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Post by Admin on Jul 1, 2021 4:00:44 GMT
But not knowing how any of that works in this shadow she is effectively blind to direction. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dalt continues to stare at something around the corner. It must be quite interesting.
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 1, 2021 10:52:50 GMT
[OOC: Her senses should work the same in any shadow because they are a part of her biology. An arbitrary magnetic direction (North) can still be used to navigate unless the magnetic field is moving (which should be detectable while the character is stationary). Concurrent shadows, especially this close to Amber, should have basically concurrent natural rules... That's just my rant, sorry if it offends.]
Lorelei waits a little longer. If Dalt continues to effectively keep her in the dark, she will move closer as silently as she can and, more or less at ground level, uses her compact mirror to see around the corner, careful not to give away her position by throwing any reflected light. .
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Post by Admin on Jul 2, 2021 3:38:18 GMT
[OOC: Why do you think this place is close to Amber?]
Sidling up to Dalt she looks around the corner with her mirror and sees Brian walking down the street in deep concentration.
"The fool didn't pay attention the last time the beast attacked," Dalt whispers.
Lorelei can feel a rumble coming from below the street, same as just before the hellmole attacked her.
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 2, 2021 10:07:10 GMT
[[OOC: I was certain I read somewhere that to travel from Amber to the Courts one could use the Royal way with the trip taking basically a year, or one could do a round-the-clock Hellride and manage to do it in a week, marching an army that distance would take three or four months... I haven't been able to locate that source, but that does seem about right for the Hellride when compared to the novels. That means one could travel through a VERY large number of shadows before reaching Yggdrasil - the tree that marks the half-way point between Amber and the Courts of Chaos proper, where beyond that point other rules prevail...
In the case of Kasaba, the few times its location is mention, it's just outside the Golden Circle (shadows close to Amber with favorable trade and military treaties all) and close enough to Amber to warrant having its shadow-paths closed down due to the invasion by Chaos style forces... That strongly suggest that it is like Amber in most of its physical laws (the obvious differences being gunpowder, electricity, and internal combustion), but being culturally and technologically different (a 40's Casablanca vs a Medieval-to-Early-Renaissance monarchy's seat of power).]]
Feeling the rumble underground, Lorelei prepares herself by drawing her sword, ready to go wide on the beast while leaving the closer vector clear for Dalt. Depending on Dalt's actions, the wide and the close can easily be flipped. Her intent is to hamstring the beast in her first attack and improvise with her blade after that. .
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Post by Admin on Jul 2, 2021 19:48:25 GMT
[OOC: Shadow isn't that 'linear', and travel speed depends on psyche rank.]
Dalt grabs her wrist mid-draw and lowers her sword back into its scabbard.
"That thing nearly killed you last time, and you are in no shape for a rematch. You will be safe long as you don't do anything stupid." he tells her.
Lorelei can hear the sound of battle between Brian and the beast.
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 3, 2021 1:47:05 GMT
[[OOC: I was working from the model that the closer one is to Amber the more linear the shadows are - Pole of Order and all - (although primal shadows can add some froth to the mix) and shadow is a very, very big place, effectively infinite. One's imagination limits how far off-axis one gets from the area between the poles. No arguments on the speed of shadow-travel being affected by Psyche (and cross-shadow teleports and Trump)... ]]
Lorelei stares at Dalt for a moment, trying to work out why he is being so protective. According to the stories he's not exactly the hero type. Is it some deep buried sense of family connection? Was it because she is a woman and his core Alpha Male-ness demands it? Whatever the case, it's wrong to leave Brian to face the beast alone. How is he going to learn to pay more attention to his surroundings if he doesn't survive?
Mentally working as fast as she can, Lorelei begins reordering and tweaking the lynch-pins for her Shock spell. The changes were not elegant, but they should work well enough. She gives Brian the chance to try maneuvering the beast since it's obvious that is what he is doing. When its back is to her, Lorelei leans out and half-throws/half-flips a coin aiming as close as she can for the beasts center-of-mass. The coins sails silently through the air until it lands on the creatures back. She watches as it convulses and howls. She knows that from its perspective it has just been hit by a bolt of Broken Pattern-backed lightning, not entirely unlike tangling with an angry giant electric-eel... .
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Post by Admin on Jul 3, 2021 2:16:09 GMT
"Damn it! I told you not to do anything stupid," Dalt says while drawing his sword and pushing Lorelei aside.
The beast jumps in the air a few feet from the shock of the spell then turns to charge straight at Lorelei but not before Brian scores a long gash along its flank.
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 3, 2021 3:42:20 GMT
For a moment too short to express in words, Lorelei wishes she had more grenades which she could feed the beast like breath mints. They might not have much effect on its outside, but from the inside they would be devastating... As the situation stands, she is rather impressed that the beast is still conscious, as in the past that spell has killed creatures many times this one's size. And the next thought was 'why and how did it immediately orient on the "water witch" when the attack arrived from above?'
She draws her sword and braces herself. If this beast still moves to quickly to dodge, that leaves the other strategy. When it is within striking distance, Lorelei will dive forward plunging her Pattern Blade into its mouth such that when it goes to bite down the sword's point will be driven up through its brain. The tricky part will be keeping herself off of its teeth... .
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Post by Admin on Jul 3, 2021 3:58:12 GMT
Lorelei doesn't get the chance to strike. With some combination of Aikido and her leg still being weak, Dalt places a hand on her shoulder and, with a little twist, sends hr sprawling across the street out of the creature's path. Doing so doesn't allow him to dodge the thing, and the beast grabs him in its great jaws. Lorelei can hear the sound of its teeth and Dalt's ribs shattering from the impact. The thing continues to run down the street, carrying the large man with it. The wounds it has suffered cause it to veer to the left continuously, and Dalt suffers a series of smashes against lampposts, stairways and walls.
"Damn!" "Blast!" "Bugger!" she hears her uncle yell as he is carried off into the darkness.
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Post by Brian on Jul 3, 2021 5:56:48 GMT
Brian sighs a bit at that and looks at Lor. His face is annoyed but his mouth is amused.
" You my dear are trouble." He laughed softly. "While we need to get back to that deceitful woman and the Others we cant ket him get killed." He makes his way after the beast.
" I wonder if its tuned to Magic...like an alternate sense."
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Post by Admin on Jul 3, 2021 6:33:16 GMT
The beast runs fast, even if erratically and is lost somewhere in the dark, twisting streets. Lorelei's leg is still bad enough that she can only limp along and would be unable to keep up the necessary pace.
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 3, 2021 7:42:29 GMT
"Good to see you too," Lorelei replies. "I'm getting low on spells, and with my leg like it is now, we are going to need a vehicle to catch up to that beast. We should also be ready to feed it some boom-boom snacks."
"My last spell should have killed or at least rendered it unconscious. With it being as tough as it is, I would not rule out the possibility that it has alternate senses as well. What I am certain of is that I was not using any spells or powers when it targeted me the first time. I am uncertain why it spun directly toward me with that last spell since it was delivered from above, carried by a tossed coin..."
"I should be able to track Dalt using the same method that led me to him this time, unless you would prefer to do the tracking. We need to 'find' an unguarded vehicle with weapons and ammunition aboard, and we need to do so quickly. My fog is already becoming patchy and I doubt we will have more than another fifteen minutes of cover... I'm currently down to a Wall of Ice and some healing magic, and Dalt will be needing that..." .
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Post by Admin on Jul 3, 2021 8:17:45 GMT
Lprelei is becoming worn out between the injuries and magic use. Might not be much left in her tank, and as these things always seem to go she'll run dry at the most inopportune time.
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Post by Brian on Jul 3, 2021 9:25:01 GMT
"Gowl" Brian mutters under his breath. He turns to Lor. "Lets get you back to Hamm and the rest of the group. Between you and Shelly now there is only one good set of legs." He helps Lor Walk as best she can. "Lets see what lie's she's told about us while we were gone eh?" He gives off a hard exhale. "When you talk to your Mother about this. How do you want to tell her about this? Or do we keep this between each other?" He then says softly "Gowl" and then smiles "And who did the nasty beast drag off like a chew toy."
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Post by Lorelei on Jul 3, 2021 9:56:38 GMT
"NO. We rescue him, then we can go back." Lorelei turns to give Brian an odd look when he mentions Moire. "You're insane if you think I'm going to tell her about this. If the subject of Kasaba is brought up she only needs to know that there was stiff resistance." She hopes that her mother is not having this scryed... one innuendo was more than enough...
"The beast took our uncle Dalt. His mother was Deela, a religious fanatic and raider and all-around pain in everyone's... backside... Bleys killed her by Oberon's order after she went much, much too far. If you believe the stories, Benedict once ran him through and he survived... While he hates Amber, he seems willing to judge each family member on their own merits."
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