Southern Wolves
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@smiley
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She/Her
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Smiley
Magic
Poltergeist
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Inky clouds covered the sky. Chill winds whispered between the overgrown trees. Rain tapped lightly against the umbrella of thick leaves, unable to get through. The night was drawing near. And in the dark, all sorts of mischievous creatures came out to play...
“Ta-da~! Here we are~!”
A cheerily chiming voice popped the ominous atmosphere like a pinprick against a balloon. Wavering lantern light revealed an energetic young woman. Blonde locks framed a soft set of brightly grinning features. Dressed in a sly, black jumpsuit, she blended in with the shifting shadows. Her golden gaze gleamed with a playful spark.
Kin hoisted the lantern, letting its light illuminate the goal. Once upon a time it had been a marvelous mansion, home to a powerful mage and his servants. Three floors filled with beautifully decorated rooms. Now it was only a decrepit shadow of its former self. Dusty, broken... And tilted to the side a little.
The trickster glanced at the poor soul she had dragged along for this adventure. “Amazing, isn’t it? The local bandits say it’s haunted.” Well, she had mysteriously forgotten to mention that detail until now. When she first pitched the idea to her guild mate, she had led with the classic ‘hidden treasure’ approach. Funny how that worked.
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
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@wish
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92
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Wish
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If there was one truth she knew about this place before even entering, it was a very simple and profound one: it would be dirty and dusty. That just was how old and abandoned buildings were. As such Natalie was for once not wearing some sort of dress, but something that resembled a cleaner’s uniform, with a raincoat of black overhead. It was not a very flattering choice of attire for anyone, but it was, most of all, practical. She would probably need more of that, given just who she was embarking on this little adventure with. Fortunately, she would get paid for this.
However, feeling a lot like a hired goon more than anything else, Miss Chevalier could not really share her partner’s cheeriness. Fortunately, she had already established herself as a more reserved kind of person. Hence, she could hide her annoyance behind a gentle little smile. “Yes, I guess we are~” she noted, trying to sound at least a bit positive about it all, as she took a closer look at the establishment that would house them for a bit, willing or not. It had mostly fallen to the ravages of time, yet at least it did not look like it would collapse on top of them. She really did not like the angle it stood at, though. Something was wrong there.
“Fortunately, criminals are a foolish and superstitious lot. If not, I am certain we are well equipped to take care of spooks and goblins.” Lightly angling her head to the side, she’d give the grinning girl a smile. Their magics were probably useful enough to either get rid of or understand any possible hauntings. Not that she believed in ghosts anyway. A mage animating a skeleton? Maybe. But not the restless spirits of the dead doing this or that. It was probably just a means to protect this place from looters. Well, looters other than them. “You seem to have more experience with these kinds of things. How would you reckon us to approach this?”
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
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@smiley
posts
144
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She/Her
OOC name
Smiley
Magic
Poltergeist
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Since Kin didn’t know much about her guildmate, she took this as an opportunity to study the reserved woman. Unsurprisingly, the stuffy snob didn’t seem even half as excited to snoop around a haunted house. Oh how she just wanted to see that stiff attitude shatter...
Naturally, the devious mage had a plan for entering... “Through the front door, of course!” Good plan? Great plan! If they were lucky, they would run into an ambush right away! Without wasting a moment, she gave the front door a good kick. It flew open with a cry of rusty hinges. She peered inside, all excited and found...
Nothing. Aw...
Inside, the crooked mansion was... surprisingly orderly. Sure, dust covered the floors and cobwebs were everywhere, but the furniture seemed untouched. Chairs were arranged neatly around tables. Bookshelves were impeccably ordered. The whole place was like a snapshot of the day it was abandoned.
While heading deeper inside, the trickster piped up suddenly. “Hey...” She glanced over her shoulder with an odd spark in her eye. “Do you believe in ghost stories?” The question was voiced innocently enough. Just idle chatter to keep the silence away, right? Riiight...
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
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@wish
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….
She really should have expected that, shouldn’t she? Mentally, she had pegged that girl down as being a bit on the dim side. However, since she generally did that to anyone who did not prove their smarts to her immediately, the healer had hoped that she would be proven wrong. So far, that proof eluded her. The plan given here was instead not much of a plan. Just going in. That was what one did to normal houses, wasn’t it?
Natalie raised a brow at that, but forced herself to chuckle. There was a vain hope that it would be a comment made in jest. Sadly, the door was annihilated right away, her partner rushing in. Finding herself suddenly wary, the mage readied herself. There was nothing there, though. Just a normal house. Following, she still kept her staff ready, just in case. Not that a simple wooden staff would do much good against incorporeal beings, if there were any. It just felt better. And sometimes, that was all she needed.
Remaining on edge a bit, Natalie would follow, naturally giving the other the lead in this. “Ghost stories?” she repeated, briefly confused as to why that question came now of all times. They had both come here exactly because they did not believe them, didn’t they? Briefly, all too easily missable, her eyes narrowed as she suspected a motive. Still, she did not speak with harshness or suspicion, just her usual, soothing tone. “No, I do not believe in those. I do believe in mages being able to mimic them, however.”
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
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@smiley
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Smiley
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Poltergeist
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Wearing an innocent smile, the trickster paid close attention to the snob’s reaction. People often were quick to deny their fears. A devious smile tugged at her lips, threatening to break through the facade. Mimic them, hm? An adorable word choice...
“Oh, is that so...?”
Kin turned around and slowly her eyes widened. She aimed a trembling point towards the hallway behind the Natalie. Her voice wavered. “Then... What’s that behind you...?” If the suspicious woman turned to look, she would’ve found absolutely nothing. Just a trick to test how gullible she was!
However, the trick backfired when a nearby door slowly slid open and something sauntered from the shadows. A skeleton dressed in a fine suit, an attire fit for a butler, stepped behind the trickster. Metal gleamed in the dim light as he... it... lifted a deadly weapon... A silver tray! With a rattle of bones, it took a swing right at her head.
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
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@wish
posts
92
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Wish
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This was a bit of a conundrum, really, and she hesitated briefly. Was it better to pretend to be a bit of a damsel and dim by falling for this, or to decline even looking? Natalie really did not feel like pretending, since it probably did not serve much of a purpose. That girl was a bit obvious in her attempt to play a prank or something. Timing was the issue, really. If she had let a few moments or even minutes pass before doing this, it would have gone better in her opinion.
Still though, she very lightly sighed, yet complied, turning around with a slight delay. And she found herself actually startled. Missing the door opening due to the deliberation, the healer was greeted by something coming out of it and swinging at her.
Nature taking its way, the surprised woman, half turned, would rush backwards, trying to get away from the admittedly short-ranged weapon, not really trying to block the attack with her staff, but instead retreating, hopefully behind her partner. Her expression turned quite grim quite swiftly, an instinct developed from her time on the road, before joining the guild.
“Either an illusion, or a skeleton,” she’d note, deadpan, but making no mystery of her desire to let the other handle it. Sure, she had her staff to whack things with. But other mages were usually much better dealing with things. Though, she was not above pushing Kin towards the potential threat, if necessary, utterly focused on the issue at hand.
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
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@smiley
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Smiley
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Far too slow to match the swift woman, the moving skeleton missed its heavy swing. Within the empty eyes blue sparks glowed like tiny embers. They followed the target keenly. It pursued with a swaying step, slowly raising the unwieldy weapon again
Meanwhile, Kin lifted her hands and hid her features. She started sobbing solemnly. It was accompanied by a faint whistle, like some sort of supernatural pressure building up... Suddenly she revealed her face again and let out a chilling scream. The shrill sound revebrated across the hallway, scratching its icy claws down one's spine. A blast of white, glowing wisps shot from her frame.
The dreadful magic tore right through the skeleton, making it tremble. It fell backwards and collapsed into a pile of broken, lifeless bones. The embers of magic burning within its eyes faded away.
Now the scream turned into brief laughter, before sputtering into disappointment. Kin squatted down to poke the skull. Poke... Poke... And no reaction whatsoever. “Aw, you’re no fun.” She liked living targets far more. Watching them scamper away in panic was hilarious.
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
tag
@wish
posts
92
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OOC name
Wish
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Natalie held her ears, just in case, when she heard the scream. She did not know the other’s magic well at all. There was no telling whether this would hurt her as well. It was certainly loud and shrill, even behind the mage, which was annoying in its own right. Fortunately, the skeleton was unable to do such. Could a skeleton even hear? Why was it destroyed by this? It had to be vibrations or something. Nat could feel a light reverberation in her body. But she did not crumple from this or anything like that.
Instead, she watched the girl’s antics a little longer. She decided to defile the corpse a bit more, but since someone already animated it, that probably wasn’t too big an issue. “I guess you killed it. Or re-killed it. Better if it does not jump back up again once poked,” she noted, following along. She warily looked around, thinking there might be more foes nearby. So far no ‘luck’, though. “If this is here, then others like it might as well. What do you think? This might be the reason why people thought this place haunted…but it couldn’t be all there is, right? There has to be some reason for it.”
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
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@smiley
posts
144
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Pronouns
She/Her
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Smiley
Magic
Poltergeist
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Kin held the skull before her eyes, briefly tempted to talk to it, before tossing it over her shoulder. “What do I think? Weeell...” Flashing a sharp smile, she crept over to the door the skeleton had come through. She cast a sly glance at her partner-in-crime.
“Riddle me this... What does a guard do?”
Peeking through the doorway, the trickster found a surprisingly roomy library. Tall bookshelves were filled with books, with barely any empty gaps. A table in the middle was covered in parchments and papers full of scribbled notes. Two suits of armor stood on each side of the door. And a painting of a very sour bearded geezer overlooked the whole room.
The titles on the bookshelves were all related to the arcane arts. Kin trailed her finger along the dusty covers, idly reading them aloud. “Green Spells and Ham, How to Train Your Dragon Slayer, Zen and the Art of Magic Rune Maintenance...” Nope, nope and nope. None of these interested her. She wanted to know about ghosts.
Meanwhile, an odd sensation of being watched loomed in the background. The furniture and items had strange, matching symbols carved onto them. If the partner-in-crime stepped into the room as well, she would find the door slooowly sliding shut behind her...
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
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@wish
posts
92
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Wish
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“Guards guard galvanizing gardens gallantly,” she replied quietly. The question itself had been poised in a somewhat joking way, so she replied similarly, although with a lot less gusto. Unlike her partner, she was not yet to take this little excursion lightly, given that she lacked abilities to quickly and reliably get rid of threats like that. And threats they were. Nat was a healer. She sadly was intimately familiar with how easily people could get injured in a scuffle. It was not something she wanted to experience anytime soon.
As they walked into the library, she thus took a more scrutinizing look at the this place, looking for potential threats again. That single skeleton might have been a guard, but given how easily it had fallen, there was not much to it. It alone would make for a horrible security system. Her eyes quickly found the suits of armor, fixating on them. By doing so, she did not really notice the door closing behind her. But at least she acted intelligently in the other regard. In ghost stories, suits of armour sometimes came to life and attacked the living.
Best not to risk that happening here. There wasn’t really any reason not to do it. Reaching with her staff, the healer decided to simply push over the suits of armour, just in case. Worst case scenario, she created a mess. But she might also be able to prevent another sneak attack.
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
tag
@smiley
posts
144
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Pronouns
She/Her
OOC name
Smiley
Magic
Poltergeist
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While the snooping trickster fiddled with the books, the carved symbols on the armors started lighting up one by one. However, she completely missed the fact due to a loud clang. She aimed a quizzical look at her partner and the mess of metal.
“What? Did they offend your delicate taste in decoration?”
Exactly as Natalie had predicted, the suits of armor suddenly came to life! ...The only problem was that they were kinda in pieces. The greaves hopped without legs, the gauntlets crawled along the floor with their fingers and the helmets just clattered their visor angrily. Whoever had enchanted them clearly hadn’t thought of this possibility...
Or maybe they had.
The living armor pieces still weren’t completely harmless... For instance, one of the greaves kept hopping at the healer, insistently trying to step on her toes. Likewise, getting too close to a helmet would’ve ended with it clamping onto any loose clothing it could reach. Truly terrifying.
Kin blinked at the sight. Her puzzled stare twitched. A wicked grin spread across her features. Laughter bubbled past her lips. “Pfft, hahahaha~!” Clutching her stomach, she pointed at the scattered pieces. “Look at them go~!” And more mocking laughter echoed through the room.
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
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@wish
posts
92
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Wish
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She had been right. It didn’t seem to do them too much good. But she had been right. Or rather half right. While her instincts had been good and were keeping them from being attacked by maddened suits of armor, the spell only activating after their disassembly turned two potentially strong opponents into a great many, much weaker ones.
Displaying her ability to run away once more, Natalie brought some distance between the moving parts and herself. The mere fact that they did anything was enough to elevate them to potentially dangerous levels. “Yes, it is very humorous,” she stated deadpan, but still in a friendly way. The other girl didn’t really take this as seriously as she mayhap should. Yet, so far, she has been effective regardless. Nat was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Should we…do something about them? They seem aggressive, and I am not sure if they can build themselves back up.” True, they were now small enough that she could potentially just whack at them with her stick until they stopped moving. But a ) it was probably a bad idea to repeatedly smack metal with wood and b ) that could put her in danger. Best if her partner did that shriek thing again to safely dispose of them.
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
tag
@smiley
posts
144
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Pronouns
She/Her
OOC name
Smiley
Magic
Poltergeist
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...Well, Kin found it funny. She cackled herself breathless before wiping away the tiny tears. Naturally she had no intention of fighting back here. These things weren’t a threat. To her at least.
However, when the healer brought up the idea of the animated armors pulling themselves back together, the trickster let out a curious hum. “Hm~ Imagine if they could do that...” Lifeless pieces puppeteered by an unseen force, splitting from attacks only to be reassembled again. Now there was an interesting idea.
Kin’s eyes twinkled like mischievous little stars. She snatched one of the crawling gauntlets and studied it closely. It shared the same symbol as the doorframe and the sour painting. An arcane glow pulsed gently... Conversely, the chest piece and pants lacked any symbols. And they just so happened to stay lifeless.
The ghastly mage traced her finger across the symbol. It felt unnaturally cold to the touch, a familiar feeling her own magic shared. “Say, have you gone to any fancy schools?” She glanced at her deadpan partner. Snobs tended to have the best teachers and the rarest books, you know.
Suddenly the trickster spun around and chucked the squirming gauntlet at the healer. “Think fast! You wouldn’t happen to know what that symbol means and what it is made of, would you?” Well, sure, it was made of ink. Even she could tell that much. But was it special ink? A special symbol? Or was it just a fancy receiver and the magic alone made it work?
Natalie Chevalier
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Southern Wolves
tag
@wish
posts
92
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jewels
OOC name
Wish
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Natalie did not think it a good idea to play with something animated by a hostile spell, so she kept her distance. The disembodied parts did not seem to pose much of a threat, but when magic was involved that could change quickly. Taking it as casually as the other was not an option to her. But she tried not to make a fuss, even when it was pushed towards her. “No fancy schools, no,” she replied, even as she took a closer look at that thing. Her parents had not really been able to afford that.
She’d try anyway. However, she did not think fast, but instead take a moment to take in what she saw there. “It was painted on there. That means whoever did this probably did make those suits themselves or had them made specifically. Maybe the enchantments were not made by whoever owned this place initially?”
It really was just a guess. But that would make sense. These things were a bit haphazard and disconnected. They did not feel like a proper security system. But why were they there, then? It was all a bit mysterious, really. Natalie rubbed her chin, trying to make sense of this. She was very much engrossed in this, but sadly, that did not mean that she gained any particular insights about all of this in the process. “Hmm….maybe someone came in here after the fact? A squatter or a thief?” It was a bit absent-minded that she just espoused that, but that was just how she’d sometimes get in situations like this.
Kin Harle
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Southern Wolves
tag
@smiley
posts
144
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Pronouns
She/Her
OOC name
Smiley
Magic
Poltergeist
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Much to the trickster’s disappointment, the snob wasn’t even half as snobbish as she had expected. No fancy schools meant no fancy knowledge or secrets. ...Buuut she couldn’t really call that a bad thing. Actually, she liked the woman a little better this way.
Kin’s smile sharpened when Natalie suggested that someone had enchanted the armors after their crafting, someone who might still be here. “Funny... I was thinking the same thing...” These things were way too flimsy to be the work of a proud mage. It was like someone had been in a hurry to build hasty defenses.
“After all, why have guards unless you have something to guard...?”
The ghastly mage went back to investigating the bookshelf. Something about it beckoned her closer. Hm, didn’t those armors start moving when she was fiddling with the books? Her wandering fingers brushed against the mismatched tomes. They were pulled down and tossed to the floor. She had been somewhere... around... here.
One of the books moved, but refused to fall. Instead it snapped back into its place with a click. Light and quick. Much like a lock opening. With an eerie creak, a section of the bookcase swung backwards very much like... Kin’s eyes started sparkling.
“A secret door~!”
Natalie Chevalier
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