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It was inevitable

15 (42.9%)

Winners don't do drugs

6 (17.1%)

I'll be back

2 (5.7%)

Drink the Kool Aid

6 (17.1%)

Groovy

3 (8.6%)

Insane in the membrane

3 (8.6%)

Total Members Voted: 35

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Zechariah nods and says, "I understand. I'm not saying that it makes it right. But don't dwell on what already happened. We'll all recover from this, and I think that River will be fine with you. Instead of worrying about what's already passed over, look to the future. Think about how we'll use our second chance to make things better. That's what we have to hope for."

[Lenglon]

<No. I'm done with thinking for now. I have a chance to relax here and forget my responsibilities without abandoning them, I'm taking it.>

[DarkArtemisFowl]

"That's good, do that. We all need to rest."

Find a place to sit down and maybe nap if possible. If we're going to be moving soon, just lie down and wait to move out.

[Alarith]

((Well that was painful for almost everybody.))

[Parisbre56]

Campaign

<I think so, um, could one of you pick out a set of clothes for me? I'd like to have some but I think I should stay full-fox for now.>
I stand up and see how dizzy I am, if I'm ok, then I hop down and walk over to River. If not, then I stay standing there for a couple moments and see if the world stops spinning.

You jump off the table and land awkwardly but safely.
"Good. We need to decide what to do. If we hurry, I can work on more today." he says and walks out of the door.
Would have been a bit funny if you survived all this just to get killed by a table though.

Find a place to sit down and maybe nap if possible. If we're going to be moving soon, just lie down and wait to move out.

((I am not giving another description of the city because busy. I assume you know where you are. If not, say so.))
The two of you follow River outside once you are done.
The area around you is devoid of life and deathly silent. Not even the wind is blowing.
It's some time past midday, perhaps about three quarters of the day in.
Zechariah should be able to see the refugee camp in the distance and a smaller one being assembled on the opposite side of the road leading to the eastern mountains.

River has turned quadruped again and is currently sniffing a quite large pile of ash, lying amidst two bricks, with a set of footprints leading away from it.

OOC

Cool game, just read through it and it's really impressive how you did it.
PTW

If you want to join, now's a good time since the survival mission just ended.

((Yhea, I'm thinking about it, first stumbling block there, however, is the special power.
How about... A magical sacrificial dagger that causes no pain when a cut is inflicted and heals any wound caused by itself nearly instantly but if you impale yourself through the chest with it and speak the name of an emotion like anger, empathy or fear, a fully formed clone will come out of the wound having only those emotions available. If it is killed then character A loses that emotion permanently.
Perhaps not, however, might be a touch powerful.

What about the ability to near freely change the shape, size, or space of anything not seen while the machine or creature changed will show absolutely no effects until the change has been shown, as in, he could change it so his heart is positioned inside his foot with no negative side effects until any part of his body is opened up or the heart is seen, at which point everything changed then must adhere to whatever reality is in effect at the time, so suddenly he dies from the fact that his heart is completely unable to fit inside his foot and the blood cannot be pumped properly throughout the body, or he could change...
Nah, nah, too weird of an ability, I don't have the imagination to make the most of it.

Well, I'll see if I can put in a character sheet, but it'll take a while of thinking.))

If you want to join, just come up with something you like and let me worry about balance. If I think something is too powerful, I'll either notify you or give you an appropriate disadvantage. It's what I do with all characters. This was supposed to be about PvP combat, so I've put some thought into balancing things.

((Well that was painful for almost everybody.))

That's why you should always wear a seatbelt kids! You never know when a telekinetic assassin is going to cause your car to crash! Safety first!

[Lenglon]

go over to River and sniff the ash myself too.

[Salsacookies]

(Something close quarters would be cool, but not really necessary. I believe my power's very versatile, everything's a piece of armor or a weapon to me, because hardly anything's beyond my capabilities weight wise, and few things can stand in my way. I've kinda learned how my power works more, like it seems to me that impacts and vibrations hardly do anything but sting a bit, but sharp and slice weapons cut through like any regular guy, so steer clear of those. My observation, anyway. I just needed to find a big gun that last mission, then I would have been gold.)

[Parisbre56]

go over to River and sniff the ash myself too.

The ground close to it smells like Ike and ash. Much of the ground around here smells like Ike, like he was walking around in circles, but it's stronger there. The trail moves away after that. Smells fresh, probably made less than an hour ago.

River is just standing there, looking down at the pile of ash, unmoving.

[Lenglon]

<River? Did you send Ike somewhere?>

[Parisbre56]

<River? Did you send Ike somewhere?>

<No. He did not answer when I called him. I think he got bored and left. He can handle himself.>
He looks left and right and then down again, opening his mouth and then closing it again.
<But I feel... I can see the tint of magic here. There is a chance something happened and... Should I...?>
He uses a paw to poke and smear the ash.
<He should be close. It will not take much time. I can track him to make sure he...>
He turns to look at you.
<Will you two be fine on your own?>

[Lenglon]

<Go now, we'll catch up when we can. I'll track the two of you. We'll be fine.>
follow River at our own pace, tracking where Ike and River went once he goes out of sight.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Follow along with Irine and keep my eyes out for anything that might look out of the ordinary. Well, even though this isn't an ordinary situation.

[Parisbre56]

Campaign

<Go now, we'll catch up when we can. I'll track the two of you. We'll be fine.>
follow River at our own pace, tracking where Ike and River went once he goes out of sight.

Follow along with Irine and keep my eyes out for anything that might look out of the ordinary. Well, even though this isn't an ordinary situation.

River looks at Irene and then at Zechariah for a second before dashing away, occasionally slowing down and putting his nose closer to the ground before continuing his run. Soon he's out of sight, although the sound of his paws hitting the ground can still be heard for a while longer. The two of you try to follow as quickly as you can without overexerting yourselves.

You make your way through the toppled buildings and the burnt debris covering the streets, following River's tracks and Irene's nose. You keep going for a few minutes without incident. You don't come upon anything, living or dead. And then you hear a mental shout.
<COMM WIRES OFF! NOW!>

Any attempts to reach him after that command result in nothing but silence. Zechariah removes the wire from around your necks and puts them between the clothes he is holding. With that, they keep running. A few minutes later, you spot River. He is standing in the middle of an intersection with all four legs bent, his tail and ears low, snarling, growling. A few more steps reveal what he is looking at.
"Oh, good. Lizard and Jesus. Can you do something about our angry friend here? He's gone crazy, keeps trying to attack me with his black magic voodoo."

Harry Baldman
Being under the complete and total control of someone else, body and mind, is certainly a new experience. You can feel your body moving and it feels like you're moving it. And yet you know you made no conscious decision. Your mind keeps thinking back, you keep remembering your past. Especially your recent past. And this makes you a strange mix of happy and angry. But it feels involuntary. And whatever you do, you just can't bring yourself to do something. This is must be how people suffering from things like paranoia alien limb syndrome feel like... or maybe how your hosts feel when you take control of them.

You are walking. You don't remember when you started walking. But you are walking. Still the same city. New area. Haven't seen it before. Feels strange and familiar at the same time. It is sad to see so many houses destroyed. So many people gone. So many lives destroyed.

You feel cold. Very cold. You can see what little water is in the air condensing every time you breathe out, accompanied by a couple of ash particles. You look down. Your arms look white. Unhealthily white. This makes you upset. Does it make you upset? Or does it make the thing in your head upset?

You start moving faster. You are moving away from the centre of the city. Towards the east. Towards the wall. Your target is beyond the wall. In the tents. You know it.

But something else is here. You don't know how but you know it. Something that does not run away. Something that is coming towards you. One that feels like three.

You turn around to face it. For a moment you are surprised. That is a big dog. You don't remember seeing any of those around. Then you remember. The smell. Another target. You would prefer the other first. But the order doesn't matter.

<Hey.>
You look at it.
<Ike?>
That is your name. You should keep it talking. Talking makes it easier.
"Yes?"
<Are you feeling well?>
"Yes. Just out for a stroll. What brings you here?"
This thing fights back. Stronger than you were.
<What is wrong? What are you doing?>
"Me?" you say as you raise your hands to point to your chest.
"Nothing. What are you doing?"
Its eyes darken for a moment. You feel uneasy.
You know what those eyes mean. It knows what you are now. But you also know what it is.
<Let go of him.>
"No. I never cared the bodies of half-breeds. But I have to admit, I do like this. Both mind and body. It will help me do what I must."
<It was not a request.>
It lowers its stance, showing you its teeth.
This thing will be hard. You think about running, but you aren't sure. Maybe if you keep it talking for a while longer.
"'It was not a request.'" you repeat mockingly and wave your hands.
"I know what you are. You seem pretty harmless. You don't want to screw up like you did all those times before."
It takes a step back. Looks more scared now. Good. It is working.
<If you know what I am, if you can see my mind, then you know I can kill you.>
"You are indeed correct sir. But if that is truly the case, then why haven't you done so already? Perhaps because you know what I could do to this body?"
More. Another two, coming to you.
<I can revive him again.>
"But will I let you?"
<I do not care about him. But I will kill you if you get in my way.>
More silence. Time to be bold. You take a step toward it. Nothing.
"If that was true, you would had attacked."
<What do you want? His body will not last long with you. You can not stay here forever.>
"I was given this life for one purpose. Revenge. Punishment for those who deserve it. You did this. I know now. I will kill everyone you brought with you. I will save you for last. So that I can feel the pain of your failure. Remind you of everything you do not want to be reminded of. Then I will be happy."
He knows now. You do not care. You are right.
<I will not let you do that. Even if I have to kill him.>
He growls. He may attack.
But the others are here. The others will be easy targets. Just have to exploit them. Separate them.
Yes, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. You don't want to die.
"Oh, good. Lizard and Jesus. Can you do something about our angry friend here? He's gone crazy, keeps trying to attack me with his black magic voodoo."
You smile. You feel like you're trying too much too sound like you. Which seems kind of funny if you consider that you are you. At least part of you.

((Took some liberties to keep things moving so that Ike (and the rest of the team) doesn't have to spend even more time with nothing to do.

Trying to make someone sound like they are imitating someone else is hard.

I considered hiding this, but then I thought it would offer nothing, since you'd already know something was wrong. I'd have to feed HB the possessor's intentions through PMs and have him act them out and I think that would get tedious for him.))

[Lenglon]

Privately, to Zech: <I'm not using telepathy until we learn why River wanted us to remove the wires>

I look over at River and Ike. Then at River. Then at Ike. Back to River. Back to Ike.

and then I make a decision.

I attempt to use a up to three flame generation charges ((I don't know if River drained them or not, if not then I have 4 left for today)), and send out a large amount of flame to block all the exits from the area, preventing anyone from coming or going, trapping all four of us inside.

physically, I begin slowly circling around the perimeter, watching the two in the middle and attempting to stay as far away from them as possible, and to spread out away from Zech as well.
edit: note that I am currently expecting a telepathic assault, along the same or similar channels to my telepathic link, and will actively resist anyone that tries to access my mind in any way, including River.

[DarkArtemisFowl]

Privately, to Zech: <I'm not using telepathy until we learn why River wanted us to remove the wires.>

Zechariah looked over to Irine and nodded once. Since River had told them to take off the comm wires, he had known that there was something wrong. He wasn't sure what he was looking at, but he knew that this was it.

Spoiler: Zechariah's Inner Conversation (click to show/hide)

This is a trap. This is going to end very badly. Think, Zechariah, think... what would Artemis do?

You called?

...
You're back. I would've thought that you'd take a longer while to get here, what with... dying and all.

Your incompetence never fails to impress me. I am your mental construct, nothing more! We went over this already! I appear when you want me to appear!

Well.. yeah, you're right, I guess. Then again, wasn't that the same thing with the real Artemis?

Are you going to debate the logic of your mind or are we going to do something?

Oh, yeah. Look, there's-

Have you forgotten that I can see everything you see? I AM YOU!

Would you just shut up for a moment and listen? Okay, you see what's happening. What should I do?

I think you already know the answer to that, Zechariah. You've always known the answer.

What are you- oh, yeah. I have that ability now.

Ahaaa, yes! The Shadow! Use it to your advantage, control and manipulate those who seek to destroy everything you strive for!

That's not what I'm going to do, Artemis. I'm... not going to forge lies anymore.

But is this the same as lying?

I still have to be careful. I could ruin myself with this power.

You already know that your fate was sealed when you shook hands with Artemis. There is no hope for you, no going back! Might as well make use of your powers while you still can!

...
I still believe you're wrong, but I'll keep that in mind. Now go away.

Zechariah exhaled through his nose and carefully set the clothes and wires down on the floor in front of him. He then put his hands to his sides and stepped forward slightly with his left foot, rotating his right foot out slightly. He didn't want to alert anybody yet to what he was doing.

He hoped that his powers wouldn't fail him now. He could prevent anything bad from happening if he was fast enough and his powers were under control.

Gather the Shadows around me. Make my movements slow and imperceptible. Prioritize the element of surprise over more power. After I gather enough of the Shadow, spread it out in tendrils to be ready to grab hold of someone or something.