Voidus
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Laurelai had begun turning away, looking for others who might have more information. But she turned back as Lena asked her another question. "We work with far more than just Hemalurgy, despite what some may believe. I personally have a wide range of interests, I'm a scholar of many subjects." Being a Forger necessitated a wide range of interests, and Laurelai was particularly focussed on study even as Forgers went. She had access to a wealth of information already and could use Soulstamps to gain access to even more. "Anything particular?" She asked, wondering if any drinks might still be available.
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Some of them would still have light in them, most of the spheres in the building were crushed so that's why they were all pretty much dun, but any you had on your person would still be okay.
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As he walked away the scream steadily began to fade, eventually leaving dim silence in its wake.
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Voidus watched the last of the Stormlight vanish into the void with a touch of satisfaction. Mac had picked it up quickly, faster than planned certainly, though given his previous experience perhaps that was expected. Or perhaps he was simply a natural, after all he had managed to precisely control his Voidmaking at almost the moment he snapped into it. The stress of that situation may have pulled out Mac's innate talents. "Easier in some ways." He replied, making sure that Mac had properly severed the connection. "Harder to explain or initiate though. Most people innately want to possess nearby Investiture rather than be rid of it, especially those who have had connections to a specific form. Suppressing the urge to simply breath the Stormlight in can be difficult for some." Voidus pulled another sphere from the pouch, noting that this one seemed to have lost some stormlight already. "Lost a little from these as well." He said, holding the mark up for Mac to see. "The draw was a little too strong. Though not generalised thankfully, if you'd put too much into it without enough focus then you can send things that you don't intend to. Put in far too much and you can begin to draw fragments of spiritweb out of people." Voidus let the implications of that hang in the air for a moment. The DA was practised with Hemalurgy, one didn't graduate from being an acolyte without being able to minimise damage to the spiritweb. But random, uncontrolled destruction could lead to severe and catastrophic outcomes beyond simply losing access to Investiture, death was far from the worst outcome when it came to matters of the spiritual. "This is why we started with something physical, it requires more power so there's less chance of using too much, and the focus comes easier so if you do it's less likely to affect your surroundings." He poured a number of Marks onto the table before looking at Mac expectantly. "So, how do you think we should proceed?" Setting up trials one after another was all well and good, but it would only give superficial experience. To do this properly Voidus needed Mac to be able to intuit his new abilities, to understand them at a deeper level rather than simply explaining them.
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Laurelai allowed herself to relax back, no long leaning toward Alask. His lack of follow up was a little disappointing but she wouldn't force it on him if he didn't want to, not without good reason anyway. Would have been some nice symmetry finding a recruit in the middle of another party in the middle of collapsing though. She mused, recalling her own initiation into the DA at a Ghostblood party that had burst into confusion when the DA arrived. But still, not our primary goal here tonight. Especially as these two don't seem to be any more informed than we are as to what's going on. They'd given her some useful information about the motives of the Marines, but outside of that they didn't seem to be too connected with what was happening here, Lena hadn't even seemed to be particularly interested in finding out anything further, and Alask seemed to have other issues that required attending to. Perhaps that was why he'd attended the party to begin with? Wondering if PlasmaCore could help him? This Nekorb that they were waiting for sounded like a more potentially useful source of information if he'd gone wandering around the building, but given some of the security in the area she wasn't entirely sure that he'd still be alive. “Nekorb!” Alask called out. “Get over here!” Alive it is then. Laurelai thought as she turned in the same direction, noting a figure running nearby and screaming loudly. Though possibly not in the mood to trade information right now. "Well this looks like trouble." She said, glancing in Lena's direction. "I don't suppose your attitude towards preparedness extends to things other than the culinary?" Laurelai couldn't afford to get wrapped up in a conflict with any large factions, not when she was here openly as a representative of the DA. But hopefully the two here could help out their friend against whatever was chasing him.
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The blade sank easily into the glass orb, the light it was emitting seemed to wrap around the blade as it entered. Immediately a loud, piercing scream tore through the air and the orb let out a final, tremendous flash of light. When the light cleared the glass orb stood, still suspended and pierced through by the Shardblade, all light now gone from within it. With no illumination the mist and dust that surrounded them obscured everything from sight, but was not sufficient to mute the scream that continued to echo from where the glass orb waited.
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The blade pierced cleanly through the flesh, and a faint sound of shifting rock could be heard, as though a reminder of what happened the last time Hellbent started stabbing random things.
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Laurelai continued to smile but the mirth vanished from her eyes as she looked Alask over more carefully, she hadn't been looking for it to begin with, but the erratic behaviour was a somewhat common side effect. She couldn't be certain, but something about the way he held his body, a subtle difference that indicated a somewhat unusual body structure, the type that was only ever acquired one way. Well that's something interesting at least. That explains the questions, and his reaction when he first saw mine. "Cure them?" She asked. "It's not an illness. Granted there are certain drawbacks but unless you believe confidence tricksters off the street then all power has its drawbacks." He didn't seem to have many spikes, certainly less than her, so there was a decent chance he was lacking stability spikes. A useful piece of information if anything broke out. "But if you're asking if we could remove spikes and repair the damage left behind then the answer is yes." That much was barely a secret, when conducting science properly they needed to make sure experiments were repeatable and reversible if it should have unintended results. Most of the other guilds would know that the DA was capable of that much at least. If she had enough of his history she could likely even remove them herself, though that would probably require more time than they had available right now. "We tend to keep a fair amount of versatility, some of us are good at causing damage." She allowed a trickle of the Dor to flow through once again, using it to channel a forgery of herself, a moment later a small cut appeared on the index finger of her freehand. "Some at healing it." Another stream of the Dor and the wound vanished as though it had never been. "But we make sure we can clean up after any messes that we cause." She concluded.
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Contrary to Laurelai's expectations, Alask seemed to leave the matter alone and didn't push any further, though his expression seemed to tighten momentarily. Anger? Sadness? A lot of people still held grudges at the destruction from the seven days war. “Are the rumours true, then?” He asked. “What they say about spikes, about the guild that hands them out.” That brought a genuine smile to her face, one she didn't bother to hide. Asking about rumours of the DA was an exercise in futility, there were so many rumors of such extreme variety that it was difficult to judge. Some people thought they poisoned the cities water to make people more susceptible to soothing, that one was false as far as she knew. Others thought that they were immortal, which was generally partially true. And others... "Can you really turn people into frogs?" Lena asked, seeming to be unable to contain her curiosity. At that she could no longer restrain herself and gave a small chuckle. As far as she knew she was one of the more accomplished forgers in the DA, but even for her reverting enough history for a person to become a frog would be impossible. "No, that one's a lie." She conceded, still smiling. "Though I'm sure someone in R&D has worked on it at some point, for dramatic effect if nothing else. As for the other rumours..." She shrugged, giving an apologetic look to Alask. "Hard to say, there are a lot of them. And some of those answers would be trade secrets."
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Laurelai studied Lena for a moment, watching as the other woman spoke. She didn't sound particularly close to this 'Nekorb' they were looking for, or at the least didn't seem concerned about his absence. Were they simply not well acquainted? Then why stay here waiting for him? The most likely answer would be that she was responsible for him in some way, or her other friend was. The same guild perhaps? Had she seen them together in one of the guild representative sections earlier? Lena's friend, Alask presumably, interrupted. He suggested that Nekorb would still be in the area before turning to Laurelai and addressing her directly. “Did you... ask for them?” He asked, no doubt noting her spikes as well. She considered before responding to him, giving away too much information wasn't good but this at least seemed fairly innocuous. "Yes." She replied simply. "I asked for them." She straightened her back a little more, making use of her newfound height to stare back imperiously at him. She stared calmly, but in open challenge, an Alethi scholar waiting to defend her position. Her life was a series of choices, and however much she might alter some of them, that was one choice that she never changed. That and her visit to the Nightwatcher were two constants across every history that she adopted for herself.
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Hiding another smile, Laurelai nodded back at Lena. Most people either went really quiet or started trying to murder her when they discovered her associations, Hemalurgy could be a bit of a divisive subject. But Lena seemed to take it in stride, she definitely seemed to note the spikes but didn't alter her behaviour. Laurelai almost considered trying to recruit her as well but it hardly seemed a good time, and being able to tolerate Hemalurgy wasn't the same thing as being willing to accept it yourself. "Well not unless you're a Subsumer anyway." She replied. "But we can't all be so lucky." She examined the room again, searching for anyone else heading in their direction and failing to find any. "Where did you lose your friend?" She asked. "I'd think we would have seen him by now if he was nearby."
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Laurelai's eyes followed the gesture impassively before looking back towards Lena. Lita being exposed so quickly was a little undesirable, but they had arrived as representatives of the DA, this had been a tradeoff for some valuable experience. And with things heading the way they were she likely couldn't afford to attempt to weave some elaborate fabrication anyway. Her gaze darted around the room, taking in Lena, her companion, the masses who were still milling about, the marines, and the looming shadow of the battleship overhead. This wasn't a time to overdo the subtlety. Laurelai let out a soft sigh and met Lena's gaze once more. She relaxed her posture, repositioned her limbs and allowed her dress to more obviously drape against the spikes that it had previously concealed. Outside of the Alleys there were few benefits she could gain from them, but most people knew what it meant for someone to have spikes like these. One or two spikes could be something from Scadrial or a rogue hemalurgist, but this many, and in this arrangement only meant one thing. She stopped widening her eyes and allowed her expression to lapse from one of panic and confusion back into her usual stoicism. "She likely will have managed to escape any hardships." She said "We do try to be prepared for outcomes like this after all." At the same moment she felt her pen twitch, still concealed in her safe pouch, as Lita replied. Out safe, heading back to the Alleys now. Need help? I might be able persuade Okame to go back for you. Also, sorry. Her mouth twitched in spite of herself, she'd been worried about making sure Lita was out safely, she hadn't expected that concern to be reciprocated. Fine for now. She sent back. Have sent word to Mac's department though they likely already knew given how extravagant this is. You did the right thing. Granted leaving in such an extravagant way was less than ideal but if they had the time to send a message then they were likely safe enough that she didn't need to worry about them. Losing two promising recruits in a single afternoon would not have ended well. @Sorana @ZincAboutIt
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Scraps of metal, broken glass and gemstones littered the path, the final wisps of Stormlight leaving the gems provided faint illumination as they crunched underfoot, though not enough to explain the light that was still emanating from ahead. The mist and dust still diffused the light, making it difficult to tell its precise origin and casting ominous shadows into the air and surrounding debris. A particularly large shadow loomed in front of them as they approached the centre of the ruined tower. As they approached closer the faded outline became clearer, resolving into the shape of another body, held aloft by a broken plank of wood that had pierced through his abdomen. Doctor Nitinyas held a similarly horrified expression to the other bodies, but his arm was also raised in an aggressive gesture in front of him, a final gesture of resistance forever locked in place as his blank, wide eyes stared into the distance. Behind his body stood a large, twisted structure. Thin metal beams formed the general outline, shallow recesses dotted their surface, several of them appeared scorched over large portions. Beneath the beams stood a mess of wires and cables, a spectrum of different alloys twirled around each other until eventually joining together around a large glass sphere which still emitted a dull white glow.
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"You're a friend of Lita's, aren't you? I'm Lena." Laurelai's eye twitched slightly in irritation as Lena held out a hand, being recognised was something she'd have preferred to avoid, but she had no doubts that whoever was running the show had already made note of all those attending so hiding her identity completely was likely a lost cause at this point. "Laurelai." She replied, smiling nervously. "And yes, I'm a friend of Lita's, she seems to have managed to find her own way out thankfully." They care about their friend, lean into that, develop some empathy. "I hope she manages to get out safely, I think they would have made it out before that thing arrived but who knows what they're capable of?" If the Marines really were just here for revenge against a single target then they'd probably be ignoring everyone else so the others should be safe, but people like this would probably still express concern in spite of that.
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One of the two, the woman who'd spoken into the microphone, stepped down and held out the cake to Laurelai who stared at it for a moment before switching her gaze and staring incredulously at the woman. So probably a little crazy at least, but mostly just confident? It seemed that the two of them weren't directly involved in matters, or if they were they seemed to be planning to escape anyway which didn't exactly bode well. Her interest in them faded a little as the other began guiding people towards the exits, perhaps they were just naive, truly wishing to brave danger just to see that their friend was safe. "Do you know what's happening?" She asked, ignoring the cake. "There were all those announcements then something that sounded like an explosion and now..." She looked around helplessly. "Now everything's kind of chaos." Though it did seem like that took a little longer than most parties take to erupt into chaos.
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Laurelai looked towards the stage, raising a curious eyebrow at the pair who had temporarily commandeered it amidst the chaos. They didn't seem overly concerned about the giant ship overhead, or the marines who were still in the building. Powerful enough to be overconfident? Or allied with them? Or just plain crazy? Determining motivations was something that Laurelai tended to specialise in, but these were not exactly ordinary circumstances. She had too little information, to little of their history to come to an informed decision. Which meant she'd have to pull a little more out of them. She staggered her way towards the stage, allowing her eyes to widen a little in what might appear as surprise or fear as she looked towards them. "What are you doing?" She asked, adding a touch of hysteria to her tone. "Didn't you see?" She gestured vaguely overhead and then again to their surroundings, taking in the chaos that had broken out in the building. "You're just going to stay here and eat cake?"
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The tower finally toppled entirely, its base collapsed under its weight as the top began to fall towards the doors out from the cellar, narrowly avoiding the figures who ran out from beneath its looming shadow and with a final thunderous crash it collided with the floor. Splinters of rock, metal and glass were sent flying in all directions as the husk of a house was destroyed still further beneath the weight of stone crashing down upon it and a cloud of dirt, dust and debris mingled with the faint evening mist to further obscure the vision of those present. From within this murky cloud the faint light could still be seen, near to where the lounging hall had previously been, though the light now flickered and lessened. Its glowing beacon dimmed in the resounding silence after the initial crash.
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Phew, so I'm all caught up again and should be available once more, though I will continue to be sharing the duties of world-description with @Fatebreaker depending on which of us can reply first / who wants to take point in certain sections of story. We'll probably be pulling a few when appropriate but not going to be too consistent with it since it kind of ruins the point of horror if you can predict everything that is about to happen. So expect the occasional straight trope, some trope reversals, and some to just be something else entirely. I've also added the character list to the OP for ease of reference.
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Laurelai dropped her Forgery as one of the nearby walls exploded. Ships that eclipsed the sun didn't exactly create a good setting for her to continue interrogations or covert operations. She set her drink back down, watching as Lita and Okame managed to escape the building, and smiled faintly. At least she didn't have to worry about accidentally losing new recruits on their first mission. "Well I suppose I did say myself that someone was going to be starting the fireworks soon." She commented idly to herself as she scanned the room. The marines seemed to be the most obvious focal point of chaos right now, but they weren't too much of a threat in themselves. The crusade was too well organized, they were well-regulated, documented and rigid. That made them particularly easy prey for Forgers, and she had an advantage over most other practitioners as well. But speaking to the marines were several others, unknowns, that was more problematic but if she observed them for a minute then she should have enough. If nothing else Okame's exit had shown that the walls weren't fully immune to Investiture, that left options open. Head back. She sent to Lita, attracting some curious looks from people who were fleeing as she sat in a seat, toying with a pen. I'll monitor things here for a bit longer. Hopefully there weren't too many wounded this time, Resealing was finicky and taxing to have to perform on a large scale.
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While holding both ears and slightly deafened by the raspberry, one of the DA lawyers set a deed of ownership down before the precursors who were trying to take away his colleagues. In it, it was pointed out that since the DA technically owned the entire Alleyverse, they were not in violation of any laws as the city never officially obtained this building from them and thus it wasn't a city-owned building. The DA denizens all smiled in gloating victory as this clarification was made.
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