new zealand ♔ when lies turn into truth i sacrificed for you | you say that i'm frozen

[lissatrinall]

♬ where i can never be - gary numan

WHO || Lis'sa, Kenzi, Bo, Klaus, Rebekah, Mars[Closed]
WHAT || The Knights investigate a mysterious carnival that may be linked to some magical winter weather
WHERE || New Zealand
WHEN || August 11th [forwarddated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

Strange winds have blown in, bringing on an unusually chill winter in New Zealand. The ground crunches underfoot with snow, the days growing shoter and stars holding court in the darkness reigning above. An unnatural cold permeates the town, and the river's jubilant voice is frozen under the ice. Birds abandon their nests for warmer climes, their songs silenced by winter's grim embrace. But the frozen riverbank now hosts a shimmering respite from the gloomy cold in the form of garish tents, joyful shouts, and sumptuous smells. Vaale's Carnival has come to town.

Gaiety and laughter cut through the cold wind, and even the sky-shy sun peeks its face from around the gathering winter clouds. Children squeal with delight and gasp in awe at the sights, sounds, and smells of Vaale's Carnival. The Titan's Wheel creaks and groans as a burly lumberjack tests his might wit a hefty spin, a family rushes giggling into the sprawling ice maze to the north, and dozens of happy skaters flit about the rinks atop the frozen river. Carnival dolls are handed to wide-eyed townspeople as prizes and a menagerie of freakish creatures and glowing lights beckons the curious. Garish skirts and scanty veils call others to a different breed of voyeurism altogether. Treats and wonders abound for young and old to enjoy, and for a time, the harsh winter is forgotten in joyful revelry. There's nothing to indicate any sinister going on whatsoever, as the group surveys the happy smiles of the crowd.

* Please make a list of all items your character is carrying in an entry in their journal before tagging into this post! They are free to have requisitioned any equipment or weapons they desire beforehand.

Comments

[succubestie]

[Bo is not known for her intelligence, okay. But she's...sort of following along.]

You could say that. What's the last one?

[behindcloseddoors]

[ she hovers her hand over it, ready to flip it over, when a bloodcurdling scream issues from nearby outside the tent, in the direction of the ice maze. it lasts for a few seconds, before cutting off very abruptly, leaving an ominous silence. ]

[succubestie]

[Every muscle in her body freezes as her head whips toward the door, then to each of her companions, then back at the fortune teller.]

Hold that thought.

[She can't exactly ignore a scream now can she? She gets to her feet and is on the move a moment later, assuming the other two will follow her.]

[behindcloseddoors]

Wait! [ the woman grabs bo's arm abruptly and suddenly pulls out something from beneath the table. ] A wand of shatter.

When the time comes, use it well.

[charismapotion]

[ Mars didn't even wait for her to head out, he was already heading out because screams like that are never good.]

[succubestie]

[She turns her head, taking the object and giving the woman a nod, her fingers holding it tight.]

Thanks.

[And out the door she goes.]

[behindcloseddoors]

[ outside, people are hovering around the entrance to the ice maze, nervously hanging back. not far away, a spot check of 15+ is all that's necessary to notice something else: the minotaur's cage is empty, the bars bent aside in a body shaped silhouette. ]

[charismapotion]

[ (Spot check; 17.) Mars' eyes got wide seeing the bars, a hand going over his mouth. That was more of a worry to him then the scream. He knew they should have busted it free then.]

[asuma]

[Meanwhile, Klaus and Lis'sa are trekking it from the other side of the park so I don't know when a good time for them to arrive would be. But they're on their way ok.]

[morethanasidekick]

[And everyone is going to pretend that Kenzi wasn't silent this whole time because her paid ran out and the tracking stopped but that's why we all appreciate Ashley for poking me.

And with that Nat 20 Spot check, you bectha she sees whats going on.]

Holy-crap-balls....

[succubestie]

Well, crap. That's....bad.

[No shit sherlock. She'll also look around to see if there's any indication of where the thing went (spot 27, though probably toward the ice maze lbr).]

[charismapotion]

....What do we do?

[ He looked to then worried cause shit what to do.]

[lissatrinall]

[ yeah there's some damage to the entrance of the overhanging sign on the ice maze that implies it probably stormed right in there. lis'sa and klaus approach as they're looking around, however. ] About what?

[succubestie]

Looks like we've got a minotaur on the loose.

[She motions toward the broken and now empty cage.]

It headed into the ice maze.

[Which she starts heading toward, pocketing the object the fortune teller gave her a moment ago.]

[asuma]

Fantastic.

[Except Klaus looks less than pleased by this news. He blames you all (excluding Lis'sa), of course.

But why the fuck was everyone else standing around with their thumbs up their asses? He heads into the maze behind Bo.]

[morethanasidekick]

For the record. If somebody has to be bait? [Kenzi watching Klaus' retreating back.] I vote him.

[Kenzi skip-jogging to catch up to Bo cause she is all about hiding behind the toughest person here and Succubus beats you all.]

[charismapotion]

He's a pretty cool guy once you get to know him.

[ Someone's fallen for Klaus' tricks.]

[lissatrinall]

[ just around the first corner from the entrance, a body lies, decked in plaid.

just a body, though. the head is a few feet away, brutally severed. a spot check of 10+ is all that's necessary to notice the bloody hoofprints leading further into the maze. ] Just wonderful.

[asuma]

[Good thing he's not hungry. Not because he's grossed out or anything but because dude in plaid would have provided a nice pick-me up. :)]

How fitting that the minotaur should head straight into a labyrinth. [Or that a fucking labyrinth was present where a minotaur could escape at all wtf. That little detail wasn't lost on him ok.

But Klaus rolled an 18 spot before even applying his mod so I ain't even going to bother to pull up his sheet and look to see what it is. He points out the bloody trail for anyone who might have missed the memo what with a severed fucking head staring at them, before starting after the Minotaur again.]

[succubestie]

Ugh. Great.

[Corpses were not what she wanted today.

Klaus seems to know where the hell he's going though, so she follows after him, heels clicking against the cold ground.]

Let's hope we don't get lost.

[charismapotion]

I have an idea.

[ He moved with them, once inside the labyrinth he cast Dancing Light .]

As long as we dont go too far, we should be able to follow them back out.

[lissatrinall]

[ it's not hard to follow the bloody hoofprints - and if it were, the scream up ahead should tell them they're close. as they round a corner, they see the hulking minotaur standing over the lifeless corpse of his most recent kill, smiling as he licks the blood from his axe.

lis'sa draws her gun immediately. ] Careful.

[succubestie]

[Bo pulls a blade from a sheath at her thigh, gritting her teeth.]

Always am.

[More like never, Bo. Honestly.]

[asuma]

[Klaus can probably take a hit better than anyone here and I guess he is feeling uncharacteristically selfless at the moment (or maybe he just wanted to see the real life Minotaur up close before they turned it into a stain on the cold hard ground who knows) because he uses his vampire speed to move himself to the front of the line so that he can make himself the most appealing target.]

It's not that I can't appreciate a good massacre every now and then. [Said while casting a glance over the latest corpse left in the creature's wake.] This lot in particular seems to have it coming more than most. Though I suppose asking you nicely to stop murdering anyone else for the time being is too much to hope for.

[No diplomacy check because he doesn't expect it to be willing to reason/he isn't even trying tbh. But at least Klaus can say that he didn't jump the gun and if it prevents Mars or even Kenzi from getting their squishy little butts curbstomped right out of the gate then, well, he's done his good deed for the year. Y'all welcome.]

[lissatrinall]

[ he was probably onto something with that assumption about the minotaur's capacity for reason. this gets driven home when its reaction is to open its jaws and let out a horrible roar, the stink of death on its breath. it raises its greataxe and charges klaus, since he's presented himself as a target, but the swing goes wildly over his head (atk 11). lis'sa moves to the side five feet, and fires twice into its hide (atk 20/18: dmg 8+5=13) ]