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[syvarris]

"R-Right!" She had to make it right, but rushing in was probably stupid. <Uh... do you two think you could watch our backs? If you don't feel like you can fight after what happened...>

Assist Alida! Try to kill the wire thing (carefully - don't want to rush in and get mulched) and find a way to break the machines. Can the magic-sense find a weak spot, or see if this is the Witch?

[Innocence]

The Alida near you starts walking determinedly towards the nearby machines, giving the mass of writhing wires a wide berth.  You start to trail after her, but end up deciding that the bloody wires near Alida's more wounded body is a more pressing issue; you carefully walk over to it, stepping protectively in front of Alida's sitting form, and inspect it with your magical senses.

[Creativity]

You're... not really sure whether it's the witch.  Pumsy said that this whole labyrinth is the witch's creation, but the misery that permeates everything here doesn't seem to be coming from the mass of twisting wires.  The misery does seem to be stronger around them, but if anything it seems more like they're sucking up the ambient emotion?  It's hard to tell, everything here feels so unnatural and works so strangely.  You don't even know what this thing should look like, let alone what would indicate whether its a witch.

Well, it doesn't really matter.  Witch or not, it certainly seems dangerous.  You examine the wires carefully with your magic sense, trying to find some sort of weak spot or central concentration of misery, but meet no success.  Each strand of wire looks identical to every other wire; at most, you can tell that they're wrapped around something abnormal.  Everything here, including the air and the ground, seems to be made from misery, or be a conduit for the miasmatic emotion, but the thing the wires are wrapping around is completely absent any emotion.  Though they hide it completely from your normal sight, to your magical sight it's plainly there, like a bubble in glass.

[Bravery]

You don't have any better ideas, so you carefully step forward and thrust your halberd into the mass, focusing on the thickest knots of wires.  Immediately, they start wrapping around your weapon, but you aggressively hop back and yank it free before they can tighten around it.  You stop for a second to ensure the monster doesn't retaliate, and then repeat your attack.  Each time you stab into the wires, they slow down and reduce their spasming, until eventually the entire mass is unmoving.

You pause to inspect it again, worried that it's only playing dead--there isn't really that much visible damage, and you're not even sure it makes sense for living wires to die once they're severed.  Your magical senses are unfortunately unhelpful; it looks about the same as it did before, though you've added a number of new holes in the empty thing the wires are wrapped around.  Maybe that thing was its brain?  Maybe that's what a witch looks like?  You don't know...

Alida breaks down for a moment at seeing the other girls.

"Thank you, oh thank you, you came here in time.  The wire creature there almost killed me."

Stop the machine, with either or both bodies, whatever can do it.  After doing so, drop Effigy, removing the more wounded body and collapse.

[Bravery]
[Mercy]

You think you could struggle over to the machine with either body, but the one that you talked to Mina through is in much less pain... besides, the other body is already in a good position to watch the wireman's body in case it somehow manages to revive.  You slowly make your way around the writhing wires, stopping for a moment to pick up the club you'd thrown before.  You carry it to the quietly humming machine, half expecting the monster to charge at you before you can harm the machine... but it just stays where it is, content to writhe and lash at the air blindly.  Mina's inspecting it now too, so hopefully she can stop it if it does suddenly attack.

You take a deep breath, then start smashing the machine with your full strength.  You only have to hit it twice before it grinds to a stop, light smoke leaking from where the cable enters it, and you release the breath.  Mina's started stabbing the monster, and it's clearly getting weaker.  None of the unbroken machines are active, and you could smash them even if they did start up, long before they reel in whatever it is that the cables are attached to.  You take a few steps forward, away from the machine, and sit down, relaxing for the first time since you entered this place.  You stare at the deflated cocoon of wires that had trapped the monster, while staring at the remains of the monster itself simultaneously.  Gradually, the monster fades from your view, until you realize that you can't feel your original body anymore--or its painful wounds.

You actually feel less exhausted too, perhaps because your current body is less wounded... but probably just because you haven't really gotten a chance to rest during that long fight.  Looking around, the walls of wire figures that were blocking the exits seem to be breaking up, the figures retreating away from you and the others.  It looks like you won't even have to fight your way out.

"G-Get away from her! I blew up one of you already, I'm not afraid to do it again," Tooru lied blatantly, shouting at the bloodstained girl. The quaver in her voice would have made the greatest opera singer jealous, if only it were controlled and not a result of the girl being quite ready to start screaming and flailing about at the slightest provacation.

Ready another talisman!

<You tried to kidnap me! Or, something that looked like you but was made of these horrible wire things like everything else here. I think it's gone now, though. . .>

As an addition, stay alert for any further threats.

You summon up another talisman, hoping you don't have to use it, while you watch Mina and the blonde.  They seem to reach an agreement, and promptly split up, the unfamiliar girl slowly walking to a circle of boxy cable-reeling machines in the center of the chamber, while Mina moves to inspect a squirming pile of wires that you hadn't noticed before.  There's another blond sitting near her, but Mina doesn't seem to care as she carefully starts attacking the wires, while the first blond starts smashing a machine.

[Creativity]

After a minute, both of them have destroyed their targets without incident, though Mina still seems wary of the wires.  The girl near her fades away, so suddenly that you barely even notice, and the other blonde sits down in the very centre of the chamber, resting.  She looks up at a deflated sack woven from--of course--even more wires, hanging about ten feet above the ground.  The sack is held up by a thick cable, and your eyes follow the cable up, where it leads into the impenetrable net of wires high above.  Six other cables hang in a circle around it, each of them reaching down to one of the machines below.  The whole formation seems off to you, and you stare at their top, wondering what they're there for.

Then you notice golden eyes, seven of them, arrayed across the surface of something large and smooth.  There's something large up there, almost invisible among the wires and darkness, and it's staring down, directly down, at the girl sitting in the circle of machines.

Spoiler: Alida Larsen (Devastator) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a warm light.

Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: She has deep slashes along her forearms, a throbbing headache, and a lingering feeling of nausea.
Inventory: A club.

Totem: A fishing club.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Talented~
   Joy:  Skilled!
   Innocence:  Amateur...
   Purity:  Amateur...
   Mercy:  Skilled!
   Creativity:  Cursed ;-;
   Love:  Cursed ;-;

Abilities:
   Mobility Lvl2
   Close Combat Lvl2+1
   Totem Manipulation Lvl1

   Berzerker Lvl2 - Active; Bloodied!
   Painless Lvl2
   Effigy Lvl1

Spoiler: Asha Tia (Nakeen) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a dull light.

Age: 13
Hair color: Ashen
Health: A bit banged up.
Inventory: Nothing of note.

Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Skilled!
   Joy:  Cursed ;-;
   Innocence:  Cursed ;-;
   Purity:  Amateur...
   Mercy:  Talented~
   Creativity:  Amateur...
   Love:  Skilled!

Abilities:
   Mobility: Level 2
   Close Combat: Level 2 
   Totem Manipulation: Level 0 (+1)

   Heal and Steel: Level 2  (Active: Mercy++)
   Soothe: Level 2
   Flagellation: Level 2

Spoiler: Mina Ross (TwinWolf) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a shining light.

Age: 14.
Hair Color:  Bright green.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: Her halberd, held defensively between her and the wires.

Totem: A halberd.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Amateur...
   Joy:  Skilled!
   Innocence:  Amateur...
   Purity:  Skilled!
   Mercy: Cursed ;-;
   Creativity:  Talented~
   Love:  Cursed ;-;     

Abilities:
   Mobility: Level 1
   Close-Combat: Level 1 (+1)
   Regeneration: Level 2

   Sixth Sense: Level 2
   Semblance: Level 2
   Projection: Level 2

Spoiler: Tamazaki Tooru (KingMurdoc) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a vibrant light.

Age: 13
Hair Color:  Bright scarlet.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: One talisman.

Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Cursed ;-;
   Joy:  Talented~
   Innocence:  Skilled!
   Purity:  Amateur...
   Mercy:  Cursed ;-;
   Creativity:  Amateur...
   Love:  Skilled!
   
Abilities:
   Mobility II
   Mana Bolt II (+I)
   Regeneration I

   Gourmand I
   Outburst II
   Duet with Reality II

[Chevaleresse]

Tooru took a frightened step or two backward, looking up at the. . . thing and making a rather unintimidating noise. "There's something up there!" she managed after a moment. "It's a spider or something! Look out!"

[Devastator]

Sit down and try to recover my balance.  Look up where Tooru is indicating.

[Twinwolf]

((Will post later today, when I get home. Sorry for delay, bunch of tests have been happening))

[Twinwolf]

((Did I say yesterday I meant today))

Mina smacks the monster a few more times before taking a few steps back, wiping off some sweat. "Huh? What is it-" she looked up to where Tooru was indicating. Assuming she can see it, she stands ready, watching and waiting for it to move... "A-Alida... I think you should move..."

[syvarris]

Tooru shouts her warning, causing the other three girls to all look up at the creature hiding high above.  The seven golden eyes seem undeterred, maintaining their gaze on Alida.  A thin, many-jointed limb that's three times as long as a person and made of worked brass reaches out from the net, gripping one of the cables that dangle down to the machines around Alida.  Two more similar limbs follow it, gripping different cables, and the monster begins to carefully haul itself down out of the thick wires.

It's a giant clockwork spider, as large as a van and built entirely from old brass, streaks of greenish corrosion marring its surface.  The seven bright gold eyes that were visible are lamps attached to the front of its barrel-shaped cephalothorax, though they continually change position and slide across the spider's surface.  A jagged row of tarnished silver spikes crown it, the spikes on the right mostly cracked and smashed away.  Two heavy plated limbs are protectively folded across the lower half of its face, which combined with its slow and deliberate motions gives it an almost hesitant appearance, but the intense glare that it's fixed Alida with is clearly hostile.

[Joy]

Mina weakly mumbles her warning to Alida just before the monster finishes hauling itself most of the way out of the wires, and Alida starts scrambling away as its body weight drags it the rest of the way free.  The mechanical spider plummets down towards her, shifting its eight thin spear-like legs downward, aiming to skewer the blond girl.  Despite its long reach, Alida manages to roll far enough away as it lands, a leg embedding itself in the solid stone ground behind her.  She regains her feet quickly, spinning around to look at her enormous assailant.

The spider has managed to embed all eight of its sharp legs into the ground, trapping itself momentarily, but even so it's still intimidating enough that both Mina and Alida unconsciously step back away from it, while Asha and Tooru retreat farther back into the wires that they're still perched among.  It's truly huge, more than twice as tall as any of them, and crafted from thick, nearly seamless brass.  Its main body is already large, but it's made even more imposing by the two massive spools of heavy cable that it carries horizontally in place of an abdomen, each as thick as a human is tall.

The spider is facing Alida, four eyes staring her down while the other three migrate to its left side and inspect the other girls.  Alida chose a poor direction to flee in; the creature isn't directly between her and the others, but it's near enough that she'd have to get closer to it to regroup with them.  Or she could retreat down the path she had originally come from with Mina, leaving the others to face this monster themselves...

All seven eyes slip back to the front of the creature, focusing on Alida, and it starts struggling violently, trying to free its legs.  Three are freed almost immediately, and the other five will clearly be out soon.

Spoiler: Alida Larsen (Devastator) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a warm light.

Age: 14
Hair Color: Salt-stained blonde.
Health: She has deep slashes along her forearms, a throbbing headache, and a lingering feeling of nausea.
Inventory: A club.

Totem: A fishing club.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Talented~
   Joy:  Skilled!
   Innocence:  Amateur...
   Purity:  Amateur...
   Mercy:  Skilled!
   Creativity:  Cursed ;-;
   Love:  Cursed ;-;

Abilities:
   Mobility Lvl2
   Close Combat Lvl2+1
   Totem Manipulation Lvl1

   Berzerker Lvl2 - Active; Bloodied!
   Painless Lvl2
   Effigy Lvl1

Spoiler: Asha Tia (Nakeen) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a dull light.

Age: 13
Hair color: Ashen
Health: A bit banged up.
Inventory: Nothing of note.

Totem: A Ribbon. The one her late sister wore.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Skilled!
   Joy:  Cursed ;-;
   Innocence:  Cursed ;-;
   Purity:  Amateur...
   Mercy:  Talented~
   Creativity:  Amateur...
   Love:  Skilled!

Abilities:
   Mobility: Level 2
   Close Combat: Level 2 
   Totem Manipulation: Level 0 (+1)

   Heal and Steel: Level 2  (Active: Mercy++)
   Soothe: Level 2
   Flagellation: Level 2

Spoiler: Mina Ross (TwinWolf) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a shining light.

Age: 14.
Hair Color:  Bright green.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: Her halberd, held defensively between her and the giant mechanical spider monster.

Totem: A halberd.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Amateur...
   Joy:  Skilled!
   Innocence:  Amateur...
   Purity:  Skilled!
   Mercy: Cursed ;-;
   Creativity:  Talented~
   Love:  Cursed ;-;     

Abilities:
   Mobility: Level 1
   Close-Combat: Level 1 (+1)
   Regeneration: Level 2

   Sixth Sense: Level 2
   Semblance: Level 2
   Projection: Level 2

Spoiler: Tamazaki Tooru (KingMurdoc) (click to show/hide)

Soul Gem: Glowing with a vibrant light.

Age: 13
Hair Color:  Bright scarlet.
Health: Fine!
Inventory: One talisman.

Totem: Ofuda talismans, primarily thrown as manabolts.

Stats:
   Bravery:  Cursed ;-;
   Joy:  Talented~
   Innocence:  Skilled!
   Purity:  Amateur...
   Mercy:  Cursed ;-;
   Creativity:  Amateur...
   Love:  Skilled!
   
Abilities:
   Mobility II
   Mana Bolt II (+I)
   Regeneration I

   Gourmand I
   Outburst II
   Duet with Reality II

[Egan_BW]

(Nakeen appears to have disappeared for two weeks (or has been browsing while logged off and has seen no reason to post.) I'm not declaring them dead or anything, but this is a warning that if you're gone for too long I'll poke syv to get you killed off so new people can join. :P)

[randomgenericusername]

((If Nakeen is removed and a new spot is opened, I would like to join or reserve if possible. If yes, should I make a sheet now?))

[syvarris]

((Yeah, Nak's disappeared before, but he's been gone longer than usual this time.  If he still hasn't posted by the time this mission ends, I'll NPC Asha.  Hope that doesn't happen, I quite like her.

RGU... I'll post a full response on the 26th, or possibly early early morning the 27th.))

[Egan_BW]

MEANWHILE

<There is no freedom... just false hope.>

The many scimitars stab forward together, too many to count stabbing into your body from every angle, before withdrawing and repeating.  They barely hurt, compared to the prior agonies you've suffered, but they steal your breath as they open your lungs, and you can feel as your body starts shutting down from the extreme damage.  Darkness eats at the edges of your vision, and you start to panic.

But please, tell me more about what you're fighting...
dont worry i have it under control

[Devastator]

Are they just going to keep getting bigger until I fall?  There has to be an end to them..

Time to regroup with the other girls.  Do so by launching myself full-speed towards the giant spider.  Try to break one of the legs that's attached to the ground, aiming at the end near the thorax.  After doing so, launch myself up high into the air, towards a wire to grab.  This should get me clear of the creature should the other girls attack it, while forcing the spider to continue splitting its attention.

[Chevaleresse]

Tooru, already on edge, screamed when the thing dropped, crumpling and whipping her talisman at the spider-thing without much of anything resembling aim. Unfortunately, her first urge after that was to run away, a reflex that might have perhaps been slightly more useful were she on solid ground. As it were, she had to attempt to catch herself after she began to start obeying instinct and quickly found a lack of ground to place a foot; if she could actually manage to get ahold of herself and not fall to the ground, she'd try to get more of a height advantage on the thing and summon another talisman.

[syvarris]

Gaahhh.  Waitlists and wards.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Okay.  Currently, there is a "waitlist" exactly one character long; Egan's char, Sophia, will replace the first death.  The waitlist won't be getting any longer, but when Sophia dies or joins the main game I'll choose someone else to take that spot, based upon what sort of character I think would be best for the game's story.  The waitlister gets updates through PM (though far more rarely than the main thread gets updated), mostly because I like replacement characters to have some actual history before meeting the main group.

The other way into the game is to play a "ward", a mundane girl who hasn't made a wish, but still accompanies magical girls into labyrinths.  In PMMM, Homura in the original timeline and Madoka in the last timeline were wards.  You should not consider this to be joining the game; it's more like being a spectator who can talk IC.  A nonmagical girl is extremely vulnerable to even the weakest monsters, and generally can't do anything helpful.  I wouldn't even call playing a ward hard mode, because that implies you can control your fate.  It's quite likely that whether a ward lives or dies will be solely determined by the actions of the actual magical girls.

That being said, if a ward does survive, witnessing the defeat of at least one witch, when she makes her wish it will be stronger than usual, and she'll start at a higher level.  The more witches she sees defeated, the stronger her eventual wish will be, and the more levels she'll start with.  Also, it should be stated, a ward's wish can actually affect the other characters and the game as a whole, since it isn't happening in her backstory.

Making a ward is simple.  It's the same as a normal character, but you don't make a wish, and you don't put any points into powers.  You do still assign stats, and come up with a totem, though I'm open to changing it later.  In addition, you have to give a reason why the character hasn't made a wish, and a reason why she's likely to change her mind later; if your character doesn't seem likely to make a wish, then both Pumsy and I are going to decide she's not worth the effort.

Additionally, I have some advice on character creation.  There's some traits that I want characters to have, and others that I really don't, which didn't occur to me until I had to choose who would get in. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I chose which characters to let into the game based on three criteria: Practicality, Cooperation, and Interest.

Practicality is simple.  If your character looks like they won't be able to accomplish much of anything, I'm more likely to choose someone else who seems more useful.  The biggest thing I look for is a good totem; it's supposed to be your primary weapon, and your fallback when your more situation powers aren't appropriate.  If your totem is a strong weapon, that alone will be a big boon in a labyrinth.  The second largest priority is having either Joy or Bravery skilled at the least; Joy is the dodge stat, and bravery is the parry stat (with close combat), so having either high will significantly increase your survivability.  If both are cursed, you are going to die.

Cooperation is also pretty simple.  Make a character who is willing to work together with others, and preferably open to forming friendships.  This is, at its core, a very team-based game, so someone who's going to flip off the others and run off on their own is generally a bad choice.  This is a more flexible rule than the other two criteria, because a character who chafes can be very interesting, but a sociopath who refuses to ever work with others is right out.

Finally, interest.  This is a horribly unfair criteria, but it's also the most important one; make a character that I find interesting, who makes me want to write about them.  In general, this means your backstory should be open ended, and unusual.  Have problems that still need to be solved, mention other people with personalities, describe how this girl's life is different from every other girl, who her family is, what she has or doesn't have.  Write a character who is unique, with rare experiences and odd traits.  These certainly aren't necessary, and sometimes I feel inspired by characters who are utterly mundane, but they're a good idea.

...I suppose I'll add a fourth criteria.  Make a character who's different from the current characters.  Most obviously, this means playing an Innocent or Love, but other classes like Purity and Creativity could still be accepted if you're going to play them differently from the current example of that class.  Choose a unique totem, too; I wouldn't want another char with a ribbon totem, because Asha already has that.

syv sleep now.

[randomgenericusername]

Spoiler: Almost done Ward Sheet, inform me if anything is bad or missing and I'll edit it again. (click to show/hide)

Name: Aleksandra Chernov, but her friends call her Sasha.
Age: Twelve!
Description: She has long, straight black hair and her eyes are blue. She is taller than her age would suggest and her skin is slightly pale. She's always dressed with simple and cheap clothes, but also wears a black and white checkered scarf that her father bought for her before disappearing.

Backstory: Her family used to live in Russia and was quite big. There were a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters. Not even Sasha remembers all of them, since they always used to disappear for long periods of time or never returned home after a while. Except for her father, he always was there to support her and help with anything the family needed. Her father could barely make enough money in his old job to buy food for everyone who wasn't begging for food in the streets and pay the bills. The place they all lived in could barely be called a house, it was made of wood and had a lot of holes and vermins. When she was very young, her whole family emigrated from Russia. Her father was fired from his job and the family urgently needed money, so her father had to accept a shady job overseas and took the whole family with him. For a few years, his father made a lot of money and they could afford a big house that had enough space for everyone and even a car. Suddenly, they weren't poor anymore! They had a lot of money and could even be called rich. Of course, this wasn't going to last. When Sasha became 10, her father disappeared and never returned. This greatly hurt Sasha and she distanced herself from the rest of the family. Despite being surrounded by family members, none of them truly understood her like her father. She was alone. While the family still had a lot of money, they knew that they would soon become poor again and end in the streets, since many of them were too young/old or didn't go to school. Sasha was very lucky that her father sent her to a school for her education before leaving.

Motivation: Oh my god, a wish? There are so many things to choose from! I could get a lot of money or become famous! What about magic powers? Oh, those are included? Then fighting evil as a superhero! No, wait! I want to be able to fly or having super-strenght! Did I say money already? Can I wish for more wishes then? I would like to wish for something for my family, but I want stuff too!

Why not make a wish yet?: There are soooo many things I could wish for, but I don't now what to! Having a single wish is awful with endless options! I don't want to wish for something stupid and then regret it for the rest of my life!

Why would she still consider it?: It's a wish! You can wish for anything! I am sure as hell going to wish for something, it's just that I could use it for so many things... I would like  to know how much I would be risking my life before becoming a magical girl or asking other magical girls what did they wish for and what should I wish. If I had more time...

Greatest Fear: Time. No one can stop time. Sasha fears the pass of time aince seconds are being contantly wasted. She fears that her older family members die of old age, she fears losing her childhood and growing too fast into adulthood without enjoying her life as a kid and she fears wasting her limited time in useless and pointless things. The world is constantly moving and changing and Sasha doesn't think she will be able to keep up. Every second is a wasted oportunity that will never repeat itself forever. Every moment is unique.

Totem: An old and dusty AK-47. It's out of bullets, but Sasha always keeps it close since it was inherited from his great grandfather. It's quite sturdy and could be used to bash things.

Stats:
   Bravery: Skilled!
   Joy: Skilled!
   Innocence: Talented~
   Purity: Amateur...
   Mercy: Cursed ;-;
   Creativity: Cursed ;-;
   Love: Amateur...

((OOC notes: I'm trying to think a fake russian accent to use and make IC dialogue more interesting but all I can think about is just removing the articles a, an and the.

Two years had passed since Sasha's father "disappeared" (probably dead) and I left the state of her family and Sasha open so the GM can decide if anything happened during those years.

Sasha's "family" are either very distant relatives, friends or neither, except for her father. Sasha doesn't like them very much, but it's better than being on the streets alone.

Some of the stuff needs to be changed, so please give me criticism and inform me if anything sounds bad or if there is anything wrong.))

[Twinwolf]

Mina takes a moment to steady herself, having stumbled back as the spider dropped - another monster... was this it? Would they finally be done with this when this died? Well, she didn't know, but she certainly wasn't gonna just sit around. She dashed forward, intending to strike at one of the stuck legs, doing what damage she could before it is freed and she retreats, ideally up to the wires and in range to assist and be assisted by the others.