Sutoratosu

Well, if we'd all just stop fucking about like we've been doing the past few maps since the enemies just wanted to throw themselves at us till they were all dead (or double/triple dead, as was the last case), perhaps we'll stand a chance to survive to the end game. come with a plan, or leave in defeat, they always say...

Look at your own supports before you call another couple's offspring 'demonspawn' tyvm My lord, how rude good sir... >:c

Hmmmmm... that sounds... eerily familiar... but from where, I wonder...?

Actually, screw it. Know what, let's make this the events of post-A rank rather than occurring post-S rank, makes the perfect test for Ecquis's true resolve to get to the final level; having to somehow convince her that them being together isn't just another terrible disaster waiting to happen... serious Bonus points if he does it by building up to some corny yet endearingly foolish shit like "Fuck the curse, I'll take my chances" or "Then I'll just cut the binds of fate if that's what it takes!" or "What do we say to death? Not today..." or perhaps even "If the choice is dying at your side one day, or living the rest of my days without you, I'd rather die!" Even more bonus points if he somehow flips her own logic around and convinces her that the people who died were sacrificed only so she could survive this conflict, and killing herself would thus make all their deaths in vain, hence the only way to make up for their loss would be to continue living and find happiness with the chance at life so many died to provide

No... it really doesn't; see, killing herself by plummeting hundreds of feet to the waves below, isn't the same as being targeted by an archer or something and struck down in battle in place of equis or someone else. The thing with her is that none of the people who got killed thanks to the curse actually intended to die, some of them might've accepted it once they realized there was no way to avoid it and they were screwed either way, but no one woke up in the morning and ever said "Hmm.... think I'm gonna get myself killed by procing Maya's curse today, yeah that sounds good..." But if we're gonna be real technical, it doesn't really matter either way, cause it actually ain't a curse, at least not in the sense she thinks it is... but that's something to be discuss and expanded upon IC. She thinks she's cursed, but uh... there be some shitty bombs to be dropped later on over why it keeps happening. And S rank would honestly make the problem worse, tbh... then she'd feel all the more guilty and paranoid thinking that her boo was gonna get 86ed like all the others, and that would only be all the more motivation to do it in a misguided attempt to save him from herself Yes, indeed they would be able to. but they'd have to be present and aware it was happening to stop it at all... God, we got some serious shit to talk about, boo rip this got fucking depressing...

That's assuming he can stop her from flinging herself off the highest cliff in the land once the war is over; but... perhaps... though if anything, her death would be from the same causes as her mother, rather than going down in battle. And she'll probably still be relatively young when it happens, leaving Ecquis to raise the kids on his own as a widower There are some things not even Freyl and all his ingenuity and knowledge with dark magic can protect her from... Genetics being the biggest of them. The hands of fate aren't done giving Maya the middle finger just yet, I'm afraid.

*Is still fucking alive despite being assaulted by a gaggle of archers and Thunder Mages* "What? Why do you look so smug; you think you're special just because you've survived this long beside me? You fool... others have made it far longer, years even- the curse is inevitable, not instantaneous." Yup, this is definitely gonna be a fun chat...

Watch him almost die here with her standing right next to him this map. It's bound to happen with those reinforcements on the way, bet that would change some minds... Well, and here we were all thinking klaren was gonna be the edgy one this chapter... well no, for maya it's not even fucking edge, just this... morbid determination to stop herself from getting more people killed by removing herself from the world altogether. She's legit doing it more out of a twisted sense of responsibility than angst, she just needs to make sure certain people... pay before she goes forward, make sure at least some justice comes out of it for those already gone.

Jesus, we really gotta have a talk about this IC at some point. Though technically, she already brought up her intentions to Meredith so...

"You realize you'll end up dead just like everyone I've known before you if you spend too much time around me, right? This is the best for everyone involved... don't try and stop it Ecquis" "Ecquis! Don't listen to her, I seriously, seriously fucked up with how I did things man, you gotta stop her for me!" ((BTW I'm not fucking joking about this shit, this is a legit thought that she's been keeping in the back of her mind...))

So uh, Inno... question. How does Karen's Man Servant know Rame's name when it literally hasn't been uttered aloud even once since the start of this and she never actually introduced herself to anyone?

"I'd sooner fling myself off the nearest cliff than actually take orders from that conceited fool. Oh, wait... I was already going to do that once this was all said and done anyway...nevermind then."

eh, you all brought this situation upon yourselves. I can't say we in the southern group have much sympathy...

Psssst Intsys, Lucille isn't actually in veiw in the hall, she's somewhere around the corner more or less giving into a ptsd flashback. Only the bird is there, hence why I split Aquila senpai's section into two parts with her finding them and then returning

Aquila Senpai If the bird had the vocal cord structure required to curse in every language she knew, she'd be doing right about the time the wall burst into a mess of rubble and dust. Quite honestly, she didn't know what the hell to do... obviously there was going to be someone coming up to investigate. This no-brain little fucker here had quite effectively destroyed their cover, and well... even despite being ordered by his side, at this point she figured it would be best to you know... not be caught with the idiot. She was already long out of the hole in the wall and flying down the hall before the other two got a move on. It wasn't easy soaring in such cramped quarters, but somehow she managed it well enough. And she didn't have to go long before she noticed... her prescence. Lucille & Des She wouldn't move a step further. No matter what the mouse tried, she was like a statue as she crouched down low, her mind going frantic all over again at the other end of their link. It was only when the explosion came seconds later and the whole building shook that he understand why though- she'd sensed and anticipated the tremor blast long before it had actually reached them...perhaps it really was a mistake for him to push her like this. Especially if they were under attack now; he had no idea she'd be too consumed with phobia to fight or would hold nothing back, just as a cornered animal desperate for escape wouldn't. He got his answer though, as the air began to warp and distort around them, waves of pure sonic energy layering overtop each other hundreds of thousands of times to create a virtually impregnable wall between them and the outside world. He knew what she was expecting. But he supposed he couldn't blame her; with the force they'd just felt, it was only logical to worry the place would come down and trap them- oh fucking shit... He sighed a single squeak from atop her shoulder. There was no getting her up after this, fucking hell. This was indeed a mistake, he saw that now... hopefully the others they were assigned with could handle themselves, if something was going down, he didn't think they'd get any assistance from the girl. His calls to her went unanswered... but there was something else that called to him. A signature he'd felt before, but was not that familiar with... There was the Aquila, coming in to land but finding herself violently repulsed backwards by the shield of sound and promptly sent crashing into a nearby end table with a sickening crunch, wood shattering and her skull twisting 180 degrees the wrong way from the whiplash. Des couldn't help but wince at the impact...she didn't move for a few moments. He could've sworn she was incredibly dead, but soon enough, her body briefly engulfed itself in golden flame and she stirred as it died down, head facing the correct direction once more and burning eyes fixing them both with a glare of utter agitation and perplexity...she didn't have to ask what the hell was going on before the mouse launched into an explanation. The bird seemed unmoved. Probably the whole thing about...well, being killed just now by the barrier. But she returned the favor by telling Des all about the motherfucker who had caused this mess to begin with; from how the idiot sniper had trespassed into the girl's room, to how he'd been involved in a game of Dodgeball:WMD edition that had triggered that blast just now... even sent him her own memories from where'd she'd watched. And speaking of powerful magic...she wanted to know how to hell to drop that damn barrier that had cost her one of her resurrections, pointing out the now missing plume from her tail feathers with great indignation. Des though... he could only shrug. Lucille had gone from crouching to sitting on the floor with her legs pulled to her chest and her head buried in her knees, back pressed flush against the wall. He probed their link, tried to reach out. He saw it, the gray space, all over again, the vast corridors and shifting halls that led it's victims further into the darkness of that fiend's mind... long before sanctuary had partially burned during the assault of the elves, it's very existence had hinged on the outcome of a different war... one that both of them had been powerless to stop... one they both carried scars from. Despereaux was simply much better at hiding his... Regardless, he knew what was going on now. She was stuck there again, reliving the ordeal of such depraved scheming. Darkened halls that dripped with the fetid, decaying blood of the fallen, onyx and obsidian facades that muffled screams and distorted themselves like the mirrors of a madhouse. Eyes, eyes everywhere. Darkness so thick no light could penetrate it. And once again, he was powerless to help. ... ... ... Like hell he was. One way or another, he was ending this. If he had to find a way to destroy that memory, then so be it... there had to be a rune for it, somewhere, he'd seen countless of them from countless worlds. somehow, this would end here. he wouldn't stop till he found it. And if he couldn't find it, he would fucking create it from scratch using the components of others. "Leave us." The command was so sudden and forceful over the link that the Aquila glared at him as the thought hammered home in her own mind. Such arrogance as to command her when she could easily gobble him for lunch...The burning white radiance of the mouse's eyes in response were enough to give her pause though. "Leave. You're no use to me here. Find the others. Be the eyes and ears like your damn job demands; there's still other work to be done. I won't bother to say it again, avian. Test my patience if you dare." Aquila Senpai Oh how she wanted to eat him... yet for some reason, she doubted she'd survive an all out duel with the rodent, as ridiculous as such a notion was- an eagle being felled by one of it's own prey... still, she didn't want to push her luck. She had no idea what Des could do with sufficient motivation, nor did she feel like testing the waters with any of her lives. Reluctantly, she took off down the hall, back towards the way she came, as much she didn't want to return to the sniper, it was better than pissing off the rat by lingering a second longer. She turned the corner only to stop as the sniper was interrogated by the girl's guardian... and perched herself on an end table nearby without a sound, still wondering... just what the hell did that rodent intend to do? "So, I think you own me an explanation, Mr. Angel. Who are you, and are you doing here?" Though hell, perhaps the even more important question was how the hell would the sniper explain away all of this...

That's why I sent you to deal with him They saw what the other group did to their buddies. They ain't coming for us until reinforcements arrive. Our little brigade is so damn good, they know the only way they can hope to survive this encounter is mobbing us with sheer strength of numbers.

Rame Things happened fast, too fast. The next thing the girl knew she was face down in the dirt with a searing pain shooting all up and down the length of her leg. Hot blood poured from the new wound, the arrow having completely penetrated flesh and broken bone from such close range, shaft and arrow completely impaling the joint. Her heartflame meanwhile did what it could to increase the body heat around the affliction to staunch the blood lose, as it simultaneously weighed the risks and reward of continuing to exert violent force... the outcome it came to was... not favorable. Without a word, the girl's body ceased to move as the flame reached out internally and brought all muscles to a halt, her infernal drive taking the driver's wheel out of her hands by now as her mind struggled with the myriad of sensations washing over her battered form. Even as she felt control of herself wrested away though, Rame did not resist the inferno's pull. With the destruction of her leg, she had enough on her mind as it was, slipping into the passenger seat was something she preferred, if only for the limited solace it gave as her sensation of the damage dulled... From it's own analysis, the flame knew there was no way it could win a potential engagement as this in such poor physical state, with all the bodie's usable Lumen reserve gone and the crippling knee injury making it impossible to even stand. The best chance to survive to burn another day... was to simply do nothing. Hence, all her body did was lie there inert, glaring up at the weapon pointed towards her neck with the same malice and contempt it had held for the laser boy... but even as it did, the radiant gleam of her eyes and the strange pulsating light emanating from the center of her chest both began to dim, the core temperature lowering back to stable levels...for now. "........................." It was ironic, it occurred to the flame, how quickly they had gone from predator to prey... but that was fine. There would come a day when it would not be so. If she died, it died as well... and unacceptable as this quick dispatchment was, it simply showed the ethereal blaze just how truly weak the girl really was in the end... something it would simply have to work to remedy in the future...and of course, by it, it meant the girl, under it's direction... There would come a day for it's rage and fury to be unleashed yet, for the unyielding storm of frenzied heat and light that would sear all that stood before it to utter ash and cinder and tear it's enemies asunder with it's merciless wrath, pure and ultimate destruction incarnate... but obviously, today was not that day. But the flame could wait... it had always waited. Waiting, watching, plotting their liberation, giving the girl subtle hints what to do, lowering those inhibitions so that she could easily commit to what they needed to do when it was needed... It's wait would simply have to continue a bit longer now. Yes, but someday... "Someday..." Rame heard whisper through her mind, it's voice little more than a crackle and hiss of flaming wood... "Someday... we will burn our chains. And then, them all."

See ya'll were all killey-killey, burny-shocky-staby at first, now you're sitting around scratching your heads in indecision. The misfit group though... we got our shit together.

So that means, no, I can't be countered even at a cheeky range of 1~Also yay to that second part about staff quality! at least now I won't end up with an empty orb from fucking missing all the time...lord, the regrets I have for not putting more into MAG growth...forgive me, ya'll, I failed you. Anyways... Zet, since you proposed this idea, and I missed just as I knew I would, get yo ass over to your bae and kill this axe-fanboy for me...or Klaren can handle it, if he's not too scared. either one works fine. or both, I don't care, I just want him dead. Like... now.

"Goddess Damnit, really?" She muttered beneath her breath as the fighter stayed strong. It was amazing really, the damn thing had hit spot on but failed to do actually knock the fool out... usually how it played it was one of only two ways: The shot hit and did as it was supposed to, or the thing went wide or zigzagged or...something ridiculous mid flight, as if possessed of a will of it's own, and missed the mark entirely. With the latter of those two being the most common ending... this though? This was like being mocked by fate... "I'll never understand how papa always put up with these bedamned affliction gems and their fickle nature...it's simpler and less frustrating to just stand back and let the others deal with the opposition while you keep them intact." "Look, Eqcuis," She called to the rider in the distance, her tone rather blunt "you might as well just come and kill the poor bastard; even if the spell had done it's damn job, he probably would've still ended up dead in the end."

Eh, he probably could, but still, it does make things a bit more messier than they need to be considering we wanted to get this done quickly and without a whole lot of outside back and forth with other folks jumping in: