[CLOSED] the FIRES

[invasif]

Who: Ilde & Investigators
Where: Faerun
When: Mid-Night of Wonders
Rating: PG for Fantasy Violence, will update as necessary.
What: A stake out! A possession! A battle!

A stolid team of investigators has staked out a quiet area of the festival. What has been true so far is that no one has really seen the culprit, so they must be skirting the edges of things, in places where people's backs are turned to other business. The noise of the thoroughfare behind them assures that much, and the darkness before them invites someone furtive.

Wait quietly, and she'll come. Some of you have met her, and it is unusual to see the usually coldly composed Lady Ilde stumbling, her blonde curls frizzy and wild. Where has she been all this time? Ash on her face, clothes pocked with little holes.

She's arguing with the darkness. Little flames flicking from her fingertips, popping in the darkness; obvious now where the holes in her dress came from.

"Stop it," she says raggedly to no one. "I am my own woman now. I killed him to be free of him. I am in control."

The fiend curling around her disagrees, and the silver ball charm around her neck glows with infernal light. This argument goes on a little longer, but then she begins to swipe at the darkness the flames from her fingertips growing hotter, brighter, bigger, sizzling.

Soon enough they've engulfed her, and she howls: "No!"

Flames spit from her in all directions, catching the leaves of trees, the hems of carnival tents....

PLANNING DOC

Comments

[dadandgone]

[Maes is about to answer when the blast comes. He yelps in surprise and rolls out of the way. He manages to avoid damage, but it's a close call by far. Maes tries to think fast on his feet and shouts as he runs. Now might be a good time to use Vicious Mockery, right?]

I didn't realize your aim was as weak as your magic!

[spaceforged]

[The screaming plays havoc with his hearing just enough to distract him. He nearly gets singed fur for his troubles. Shiro dives for the floor. He's a black wolf splashed with white across the nose and the tip of his tail.

She gets his side but he rolls right onto it and back onto his feet. Maes shoots past him and he runs after him, slowing down just enough to play off his burn as worse than it is.]

[invasif]

[ A wolf goes tumbling, so why not allow her attention to be reoriented to the running figure? It's unclear whether or not the barb stings her, features lost in fire-- the ringing stays at the same frequency.

She lobs balls of flame upwards in lazy arcs, letting them fall back down to earth in an unpredictable pattern all scattered in Maes' path. ]

[dadandgone]

[Well, he got her attention. If he's supposed to be a distraction that's a good thing. What isn't a good thing is having to dodge a multitude of fireballs now. Maes decides his best bet is to run like hell, though not in a straight line.

Most of the fireballs miss by a wide margin, but one explodes at his heels. He stumbles, though doesn't fall, and the next strikes him in the shoulder. Maes gasps and immediately dives for the ground, aiming for a nearby alley to get out of the line of sight. As he dives he tucks and rolls, trying to put out the fire on his sleeve.]

Shitshitshit.

[He pops back onto his feet. There's no time to check the damage and by this point his adrenaline is surging. He reaches for one of his daggers and hurls it back at her. He doesn't aim for anything vital -- just enough to wound her so that maybe he has a chance to gain some ground or at least throw off her aim.]

[invasif]

[ The dagger stops her for a moment in surprise, one of her burning hands reaching to cover the wound tenderly. The fire hides how many more little dagger marks she has on her skin. Most unladylike.

She pulls the knife from where it penetrated, and drops it. Blood sizzles on the tip from the heat.

She looks up then: where have her enemies scuttled off to now. ]

[spaceforged]

[He picks up speed, dodging about the fire and grimacing internally at the heat and flames that lick at his fur. As Hughes dodges away to recover, he changes shape back into the dark-haired elf as he pulls his magic in.

No time to think about Maes injuries. It's better for both of them if he's as flashy and annoying as possible. Shiro calls out,] Eyes on me!

[And sends his spell, ice knife racing towards her. He sank only enough magic into it to be a first level spell but the point is to catch attention.]

[invasif]

[ His magic draws her attention more than anything else. She can't tolerate it, that anyone would dare to claim more prowess than herself. Dreus had murdered countless other rival mages, enforcing a world where no one could to defy him. Those thoughts flutter through her mind, made smoldering and chaotic in the fever of her possession.

She drops to one knee on the ground, touching what will become the center of her unholy hallowing. Bright light fills the circle; blindly bright. ]