Graded [Ryken City (PD)] Tutoring Session with the Dead

[Skyhunter]

Hello and welcome! if you are interested in join Isekai Hell or IH as we of this community call it go to the OOC link above and join our discord! We are a very welcoming community and are willing to help you! Hope to see you there!

Also, for part 1 of this questline, link is here for those who wanna read and catch up. Fantasy - [Isekai Hell] [Quest] An Obscure Tutor Session

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The Realm of Death





Renee Nyx

​

Within this extension of the plane of macabre entities, the small coven of witches hung around a small cold campfire with a small band of skeletons laughing at Mad Maw's terrible and more terrible jokes. Renee found Mad Maw annoying but finding these three additions to the maddening laughing was starting to irritate the witch, eventually Renee looked over to what they were laughing at this time. " Iberis, dear, look over there and look at what you DON'T want to become. " Renee pointed at the four with the open palm of her hand. Over at the small gathering, the three skeletons were mad cackling at a joke Mad Mad said, " Wait wait! Hold on! How about this! There once was a maggot that split through the trebluge of the uncle's spleen! " There was silence before they all began laughing at the stupid joke. Renee sighed deeply of frustration as she gripped her hands in fists.

The skeletons subdued their laughing before sighing, " You know what, I am pretty hungry after all that laughing. " One of them said, the other nodded, " You're right, I am too. " Renee gently nudged Iberis looking at her with serious eyes as she pulled her journal out, her catalyst. " So, what does a skeleton eat if they are hungry? " Renee asked with a hint of sassiness on her voice. The skeletons each slowly turned their heads at the witch. " Oh. We eat living souls. " One of them stated just as they all began to laugh. Renee's eyes glowed red as she stood up opening her journal, with a quick motion, she fired electricity at one skeleton [Lightning Bolt D]. Causing one to explode into ash, the other stopped in shock and even fell backwards in shock. They looked at each other than at Renee. " Wh-What the-! Why did you do that! That was my bone brother! " Renee stared at each of them with cold eyes. " You were going to kill us when we dropped our guard low enough. Then take our souls to devour. You were waiting for our protection circle to fall. " Renee stated. The skeletons didn't know what to really say as they looked at each other then back at Renee. " That's what I thought... " Renee growled coldly. " Kill them, Iberis and Madeline, we've stayed here long enough. " Renee told them. " Don't worry, they will come back, they have no other place to go to. " Renee huffed while holding her head high.

• Lightning Bolt - D - Magic Affinity D, Energized D, Electric Affinity E, Magic Range E: Renee conducts electricity through her body and into her fingertips, pointing two fingers at her target, Renee releases a powerful bolt of lightning that reaches around 30 feet. - 1 post cooldown.

TheTimePiece Garbage Pail Kid

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis
​

Iberis had been thrown for a loop when she found herself being embraced by the Gnoll earlier, but she didn't resist, giggling a bit as she righted herself, before that ceased pretty quickly. She wasn't expecting the other events what so ever either, from the skeletons laughing along with Mad Maw. She wasn't particularly annoyed by the laughter but she also found it to be somewhat off putting given the nature of how it sounded. She didn't find the jokes particularly funny but she also couldn't help but continue to smile some during the ordeal since it looked like they were all having a good time. She stayed near Renee for the most part even there, it seemed like one would be hard pressed to get Iberis to move a great distance away, unless out of necessity. Renee had become a figure of comfort for the witchy youth to an extent no doubt over the course of their time spent together. When she heard her speak, the smile went away and she diligently looked over, seeing Renee's displeasure with the events, and the evident frustration. Iberis had been so caught up in it all that she had been slower on the uptake that hanging out with these residents and laughing it up with them only reduced the time of the effectiveness of their protection circle. These thoughts eventually hit her too. She eventually nodded a more serious look forming in particular when she heard the line about the skeletons being hungry. It sounded like Renee was going down a similar thought process when she nudged her causing Iberis to look over seeing her pull the catalyst out and asked them what skeletons ate when they were hungry from here.

After she heard the response of souls of the living, Iberis was already in the process of moving her catalyst in a stance that would let her engage in combat if it was needed. Her eye did widen however when Renee suddenly casted Lightning bolt and toasted one of them on the spot, that she hadn't been expecting, it was effective evidently. Given that these skeletons didn't seem to have much magic protection it at least felt like they had an advantage at the moment. Hearing that they would come back however made her feel a bit better, because despite the skeletons not denying that they were planning on eating their souls, who could really blame them for trying to take advantage of an opportunity like this, Iberis was sure if she was in their position she might try to do the same thing. Iberis nodded that she understood before she moved somewhat away from Renee so that she had room to move her staff into the swift zig zag pattern, as red energy lit up at the tip.

"On it." She responded swiftly, before casting Energy Bolt, attempting to hit the nearest skeleton to her in proximity, hopefully before they could react aggressively. She felt inclined to follow orders from Renee to the best of her ability particularly in a place like this, taking her word that it was the best course of action.

Energy Bolt- Magic Affinity E Arcane Affinity F, Magic Range F, Magic Targeting F, Energized E, Focus E -A more refined more powerful variation of Mana strike, Iberis sends forth a bolt of energy to strike a single target up to 10 ft away. Grade E - 0 Post Cooldown (Energized)

Interactions: Skyhunter Garbage Pail Kid

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Skyhunter TheTimePiece Garbage Pail Kid ​

Hope awoke to the sound of laughter. What was so funny, she'd never know, as once she got up, there was no one around. In fact, there was nothing around: no trees, no strangers, no indicators she was still in the Ryke wilderness. "Wait, whe-" A throbbing pain flared in the back of her head, and with a weary hiss, Hope covered the spot with a hand. My hand, Hope's mind had told her, but it didn't feel right. Nothing felt right, for that matter, except for the wave of deja vu that quickly swept over her. She'd been in this situation before, with thoughts as consistent as mud, a stabbing pain prying at her brain, and virtually no idea of where she was. It was before she woke up in who-knows-where, before she escaped those ruins, and after she'd-

Her eyes lit up in grim realization, "No.." She pleaded, "No, no! Not again, not again, not again!!" She scrambled over to the river beside her and peered into the water. Hope could only gasp at what stared back: a shadowy figure with two glowing white eyes as wide as saucers, the apex of their head wisping off like smoke from a candle, and a distinct indigo-colored bruise on their pitch-black cheek. In other words, her.

"Oh, thank god..." Hope sighed, rolling over onto her back. She'd never been happier to see her confusing anatomy - Hope was still herself and still a part of this wacky, magical world. And thankfully so, she was just starting to get used to her 'new' skin; another fantastical reincarnation by [God] would've way too much to bear. "Alright, so I'm not dead..." She looked into the sky and saw nothing but drab grey and dreary fog, a stark contrast from the starry, Ryke night before she was transported here, "So...where the heck am I?"

The memories came flooding like the river next to her. It was night, and she was so hungry - hungry enough to approach a camp of three strangers and desperate enough to ask for a bowl of something-stew. She thought they looked friendly enough, though they hadn't had the same reaction as her. She couldn't recall the slurs they called her, but she did remember the fight, her magic knocking one of their heads back into a rock, her terrified face as the sickening crunch sounded through the forest, and the weird black schism opening from under her feet, sending her to where 'she belonged.'

Pearlescent tears were already running down her face, and Hope didn't bother to clear them; she deserved this. Here she was, trying to be as brave as Su chen, stoic as Kurikara, strong as Sage, and she had forgotten the most essential rule of adventuring - or life, really: Never trust strangers. And to make matters worse, she killed someone, self-defense or not, someone was dead because of her. No one could bring them back, and no one would want to bring her back, either. Murderers dug their own graves; hers was a dead, grey, lifeless void, no escape possible.

"N-no..." Hope sniffled, wiping her eyes with the heels of her palm, "N-NO!" There had to be a way out. All she had to do was look for it. Sage wouldn't be lying here crying, neither would Su-Chen, and especially not Kurikara! (Hope wasn't even sure if he had tear ducts to cry with!) Instead, they would dust themselves off, get up, and look for clues on the way out of here. All she had to do was follow in their imaginary footsteps! "Alright, Hope, just...just get it together!" She said to herself meekly, "I just gotta look around..." And so, with wobbly legs, she did.

Hope had started off in a random direction. Anywhere was better than here, she told herself. But unfortunately, she wasn't ready to spot three hazy figures further ahead of her, nor was she prepared for the fall due to her lack of awareness. A shriek left her as her hat drifted off her head and closer to the three strangers. She only gripped the dirt in unfiltered dread - this couldn't be happening again.

 

[Garbage Pail Kid]

M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠ẃ̸̝̝̰͋͒

Skyhunter TheTimePiece​

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Mad Maw couldn't have been more delighted if talking cats with persnickety welsh accents started to multiply like a virulent plague across the world! There were very few in the world whom dared enjoy the simpler things and allowed foolish jokes to wash over them like ignorant hugs from faceless ghosts. She was both active and reactive, bringing madness wherever she went and amplifying any she came across. Madeline in a time long past had learned of fun psychiatric understandings that helped compartmentalize the mania of human behavior; One such she used was simply referred to as Agree & Amplify. It was certainly the most fun as her uproarious laughter furthered their own. Kanicula, her bizarre instrument, floated just next to her as it played a backing track to the 'material' she was trying out on her new skelly friends.

She had learned Renee's voice well enough to hear it selectively, and while she tuned her out most of this campfire venture. The conversation of 'hunger' did spark an interest. What did they eat? It's not like she saw any vendors or restaurants around. Mad Maw's laughter over her ribbing ending as soon as it started the moment 'living souls' was said. "This one can respect the hustle, but laughing at my jokes to eat my soul, and not because they were funny?" Her smile twisting in delight as Renee incinerated one of them; her hand flourishing and Kanicula, her catalyst instrument, floated into her palm. "This one enjoyed your jokes, but do you know why it's easy to tell when you lie? Cause I can see right through you~" Her eyes multiplied across her face for a moment as she struck a discordant melody, one of unease that was only exemplified by the realm they were in, a wave of molted purple striking the last remaining skeleton with voices of the damned from realms beyond, within the void and consumed by it.

Spoiler

• Choir Lance | 100ft [Madness Affinity F], [Magic Affinity D], [Magic Range E], [Magic Duration E] [Performance D] | D Grade | 2 Post Cooldown| 1 Hour Cooldown
  • She whispers a discordant melody that only one creature of her choice within range can hear, wracking it with terrible pain, causing a psychic shock within as her laughter fills their mind with thousands of echoes.
    

She giggled delightfully as she danced around their corpse's corpse, giving them a thumbs down before skipping over to Renee and Ibiris "You're magic is far along miss Iberis. This one is excited Renee did not kill her upon first meeting! Group hug? Yes? Yes?" Mad Maw forcing them into a hug before pushing her limits Renee and holding her hands up to defuse any situation she may have caused. If it was any consolation; Her fur was incredibly soft. "Shall we continue to this fun sound altar? I wonder if any bands are going to be there, mmm probably dead ones" She mused. her ear perking to the sound of a shriek not the far off, her ADD of a brain picking up on the drop of movement coming as she saw a hat float through the air, and what else could she do but jump up and put it on?

"Hey did you know hats shriek and float around in the realm of the dead? The more you know!" She flourished her hand as though a rainbow would follow suite, bouncing her head as she was enamored by the supposedly 'alive' hat. Intelligence and common sense not always mutually excusive it seemed as she tried to get the hat to make that cute scream again. "If this is like the sorting hat, this one is slytherin through and through. I am not good at package deliveries so parcel tongue is off the table"

 

[Skyhunter]

The Realm of Death





Renee Nyx

​

Both skeletons were begging for their lives as they tried to reason with the two mages, Iberis would smite one into nothingness and Madeline's melody began to cause the skeleton fall over onto its body and go into a strange seizure, the skeleton was making strange noises like it was losing its mind and being unable to say anything coherently. The undead then stayed on the ground still in a seizure like state as Renee stretched and sighed, " Good job you two. I'm glad your magic has improved. " Which actually meant, she was glad that they listened to her and did as she said. Renee smiled at them, although in reality, Renee knew much about how this realm worked [Arcana B]. Renee was aware those undead weren't coming back, she was seeing if she was able to trick these two into doing as she wanted which seemed to work. They were annoying her anyways, she didn't need four cackling and bad comedians in her group, and with Madeline having the most potential of all four, she was the one Renee had to choose. Otherwise, she would have blown her away too and convince Iberis that it would have benefitted them.

" We need to move on, Dahak said that we have to move forward, we'll see some very strange things along the way but also come across some dangerous foes. We need to be careful; do as I say, we will get through this. " Renee smiled at both of the mages. Renee's hand gently touched Iberis' shoulder. " You've improved a lot, Iberis, I am very impressed with your growth, you remind me a lot of myself. " The witch nodded then turned to point at the large hilltop they would have to hike over. There were many large bones of previous creatures scattered around. Renee placed her journal back in her small bag before sighing. " Actually, screw that. " Renee pulled her journal back out and opened it up, the shadowy figure enveloped around Renee as she then chanted two words quietly. [Teleport E, Magic Targets E] A rune appeared beneath all three as they would sink through the rune quickly. But as Iberis moved down the rune, a hat flew into her chest as she caught it.

​

Where Hope was at, finding herself in a strange new world at a cliff edge, she would see three new characters strike down three skeletons the disappear, they would then reappear behind Hope as Renee closed her book and placed it back in her bag, she then moved her head and turned to see Hope standing there. Renee raised a brow, " Strange. A shadow fae here in a lifeless world? Interesting. " Renee used her knowledge of magic [Arcana B]. Renee looked over at Iberis and saw the hat that she was holding, Renee looked a bit confused at first but then looked at the stranger. Renee could sense... Power from this new potential ally [Magic Affinity B]. " Iberis, could you please give our friend here their hat back. " Renee smiled at Iberis as she slipped her hand into her bag, making sure that if something awry would happen, Renee would be able to strike the stranger down. " Hello stranger, you seem out of place here too. My name is Renee, this here is Iberis, " Renee indicated to the small human witch holding her hat. " And this is Madeline. " Renee indicated to the weird Gnoll next to her. " And you need a protection rune or you are going to die. " Renee said in her sweet tone with a smile, " It will draw Entities to us that will want to devour any sort of life essence, whether it be shadow or not. " Renee stated.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis
​

It was probably strategically advantageous for Renee to lie to Iberis in this instance, while it was true she probably would have done the deed anyway, this certainly eased her mind with destroying the beings of this realm if necessary when she thought there wasn't consequence to it. Even then it was unlikely that these entities would be missed by many other than other occupants of the realm potentially. Iberis smiled warmly back looking over at Renee, very much enjoying the praise once more, not reading between the lines in her statements, that she was more so just pleased that her instructions weren't being challenged. Thankfully she didn't have to see Madmaw get blown away, as truthfully Iberis was enjoying the gnoll's company, made for very soft group hugs too, the strangely endearing nature wasn't lost on her.
"Oh uh, thank you Madeline. I've been trying my best. But I imagine it's kinda expected being around skilled company like yourselves." She responded swiftly hearing the praise from their fur laden friend too.
After the hug was broken up presumably, and the first set of praise came through from both, Iberis listened to what Renee had to say at attention once more, looking over at her keeping a relatively close proximity. When hearing what she said she gave her a nod of confirmation the expression on her face looked more serious. The conclusion from the conversation for Iberis was: trusting and listening to Renee was a must for survival here even more than usual. What she wasn't expecting was Renee to place her hand on her shoulder however as Iberis's serious look almost immediately broke, did she really mean that? Surely that meant Iberis had the potential to achieve what she most desired if Renee thought that, she felt a swell of conviction to succeed now, she would make Renee proud here.

"Thank you, Renee, that means a lot coming from you."
Iberis then looked over at the landscape before them, seeing what they would need to go over. If Renee said that they needed too then she was more than willing to make the journey which was probably going to take a hot minute to get over, at least those bones didn't look quite as big as the ones from before..Iberis almost gulped a bit at the thought once again. She then saw Renee take out what was needed to cast a teleport, she let out a bit of. sigh of relief that they could get through the dangerous terrain sooner as they began to sink, the sooner they got their goal done the better. She felt herself sink down but yet again thrice she was surpirsed since arriving here as the hat came towards her. She did instinctually hold onto it.

"Uh this belong to anyone?"'
She tried to get out before fully sinking through. Even though Iberis knew she was teleporting based on what Renee said previously it still wasn't any less jarring to suddenly appear behind a shadowy figure in a strange realm just like that as she looked over at Hope a bit awed. She couldn't say she'd seen many or any shadow being like the one she saw before her. Sure she might have heard of them in her studies, but this was very exciting actually as her face began to light up a bit again. She then looked down at the sizable hat, as Renee identified the person as a shadow fae, before following up. She clutched the hat with two hands, keeping her staff against her with her elbow.

"Oh of course!" She'd move a bit closer to Hope, and extend her arms out offering her, her hat back promptly. Iberis was also on high alert at the moment, as excited as she was, she hoped that by showing that they meant no harm to Hope there wouldn't be any problems.

"I can't say that I was expecting any other living visitors in this realm, but it's a nice change of pace, hello just the same, it's nice to meet you." She continued with a small smile.

Interactions: Skyhunter Garbage Pail Kid The Last Curse

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Skyhunter Garbage Pail Kid TheTimePiece ​

Thankfully, the three strangers hadn't managed to spot her. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her sunhat. "Wait! Hold on!" Hope muttered, beginning a strange army crawl with the finesse of a newborn, "You can't just take-" They did, and not a second later, they disappeared into thin air, "...Goddamnit." With a defeated sigh, she pushed herself off the ground, but other than the obscuring haze, and the vast barren landscape, there was no sign of the strangers or her precious accessory. And worst of all, Hope hadn't seen any fantastical boutiques around here either, so the thought of getting a new one was instantly crushed. Just another reason to loathe this dimension. She rubbed her temples, "Alright, so no directions, no friends, and now no hat. You're doing amazing, Hope..."

Fortunately, one of those things popped up right behind her. But, much to her dismay, it wasn't a map complete with a working GPS or a brand-new designer sunhat but the three strangers from before. Or two strangers, Hope recognized one of them immediately, though that still didn't stop her from jumping back with a shriek not unlike before. The tallest amongst them, Renee, introduced her to Iberis, which Hope instantly they were related, and then to Mad Maw, who really didn't need an introduction. Of course, Hope hadn't forgotten about the gnoll. She was the only one to distract her from the madness back in those ruins. Sure, with her own medley of madness, yet it had still given her a brief moment of joy, no less. It felt good to see her again, and Hope knew it'd feel even better to tell her.

Or at least right after she found the brainpower to speak properly. "Ah! Oh, uh, yeah. Nice to meet you, Renee. I-I'm Hope Mitchell," Hope said, offering the witch a slight curtsy, "Shadow fae, as you already know..." If Hope had eyebrows, they would've quirked - how'd she figure that out so quickly? It'd taken a few self-appraisals and visits to the library to piece together what she was, yet Renee had done it in a heartbeat. Could she appraise too? Or was it some expansive knowledge of this 'fae' stuff? Whatever the case, Hope's eyes shone a bit brighter. Naturally, escaping this place was the priority, but maybe she could learn something along the way. It'd make the trip much easier, especially right after being told she was going to die.

Hope blinked twice in disbelief, "Wait, Runes? Entities? Die?!" She didn't know to pack a protection rune on her one-way ticket here, nor was she told to watch out for entities, especially of the 'life-devouring' variety, "I didn't know all about that! Look, I don't even know how I got here. I just..." Her words trailed off as her gaze met the familiar shape of her sunhat and the smaller witch holding it out to her. She'd feel some stress drift away as she took it back and placed it right where it belonged. "Oh! And I thought I'd never see it again! Thank you, Iberius!" She chirped, eyes forming into their trademarked, glowing arches, "And it's a pleasure to meet you, too!"

Just as soon as she finished with Iberius, the same uneasy feeling would creep in again. As great as it was to make good company, there was still the elephant in the room. "But, yeah, I'm just trying to find a way out of here. I could use some of your help if you don't mind." Hope said, then turning to stride over to Mad Maw, "But just after I give MM one of these!" She'd pull the gnoll into a tight embrace - she'd given her the first laugh in this life, Hope gave her the first hug, "It's so good to see you again!"

 

[Garbage Pail Kid]

M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠ẃ̸̝̝̰͋͒

Skyhunter TheTimePiece The Last Curse​

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Mad Maw was cunning and conniving when wanted to be, but madness was malleable in most unstable ways so manipulation was always a possibility if you knew how she worked, and what ephemeral strings to pull. Renee already picking up on that she was quite a whore for all things magical and dangerous since she herself was magical and...self cleaning? Her felt her inner thoughts warble as she got easily distracted, and completely forgot the formative introspection she was pondering over. The praise Renee gave her was more than enough to please her as she jumped in place a few times in wild excitement. This was all so exciting!

"Dahak is the best isn't he? Helpful and handsome. Do as you say and not as you do, got it! This one hears loudly, but not clearly." She chattered vehemently, bouncing on her heels as she followed the pair of witches. Mad Maw ear's tweaking as she heard the praise Renee was giving Iberis, and it reminded her of family, what did that even look like anymore? An instinctive hand going to her face and only to finding wetness? What in the nine hells? She laughed, but only to herself really. Here she was in the most fun place she's ever been, jealous over superficial relationships. Mad Maw muttering to herself in frustration as it devolved into Gnollish jibberish. Renee deciding against the trek over the mountain and instead teleporting them outright.

Had iberis always had two hats? Mad Maw could've sworn she only came in here with one hat, but she was having an off moment so there was plenty of possibilities she missed. Hope was certainly not among them. Her eyes blinking a few times to adjust, and realized they were among new company. Renee made introductions for her, but it wasn't necessary with this one as Mad Maw recognized her almost immediately. She hadn't met anything like Hope before and her incredibly kind voice was impossible to miss. She should have immediately jumped into her arms and obnoxiously excited over their reunion, but she just felt nervous. She let Hope absorb all of Renee's information first since that was obviously incredibly important to surviving here.

All of her unease, nervousness, doubts, and fears vanished the moment Hope pulled her into a tight embrace. A hug; The first Mad Maw had ever been given. It nearly threatened that dreaded wetness to come flooding out of her face like a haunted wellspring before she wrapped Hope up and hugged her in return. A genuine laugh of sheer joy escaping from her lips as they embraced and Mad Maw wanted all of her mania to extend this moment for as long as she could. "Hope? This one can't believe your here! hopefully willingly and you didn't croak! This one has made some new strange allies you see, my musings attracted Renee and Iberis to their best friend yet, second to you of course~ How did you wind up here? This one figured Rogrim didn't give you that whole speech just for some gerblins to stab in the back did they?"

She couldn't have been more happy and continued to embrace Hope before she started to jab Hope with ticklish fingers "It looks like our coven grows! Shall you accompany us to our altar adventure? this one is sure we can squeeze you into the circle, if Renee sucks it in a little" She said with cackle

 

[Skyhunter]

Renee Nyx

​

Renee smiled at this Hope Mitchell, " It is nice to meet you, Hope. " Renee held one with a sweetness to it, a kindness behind it. Although within her mind, Renee was thinking, having thoughts of who was this shadow fae and were they capable of magic, what was their potential? Were they manipulatable. With Iberis giving the woman back her hat, she seemed kind, they were easier to use in Renee's experience, the ones that had no ill intent. Her reaction to death too was a factor in her character, she seemed surprised and acted like she was scared of dying, Renee was beginning to come to the conclusion that she was easy to manipulate, unless she was playing this whole naive and kind personality up. " Don't worry, Hope, I'll be able to help you from being devoured. I have tools to help. " Renee made sure to console the Shadow Fae, although it even seemed that Hope knew Mad Maw, especially with the Gnoll's reaction to seeing Hope and vice versa.

It made Renee smile a bit, it reminded Renee of Kalina a bit, her sister. Although their reunion was pretty lackluster especially with that damn Sophia being there to make it really awkward. Renee would love to hunt that bug down and burn her alive... But that would be for another time, Renee wondered for a moment what it would be like to see Kalina again. She was beginning to miss her sister. Which was weird as Renee forgot about the feeling of desire and want. Just her company really Renee missed, she missed that her sister wasn't here with her. Renee had thoughts if Kalina knew it was Renee's fault that Dahak lived and that the village of Kananto was destroyed because of her, not that the witch really cared about that village. She wondered where that Garvin went off to and where did the mayor head to? Since he was practically immortal now thanks to Dahak. But as Renee was brought back from her own mind with the words of Madeline, Renee raised a brow when she mentioned that if she sucked it in. Renee narrowed her eyes, " You calling me fat, Gnoll? I suggest you shut your mouth before I burn your tongue off, or better yet apologize. " Renee stated with a venom filled voice [Intimidation B]. She didn't exactly like insults to her body as Renee thought that she herself was rather fit, whether Madeline meant her words in an insulting manner or not, it could have been taken that badly easily. Especially with one like Renee who had a pretty high opinion of herself, but it was rather strange that her whole demeanor changed so quickly as her face had darkened, her words held weight behind them as well, like she was serious.

But quickly Renee would reel it back in, she cleared her throat, bringing her hand to her mouth to clear her throat before letting it down, " Sorry, Madeline, I just don't like being insulted about my weight. I apologize. It happened enough back in my village when I was younger, I thought I would escape it by now. " Renee stated [Deception B]. In Renee's mind she was far from sorry, she meant what she said, nor did she ever get called fat in her village. She would burn her tongue out just to never hear her talk again, maybe Renee could lobotomize her to make her into a thrall, ooooooh, her madness thrall! That was an interesting idea! Maybe next time though, for now it was finding this power that Dahak said was here. Just as if it couldn't get worst, Dahak appeared before the group like the wind, in an ethereal state of being. His eyes looked all around the four, " Ah. New blood, I was wondering what the feeling of life was doing near this Coven of witches. One that does not a protection circle. I recommend killing her soon or giving her a protection rune otherwise she will attract Death Entities that will devour you all despite your protection runes. " Dahak spoke coldly but with confidence, like he knew what he was talking, " A Shadow Fae here is a strange occurrence yet a pretty interesting one at that. " Dahak strides over, he was just an inch taller than her. " And a pretty one at that. " Dahak complimented as he stared at her, his voice was warmer now. " I've never had the pleasure of meeting one before, especially as beautiful as you. They used to say that Shadow Fae had no beauty to them, I can see they are very wrong. " This necromancer was flirting with Hope, pretty relentless too although he had a charm to him, he was confident and mysterious. His glowing purple eyes looked down at Madeline and he brought a handout, gently rubbing her head, she would barely feel it, but she could despite him being a vision. " And my beautiful Gnoll, glad to see you're doing fine. " Dahak chuckled.

Dahak
​

Renee huffed, " Dahak, could you stop with the flirting, no one wants to sleep with your boney body. Let alone join your little harem. " Dahak turned to face Renee and chuckled, " Are you sure about that, Renee? I think there was a time when you had thoughts about it. " Renee scoffed, " Far from it. You're nothing more than a tool for me to use to help this Coven grow in power. " She stated, in which Dahak chuckled a bit, " Yes. Of course. " He sounded a bit condescending, like he didn't believe her. " Like I said, you best get this Shadow Fae here a protection Rune or you're all dead soon. " Dahak turned to face Hope, " What is your name? " Dahak asked. Renee scoffed and walked over to Hope, " Please do not move. " Renee pulled out some chalk out of her bag, the witch began to draw in the air, a series of lines and symbols while using her [Magic Affinity B and Arcana B] to conjure this magic into the air, once it was finished, Renee moved the rune like a screen with her hand, throwing it below Hope as it glowed for a moment and around Hope she would feel an aura, like a barrier of warmth that would help her feel safer in this death realm. Renee sighed before smiling, " There you go Hope, now you'll be safe from this world, for a short time I believe. " Renee gave an assuring smile. Iberis would begin to feel a strangeness behind her, with [Magic Affinity D and Curse Affinity F] she would feel a dread coming from the cliffside behind her, when she looked, she would see a shadow coming from the depths coming towards them, something got a scent of them. It sounded like a dog sniffing as it climbed up the side of this dead mountain.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis
​

Iberis felt a sense of relief when Hope reacted in a friendly fashion when she took her hat back. As a matter of practice Iberis was still guarded nevertheless, she had experienced deceitful unsavory types before on the streets before and knew that it was better not to be so trusting. Truthfully however her admiration of Renee's power blinded this additional savviness for the time being it had right along, as what she saw was a power she wanted to obtain very close right before her, and a figure who didn't dismiss her as just some orphan.

She made her way back near Renee after the hand off, and was relieved to see that tensions didn't seem to be growing with Renee's response. Better yet it looked like Madmaw knew who the shadow fae was and they seemed to be on friendly terms, only making Iberis feel better about the situation, to contrast from Renee's feelings on the matter.

She took careful note of the following interactions that took place after she handed the hat back. When she heard Madmaw's comment that was an immediate yikes in her mind. She knew much better than to throw harsh words Renee's way, even if the comment had been made in jest, seeing Renee respond that way was somewhat scary even to Iberis as she heard her make the intimidation statement, internally gulping a bit even though it hadn't been directed at her. After Renee clarified by lying, Iberis couldn't help but feel bad for her herself. She wasn't about to get involved in what was transpiring however verbally as she had no reason too at the moment. She did however look at Renee and give her a supportive Thankfully she couldn't read minds or she would have been horrified by the idea that Renee was thinking about passively, nevertheless.

She instinctually braced herself however and got her staff into a position where she could attack quickly if need be when Dahak appeared near them. Her eyes widening briefly at the sight. She let out a small sigh of relief when she realized it was only him. The information he brought was vital, as much as Madeline and Hope probably wanted to catch up they'd need to do it on the move Iberis thought to herself, these circles weren't going to last forever, and it sounded like literally everything around them wanted to drain their life energy.

Iberis found herself almost giggling light heartedly a bit, having to stop herself when she heard Dahak of all people, this arguably scary powerful looking guy, suddenly start throwing down lines intended to seduce towards Hope. Just for a moment she was able to shrug off the incredibly unsettling feeling that fell over her if she looked into his eyes. She did have to admit Hope had a certain elegance to her which was pretty. Renee's retort also struck a bit of a funny bone with Iberis, even under these circumstances, but she tried her best not to emote. As far as she was concerned they had an interesting chemistry that let them play off of one another rather well, even with this She was just glad that He was willing to help Renee with the task at hand.

While Renee got to work on making another protection circle around hope and Dahak started another dialogue line with her, it wasn't long before Iberis felt her senses tingle, She immediately spun around, looking concerned and on alert this time around seeing the shadow and hearing the sound coming from it. It had definitely sussed out in that short about of time that Hope didn't have a protection circle. She got her staff ready.

" I think we have a being from this world approaching quickly!" She'd exclaim raising her voice with alarm, she didn't want to prematurely attack not knowing what it was yet, wanting further instruction before doing anything rash, who knew what unusual abilities things from here had.

Interactions: Skyhunter Garbage Pail Kid The Last Curse

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Skyhunter Garbage Pail Kid TheTimePiece ​

It'd been a while since Hope had gotten such a good hug, and her [Sixth-Sense - Chaos] had made it even better. Yellow, undulating waves of soothing energy seeped into her skin like sunrays, warming her core like a nice cup of cocoa or perhaps a nap by the fireplace wrapped in silken blankets. Hope couldn't find any other word to describe this cozy feeling other than great. But, unfortunately, no amount of warmth would ease the pit in Hope's stomach once Mad Maw asked why she was here. Her eyes shrank to pinpoints and quivered, the memories of the night before rushing back in vivid detail. She was here because she murdered someone. There was no other way she could explain it. But Mad Maw didn't need to know that, not after those ruins, and especially not after this lovely reunion. "Well, um, I just had a little run-in with a few bad people, is all," Hope said, shame immediately ruining what 'good-vibes' she was feeling, "B-but I'm fine now! So I'll be happy to join your little adventure!" She tightened her embrace, "Plus, I wouldn't wanna get eaten by one of those 'death-entities,' now do I?"

As Mad Maw made her usual jests, Hope expected another wave of that soothing, yellow chaos, but her senses picked up quite the contrary, a hot, stinging sensation pricking endlessly at her back. Wincing, she broke from the embrace, faced the source, and immediately regretted doing so. A torrent of red, searing emotion flooded her, wracking her nerves with a surge of burning pins and needles. Through pained eyes, she could only make out the form of Renee, and the figure of another, robed newcomer. "Wha- Renee, why did, who is-" Dahak was quick to overwhelm her with his advances and the strange, pink chaos that emerged from him, intruding on her space and hanging in the air like cheap perfume. Before Hope could even comprehend what she felt, she'd already faced away, shuddering.

Renee's circle of protection had managed to stop Hope from shaking, though it did little to quell the sea of thoughts raging in her head. She thought Renee and Mad Maw had to be friends, so what warranted that dreadful response? That wasn't just mere annoyance; it was sheer rage! And even more importantly, who was this new guy? His words reminded her of the boys' back home, although far more eloquent than the dime-a-dozen pick-up lines. Still, she leaned away when they asked for her name, "Um, thanks for the compliments, but..." She looked at Mad Maw and back at Dahak, "I-I'm..."

The sound of sniffing brought an abrupt end to her introduction, and so did Iberis' warning of something approaching. Thankful for the diversion, Hope turned towards the sound, expecting some animal to come skulking by. "Is that...a wolf?" She asked timidly, hands reaching to grasp at the pendant on her chest. She'd seen wolves before, both in this life and the last, but she couldn't remember if they could climb mountains. Or if they could exist in drab, dead dimensions. The shuddering began again, and Hope took one step back.

 

[Skyhunter]

Death's Realm



Renee Nyx


​

Dahak would laugh as this shadowy wolf came over the edge of the cliffside, " Well look at that, a Cadaver Canine. " Dahak spoke looking over the red eyed shadowy figure that resembled a wolf. As it came over the edge, two more followed coming over the ridge. Dahak shook his head, " Good luck on dealing with these nasty looking beasts- " He was cut off by Renee who grabbed Iberis and pulled her backwards away from the grouping wolves, she held her journal as electricity flowed through her arm, Renee brought down from above a large lightning bolt with all her anger and rage. From above, a flash of bright lightning came crashing down on top of the shadowy wolves, Renee's eyes were glowing a deep red with an evil smile on her face for a moment. The wolves all roared in pain as they were obliterated into nothingness. After a moment for the dust to settle, Renee took a deep breath and exhaled as she turned to face the group. " That's the power I offer you all. " Renee smiled sweetly.

• Great Exploding Bolt - B - Magic Affinity B, Electric Affinity C, Magic Range D, Magic AOE F: Casting a stronger and more unstable bolt of lightning 100 feet away and exploding on contact that affects the area 10 feet out. - 4 Post Cooldown.

Renee took a breath as she made her way back to the group, but then over the edge, about three more climbed on over, growling and howling at the group. Renee sighed seeing the three of them, " Please, darlings, deal with these few, I need to recover from that great blast. " Renee put away her journal but did not take her hand off of it. She could have attacked the wolves again, but she wanted to see what the rest was capable of, especially Hope. She was an unknown entity, but her magic could have been powerful for all she knew. Renee was taking deep breaths like she was recovering, although she was faking her recovery. [Deception B]

The wolves began to move towards the group now, there was three of these beasts, they were all black like the night with bright red eyes, their fur moved like shadows and water. They growled and snarled, showing their bright white teeth that looked razor sharp and powerful.

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Skyhunter TheTimePiece Garbage Pail Kid ​

When the source of the sniffing finally revealed itself, Hope felt her heart begin to race. She was right - it was a wolf, but not like the ones she saw skulking about the Ryke woods, and not even close to the nasty, mangy one that 'greeted' her when she first woke up in this world. Its body was pitch-black and wisped in the air, just like hers. Its eyes were wide and luminous, just like hers. And it was probably hungry, too, just like her. Hope eased up a bit, a tinge of sympathy reaching her eyes, "Oh, you poor thing..." All it wanted was some food. If only she'd just saved a few scraps from the day before, then maybe she'd be able to feed it. But she couldn't even spare a morsel for herself, so she'd have to scare it off. Hope thought magic could work, but she couldn't hurt an innocent animal! The grip on her pendant loosened; maybe if she was nice and-

Before Hope could even utter a word, a bolt of lightning obliterated the wolf as well as any thoughts of diplomacy. "Jesus!' She shrieked, flinching as if she were the one struck, "R-Renee! You didn't have to do that! It was just..." Her protest hung in the air the second she spotted that oppressive red chaos. It wasn't just Renee who had that baleful aura, though. Hope watched as three more wolves appeared, and the incessant burning on her skin told her exactly how they felt. Fingers trembling, she clutched at her catalyst. "Oh, come on," Hope pleaded, "Please don't let me do this."

But the wolves began approaching, and Hope realized she'd have to do it. They were just animals, but she couldn't let Renee get hurt, or Iberis, and especially Mad Maw. They were the only company Hope had - the least she could do was fend off a few wolves. So, hesitantly, she shut her eyes and channeled the chaos throughout her body, feeling the strange amalgamation of hotness, coldness, and nothingness coalesce into two black iridescent orbs in her palms. Violets arcs of delirium-inducing energy crackled on their irregular, rippling surface as Hope fired them at the two closest canines. She held her breath as they flew erratically toward their targets, "Sorry..."

Spoiler: Abilities Used

• Unfettered Chaos - Affinity (Chaos) F + Magic Range F + Magic Targets F + Magic E + Fighting Style [Organized Chaos] - Hope concentrates her magic in her palms and creates two globs of unstable, chaotic energy, which are then launched at a target, befuddling them for one post. Works up to 10ft and up to 2 targets. - 1 post Cooldown - Grade E

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis
​

Iberis was surprised to be pulled back so suddenly, keeping her grip on her staff tight as she looked forwards the approaching beast from this realm. She hadn't quite seen anything like it, and chances were if it was showing up now this was far from the worst that they could encounter. She was equally awed when Renee threw forth the bolt of energy, she truly wished she could cast like that. Seeing the wolf disappear just like that made her smile a bit back at Renee as she told them that was the power she offered, Oh Iberis wanted it, badly then and there.

Naturally with Deception that high, Iberis was fooled, not giving it a second thought when it looked like Renee needed a moment. "Of course, not a problem. I got your back." She proclaimed with a determined look in her eyes, moving closer to where Hope was as the three beasts approached. She wasn't going to let anyone in the party get hurt if she could help it, not Renee, not Madmaw, nor this newcomer Hope. But she had a feeling she couldn't go as light as she had on the skeletons earlier, it was definitely time to act. She could see that Hope clearly didn't feel great about dispatching the beasts, but as far as Iberis was concerned it had to be done and she didn't have the same reservations, higher sentience skeletons who could be reasoned with were one thing, but hungry animals on the hunt you had to respond to like a threat in her mind. Renee definitely did have to do it she thought to herself.

Like most any time Iberis saw new powerful magic she found it was intriguing when suddenly the chaotic orbs came flying out from Hope.
"W-Woah Hope I didn't know you could do that, but it's okay, you're just doing what you need to do. I'd prefer not to as well, but their only goal is to feed on our life essence you and I both know that. " She tried to reassure her, as she focused on moving her staff about to build up some magical momentum. The red energy began to build up at the tip once more. She was going to aim for the one that Hope had not targeted with Unfettered Chaos. She then attempted to cast:

Energy Stream- Magic Affinity D, Arcane Affinity F, Magic Range E, Magic Targeting F, Energized D,Focus D- A more focused advanced attack than a simple Mana strike, Iberis focuses a red concentrated beam of energy from her staff to use offensively against a target up to 30 ft away,- Grade D - 1 Post Cooldown (Energized)

Mentions: Garbage Pail Kid Skyhunter The Last Curse

 

[Elvario]

Chandra Jarmil
​

Mentions: Scylla RavenSong

The journey back to the second continent had given her a lot of time to think, but no answers. Should she find out more about herself from the [monsters] or those that hunted them? It felt like both options had high risks attached to them, just as the hag said. It wasn't just about her past, but also her future. However, at one point, she suddenly recalled Scylla had mentioned Renee. Surely, someone like Renee could help her figure out her thoughts and feelings, as Renee had known her since the beginning. It's what made Kalina decide to delay making a decision on where to go or what to pursue, but instead go find her sister.

That said, for obvious reasons, she'd switched back to using her cover of Chandra. It made travelling a lot easier and less stressful. “So how did you even get to know Renee?” Kalina asked, at one point along the road. “Oh, right, before I forget, I doubt we'll find any onomancers here, so you're free to call me Chandra. I'll admit it's just another disguise, but it'll make travelling around a whole lot easier.” The latter gave her an idea. “Ah, when we meet Renee, don't tell her I know her, just say I'm an adventurer you met in the Marshes. I'd like to pull a bit of a prank on her, as I don't think she knows this disguise.”

All things considered, travelling with Scylla was a bit awkward, as she was sure the Scylla herself didn't really know much about who Kalina truly was either, but hopefully their adventures in the Marshes together had made Scylla okay with being left in the dark. Getting into the Ryken Academy and its dorms was a little troublesome though, as Kalina wasn't sure if her disguise would withstand the security measures in place there. She didn't wish to take the risk. However, as she was researching alternative methods of contacting Renee, something odd happened.

A weird dark ghost-like thing just sprung up from below to drag her into the ground. If she didn't know better, she'd think she was hallucinating. Hadn't they just left the cursed marshes where things like this were considered normal for the safety of Ryken? Apparently not. Either way, she soon ended up in a totally different place. “What the hell...” She'd mutter, upon looking around. This place was pretty uninviting, but oddly enough, it also felt slightly... homey? What kind of realm was this?

She looked around, not immediately spotting anyone and having no clue where she was. Assuming she was brought her for a reason, that didn't make much sense. “Anyone here!?!” She called out, checking her surroundings and grabbing a hold of her crossbow just to be safe.

 

[RavenSong]

After the encounters in the Marshes and healing up her wounds from a dreadful fight Scylla figured she’d deliver the plants to the Academy personally. Tucked away in a jar in her pack. She walked to the giant school with a bit of a skip and humming a tune.


Humming to hopefully break the awkwardness between herself and the one who decided to come along with her to meet Renee. At some point she was wondering how she came to be in company of this pale figure. Her skin tone when not under disguise very much reminded her of Nissa. No, she couldn’t be like Nissa.. she’s much nicer than her but she had her doubts. but what if she is?!

She’d chuckle nervously when they exchanged glances before the suspected vampire asked a question, “I uh..” bringing a finger to her chin in thought, “..well, Renee is kind of.. sort of my teacher..” a smile overcame her face, “..I think I make her upset a lot but she loves my ideas!”

The witch nodded but couldn’t help but giggle at Kalinas suggestion to play a trick on her mentor.

Then she requested to not speak a thing about her disguise to her when they did finally meet up with her.

They continued their walk. “Ha! That’s funny! Just don’t startle her..” a worried expression suddenly smeared across her face, “..her instinct would be to shoot lightning at the snap of her fingers!” A hand coming over her face at the side to whisper joyously, “..Believe me, I’ve done that and it wasn’t pretty!” She shrugged and winked.

Once at the gates of the Academy, she was beginning to wonder how she’d get Kalina inside without the proper credentials. Just as she was about to suggest for her to wait while she went in to get her mentor a freaky ghost appeared and transported them somewhere entirely different. Scylla freaked out didn’t have time to even think, she only gasped as their surroundings changed.

When appearing in this other realm Scylla fell on her butt, “Oof!!” Before pushing her hat back away from her eyes. “Well.. that was rude, what is this place?” she muttered as she squinted her eyes to make sense of her new surroundings. It was quite the surprise, and was beginning to think she was probably in trouble for not bringing Clarice with her. Getting up she dusted herself off while Kalina went into full alert. “I wonder who summoned us here..“ then after the vampire called out into the new space they were in, she put her face right next to Kalinas, with a beaming smile, “..are you hiding anymore secrets? Hm? Tell me. Tell me. There’s no way we were brought here just because.”

 

[Garbage Pail Kid]

M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠ẃ̸̝̝̰͋͒

Skyhunter TheTimePiece The Last Curse Elvario RavenSong​

---

The excitement in seeing hope had been the first dose of genuine happiness she had felt. A Gnoll biology was strange, but hers was even stranger and the 'dopamine' she exuded could outright damage a human not fit for it's consumption, and it could be exhausting at times. Where the mundane was craved, but only a fleeting dream as she would have to fight every urge in her that craved unrequited chaos. She couldn't explain why, but Hope was an antithesis to that bad habit...and even worse master. She calmed the gnoll in a way that otherwise was otherwise impossible because it didn't require force or intimidation. It was just the presence of someone with no judgement for the mad creature she encountered in those ruins. It's not like Mad Maw cared in the opinion of others otherwise worry would've killed her ages ago, but it definitely made a difference in who she put on airs for, and who she actually liked.

She had expected the less than pleased aura she exuded, and the way it caused her hairs to stand on end. It was curious that she didn't hold it back, and Madeline couldn't help but enjoy getting under her skin, though she knew it was foolish to piss her off any further. The bardly spirit giving a verbose bow toward Renee in 'apology' before grinning ear to ear on the way back up; her eyes engrossed on Renee "Careful, people might catch on to the real you Renee~" She teased with a far more scrupulous eye than she let on. The unwelcome wolfy guests a much needed distraction from the tense situation. Her head cocking backwards and getting an upside down (and frankly) unpleasant view of these nasty beasties. They reminded her of some of her gnollish family she had the displeasure of being related to.

Renee flourished her magic effectively, and devastated these starving shadow beasts. She couldn't quite tell if she was faking being tired or not, but she didn't really care as most of what Renee did was some gambit of sort. Hope following suit in a more regrettable manner and while Mad Maw didn't care about these doofus dogs, she wouldn't teabag them out of respect for Hope. The prized pupil followed up with a fine display of arcanum. Mad Maw praising Hope's growth and blatently being distracted from the present threat; A pointed gaze from Renee was all it took for her to 'remember' her duties. the asinine hyenidae erectus cracking her fingers, then her neck, and then finally her fingers, toes, tail, eyelids, teeth and nose. A cacophony of manic noises emanating from her as she started to perform something...strange. Mad Maw beginning to scat and produce the most bizarre syllables and noises from her mouth as she assaulted one of these remaining creatures with irreverence noise, and her allies too, though they didn't receive the psychic weight this otherwise wild performance caused.

Spoiler

• Amygdala No. 5 | 100ft [Madness Affinity F], [Magic Affinity D], [Magic Range E, Magic Duration E] [Performance D] | D Grade | 2 Post Cooldown | 1-hour Duration
  • She replicates a fraction of the eldritch music that transformed her, and to those whom still have their minds intact, it is a loathsome melody that attacks a single mind in range, but it also drains her of her power as it puts her through that terror all over again. Her vocal chords often left raw from her laughter.
    
    

 

[Skyhunter]

Death's Realm



Renee Nyx

​

Renee heard the protests from Hope about not acting with violence, " No, you are wrong, we have to act with strife and prejudice. They want our essence, our lives, our souls. There is no negotiating with these entities. They don't care. They want us dead. " Renee explained to Hope while having a hand on her chest. Renee quickly stood back up to make sure nothing was bound to happen in case things went south. Although it looked like she wouldn't need to, although Renee watched Hope perform and cast her magics. Hope's two orbs would fly close to one of the approaching shadowy wolves, this wolf did not acknowledge the orbs, mainly focused on the group of living and warm bodies. The chaotic orbs touched the wolf, unleashing a wave of unstable chaotic energy. Blasting the wolf as it fell backwards, confused, one of its legs missing as it leaked this strange grey and black ooze, like blood. The wolf began to move over to one of its own, limping, eyes full of madness as it opened its mad, growing three times the size than what the group originally saw, chomping down on the neck of another wolf before attempting to rip it's head off.

​

Iberis had her staff ready and pointed at her target, releasing a red arcane stream of energy, this would fly towards the second wolf that wasn't targeted by Hope, although the wolf Hope did attack suddenly attacked the second with massive jaws that grew, slamming down on its neck, grey and black ooze flew into the air. Iberis' stream of arcane magic made contact with the second wolf that was being attacked, having its fur and body evaporated which then linked to the first wolf, both undead wolves disappeared in a flash of red before nothingness. Renee was smiling, Iberis' magic was improving constantly, this was what she wanted to see. Renee was rather proud to see this, she didn't think Iberis would grow so quickly, Renee was beginning to think that maybe Iberis was just talented unlike Renee who had to work to where she got. Although Iberis was rather young, 16. The same age Renee was able to project a bit of mana. Was only recently Renee beginning to fully control and use magics.

Mad Maw had continued her strange line of thinking and speaking, her words towards Renee would result in a bloodthirsty glare from the psychotic witch [Intimidation B]. Renee knew she had been found out, knew she had gotten too careless or reckless with allowing Mad Maw to get under her skin. This was bad, but Renee knew she was stronger than the Gnoll, stronger than Hope, stronger than Iberis. If it came down to it, Renee could kill each of them if the reality of her nature was revealed by Madeline. Of course, Renee knew that Madeline was smarter than to do that, she enjoyed this game she played with Renee. Besides, Madeline was not stupid enough to get her friend Hope killed or Iberis in which she enjoyed getting to know. Renee wouldn't like to eliminate Iberis but if it came down to it, she would burn Iberis to ash as quickly as possible to make the pain as painless as possible. As Madeline was using her painfully terrible song music on the last remaining wolf that looked at where its companions were just at, reduced to nothingness. Madeline's music emitted and attacked this one remaining wolf, it began to act like it was beginning to be attacked, falling onto the ground yelping in pain. While Madeline's magic could be heard by the group, their ears hurting in pain, Renee continued to stare at Madeline, showing her domination that Renee was not fazed by her magic. Her eyes were glowing red as Renee turned her head to make sure no one saw her. The wolf was able to get back onto it's feet and ran off, literally falling off the edge of the cliffside as its howls and cries could be heard disappearing.

" Great work you guys. " Renee smiled placing a hand on Iberis' shoulder, looking at the young mage with approval and a proud smile. " We best get moving. " Renee pointed to the large castle in the distance, " We can find refuge there. " Dahak was standing with the group, " You'll have to move pass the castle, but the castle should be able to hold you for a time. " Dahak spoke but he quickly turned his head downward, " Not again. More people are showing up. Something is amiss... " Dahak growled, " Whatever you did, you've opened up the lid. There's a cave below, make your way down. I think we have more guests arriving. " Dahak looked to Renee who looked a bit confused. Renee looked to the group, " Hmm... Interesting, we should go. " Renee was interested, if more people were joining how was that happening? Hope appeared here and she did nothing, if more were joining that meant there had to be something else to it. She wanted to see who has joined them now. Renee moved to the cliffside seeing a path that made it's way down to a small clearing, she moved on down the pathway, not like they had any other way to go, they were trapped on a mountain's summit after all.

Dahak

​

Elsewhere, Scylla and Kalina would find themselves in some sort of pit with a cave inside, surrounded by some sort of flesh feeling goop. The two could see an entranceway in this cave, light channeling out to the two that found themselves in darkness. Then before Kalina, a very familiar face, Dahak appeared like the wind as a vision once more. " Ah, two more stray sheep or unfortunate travelers. Come to this realm using evil magics? Foolish you know. Or perhaps you are the result of a witch using a tome to enter a realm she is not yet welcome to. Happened already to one person. " This Dahak looked at each of them, his eyes staring at Kalina intensely, he even gave a chuckle as he turned his head to Scylla. Did he know? " What are your names? " Dahak asked, his eyes came back onto Kalina, or Chandra.

 

[Elvario]

Chandra Jarmil
​

Mentions: Scylla RavenSong | Dahak Skyhunter

Somehow Kalina didn't doubt that someone like Scylla could get Renee upset. Her sister wasn't exactly the most patient person, whilst Scylla seemed to be fairly chaotic at times. She was a bit more surprised at the suggestion not to startle her. “Surely it can't be that bad.” As for where they ended up, for some reason the witch thought Kalina knew more about it. “I'm always hiding more secrets~” Kalina said with a mischievous smile. That said, she soon got a bit more serious. “This isn't one of them though, I'm afraid. I genuinely have no clue where we are.”

The moment Dahak appeared, Kalina fired her crossbow, starting with a [Precision Strike D] followed by [Precision Strike E] and ending with a normal shot. She didn't want to see this monster that had killed her friends, that had threatened to torture her for a slow death and that would likely do it all again in an instant. She'd never felt such a monstrous rage, such a strong desire to fully destroy someone. Yes, to destroy, not even just kill. She could imagine tearing out his throat, or whatever remained of it. Crushing his bones, splattering blood (if he had any to begin with) and hearing him scream in agony. The thought greatly excited her. Was this her monstrous nature taking over or was her desire to avenge her fallen comrades simply just that strong?

She wasn't sure and frankly, she didn't care. She knew that this creature wasn't worth living, not even in whatever form this was. She'd make him pay for her fallen comrades. The little boggeart Atiifa, the corrupted knight Garret, that priest, Wyland, even that bloody idiotic head, Tarko, came to mind, mostly as others had somehow cared about saving it. She'd also recall all the innocent townsfolk that died during the siege on Kanato and the many people that had suffered slow and painful deaths in the large and gore-filled dungeons that'd been Dahak's work-place. It assured her that giving in to the rage was a good thing, as this was a rightful rage.

However, there was one thing that calmed her just enough to open her mouth and speak up. “Whatever this creature says, know that it's vermin for whom the deepest depths of hell wouldn't be enough punishment. He's killed multiple of my comrades and countless innocents.” She filled in the witch that had been dragged along into this dimension. She didn't need to introduce herself to this fucker. She didn't even want to speak a single word to him. Instead, she turned to Scylla again. “I've got a feeling we both know who he's talking about. Let's go and see if we can get out of here and find her. I'd rather not be near this creature any longer than I have to.” She recalled Renee had gone through Dahak's laboratory and she knew her sisters desire to become immortal was strong enough for her to try something like this. That said, she really wished it would've been without vermin like Dahak around.

• D Cooldowns: (0/2)
  Precision Strike: – Fighting Style [Precision Strikes] D, Accurate F, Penetrating F, Range F – Character strikes at a target accurately and with the full force of the fighting style. [Accurate] - the technique makes it so the target's speed is treated as though it were reduced by 1 letter grade. [Penetrating] - weapon can ignore armours of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target. [Range] F Range - gives weapon attacks longer range. 10 feet / 3 meter at rank F. Required technique to apply fighting style effects at ranges beyond 5ft. - Grade D – 2 Post Cooldown.
• E Cooldowns: (0/1)
  Precision Strike: – Fighting Style [Precision Strikes] E, Penetrating F, Range F – Character strikes at a target accurately and with the full force of the fighting style. [Penetrating] - weapon can ignore armours of similar or lesser grades and still hurt target. [Range] F Range - gives weapon attacks longer range. 10 feet / 3 meter at rank F. Required technique to apply fighting style effects at ranges beyond 5ft. - Grade E – 1 Post Cooldown.

 

[RavenSong]

Scylla's eyes widened at Kalina hinting she might know more, "Oh.. OH! Please t-" Then admitted that she really didnt know where they were, news that made the witch roll her eyes a bit looking away with exaggerated disappointment, pulling away from the vampires face, "AWW! And here I thought you'd reveal you're some kind of goblin or troll princess with the power to take whoever to distant faraway realms, and take me on an adventure to save the cute little gnome people and-" She huffed, before drawing a mouthful of air, "And my dreams are crushed! I hope you're happy!" Poking the vampire on the shoulder.

Feigning disappointment, she suddenly giggled and started looking around. "I'm totally kidding! Now lets see, its kind of dark in here, maybe if I just-" With a snap of her fingers, a small elemental flame floated; suspended above her palm. [Fire Affinity F] Revealing a strange creepy fleshy atmosphere. With her free hand she covered her mouth, resisting a shriek. "Ew! What is-" Then suddenly a shrouded shade appeared like a ghostly mist, a raspy voice emitted from it inquiring about their names.

"Uh.. Hi! N-no not sheep, the names Scylla and this-" Without as much of a word Kalina opened fire on the shade, "Whoa! WHOA!" She exclaimed getting behind Kalina, hopping in place as the witch pulled on her hat at the sides. "Kill it! Eeek! So creepy!!"

Then the witches eyes frightfully looked into the vampires as she explained what that apparition was, "..C-countless innocents?!" She repeated, "Why do I always end up in the creepiest places Chandra!?" She quickly collected herself however, as the shock of appearing in a completely different place wore off and the thoughts that came from having to return to a state of bravery returned, albeit slowly. "Okay! The tome wielding witch mentioned HAS to be my teacher Renee. I have no clue why you want to meet her so bad, but you're in for a surprise! She'll grow on you quickly, well.. if she likes you." She finished with a nervous giggle.

 

[TheTimePiece]

Iberis
​

The youth was quite pleased to see that her stream attack had been effective. Ever since she had been able to attack targets with energy like this and every time it succeeded it made her feel like if only she could further hone the power of the casting, maybe she could get even more impressive results. If she wanted to atune more with her natural affinity, she would need to practice even more no doubt she figured. The piercing nature of the stream had also been most satisfying as they both lined up near one another. Part of her success no doubt had to do with some talent, but the other part was her enthusiasm, constantly tinkering, often with a book of knowledge in her hands ever since getting into the academy, that was when she really started to take off. While she did still feel somewhat bad, she had to agree with Renee there, many of these worlds entailed kill or be killed conditions. This wasn't like the entrance exam where the threats weren't genuine, this was if you screw up you could be killed and she knew that very well.

Iberis thought once again that Madmaw's abilities were quite impressive to say the least, not even really sure what to make of the sounds that she produced, but the effect on the canine like creature was very apparent as it too seemed to lose It's mind. If only she could start to understand how Madeline was harnessing such power. While it all made little sense what felt like made even less sense to her was what exactly Madeline meant when she talked about Renee's apparent true self. As far as she was concerned Renee was the most powerful person she knew and had helped her so much already, so whatever Madeline was saying she wasn't really sure where she was going with it.

She almost gasped when Renee placed a had on her shoulder, but her eyes and face almost immediately turned to a positive one when she looked back quickly and saw it was just her. It was clear Iberis had been coming down from the fight that had just broken out and was on high alert. Quite glad that she had gotten that strange feeling earlier so she could warn the party, she was also pleased to see that Renee seemed to recover.

"T-Thanks..and right!" She'd proclaim in response,

after looking around to see that everyone was alright, before she started to follow Renee diligently. She also saw the castle in the distance which had quite a bit of intrigue and mystery to it for Iberis. She really wanted to see what was there. But just as it sounded like they were going to head there, suddenly Dahak appeared yet again. She paused on the spot and gripped her staff a bit tighter by instinct, at the ready to cast, instead relieved at the realization.

"A lid huh?..More people..hopefully they're friends then."

She said to no one in particular, the last thing they needed was more people getting in their way and stalling their time in this realm, or worse dangerous people who weren't allies. She nodded in agreement with Renee's thought, it was best they checked it out then and there it sounded like. As long as they all had each other's backs hopefully the risk wouldn't be as high as it would be otherwise.

RavenSong Elvario Skyhunter Garbage Pail Kid The Last Curse

 

[Garbage Pail Kid]

M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠d̶̡̲̗̼̮̤̤̳̲͖͓͍̓̎̽́̽̏̐͂̆͆͘͘͘ M̶̧͚̪͉̯̜̰͎̘̀͋̇̀͗̍́͆̑̏͂̿̊̚ǎ̴̯̀͠ẃ̸̝̝̰͋͒

Skyhunter The Last Curse RavenSong Elvario TheTimePiece​

---

Mad Maw couldn't stop laughing at the one she caused to jump to it's death, tears of joy spilling from her face as she was like a proud mother who just drowned her first born lovingly, or at the very least that was what her twisted mind believed. She never pretended to be anything else and she supposed that was a drawback considering how much Renee actually wanted to kill her, but it was more than this new body and the wealth of powers she accrued. It was the life she remembered before, and while it was so very different...it was much the same. There was a part of her that listened to Renee and daddy dahak praddle on and on about some nonsense, but the other was constant in her creativity. A woman sitting atop the highest tower in the land, painting it in all it's beauty all the while her own room was torn to shred and vehemently ruinated. Such manifestations were abhorrent to look at, let alone live in...yet Madeline not only lived...She thrived. A few words spoken with each stroke until she eventually recited a poem at the same time she painted this tapestry of serene tranquility.

"A coin tossed, fate changes like tails
Both creative, but one cannot live without the other.
Why don't they see? Eyes of scorn upon her joy?
Pads and jackets bind my soul, gnashing GNASHING-"

The sound of glass shattered; The pieces of her tower, and her serene chaos were exposed to blinding light as it fell like a sand castle all around her; When she opened her eyes once more, her easel and brush were absconded. A mantle of tightened white engrossed her form, and much of the same material surrounded her in a strange room she hadn't seen before. Had her poem been made manifest?...or was it that manifest had made the poem? Her eyes reeling from the lights toward the beautiful landscape she had been creating...realizing too late that the scream of terror she heard, was coming from herself. The wall where she had done her work was dastardly and awful in it's awe inspiring terror. Blood and viscera creating a near macabre but incredibly detailed mural of her hometown of Hyde. The source of her paints lying dead on the floor with ghoulish mutilation scrawled across his form. Her scream immediately being met with a nurse and when Madeline reached out to try and explain...she saw her pale flesh coated in violent red, her left hand still holding the good doctor greymoore's favorite locket; the jagged clasp dripping with blood; a picture of his family forever stained.

Mad Maw shook her head as far too many memories were threatened to reminisce; she did miss Dr. Greymoore, he was certainly on her top five! She wondered if he had been sent to this new world too! She wasn't one to hold grudges and while he gave her more electric shock therapies than she could properly remember, She wanted to thank him for the awful and audacious woman she's become today, though now it was gnoll right? "Do you think they came from our world? Do you think they'll like bologna? I have pocket bologna if you're hungry Hope!" Mad Maw indeed pulling from her pockets, strips of jerkied meat that were not bologna though she did not appear to either care or realize, trying Iberis next as she wagged it in her hand "I am sure there is something good in it! Certainly not the taste!" She hemmed and hawed at that one for a long while "This is becoming quite a group, we should come up with a team name! C'mon Renee whadya think? Blood Bath and Beyond?~"

 

[The Last Curse]

Mentions: Garbage Pail Kid Skyhunter Elvario RavenSong TheTimePiece ​

Hope could only stare in horror at what her magic had done to those poor canines. She'd only used that spell twice in this life, so it couldn't have done much! It was supposed to scare them away, maybe with a few bruises, but they'd still scramble back to where they came, just like the first wolf that ever bothered her. It wasn't supposed to tear off their legs. Or force them to kill each other. Instantly, Hope's hands shot to her face in shock, another apology welling in her throat. Hope knew she had to say something, but then she spotted the blackish-gray liquid quickly spreading on the ground. Then she felt the terrible memories of last night come crawling back. The man she'd killed, his blood had pooled out just like that, too.

Hope was going to be sick. She didn't know how that'd feel in this body, but the nausea churning in her gut was all too familiar. Knowing what'd happen next, Hope spun on her heels, eyes shut into thick, glowing lines. Removing herself from the scene would make her feel better, she thought, and for a moment, it did. Then she heard the pained yelping and her innards felt like they were being twisted. "Come on, Hope. It's nothing!" She scolded herself, "Stop being such a baby!" She knew the others wouldn't be acting like this. Instead, they'd be dusting themselves off, readying for the next part of the journey, and definitely not puking their brains out. "Just be like them..."

With a shaky sigh, Hope turned around. Much to her relief, the wolves were long gone, but in their place was Dahak, and his news was just as startling. Apparently, there were more people scattered about, and now they were all going to find them. Hope didn't know how to feel. Meeting new faces was one of her favorite hobbies, but what if it went as bad as it did with those wolves? Or what if they were one of those Death Entities? She'd barely kept it together against some wolves; what would she do against whatever a death entity was?

The thought made her move a bit closer to Mad Maw. "S-Sure! I'll tag along, Renee!" Hope exclaimed, feigning cheerfulness, "I could always use a few more folk to hide behind!" She tried smiling with her eyes, but they stayed shrunken and quivering, even when she turned to face Mad Maw, "Um, you go ahead of me, MM?" Hope said, though her voice sounded far more desperate than before, "Please and thank you..."

Whether she accepted or not, Hope stuck to the gnoll like glue as they made their way to the cave. She didn't know if it was that soothing yellow chaos or because they had a history, but something about the gnoll made her feel comfortable. She brought color to this otherwise lifeless place. How? Hope couldn't tell, but the rumbling from her stomach was starting to tell her something else.

"God, I'm starving..." Hope clutched her stomach with one hand, the other toying with her pendant. She prayed they'd stumble upon a store or at least some vendor around here. There had to be food in hell, right? Or wherever this place was? She still hadn't asked anyone. Fortunately, Mad Maw came to the rescue with a bundle of questionable meat strips. Too hungry to even care, Hope had already grabbed one, "Aw! Thank you, MM!" She said, bringing the 'jerky' closer to her obscured face, "You're so kin-" She couldn't smell anything that'd remotely identify it as beef jerky or even bologna, for that matter. In fact, didn't Mad Maw say this was pocket bologna? Where'd she get this from?

Hope casually slid the something-strip into her robe pocket. "Uh, those other guys have to be hungry, too! Right, Iberies?" She nodded furtively to the smaller witch, "We'll have to share with them. If they're nice, that is..."

 

[Skyhunter]

Dark Cave


Renee Nyx

​

As the group of two witches, a shadow fae and a gnoll made their way down this small pathway down to where this cave was. Entering within, it looked like a decrypted cave, just like the rest of this realm they stood within. The group of four could feel a strange magic in the air, a septic sensation could be felt on the skin due to the Magic Affinity the group had. There was a strange movement in this cave, the cave was dark and moist, there was the sound of slosh hitting the ground and moving. " Hoo dares goes there? " A deep and mucky voice rang out into the void. " Come on, I can shmell yah, living tykes. " The voice sounded very dry and bloated, whatever was speaking to them had eyes on them while they did not. Renee held her journal in hand whilst her hand was tucked into her bag with her eyes narrowed, the sloshing could be heard growing closer. Renee pulled her journal out and opened it, putting a hand up into the air and using her [Fire Affinity C] the air light up with light and in front of the group was a large humanoid looking slime made of what looked like debris, muck and body parts. But this one had a mask, a golden mask that looked rather ancient while she held a staff made up of dung. The stench of disgusting vileness would strike the group. " Oi, tere you are, little tykes. " The monster spoke, she appeared to be around six feet tall and about four feet wide, slow as slime. Around her appeared a few smaller slimes, appearing behind the large female, most likely her subjects or followers or whatever.

​

" Wot are you all doin dow' ere? Shouldn't the living be living? " She asked with a confused tone. Renee smiled kindly, despite wanting to burn every one of them down for their disgusting existence. " Hello there, we are looking for a friend. A vision of a Necromancer came through this cave, we are trying to find him then we'll be on our way. There is apparently more of us down there that have appeared. " Renee explained. The large female tilted her head, " Is dat wot my followers went to go shee? " The smile explained, " Wot do I get for allowing you passage through my home? " The slime asked, " We could ave you for nourishment, create more of us. " she said as a few of her followers began to move around the group, they could be heard from their disgusting movements. There was about six that have surrounded the four living beings.

Flesh Cave

​

The vision of Dahak chuckled at Kalina's attempt of trying to kill the necromancer, once he had calmed himself down from the useless attacks, the necromancer turned his head to Kalina. " My, my, it is so good to see you, vampire. " Dahak cackled, " Yes. I can see through your little disguise; never thought I'd see you become impulsive. Finally lose your cool? " Dahak taunted as he walked on by both the witch and vampire, cutting between both of them with his hands behind his back and his eyes glowing purple. He turned around to face the two. " It will be interesting to see a family reunion come together. The emotions and thoughts. What a juicy revelation. " Dahak's eyes looked upon Scylla moving closer to her, he towered over her, just being an inch shorter than Kalina. " You are a rather attractive witch. Pretty close to your own master. " Dahak flirted with Scylla. His eyes turned to Kalina; she would feel the enjoyment emitting off the vision. " I wouldn't listen to your companion here; she does not know what she speaks of. I have committed more atrocities than she will ever realize, witch. But all I've done has been for power. I was able to create an eternal power source. Only to be thwarted by a single attack. Years of research gone. Souls and bodies wasted on the effort of creating an everlasting source of magic. " Dahak shook his head and sighed. " So, I killed all those weaklings. Had them kill each other. Poor Dovus. Still living and suffering. And guess what, vampire? I heard Garrett died in some war in The Kingdom. Bastard had a crush on you. " Dahak chuckled evilly, that last one sounded like a lie, but he could be right.

" Witch. Just like-... " The Necromancer then chuckled as he looked behind the two women, " Ah. Never mind. You'll have your hands full. Better watch out behind you. " Dahak took a few steps backwards still looking ahead of the two women. When both Scylla and Kalina looked, they would hear a grotesque sound with a disgusting stench to follow. " Foooooood. " The voice sounded heavy with hunger and malice. The two would see a massive slug looking worm slowly making its way towards the two, mouths full of teeth placed all over the top of this beast. Slimy acid dripping from it's mouths and onto the flesh below them, tendrils on the top of it's body flailed about. " Fooooooood! " It called, it was about sixteen feet long and raised itself about eight feet tall, its mouths moved awkwardly, sucking in air like it was trying to taste the air of the living. It would be a good time to either leave, fight or analyze.

​

 

[Elvario]

Chandra Jarmil
​

Mentions: Scylla RavenSong | Dahak Skyhunter

Of course her attacks against Dahak didn't work. What else could she expect? The only thing she could do against him was ignore him, which was exactly what she'd do. She'd still hear him, of course, as she wasn't going to cover her ears like an angry kid, but she wasn't going to humour him with an answer. That was the plan, at least, but when he started to come off strong on Scylla, another flare of anger arose as she pulled the witch away from him and closer to herself. “Get away from her, you creep!” She hissed more than she yelled, at this point. She also realised she'd almost added 'she's mine' at the end there. What was wrong with her? Her anger was clearly affecting her in more ways than one, which wasn't good. She had to calm down.

Deep breaths. She turned to Scylla. “Sorry about that, but as you can hear, he's an unapologetic and murderous bastard, so let's not waste our time on him.” At the very least Dahak wasn't trying to play games here and instead openly bragged a bout the many he'd killed. Truthfully, Kalina didn't care enough about Garvin to have Dahak's words result in more than temporary wonder, although the fact he was trying to get under her skin like that alone was pissing her off. If anything, she felt a little insulted at the thought he might've had a crush on her, as his simple mind had annoyed her enough to see him more like an annoying little brother at the time. If anything, her only source of sympathy was for the man loosing his entire village and brother in such a gruesome fate. Garvin deserved better than that, also better than to die in the Kingdom, but she wasn't sure if that was even true to begin with.

When the creature showed up, Kalina gave a wry smile. That thing was almost as ugly as Dahak was to her. Almost. The fact that it talked confused her. “I don't know what you're hungry for, creature, but I'd suggest you run. I'm in a real foul mood right about now.” She took aim again, assuming her words would attract the blind-looking creature to the sound of her voice. If it was close enough, she'd try to appraise (D) it and see what she could learn from it. Unless it somehow stopped at the sound at her voice, she'd also fire some crossbow bolts at it, aiming at its mouth and at one of the tendrils to see how strong/tough it was. “It looks pretty slow, so if this doesn't hurt it, we might want to book it instead. We know too little about where we are or what we're up against.” As angry as she was, she had some sense of self-preservation and was testing out her chances at killing this thing by shooting at it from a distance rather than going in blind.

• D Cooldowns: (1/2)
• E Cooldowns: (1/1)