Scene #3284: Halloween Event 2015: Stop The Redcaps! (First Take)

Owner	Pose
Dr. Vahzilok	Annah of the Ravewing Cabal stands off to the side of the Monorail Station, next to its outside wall. She's holding a scroll and reading from it, dressed in her witch's outfit. Various Contacts in the city can point any sort of hero towards her with the knowledge that she's looking for people to help prevent problems in Salamanca... And possibly much further beyond! But it all starts right here, by talking to her about what she needs. There's dense fog out in the woods, obscuring vision, but at least nearby the station things are relatively clear. Just somewhat dark.
Shadowed Aesthetic	Shadowed Aesthetic had seens Annah earlier, but he had been with Silverbloom (a.k.a. Annie Sandberg) and hadn't wanted to undertake anything dangerous with her. Now that she's been safely trick-or-treat'd-- and Shadowed Aesthetic has learned a little more about the holiday like he was looking for-- the Mirrorblade can come back and ask Annah what sort of assistance she needs. Autochthonian Charms have uses like this in mind, thankfully. The fog is another matter, but at least he can see well enough in the dark that he can see to approach her. "Hello there," he offers, bowing politely. "I apologize for not aproaching sooner. I understand you're looking for help? My name is Shadowed Aesthetic of Quicksilver; I've recently been involved in the Woodvale incidents."
Dr. Vahzilok	Annah nods in greeting to the Alchemical. "Ah, welcome Shadowed Aesthetic of Quicksilver. Experienced and dedicates heroes are definitely needed in this season. It is believed that an ancient enemy of the Cabal have been culprits in the 'missing' autumnal equinox. I've been authorized to recruit outside aid in stopping them. The Ravenwing Cabal seeks to train agents, such as the heroes of Paragon City, to deal with mystical threats. And learning by doing is a very solid practice. It's unlikely that this year will be the only time the Red Caps need to be dealt with, but whatever they intend right now must be prevented." Annah looks over her scroll and says, "Our divinations indicate that a Red Caps leader named Bloodnail has been operating in the area. With your permission, I will cast a locator spell to direct you to his suspected hide-out. But be warned, the Red Caps are powerful mystical foes, and deadly ones. If they are involved in the theft of a celestial event, they may have taken extreme steps to prevent its interruption." If Shadowed Aesthetic agrees to the tracer spell, it will provide a mental compass that directs him right to the 'mission door'... And the enemies he likely knows almost nothing of. Requesting further information will provide some additional intelligence but, as Annah said, some things are learned best by doing. She probably won't give a full run-down of their entire history or anything. Following the tracer spell will lead Shadowed towards the woods, and a ring of mushrooms with green smoke billowing from the center with seemingly no cause. Interacting with said smoke will transport the Alchemical to an altered plane of sorts. A world not unlike the one he just left, but where time seems altered. Trees and other foliage bend in unfelt winds at a frantic pace that makes them appear to be thrashing, for grass to be twitching and rustling like green tendrils. Somewhere nearby, in the maze of trees, a black-hearted cackle can be heard.
Shadowed Aesthetic	Shadowed Aesthetic nods. "I understand; I'll be careful. Thank you for the warning." Further information will be requested, but the only thing he'll really ask about will be what they look like and immediate threats to watch out for-- whether they have certain magics to make this more difficult for him in some way, like spells that would render him unable to move or the like. he'll accept any information he can get, and won't complain about not having information. The way or the Mirrorblades is to adapt, after all. He does indeed agree to the tracer spell, and follows it to the mushroom ring with smoke billowing out of it. His means of 'interacting with the smoke will be to very carefully poke at it, to see if it's solid, or actually smoke. Of course it probably isn't, but it will transport him nonetheless. The freaking-out trees and foliage gets a step back. That's probably not good. And that cackle... he turns his attention back to that tracer spell placed there by Annah. Is it still working, or was it only to find the mushroom ring? and if it's still working, where's it wanting to lead him?
Dr. Vahzilok	The Red Caps were described as deceptive, tricky, and cruel. They wield powers of the spirit and the earth, and maybe others. Concealing themselves in preparation for ambush or otherwise disguising their intentions and location are likely. They are not wizards, so rather than casting spells, they 'wield magic' like a natural ability. No one is quite sure of exactly what the full extent of their powers. They are an ancient foe. But they prefer causing suffering whenever possible, so something like an instant death spell is unlikely to be in their arsenal. Death is too merciful for their tastes. The tracer spell seems to have only led Shadowed Aesthetic to the 'mission door' itself. He'll have to look around personally to find the Red Cap boss named Bloodnail. A dark labyrinth, where the light is hued yellow and gray, and everything around seems to be constantly and silently moving... It's fairly creepy for a normal person. But a hero like Shadowed is made of sterner stuff. He might not be bothered at all... But altered time is, according to Annah, the least of the Exalted's concerns.
Shadowed Aesthetic	Deceptive and tricky? Definitely a foe that Shadowed Aesthetic will be needed against. Moonsilver caste Alchemicals are also known to be deceptive and tricky. A tricky opponent will need to be drawn out, drawn in close, and then eliminated before he can pose too much of a problem. So as Shadowed Aesthetic views his altered surroundings, he begins to change. His silvery-white claylike skin transmutes itself, and all visible traces of his inhuman nature begin to disappear, including his soulgem. Until, for all intents and purposes, he looks like a normal human being. Then he begins to search for Bloodnail. He's left his ultraperipheral vision active-- and thus, the 'tiara' on his head still is visible, but it looks like just that, a tiara-- so he should be able to see in a three-hundred and sixty degree range around him. He is seearching, listening for very particular sounds, but he makes certain to appear as though he's merely a lost human being.
Dr. Vahzilok	As the disguised Shadowed Aesthetic wanders the forest paths, with its switch-backs and various cross-roads, his senses may alert him to the ambush before it happens. Short gnomish-looking creatures wearing pointed red hats, worn green clothing, and boots erupt from the ground and start loping and hopping towards the hero, with small curved short swords in hand. One has a bow and arrow, and hangs back to fire off a quick arrow shot! One of the Rascals yells out, "Woods is bad place to be lost!" Another one chortles and calls out out, "Might falls on something sharp and hurts itself!" as he tries to get within range to attack with his sword. Only three minion-class enemies... They should be soloable.
Shadowed Aesthetic	Superhuman hearing is honed, filtering out the sound of his own steps and breathing (he doesn't need breath no, but if he's going to look human, he needs to breathe to complete the illusion). He hears the rumbling ground, the creak of the bow, the twip of the arrow. He sees it with his ultraperipheral vision and calculates a tiny adjustment to his stance-- take a step this way, move just enough to dodge. The arrow whistles past his shoulder, close enough for him to clearly hear the arrow buzz in his ear. Shadowed Aesthetic turns to face the approaching Red Caps. A fan is drawn and opened, placed so it partially hides his face. "The woods are also a bad place to look for victims," he states, in his smooth androgynous voice. "You may stumble upon someone who's not quite so suitable a victim~." The Red Cap trying to get into range to strike with a sword is a good place to start, and he swings the bladed fan at the extended limb. That's going to be a really bad thing if it hits; he's aiming for quite literally de-arming the Red Cap. In the same motion he reaches for his other fan, opening it for defense purposes to cover his swing.
Dr. Vahzilok	The Rascal is slashed and his arm removed! He doesn't appear to have been expecting to deal with such a dangerous foe or to suffer such damage, because he dives into the ground after stumbling back. Is he fleeing? The group erupts again moments after the Rascal vanishes... And he comes back out as a larger Red Cap, with a white moustache and small white beard. He appears to be a bit more burly as well. He leaps into the air and slashes with his wavey sword after re-emerging! He's become a Lieutenant-class enemy in response to being near defeat! The second melee-range Rascal hops around looking for an opening to attack, and though the ranged one hasn't had success yet in hitting the evasive Exalted, he readies an arrow and fires once more! Tricksy indeed!
Shadowed Aesthetic	In those moments that the 'dis-armed' Red Cap is vanished, Shadowed Aeshetic makes to take out the second melee-focused one with a spinning kick to the head-- he hopes that there will be enough shock from him suddenly turning into a whirling typhoon of death and dismemberment that it will allow him to blow past momentarily-lowered defenses. As for the arrow-firing one? Two can play at this tricksy game! As soon as the disappeared Red Cap returns as a larger lieutenant-class enemy, Shadowed Aesthetic is keeping that larger enemy between himself and the ranged combatant. See, now that the Red Cap is large enough, it can serve as a more effective meat shield! So that ranged one should be careful, otherwise he might just hit his own comrade!
Dr. Vahzilok	The second Rascal is taken out handily by the kick to the head combined with the barrage of follow-up moves! Red Caps are tough and wiry, but don't seem to have a large damage-taking capacity. Not weak by any means. It's just that Shadowed was already that strong, and has grown only stronger during the struggles to free Woodvale! The archer Rascal keeps darting this way and that, trying to find a way to shoot an arrow at Shadowed Aesthetic around his ally, but the Hooligan keeps being maneuvered around as he tosses his wavy ritual blade from hand to hand... Only to suddenly grin and leap backwards to put himself behind the remaining Rascal, and draw his own bow and arrow! Since the Rascal is shorter, the arrow that is knocked and aimed at Shadowed Aesthetic will go right over the other Red Cap's head! And that arrow catches fire as it's prepared to be launched! Thankfully, the archer Rascal is not as quick to react and instead charges forwards, blade in hand, in the Hooligan's place, to deal with a foe who can probably do to him what has already been done to two others (even if one of those has come back as a stronger and intact foe).
Shadowed Aesthetic	The flaming arrow definitely catches Shadowed Aeshetic off-guard, and his movement is instinctual rather than precalculated or intuited. He leaps to the side to avoid the arrow, though it scrapes across his upper arm and catches his long, trailing sleeve on fire. The cut in the sleeve is soaked by a glowing oil, but the fire quickly burns it away. Which is good, his cover won't be blown too much for any future encounters. There is a downside, however. /He's on fire/. Not for long, though. He leaps to the side of the Rascal, with a roll that plants the fiery portion of his sleeve on the ground long enough to put it out. And once he gets to his feet, he makes for a powerful roundhouse that he hopes is powerful enough to launch the Rascal. If it does, the remaining foes will find that Shadowed Aesthetic has punted the Rascal at the Hooligan's face.
Dr. Vahzilok	The Rascal collides with the Hooligan, knocking them both to the ground, defeated! Which is a good thing. Because if every one of these guys escaped into the ground right before being defeated and came back as something stronger, that would get to be REALLY ANNOYING. Perhaps as annoying as the sound of more chortling as three or four Rascals come bounding around a corner towards Shadowed, drawn by the sounds of battle! Beyond them, however, is the much deeper sound of what is presumably an even bigger Red Cap. So at least now where the Boss behind all this is hanging out has been revealed, and the Exalted doesn't have to search this entire spooky forest! This new group of Rascals all attempt to get close enough to attack with their knives, relying upon their nimbleness and their numbers to attempt to get hits in. Defeating them quickly may be the key to avoiding a repeat of the Hooligan thing!
Shadowed Aesthetic	If that's the Boss, there, then Shadowed Aesthetic appears to have drawn him out. Success! With this knowledge, he drops the disguise, returning to his normal appearance. Silver-white skin, steel-blue hair, and chrome eyes now stare back at the approaching group of Red Caps. If he can see the Boss, though, that's where his effort's going to go. This in mind, he lunges forward, trying to go through the approaching Rascals as quickly as possible with his bladed fans. But he knows to be careful; he doesn't want anymore of this resurging of strength nonsense from these Rascals. Efforts will be made to put each one down for good to avoid it!
Dr. Vahzilok	The Boss behind all this, Bloodnail, isn't visible. Only his laughter can be heard further down the path. But with Shadowed's determination and skill, weaving in and out of knife attacks and attempts to lunge from behind, until all of the Minions are eliminated, the way is soon clear. And the sound of a rhyme of some kind can be heard. "Season come, and season go World's imbalance grow and grow Running here or run away Red Caps soon are here to stay!" If Shadowed heads down the path, he'll come to a clearing where the biggest Red Cap yet can be found. He has a thin red moustache and a big, bushy red beard, with severed fingers on chains decorating it. He and a couple of Rascals are gathered around a circle of mushrooms with some manner of stone monolith at the center, cavorting and dancing in a way that bespeaks of twisted bodies and even more twisted souls. They caper and carthweel joyfully like the gnomes they appear to be, but their shadows don't move in time with their bodies or in the same way their bodies are. The air hurts to touch. Somehow, just this display of acrobatic skill comes across as... Foul and wicked. Like there's something inside of them that darker than any human soul, that cannot be hidden behind their cartoonish guise. An evil that shines from their eyes. These are not misunderstood beings. They have no justification for what they do or how they are. They exist to make others suffer, and derive joy from it. And they might have something to do with the missing autumnal equinox.
Shadowed Aesthetic	With the minions dealt with, Shadowed Aesthetic moves past them, towards where he hears the laughter. He's more than a bit fatigued, and though he did evade the majority of strikes, he didn't come out completely unscathed. If he were human he'd be panting. Thankfully he doesn't have to worry about that giving him away. He doesn't pause, as he has no breath to catch. Instead he goes forward. And as he does, he hears the little rhyme. Whether they're saying it or not, he has his own reply. He will announce his presence with his special reply. Unfolding a fan and holding before him as he had done before, he tilts his stand in a jaunty, coy way, and then speaks his reply. "A season now too long has stayed And mischief these old woods pervade To let the seasons come and go The Red Caps soon have got to go~." It's not too clever, but it's the best he could think of on such short notice. He should definitely be noticed, at least!
Dr. Vahzilok	Bloodnail raises crimson fingernails and holds them out to his sides as he becomes aware of the hero's presence. The two Rascals quickly turn and start dashing towards him, as the Fiend says, "You won't stop us! We only need to win once!" Huh? What does that mean? Bloodnail draws a bow from somewhere unseen, loads it with a fistful of arrows, and fires them all at once in a cone of deadly shafts!
Shadowed Aesthetic	Shadowed Aesethetic had been prepared for the minions to come at him when he made his presence known. What he had NOT been prepared for was the barrage of arrows that were fired at him. This being the one he came here to deal with, here he can afford to spend his energy. Shadowed Aesthetic dips a little further into the power within him, increasing his speed to leap out of the area of the arrows. A couple scrape his leg, but at least he's not impaled. That would most definitely be a less than optimal outcome. his robes are stained with that glowing oil, making stealth pretty difficult even if he was trying for it. However, that could be used to his advantage, too. Realizing that the Red Caps will resort to archery if their melee attacks aren't viable, Shadowed Aesthetic takes to the trees. Not to hide, but to encourage them to spend their arrows on shots that are just as liable to fail as to succeed. Also he can plan attacks from the trees, and hide behind the sturdier trunks for cover. His basic plan of attack is to encourage the Red Caps to fire at him, then change positions in the trees, leap down and attack before they can reload, and then get back into the trees to use the trunks for cover. He's quick and nimble, and hoping to use this to confuse and disorient them. Where's he going to attack from next?!
Dr. Vahzilok	The Rascals do seem to fall back on their arrows for the most part, because that's all they have. The hit-and-run tactics seem effective against them. But Bloodnail appears to have other tricks up his sleeve, as he smashes a hand down into the ground, and then pulls it back up out of the hole... With a struggling Red Cap in hand! This he throws at Shadowed Aesthetic! If it latches onto him, it hangs onto his head and tries to beat on it with its fists and poke at his eyes, with bombs sizzling on its back, before eventually exploding! This would likely have the effect of damage over time and a reduction in vision! But at least the other Rascals are down!
Shadowed Aesthetic	This too is a little more than the Alchemical had expected! If it had been one of the Rascals already there he might have been able to guess when Bloodnail grabbed one's head. But putting his hand into the ground, he could have come out with anything. As it turns out it's a Red Cap suicide bomber! Which hits the Mirrorblade and knocks him out of the tree. He stands, trying to remove the thing that's punching at him from his person. "What the VOID?!" he all but screeches, flailing at the thing to try to get it off him. He doesn't even realize there's a bomb attached until the last moment, when he registers the hissing of the fuses... and then it's too late. BOOM! Shadowed Aesthetic yelps at the sudden flames as the bombs on the Red Cap explode. At least he didn't have to deal with something punching him AND being on fire, since the bomb seemed to have taken care of its bearer. However, being on fire is a very concerning state. But do you know the thing Shadowed Aesthetic is the most upset about? His hair has been ruined. Fortunately Moonsilver has a relatively high melting point! His robes aren't going to be so lucky to come out of this in one piece, though. Now, however, Bloodnail has the full fury of a very angry Moonsilver Caste Alchemical focused directly on him. Which becomes clear when Shadowed Aesthetic quite literally ERUPTS with that blue-white glow, the impossible trefoil knot spinning slowly in the space around him. His eyes are narrowed. His words are quiet, spoken in a low, dangerous tone. "That. Was a mistake." Suddenly there is a hail of glowing silver throwing knives flying through the air. And they're all aimed right at Bloodnail.
Dr. Vahzilok	Bloodnail is bombarded with throwing knives, and he doesn't appear to evade any of them. They hit solidly and do damage to the twisted gnome! He tries to close the distance then, wielding a blade similar to the ones the other Red Caps have used. Some sort of ritual blade with a kind of darkness to it, like it wasn't forged from metal, or maybe the metal was taken from a place so deep that light becomes darkness before it even reaches it. He's taking the hits with a grin on his wicked face, and doesn't appear to be quite out of the fight yet, but he's getting there. Without support, it's only a matter of time before a hero like Shadowed finishes the job and stops the ritual. The next clash might be the end of it!
Shadowed Aesthetic	Realizing that the Red Cap boss is going melee, Shadowed Aesthetic does as well. Fans come up again, and he ducks down to minimize his profile as he moves forward. He may very well still be on fire. But at this point that might even help him. Since attacking someone who's on fire tends to not be a good idea. But yes. The Moonsilver does indeed go in for melee range. With his iconic anima flare's effect aiding him, he might seem to blur in Bloodnail's vision as he moves into his dancelike melee fighting style. He aims for joints and exposed areas with the bladed fans.
Dr. Vahzilok	As the two clash, the flames probably would have died out quite quickly since they would be a by-product of the small explosion rather than the focus, sparing Shadowed Aesthetic that pain at least. Which in turn may help in focusing on fighting, and continuing to battle with the Fiend until Bloodnail is heavily injured. He calls out angrily, "This isn't the end of us you'll see! Broken world is broken reality!" Whether it's an idle threat out of frustration or some sort of cryptic warning is unclear, but the end result is that the Alchemical manages to hurt Bloodnail so badly he can no longer remain conscious after all the blood loss, and collapses. The ritual has been prevented! Dun DUN dunnn... DUN! MISSION COMPLETE Costume Piece Unlocked! * Dual Blades: Kanshou and Bakuya (Emiya Shirou unlock) Hairstyle: Sage Fox Wig (Xiaomu unlock) Hats With Hair: Blue Witch Hat (Maya unlock) Non-Combat Pet: Dorian's Moustache (Dorian Pavus unlock)