Edward winced, holding Misha at his side where she'd collided with him, and waited for something to happen. When nothing did, and the both of them remained as they were, his grip slowly relaxed at elbow and shoulder. He shot he a quick, inquisitive look to be sure she was alright, then cast his gaze out around them, once again seeking out familiar faces.
There were a lot less human bodies this time around than there had been a moment before. "We're dropping like flies..." His voice trailed off a bit as he glanced down, following Misha's attention, towards the furry critter at their ankles. It was holding a bag up to them. "Friend of your's?" He didn't think it was anyone he was terribly familiar with.
Of course, he wasn't exactly familiar with more than a small handful of people.
shortgreen
shaddaling
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:53 pm
"I'm pretty sure that's Lex." Misha blinked at the chattering otter and then, despite everything, burst into giggles. She gave Edward's waist a quick, affectionate squeeze and then released him to crouch in front of Lex, hands out to them and their bag. "And, thankfully, still Lex and not some manic wild critter," she added. "I'm betting you've got some cures in there, cutie."
It certainly seemed so. Otherwise Lex was overly concerned with showing her their luggage.
Without hesitation, Misha began digging until she found what appeared to be the items in question. "Before you take this, let me just go on record and say you make an adorable otter," she said. "Also this is Edward and we like him so be nice." She winked. Then she held out the cure. "Now go for it. Your clothing is right there so we don't have to play hunt and seek for it."
Beth slid into Brian's arms easily, reassured by his solid presence once again. She squeezed his hand on hers. She wasn't sure if he was inconvenienced by her closeness, but wasn't exactly about to ask. If he was, she'd have to leave the safety of his proximity and she wasn't ready to do that.
So she stayed huddled against him as Misha emerged. She sighed in relief. Misha was back and making jokes, even. "If only I had my ruby slippers. Though I'd be furious if I brought Louboutins with me." She squeezed her other hand, comforted by the presence of her new friends at either side. She let Misha pull them ahead until another Chosen clapped her shoulder and the Aphrodite Chosen slipped her hand out to embrace him. She watched them interestedly, as the easiest way to make opinions about others was to see how they treated one's friends.
But her attention was taken by Sylvia making her way over to them. She waited for Sylvia and linked her arm with the other woman's. Best not to get separated again. "Awake, if only barely." She smiled at Sylvia, a small amount of tension draining from her. "Best to stick together, right?" She could empathize with the lost/overly mollified look the girl had sported in the moment when they made eye contact.
She lost sight of Lex...until an otter ran up to Misha, holding out their backpack with something between a chirrup and a squeak. Beth tried to feel appropriately horrified, but knowing that the cures worked and, frankly, being amongst friends took the teeth from her terror. She was about to offer her shoulders to her friend as payment for the times they had spent with her on their shoulder or in their pocket or cupped in a hand or....Well, she certainly had a lot to repay. But then Misha deduced that they wanted a cure from their bag and she was spared from generosity.
Beth wavered a bit when she saw the large mushrooms surrounding them, and could not stop the yelp from emitting when they, all at once, decided to release spores. Quickly, she turned her face into the fabric of Brian's sleeve and tried to lead the group through without running them off the path. Perhaps keeping her eyes uncovered would have been smarter, but she'd taken one look at the glowing green spores and decided that they meant no good.
Not that it mattered. She had taken a large breath in to fuel the scream and so she coughed, letting her hands slip from her two friends. She coughed, almost choking, sinking to the ground on all fours. Despite making her throat and abdomen hurt, the move ended up helping. She managed to crawl out of the trap and come out the other side, still breathing and still human.
Weapon: Whip (agile ranged) HP: 50/50 Dmg:
Character Name:Beth Almasy Brief description of character: A sweet but skittish beauty who's lived in the lap of luxury her whole life, Beth doesn't quite know what she's doing. She's always willing to support and cheer on her friends, mostly so she doesn't actually have to lift a finger.
Deity: Hera
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen
beejoux
Mentioned!
shaddaling
Mika_Yumi
WC: 475, Total: 906
and be blue rolled 1 20-sided dice:
10Total: 10 (1-20)
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 4:28 pm
The mushrooms set off warning bells in Asher's mind even as the stepped into the greenery -- not that he did anything about it, of course, aside from frown faintly and look around. When the mushrooms puffed, he could have used that thrill of alarm to hold his breath and wait out the spores. Later, he'd say that was exactly what he did, but in truth, he behaved the same as everyone else.
Stunned. Blinking, breathing in. His hand moved through the faintly-glowing dust, which stuck to his hand and left an afterimage of his movement in the air for one long moment before other spores moved in to fill the space.
That jarred him, all at once. Made him look up and blink around, taking in the distress of his fellow Chosen. This time, instead of just standing around like an idiot and protecting himself, Asher dragged the collar of his shirt up over his nose. He trudged through the greenery, just a little wobbly, to settle next to Ed.
"Start pulling people out, big boy." It was muffled, Asher's eyes [the only part of him that was showing] hot as he nodded to the others caught in the growth. "We gotta get inside."
As irritated as Sid was with what they were doing, where they were going, and what they were traipsing through, she was comforted by her best friend behind her and a collection of people she was coming to know slogging right along beside her the whole way. She wasn't alone here, and she wasn't among strangers. Rob, at least, would make sure nothing bad happened to her, like he had in the past. Still, thoughts of what had happened on the last mission and the unpleasant surprising of waking up in the hospital weighed on her, a distraction as the group made it mostly intact past the strange greenery.
Someone really didn't want anyone getting close to the manor house, if they were willing to enchant so much of the local plant life to protect themselves.
The next trap came suddenly and with far more success than the first one. Forms began to drop all around her, a cacophony of animal voices raised in protest. Good thing so many people have cures ready. Sid thought as she pulled her camisole up over her nose again and held her breath. Her own attempts at making it had failed quite thoroughly, but at least no one was depending on her to save them. She paused in her path to wait for Rob to catch up, grabbing for his arm to tug him along out of the cloud of spores that were wreaking havoc among the chosen.
"You got any cures handy, just in case?" She said as she leaned into him, her voice muffled in her shirt.
Quote:
Character Name:Sidney James Brief description of character: Reluctant Chosen of Apollo, Sid is more interested in partying and making music than being a warrior. Upbeat and bright most of the time, she's also a bit selfish and unlikely to go out of her way for people she doesn't know.
Deity: Apollo Weapon: Bow (6 base damage) HP: 47 Minicert:
If you roll a 4+, you manage to hold your breath and not breathe in too many spores, passing through the trap unscathed. If you roll a 1, you're turned into a small animal, but retain your wits. Until you're cured, your HP is 70, and you deal 5 damage each turn, no roll required. If you roll a 2, you're turned into a medium animal, but retain your wits. Until you're cured, your HP is 60, and you deal 8 damage each turn, no roll required. if you roll a 3, you're turned into a large animal, but retain your wits. Until you're cured, your HP is 55, and you deal 12 damage each turn, no roll required.
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 8:48 pm
Pale brows arched at the introductions. Under other circumstances he might have offered a hand in greeting, maybe even a smile, but neither seemed appropriate in these circumstances. Granted, it was hard to say how friendly he'd have been anyways, he wasn't exactly the most social.
He did offer a nod though, a twitch of lips, though the latter might have been more for Misha's comment, than actual friendliness. It was impossible to tell, especially given he still had his nose and mouth covered.
Asher, moving up beside him, actually went unnoticed until his voice startled the taller man and jerked his attention around. There was a momentary flash of wide eyes, followed by a slight narrowing at the order. "Your arms broken?" It came out sardonic, teasing, though not nearly as much as it might normally have been, had they not been stalking a witch(of sorts) that kept changing them into animals.
All joking aside, he wasn't about to leave any of his fellow chosen behind. "I'll be right back," he offered to Misha with a small squeeze to her hip. Don't rush off without me. He'd found his friends, he wasn't in any hurry to lose them again.
Oh, Gods - maybe he could run? He didn't want to leave Sylvia or Zan or Erica or Davor behind, though, and there were plenty of Chosen whose camaraderie he'd enjoyed otherwise. With the scarf tied firmly around his face, it wasn't very long before he found his way to the lawn.
There were a few Chosen gathered here already - rainbow hair over there was friends with Rob, and had done a lot of the work with the speakers; the tiny little black-haired guy was...someone he'd attacked while he was a giraffe. Whoops. Ernst turned his head away. There were a few more faces he recognized, but he wanted to see some specific ones, damnit.
He pulled his jacket off his face briefly so he could speak coherently. "Hey!" he called to the group already assembled on the lawn, and then - was that fungus he smelled? s**t, s**t, s**t.
It took him a few seconds of panicked fumbling, but he slammed his jacket back up so that it was secured around his nose again. Then he shaded his eyes with a hand to see if he could make out any more familiar faces - or even just human faces, since it looked like all of Circe's allies were plants or animals or Goth kids. He stumbled over to a group of Chosen. "Need help?" he called to a handsome blond Chosen man who he...wasn't sure he recognized. His voice came out muffled by his makeshift mask, but he didn't really want to risk...whatever would happen. He was pretty sure he'd seen some more people's clothes getting ripped off, and awkward transformations...
Character Name:Ernst Nzikobankunda Brief description of character: A very tall, friendly but airheaded man with a tendency to ramble. He looks tired and run-down, and is dressed, for once, in a worn-down ensemble with no florals in sight.
Sylvia crouched down beside Beth and rubbed her back a bit, hoping it might help soothe any remnants of her coughing fit. She swallowed hard against her own throats trying to spasm before leaning to try and catch Beth’s eye. ”Are you okay, hon’?” If she wasn’t yet, hopefully she would be soon. Sylvia had nothing to really offer to help besides her small attention, but that was something. She continued to keep a hand on Beth’s back, at least unless Beth told her that it wasn’t actually helpful.
Yekaterin
[ Was going to have her interact with more people, but she's pretty focused right now. Next time, hopefully~ ]
It seemed like, for the most part, they had gotten over the prior growth fairly alright. Not perfect, but alright.
But Zebulon knew better than to expect that be the Witch Queen's last trap. That would have been too easy, and she had clearly managed to keep everyone but a slew of Teens Attempting to be Edgy away from her so far. There was going to be more up ahead, but the question was what that was going to be at this point.
Despite that, the next of the traps still took him by surprise.
Perhaps the plainness of his environment lulled him into something of a false sense of security, but when the spores were suddenly released--probably from the mushrooms, he'd consider later--Zebulon keeled over and started coughing, covering his mouth and shutting his eyes tightly. His coughs almost came out as wheezes, and for a few seconds, the thought crossed his mind that he didn't want to die from choking on mushroom spores, of all things. Fungus was supposed to take over after the fact--
He managed to expel the spores from his lungs, ultimately, and managed to stand up as something that was most definitely not a personimal. That was fortunate for himself, but it seemed that some others with him were not so lucky. There were a lot more animals around him than there were just a few minutes ago.
Damn Witch Queen.
Character Name:Zebulon Castaneda Brief description of character: Zebulon accompanies his even temper and clear mind with an oft-frustrating tendency to be snarky even in the most serious moments, needling people far past the point he should. Tagging along is a need for control, tempered by the fact that he does usually know what he's talking about. His normal ease seems lessened at current, though his control over himself is back now that he's removed enough from the conflict with the metal vulture.
Deity: Athena Weapon: Shield HP: 56 Minicert: n/a
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 1:15 pm
Still coughing, you flee from the lawn filled with spores and make your way, at last, into the manor house dining room -- where the sent of musky mushrooms is replaced, instead, with the incredibly enticing smell of freshly cooked food. Compared to the camp rations and makeshift meals that the Chosen have been chewing down, it smells like heaven. A whole pig has been roasted and set up with an apple in its mouth; fresh yams and collared greens; platters filled with home made cornbread and sweet berries.
The food must be enchanted, to smell this incredibly delicious. Your head tells you that eating is a bad idea, but somehow, you find it hard to resist.
_____________________________
OOC:
At this point, all PCs are through the lawn and standing in the middle of the manor house's dining room -- where another trap has been set off!
If you missed the previous prompt, unfortunately you can no longer reply to it. START HERE INSTEAD!
Roll a 1d10.
If you roll a 4+, you manage to resist the enticing smell of the food, passing through the trap unscathed. If you roll a 1, you're turned into a small animal, but retain your wits. Until you're cured, your HP is 70, and you deal 5 damage each turn, no roll required. If you roll a 2, you're turned into a medium animal, but retain your wits. Until you're cured, your HP is 60, and you deal 8 damage each turn, no roll required. if you roll a 3, you're turned into a large animal, but retain your wits. Until you're cured, your HP is 55, and you deal 12 damage each turn, no roll required.
If you reply to this prompt with at least 200 words within the next 24 hours, you can claim 5 XP for this trap. If you don't respond within that time, you'll still have an opportunity to roll, but not to post your reply and get the bonus RP!
If you are turned into an animal, you can either ask around in the hopes that someone has a cure, or stay an animal for the remainder of the finale. The choice is yours.
Lex chittered cheerfully, tipping their head to get a better look at Edward? Yes? Mmhmm, Misha had good taste in men friends. They paused, listening before shaking their head, putting a paw on the bag and then pointing back at Misha. They doubt this was the last trap, taking a cure now, when there was only so many wasn’t going to be helpful. They puffed up their fuzzy cheeks and put a paw on the offered cake, pushing it back to the bag. Not now. Latter. Please carry?
Otters were not equipped with proper hands. Ooh! Was that Beth? Lex rubbed their head against Misha hand, affectionately, before jumping away, scrambling over to Beth and Sylvia, giving cheerful chitters and nudged them. They were find! They got to go and get out of this field.
They swished their tail, trotting ahead and into the house. It smelt good in here… but if their mama taught them anything don’t take what isn’t offer. And consider this was another witch, really, really don’t touch. Lex wasn’t putting it behind Circe to drug the food.
Actually that sounded like all sorts of witches in fairy tales. Don’t eat the food.
grasshopper pie
ShortGreen
beejoux
Yekaterin
Mika_Yumi
Smerdle rolled 1 10-sided dice:
1Total: 1 (1-10)
Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2016 1:30 pm
Inside, Zan was immediately assaulted by a much more familiar smell: food. All of the grasses and mushrooms had been easy to counter, but this...
He had never been one to turn down a free meal.
Zan stopped in the doorway of the dining area, swallowing once at the sight of ham and potatoes and bread, and then he was suddenly just there at the edge of the table, stuffing food in his mouth that he knew in the back of his mind he shouldn't even be touching. This spread was just as dangerous as the spores or that mossy s**t outside, but he couldn't stop, not until he'd swallowed and it was too late.
His legs began tingling first, and soon his whole body was itching too insistently for him to ignore. Zan bent at the waist, clenching his fists, and the magic chose that moment to act, quickly transforming him into a small, pale fox. He wiggled out of his checkered pants and well-worn t-shirt with an airy bark, promptly standing tall on his back legs and waving his paws at the nearest passing Chosen. There were twelve cures in his bag—twelve damn cures—and he didn't want them left behind.
Quote:
halp
Character Name:Zan Gethin Brief description of character: Friendly, perceptive, phony. Zan has wholeheartedly embraced the more mundane aspects of his new life at the Prytaneum—such as regular meals, his stipend, and the gym—but his inability to stick with any one thing for long has left him struggling to pin down how he might best serve his god long term.
Deity: Hermes Weapon: Dagger HP: 50 Minicert:
Smerdle
Scamp
Offline
Sage of Chaos rolled 1 10-sided dice:
4Total: 4 (1-10)
