chicago ♔ but close my eyes for a while | and force from the world a patient smile

[shootfirst]

♬ Evil - Interpol

WHO || Spike, Francesca, Archer, Myri, Finnick, Elena, Buffy, Des, Gar, Mark, Kat, Rafael, Isabella, Jaka, Burt, Violet, Luthir, Val'drin, ??[Closed]
WHAT || The Knights prepare for the trial of Rafael Giovanni and face a few revelations along the way
WHERE || Various locations, Chicago
WHEN || July 17th - November 21st  [Back AND Forward dated]
HOW || Actionspam, don't sweat tag order!!


The trial of Rafael Giovanni looms on the horizon, as summer gives way to fall, the chill in the air creating a definite atmosphere of foreboding as the date grows closer. It's not merely Rafael's freedom on the line after all - but also Des', thanks to the deal he struck with Iscariot. While Francesca and Val'drin work to uncover the secret of the mysterious hourglass artifact, lawyer Jaka Teken'Duis uses his ... unique legal powers to work towards a "Temporary Insanity" case for Rafael. The Knights, unhappy about the potential ramifications of such a plea, continue to seek any evidence they can to show Rafael was actually innocent, and place conspiracy charges back on Chad Becksworth and his ilk for what transpired. Not everything they learn, however, is what they were hoping to find...

Others wage more personal battles, as the coming autumn signals the encroaching winter, and Luthir and Violet's time draws shorter to find a way to stop her nightmares, lest they kill her. Elena plays a dangerous game, working to uncover more of her nature by training her doppelganger powers - with the enemy.

This log covers any work and non-work related shenanigans the Knights have while staying in Chicago, immediately following the three mission logs and continuing for four months. This will be the Knight's last time in Chicago before the trial: after which they plan to return to the castle to fully Knight Violet and Dawn and decide where to head next.

Make your own threads, don't fuss about tag order, feel free to threadjack multiple people into one thread for hang-outs, ask me if you want a certain scene with an NPC, etc. forever whatever. There will be a few group scenes, which I'll alert everyone to on Plurk. They may not all be posted immediately, so keep an eye on this post for new threads as time goes by. Please wait to post social threads here until we reach a certain point in the top group thread. I will alert you all when you are free to post.

Comments

[bigbad]

Sure. [...not really. He just has confidence in his ability to swing something sharp around. And look, his str bonus is through the roof. He'll do ok.]

[savemyself]

I suppose we will find out, if you are lying, yes?

[bigbad]

[He shrugs.] Be bloody stupid of me to lie about it then, wouldn't it?

[savemyself]

When a man's pride is on the line, I have found many of them take the stupid route. [ she slides a case out from under the couch and flips open the latches. inside are several rapiers. ]

[bigbad]

It's not about pride for me, love. [He's always been confident about his fighting abilities, but that's not what leads him to exaggerate his skills. If he loses, he'll be just as turned on happy as if he wins.

He picks up a rapier and swings it around a little.] I just want to see your moves.

[savemyself]

Then you will have to have a quick eye. [ she throws the remark over her shoulder before heading out towards the steps up to the roof ]

[bigbad]

Oh, no worries there. [Vampire vision. It's useful.

He swings the blade a bit on the stairs, getting a feel for it before the come out onto the roof.]

You're human, right?

[savemyself]

Why do you ask this?

[bigbad]

Got a bit of an issue with humans. [He considers her for a moment, then shrugs and throws a punch at her face to find out (atk 25, dmg 9 if it hits).]

[savemyself]

[ it doesn't. she ducks the punch easily and pulls her sword loose, sticking it right under his nose. ] What are you doing? You are one of these Shadowkind who hate humans and yet you spend all your time with so many of them?!

[bigbad]

[Yeah, well, Hook's holding his head and making too many pain grimaces to pay attention to all her sword-sticking.]

Not that sort of issue, love.

[savemyself]

[ hook, huh?

isabella stares at him like he's lost his mind, lowering the sword just a bit ] Now what is wrong?

[bigbad]

[shush you.]

If I knew, I'd have gotten it fixed by now. [He hates this stupid headache issue cockblocking his every mood. He shuts his eyes, rolling his head a little, then gives a little shrug to settle himself. Then he opens his eyes and raises his sword, giving her a smirk.] It's not a problem so long as I'm very careful not to hurt you.

[savemyself]

If you are trying not to hurt me, you will never win.

[bigbad]

[He shrugs. He's not here to win. He's here to fight.] Perhaps, perhaps not. But keep trying to talk me out of it and I might start to think you're scared.

[savemyself]

Enough talk, then. [ and with that, she closes the space between them with two precise swipes, neither of which land (atk 22 and 15) ]

[bigbad]

[He smirks, stepping out of the way of her blades before coming in with his own subdual attacks (atk 24, atk 17), both of which are pretty easily blocked. He's just getting warmed up.]

[savemyself]

[ she does another slow strike (17), which she follows up with a very rapid swipe (26, 11 dmg) ]

[bigbad]

[Spike grins as the blade grazes him.] A very palpable hit, love. [But instead of stepping back like a sane person, he moves forward into the blow and scores his own palpable hit (nat 20, dmg 30 and she's lucky you can't get penetration on subdual damage because HE ALMOST DID.)

The problem is, of course, that all the intent not to hurt her in the world doesn't make up for 30 damage. Spike drops his sword with a howl of pain and steps back (dmg 5), clutching his head.]

[savemyself]

[ the hit sends her wheeling past him and her own strike is pushed aside (crit fail). she whirls around angrily, swiping much too widely in her rage (atk 18) ]

[bigbad]

[Good, he needed those two failed attacks to regain his composure. He slices towards her again (atk 27, dmg 14 if it hits), then flicks his blade up, blade nowhere near her (atk 9).]

[savemyself]

[ the first attack barely manages to catch her shoulder, but when his second attack misses, she executes an agile riposte (atk 31, 16 dmg), and then slashes too short (atk 20, atk 18) ]

[bigbad]

[He grunts at the hit, then steps in to swing at her again. He lands funny, though, fumbles his grip, and drops his sword (atk crit fail). He glances up at her, looking a little worried finally, though far from giving up. He just needs an opening to pick up his sword again.]

[savemyself]

[ her first swing goes right over his head, nearly clipping him (atk 22, and then her second one is at his throat (atk 25), though she pulls up short from stabbing him. ]

Ready to surrender?

[bigbad]

[He probably should. Decapitation is, supposedly, one of those things that could actually kill him. He's not looking to test if it's true or not.

But surrender's not really his thing. He grins at her, ducking past the blade (tumble 15), and comes up with a quick one-two punch (atk 19, atk 14), though they're both pretty slow and easy to evade or block.]

Why would I want to do that? I'm having so much fun.