1067/The Title Passes On

The Title Passes On
Date of Scene:	02 December 2014
Location:	Great Painting of Ariamis <PoA>
Synopsis:	Everyone checks out the duke's archives, then blue-boys attack.
Cast of Characters:	Tomoe, Staren, Priscilla, 168, 183, 253, 347, 560, 570, Lezard Valeth, 635

---

Priscilla has posed:
    For a rare change of pace, Priscilla has invited the next group of respondants to attend in person, eschewing the usual method of summoning phantoms for a warpgate apparently constructed in the observatory of the Duke's Archives. The upper floors are a complete and total loss, having been iced over in thick layers of that abominable crystal, but with Seath dead, the other inhabitants have either fled, disappeared, or have been cleared out, because the library is seeing its first benign activity in well over a century.

    It isn't exactly buzzing with activity, but small handfuls of pilgrims, almost all of whom are dressed in scholarly or clerical manners, mill about the upper floors of the great central hall, traipsing back and forth across the eccentric rotating stairways and up and down elevators to bring their finds to the reading commons; intent on absorbing the history and knowledge of isolationist Anor Londo. In particular, the sorceror boy Griggs from the burg, seems to have attracted a large group of similarly dressed young men in a circle around a torso-sized book spread out over a little table barely supporting its weight. Indra and Cassius can be glimpsed on one of the top levels, though the others may be somewhere else.

    Priscilla herself seems to be a little lost in all of this, standing like a wallflower to the side of the central stairway, having absolutely zero presence of ownership despite being the one who the Archives currently belong to. She doesn't seem to be keen on the idea of starting a meeting with so many people around, because the way to the secret back rooms has been opened up ahead of time, though she stands guard to make sure nobody wanders in.

Staren has posed:
    Staren steps out of the warpgate. It's the first time in a long time... maybe at all... that he's visited without his powered armor. He looks around, taking in the sight. Seeing Priscilla against the wall, he nods to her in greeting, then approaches the nearest scholar. "Hey. Find anything good?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "So Nathan," Psyber begins, following Nathan via whatever method he chose to arrive in. The half-angel has a pad and a pencil in his hands as he trails behind the librarian, "What do you want for Christmas? Is it a jetpack? Motocross bike? X-Treme Skateboard? Fischer Price's My First Basejumping Set? A rocket car?"

    In reality, Psyber had already figured out Nathan's gifts months ago, but it's mandatory for him to make Nathan think he's getting absolutely inappropriate gifts, "What about a meth lab? How would you feel about that?"

    Psyber doesn't have a terrible amount of reaction to the library, largely due to him not being a librarian. He still wants to stick close to Nathan, though.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko now visits Lordran in person, so to speak, for the first time. In total, for the... fourth time? To this particular place, the second. Without significant expectation of being attacked--again, the first.

    That doesn't mean she has /no/ expectation. She's just at her usual, passive level of wariness that something will suddenly try to kill her and/or someone near her. She has yet to find a situation where this kind of expectation is bad to have while outside of one's home. For that reason, she arrives transformed, though unarmored, wearing the not-a-uniform-if-it's-unique dress of a magical girl.

    She will mostly be looking around at all the people, as this is also her first time seeing anything resembling a crowd in this world.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Somewhere along the line it would seem that silent entries became Mizuki's norm. Or perhaps they've always been her norm and that's just been obfuscated by her general demeanor?

    Whatever the case, she could make no less of a fuss. As she emerges from the warpgate she would metaphorically latch on to the shadow of another person, likely Kimiko, and maintain her same, silent invisibility. She would saunter along that way, at least presumably apart from prying eyes, until they had reached the Priscilla's position. There she would break away, slowing fading into existence before the crossbreed to give her a gentle, equally reticent curtsy. "Priscilla." Seems like she's finally dropped the 'Miss'.

    And Psyber would get her attention not long eyebrow, earning a quirk of her brow and a smile more curious than any single line in a book by Lewis Carrol that shall not be named. "I'm morosely curious as to where you shop for gifts," She would say, expecting that she needs no more introduction than that.

    Ironically, she has no idea what meth is. The thing that stood out most to her was the skateboard.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe was acked to come in person and she had trusted Priscilla on this as she does so. She does not come as Tomoe the Iron lily but Sheena Armstrong people might not even know her as no one arriving has actually seen her real self so far as she recalls. She's a tall girl of European decent at about five 11 she's oddly a bit on the gaunt side, she's got a hoddie on that has the logo for ALO on it, she's got cargo pand and one mighht noitce a strange little pendant she's wearing as she enters. Her voice however is the same.

"So you wanted is here in the flesh I'm here."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn looks a little lost himself as he wanders in from the gate, but no less eager to see a new corner of the multiverse. The highschooler fiddles with his glasses, looking around carefully and taking in the room's contents and people. He doesn't look like he particularly recognizes anyone here yet, however.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard has been frequently present since the removal of the previous owner. His capacity for transport has served him well in this case, allowing him to peruse many books on his own volition. He seems to have set up a table in one of the anterooms with a large stack of tomes with strange and complicated titles. He also occasionally confers with the 'sorcery crew' in the other area, but it's questionable who's getting more out of those discussions. He doesn't seem concerned with the presence of any heroic types. He's not breaking any rules, right?

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan Hall is here, in person this time.

    "Even though I know there is no practical reason why it should be such, for some reason I always seemed to think that the dread inherent to the atmosphere of your world would be more intense in-person. But it is actually not quite so bad." He says, mostly to himself. Then a few winces at Psyber. "All of those sound... Somewhat excessive. I think my transport needs are met, thank you. No... No meth lab. No."

    "Ah, Griggs. Hello again. Good to see you well, or as well as anything can be." Nathan makes sure to greet him on the way. "Let me know if you find anything I should take a look at." And then, hey, here's Priscilla! "Salutations." He says, walking over to her and giving a nod of greeting. "I am nothing short of green with envy at your inheritance. You seem less enthused. Perhaps we may speak more privately? Ah, I am rude to immediately jump to business. How have you been since the matter of the Duke? Still feeling better?"

    He's... He seems much more social, somehow. Why is that? The answer is obvious. He's in hs natural habitat.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Given what else has happened on this world, Shirou's a bit worried about people going there in person. Lordran's a crazy darned place! but he does arrive in person. he comes through the warpgate wearing a jacket and extremely tense, eyes flicking about left and right in case any weird stuff's happening. But it's not, so yay! There's that.R
    Spotting Priscilla soon enough, Shirou wanders over to her. "Priscilla! Your crew's sure found a good base of operations. How's everything been?"

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla looks relieved to see Staren, as the first familiar face to arrive, though she is apparently still too self conscious to wave. The man nearest to him is carting around a small stack of extremely thick books with utmost care, dressed in fancy black and gold, courtly clothes that might mean he is a professor of some sort somewhere prestigious. He drops them down on a lectern and pulls up a seat, popping open the first book and reading the title aloud for Staren. "Volumes one through four of the comprehensive history of the Vinheim dragon school of sorcery. Over a hundred years old. I guarantee you that nine tenths of this is entirely lost information in this day and age. Most of Vinheim's greatest minds have turned their attentions away from passing down knowledge to the curse as of late." Kimiko finds that there are several people that look much like this man. Though actually fairly evenly split between genders, the average wealth class here is pretty high, which might indicate that learning Anor Londo's written language might be reservedf for the upper crust of other countries.

    "Lady Mizuki." Priscilla isn't about to drop the titles any time soon. "And thou were more than welcome to use thine Avatar, Lady Tomoe, but we shalt not be bothered here." She seems more or less content to ignore Lezard for the time being. Griggs and co. are more than happy to elaborate on any terms he brings up, though their own knowledge is far from comprehensive, probably due to their youth. The young sorceror greets Nathan as enthusiastically as always, shouting "This stuff on crystals is absolutely brilliant! I mean, potentially at least. Not a fan of how it's been used so far but . . ." he trails off like a socially awkward teenager. Quentyn will quickly be able to assess that, between the ground floor and the open balconies that surround it, stacked one on top of the other, this particular archive probably has as much text in it than the largest of libraries he is familiar with, and that the small number of people making use of it would require years to get through it all.

    Priscilla does her best not to make a thoroughly undignified noise at the sight of Psyber trying to sell Nathan on a meth lab; taking her time to choke down the urge to smile before responding to the librarian. "It is still torture to the nerves to be around this place, even with /him/ gone, but I am resolved to grow used to it. The sooner I replace my old memories of these halls with happier ones, the better. Likewise, once that abominable laboratory can be remodeled and the crystal scraped clear." She looks to Shirou. "I believeth it shalt serve well. For the time being however, there is something more pressing to discuss. I will lead thee to somewhere more fitting of its nature." With that, she turns towards the mechanical bookshelf, leading everyone through it before pulling the lever to rotate it shut. She takes a different path than the way Solaire had led them last time, ignoring the ladders down into the basement, and instead going through layers upon layers of hidden shelves behind the common room's walls, into a rather large, and strangely cozy study; vaguely oval in shape, with several desks, wooden floors, and comfortable magic lighting. Spread out on the main table is one of the massive tomes from downstairs; likely unsealed after the death of the one who had created their wards to begin with. The two page spread appears to be a map of the country, but with a convoluted series of connected dots drawn across it, most radiating from a single, central location, immediately recognizeable as Firelink Shrine.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Noticing where others are tending to gather, Quentyn too wanders over to more or less where Priscilla is, but he stays towards the back and just listens. Keenly, trying to figure out what's going on. When Tomoe's name is mentioned--"Tomoe..?" the student murmurs under his breath, looking between those gathered quickly. But he doesn't seem to find who he's looking for.

    When Quentyn notices Staren, however, the Galiandan holds up a hand in a wave and flashes a grin greeting. But he leaves it nonverbal and seems content to simply follow the others, using their conversations as his weathervane.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard is perfectly happy to be ignored by Priscilla, despite her frosty, formal demeanor being so /familiar/ to him in some ways. He's not taking any of the books, simply referencing material and taking extensive notes. He is used to doing research in comparative solitude.

The activities of the Union members gains some note from Lezard in passing, but he does not interject. Nothing seems to be gaining his attention at the moment, though the comments on the Vinheim school of sorcery to Staren does gain a moment's pause from the Sorceror of Midgard. He doesn't butt in though.

The books aren't going anywhere, and if nothing else, he'll outlive basically all of these scholars.

He'll /guarantee/ it.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe tilts her head a little bit at Priscilla.

"You asked me to come in person so I did, and it be a bit of a hastle to go back to log into it at this point." She does seem to be in a good mood and she does owe Priscillia much and it's why she was trying to respect hert request after all. She's not without protection after all.

"That's a pretty wise idea my friend."

She pauses at her name being called and looks to Quentyn, her face would match up with Tomoe's as would the voice but not much else.

"Oh hey Quentyn, good to see you."

She is not thinking about Lezard at the moment dhe doesn't know him too well...

Staren has posed:
    Staren hmms. "Wish I had time to read through it all... Hopefully you guys can give other scholars the highlights after awhile?" Others are arriving! Psyber's antics get an eyeroll, everyone get nods and waves, and then Priscilla calls them all over.

    Staren blinks as he passes close to Tomoe and looks up at her. "You're tall in real life too..." he comments.

    "Ooooh, secret passage!" He looks around until they come to the study: "What do we have here? ...What do these dots mean?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Getting a choked back laugh and a near-smile from Priscilla is enough to make Psyber's harrying of Nathan more than worth the minimal effort, "Come on. We could get you a hat and sunglasses. Shave your head. You can manipulate social situations to make yourself a drug baron while you slowly lose your humanity in a riveting five-season arc that shows us all how good intentions can breed dark outcomes." He smiles, putting his hands on Nathan's shoulders and rubbing them playfully.

    Looking to Priscilla, Psyber nods his head firmly, "I think once you clean it out, maybe personalize it all a bit, it'll look nice. Hang some of those like... cat pictures. 'Hang in there' and 'I hate Mondays' and one of those black-bordered posters with a stock photo, a single word, and some quote from a half-assed author or famous person. Maybe a throw rug. Oh! Get a picture of Seath's dead corpse with a funny word bubble like 'This week is just Dragon on'."

    "Sorry, I was rambling. What are we doing today?"

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko does have some interest in identifying the different groups that are now using the archives, and takes note of the similarities--noticing Lezard in the process. As that last encounter is her only experience with him, she's no more on edge than she is with any other stranger. For the most part. And he's not the only one, though Quentyn has what she sees as more of a harmless look. Sheena she recognizes by voice. Mizuki gets a curious look as she chooses to appear. Kimiko herself offers the barest greetings.

    And then they're away and passing through the shelves. Kimiko's reasonably certain that she wouldn't be able to read, much less understand, one out of a hundred of the books stored here, so she pays more attention to the people than the books. Priscilla, in particular--but it's just curiosity, mainly.

    The map, when opened, has her attention briefly, but loses much of it as soon as she realizes she has no frame of reference for anything on it.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Nathan isn't the only one in his element here. Mizuki is, too, and she would quietly follow along after Priscilla as the group makes their way to the secluded study. And as soon as they arrive she would saunter over to the large tome, arms folded neatly behind her back as usual, before she looks with some concern after her words to Nathan. "Well, the business of life is the acquisition of memories. Perhaps we'll acquire some here that will aid you in ousting the less savory ones you may harbor now?" One can only hope.

    She would attempt to glance over the pages of the book, albeit briefly, electing to pull a chair over if she spots anything interesting. If there's no chair to be found then she would find one elsewhere, pulling one out of a portal opened with Aelinos. As usual, this would come with all her typical flagrant disregard of what others may think of a portal to the Void opening out of nowhere. Which would probably be very little anyway, but nevertheless.

    Kimiko would get a small nod in greeting, too, when she makes eye contact. "Miss Kimiko." And still an honorific for her. In light of her interactions with Bedivere, Saber, and others, she contemplates referring to her as 'Sir', but since 'Miss' has registered without complaint thus far she sees no real reason to interrupt a working formula.

    Now, back to the book. Well, the plethora of books, but mainly the big one. Big things are often prevalent, a la Chekov's Gun.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan leaves Griggs to his studies with an approving nod and focuses on Priscilla. "Well, I look forward to a better time, when we can make this a better place for you. I would say that it has already improved a great deal." He moves on in and seems to much enjoy the change of scenery, even though the last was quite fine. As he does, he casually banters back with Psyber. "I have no intention of losing either my humanity or my hair, both are integral to my identity. I barely wear sunglasses anyway." Then there's a look to Staren. "They originate at Firelink. If I had to guess, they are likely the bonfires, but I would make no assumption. What is our business today, Priscilla?" He takes a respectful, attentive position standing at the corner of the table.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    With Tomoe nearby and saying that she's not come as her superpowered self, Shirou's now even more alarmed by the situation. If the place did fall under attack by anyone... hoo boy. Oh well, no changing it now.

    "Something important?" He follows along. What else can he do exactly?

    The boy strolls through the strange path Priscilla leads them on... and ends up staring at the map...

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla really seems as if she is about to laugh out loud at Psyber's decoration tips, right up until the last one, at which she completely loses all semblence of good humour. That particular joke may have been a little too soon; even for someone she held absolutely no love for to begin with. Mizuki, unfortunately, is denied a good natured response for this reason, though not the opportunity to get a chair.

    Reaching the study, Priscilla pulls up one of the chairs from the smaller desks to seat herself in front of the book, tracing her finger over several of the lines in sequence. "Sir Hall is correct. This central location is clearly Firelink shrine. Several of these others art places we hath been to before. The base of the Parish. The belltower under Blighttown. These Archives. The Cathedral of Gwynevere. As far as I am able to ascertain, each of these marks a Bonfire, and the lines denote to which each is linked. Those which retain, or once possessed, a Firekeeper, trace their origin to Firelink, after which the lesser Bonfires art spread into their surroundings. It denotes a clear flow of power. Possibly from the First Flame itself. With this in mind, I hath devised the probable locations of our next quarries, by reading where these paths converge."

    She spends a few moments in tense silence as she tries to formulate the words to express the gravity of the situation. "For most of thee who art not so familiar with the history of Lordran, the acquisition of the Lordvessel perhaps seems a typical quest for an ancient artifact of sufficient use. In reality, it served its role as a vessel for the very first souls to come into existence; as ancient as the world. It is a symbol of the origin of life itself, to which even the gods trace their lineage. It is not a simple key made to open the way to the Kiln of the First Flame. Lord Gwyn made that place inaccessible without the Lordvessel out of grave need. In order to return to the originating point of all existence, the Lordvessel will not be satisfied without these first souls returned to it. Lord Gwyn's is one, and the mightiest of them all, so for such we need not worry. Duke Seath's was another, lesser shard of the whole. If we art to go forward, we must reclaim three more, and two of them belong to original Lords of the Age of Ancients. Gods amongst gods. Seath is but a pale imitation of those we must contend with next."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber makes a sort of 'blech' face as he spots Priscilla losing her good humor from his joke, "Sorry, Pris." He says softly, hands going to his pockets before he simply relegates himself to silently hang around at the side of Nathan and listen to the new plan and Priscilla laying out what she's managed to discover so far.

    He probably won't be saying much for a while, not happy with himself that he upset the dragon girl.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is only half-paying attention to the actual content of the banter. If she has a sense of humor, she's not choosing now to show it. Though a slight expression shows agreement with Nathan's stance of "no meth lab."

    As the explanation comes, she again looks at the map, trying now to read this pattern of linkage and see, as she has, how it might be read to tell them where their quarries lie. And yet, she hasn't been to any of the locations mentioned, so a good deal of context is still missing. Still, perhaps it will become clear.

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn blinkblinks and takes up a cautious look when he's called by name. "Umm, do I--" He frowns as he tries to place the voice and face, then it dawns on him. He fiddles with this glasses again. "Tomoe...?" the student-adventurer asks carefully, and more audibly this time.

    But it's not long before Quentyn's attention is pulled back to the here and now, and the map and its dots. He still stays behind and out of the way of the others. Firelink? Bonfires? The mage looks faintly puzzled, but still attentive. Firekeepers, Shrines, Kilms... Ok. Quentyn reaches into his bag, pulling out a notebook with attached pen & pencil and, well, he begins to rapidly jot down notes (and for anyone looking over his shoulder, roughly sketch the key parts of the map in said notes)-- only pausing now and then to think while faintly chewing on the end of his pen.

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks over at Psyber and Nathan. "People seem to have enough stories in their heads about how good intentions will cause loss of humanity and dark outcomes..."

    STaren listens to the history lesson. "Great. So, why do we think these gods-among-gods are hiding where the lines converge? And if they're so powerful, why do they need to hide in the first place?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe looks at Staren and just smirks.

"Yes, yes I am."

She gives Psyber a nod as she gets ready to fall in line with everyone else heading out and she did not come without the means to protect herself, right? One might notice she does have a sword on her person after all. She's got a sword over her back it seems she's feels naked without a balde she's found no matter the world or form she's in. She tilts her head for a moment and nods.

"I see so we're ... trying to get fragments of the original creator's soul back more or less?"

She looks at Quentyn for a moment and seems very amused.

"Yes it's me."

She looks o er to Mizuki for a moment.

"Tentacled horrors wouldn't shock me Mizuki, and you do have a point about not letting the creators of a world be forgottont htne again if they are like the Duke..."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would gingerly rest her elbow on the surface of the desk bearing the tome, looking and nodding along with Priscilla's explanation. This is likely done with far more interest than she lets on, because in earnest she looks a bit glassy-eyed; hazy. Once the crossbreed has concluded, Mizuki's eyes would train on her, the girl leaving only a few moments of silence before speaking. "If I did not know any better," She would start, copping a grin, "I would say that you've become quite invested in this whole 'staving off the dark' business." She would close her eyes, as if reverently. "It's an interesting transformation to witness, or perhaps more appropriately... impressive. It may seem an easy thing, putting all this information together and drawing up a plan of action, but I can assure you: it is not."

    She would give the woman a break afterward, though, allowing her eyes to meander back to the map within the pages. Addressing no one in particular this time, "Though I do wonder what sorts these 'elder Gods' will end up being. Seath was clearly too far gone, but perhaps... perhaps we'll have more opportunity for conversation with these others. I expect very little in that regard, but if not, mayhap we could keep some part of them with us after our scuffles? Keep them alive, in some small way. Surely the founders of a world should be remembered in some capacity?" She would continue to study the book somewhat lazily for a spell. She's probably thinking.

    Soon, though, she stands, meandering over to Psyber. Very quietly, she would whisper, "Any harm that has been done will be mended. As they say, 'Any friendship that could be made or broken with a single word is no friendship at all'. Not to say that you've no right to privacy and worry, but I thought I would at least say this much."

    And with that she would wander back to her seat, resting her eyes.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    "Those stories exist," Kimiko responds to Staren without looking up from the map, "because of the mistaken, yet widespread belief, that good intentions will prevent terrible results."

    Hopefully, she can at least figure out from the map where either the archives or the crystal caves are. Perhaps not Ash Lake. It seemed well off the beaten path. "And we do not know that they are hiding, do we? Anymore than Duke Seath did. We went into his home to kill him. I would be surprised if we did not need to do so again."

    Her first actual words, this trip. A few more, to Mizuki. "If we are taking their souls, it seems unlikely they could... live, afterward."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "Yes," Mizuki would glance faintly to Kimiko, "but life is a word with more definitions than most give it credit for. Sometimes life is a biological pulse. Other times, a psychological imprint left within a collective memory. And it is my earnest belief that the latter is worth very, very much."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Worse than Seath?!" Shirou blurts, face paling. That was pretty hard. He's not sure if they can beat anything much worse than him without losses. Ugh. "There isn't any other way to this Kiln?!" This whole thing seems incredibly messed up... how did the land GET like this?

    "How are they worse than that guy?!

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn gives Tomoe-in-the-flesh one more curious look, but most of his attention is taken up by the plans and the planners. He continues to scribble things down hurriedly, looking satisfied as the picture starts together.

    Until he suddenly stops, looking up from his notebook at the others with his mouth slightly open until he remembers to close it. But the boy looks a bit wide-eyed, clutching his notebook close to his chest. Killing gods, stealing souls? Slowly he starts to pad backwards and--if he can get far enough while escaping notice--Well, hopefully that path Priscilla took is easier on the way out than the way in.

Staren has posed:
    Staren rolls his eyes. "Yes, but the stories make it sound like a crapshoot. Certain people are doomed to cause trouble no matter what unless they give up, others don't have that problem. Where's the story that shows people taking precautions instead of getting lucky or unlucky? The story that shows it's worth /trying/?"

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "You willfully ignore those stories because it doesn't fit your personal narrative in which all stories are made to discourage you," Psyber says in an almost flat tone to Staren, "Because you wish to take a stance in which your morality and ideals are persistently persecuted, you willfully ignore the fact that the bulk of narratives, both literary and in other avenues such as games and televised media, focus on a group of heroes with good intentions overcoming insurmountable odds to achieve victory due to their personal moral codes and their idealism." He pauses a beat, "It's not that the narratives don't exist, it's that your observation bias prevents you from acknowledging them due to your personally argumentative and combative nature towards the fact that narratives which do not support this format exist."

    Psyber then looks over to Mizuki when she consoles him and nods his head.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard is stil hovering around in the background, listening intently to future plans while reading tomes. When Shirou exclaims about Seath, Lezard finally comments from behind. "There are many forms of power. Duke Seath had become complacent in his obsession and his solitude. The others may not be so simply dealt with. Attempt to rise to the challenge, magus, and learn from the examples before you. Such challenges are how blades are truly forged."

His smile is somewhat ominous.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would add to Psyber's commentary: "We are living that story at this moment, Staren." She would study him a bit tiredly for a moment. "We would likely be better served to contemplate on how we, now, could craft contingency plans rather than chiding figures of the past who drafted the first pages." She would attempt a smile, here. "Indeed, isn't history a story of trial-and-error? Never forget that their attempts have made ours possible. There is much we have to thank them for."

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla gives Psyber a slightly miffed but otherwise faintly apologetic look before continuing. "I doubt that they wouldst hide from anything, which is what begs the question. One soul was split into fragments and given to the four kings of New Londo; the only city built and ruled by humans within the borders of Anor Londo, and viewed as the pinnacle of their civilization. From what I hath read, New Londo hath since been sealed off almost a century ago, in order to contain some manner of disaster. The Four Kings may well be dead, and their souls merely dormant within the ruins. The two I am most concerned for art Nito, the first of the dead, and the witch Izalith, who were inheritors of the original Lordsouls, and companions to Lord Gwyn in the ancient war. Nito hast long removed himself from the concerns of the mortal world, instead keeping watch over the remains of those slain in the war . . ." Her finger drifts to a dot remarkably close to Firelink Shrine, but apparently under a mountain. "In the Tomb of the Giants. The fact that a plague of deathlessness couldst hath spread for decades without sight of him is worrisome. The witch built a city in her name . . ." next to somewhere between to the underground belltower and Anor Londo. "In order to rule her own kingdom dedicated to the way of Flame rather than Gwyn's kingdom of the sun, but we hath already seen two of her coven disfigured to a hideous extent, by gods knoweth what now resides there. Neither one of them shouldst hath remained so idle at the oncoming of the Dark."

    Priscilla stops for a moment's reflection at Mizuki's observation. "I had not noticed. Perhaps I am simply too tethered to memories of what Lordran once was, and hath no place in its present, but I am unable to help mineself after coming this far. I will see it done." Then another for Kimiko. "As for the matter of the Lordsouls, it is obvious that these beings existed in some manner before obtaining one, if they were able to claim one in the first place. Seath was alive well before he came into power, as were the kings. It is entirely possible to give up a part of one's soul in this world, but whether they wouldst do so willingly, or if they art even in any shape to do so, is another issue entirely." Next she moves on to Shirou. "Only in terms of power. Seath is- . . . was, a defective being. A malformed cripple of a dragon, who betrayed his own to pursue the strength and glory of the gods. In terms of primacy, he lies above the kings of New Londo, but far below that of Izalith and Nito. Attempting to engage either one of them in battle wouldst most likely be suicide without extensive preparation, hence mine hesitation to rush blindly ahead in the case that some manner of madness hath possessed them. The Kiln, however, will not be breached. Such a venture wouldst be akin to attempting to reach The Root of thine own world."

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Good intentions never manifest anything good when they come from a meth lab. That is the core of the discussion and a point on which we can all agree." Nathan says, attempting to cap the discussion about Breaking Bad off very swiftly, until it escalates. "Of this we can all agree." Then he leans over the map, making worried noises.

    "Now, on the more relevant subjects. Am I to assume those were the ones referred to in the fire-saturated and bone-saturated visions provided to us by the dragon? 'First of the dead' seems straightforward, and this way of the 'flame' reminds me of the heat from before. What of the vision of the submerged city, then? Should we start there, or do you feel that weshould take this in another order? I hesitate to confront the more overwhelming challenges first; I would very much prefer we attempt to take things more in a gradual order."

Staren has posed:
    Staren turns and glares at Psyber, hands in his pockets. "Oh, you wanna go? You know that's not what I meant--" he starts, but Nathan makes an attempt to defuse things, and Staren grumpily nods to him. "Okay, that's fair. Good intentions don't result in meth labs in the first place."

    Staren looks around. "Sounds like we need to visit this place secretly somehow, and gather information about who's there now and what their powers and weaknesses are. But how do we go about that?"

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "...First of the dead?" Shirou puzzles on this verbally. What's that kind of title even supposed to mean? Several ways to interpret it. "Everyone of importance in this land sure doesn't seem to be doing their jobs, Priscilla. What in the world happened to get things like this...? We can't just go tell these people to cooperate, I'm guessing..."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would steeple her fingers, reclining slightly. "The gravekeeper, the witch, the kings, and the wardrobe." She would smile faintly at that. "Truly, it almost sounds like a fairy tale. I'm sure it will manifest quite differently, but even so. Even so." Afterwards she would glance to Nathan, her own eyes lighting up at the mention of the dragon's visions. "Oh, I'd quite forgotten about those waking dreams. But true, true -- Priscilla's words do bring those images to mind."

    Then, regarding progression. "It may not be my place to comment, but if we're referring specifically to ease of ultimate confrontation I would personally recommend challenging these kings first. If they were given a soul and it was split between them, then there's a good likelihood that none of them have the strength the others would possess. And even if we could not isolate them, per se, we could still use our numbers to abate them." She would bow. "Just my thoughts."

    Then, a trifle more personally, to Priscilla. "And I would commend that conviction. I can think of few reasons more just than nostalgia, and I do not say that with any sort of contrary insinuation. Truly, personal attachment is a pure feeling -- quite a bit moreso than 'moral quandry' or some such thing, if you wish to hear my opinion."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber looks at Staren, "'Do you wanna go?' is the worst phrase you could possibly have used with a Union Colonel. Do not do so again. This is your one warning."

    At Nathan's comment, he will let his own statement stand. He looks down at the map, "I think Nito would be a productive first stop." Psyber says, looking over the information, "While he has been non-present to date, he may still have valuable insight into properly countering the curse or into alternative avenues we should be pursuing. Hopefully he will not be so far gone and will be more rational and we should be able to achieve discourse with him."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Warpgate, warpgate, warpgate... out of the study, well, it should be easy to go the rest of the way back from here, right? Hands a little jittery, Quentyn stuffs the notebook back in his pack and walks back-- the kind of walk that is all but a run. One of the scholars or sages milling about the place may overhear him yammering in urgent undertones into his radio, something about crappy leads and offworld cultists.

    And then-- Yes! Warpgate! The boy hastily steps through, as long as his departure continues to go unnoticed and unhindered.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    "If the city is sealed," Kimiko says, putting aside the matter previously spoken of, "then we should be careful in unsealing it. If we go elsewhere, first, we might be better prepared to act once we do enter. Otherwise... releasing a disaster seems like something we should avoid, if we do not know how we can contain it again."

    She nods to Psyber. "He may have no information regarding the others. Or he may. Likely, valuable, in either case."

Priscilla has posed:
    "This is most likely the case, Sir Hall, Lady Mizuki. I was never able to meet mine grandfather's comrades, but I knoweth that the Tomb of the Giants is so named for it being the burial ground of the gods and the races of their creation that were extinquished in the war with the everlasting dragons. It follows that the bones of a great many creatures wouldst comprise it. Izalith is less of a certainty, but only the original, primeval fire arts wouldst hath the power to burn a city of stone to the ground. The one beneath the waves is almost definitely New Londo, which most likely means that an underwater expedition may be required to search for the remains of the Four Kings." She gestures towards Psyber and Kimiko. "I will defer to thine own collective judgement as to which order we shouldst tackle the ways ahead of us. New Londo wouldst be the most time consuming, but likely the least threatening. Izalith may be the most dangerous to traverse, populated by demons as Lady Quelaag didst suggest. Nito wouldst be perhaps the being we shouldst wish least to maketh an aversary of."

    More explanation for Shirou. "Nito is named such as that he was dead the moment life and death came into existence. He was never alive, and so, first of the dead. His domain is that of mortality. Recieving the souls that art left to wander after death, rather than being embraced by another. In defense, Lordran hath prospered for well of a millenium before this curse. The Lords 'not doing their jobs' is an entirely recent affair."

    All of a sudden, a familiar, eerie sound begins echoing from the hall outside. A slurred succession of musical horror stings played over a crackling, grainy monotone, wafting up from the ladder down into the laboratory. Even if it must be more than useless by now, the fact remains that someone had gone downstairs and turned on that awful gramophone thing, and the trespass has Priscilla up-in-arms enough to slap the book closed, stand up from the table, and grab something leaning against one of the desks, wrapped tightly in blue cloth. Either silently livid, or intensely nervous, she exits through the study doors and makes for the downstairs, not making any eye contact on the way there.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe hsa a lot of information to take in here a whole lot of information to take in here a whole lot. She listnes as some of it goes over her head but she gets the basics damn this is really heavy. Then Staren does something, ya if it gets bad she does not want to be near that even if she's wearing her Abstractium.

"I think I get the idea and humm so they did their jobs until recently? Do you think some force may have taken them out? Then something goes on, oh dear...

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives Psyber a surprised, confused look. This seems like an overreaction to implying someone challenged him to a debate, but... Whatever. Perhaps he needs to keep his guard up better around Union officers, he thinks. The surprise turns back into a glare, and then he turns back and listens to Priscilla. Nodding and thinking about how to choose, although it sounds like some of his allies already have ideas... and then she walks off. Well, okay then.

Staren has posed:
...The catboy nods at Kimiko. "That makes sense. I wonder if there's any way to find out what that catastrophe was... could it be in this library?"

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    "Perhaps, though we could take a long while looking for it. Maybe one of the others reading..." Kimiko is answering Staren, before the music starts. Well, that's curious. She recalls the sound, and tries to look in the direction it's coming from, though with how maze-like this place is that may be a bit difficult to immediately ascertain.

    As soon as Priscilla takes off, the Puella Magi is soon after her, assuming she doesn't go invisible on the way.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber actually takes a moment to stare at Staren and then go, "OH. I thought you were challenging me to a FIGHT. That's what 'Do you wanna go?' means on the East Coast. It's shorthand for 'I want to step outside and have fisticuffs with you'. I thought you were challenging me to a fight."

    "Anyway, sorry. My point is that there are those stories. I think you just only notice the ones that don't have it because you're so used to people picking on you, you know? Kinda like how I'm used to people picking fights with me, so I'm naturally aggressive," Psyber notes, toning down into a more casual tone as his hands go to his pockets, "It's like how a person only notices the things that bother them naturally."

    He'd have more to explain to Staren, but then Priscilla is taking off, "Shit. Nathan, stay behind me," Psyber notes, taking a pair of pistols out of his jacket and running after Priscilla and towards whatever turned that stupid grammophone back on.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "In the interest of having the most knowledge to approach future circumstances," Mizuki would bow her head, "I would concur that we journey to the crypts, first, provided that we are confident in our ability to see ourselves through it with the most gentle touch we can muster. Second, New Londo would likely be prudent, with the the witch's dominion being our final destination. There may well be details we do not know of the latter two that we could glean through interaction with Nito, although," She might smirk, "going in to a grave in a world of death seems an equally foolish gesture. But alas, we've no phenomenal choices in any event; only greater and lesser evils."

    She would scarcely have time to finish her statement before music would begin. Does her gramophone yet live? Ah, well, no time to wonder about that before Priscilla takes off. It doesn't surprise her terribly that Priscilla would depart without a word, but nevertheless she cannot deny her worry. And so long as she isn't given hint that she should not? She would follow, summoning her sword and growing somewhat pensive.

    The irony of summoning a sword named 'dirge' in response to lyrical damnation, though, is as thick as the atmosphere.

Staren has posed:
    Staren gives Psyber a confused look. "Well, I meant it metaphorically. Like... you wanna fight? but with /words/. I felt you were a bit unfair with your... oh great, what's going on /now/?" Staren watches them go, then shrugs and looks at Kimiko, wondering if anyone is going to stand around planning or if we're all investigating this noise. He may have missed why the music is a big deal.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "Dead without ever being alive? That's..." Shirou makes a face. That's utterly weird, that's what it is. He ends up scratchign the side of his head, CLEARLY perplexed, but what's the use bringing this up? "Err... recent or not, they still aren't. I don't know the details, but something about this feels like a colossal failure somewhere.... either way, what do you think--"

    And then the crazy sound, and out goes Priscilla. This gets him frowning and--

    "W-wait!"

    Running off after her...

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla is after the source of the sound at a pretty fast pace. Those following her have just barely enough time to catch which corner she turns down, though anyone who can fly, or has the guts to slide, can easily skip the ladder. The laboratory is in much the same state as it was last time, though without the corpses of channelers, snakemen and pisacas littering the floors, and lacking the overwhelming aura of magic from the massive books encircling it. The gramophone is indeed playing all by itself, and the lever connected to the gears that power it has been pulled, but nobody appears to be anywhere in sight.

    Priscilla senses something amiss halfway down the first staircase, because she spins around just an instant before a streak of luminescent blue lunges from the upper rafters and collides with her. Throwing the wrapped object up in front of herself, the blue phantom is stopped dead with a shower of sparks and a peal of clashing steel, before nimbly backlipping down to the next landing, brandishing twin swords shrouded in a glittering aura of magic. Three other blue shapes drop down from above, landing behind the last of the party and cutting off access to the door; all of which are wearing an identical set of slim, articulated plate in shades of brass and silver. The one at the forefront speaks up.

    "A tresspasser, a defiler, and now a thief and murderer. Did you really think Lord Gwyndolin would stand idly by while you claim what rightfully belongs to Anor Londo? We will evict the filth you have let in shortly after we have finished our business with you, abomination." Without waiting for him to conclude his speech, a seemingly unarmed phantom at the rear casts some sort of spell, sending a wave of force rippling through the air in a wide sphere around him, where motes of golden light rise from the floor like snow falling in reverse. Everyone inside the sphere has a series of glyphs hovering in the air encircling them, with the effect of severely restricting their mobility. Any attempt to move at any speed greater than a gentle walk is met with drastically increased resistance.

Staren has posed:
    Staren finds himself... all alone. He somehow missed Kimiko dashing off.

    Staren blinks. His eyes widen as he realizes where he's heard that music before. "Oh, /shit/." Didn't they destroy that thing?! He finally gives chase!

    Which means he arrives a bit late to the party, with the three blue phantoms between him and them. Trying to be quiet, he reaches into his bag and pulls out a plasma grenade (proximity airburst) and hurls it right at them, his other hand activating the henshin device in his belt buckle to transform it into his armor.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "And your Lord Gwyndolin is a coward. He hides in a hole, dispatching his servants to fight a battle he cannot." Psyber says seriously, managing to get himself caught in the circle that restricts mobility. For someone like him, that is a particularly large disadvantage, since he relies on that mobility for many of his fancier tricks.

    He pushes through at a snail's pace, though, trying to brute force his way towards the phantoms. The one up in the landing that attacked first is the one he targets first, "No matter how many assassins he sends, I'm going to come for him. He's just making this more and more personal every time. Frankly, I probably would have gotten distracted with all the new missions, but he had to make himself a more pressing concern."

    Psyber lets loose a volley of bullets from his twin handguns, "Now I'm just reminded of my grudge."

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou senses hostility from Priscilla's actions and it's a good thing he isn't caught ENTIRELY flatfooted. As sparks fly through the air when Priscilla's weapon meets the intruder's... "Trace ON!"

    They also fly from his hands. Golden light sparks and flares, solidifying instantly into Kanshou and Bakuya. He reaches Priscilla - just in time to get caught in the motion trap. He stumbles to his knees and staggers, but then rises. "What kind of spell is this...?!"

    Nothing he's familiar with, that's for sure. With teeth grit, he points at the speeking phantom with Kanshou!

    "And with Lordran a land of the dead more than anything else, what is Gwyndolin doing? Chasing down the few people trying to help? Why?! I don't get what he's thinking!"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard had vanished in the middle of the discussion, as fascinating as Nito is. Don't worry, Lezard will definately be there to discuss the finer points of the undead condition with the Gravelord. The noise of the gramaphone drew him away as well. He's easy to miss when he hangs in the background, isn't he?

However, he has other things to account for. Like the arrival of Blue Phantoms. The screaming against Priscilla is met with... laughter? "How /pathetic/." Lezard says, appearing at the balcony overlooking the spiral staircase downward. "Your objections are the screeches of the typical judgemental beings that infest the land. You believe yourself so devoted? You who hold yourself as judges, behold judgement yourself!"

He withdraws a rupy-tipped scepter from his cloak, appearing similar to other catalysts of sorcery in Lordran, and points it downward at the blues. "LIGHTNING BOLT!" He calls out.

Wait, what? Lightning from a catalyst? WHAT TRICKERY IS THIS? Blue, sizzling bolts of thunder rake across the enemy forces, leaving Priscilla unharmed.

but he is not done yet. Power surges around him as a circle of light appears beneath him. Energy flows upwards about him as the lights dim and he draws upon true Power. The darkness is filled with clouds amidst the stairwell, a deep trembling made apparent in the air as lightning courses throughout the sudden indoor weather. Lezard's voice can be heard reverberating.

"As the harmoniums of Asgard sound, their very melody stirs the ancient lightning to wake. DRAGON BOLT!"

The clouds part, and a long, sinouous dragon skull is seen, a mane of lightning apparent as its ruff and sizzling bolts for a long, sinouous body and claws. The beast slithers in the air, howling, before it descends upon the blue phantoms, engulfing them in sizzling pain and destruction.

The light returns afterwards, the area about it unharmed, but the same likely cannot be said of the blue phantoms...

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Right, well--" Nathan started, and then, suddenly, a change of scenery, of sorts! He is good at running towards and away from a crisis though, and obeys Psyber's demand to keep behind him. Especially now that he's here IN PERSON. Nathan, for his part, immediately calls out, in soft, calm tones. "Flankers have dropped at the rear. Three. Please neutralize immediately. One leader at the fore," He starts rattling off tactical data, intended to increase the accuracy, response time, and awareness of his allies around him! Useful!

    He's not gonna be moving fast, though, so someone should really cover him and keep him safe!

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would rush after Priscilla with all due haste, summoning her wings as she reaches the ladder and beginning a gentle descent. She would stop just short of Priscilla to size up the figures, tightening the grip on her sword. "... your words are miserable. I know not what spell you must've lived under that would have so blinded you, but --" At that word, she feels... a pressure. Her steps towards the crossbreed are all but paused as the canopy of magic rises above them, and all at once, she becomes a statuette at herself.

    This brings back bad memories. Horrible, horrible ones. This may not be so severe as to force her to the ground, but nevertheless there is something restricting her movement. And her movement is her only defense. Her eyes would widen faintly and she would pause, paling, even her typically ceaseless discharge of words grinding to a halt. She would look to Priscilla with horror she might have forgotten she is capable of feeling.

    Nevertheless, she eventually musters the strength to raise her sword, gradually, at the phantoms. She has counters against this, if this effect is temporal at all; in the best case she might even be able to get Priscilla out via a stitch in time. The only hindrance here is the girl's own hesitation. She has apparently accrued a certain fear of these limitations since the last time, and it's proving a diabolically difficult thing to surmount. Mizuki would draw a breath, focus her thoughts on Priscilla, and trying to give her the precious few seconds she would need to leave the stasis zone.

    Though there are many things beyond her psychology that might foil her, here.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko cannot fly, but she can jump well, and sliding along surfaces that should actually be too rough for sliding is among her many talents of acrobatics. This makes her fairly adept at keeping pace, though that changes drastically as the blues appear and the area is--cursed? Some kind of binding magic, but not of a form she can directly combat. Like Psyber, she's severely disadvantaged. Unlike Psyber, she doesn't even know how to shoot a gun, let alone carry any. She has some offensive options, but her immediate concern is defensive--if she can't move, she can't cover anyone without already being right on them.

    That, then, is what she does. When Psyber goes forward, she goes back, summoning a blade and shield, her usual mainstay, and covering Nathan's position as well as she can, while trying to keep all of the enemies in sight. Her shield is not fully raised, but her sword tip is up in a warding stance.

Priscilla has posed:
    As Staren drops in behind, one of the phantoms is just quick enough to intercept him, turning on the spot in a lightning fast lunge to put his sword straight through Staren's sternum just as he throws the grenade. The explosive itself sails over his head, and detonates between the remaining two, sending one tumbling down the stairs, and the other careening off the edge, where he manages to catch a railer further down where the stairs spiral in on themselves. The one directly in front of Psyber takes a succession of bullets to the breastplate, accompanied by spurts of glittering phantom blood, but dives out of the way as soon as she starts shooting. Though the bullets themselves aren't slowed, Psyber's ability to aim certainly is, and he takes advantage of it by leaping onto the half-angel's shoulders, attempting to jam one of his blades down through his collarbone and into his chest, and then leaping at Shirou with the remaining one, swinging directly for his neck.

    Lezard's lightning catches Staren's attacker straight in the back, hurling him on top of the scientist, where he attempts to simply maintain his hold until he cuts his heart out, but the other two are much quicker to dodge. The one who had fallen down the stairs is quick to produce and hurl a flurry of knives for the sorceror in the middle of his cast, before being struck by the dragon bolt in turn, crumpling to a smoking heap on the ground. Mizuki has only just enough time to make her move before the assassin on the staircase below unbuckles his crossbow with his free hand, takes aim, and fires a sizeable bolt straight for her head, before vaulting up over the railing and moving to a better position. He fires again halfway up the stairs, but his bolt is intercepted by Kimiko's shield as she brings it up, rather than planting itself in her chest.

    Priscilla is given just enough time to break free from Mizuki's spell, but the leader seems to have already anticipated that tactic. Kicking Shirou down if necessary, he slings his own knife straight for the crossbreed the instant she turns invisible, giving away her position with a gasp of pain and leaving her with a floating hilt protruding from her shoulder that she has to take the time to remove.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou swerves and parries! Sparks fly from the married swords as he catches the assassin's blades between them. The motion's a little clumsy, but much better than nearly tearing his arm off with a Servant's insane skill, right?

    Well, these enemies made a huge mistake. They came as Phantoms! meaning... Shirou doesn't need to feel the least bit bad about going all out.

    The assassin's blade is turned aside, and Shirou launches a counterassault! Kanshou and Bakuya are swung precisely in swift yet strong slashes and thrusts!

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As if this situation wasn't traumatizing enough without the sharp objects, a bolt comes soaring at Mizuki's head. The girl has barely enough time to conjure speeding fields at the extremes of each of her appendages, including her head, giving her just enough time to fall to the ground and avoid the shot. Still, this doesn't prevent damage entirely -- the bolt scrapes the skin hiding just before and beneath the pinna of her ear, causing a hand to reflexively raise in its defense as she topples over.

    She remains on the ground a moment to focus her energy. They'd predicted her maneuver before, so this time she attempts something a bit more crude -- combining all of her miniature speeding fields, Mizuki cloaks her entire body in one now, hopefully normalizing her movements. Focusing particularly on her wings, she would attempt to fly up again, weakening and intensifying the focus of the field sporadically to make her ascent harder for the crossbowman to gauge. She would weave her way to Priscilla if she's able, pausing time just long enough to blast a circle of bullets around the leader if he is still still present, and attempting a straightforward thrust at their shoulderblades if they are present after that.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The blade in Psyber's collarbone and chest is quite sharp and blood-y-making. But the half-angel is in a far more durable form than his usual phantom persona. So he tanks that hit dead on, wincing a bit as he steps back, letting the blade deeply sink into him.

    Then, with one hand, he seeks to grab that blade buried in his chest. His other hand swings around powerfully, aiming a devastating and armor-crushing haymaker at the kidney-ish-area of his opponent.

Staren has posed:
    The forcefield appears, a hollow amber sphere around Staren, and the blade goes right through it. Cheater!

    Staren's eyes widen in surprise and shock. The nanomachines in his body quickly work to deaden the pain and keep him focused. Light glows around his body and the armor forms, but it doesn't really stop the blade. Staren looks at the phantom, and starts to make a move when lightning blasts the man on top of him, sending them both to the ground. "Get OFF!" The armor's strength is in human strongman range, and Staren tries to use it to shove the phantom away! If he can just get the sword out of him things will get better. If the guy is somehow able to stay close enough to cut out his heart though, he could be in trouble...

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    "Engage the foe immobile on Psyber." Nathan says, remaining completely calm and utterly tranquil despite an attempted assassination. He figures that target is gonna be less mobile! "Same orders for Staren. Priscilla requires medical attention and cover." He keeps close to Kimiko, crouching and keeping immobile and trusting that she'll manage to intercept anything incoming. And he continues to rattle out tactics and be the designated Save the NPC Objective for this, just for now...

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The blue phantoms are fortunate they were so spread out. Lezard simply exudes scorn from his perch even as the aftermath of the magical blast causes the ruby to shatter. He tosses the now-useless scepter aside, and he sighs. He is about to say something before a number of knives strike, sinking into his flesh. He yells in pain, blood flowing freely from his delicate mage flesh as he takes better cover behind the balcony wall and withdrawing a less ornate cane. With a great deal of asperity, he yells, "Why must these insects not /die when they are bade to/? PRISMATIC MISSILE!" A series of glowing spheres appear before him in a circle, and launch out with tracking bolts after another Phantom. Much like similar spells from other settings, they come with a variety of nasty status effects.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is going to need protetion if she's going to do anything dshe's now caught up in the effect of the spell and she sees there's horrible things comming she looks down to the penant about her neck.

"Now would be the time my friend or we're going to become smears!"

She's wondering why the hell she went off her earht to anywhere but the Union HQ, she really has to wonder about that. IT'st oo late she moves to draw her sword and will protect her self as besrt she can.

Abstractum.Net (347) has posed:
    "Now that's my kind of party." A confident voice speaks up from Tomoe's neck. "Powering Strife Drives. Look at this! Group assassination attempt. Perfect kind of surprise party." The pendant shines bright red for a moment, before becoming a light, firm armor chestpiece, flooding Tomoe's mundane human body with superhuman endurance and resilience. Not as much as her avatar, but hey, better than nothing!

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Keeping track of her opponents pays off, as Kimiko is able to see the crossbow come up and raise her shield in time. That kind of weapon could cause a problem for her, as her opponents are, annoyingly, not doing her the courtesy of coming to her while she is unable to go to them. Still, she's got to stay on Nathan, or someone is going to stick something sharp and magical through him.

    Keeping a shield up only takes the one arm, and while her sword isn't doing her much good here, it's time to take one of those other options. Her arm whips around, and it's a brace of throwing knives that fly from her hand, instead. She's taking targets of opportunity, focused on other combatants, but if everything looks handled, she'll just aim for the guy with the crossbow.

Priscilla has posed:
    The leader of the pack turning his attention from Shirou gives the magus his window to respond, catching him on the defensive as he is forced to parry incombing blows from two swords with only one of his own, having left the other one in Psyber. Even without the spell slowing Shirou down, it is abundantly clear that the Darkmoon Blade is a more skilled swordsman, and fights with a speed and stregth just beyond the limits of peak human ability. The half-angel having not actually died from being impaled lengthwise through the chest cavity must not have occurred to him however, because in the middle of a riposte aimed at Shirou's throat, he seizes up as Psyber's blow caves in the armour around his midsection, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to drop his sword. It's a simple tast for Mizuki to dive out of the air and take him out with a well-aimed thrust; his phantom disintegrating on the spot. His knife clatters to the floor in a small pool of blood as Priscilla finishes yanking it free, thus obscuring her location again.

    The crossbowman running up the stairs is caught full on in the barrage of magical missiles from Lezard, but doesn't slow for a moment. Ducking, leaping, vaulting and rolling, he narrowly avoids each and every single shot before arriving at the next landing; ducking behind a shelf for cover and counterifing on the sorceror immediately; launching a flashing bolt of lightning from his crossbow rather than a physical one. Most of Kimiko's knives hit the bookshelf instead, but one tags him straight in the shoulder, forcing him to brace his crossbow by foot while pulling back the string.

    The assassin on top of Staren doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Nearer to the Darkmoon Blade's elite, his physical abilities are enough to match the powered armour with his superior positional leverage. Though the physical point of the sword doesn't quite penetrate the plating, the gleaming light surrounding it burns the flesh underneath like cold fire; steadily incinerating his internals and coming dangerously close to burning out his heart, before the assailant suddenly gushes phantom blood, grasping for something protruding from his chest, and then disappearing completely. Staren has an invisible hand yanking him up from the floor. The caster actually pulls himself out of the scorch mark on the floor, withdrawing a mace from his belt and lunging at Kimiko with an impressive second wind, attempting to smash her shield aside and hurl her off the ledge.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
The crossbowman would have been better served using a physical bolt. Lezard is a Sorceror, and thus he knows how to deal with incoming energy damage. The bolt sizzles as it nears Lezard, partially dissipating as it strikes a mystic barrier of some kind. This reduces the bolt from 'lethal' to 'painful' as it slams into Lezard and sends him crashing into the wall. "CURSE YOU! MAY WORMS FEAST UPON YOUR FLESH!" He yells in pain and irritation, and hunkers down to break line of sight.

You'd think this would keep him from retaliating, but a purple circle flares near the crossbowman, and a large, armored undead skeleton with a dragon's head arises, bellowing out a hollow challenge as it brandishes two massive cleavers. It sets upon the crossbowman with relish. Should it kill the phantom, it'll continue hunting down more blues.

Damn blues.

Staren has posed:
    Seriously? Stabbed outta nowhere and then tackled and unable to push the guy off? This is such a dumb way to die... Staren tries to position his arms to blast the guy, when Priscilla (presumably) kills him and yanks Staren off the ground. "Thanks..." Staren croaks out, hands reflexively moving to his chest -- his armor's untouched, of course. He activates telekinesis and calls the Phantom's sw--aww, it disappeared.

    Fight not over yet. Think and recover when out of danger. Right now... he draws his laser pistol with a groan as burnt muscles are moved, and fires a couple of shots at the crossbowman, perhaps somewhat wildly.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    Shirou's forced to fight his best, just to keep his opponent from getting in a blow at his vitals! The skill he's drawn from the paired weapons this time is keeping him alive, but there's plenty of risky moments! His limbs scream in pain and his mind's pushed to a panic! Still, he's trying to fend off the enemy and--

    And then he's stabbed by Psyber. Opportunity!

    But just as he's winding up for a finishing strike, in comes Mizuki. So Shirou's assault goes nowhere. Instead, he catches his breath. "You saved the day, Psyber-- are you alright?!" He has a SWORD IN HIM!

    He glances around, spots the issue with the Crossbowman... "How many left?!"

    And HURLS Kanshou and Bakuya both for the distant enemy. One would think that swords can't fly too well, but these ones are great at it. They spin like boomerangs and come whirling in at their target!

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is trying for an easy target, but when are things ever easy? She gives up on catching the crossbowman from where she is, counting herself fortunate to have gotten one hit in before he was entirely behind cover and focused on someone else. Her hand is empty, but only for a moment, an identical sword to the last appearing in a brief flash of silver light.

    And then, the caster pulls out a mace. Aha.

    Normally, she could move out of the way, or at least take a half-step so as to glance or knock aside her opponent's weapon, throwing the assassin further off-balance and giving her the necessary opening to strike. That's all effectively impossible while under the spell's continued effects. She can't even back up, with Nathan there to be defended and a ledge behind her.

    She ducks, though that will do nothing against a blow from a heavy weapon bearing down on her at such force--should she let it continue on that path. Instead, she strikes first, with certainty and precision. Her arm, entirely unaffected by her other immobility, sends her blade in at an angle to avoid the head of the mace and to instead meet the grip, and from there slide hard enough to throw sparks in a straight path to the wielder's fingers. Here she is in her element, and so the counter blow comes at blinding speed.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber steps back and away as the phantom vanishes. Even with his superhuman durability, taking a blade to the chest THROUGH his collarbone is an incredibly painful and taxing injury. The dissolving of the phantom lets him take some time to heal, dropping down to a knee as he soaks into his shirt with blood. That same blood pools on the floor around him, "Yeah, I'm fine. He just nicked me. I've done worse shaving." He says to Shirou.

    He rolls towards his side a bit, trying to find a new target and crack off a couple shots from the hip. Less accurate than his normal fighting style, due to the slowness and his own injury.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan's first reaction is to instantly call out the number of attackers he can perceive on the field. So Shirou's query won't go unanswered, with Nathan instantly collating the comprehensive tactical awareness he has here. "Staren is disengaged from his attacker, as is Psyber. Two major assassins remaining, caster and bowman, engaging the Confederate and Kimiko. Stand by."

    Kimiko counters her attacker. Nathan moves. BARELY. He puts one foot out, attempting to press his leg into the arc of motion that Kimiko's attacker is about to take, stoically attempting to... Trip him! I mean, he's probably gotten his lunge parried. And, to be honest, if he's attacking Nathan's tank, he's a little close for comfort.

Priscilla has posed:
    The crossbowman finishes reloading just in time to fire one more bolt of lightning at Kimiko, in serious danger of arcing to Nathan and Tomoe behind her, before Lezard's rampaging skeleton comes after him. Abaonding his reload, he reaches into his belt and hurls a black powder bomb for the sorceror before making a break for it; expertly diving under the undead's cleaver and out into the staircase, only to be caught dead on by a wildly aimed shot from Staren's laser pistol; blowing his head off in a shower of blue dust and disintegrating him before his next step hits the floor. The mace wielder is inches from smashing Kimiko before her blade slams into his fingers, causing him to lose grip on the mace and instead sending it flying into her at a glancing angle rather than as a mortal blow. He draws a dagger from the back of his belt with his other hand, reverse thrusting it straight into her wrist as a counter-counter strike, but is summarily tripped by Nathan, and then hoisted by an invisible force while he tries to regain his balance; then hurled bodily from the stairway.

    Caught in freefall, he angles himself so that his descent curves towards one of the lower railings that he can grab hold of. Halfway down, Priscilla reveals herself at the edge of the upper landing, and in a single motion, yanks the blue silk from the parcel she had used to intercept the first strike of the battle. The cloth falls away to reveal a slender war-sword of entirely unfamiliar make; the hilt of which is a twisting spiral of gold which runs up through the fuller, and the blade of which is a stark cerulean ivory, casting soft moonlight on the railing as she brandishes it over her opposide shoulder. With a dispassionate sweep of the blade, a blinding flash of magic slices through the air between her and the remaining assassin; cleaving straight through him and then splitting the staircase ahead of him in two. A split second later, the point of impact explodes into a roaring conflagration of ghastly blue-white fire; bathing the area in the incandescent flame of the soul that Seath himself had used. The phantom is totally annihilated by the blast, leaving nothing but the grating sound of the gramaphone playing in the distance.

Staren has posed:
    "Got him..." mutters Staren. He looks around for remaining targets, and fires laser and plasma shots wildly at the last target, but... he's a bit out of it now. This may be the most injured he's ever had to fight through.

    "Is that... all of them? Oh gosh, this hurts..." The nanomachines can only do so much, after all. His left hand goes to his chest again. "Aaaaaggh what the hell /was/ that?"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is very happy as her partner powers up and she looks to see soon she'df find she's now not just going to become a bloody smear on the ground so with a bit more confience she gets into the tick of thing as she tries to reach one of her attackers and strike out with her blade, it's not fancy but she can endure a hell of lot more than she could before. then comes the lightning oh she's not dodging that but well she does feel and there's a scream but she hopefully /won't/ die!

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko really did not expect the assassin to be that quick-thinking. Most people tend to be stunned and confused for a moment after getting disarmed. She'll make a note of it later, and adjust estimates accordingly. For now, she's taking a dagger to the wrist, enchanted with strong enough magic to pierce through the chainmail and overlapping plates covering the joint, and get a pained grunt and an, all things considered, rather moderate grimace out of her. Painful, but not, sadly, unusual. It burns, though. Perhaps best to pull that out, even if that will mean a lot of bleeding.

    Her eyes flick up as the crossbowman again comes into view, and she just has time to raise her shield again, forgetting the dagger through her arm. Unlike Lezard, she /prefers/ physical bolts. Lightning is quite a bit harder to handle. As the flash of light comes down at her, her eyes widen, and her silvered-steel shield is covered by the faintest glow of light as her magic forms a less material shield over it. It's a little thing every Puella Magi is capable of to some extent, but of which she usually has no need. A portion of the bolt disperses around her in an impressive light show on impact, while the rest goes on through. Any physical portion is blocked, but what isn't leaves her wheezing for a moment, struggling to keep her lungs functioning. That will pass in a minute or so. Her healing factor isn't like that of a specialist like Sayaka, but it'll do.

Nathan Hall (168) has posed:
    Nathan takes further cover behind Kimiko, and hopefully she'll be able to intercept that bolt incoming! Who are we kidding. There is no way she won't intercept it, she's Kimiko. The only question is what damage it'll be doing to her, instead of Nathan.

    When all that ruckus is over, he peers down at the fire blazing soul-fire in the stairwell, then back up to Priscilla's just-revealed explosion-shooting sword. He blinks once, and then turns to Staren. "An answer to our questions, and a clarification of the first priorities. I have decided what I support most. We move to see Nito first. His realm is that of death; the servants of Gwyndolin are dealers of it. The First of the Dead should be able to inform us of leads on his location."

    He turns to Kimiko now. "You have my gratitude for your assistance. Especially at this time." Then he's moving to go help Psyber up off his knee, despite needing to grab at a thoroughly bloodstained shirt. Psyber, he knows, will keep, so to speak; he'll live and heal fine, after a while. "Priscilla, did the Duke keep any medical supplies in his home for his channelers?"

Lezard Valeth has posed:
Lezard didn't expect them to actually know how to use explosives. HE is the alchemist around here, dammit! He gets promptly blown up, laid out and smouldering on his back. Were the blues not swiftly dispatched shortly afterward he might have had to contemplate retreat. "How.... disgusting..." He groans. "The fools here are much more... persistant... than I have seen elsewhere. I will have to... prepare more adequately for next time." Still smouldering, he drags himself up against the wall and mutters to himself.

The Dragon-Tooth Warrior stomps over next to the ladder up. Being a Large Sized Creature it can't climb the ladder, but it can play guard duty just fine. It doesn't complain, it's undead. They don't /get/ to complain.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Mizuki would wearily meander down to join Nathan as the battle concludes, seeming greatly relieved when she can finally allow her sword to fade away. She keeps her wings out, though, preferring to levitate gently in the air to fully exploit the freedom of movement she has finally relocated. Though that fight might've been short, it felt like an eternity to her.

    "Seeing Nito seems the most reasonable course of action." Here it seems as though her mirrored speech takes upon not only the same ideas as Nathan's but the same tone; she's attempting the same sort of monotone here and, as some of the more astute among them may see, copping it for precisely the same reasons. That whole experience was a blatant reminder of the one time in recent memory when she had been completely helpless. And not helpless in the cerebral sort of way she is when something bad happens on her world -- the standard kind of helpless. The 'physically incapable' sort. Being the coddled thing she is, that remains just foreign enough to be wholly insipid when felt.

    Eventually she would alight somewhere slightly removed from the rest of the reconvening group, opting to listen rather than contribute further.

Emiya Shirou (560) has posed:
    "What do you shave with? A sword?!" Shirou retorts Psyber's way. Yeah, he knows the half-angel's just being boasty. Shirou can tease back a little! Though he's feeling way too serious to inject much humor into the tone... until the last Phantom disintegrates. Then he comes crashing off of the adrenaline rush... and wobbles. "...That was crazy... those guys just won't let up! What's their problem?! Priscilla's not done a single thing wrong!"

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko gives a nod to Nathan. She's still recovering from the lightning bit. Her next thought is to reach for the blade embedded in her--only to discover that it's disappeared, along with its owner. Well, that's... convenient, in that she won't hurt herself removing it. Inconvenient, in that she now has an opposing pair of open wounds in her arm, letting bleed seep out of her armor. Bother.

    While what Nathan said made sense, she has to add a point of uncertainty, "No one is able to really die and... stay dead, like this, so couldn't the weaker ones also survive?" She's not sure on some of the mechanics of Undeath in this world. She's also trying to distract herself so she doesn't have to fully detach from the pain. That always messes her up a bit, afterward. Having a healing speciality sure would be nice, sometimes.

    At least it was a very sharp dagger. Small comforts.

Lezard Valeth has posed:
"You clearly do not understand." Lezard answers Shirou. "They only care about their warped sense of 'justice', much like most self-proclaimed 'heroes'. Bloodthirsty barbarians."

Staren has posed:
    Everyone decides to see Nito. Staren shrugs. "Ow." Sounds like as good reasoning as any...

    He looks to Kimiko. "The people here lose their Humanity when they die. If they die too many times, they become mindless zombies. ...Ow. Kind of hurts to breathe..."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I shave with a lance through my torso. Duh. It gives you a closer, smoother shave." Psyber notes to Shirou, standing up and dusting himself off as he takes a deep breath and then holsters his guns with the help of Nathan to keep him standing for the moment. He nods to the librarian gratefully and then opts to disagree with Nathan.

    "Nathan, I respectfully disagree. Before we can proceed forward, we need to neutralize the lingering threat of Gwyndolin." He says this in a firm tone, "The outlier attack when I was not present was one thing, but he has shown that he can and will strike at us using inopportune tactics and at definitive moments of our planning." He squints a bit, "Were he only able to operate in a limited capacity, I would agree with you."

    Psyber shakes his head, "But he has agents who can strike us. Say we meet Nito and he pre-empts diplomacy using an attack like this. Or he strikes after a battle when we are at our weakest. I have to press forward the obligation to remove him now that he is becoming a more persistent source of intervening danger."

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla steps back from the balcony, swinging her sword in a lazy, singing arc through the air before planting its point at her feet with a shimmering, bell-like sound. "At this point, I am forced to accept Lord Psyber's insistence. Now that Gwyndolin realizes we hath a measurable chance of succeeding in gathering the Lordsouls, he will not be so patient as to simply hunt mineself. Asides from the fact that Sir Oscar may be in danger as well, these were not yet the most elite of the Darkmoon Blades. Next time, he will most likely sendeth his personal guard. The ones whom hath been divinely blessed by him specifically. It is also likely that they know our plans, and will attempt to intercept us at the most perilous parts of our future journeys, if not to simply turn whoever we may find against us. As it stands, I believeth I also possess some idea of where he may be, if I knoweth him as well as I think. I was hesitant to indulge this before, but after slaying one tyrant, I no longer think it so difficult to slay another."

    At hearing the call for medical supplies, Priscilla seems to abruptly come to the realization that nobody here is a phantom. "O-oh. I . . . do not believeth so. As far as I am able to ascertain, greivous injury for a channeler wouldst only be an excuse to experiment with living crystallization. I think it wouldst be best were we to appeal to the pilgrims for what they may spare."

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber looks from Nathan to Priscilla and then nods his head at Priscilla seriously, "I'm glad you agree. Truthfully, for all that I want to take him out due to a personal vendetta, as much of it is the best tactical decision for the team if Priscilla knows where he can be found."

    "I want to confront him on both a personal and moral standpoint as well as a tactical one."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is hurt but alive she's got some very nasty burns but she's lived though what should have killed her. She cringes a bit trying to cradel her wounds and well then gets the idea it's a bad idea to touch them she is not freaking out but it's clear she's in pain and not used to it like this.

"...right I have to agree but I think your right Priscilla...I'm going to stick to coming as my avatar here. I got very damn lucky tonight." She pats the pendant clearly thankful for her partner's help.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods. "I see... So... Where do you think he is?" He nods to Tomoe. "Yeah... I think that would be best for all of us... Coming as phantoms, I mean..."

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla stands aside for anyone to limp up the ladder if they need to. "One of two places, however I do not wish to play mine hand at this time. Thou shalt be summoned in time. For the meantime, the Archives art thine to use."