Episode 6: The Hopeless Void

[ArcaneStomper]

The scions pour everything into their attacks, swords, fists, energy balls, and even raw emotion. Unfortunately this is no mere minion or event an extension of the rampant's form. The body of the rampant itself is a shifting mass of limbs and facial features that seems to absorb or deflect everything that the scion's can throw at it. Hands slap away Anna's blades, Delcroix's gauntlets barely scratch along its limbs, and Leslie's rancor slides off a smug arrogance.

 

Morgan's attack though hits it right one of its shifting eyes. It screeches in pain and a hundred limbs reel back. "IF YOU WISH TO CLOSE MY EYES, THEN LET ME OPEN YOURS!!!"

 

The rampant's eyes suddenly multiply and cover its form. They keep multiplying and growing in size until they completely cover the void. Merging into one multi faceted eye they glare at the scions, then they shut, and open, and somehow open again. And suddenly the scions can see. The shifting body of the rampant is just their minds attempting to make sense of being that exists outside their reality. It is an intrusion. A blot on all things good. It's true form is indescribable. Simply attempting to think about it makes their minds recoil in horror and disgust.

 

Desperately their powers automatically reach out. Coils of magic attempting to filter out the raw chaos and reassert the illusion of the rampant that the scions can actually comprehend.

OOC

 

Fortitude vs Delcroix DC22

Toughness vs Leslie DC26

Toughness vs Morgan DC25

Toughness vs Anna DC30

 

Everyone needs to make a Will Check DC18. Failure at 1 Degree is Entranced, 2 degrees is Stunned, 3 degrees is incapacitated.

 

Rampant
Toughness -2

[Abalon]

---

The Black Fixer

That... was a brand new trick for her. And it takes her just a little too much time to realise what it's actually doing and close her eyes. Not like it would help much against it. If this Rampant wanted to make her see, it'd make her. All she could hope was that she could weather it

"...Huh"

Delcroix's arms go limp, the gauntlets slowly fading as she stares at the Rampant's true form. She was disgusted to a degree no words could properly describe at the... thing she was facing. But really, it's not like she needed to. When dealing with magic, feelings and emotions sometimes go further than words

But at the same time, a part of her couldn't help but feel excitement. This was as close as she got to a proper understanding of what a Rampant was. They weren't some monsters, nor some weird soul-eating demons. They were... something else entirely

Keeping the world safe somehow got even more complicated

---

OOC

Lovecraft time, apparently

Edited December 17, 2023 by Abalon (see edit history)

[Snicker]

Drama Queen | Sheet | Page | DefensesActive Defenses
Toughness +8
Dodge +14
Parry +14

Passive Defenses
Fortitude +11
Will +11

Miscellaneous
Danger Sense (Mental: Emotional) | SensesInsight +21
Perception +12
Mental sense: Emotion (Accurate, Acute, Danger sense, Radius, Ranged)
Mental sense: Magic (Awareness, Radius, Ranged)

---

Leslie's head had already been hurting from when she slipped outside the hallways and classrooms of the rampant's pocket dimensions. She's seen and explored and even manipulated this world, but that doesn't mean she understands it, any more than a salmonella cell understands human biology.

The thing is, though, that salmonella doesn't need to understand human biology. It can still change its environment, kill its environment, and more importantly, adapt to its environment. And when the rampant opens its open eyes and Leslie feels her mind expanding beyond the bounds of her three-dimensional skull, she still can't understand what she's seeing, but she's already found an adaptation sufficient for her.

She scrunches her eyes shut and doesn't think about it. Instead, she falls back on her emotional senses and pinpoints the source of hatred and malice in front of her, like an exploding heatless sun of black light.

"God, you're ugly," she taunts the rampant, and twists that malice again.

Mechanics

Rancor, Toughness DC 26

Emotion-based; usable on any target within perception without an attack roll; affects insubstantial targets and penetrates Impervious 8; damage must be healed normally; only usable on magical beings with intent to harm Leslie

Edited December 26, 2023 by Snicker
Added actual post (see edit history)

[Niven81]

 Scion Morgan

Morgan lets out a childish scream as her mind reels at the true sight before her. Closing her eyes she thinks of the other girls in her gang, she uses them to anchor herself and - for all intents and purposes - her sanity. "Duck you, you larging ducking piece of ship!" She screams as she bursts forward using the full extremity of her flight speed to slam her bat into the illusionary eye.

"LINE DRIVER!"

 

 

Edited December 26, 2023 by Niven81 (see edit history)

[Yuno_]

 

:: Anna, Princess of Knights ::

 

『Dodge 7-5 (2) 』『Parry 7-5 (2) 』『Tough 15』『Fort 11』『Will 11』

 

Condition(s): :: Equipped Armament: Energy Sabers :: Notes: Scion Tranformation Active, Thicket of Blades AE active

 

 

The sight of the monstrous thing was like a sudden slap to the face, inviting shock and recoil at the unperceived assault... But one that while the afterimage was going to doubtless haunt her dreams for some time, was not enough to make Anna turn her focus away from the deadly predator. Even if she didn't particularly want to keeping seeing it now, in that bared state...

She swings again, for that giant eye.

"...She's right, you know?!"

 

Mechanics

Will Check

Standard Action: All-out +5 Power Attack +4 Energy Sabers Close Range Damage 15 (DC 30), Multiattack, Penetrating 9, Accurate 1, Enhanced Advantage: Close Attack 1, Improved Critical 2 (18-20) (Magic, Heat, Light, Slashing, Energy)

-5 to active defences this round

 

Edited December 27, 2023 by Yuno_ (see edit history)

[ArcaneStomper]

The illusion of reality reasserts itself for most of the scions and they find themselves once more facing the multi limbed rampant. Though Delcroix seems to be tumbling through the void aimlessly at the moment. In response to the horror they instinctively fight back with their strongest attacks. Mental anguish, a bat to the eye, and many many stabbing swords.

 

The Rampant attempts to fend the attack off, but while it is able to weather the mental assault the more physical one takes its toll in crushed appendages and sliced tentacles. Anna even manages to jab a sword into a rather strategic looking pulsing organ which causes a howl of pain. The respond is a torrent of psychic energy as the rampant fills Anna's mind with horrific images both of itself and what it is going to do with the souls of all its victims.

OOC

Toughness vs Leslie DC26

Toughness vs Morgan DC26

Toughness vs Anna DC35

 

Delcroix is stunned until she can make her will save. Though someone else can try to shake her out of it with an interaction test DC18.

Anna needs to roll a damage check resisted by Will DC31.

 

Rampant
Toughness -4

 

[Snicker]

Drama Queen | Sheet | Page | DefensesActive Defenses
Toughness +8
Dodge +14
Parry +14

Passive Defenses
Fortitude +11
Will +11

Miscellaneous
Danger Sense (Mental: Emotional) | SensesInsight +21
Perception +12
Mental sense: Emotion (Accurate, Acute, Danger sense, Radius, Ranged)
Mental sense: Magic (Awareness, Radius, Ranged)

---

Leslie's eyes are still closed, relying on her emotional senses to keep her safe from the rampant and anything else in the area. What catches her attention, however, is not an enemy but her ally. Detecting something strange, she turns her head away from the rampant and risks opening one golden eye. One of the scions - the one dressed like a school shooter and more heavily armed - stands staring at the rampant. Though her face is obscured, Leslie feels emotions radiating off of her: excitement, confusion, disgust. None of them are what she should be feeling.

Leslie drops her focus on the rampant's hate. She's not getting through its defenses anyway. Rather, she turns her attention to the scion. I have to snap her out of it. Do I beg? No - the queen does not beg. Maybe I'll slap her in the face. No - if she looks like that, she wants a confrontation. Then maybe...

Yeah. That'll do it.

"Scared, new girl?" Leslie shouts at the scion in the mask. "I knew it! This game's only for real fighters! Your moochee should have known better! Just get out of here - I'll open up a door so you can run away!"

Mechanics

Leslie uses her Deception skill to break the Black Fixer out of her Entranced state. This roll includes a +2 circumstance bonus due to Leslie's Favoured Foe: Teenagers advantage.

Edited December 28, 2023 by Snicker
Slight prose improvement (see edit history)

[Abalon]

---

The Black Fixer

Reality fading back in started to jolt Delcroix awake, and the (admittedly rather insulting) call of Leslie finished to wake her up completely. She immediately grips her head trying to push back against the approaching migraine and confusion

"God that was... not good"

She internally curses herself. This wasn't the time to be here just watching, it was the time to stab that damn thing! So just breathe in, breathe out, and get back up, soldier. At least now she knew to expect something like that now

Let's see. This thing was huge. Really huge. Striking haphazardly wouldn't cut it, she'd need to strike in one specific spot, and strike as hard as she could. Still, finding where to hit in this overgrown tangle of limbs and eyes was far easier said than done. It's be like threading a needle... And the closest thing she has is a lance. Eh, good enough. Not to mention it seemed busy attacking her mind, rather than her body

She summons her lance and waits, until she can find the weakspot she's looking for, slowly gathering her energy in the process. Eventually she sees it, and explodes forward in a burst of speed as she throws herself at it, weapon first

---

OOC

An All-Out Power Lance attack, DC 33 vs Toughness, 13 and DC 27 vs Fortitude, Affects Insubstantial 2, Incurable, Penetrating 13

-5 to active defenses this round

[Niven81]

 Scion Morgan

Eyes crackling with green energy Morgan readies her bat again as she rebounds off of something and rushes at the Rampant again.

Line Driver!All Out Attack +5
DC 26
Improved Crit 4 (forgot I had that on this

 

 

[Yuno_]

 

 

:: Anna, Princess of Knights ::

 

『Dodge 7-5 (2) 』『Parry 7-5 (2) 』『Tough 15』『Fort 11』『Will 11』

 

Condition(s): :: Equipped Armament: Energy Sabers :: Notes: Scion Transformation Active, Thicket of Blades AE active

 

She cries out again under the Rampant's psychic assault, as the wave of mental imagery threatens to drag her down with shock and horror. All she can do is grit her teeth and try to let the attack roll past as she raises her weapons to stab down again into the monster's vulnerable tissues and hopes it goes down first.

"Get out of our heads, you...!"

 

Mechanics

Will Save vs DC31

Standard Action: All-out +5 Power Attack +4 Energy Sabers Close Range Damage 15 (DC 30), Multiattack, Penetrating 9, Accurate 1, Enhanced Advantage: Close Attack 1, Improved Critical 2 (18-20) (Magic, Heat, Light, Slashing, Energy)

-5 to active defences this round

 

Edited January 3 by Yuno_ (see edit history)

[ArcaneStomper]

Delcroix's lance flashes in towards the things' false flesh. She tries to pierce a bulbous organ that looks especially fleshy and pulsates rythmically. However just before her lance makes contact a spiral of bones juts out of the organ and wrap it in stony armor. Her lance is sharply deflected and she has to struggle to retain control of it.

 

Anna has similar issues. The supposed weak spot she targets hardens under a layer of a magical energy that creates a barrier her sabers clatter off of. However Morgan has more luck. She batters through an offending sheath of crystal and ruptures a glowing nodule. Yellow ichor goes everywhere and the rampant screams in clear pain.

 

However Morgan pays for her attack as the Rampant's flesh boils outward to surround her. Bony limbs grab her as loops of sinew tighten around her limbs.

OOC

Toughness vs Delcroix DC33

Toughness vs Morgan DC26

Toughness vs Anna DC30

 

Grab Morgan

Morgan needs to make a Strength or Dodge resistance check against DC 26. One degree of failure leaves her restrained. Two degrees or more leaves her bound.

Rampant (Dazed)
Toughness -5

 

Anna

Toughness -1

 

[Niven81]

 Scion Morgan

Morgan lets out a high pitched shriek as the HR Giger-like appendages wrap and harden around her. "No, duck, no!" She screams as she attempts and fails to break free. "I've seen these animes! LET ME DUCKING GO!!!"

 

Edited January 5 by Niven81 (see edit history)

[Abalon]

---

The Black Fixer

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me!"

Delcroix easily lands back on her feet, massaging her wrist as she stares angrily at the thing's armor. All of their blows were landing, but that doesn't mean they were damaging either. If this kept up, then the Rampant would win through attrition. Plus, she was getting really tired of this. She was retired for goodness sake! Damned Moochees...

Making sure to keep her distance, she started to observe the Rampant magically, analyzing its moves and drawing upon her experiences and what little she had time to write down to find a chink in its armor

---

OOC

Move action to get out of dodge

Standard action to use her Expertise to find a critical weakness to kill the Rampant

[Snicker]

Drama Queen | Sheet | Page | DefensesActive Defenses
Toughness +8
Dodge +14
Parry +14

Passive Defenses
Fortitude +11
Will +11

Miscellaneous
Danger Sense (Mental: Emotional) | SensesInsight +21
Perception +12
Mental sense: Emotion (Accurate, Acute, Danger sense, Radius, Ranged)
Mental sense: Magic (Awareness, Radius, Ranged)

---

Though her eyes are closed, Leslie is awash in the emotions of battle. She feels pain from the rampant, but also rising frustration and a terrifying spike of desperation from the other scions. The damage they're doing is just not enough. They'll be torn apart before they can grind through its defenses.

I am not going to die in a public school. If her tricks aren't working, she has to use new tricks. Searching mentally for opportunities, she picks up on something else from the Black Fixer - concentration and inquisitiveness. She's looking for openings, just like Leslie. She's about to get one.

"There! While it's distracted!" Leslie points up at Morgan, pinpointing her location by her overflowing emotions. "Everyone stand back! I'm going to unleash one hundred percent of my power!"

Leslie jumps forward, into the rampant's reach, and flexes her fingers as if pulling invisible puppet strings. As always, she's manipulating her target - but this time, no magic required.

Mechanics

Leslie uses her Deception skill to feint. If this Deception check beats the rampant's Deception or Insight (whichever is better) in an opposed roll, it is vulnerable to her next attack. Leslie will also use her Set-up advantage to transfer the benefit of this feint to the Black Fixer (i.e., making the rampant vulnerable to the Black Fixer's next attack).

[Yuno_]

 

:: Anna, Princess of Knights ::

 

『Dodge 7-5 (2) 』『Parry 7-5 (2) 』『Tough 15』『Fort 11』『Will 11』

 

Condition(s): :: Equipped Armament: Energy Sabers :: Notes: Scion Transformation Active, Thicket of Blades AE active

 

 

"We're not going to give up, we're not going to stop, you or us!"

They were hurting it, but that didn't mean it was making things easy. Quite the opposite, as it formed those layers of crystal and energy about its weak points and tried to turn their attacks aside. Which just meant they had to hit the thing even harder, with even more abandon.

 

Again, and again, and again. Until it was done.

 

So she keeps swinging at the monster, pushing harder to chip away at its guards and plunge for its weak points. If she could read minds, she would be agreeing with Leslie about refusing to die in school... but maybe missing out the 'public' part.

 

 

Mechanics

Toughness -1

Regeneration 10 active

Standard Action: All-out +5 Power Attack +4 Energy Sabers Close Range Damage 15 (DC 30), Multiattack, Penetrating 9, Accurate 1, Enhanced Advantage: Close Attack 1, Improved Critical 2 (18-20) (Magic, Heat, Light, Slashing, Energy)

-5 to active defences this round