Salsano Castle

The moon cast its white, blank gaze down on Salsano Castle, a sizable structure that rivaled Lamia Scale's guild hall. Unlike the great marble tower, however, Salsano Castle was black and uninviting. Fisherman tried to stay away from it, not just because of the jutting rocks and dangerous waves splashing against the island's banks but also out of the eerie feeling it gave. Fog seemed to cover it at all times, with the only thing visible being the streams of lights escaping from the castle's multitude of windows. Tonight brought change with it though. An aged sailor brought a strange group of mages with him. Unlike past wanderers, this bunch had been invited by request. They agreed to go for a myriad of reasons, whatever they might be but still, natives of the local port town had warned them not to go...

When they finally boarded the island, the group of mages – each bearing the mark of Lamia Scale – were left at the entrance to the castle by the fisherman who was all too eager to leave them. Strangely, for the first time in years, the waters around the island were still enough to let the fisherman through as if it were giving him permission to sail away. The mages were seemingly left by themselves until the massive doors in the front of  the castle were opened by just a single man. A regal attire, that of a butler, draped him and his stature was perfect for a servant. He was was attractive enough but there was something quite off about him.

"Greetings. I am Omas and I have been tasked with escorting you young sirs and ladies to the dining hall." He smiled ever so charmingly and beckoned them in. "Right away, now. Mr. Salsano does not like for his guests to stall."

The group followed the butler through the castle. Along the way, they passed many paintings, some of which seemed very old. The hallways were made of stone but compensated with fancy drapes and carpets along with prized artifacts that hung from the walls. It would have been pitch dark if it weren't for the series of candles that lit the way. There were others inhabiting the hallway, mostly servants but obviously of a lesser authority than Omas. They were all pale but even paler as the single butler passed through and made sure to get out of his way.

After navigating the labyrinth of hallways, Omas gently pressed his palms against a wooden door. As the doors separated, a bright set of lights passed through the crack. The dining hall was sight to behold: a long, rectangular table filled the center of the room and was covered with a bright red cloth. A chandelier made completely of glass and holding a set of large candles hung from the ceiling; in fact, candles hung all over the wall and lighten the mood up greatly. A mass of food ranging from quality meat to exotic fruits covered the table, and there were seats covering all sides. Lamia Scale, it seemed, was not the only guests it seemed. Men covered in royal garments and buxom women in rather delectable clothing sat the table as well. The guests all seemed so young and in perfect health though not one dared to take a bit from the food.

"Take a seat. Eat, chat, and take delight in your stay here. All is for your pleasure. Mr. Salsano will be here shortly." The formal butler walked with a prim and proper air about him toward the piano in the corner of the room. With little to no effort, he began to play the instrument as if he had been doing it for years.

One of the more obedient and kind members of the group, Enola Gay, did just that and took her seat. She had no worried. No concerns. She expected the night to be just fine. Who could blame her?

Omas:

---

OOC:

• This round is going to be a kind of role call; the fun will begin in the next round.
  
• The posting order will be decided by whoever posts first, second, and so on. After the first round, you will have forty-eight hours to post when it's your turn or you will be skipped and have to go last.
  
• I will be controlling the NPCs.
  

A gray haired mage with one blue eye, one gold eye, a black trench coat, and a black wide-brim hat stepped off of the boat. When Dmitry Kazakov had heard of this invitation, it seemed a bit odd. But if there was anything his many years of survival had taught him, it was this: never, EVER, turn down a meal. He looked at the castle in the night. The summoner didn't like places like this as it stood, but this place was worse. Something about it rose the hair on the back of his neck. Was it his instincts or was it some kind of spiritual presence? Either way, Dmitry had a new reason for being here: making sure nothing happened to his guildmates. Perhaps the others still saw him as an outsider, but nonetheless he felt attached to this guild.

The doors opened and the butler greeted the group. Dmitry wasn't sure why, but he didn't like this guy at all. As they walked through the hall way, Dmitry noticed how scared of Omas the other servants were; a simple difference in formal ranking didn't elicit that kind of fear. Right now, Dmitry's suspicion was matched only by his curiosity. 

When they arrived at the dining room, he was tempted to sit down and stuff his face. But he needed to find the right seat. Before he joined Lamia Scale, Dmitry would have probably chosen the seat with the best path to the window, in case he needed to bust out of there. Things were different now. Instead, he found a seat with a fairly open path to the piano, before sitting down and preparing a contingency plan.






(OOC: Woohoo! Got here first!)

Zhu sighed as she was dragged to this castle by the invitation she had recieved. It was incredibly rude to decline an invitation. She wouldn't let it get out that the Warrior of Lamia Scale was rude. Besides it promised to be a chance for her to size up her comrades and see who could be counted on, and who couldn't. She was dressed in her usual attire. Her revealing leather, cloth, and bone brasier, skirt, bracers, and her all important sword belt. However there wasn't a sword in the loop right now. She also wore something special. it was a blood red Cloak.
She glanced around with her Sapphie blue eye frowning at everything. She didn't trust the atmosphere in the air, and she could feel the eerieness of this whole locations. As the group was introduced to the butler she shook her head at him. He was like a caged hunting hound. He would act sweet and careful until his master took the leash off and let him hunt. The only question was what would he be hunting or in this case the much more likely would be whom he would be hunting. In either event Zhu would make sure that he wouldn't sink his fangs into her comrades.
She watched as the servants scattered like mice before a tiger and it only served to cement her idea of him. Truly he was dangerous and she needed to watch him. As they arrived at the diningroom and were instructed to sit down and eat she scoffed. She looked around and found a chair that had it's back to a wall, and faced the windows opposite her with her eye on the main entrance and thankfully her skull eyepatch would at least scream a warning before something got set to pop off. She looked at the food in front of her but waited for everyone else to eat before she would even think of touching it.

Ni-Ju glided just above the waves atop Sim's back as the light of the moon back lit Salsano Castle Castle in the distance, giving the impression that it was attempting to blot out the soft lunar glow that surrounded it. The effect was chilling to say the least and had Ni-Ju pulling his newly acquired greatcoat more tightly around him in a way that had nothing at all to do with the chill of the sea winds that passed him by. Very little about anything to do with this dinner party had sat quite right with him ever since the letter had first arrived upon the guild doorstep but the mystery of the whole event held a very alluring call nonetheless.Despite every fairy tale and mystery novel he had ever read in his life backing up his gut on the numerous ways in which this whole soiree could turn south, he was dead set on seeing what the night had to offer anyway. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time that he had imagined things to be worse then they really were.The fast closing lights of the boat landing snapped him from his idle thoughts and back to the task at hand.  

Rather then landing immediately and joining those who had taken the boat and would be arriving at the door ahead of him, Ni-Ju signaled for Sim to circle a few times so that he could get a better idea of the castle's environs before committing himself to a place which he knew next to nothing about. Hopeful about dinner or not he wasn't going anywhere near such a spooky looking building until he could at the very least memorize a few exits.By the time Ni-Ju and his feather brained companion had completed their second pass around the castle's spires he felt both cold and quite satisfied that he had learned as much as was possible without either studying the place in the light of day or stepping inside to take a look in the flesh. On that note, Ni-Ju gave a short series of tugs on the reins, signalling Sim that it was finally time to land.

After the short struggle of climbing down from the large set of rocks located near the water that his companion had so thoughtfully chosen as his landing pad with nothing managing to get too bruised except his dignity, Ni-Ju gave his former butlers attire a quick once over, checked the catch on the holster of the large handgun beneath his arm, and reshouldered his faithful and ever present pack before taking the stairs at a run to avoid being too ridiculously late. Reaching the doors and finding no one attending them, Ni-Ju hesitated for just a moment before deciding it probably wouldn't pose much of a problem to anyone and just let himself in. Finding the dining room proved to be an equally simple task by following both the slightly eerie sounds of piano music floating through the halls and the polite and somewhat timid help of several members of the staff. Once reunited with the attending members of Lamia Scale, Ni-Ju quickly settled into the first seat that was available and gave a few short nods to those he recognized to be from the guild before settling in to wait for the big cheese to make his debut.

Omas could not help but frown at the group as he worked his magic on the piano. Most of them looked so tense and two of them were late! One even went to the liberty of eating the silverware. The butler had to pause his hands just to ensure himself that he was still sane before going back to filling the room with classical music. The noble-looking guests just grimaced and acted as though everything were normal before returning to their chatter.

For several minutes, nothing of interest happened. It seemed to be a most boring dinner save for Omas’ music (of which he was most prideful of). A creak from the door shattered all that noise though. A regal, older man with a dark bear walked through the door like he owned the place… which he did. Mr. Salsano had an air of authority about him and seemingly looked down on those in the room. Omas continued on his piano but quiet, giving his master the courtesy to speak.

“Well… I don’t see that old man here. I guess the rumors are true: the old man really is dead.” Mr. Salsano frowned as he contemplated Zuo Cii… before his frown turned into a smile. “Perfect. Our centuries of wait are over.” Omas’ music took a dark tune at those words. “We might finally be able to leave our prison…” The piano music began to sound more demonic. “Ah, but first I must deal with you lot. Ah, don’t bother getting up.” He raised his hand, as if protesting them to stay in their seats. “The music is already in your ears… it’s too late.” The music reached its crescendo as Omas infused his magic power into the keys. “Just fall asleep.” The music acted as a lullaby and sent the Lamia Scale mages to a deep slumber…


Zhu and Shairako would awake, all their items still on them, to find themselves on one end of a large training-room. Its dimensions were massive and truly fit for battle. Training dummies lined the room and antique swords hung from the wall. A rough leather covered the floor and several large candles around the room lit the place up. There was no door, strangely. The walls, of course, were mad of black bricks like the rest of the castle. There were but two figures on the other end of the room: a blue-haired woman in a military-esque uniform.

“Finally, you two pansies are awake.” The woman took a close look at Zhu before smirking. “Yeah… Omas gave me the good one. You’ll put up a fight, I’m sure.” Her eyes shifted to Shairako for a short moment and a frown begot her. “Ugh… I don’t know about you…”

She sighed, “Hmpf. I can work with this though. I am Ismelda, the Magistrate of Strength. My task, as that jackass butler told me, is too kill you bunch but… I have some integrity as a warrior.”

Ismeld stretched her arms as if she were begging them to attack. “So I’ve decided to let you two take the first strike. Oh, a warning: if you don’t kill me with the first blow, it’s over for you.” An evil grin, one with fangs to back it up, plastered her face.

“So come on. Come get me!”


Dmitry and Kateri would awake in a much darker room than the others. The only sources of lights were the mass of fireflies fluttering around and a cauldron with green fire in it place in the center of the room. The floor and walls seemed to be made of concrete and no door could be seen in site. The only other figure in the room was a man, shaman by the looks of it, standing over the cauldron. He seemed dead serious in the face and awfully pale.

“I can sense you two are awake…”

He grumbled as he caught a firefly and tossed it into the cauldron, causing the green fire to rise up for a moment before retracting.

“I can sense more though. There are spirits amongst us, some good, some evil. I can smell them… disgusting. You two will be joining them. Truly, I am sorry.”

He turned his attention away from the cauldron to face the two. “I am Mahatma, the Magistrate of Courage. That thing – Omas – told me I must end you once you two had awoken. I hope you will forgive me once you’ve joined the spirits.”

With that, he began chanting in a strange language. He raised his hands and the fire in the cauldron raised up once more. The fire began to take on a form, shifting its appearance into that of a green, firey snake. The fire snake, a beast at least five meters tall, hissed and threw itself toward the two. It managed to extend itself from the cauldron, though the base of its tail was obviously attached.

“May the next life be kind to you both.”


Hakumi and Ni-Ju would awake to find themselves in a particularly strange room. The walls were covered completely with mirrors while the celing and floor were covered with pink carpet. At one end of the room was a giant, pink throne with a rather flamboyant looking man sitting back and relaxing as if it were just an ordinary Sunday afternoon.

"Hm? Oh! You're both awake. Finally! Omas said I had to wait until you cheeky wizards were awake! Don't ask why; I know you two would have killed me if I was asleep but... what that asshole says, I have to obey." He cracked his knuckles some but stayed sitting in his seat. He laughed a little and went on, “But really, the name’s Drystan, Magistrate of Wisdom. I don’t know what your names are and I don't really care so don’t bother telling me.” He paused for a moment and fiddled with his glasses as casually as one could.

"Whelp. I guess I had better get started, am I right!? Don't want Omas to throw a hissy fit!" He cackled as if had just made a joke. "Come on! Cheer up! Laugh while you still can!"

He snapped his fingers and, out of thin air, a giant boulder appeared above the two. Gravity took its course…


Sinon, poor Sinon, found himself without a comrade. Instead, he awoke in a fancy, wooden chair with red fabric seats. Unlike the others, he had none of his original items on him. Instead, he was dressed in a purple, silk robe and nothing else. He was seated at a wooden table as well in what appeared to be a study. The walls were covered with bookshelves and there was even a fireplace to boot. A red rug covered the floor and several candles were attached to the wall to bring out just the right hue of red. All seemed quite calm actually.

There was another figure seated at the table: none other than Mr. Salsano himself. He seemed much more gentle than he had in the dining room. He had an almost-father like smile on him. His hands were clasped together on the table in a non-threatening manner. Two glasses of wine were situated on the table next to him. Everything about the scene screamed “calm and cool. Nothing to worry about.”

“Hello there, my little friend. I hope I did not scare you back there… I apologize if I did.” He gently pushed one of the glasses of wine toward the young man. “Please, have a drink. You look like you need it.”

“I wanted to discuss something with you. Tell me, friend, what’s your name?”

---

Mr. Salsano:

Ishmeld:

Mahatma:

Drystan:

OOC:
Hakumi & IQ: That boulder is B-rank in strength.
Dmitry and Kateri: That giant, fire snake can deal 1 B-rank damage with its attacks.

By the time Dmitry realized what was happening it was to late. He attempted to summon a spirit, but he was too drowsy to focus. Instead, he attempted to charge Omas. However. by the third step he was stumbling and fell unconscious just before reaching the piano. When, he awoke, he was in a dark room full of fireflies and in the center was a man with a cauldron of green fire. He noticed Katerii next to him and roused her to wake up. Dmitry could definitely feel a strong spiritual presence in this place. The fire seemed to draw them in and the presence of both him and Katerii likely added to that. When the shaman spoke of good and evil, Dmitry couldn't help but laugh. 

"Spirits are neither good nor evil. They have no need for such human concepts." He said to the man before closing his eyes. "And I already walk with the spirits." His eyes shot open, revealing the silver pupils and bitch black irises that signaled the use of his magic. He threw his hand forward as the snake appeared.

"I invoke the World Serpent: Jormangand!"

Dmitry's own thirty foot, smoke-like snake appeared from the ground and shot at the approaching fire snake's throat from beneath it, intending to slam it into the ceiling and inject it's venom into the apparition. While normal poison likely wouldn't work on this thing, what Jormangand used was actually it's influence in the form of a spiritual venom. As the serpent spirit did this, Dmitry would move out of the way and fire a wisp at the shaman. Even if he blocked it, the distraction would be enough for Katerii to set up for an attack. After firing the wisp, whether it landed or not, Dmitry would pull the knife from his boot and charge at the man commanding the fire snake. He would aim low rather than high, ducking down just as he was in front of the shaman so he could thrust the knife sideways in an attempt to dig the blade up and underneath the rib cage. 

---

Hp: 100%
Mp: 85%

Spells Used:

Zhu looked around the room taking note of everyone who had arrived. She was happy to see Ni-Ju as she and her comrade had a prior work history together and she knew he could be counted on. As she looked around she noted that hardly anyone had eaten anything, but the one who interested her the most was the one who was eating silver. He wore as sash around his eyes so she assumed that he was blind. Why she couldn't have said. Still this was taken away from her as she noticed the doors open. She watched the owner of the castle with a tenseness she had never felt before. There was something wrong here, or at least with him. As he spoke of their guild master Zhu began to frown she hadn't been around when their master had fallen and it haunted her still. She was half out of her chair when he motioned for them to be seated and the trap that he had laid for them was sprung.

When she finally woke in the room she woke with a start jumping up and whipping around her blade appearing at her side as if she was ready for any attack. She looked around the room and she couldn't help but smile as she shook her head in amusement. She turned and saw the woman as she spoke and simply rolled her eye as she finished "You aren't worth the effort. Your overconfidence speaks volumes. A true warrior never underestimates their opponents until they are dead, and then they laugh at how easy it was. You act as though we are already slain. Well you will pay for underestimating us." she said as her body began to glow and change. Her body swelled in size until she stood over eight feet tall. Her feet became strong cloven hooves, and two great bull horns sprouted from her hair. She dismissed her family sword and summoned up her great sword drawing the heavy blade that was as tall as the warrior they faced, but much wider. She lifted this great blade with one hand easily as she looked to her partner "You attack when you find an opening. Since she is a warrior our Voin points will be greatly increased." she said as she turned and began to rush the woman. She would continue to charge her until she was within striking distance and then she would bring her blade down in a great arch using both hands to increase the strength behind the blow. She was looking to end this in one move, but she was ready for a counterattack she was sure would follow.

Combat Info:

Weapon Spell Used:

Frostfire:

Heart of Ice:

HP: 100%
MP: 90%

Bullets fire with Frostfire enabled: 5 (1 clip of the sniper, equaling 1.25 D rank damage added to the damage from the bullets fired.)

Ni-Ju came to in one of the strangest rooms he had ever had the misfortune to find himself in. More akin to a large hall then an actual room, it stood decorated with a combination of lurid pink and enough mirrors to make even the most narcissistic of beings gaze about in wonderment. Looking about a bit more, Ni-Ju found that he was not alone. Less than a stones throw to his left was one of the guild members that he hadn't interacted with very much. Hakumi, if his memory served him correctly. Before he could do so much as curse his luck or ask her a simple question, the other person who occupied the room made his prescense known. Seated in a pink throne that perfectly matched the shade of the carpet beneath their feet, this already villain-eske looking fellow launched into a psychotic tirade which pretty much sealed it that he meant them harm.

The crazy fellow, who had revealed himself as being named Drystan, finished his speech with an evil cackle and a finger snap that quite suddenly materialized a boulder over the two Lamia Scale mages and sent it crashing towards them. Acting quicker then he could while still sitting, Hakumi jumped towards him and knocked Ni-Ju out of the path of the boulder, saving him from ending up as a darker patch upon the carpet. Getting to his feet beside her, Ni-Ju brushed himself off and drew the massive handgun that lay in the holster beneath his arm. "W-what are you doing? Can't we just talk this over and avoid physical confrontation?" Hakumi plead, in an attempt to appeal to their enemy's better nature which from the looks of things seemed to fall upon deaf ears.

Ni-Ju on the other hand held no such reservations to fighting against someone who had so clearly demonstrated their intent and was keen to show this upstart the dangers of provoking a Lamia Scale mage into battle. Hoping to bring this fight to a close as soon as possible so as to search for the other Lamia Scale attendees who were probably being similarly engaged, Ni-Ju attempted the equivalent of a magical cheap shot.Pulling Hakumi into the lee side of the boulder for cover as he did so, Ni-Ju focused a macro earth detonation at the lenses of Drystan's glasses and gave the small mental push to set things off.

Stats and OOC:

Several hours earlier, before everyone had awoken…

Omas, standing on the banks of the island, gently pushed the wooden row boat out to sea. Enola sat within the boat with a worried and panicky face. With all her energy, she began rowing and rowing as the clock was ticking. She had to get to the guild hall’s library quickly.

“Remember, Enola, if you’re not back with that book by sunrise, I’m going to silence your little friends. Do be quick.”

Omas smirked as he watched the frantic maid row out.


Ismelda smiled as Zhu charged at her, shaking her arms a little in preparation. Under her coat was a unique set of armor, one that worked better against stronger blows. Her smiled disappeared when she saw Shirako, he had not charged at her or made any attempt to attack. “A slayer…” Her smile vanished, Zhu’s blade whistled toward her head. “Activate: Valkyrie” She felt her body grow stronger, She simply reached up and caught Zhu’s blade, like it was but a fly. “I give you a fair chance… and you take advantage of my honor.” Ismelda smiled, “Well then, all is fair. Activate: Crimzon Phage.” Her body started producing a black mist, which started to latch onto any metal in the room.

Ismelda released Zhu’s blade and stepped back, dropping into a fighting stance. Any metal in the room would grow oily and start corroding. This Mist was a poison, one made of her own blood. If it is inhaled or eaten it would start reducing the person's magic. She had developed this technique after hearing about the abilities of slayers, pity for the one in the room.

Ismelda was now on to offensive she stepped forward and attempted to slug Zhu in the chest. She would quickly follow the attack up with a turning kick to the face. “Come along then, I hope you don’t mind me going all out. I did warn you what would happen if you failed did i not?”


Mahatma looked curiously as the smoke serpent took his own snake by neck. The fire snake was obviously the stronger combatant as it broke free from the smoke snake’s grip and instantly retorted with a snap of its own jaws at the smoke snake.

Mahatma himself, however, was much more passive. In fact, he didn’t seem to move as the wisp smack him in the face. He merely stood there in daze; it was rather eerie. He seemed even more oblivious as Kateri sent a hail of bullets in him followed by a swift knife to the gut. And yet… he did not fall. With the blade plunged into his ribs, he actually seemed to smile. He looked down at Dmitry with a grin on his face and a hole in his forehead where a bullet had entered. Blood – black blood – trickled down his face. A bullet going through his head did not seem to phase him in the least bit.

“It seems the taste of death is still forbidden to me,” he lamented, “but I will have it one day.”

With the cauldron destroyed by Kateri’s bullet, the green fire snake fell to the ground in a hiss. It layed ever so still until it began to bloat. The fire that composed it roared and twitched until the flames gathered and retracted to Mahatma. The green fire rapidly covered the shaman until he was coated in it entirely.

“The spirit of this flame warned me about you… the one who converses with the spirits. It's afraid of you... I must hurry before it's spooked anymore.”

With that, the green fire covering the shaman’s body bursted out in the form of a wave of fire that went in every direction. It would surely scorch whatever it touched.


Drystan merely cackled some more as Hakumi saved her companion from the falling boulder. He leaned back in his throne and sarcastically sighed, “Gosh, I sure didn’t see that co-!”

BOOM!

Drystan’s glasses exploded and his heard turned to must with it. Black blood covered the shattered pink throne. Pieces of the throne strung out everywhere, along with chunkes of Drystan himself. The duo had won the battle already… not really.

That annoying cackle filled the room again; on the opposite side of the room sat another pink throne along with the very health drystan. He glanced over to the spot where the dead Drystan sat upon his shattered throne and laughed, “I’m glad you killed that guy! He was soooooo annoying. Now we can have the fun all to ourselves!” He laughed, laughed, and laughed some more.

“If you’re curious, that guy was technically me, but he’s from a different dimension. Hell, that boulder was from a different dimension!” He chuckled a little more before regaining his cool, “But you know what? If you’re super jelly and wanna meet yourselves from a different dimension, no problem!”

The mad man snapped his fingers again, causing two figures to appear next to him: Hakumi Nazu and Ni-Ju Hachi! These two, however, were much different than the real ones. The Hakumi next to Drystan had pink and black strips in her hair – obviously a goth – and she bore the Savage Skull guild tattoo on her neck. The Ni-Ju had scars along his face and even a large burn mark on the edge of his forehead; he bore the Tartarus guild tattoo on his outer left hand.

“I grabbed these cheeky monkeys from a dimension where you both go evil.” He chuckled some more and let the two get to work for him.

Evil Ni-Ju stepped forward and pulled off the same move as the real Ni-ju, activating an earth detonation on the boulder that the real Hakumi and Ni-Ju were standing by. Evil Hakumi, on the other hand, caused several basket-ball sized water spheres to appear around her. She would send the spheres hurdling toward the real Hakumi and Ni-Ju as a follow up attack of the explosion.


Mr. Salsano smiled some more, the demeanor of a father radiating through him.

He calmly address the young man, “Well, Sinon, I want to tell you the story of a few foolish men and women from centuries past. You see, there was once a powerful nobleman; he had his own castle, his own soldiers, and a host of other servants.” Nostalgia began hinting in his voice and his tone began saddening. “But the nobleman had a great fear, a fear of death. He did not want to pass on and lose all that he had spent his lifetime acquiring. So, acting on his fear, this foolish man went on a pilgrimage with a handful of his servants to a faraway island where, by use of rumors, he found a great demon rumored to grant mortal men immortality.”

A touch of anger and regret began growing in his voice as he continued, "Like so many before him, the nobleman asked for gift of immortality. Without the slightest bit of hesitation, the demon granted it not only to him but his servants as well.”

His hands shook a little on the table, and a tear formed on the edge of his eye. Whether it was a tear of sorrow or anger, one could not tell. “The demon tricked them all though. In addition to immortality, he placed a curse on them and doomed them to never leave the island.”

He lowered his head in shame as he finished his tale.

Jormangand was torn asunder by the fire snake's attack just before the pot exploded. The shaman then sent of fire that burnt all in its path, including Dmitry...


Dmitry's eyes became saucers as he registered what he just saw. He then had Jormangand release the fire snake and move out of the way of its attack before it was even made. As the fire snake dissolved and moved towards the shaman, Dmitry leaped back and out of the way, leaving the knife in and allowing Jormangand to coil around Mahatma and contain the blast within. The World Serpent disappeared shortly after that, leaving behind whatever remained of the man who within. 

What...was that...? Dmitry thought to himself, having never experienced anything like the vision he just received. It was as if he was seeing into the future, but such a thing couldn't be possible...right?

'Focus, boy!' Hati's voice rang through Dmitry's mind, snapping his attention to the situation at hand.

"I invoke the Swift Hawk: Vedfolnir!" The spirit hawk flew out of nowhere into the room and began to circle the remains. Dmitry couldn't be certain of what else this weirdo would pull and obviously overpowering him wouldn't do much good. The proper course of action was to ready a means of precise intervention in order to disrupt any more spells. He also prepared himself to engage the man in physical combat as a means of distraction, placing his coat and hat on to the ground.

---

Hp: 100%
Mp: 85%

Spells Used:

Lineage Used:

(OOC: Sorry if it's a bit short.)

Zhu frowned and shook her head lightly as she saw her blade be caught. She knew better than that, but still like an idiot she had rushed in head first. She cursed herself as she easily disengaged. When the warrior struck out to hit her in the chest Zhu pushed her chest forward hard causing the blow to lighten, but also for her new minotaur muscled body to attempt to injure the woman's arm and fist with the velocity of it's punch and of the chest pressing back against it with equal or greater force. Her weapon was still in hand and she used to to block the kick to the face. As her foot connected to the slab of metal Zhu would force her blade back towards the woman attempting to throw her off her balance.

Indeed her great blade began to grow oily and would start to corrode, but that wouldn't be a process that would be accomplished quickly. If her attempt to bring the woman off of her balance worked then she would continue on with the attack slamming the flat of her sword down against her opponent. Hoping the weight of the blade would be enough to harm her foe, or at least continue to Despite the black poison mist Zhu's head was far higher up now and it would take a bit of time before the poison would be able to reach her nose, or mouth to be inhaled. Of course there were ways to make sure her head dipped below into the area of effect, and that was not knock her off of her feet. Although in a flat room with little to no variation in the floor it would prove a very impressive feat. If her plan to slam her heavy blade into her foe failed however she would Ignore it and rush charging at full speed putting the weight of her body against the woman, and her armor the velocity if it connected would be almost guaranteed to knock over, or at least disrupt the woman's movements.

Stats:

HP: 90%
MP: 75%

Active Effects:
All but Kateri receives +40% Damage (Shard Storm + Polar Resolve)

Polar Resolve:

Ice Shower:

Shard Storm:

Fighting himself had not exactly been what Ni-Ju had originally planned for his night but it seemed as if Drystan was just hell bent on ruining the evening even after dying. An initial detonation from his evil counterpart on the boulder he was using for cover separated him from Hakumi and sent the young Lamia Scale mage flying through the air towards Drystan and his alternate dimensional subordinates. Landing against one of the mirrors hard enough to shatter it into a rain of jagged pieces, Ni-Ju slumped to the ground covered in cuts and bruises too numerous to count. Completely ignoring his wounds, he got to his feet and threw a sarcastic grin towards his clone. "Sorry to tell ya friend, but this is my reality and you are not welcome in it." Punctuating his last word with a micro air detonation directed towards his evil self's face as a means of distraction, Ni-Ju charged forward while quickly firing off shots from his pistol. His intent was twofold in doing so, first and foremost of which was closing the gap between the two of them so that using any spells would be hazardous to the both of them and secondly to wound and slow down his other self so that any close combat would be in his favor.