[Open] The Mark of the Herald

[thewatchers]

Mark of the Herald Part I
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Despite certain disruptive events and ominous visions in the preceding month, August is seemingly still free of any problems.

That’s quick to change, however. Starting from the third of the month, strange, circular marks begin to appear on human students around the school - and, indeed, humans around the world. Those affected begin to feel incurably drowsy, something that no magical or mundane solution can seem to cure or relieve; eventually, they’ll fall asleep entirely, whether they want to or not, and enter a state of magical stasis. Not even nonhumans are immune, though whether they’re marked seems to be much more erratic.

Those who remain awake or are otherwise spared by the mark are free to do as they wish - the Academy won’t ask them to do more than keep themselves safe. But where each marked person falls in slumber, a portal will form; a strange tear in reality, offering glimpses of a surreal, nightmarish plane that differs vastly from individual to individual. One thing is certain; the cause of a victim’s seemingly endless sleep and these portals are linked somehow, and the only way to find out exactly how is to go through...and the only ones capable of doing so are those who are still awake.

This log can be used as a catch-all for event-related threads. The information for this event is here.

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[silksoul]

[ She navigates her way over to the door, pressing a hand against it in thought. To her, both entrances are equally weighted; she has no goal but to find the one this dream hides, so it matters little what door she takes.

She pockets the key, and leaps down from the platform to follow the footsteps, pushing open what seems to be the main door to hopefully reveal what lies beyond. ]

[stavros]

[The main door does open onto what appears to be an art gallery, showcasing many of the same sorts of images. However, a wind blows through, slamming the door behind Hornet. Something spreads through the castle, changing it from bright to dark and decaying. Furniture is turned over, paintings are torn, and heavy footsteps are approaching.

A girl's voice laughs. "The negative is a part of life."

Something big walks into the room, a tall, skeletal creature with different pieces of armour bolted onto it, like they were taken from a whole legion of knights and welded together onto the thing to fit. It rips an entire column out of the corner of the wall and lunges at Hornet like it's using a sword.]

[silksoul]

[ She doesn't have time to pay attention to who's speaking when the world is changing around her. The time for fighting is now, and she dodges its initial strike to land on the column, rather than remaining on the ground.

She can't disarm this creature. She doubts even her threads could hold something so vast for long; she'd always considered going after far larger prey a waste of energy. Having made her decision, she launches off the pillar above the head of the undead; she lets fly her needle at its head, aiming to embed it in her enemy's skull and use her thread - along with momentum - to yank its head off.

She doesn't know what its weaknesses are yet, so she can only do her best to disable it. ]

[stavros]

[The skeleton-thing tries to strike up at Hornet, but only succeeds in hitting itself. Combined with Hornet's strategy, the skull is dented and flies into the wall, as the rest of the creature stumbles around. It starts to thrash everywhere, roaring without lungs and echoing through the room.]

[silksoul]

[ Hornet yanks her weapon back, freeing it from the skull, and lashes out to try and topple this far bigger enemy. She sends silk lashing around its legs, tugging it firmly to test its security before yanking as hard as she can with a shout of exertion.

It's difficult, no doubt. But leverage and gravity has served her well thus far. ]

[stavros]

[The creature is too big to dodge, and it crashes down, losing its grip and cracking the floor as its armour hits. Rising up on its hands, it tries to grab at Hornet to crush or throw her.]

[silksoul]

[ She leaps away, and takes the opportunity to cast a loop of web around its wrists. She'll try to tie them together if she can, rendering the creature mostly useless; once the beast is neutralised, she'll search the room to her satisfaction.

She wonders whose voice that was, and if she could recognise it. ]

[stavros]

[Seems a little vague -- aren't dreams always? -- but bringing it up gives Hornet the sense that it's someone the dreamer hates.

Good job on the room-searching! There's a length of chain in a drawer if you need it to beat anything up, a book (runecraft, according to the cover, but the pages are illegible) out of which falls a map, and... carrots growing out of a crack in the floor. Sure.

The map's interesting, though; it does list paths to the right and left, which Hornet can see in front of her, and everything seems to make sense in the castle to a point, but there's a room in the centre circled in red which doesn't seem to have any doors. Rooms further in butt up against it, but no ways in are marked. That seems to be your destination, though.]