, to thank you for bringing me here, I would like to ask if there is anything more that you need. While I might not be able to do much, I may be able to help you somewhat." 

@Lunamor

Quote

Sorry for the late response, I didn't see your post until it got buried.