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Lette "Oh, right!" She giggles just a little louder than she intends, enjoying this little joke, however dark. Yes, that's what it is. "But that wouldn't be a very good backup, would it? If other plans have already failed, the army would already be at the gates. Then we'd just be joining their assault. No, I suppose if we want to save the town, we'd pretty much have to start right now, wouldn't we?" Aeolius fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Jan 6, 2014 |
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Jan 6, 2014 20:49
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Lette Lette hesitates, then quickens her pace, rounding the corner. "Haha! That is a hoot." She pauses at the entrance of an alley beside an unfamiliar tavern. "Of course, the folks here can't all just go nowhere. And we can't assume civilians will outrun a mobile army. What'd be really funny is if there were a way to get them far out of sight while keeping them near as possible." She folds her arms, staring at the cobbles. "Might be a real rib-tickler, but for now it's a punchline in search of a setup."
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Jan 7, 2014 05:14
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Lette "That's the spirit! "Gosh, imagine what we could have accomplished if we'd met before the brothers' war..."
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Jan 7, 2014 15:33
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Lette Lette sits at the edge of the water, folding her cloak and setting it on the ground beside her. She lies back, submerging her hair and allowing the current to gently massage her scalp. She closes her eyes, absorbing Martin's remarks. "He seemed well enough to me, strange as it is to say," comes her response after a pause. "Suppose we've been looking at this wrong, all this talk of impostors and so on? We've seen enough to know that death isn't the only way to camp out of the gods' view. Maybe we should think harder about who or what could have stepped in to help him survive. Or maybe I've just got a touch of, I don't know... intrigue fatigue." She does look a bit worn, perhaps already mentally finding her way into one of those hot baths they'd discussed. Lette sits up, wringing out her hair. "I guess I'm just tired of the speculation, and done with mooning over maybes. If any of us has a real, concrete lead to follow, then I'm all in. But if there's nothing to be done, then I'm about ready to wait and see how matters play out. And respond accordingly, 'course. "So, how about it? Want me to go fetch a lock of his hair or something? Or those informants you mentioned, what threads will we be tugging there?"
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Jan 14, 2014 19:08
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Lette "Well, maybe not the only thing. That is, speaking of our enemies: the Eagles have been quiet since the attack, but I figure they must have something up their sleeve for the summit, to say nothing of what'll follow. They're probably preparing. And I expect they think we're girding our loins here. And they drat sure don't know we know their haunts. "Maybe it's high time to do some hunting."
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Jan 16, 2014 14:48
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Lette "Lo'el left us that map. Our time is short, so we should pick a plot that looks important and relatively close. And by 'pick,' I guess I mean 'see if there even is'; these aren't exactly anthills." She hadn't counted how many points Lo'el had marked, but it hadn't seemed like a lot at the time. "We should close on them like a noose. Every arrow poisoned, every escape route trapped."
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Jan 16, 2014 21:10
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Lette "Yeah. It was pretty miserable, and I didn't even have to deal with it as long as you did. Still, from what we've seen, this lot is hard to take down. Martin had to all but-... ugh, that was awful. But what I mean is, as strong as that poison is, they're not going to let us wait around for hours for it to take effect. We'll need the fastest-acting juice we can get. Larisa, any ideas?"
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Jan 17, 2014 01:13
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Lette "How long a spell? I don't know that we have long enough to identify patterns, assuming any exist. Plus, they're drat good scouts. I can get around outdoors well enough, but I dunno if I'd trust myself not to get made on a long recon. Dolan and I can feel around from a ways off, at least..."
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Jan 19, 2014 03:36
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Lette "Well, hey! Spared that trip, maybe we'll have time to observe first, after all. Dolan, whaddya say? Shall we have a poke at it? You can use that spell you used to listen in on the cultists. And I can... try something different. That one was awkward for me. In fact, um..." She casts her gaze around for the nearest eatery, anything with a well-stocked larder, preferably away from main thoroughfares. "Be right back," she says, hurrying off in that direction, brandishing her lyre and beginning to hum a quiet little tune to herself. Since we haven't slept yet, I imagine we're somewhere in the midst (or just past) sunset by now. That makes this the perfect time for Lette to go behind a food place and look for a jolly little rat pal. :3 Animal Handling: Rodents would only default to a measly 9 (including Animal Friend talent), but Animal Empathy also entitles me to try Diplomacy 11 to get it to come along for a ride, in addition to the IQ roll I get to sense the degree to which each rat I spot is willing to interact. So: find friendliest/keenest rat, and invite it on a ridealong. Will also use Musical Influence 11 to project a calm and friendly mood at it, and I will make use of some tempting rations (only a teensy bit, as it ought to keep its appetite!) for whatever bonus they're worth. Aeolius fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Jan 23, 2014 |
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Jan 23, 2014 01:59
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Lette After a minute or two, Lette returns with a crooked little grin and a new pal cradled in one arm, munching on a bit of bread crust. Still humming, she gives the rat a small pat. "Aww, who's a little cutie?" She glances up. "Isit, can you give me a hand? I need some of those arrows we took from them. And if Asha left the sword behind, that too. It had that leather grip, and she barely touched it... or if we have any other bits of armor or wrappings from our fight. Hurry, he's being very well behaved, but I don't think it's a guaranteed th- nope, he pooped a little. drat it. You're a little stinkbutt, yes you are," she coos. "I'm overdue for a bath anyway." With the collection assembled, Lette moved the rat over the goods and presented them for inspection. "See these? They have LOTS of smells, yes. Sniff, sniff!" She cups a free hand over its ears, conspiratorially, pointing it towards the house. "Find those smells in that bigpeople nest. Food. Lots food behind those smells. In there. Find them." She puts it on the ground, still facing the house. With any luck, the rat won't be deterred like the bird had been, as much due to a lack of extraplanar interference as to a rat's inborn certainty that he has every right to be wherever he happens to be. "Dolan, got those ears ready?" Once it's clear the rat is starting on his way, will do the Rider Within thing, as with the birdie before. Costs 1 WT and 2 FP, free to maintain, effective skill 20. I will use my magic sense to try to suss out if anything strange happens during his visit. Per 14, IQ 13. Aeolius fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Jan 24, 2014 |
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Jan 24, 2014 01:59
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Lette "Place is bare. Except for the weapons and armor, ooh. Nice ones, looks like." Lette rustles through their pack, pulling out a big old hunk of stale cheese. She draws her hood. "Our little investigator ought to have a present. And I'd like to leave a different present for the cache's owners. "So we've got a few choices, here. I think I might be able to set a trap to cook them alive, for one. Then I come back out and we play the waiting game. Or, maybe we should all just ambush them inside? "Any thoughts?" Aeolius fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Jan 31, 2014 |
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Jan 31, 2014 18:02
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Lette "Good point. If I see paperwork, any of those messed-up arrows or something with an insignia, I'll grab it. Now I just need a way in. Doubt it's unlocked, but I could try. I just want to spend as little time visibly near the building as I can." She scratches her head. "I don't know any spells for this, and I think my idea could be taxing on its own. Anyone good with this sort of thing?"
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Feb 2, 2014 02:18
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Lette "We should have people on lookout, too — make sure we're not being followed or watched. So, Martin's with me. Maybe one more at most, for three or four sets of eyes outside. Any other ideas, say 'em now or hold 'em; no telling how long we got." Stealth & Traps 12 if we're going. More to follow when/if we make it in. Per 14. Magic detect 14/13 for sense/analyze. Aeolius fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Feb 2, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 03:25
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Lette "Ouch," she whispers, peering at the crossbow in particular. "Alright. Let's start heading back out, before anyone gets wise. I'm gonna try out that idea; be right behind you." In a sense parallel to her own, she could still see through her rat pal's eyes. She squats down in the armor room and beckons him, stowing the rations under the cupboard nearest the door. "Right here, buddy. Just keep an eye open, okay?" Choosing a spot best suited to ruin the day of someone investigating their inventory, Lette plucks a few notes, muting the strings with her other hand; it's a song that didn't need to resound just yet. Once the last pluck faded, she hurries after the others, leaving the building otherwise exactly as she found it. I figured out how to set a halfway decent magic trap without killing myself on an enchantment! Using last Wild Talent for the day to cast the metamagic Hang Spell (effective skill 20) along with my known Create Fire (ES 18). FP cost will depend on the area, but I'm not sure how spacious this place is exactly. I am thinking a 3- or 4-yard radius (5 or 7 FP, respectively) should suffice for most room sizes. Positioning it so they'd need to cross the full diameter of the burning area to exit the room -- or maybe jump out a window, into our blades. Maintaining my Rider Within spell for free, and I'll use the rat's perceptions to determine the best time to spring the trap.
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Feb 5, 2014 23:53
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Lette "Well of course they know," Lette grumbles. hoping to all the gods that Isit can manage to put an arrow through his knee before he gets too far. Still, this affords Lette the chance to dip back into that room and grab a small article. In this case, a belt. No reason, really. Something for Skoll to sniff. Also to string up Mr. Fleetfoot McAssholeTiming.
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Feb 18, 2014 23:03
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Lette "The hell you say," Lette mutters to Skoll. "Suppose that's probably important to know, too, but there'll be time enough for that once we've nailed our runner to the wall. Come on." She signals Larisa over. "Relay this to Isit. We'll start combing the market. From her vantage point, she can watch for anyone reacting to being looked for." The kettle is screaming and hissing, boiling over fully at the sheer conceit — as though they could just take up in the shadows again after all they've done. They're quick, sure. They're perceptive. They're experienced. But they're not bloody psychic, and Lette intends to retrieve the brain samples to prove it. Per 14; no surrender, no retreat
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Feb 25, 2014 06:38
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Lette "Angry" doesn't begin to sell it. Lette is a votive brazier to any god who'd leave this quarry nailed to a tree — a torch on a starless night, set to burn every shadow out of being. Thus did she join the others on the hunt, speaking fewer words than she meant, letting the destruction of each outpost punctuate the events. They extended themselves, even stepping outside of the city, all on the word of a being just as deserving of her vengeance as these knaves. And through it all, there was a grasping for something more. Even as an occupant of her own head, she felt unsatisfied. Memories of the vision imparted by Meleuz are somehow soothing — a sort of perverse assurance that the potential to accomplish something does lay ahead. Perhaps that potential wore skin the color of ash and soot. So be it; it occurred to her once or twice, in the course of three fruitless days, that she had always rather fancied shades of gray. But were they truly fruitless? The mission to root them out failed, but they had set them scurrying, for certain. And, when their route carried them nearer to the swamplands, Lette had requested a moment to pause and commune with Acanthi. She had promised she would return now and then, after all. And so it came to pass that, in the course of her push to chase the night away, Lette's feelings were laid bare to the child. Just as earth-mother exemplified care, defense, so did sun-mother embody justice, and the prosecution of all the foul things beyond his border. In this time of frank and patient revelation, even stretching to include dangers previously unmentioned — the Eagles, who seek an order that would not permit his existence; Eforiel, she who consumes the vital spirit — Lette finally decided on the boon Acanthi had granted her when she had been both mother and midwife to his new existence. In her mind's eye, the realm of her dream, she shapes the mammoth furnace she had previously erected around the central flame. At its side, a circular opening takes shape, and resolves into locking valve fixture. Nearby, a bit of the obsidian ground gives way to a patch of dark mud, and from this emerges that which she requested: the likeness of thick piping, which she pressed into the furnace's modification and twisted, locking it with a satisfying series of deep, metallic clacks. All she had asked: a connection — something more concrete to carry with her — along with the understanding that just as she had fed him, so too might he one day be called upon to feed her flame. And the object of this calling: a lever-operated valve to regulate the flow. --- She is not present as Roland's note finds the others. In her room in the inn, she sits in the bath, contemplating her actions. Gradually, the water dies down from a steady boil, and is scarcely more than mildly scalding by the time she returns to the present. She takes this as a sign that she ought to get started on her day. In the common area, the others are poring over a note. "What news?" She scans it and nods. "Are we to be front and center for this?" Lette is calling in her Favor, such that she can get Dream Swamp Gas piped in to her Flameworks Engine or whatever, for bigger and more amazing shenanigans on that side of the veil. I dunno exactly what any of this entails. But that's half the fun.
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Mar 12, 2014 15:38
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Lette "Unless they can stick that spider crap in an explosive, I assume it'll be something more hands-on. Gods, I hope they can't," she adds. "She said she's not working for them. Given that they're working against everybody, I have to assume she'll have an interest in trying to stop them, too. Maybe she'll crop back up when it all starts." Lette scowls. "I don't like this at all. If they kick their plan into high gear and we can't find them, then we'll need to change our approach, and figure a way to drive as many people out of the city as we can. I've got some ideas, but they're partial at best and, at the risk of giving away the twist, they all involve fire. Floor's open to other suggestions."
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Mar 29, 2014 22:30
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Lette Lette shrugs. "I got nothing. We've been to the stone circle, it ain't there. That's a bit far anyway. Their places in town are toast. They wouldn't touch temples, lest reveal themselves to their greatest foes. Seriously, what's left? City hall itself?"
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Apr 22, 2014 04:02
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Lette "No, not much," she quietly agrees. The muffling effect makes it hard for her to hear her own voice, though she still tries to keep it down. "It's fine; we need to act quickly." So what will it be, then? Fire? Seems the obvious choice, but in what capacity? As she weighs her options, she lets her eyes unfocus, just trying to get a sense of the effect around her. Whether they can halt this or not, people must be warned, but however much noise they make won't matter from within. For a spell this powerful, she reasons, must be in place only tenuously; she can scarcely fathom sustaining such a spell over so large an area for long. Perhaps, if she finds the right fulcrum point... "If we're about to get loud up here, might as well make it count." Using Detect Magic ability (per 14 scan, IQ 13 analyze). If she can analyze it, she'll use Wild Talent to mock it up (effective skill 20) in conjunction with Counterspell 18. Whatever happens, let's at least make sure people know to get to safety! Effective skill is the lower of the two (so 18) and cost is half that of the spell countered. Note: the above is contingent on Martin's intel; if he sees any reason she shouldn't break the spell, she won't try Aeolius fucked around with this message at 03:03 on May 1, 2014 |
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Apr 30, 2014 03:12
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Lette "Good thing, I think. But 'an' arrow?" Lette asks distantly. "Use 'em all. I could try to stick flame on your arrows, if that'd help your thing; been thinking about how that might go." Aeolius fucked around with this message at 14:04 on Apr 30, 2014 |
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Apr 30, 2014 05:29
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Lette A chill. As the enchantment vanishes, what follows is felt all the more clearly, and its essence is odious to a degree unknown. "They're using something like Spider's magic, and hard. No, worse: It's like halfway between hers and what I felt in the void." She turns to Isit. "Aim well," she says, gathering the strands of a spell in the form of a melody. If there indeed remained any doubt as to their identity, Lette removes it by playing something altogether new. Second and final Wild Talent. Casting Flaming Missiles (20) on Isit's bow. Should cost another 2 FP net, leaving me with 4/12, on the brink of exhaustion straightaway. Oorah. Aeolius fucked around with this message at 05:46 on May 5, 2014 |
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May 5, 2014 05:43
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Lettequote:Dear Wren, The scene was a mess in short order. Had she fired a flare into the air, absent any enchantment to mask it? All passed too quickly. Jets of flame drew from reserves she doubted she even still had — perhaps not her own. Another detail lost to the haze of battle. At some point she took a shallow cut to her thigh. So much had apparently happened. It's a puzzle, really. From the moment Isit's arrows began to burn like fingers of the sun, only a few events stand out in memory. quote:I am coming to kill you. She remembers catching one straight in the face with her jet. Even before he fell back off the ledge and broke his neck on the cobbles below, it was clear eyes, a nose and lips were no longer among his features. She remembers closing on Wren — or had it been Mary all along? — and staring down the shaft of a nocked arrow. She remembers singing with a voice far more ancient than her own. It was the voice of the one she'd met in her dreams. And she remembers the arrow passing harmlessly through the parting flames where a solid body had stood a split second before. Her hand, no longer emitting but composed of flame, reached forward, into the gasping breach before her. Ever so delicately, she plucked at an instrument unlike any other. A scream halted abruptly as her ministrations transmute the issuing larynx into charcoal. It would never sound again, true to the lore — stolen, along with the color of her eyes, by a fae. Indeed, Wren's life had a fairy tale ending. quote:Love, --- Isit's joke gets a smirk. "You know I'd never tell you who to threaten; just follow your bliss. And I'll do the same — that fireproofing of his needs a proper stress test." Now it's a big ol' poo poo-eating grin. As she comes within range of her cousin, her cousin-in-law, her adoptive grandpa, she gives each a rib-cracking hug. She stares down at the summit, proceeding in what appeared for all the world to be an amicable fashion. "Think it'll work?" She already knows the answer: if the fates see fit. The whole godfangled affair is up to the leaders and their people, now. For now, they could turn eyes to other matters. They could pause from the existential dread of war. They could see to a barony in need. Not to say, of course, she wouldn't be obligated to keep a hand in matters here. Perhaps her right hand; since the fulfillment of a promise made in the pages of a journal and committed to fire, since the finch stole the song of the wren, from fingers to elbow, her right arm had taken on now-familiar shades of mottled ash. No great surprise, really. She claps this hand against her other, still obviously human one, as Martin finishes his oration. "Real sweet of you to practice Baroning on us and all." Turning to Dolan, she gives a light strum. "C'mon. We'll patch up these scratches and hit the horses. I swear we'll get you comfortable in the saddle one of these days..." A new day beckons. --- And each day saw the sun plot a familiar course, ultimately taking it back to the earth. So, too, a sun-mother. On an indeterminate night, a harpy passing over the area known as Acanthi catches the faint glint of moonlight off a muddied tangle of skin and scale, resting contentedly under the boughs. He smiles, adjusting his course for a landing. Aeolius fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Jun 17, 2014 |
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Jun 17, 2014 04:48
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