The Winter Long [Knights Obsidian + invite]

[H3xle]

Tags: [member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] [member="A'Runda"] [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="krest"]
Location: Garden of Ice Statues

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Savrek shook his head at her apologetic look, giving her a toothy grin in return.

"It was truly a long shot, I have not been trained in much regarding the outward use of the force. I utilize it mostly to augment my hunting skills, and so use mostly internalized forms of force expression." He explained softly. "I have heard of the Confederacy, though I have never traveled within its bounds. I have not heard of the Aeshma, though. Perhaps my quarry is a member of this cult, or mayhaps he stumbled upon the entry to this world. Either way, I have lost him."

Savrek looked at the children statues around them, then at the area surrounding the horrid garden.

"If this is truly the work of this cult, what is the purpose of these statues. Is this merely their most expedient way of dealing with the children? Do they use this place often?" He pondered aloud, sniffing the air more, then cursing under his breath. "This frozen wind does not allow scents to linger long. I cannot smell anything much older than you and your people here. Have you been made aware of any fastnesses where this cult may gather?"

He turned toward Madalena once more. She definitely knew more about this place than he did, and so he naturally deferred to her. It was also her mission, his own now being to aid her to the best of his ability.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Tags: [member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] [member="A'Runda"] [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Rhaellor"] [member="Krest"] [member="Savrek Monn"] [member="Peen-Too"]
Location:
Wearing: Armor | Leather Pants | Pathfinder Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis | Sofitor
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives | Fire and Smoke (lightsabers) | Hidden Wrist Blades | Knight Obsidian Sword | 4 Glitter Bullets

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The purpose of these statues? Madalena shook her head, uncertain. There were no answers that she had to give to Savrek, nothing that would give either of them even the faintest clue. "We knew the children were disappearing into this dimension," she said carefully, "but we didn't know what was actually being done to them. This… This is shocking, and an unwelcome surprise. I'd hoped they were at least keeping them alive somewhere, but if they're ice statues…"

Then perhaps that meant that those who were already transparent ice were well and truly dead.

Sighing, Madalena turned her face to what she thought was the north. The others who had joined the mission were already separated, each going off after another lead. She hoped they would all come back alive, but she couldn't go on looking for each and every one of them at present.

Then again, she did have Savrek's willingness now. So perhaps…

"Let's head that direction," she suggested, "I can't really reach out with the Force here, not like I'm used to outside of here. But I have a feeling we might find something there."

 

[H3xle]

Tags: [member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] [member="A'Runda"] [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="krest"]
Location: Garden of Ice Statues

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Savrek turned his head in that direction and nodded. He stretched and twisted a little to work his cramped muscles, then began to head in the direction indicated.

"I have found the Force to be difficult to manipulate as well. Your spell seemed to work well, I wonder if utilizing a focus such as that would make the Force more reliable. It is not something I am familiar with in any intimate way." He paused for a moment in speech, while continuing to walk and watch their surroundings. Questions popped into his head to ask, but he was not sure if it would be appropriate to continue to probe her Force knowledge at a time like this, so he held onto them.


After a short while, Savrek began to catch the edges of a scent trace. It was faint, drifting to his nostrils on a stray piece of frigid wind, then gone again as quickly. It was an odd scent, with faint traces of blood, but also the scent of what he could only describe as stale ice.

"Madalena, I have a...scent. It is there and gone again quickly, but very distinct when I have it." He paused again as it came to him momentarily, and he paused to try to capture the most of it. "Stale ice with hints of blood within it. Does that make any sense to you?" He started moving with her again. "It keeps coming the more we move in this direction, getting stronger with each time it comes. It is not something I have come across before."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Tags: [member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] [member="A'Runda"] [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Rhaellor"] [member="Krest"] [member="Savrek Monn"] [member="Peen-Too"]
Location:
Wearing: Armor | Leather Pants | Pathfinder Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis | Sofitor
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives | Fire and Smoke (lightsabers) | Hidden Wrist Blades | Knight Obsidian Sword | 4 Glitter Bullets

Madalena mulled over Savrek's words. It was true that the Force was not working in its usual ways here; she was cut off from her Blood Hound abilities and other powers were dysfunctional as well. Other people that had arrived here had reported similar symptoms. But then why had her spell worked? There was no consistency to the realm's logic that she could decipher.

The two continued to walk, and for a while Madalena had no words to offer. No words of comfort, no words of reassurances, not even theories.

When he paused, she did so as well, glowing green eyes focusing on him before he spoke of the scent he had caught. Ice with blood, moving their way. Something new.

Grinning, Madalena let a knife slide into each of her hands. "Let's go see what it is," she almost laughed, finally feeling that thrill of the upcoming kill. Something was going to get stabbed. Motioning for Savrek to join us, she broke into a run into the direction he had motioned to.

It wasn't long before they found it – three adults surrounding a child. Yet unlike with Savrek, the child went from full flesh to full ice right before their eyes. There was no gradual thing happening. It was just… Instant death.

Madalena spit and jumped in. "Keep one alive, kill the others!" she screamed as she began went for the one nearest them, moving swifter than a woman of her size had any right to.

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Location: Winter White
Gear: Armor l Lightsaber Yari l Pistol
Peps: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Savrek Monn"]
Post: ??

The trude back towards the main group seemed longer then her initial trek, this place seemed to fuck up any sense of time and proper direction, thankfully her sense of smell was not hampered by the other dimensional but her nose did not pick up the usual smell of Madalena. No she smelt something more primal, like an animal, had the group picked up a new companion? What ever the case it made tracking them down easier, soon her ears taking reign of the direction, the sound of voices, shouting echoing through the empty lifeless trees.

Her feet hastened, force pushing the snow apart, letting her military boots slam into the harden dirt, propelling the vampire forward faster, her figure busting out from the nearby forest, in time to see the team leader and a wolf man attacking a group of cultists, right in the middle of some statue making. The sight was rage inducing, immediately the women unsheathing her combat knife, performing a combat role upon hitting the ground, slicing the caff of a cultists, making them fall to the ground in pain, turning the snow a deep shade of red.

"Hope I didn't miss the party, also who is the new dog"? Kurenai asked with a raised voice over the sound of combat, her hands drawing her side arm with lightly speed and precision, without looking nailing a cultist on the lung with a slug.

 

[H3xle]

Tags: [member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] [member="A'Runda"] [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="krest"]
Location: Garden of Ice Statues

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A soft, subvocal growl graced the air immediately around Savrek as they found the three encasing a child in ice. Madalena leapt to the attack before Savrek could, but he was close behind her.

"Keep one alive, kill the others!"

Savrek nodded and targeted the one to the left of the one Madalena had attacked. Another scent closed in, but it was one that was familiar. Savrek didn't pause in his attack, instead tackling the cultist to the ground as he turned and tried to sink a dagger into his chest. The dagger went flying as the cultist was brought to the ground, burying him in the snow. He heard a shot, and the third cultist went down, so Savrek pointedly did not sink his claws or teeth into the one he had. Instead, he flipped him over and held him face down in the snow.

"Got one!"

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Tags: [member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] @A'Runda [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Krest"] @Savrek @Monn Peen-Too
Location:
Wearing: Armor | Leather Pants | Pathfinder Boots | The Forgemaster's Ring | Ring of Stasis | Sofitor
Wielding: 10 Czerka knives | 2 Nastirci Combat Knives | Fire and Smoke (lightsabers) | Hidden Wrist Blades | Knight Obsidian Sword | 4 Glitter Bullets

Three enemies – and with the joining of [member="Kurenai Yumi"] to the group, there were three people on their side to fight them. The vampire got the calves of one of them, proceeding to shoot him in the torso. Even without her Blood Hound abilities, Madalena knew the man would be dead in seconds. Savrek went for the other one, tackling and taking care of him, whist keeping him alive.

That left Madalena herself with the last one, who'd been the first he'd gone for. The child they had surrounded was entirely iced now; transparent, frozen water. There was no life in him left. Opting to pass on her usually flashy method of killing things, Madalena let a knife slide into her hand and simply decapitated her opponent wordlessly, letting his head roll onto to the snow before his body collapsed.

With a sigh, she turned to face the other two. To the hearing of Savrek being referred to as dog, she narrowed her eyes. "Let's try to not insult each other while we're in a different dimension and cut off from at least some of our powers and abilities," she said to the taller woman, before turning to the cultist that Savrek had been holding for them.

Sighing, she grabbed her knife, still bloodied, and sat atop the cultist.

"Okay, where are we?" she asked, pointing it at him.

"I will tell you nothing!" came the reply.

Madalena grinned. Within an instant, her knife was on his face, cutting off the thinnest slice of skin, first just enough to raise a small patch, and she pulled. The man beneath her tried to get away but she was having none of it. The shrieks and screams that erupted from him as she skinned him were… Well, she wasn't a sadist, so it wasn't exactly music to her ears, but she could not say it bothered her too much either.

"Again," she repeated.

"Winter! WINTER!" he screamed. Well. That was slightly disappointing. Madalena prepped another piece of skin on his face.

"Why are children being brought here?" was her next question. The man shook his head and Madalena sighed, this time stopping only a precious millimeter before it reached his eye's wet line.

But instead of giving her the answers, the man did something else.

Madalena had precious little time to react before he swirled his tongue inside his mouth, and then spit at her. Yet what came towards her face was not saliva, but a fine golden powder that seemed to be quickly making its way towards the faces of [member="Savrek Monn"] and [member="Kurenai Yumi"] as well.

Well chit.

 

[Kurenai Yumi]

Location: Winter White
Gear: Armor l Lightsaber Yari l Pistol
Peps: [member="Scherezade deWinter"] [member="Savrek Monn"]
Post: ??

Kurenai turned to face their team leader with a slightly confused look once the threat was suppressed, tongue gliding along her blood soaked combat knife, licking up the warm crimson liquid before sheathing it. "What insult? did I say something wrong"? She was honestly contused with Madalena's statement but ultimately forgot about it upon seeing the wolf man and their pinned prey, hopefully answers would be given this day, already had to many children lost their lives to theirs monsters.

Arms cross Kurenai waited behind the green eyed women, her gaze stern and menacing, all her hate directed at the cultists, his yells of pain being music to her ears, even if such didn't make up for even and inch of what they had done. Her fingers curled harder around her arms, itching to have a go at the man once Madalena was done, unfortunately it didn't seem that the man was very useful, nothing out of their mouth so far had enlightened the group to this place in anyway.

It was quickly becoming a frustrating matter one that quickly went to deadly as the man reacted in a very peculiar manner. What ever was coming Kurenai did not stick around to find out, gut instinct telling to doge and put distance between her and the cultist, hands grasping for weapons once more, gaze still stern and unwavering. "I'd ask what that was but to be frank I'm not feeling very accommodating right now, you think tranquilizer darts will do anything against him", her question being backed up by the cocking of.

Sights quickly lined up with their face, barrel aimed at the exposed flesh caused by Madalenas little interrogation.

 

[Paragon of Virtue]

[member="Fawn Alzi"] [member="Kurenai Yumi"] [member="Nine Lives"] [member="Ithiel Vi'Dreya"] [member="Asher Mossa"] [member="A'Runda"] [member="Darth Tacitus"] [member="Taramaz Laurs"] [member="Kasca Fen"] [member="Savrek Monn"]​

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Winter. That was the name of the dimension they were in. The fine golden powder that had been sent into [member="Scherezade deWinter"] 's [Madalena Antares] face had stopped the mission entirely.

Three paths had there been – the path of Blood, the path of Tears, and the path of Candle Light. Yet now it appeared there was another – the path of Gold.

And as the golden powder hit her face, it was not just her that was transferred, but all the Confederates who were within the Winter dimension as well, landing right in the very same chamber from which they had all embarked on the journey to save the children.

And not a single child had been saved.

Worse, they had not gotten to the bottom of the problem, and had found no way to ensure no other children would be snatched in the future. Each of those who had been to Winter were now left with only two viable ways of getting there and back, which meant – only one chance left.

A quick meeting had been called, accounts of the events that had transpired being taken from all those who had been there, and before the day was over, the Knights Obsidian orders were clear. Do not go to Winter.

The Confederacy would take the time, investigate further, before another attempt was made. The battle was lost, but the war against the Aeshma was far from over. They would all learn, become wiser, and above all – do better next time.

And find the way to bring the missing children home, alive or dead.

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The thread is over, but those who wish to resume posting in it may - all those who were in the Winter realm are now back at the starting room.