NOVEMBER MID-MONTH EVENT.

[lasteden]

THE JAWS OF FIRE. WHO. Everyone. WHERE. The Badlands WHEN. November 16th. WHAT. Tracking and exploration. WARNINGS. None for now. A SEARCH. Urgent news has been delivered: a cart carrying valuable crystals has gone missing in the Badlands. If it is not an accident, it would be something targeted not only at the Light faction but also Spring, the destination of this particular load. As always, foreigners are called upon to assist in the investigation. You are our only hope. For more reasons than one. ADMIN. This is the log for the November mid-month event! A short write-up on what the characters will find can be read here. Participation in this log will earn your character bonuses during activity check. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them below.

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[lasteden]

The man lights a small flame in one hand, blowing it out nonchalantly.

"The weak have no right to question the strong. I simply took what was rightfully mine."

[lasteden]

To which Rinzen replies,

"You're a piece of shit."

She pulls the trigger on her gun, and a bullet flashes through the space between them... only to combust into dust inches before his forehead.

[whatsina_name]

Well, fuck this asshole. If Phillip hadn't had it beaten into his head to not just kill people, he should would have tried right not. But he has, so he doesn't, and instead he just stares at the leader like he's a goddamn idiot. Which he is.

"Yeah, that's not how anything works."

[scarsolderthanyou]

"The strong are made that way to protect the weak, not to kill them," Stone growls, and the growl itself vibrates the ground a little under their feet. "Where are the dragons?" And, as an afterthought, he adds, "And the crystals they were guarding?"

[lasteden]

The strange-looking man chuckles.

"Foreigners, how quaint. Your way of thinking doesn't hold here. You come, you play by our rules." He starts pacing around, seemingly uncaring about how Rinzen still has her gun following his movements. "I took them. Don't worry, they will be used magnificently."

[lasteden]

"This ain't just your country. And we're not just going to let you have your way. All of us. You ran away from the council, they will come after you."

Rinzen scowls, returning her pistol to its sheath. In its place she extends a hand, willing spears of stone to manifest from the surrounding walls. Evidently she's trying to impale whoever the asshole is, but he leans back and the spears start to crumble as soon as they rise from the surrounding rock.

Philip should be able to perceive what was happening, as is Louise - conflicting magic spells.

[whatsina_name]

That's probably bad. Phillip't not sure if he should try and add more magic to the mix or not- most of his spells are just as likely to surprise Rinzen and distract her as the jerk she's fighting. He doesn't know if this is how that magic works, but he will try to concentrate with her, attempting to stop the spears from crumbling.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone doesn't know any magic, besides his shapeshifting. But he does know that if you interrupt a spellcaster in the middle of their magic, it stops their spell. So he surges back up into his winged form, and leaps forward to aim a physical swat at the antagonist-- claws retracted, because he'd rather not dismember anyone before they get their questions answered. He's made that mistake before. The goal is just to smack him into the floor.

[lasteden]

The man lifts a hand to block Stone's strike, parrying with significantly more force than a bare-handed attempt would. It successfully breaks his concentration, forcing him to duck as two stone spires shoot through the space where his head had just been.

Rinzen takes this opportunity to rush forward and grab at his hands, but the momentary lapse was over. A moment later fire erupts from his entire body, charring her clothes.

"Get the fuck down, you --!"

[ordinarycitizen]

Used them magnificently, Louise thinks and frowns. Now what does that mean? She will really have to dig through the libraries and ask older people for stories. Maybe something will come up.

And she could intervene, but she is by far the squishiest here and still absolutely loathe to admit to any supernatural abilities. So she's not going to do so.

Instead, she continues to watch. And keep her arrow on her bow, though with how close the quarters are and with how many people are in the fray, it's unlikely that she will get a shot in.

[carried_away]

The problem with Stone fighting in close quarters is that usually there wasn't room for anyone to help, unless the target was huge. Not that Stone normally needed much help.

Claws scrabbling on rock, Bramble tried to circle around the sorcerer. After all, if he's been here a while, he might have something useful. And, if not, it would force him to pay attention to two sides at once.

[scarsolderthanyou]

The fire on the animal things hadn't hurt him, so it's possible that this fire won't hurt him, either. Either way, Stone can't do anything with his wings or his tail without hurting Rinzen, too, with them as close together as they are, so he tries just grabbing the assailant to pull him away from Rinzen, fire or no fire.

[lasteden]

The man's fire passes harmlessly through Stone just like before, but the same couldn't be said for Rinzen. She hisses as Stone tackles her opponent away, forming a shower of thin needles which she casts at him. With Stone's help, the man is pinned to one wall...

... but not for long, as fire erupts from his hands once more and incinerates the needles to dust. A blast of air accompanies the flames, strong enough to send even Stone backward; a testament to the strength of his magic.

"I would love to remain and play with you, but I have matters to attend to. Change is becoming of this world, lest you forget. The Sun's era is at an end. Soon a new star will rise."

"We're not done yet!"

Rinzen takes a step forward, but it was too late. The man with three eyes vanishes in a flash of red light. She curses something under her breath, walking over to where he had been.

"Piece of shit. Probably wanted to put up a show, but he got outnumbered and ran."

[ordinarycitizen]

Louise puts her arrow away and unstrings her bow, now that the danger seems to have passed.

"Who is he?"

[lasteden]

She takes a deep breath - her hat has long since been off her face, showing bright emerald eyes and a look folded into frustration.

"It's a long story. I know the magic he used - only the Mystics are able to warp space like that. He isn't one of us, we're dedicated to the preservation of the Moon. I don't know how he got a hold of that magic, or who he is - but he is our enemy now. His magic didn't affect you, either - that must have thrown him off."

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone lets out another rumbling growl, and punches the wall just once in frustration, before shifting back down to groundling form so he can talk. "So you know what magic he uses, but not him? He couldn't have gotten it from your group and then defected?"

[lasteden]

Rinzen wrings her hands together.

"Or he stole someone's body." Unpleasant as a thought, but it was a risk that all Mystics had to face. "Someone who hasn't been vetted yet, the bastard. It's my responsibility to catch him and bring him his punishment."

[whatsina_name]

"That's a thing?" Phillip does not like the sound of that. "Is there a way to track him?"

[lasteden]

"Not right now. I'll have to borrow Lucius' radar."

It's incredibly dumb.

[ordinarycitizen]

"...He stole somebody's body? You mean your kind of magic can be looted directly from the dead body of a user?"

Since they seem to have no course of immediate action that can be taken, she'll turn to that.

And keep another thought to herself for now. If he could not harm us because we're not from this place, does that mean that someone like him created and maintains the Badlands? Or that the Badlands are what gives him power? She wants to discuss that with the others, later. Maybe just with stone. They really need to gather without anyone else around...

[lasteden]

"In someone's body, to be more precise. A possession. But if he's taken a body, then the original person is as good as dead."

It's probably evident by now that Rinzen is royally pissed, and with that anger comes a slight loosening of her own concealment. Louise and Philip would be able to perceive that she too harbours a strong pressure of magic - not too different from that of the man who fled the scene.

"This is so stupid. It was supposed to be impossible for him to do this without us noticing."

[ordinarycitizen]

"What measures of precaution did you take to prevent it happening without you noticing? And if you say "for him" does that mean that you had an inkling that he might do it?"

Louise looks at the spot where the potential body snatcher vanished from for a second before returning her eyes to Rinzen's face, watching her closely.

[lasteden]

These are a lot of questions that she's not prepared to answer right now, but she has to.

"All who have our magic are monitored by the leader. Either he had bribed his way in to keep it silent, or that he took some method that we aren't aware of at the current time." The woman's face can't quite be perceived, but she's equal parts annoyed and angry.

[scarsolderthanyou]

Stone comes back from a circuit around the cave, and puts in, "I have his scent. I can try and track him that way. While I think you had better find out how he got your magic if he's not being monitored. If there's one, there can be others."

[lasteden]

"That's on the list."

And it'll be all she says.

"This is a mess. Sorry... for all of it."