Ingvar Islet to Fandom, Saturday

[endsthegame]

'Twas the daylight hours in Fandom yet, but clouds had gathered around Ingvar's summit, blocking out the sun. Sometimes thunder struck and illuminated their surroundings; from one angle, you could easily see the lights of Fandom Town just a couple of hundred feet away. But Ingvar itself was dark, all blues and blacks, all grass and trees swaying in the wind casting terrifying shadows on the ground.

Something was howling here. Something hostile. Something that drew on the islet itself.

It would manifest itself in a million ways, because you had roused the dark energy of Ingvar Islet, and it would not be ignored.

Ingvar	You've landed on the rocks that make up Ingvar's beach. This is a mistake. The waves of the sea pull back, gathering strength and size-- and when they come crashing back in, their intent is to kill.
Raven Roth	Raven stepped out of the boat, feeling a little queasy from the trip across the rough sea. Teleportation would've been faster, of course, but they had no idea what might be waiting there and if Ingvar might somehow interfere with it. She looked out at the water and saw it pulled back, then realized it was rushing back in. "Hurry, we must get away from the shore!" she called.
Anders	Anders --who was also more than slightly queasy, though he feared it wasn't entirely from the time on the boat -- turned to the sea with his staff raised and cast a precise blast of ice at the ocean. It helped for a moment. Or at least, he froze the exact waves that had been bearing down on them at that exact moment. The problem was that they were soon swallowed up in another, larger set of waves. He turned to the rest of the group with wide eyes. "There's no way to keep up. We need to run."
Clint	Clint had always considered himself to be a pretty agile guy, but that was outside of situations with huge, violent waves of water. He didn't like how many students had come along on this little trip, but there was nothing he could do about it here and now and hey, this one was particularly useful. "You're right. Do you think you could hold off another wave like that? We've got to get further in." Edited at 2014-12-02 04:42 am (UTC)
Anders	"Yeah," Anders breathed, his face twisted in concentration. "If the waves keep coming like this it won't be much better than bailing the blighted ocean out with a teaspoon, but I can do enough to get us inland." He backed up a few paces and cast the ice spell again.
Clint	Clint let out a little sigh of relief and started to move inland. "Thanks. That's pretty impressive," he said. "What do you think the chances are we won't need your skills going in?" He thought the chances were pretty low but hey, maybe Anders was an optimist.
Anders	Anders had never been known for his optimism. "Zero," he said, as a slushy bit of wave he hadn't quite managed to freeze lapped at his boots. "No, wait, lower than zero. Do chances come in negative numbers?" Edited at 2014-12-02 03:29 pm (UTC)
Clint	"They certainly do where I come from," Clint said, cracking a smile. "That just means we're going to have to work a little harder. And we'll have a good story to tell if we make it back."
Anders	"When," Anders said, trying to be firm about it. "It'll be a good story to tell when we make it back. After all the unpleasant hard work bits, you know."
Clint	"Right, after our ultimate victory over... whatever the hell is out here." See, he could channel false optimism with the best of them, even while being wet and cold. "I'd tell you to be careful but you seem like you can take care of yourself pretty well."
Anders	"Normally," Anders nodded. "But I'll still be happier when the -- whatever it is -- is gone." He might have said more, but another, meaner wave was crashing toward them. He froze most of it, but not before the tip soaked his lower legs.
Raven Darkholme	Raven was actually doing okay, queasiness-wise, having figured out not long into the journey how to actually shapeshift into having sea legs. This did make it awkward when she hit the ground, though, before she managed to shift her knees back to regular knees, instead of shock absorbers. Unfortunately, this meant she wasn't paying enough attention to the incoming waves to work on getting out of their way. One of them crashed into her, knocking her off her feet and giving her a good tumble before it started trying to drag her back into the water. A hand would be welcome, here!
Celia	"Raven!" Celia thrust out both hands for one of Raven's, reinforcing the effort with a burst of magic to compensate for the strength of the tide -- which was much more substantial than Celia'd like. She solidified the air in front of the nearest-looming wave to buy herself a moment to help Raven up, but even as she did so, she knew it wouldn't hold long. Celia was good, but she wasn't exactly equipped to battle the damn ocean.
Raven Darkholme	Raven came up wet and coughing and blue, her scales fortunately helping her shuck off the water slightly faster than she might with normal human skin. "Th-thanks," she managed, though not wanting to get caught under another wave, she was already staggering as best she could up the beach away from the surf. "That *cough* sucked." She would be finding sand in the worst places, later.
Celia	"You're all right?" Celia checked, concerned, wading through the water as quickly as she could to keep away from the oncoming waves. As soon as they were on dry land, she'd magic the water out of her boots, at least -- assuming they had time. "These aren't normal waves," she added, her voice a little more panicked than she'd like. If the ocean was already against them, what horrors could await them on land?
Raven Darkholme	"I will be if we get out of here," Raven said. She had a feeling she'd be much worse off if she were just about anyone else -- especially someone who actually felt cold. "I get the feeling this little island doesn't much want us here."
Jalian	Jalian hissed at the incoming waves and glanced at the others with her, doing her best to hurry inland and make sure no-one was left behind. If those waves hit, they were going to hurt.
Ingvar	Past the beach lays... well, to call it a forest would be granting it too much credit. Individual trees stick up out of the barren landscape, their branches gnarled and long. The further you go up the path, the more of them there are. And they move. They stretch. They reach for you.
Raven Roth	To say Raven was getting a bad feeling as they approached the trees would've been an understatement. She shivered and drew her cloak more tightly around her shoulders. Something else tugged on her cloak, or was it just caught on a branch? She turned to free herself and saw the fabric hadn't just caught on a branch by chance...it had actually moved and grabbed at her, trying to draw her to it. She cried out and grabbed her cloak in both hands, trying to pull free.
Raven Darkholme	Yeah, Raven had already gotten smacked down by a wave, today. She wasn't adding "getting grabbed by trees" to that list. She shifted into the quickest, nimblest shape she could think of, which had the advantage of also being quite small, and dodged and darted her way through the reaching branches. . . . Not that this helped the rest of the group, much. Maybe she could trick the branches into tying themselves up in knots, like in a cartoon.
Anders	Even if Raven's shapeshifting didn't help anyone else, Anders appreciated the skill involved. "I'm still jealous of that," he called after the rabbit as she darted away.
Raven Darkholme	Raven sprung just a little bit higher on her next jump in response -- and then found herself having to leap from branch to branch as the trees tried harder to grab onto her. She wove in and out, finally successfully managing to lock a few of the branches together. She paused just long enough on top of the branch tangle to shoot Anders a wink, then jumped to another tree to see if she could do it again.
Anders	"I've heard stories about things like this," Anders said apprehensively as he darted just out of the reach of a twisted branch. "Not good ones. Usually they end with the sylvan eating someone." Magic seemed more likely to rebound onto one of his companions than to do any good, so he resorted to smacking the branches out of the way with the end of his staff as he rushed through the forest. The trees scratched at his coat all the way.
Celia	It was impossible to keep track of the trees, here. Celia felt them tugging on her coat, and sent a burst of magic to keep them at bay. But then there were more, and try as she might to fend them off with her abilities, it was too much. It wasn't until she actually tripped over one of the reaching branches that Celia finally started to run, once she was up. She didn't trip. Ever. To do so now was an indication of the effect the place was having on her, and once she focused and took off at a sprint through the path, she was able to dodge the branches a bit better. Once she was out, she could help. Once she was out, she'd be able to at least look back and see.
Clint	Clint might not have been big on fairytales, but he still knew that sentient grabby trees were something to get away from as quickly as possible. He tried to keep an eye on the others to make sure no one got snatched up, and smacked at the branches that crept along his legs with the end of his bow. "Hey, bad touch, I'm a taken man."
Jalian	Jalian scowled and pulled her knives, slashing at any branches that got too close. "This place is very strange."
Ingvar	You're not far from the islet's center now, but there's one last surprise up ahead. Dolls. Hundreds and hundreds of dolls come pouring out of the foliage, their faces painted with snarls.
Anders	Of course this was where the rowan branches had pointed them. It wouldn't do for dowsing on an evil island to lead to, say, a nice room full of fluffy pillows. "Sweet Andraste," Anders breathed -- a curse that sounded more resigned than anything else -- and tucked the branch neatly into his belt before switching it out with his staff and aiming a blast of fire at the nearest herd of dolls. Whatever they were made of, they probably wouldn't like fire.
Ingvar	Plastic melted. Fingers lost their shape and clotted together. Heads burst into flame. The dolls didn't like this, no. But whatever evil spirit pushed them onward would not be so easily dissuaded by their twisted shapes. The herd turned towards Anders as one - and sped forward.
Anders	"Note to self, sometimes fire makes it even worse," Anders muttered, and sprinted away from the mass of burning dolls. He cast electricity as he went, or tried to: His aim wasn't the best when he was being threatened by burning children's toys.
Jalian	Jalian grabbed the nearest large tree branch (that wasn't moving) and swung it in an arc that would do a baseball-player proud, sending the foremost firey dolls into the trees. "It was a good thought," she conceded to Anders with a nod.
Anders	"You have a good arm," Anders returned, squinting up at the dolls in the trees. "I hope they can't climb down."
Jalian	"Let's not give them a chance to." She urged him away from the dolls and higher up. "If this doesn't work, we could have problems getting back down."
Celia	"Oh my god," Celia breathed, nearly dropping her branch as soon as she realized what she was looking at. Dolls. It was almost funny how something she'd sought comfort in as a little girl could now look so evil. She flung an arm out, narrowing her eyes as she focused on slowing the dolls, trying to keep them at bay for the moment.
Ingvar	A doll tripped and fell. Others simply slowed in their motions, scrambling sluggishly in the dirt with dogged determination. Some had one face, some had two; some had one arm, some had four. All of them stretched out, reaching for Celia. They would not stop by choice.
Celia	It was absurd, the fact that they were fighting dolls. But at least, this way, she didn't have any qualms about the value of human life, or any of that nonsense. When Celia saw that she'd need to take more drastic measures, she grit her teeth and sent a stronger burst of magic their way, pushing them back harder. If she happened to break or burst a few of the dolls in the process...well. Precision wasn't her top priority at the moment.
Ingvar	Pop! Pop! Pop! Heads exploded like kernels. The heads remaining hissed and hissed. They were not smart enough for strategies that did not involve numbers; but more and more piled on, their lifeless black eyes shining back at Celia as they advanced. At least two of them had been impaled by another doll's limb, the poor dears.
Celia	And there was the solution, messy though it was. Celia eyed the dolls as their tiny little heads popped open, pursing her lips with the sheer...unpleasantness of it. It wasn't as though she felt guilty, but this was an image that was going to stick with her for awhile. And she was going to have to exacerbate it, obviously, by reaching out with her magic and deliberately trying to burst the remaining dolls advancing on her. She honed in on porcelain and sent it cracking, and dutifully melted plastic, trying not to look into their glassy little eyes. She could do this all day, you creepy little fiends.
Raven Darkholme	Raven had shifted back to her accustomed human form once they'd cleared the trees -- which was good, because being trampled as a rabbit by all those dolls would have been terrible. She backed off as they approached, wishing she'd brought some kind of weapon with her. Of course, that would have been one hell of liability when she was getting sucked into the ocean or dodging through tree branches. So there was that.
Ingvar	The dolls swarmed together like bees at the sight of bright blonde hair. Hissing, twitching, at least six of them broke away from the group to grab for it, their arms outstretched. Just one lock of that hair... or a piece of fabric... or a finger...
Raven Darkholme	The trouble with being a shapeshifter was that Raven could actually feel that bright blonde hair and the fabric of her clothes. (Well, also her fingers, but that was true about most people, anyway.) So when reaching doll fingers managed to grab onto a bit of her clothing, the shriek she let out was well and truly pained as said clothing actually recoiled away. She hissed at the dolls like a cat, shifting her fist into the densest, hardest form she could before smashing down at them. How'd you like a hammer made of bone, little dolls? Especially delivered at your face.
Ingvar	The doll's face smashed apart, sending shards of porcelain all over. No match for bone, this one, nor force. Its plastic sisters gathered closer. One leaped up at the bone hammer, trying to get its little hands on it. A shard of porcelain protruded from this one's forehead, but that didn't seem to slow it. The others dove for Raven's ankles with their little pale-white outstretched hands.
Raven Darkholme	Oh god, she hoped they didn't bite. Raven was too busy trying to shake one of the dolls off her hammer-fist to properly dodge the ankle grabbers. How the hell were they supposed to fight things that wouldn't die? They needed skewers to stake them to the trees or something. Why were there so many of them! Raven had no skewers. She could turn her fingers into them, but then the dolls would be impaled on her and that didn't seem like a big improvement. She started to panic as she tried to shift away from their grabby hands, thickening her ankles so that the dolls couldn't get their arms all the way around them. And then she kept thickening them. And then she was an elephant. Let's see how those plastic bitches took a good stamping.
Ingvar	Screeeeech. They screamed. They shouted. They hurled back at her at highest pitch as they were smashed to bits. Flailing helplessly, an arm here, a knee there. One hand still clinging desperately to an elephant's ankle. Awkward.
Raven Darkholme	Elephants have big ass ears, which, Raven was now learning, were really good at picking up high-pitched doll shrieking. She bellowed in return, still stomping away, until she happened to notice the still clinging hand. Ever seen an elephant flail? You have now. She tried shaking the doll hand off, letting out more little bellows. It was probably best for everyone that she'd become a relatively small elephant as she was not paying enough attention to where she was flailing.
Ingvar	The doll hand clung, and clung, and clung, until its fingers could no longer deal with the pressure. It flew off, smacking Raven right in the ear on its way out.
Raven Darkholme	Oh sure, doll hand, add insult to injury. Or maybe that was the other way around. Either way, Raven winced and trumpted one more time before sagging back into her natural blue form. She'd never tried going quite that big before. She felt all rubbery, now.
Raven Roth	Dolls. Why did it have to be dolls? Her empathy wouldn't work on them, but that didn't mean Raven was helpless. Especially because she was still pretty cranky about stupid ghosts possessing her friends and making them rude and, well, perverted. Not that she had anyone in particular in mind there, Jono. She didn't flinch from the oncoming wave of dolls, but she did let her Soul-Self rise into the air in preparation.
Ingvar	A doll with fine blonde hair opened its mouth and let out an ear-curdling, unearthly screech. They dove for Raven at once - to maim, and to use her as a platform from which to reach the strange mirror-self up in the air. They were mindless. They cared only to destroy.
Raven Roth	Raven's Soul-Self came swooping down, taking solid form as it did so. It changed direction just a mere centimeter from the ground and bowled into the dolls, scattering them and flinging them backwards. There were so many of them, though, and she had to wonder if maybe she should ignore Karla's "No evil in the Netherverse" rule.
Ingvar	It was quiet, if for a moment. Even porcelain and plastic needed to regroup. But scattered as they were, they returned-- creeping out of bushes and out from behind rocks, circling around Raven now.
Raven Roth	Right then. Raven deployed her Soul-Self again, this time opening it up as a portal to the netherverse. She kept it between herself and the dolls, using its wings to sweep the things inside her. Once there, she could, at least in theory, easily deposit them in some random hell dimension. Maybe even the one where she'd put Sebastian.
Ingvar	There were at least a couple dozen dolls in the area alone, now. They went tumbling into Raven's netherverse, screeching and clawing, some calling out for some 'Mama' out there in the darkness... ...hope they don't give you indigestion, Raven.
Jalian	Jalian stuck the odd little twig she had for "dowsing" (whatever that was) in her belt and pulled a knife again. Then eyed the dolls, grimaced, and sheathed it. One of these days, she was going to learn more about guns. Loud and messy or not, they might come in handy sometimes.
Ingvar	Somehow her grimace did not keep the dolls at bay. A white-haired specimen darted forward with inhuman speed, producing noises that sounded, if one cared to listen closely enough, like a litany of "Mamamamamama." Mama didn't need that face, did she?
Anders	"I didn't know you had children," Anders said to Jalian, trying hard to keep his composure as he moved back to set that white-haired doll -- and preferably a few of her friends -- on fire. (The result was terrifying, yes, but what else was he supposed to do? It wasn't as though the dolls had living tissues to electrocute.)
Jalian	"Neither did I," Jalian answered. "Even in this place, I would think I would notice!" She looked around for another large branch. "What else can you do? Cold?"
Anders	"Cold," Anders confirmed. "Also electricity and spirit. And there's this thing with a giant stone fist..." Which Jalian was about to get to see in action, as he cast stonefist into the nearest cluster of dolls.
Jalian	Jalian grinned; she liked that one! "Melt them, then freeze them into lumps!" she suggested. "Or hot and cold fast - that," she paused to smack a few more dolls, "would make them brittle!"
Anders	Anders liked it too, if his grin was anything to go by. The spell drained more of his energy than was normally wise, which was why he didn't do it often, but there was something satisfying about literally smacking whatever you were fighting with a giant fist. "I like the way you think," he said approvingly. "I'll do hot and cold, you cut them down while they're recovering." Edited at 2014-12-04 04:21 am (UTC)
Jalian	"Done!" Jalian stood ready with her branch, eyeing the dolls.
Clint	On one hand, Clint had really hoped that nothing else would get in the group's way now that they were past the grabby trees. On the other hand, he had enough arrows to fight quite a few creepy things, and he wasn't going to feel bad about putting them down. He fired off a series of arrows, aiming for the front group of dolls that were closing in on him, hoping that might scare the others away. He was going to have the weirdest dreams when this was all over.
Ingvar	Silly Hawkeye. To be scared off, something had to feel fear. The dolls did not feel fear. They created it. Many of their number fell, heads shattering or breaking or ventilating or coming apart but it didn't matter. It didn't matter. Two dolls launched themselves forward, throwing themselves in the air, trying to get close enough to get that bow.
Clint	Clint let out a very undignified noise of surprise that he would never be admitting to later, and swung his bow hard at the dolls. He... might have been a little creeped out by their sheer number, but they could clearly be broken, so he aimed for their heads as he swung.
Ingvar	Probably a bad idea, shattering porcelain when it was this close. But a few heads did explode into shards, flying outward. Some others tried to take their place, although they were having a hard time - most of Hawkeye's bow was still occupied with the remains of those who came before.
Clint	Clint winced as the porcelain shards cut at his arms and face, but it was a small price to pay to keep the dolls away. He quickly hit the buttons on his bow as he readied another arrow, this time going for one that would shatter to hit multiple dolls--he could play the exploding game too, thank you very much.
Ingvar	"Skreeeeeeeeeee, skreeeeeeeee!" And then the telltale noise of porcelain shattering, now distant enough that the shrapnel would probably not reach him. Rather, it embedded itself in the dolls' few surviving sisters, shattering some beyond repair, too.
Clint	As creepy as that screeching noise was, it was satisfying too, and Clint fired another shattering arrow towards one of the dolls he saw still standing. Then, he took off running, determined to get as much distance from the creepy toys as he could.
Ingvar	Near Ingvar's summit, the winds are roaring. Don't let that drown out your voices. It's time to join hands and sing a song.
Clint	The wind was pretty vicious, but that wasn't stopping Clint from doing a head count to make sure all the good Fandom people were here, and the creepy dolls weren't. "I think this is probably as good a spot as we're going to get!" he yelled, determined to stay above the roar.
Celia	"All right!" Celia yelled, struggling to hear herself above the noise -- not to mention trying to keep her balance with winds this vicious swirling around. And then, more quietly, "I really, really hope this works." Because otherwise she was terrified of what would happen when they climbed back down. According to the instructions they'd been given, this was about to get a bit awkward for Celia, personally -- but at least if she had to hold hands with an adult, it was someone she'd spent a weekend pretending to be related to, already. She reached out for Clint's hand, offering him a slightly-strained smile, then turned to offer her other out to whoever was closest.
Anders	Anders took Celia's hand with his own, noticing as he did that his palm was red and tender -- some burn he hadn't thought to heal away. He was tired from the fighting and off-balance from the wind, and terrified about what they'd have to do if the ritual didn't work -- but he managed a wobbly smile for Celia anyhow. Offering his free hand to Raven, he cleared his throat and, in a soft but tuneful tenor, sang, Vyssa lula litet barn, inte mera grata...
Raven Roth	Raven clasped Anders's hand as she reached out with her empathy, radiating calm and peace at Ingvar to settle the islet down. It took some effort to lock down her own emotions of worry and anger, but she wasn't going to let them get in the way of soothing Ingvar to sleep. She closed her eyes and sang as well. "Vyssa lula litet barn, inte mera grata...."
Jalian	Jalian had no idea what this song was or why it was supposed to help, but at least if it didn't, she wouldn't be the only one looking foolish. Giving a shrug, she took Raven's hand and followed the words as well as she could, hoping she was getting them right.
Raven Darkholme	Raven had made a brief effort after the dolls to assume her usual blonde disguise -- or at least mimic some clothing -- but frankly, the elephant trick had her pretty exhausted, and conserving energy for whatever else this place tried to throw at them seemed more important than anyone else's sense of modesty. She took Jalian's hand with a faint crook of her lips and joined in the song. Her pronunciation was spot on; imitation was one of her great skills, after all.
Ingvar	The winds picked up speed, whipping against the branches of the nearby trees. Broken limbs and chunks of porcelain pulled up off the ground and into the air, whirling around without focus. Lightning cleaved the sky in two and struck a tree not far away. Flames licked up around the wood-- Ingvar didn't want to GO TO BED!
Clint	Clint dug his heels in and held Raven and Celia's hands a little tighter. He didn't think they'd mind, especially if the fire and lightning got any closer. "Stjarnan hanger i var bjork," he sang. His accent was abysmal, but at least he had a nice singing voice. Edited at 2014-12-05 01:51 am (UTC)
Celia	"Runt-om-kring står," Celia sang, hoping that her pronunciation was at least a little better than her singing, at least. She closed her eyes, reaching out with her senses to get a feel for what was happening around them, whether there was anything predictable about what was happening around them. "Nat-ten mörk."
Anders	"Nat-ten mörk," Anders echoed. It was hard to keep singing when the world was falling apart around him; he had to reach down deep to stay centered. "Da ska Ingvar sova. This had to work. He did his best to believe it would.
Raven Roth	"Vyssa lula litet barn, inte mera grata," Raven sang, beginning the song again. Calm was harder for her for some reason these days, but she reached deep inside herself and tried to imagine Karla's child-to-be, holding her, loving her, singing her to sleep. She gathered the feelings that thought invoked and wrapped them around the islet like a warm blanket. Go to sleep, dear one. Go to sleep.
Jalian	"Vyssa lula litet barn, inte mera gråta," Jalian managed her way through, following the others' pronunciation. Her thoughts were less charitable and more in line with the book the paper had fallen from.
Raven Darkholme	Raven was just stuck on oh god oh god don't kill us, giving her singing a slightly pleading tone. She had no idea what shape she could take to be lightning proof. "Stjarnan hanger i var bjork, runt-om-kring står, nat-ten mörk. Da ska Ingvar sova!"

[[ ocd up! || fireworks || the kitchen sink || afterwards || ooc ]]

Comments

Fireworks

[endsthegame]

The cacophony increased. The song drowned within the torrent. The islet screamed...

...and then just as suddenly, its screams turned to quiet. Dolls melted into the ground. Trees sprouted leaves and then settled quietly where they were. A shadow pulled from the island and the clouds above dissipated, coloring the grass a fine shade of green.

The islet had been soothed; it would sleep.

Only one more thing to do...

Re: Fireworks

[pasunereveuse.livejournal.com]

Celia was exhausted and thoroughly beaten up by the events of the past few days, but if there was one thing she could do in her sleep, it was create something beautiful.

She reached a hand toward the sky and concentrated. A series of silver and gold fireworks went off in corkscrews and blooms above them, illuminating the air over Ingvar with scattered clusters of light and their disintegrating chemical trails. Their remnants floated lightly through the air like glitter, dissolving more slowly than a normal firework's would.

Celia watched her handiwork for a moment, then narrowed her eyes, and drew in the air with the tip of her finger.

A neat, cursive, We did it!! burst into the sky in emerald green, emblazoned amidst the fireworks for a moment before disintegrating. A touch on the nose, perhaps, but Celia thought clarity was best in this case.

Re: Fireworks

[so_hawkward]

Clint looked up and snickered softly as he brushed porcelain shards out of his hair. "Okay, that's impressive. And nicely clear."

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

Raven had flopped down to the ground once she was certain they were done and that it wouldn't try to eat her. She smiled up at the display.

"That's just so nifty."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"Pretty and useful," Jalian agreed, smiling. She sank a bit more gracefully to the ground next to Raven.

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

"She's good at those," Raven said. "Both of them."

She flopped the rest of the way down to a prone position with a little *whoof*. Grace was for people who hadn't just been elephants.

"We did it."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"We did," Jalian agreed. She eyed Raven curiously. "You change your shape, then. This is you?"

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

Raven glanced away. "It's what I look like when I'm not taking a particular shape, yeah."

She wasn't quite at "this is me", just yet. Though she was closer than she'd been in a long time.

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

Jalian frowned a little at that reaction. "It's quite different. And pretty," she decided. "Are you human from another place, or a different species?"

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

"I don't actually know," Raven admitted. "My brother calls us 'mutants', humans who've evolved different abilities from the rest of the population. But he actually looks like a human, so. . . ." She trailed off with a shrug.

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

Jalian nodded. "Like ken Selvren. But our mutations were brought on by the radiation from the Burns, I think." She'd been doing a bit of research lately, and correlating it with her clan's history.

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

"Charles' theory is that ours is from nuclear testing." Raven shrugged. "I've always been blue, though, and I'm pretty sure I was born before all that started."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"He's probably wrong, then." Jalian shrugged. She took your word above some unknown male's, Raven. "Are there any other theories?"

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

Raven shook her head. "There aren't very many of us, yet." She shrugged. "Not when I'm from, anyway. Some other worlds apparently have loads of mutants around, but mine's still catching up."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"There's a man in town from a world like that. Jonothan Starsmore." Jalian liked Jono. "He can mindspeak."

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

Raven nodded enthusiastically. "I've met him! Apparently he knows a future version of my brother. Who decided to start a superhero team. Named after himself." The 'just like a guy' was implied, but Raven doubted Jalian would miss it.

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"Males." Jalian rolled her eyes. Nope; not missed! "Tell your brother if he does that, he should name them for you." Like a proper clan!

Re: Fireworks

[tigerundercover]

"Or let them name themselves," Raven said. She was pretty big on self-determination.

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"If they like. So long as there isn't too much arguing," Jalian agreed.

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

Anders laughed -- a half-hysteric laugh borne of exhaustion and relief -- and added his own far smaller display of silver-white electric sparks to the show before flopping to the ground.

"That was amazing But if no one needs healing, I could really use a nap and a cup of tea right about now.."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"Typical male," Jalian teased, "let off your sparks and then straight to sleep!"

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

"But I made sure everybody involved was satisfied first," Anders nodded, with a laugh of his own. "I'm a gentleman."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"You even put the baby to sleep," Jalian agreed. "I suppose that's acceptable, then." She stretched out her muscles, looking back in the direction of the island. "Do you think they'll need more help?"

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

"Probably," Anders told her, gazing at the castle. "I can't imagine it's going to be easy, for the people who got possessed or the ones who had to fight them."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"We should go back," Jalian decided. Then, "...Do you think our boat survived those waves?" She wasn't as tired as some of the others, but she still didn't exactly want to swim back.

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

"Good question," Anders said, and propped himself upon his elbows to see if he could see for sure. (He couldn't.) "It better have. I'm not much of a swimmer."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"I could swim it." Jalian shrugged. Then confessed, "I'd rather not."

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

"I doubt any of us need the exercise," Anders agreed, looking back to Jalian. "How are you feeling, anyhow?"

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"Me?" Jalian looked at him, startled. "I'm feeling fine. Why?"

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

Anders shook his head. "No special reason. Just curious how you felt after what we just went through."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

Pardon Jalian, Anders; she wasn't exactly used to anyone caring.

She shrugged. "Annoyed. Confused. Wishing this island had a face that we could punch instead of singing at it," she added, disgusted.

"...It doesn't, does it?" This place was certainly weird enough!

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

"Not that I know of," Anders said thoughtfully. "But if it's got ears to hear a lullaby with, it seems like there should be a face around somewhere too."

Re: Fireworks

[kenselvren]

"...I maybe won't think about that, "Jalian declared after a second thought. Some things were just too weird.

Re: Fireworks

[not_every_mage]

"It's going to be stuck in my head too, now," Anders said glumly.

The Kitchen Sink

[endsthegame]

The spell was distributed last night, at town hall.

As soon as the signal comes in from Ingvar, it's time to let it rip.

Or at least to read the words aloud, which is almost similar.

Re: The Kitchen Sink

[nookiepowered]

"Exorcizamus tee ....no, tay, omnis immundus..." Bo paused, then proceeded slower and more carefully. Thank God somebody had scribbled in the phonetics on her sheet. She'd only taken French in high school, and she hadn't even finished that.

Afterwards

[endsthegame]

Fandom settles now, too.

Spirits dissipate.

Rejoice.

Especially when the first hints of powdered sugar snow start coming down from the sky, a prelude to tomorrow.

OOC

[endsthegame]

So, so tired.