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#879010 Tue 02/05/17 02:45 UTC
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The two cats in their various guises made their way up hill. The trail was likely a game trail given its uneven terrain, but easy for two cats to follow.

As they moved along Dizzy started to smell something. It reminded her of the burden she lost, something decaying. Shadow hadn't noticed the off scent as of yet.

They had not yet come in sight of the hole in the ground that the spirit had spotted, but the hillside was becoming steeper. Cool air flowed down hill and around them.

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Dizzy

"Pssst"

She whispers to get Shadow's attention.

"I can smell something. Rotten. Decay. Death."

She has trouble describing it but it is not smell she welcomes.

"Careful now."

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Shadow

The umbral feline scented the air.

"Which direction?"

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Dizzy is pretty sure it flows with the cold air down hill towards them. Whether or not it comes from the blackness remains to be seen.

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Dizzy

"Up the hill. I will try to guide you."

They move together now, Dizzy keeping pace with Shadow and using her nose as their guide. She really would prefer to be curled up on the bed at home but she also know how important this is and is determined to see it through. And she is in her element.

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Shadow

Being reduced to following directions would make the fur bristle of any cat, but right now that was of lesser importance to seeing this through and protecting the Burdens. Still, at this point it would not take much for Shadow's anxiety over his Burden back at the hospital to boil over once more.

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Soon Shadow could make out the faint hint of decay as well. As they neared the opening in to the earth, they could smell wet ground as well.

The smell was definitely coming from the opening. Above the hole which was burden sized, was a bit of wood with some of their squiggles on it, in read and yellow. In addition there were two metal bars that ran of into the hole about two stretched out cats apart. The hole had a cover, but it broken open, as if by great force. Near by are pieces of rock, as if it had fallen into it, though the cats might think that unlikely as it is sheltered from such a possibility by being sunken into the mountainside.

The darkness is impenetrable some ways in, even their wonderful cat eyes needed some light to see.

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Shadow

Being a Shaper had its advantages. Given that he was currently a shadow, he entered the darkness to which he was presently kin.

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[OOC So what might provide light? Would preternatural awareness help?]

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[OOC: Sure that would help. Seeing invisible things is definitely helpful. Though it will still be more challenging than it could be. Fair enough?]

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Dizzy

She doesn't like the lack of light, not used to being at a disadvantage. But she has other senses at her disposal and decides she must make use of them instead. She has no way of making light and cannot let Shadow go in there alone. She follows him in.

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The pair of cats in their different forms make their way into the entrance. Stealthy foot falls allow them to hear everything going on around them. There is an odd sound of air moving, it goes in and out of the opening, like the mountain is breathing.

Two dozen steps in they find a dark hole in the ground, where the mountain tunnel has given way. Only the floor is missing and it is little more than a single leap across. But no burden could pass this way unaided.

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Dizzy

Using her heightened senses she tries to determine which is the right way to go, over the hole.. or down it. If she has room she will edge forward and peer down it.

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It is not a challenge for the two cats, as they can walk on either side of the hole, there is just enough of an edge. Dizzy guesses that the threat lies deeper down.

The passage does indeed continue downward becoming so dark it is beyond black. Yet both of the cats has their own talents for navigating such a hindrance.

Eventually they come to a place where they can make out light coming from up head. It doesn't not look like light that is generated by burden devices, nor by flame. It is brighter, yet more indistinct than either of those sources. They creep up to a corner where the light is brighter. They can hear movement around the corner as well. Something large being dragged as near as they can guess.

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Shadow

Sticking close to the corner, Shadow tried to look around it, at one with the ambient darkness.

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Dizzy

She too peers around the corner, keeping lower than Shadow so as not to get in the way. Although she is invisible, she still uses the cover because there are some things that can 'see' invisible. She also tries to be silent. Not being discovered right now would be a good thing.

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The light comes from a chamber that is as big as a burden's small house. In the chamber are several lights floating in the air. They are scintillating in a rainbow of colors like a soap bubble caught in the sun. Yet they also were giving off light and that is what the cats could see immediately.

The chamber is down a long earthen tunnel. Much of it is not clear from their vantage point, but they can hear something else, something odd, like a large creature breathing.

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Dizzy

Much as she is scared, she is bolstered by remembering her mother.

"Trust in your gifts Bright Eyes."

The last piece of advice her mother had given her on the morning she was given to Miss Amy. With those words in her head, she nudges the two dimensional Shadow forward and moves towards the lit area.

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Shadow

The contact almost sent him hissing and hackled, but the need for silence and the likelihood that the invisible cat was trying to give a message without words kept him still and quiet. He flowed around the corner, heading through the darkness with intent to be unseen, approaching what lay ahead.

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The two cats crept forward towards the odd rainbow hued lights. They smelled something new, it was a burnt kind of a smell, though not exactly that either. They had smelled that kind of a smell near the old fire spirit in the town.

The chamber was much larger than it seemed from farther away. It was almost perfectly spherical, though obviously only half showing. The walls were all smooth like they had been melted. There were dozens upon dozens of the bubbles all trapped with lines of colored light going to a central location in the chamber. Though they couldn't see what was in that spot from where they were currently located. They would have to enter the chamber and climb a bit. So far they haven't see anything moving other than the bubbles themselves.

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Shadow

There was little else to do but to keep going, trusting to the darkness.

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Dizzy

She too continues to move forward. What alternative has she? At least her burden is safe back near the car.. she hopes. And this is for him and all the burdens!

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As they got closer, they were almost at the opening of the chamber, and they could see what was in the center. It was a large spirit. The spirit was tethered to all the little bubbles by the lines of force. It looked unhappy though it was mostly humanoid, it held a cat's head instead of a burden's.

Sitting in front of the spirit licking his claws was Sable the second from their little town. At Sable's paws was the body of a boy burden. The little burden was clearly dead.

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Shadow

Well, that was a relief. If Jezzabella didn't make it, this meant, once Sable had been brought to account for the absolute monstrosities he was committing here, that the path to power would be clear. Even if she did, he would be well placed to follow her.

First, naturally, they had to deal with Sable. Sacrificing a sapient being to fuel magic was almost as bad as letting a Burden find out what the felines could do, and that was implied by the dead Burden if it had been awake at the time. Unfortunately, maiming or killing a member of their parliament was also unforgivable, except in self defence. They had to let Sable make the first aggressive move...

He continued advancing on the terrible scene, hunched over even in the darkness, pace by shadowy pace.

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Dizzy

She took in the odd sight of the spirit linked to all the bubbles, wondering whether they should attack it or the bubbles. Then her gaze lights on Sable. Traitor! She cannot believe that the cat is part of this! Unthinkable. Her hackles rise and she creeps forward in hunting mode.

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Sable seemed completely unaware of the pair. Both cats notice that the bubbles and the thing in the middle seemed more solid. Something was happening, things were different than just a bit ago.

[OOC: They can get as close as the pair would like. They are in full surprise pounce mode. grin ]

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Shadow

The Laws of their Parliament bound them, so they had to be gotten around. He advanced in the shadows, tapping into his Shaping ability to enlarge himself into a more fearsome, still shadowed form, and then spoke, betraying his own presence for the sake of staying within the law, if not his exact location due to the darkness. He had to hope that the younger, invisible cat would take advantage as he drew the other cat's attention.

"A good thing there were two names on the list. On behalf of the Parliament, I cast you out, Sable. This is no longer your territory, you are no longer of us. Sacrificing a minded creature for your magic is bad enough, but letting a burden know that you could kill it by killing it breaks the First Law."

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Dizzy

Something is happening, the spirit is gaining some kind of reality, maybe a purchase in this world where it doesn't belong. And then she hears Shadow. Now is a good time. And she is angry. Betrayed. Casting Armour, she leaps straight onto Sable's back and attacks her.

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Sable turned towards the voice, his own claws flicking out as the hackles on his back raised. "Foolish little kitty," he said in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

Dizzy landed on Sable's back and sunk in her claws. It wasn't a bad wound, in fact, it was two light ones. Yet first blood had been drawn.

Sable whipped about striking out with his paw. It struck Dizzy with the force of something much stronger than it should have. She found herself flying through the air in the chamber towards a wall.

Shadow saw something in that claw attack, Sable's claws were shinier than they should be, they flashed with something more than just a claw attack.

[OOC: Surprise round is over. Dizzy gets to choose take the hit as stress, or as a consequence. It is a Moderate hit.

DC and Shadow may both act.]

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Shadow

As Sable struck at Dizzy, Shadow took his own moment to attack, resuming his third dimension and keeping his enhanced size, leaping from the shadows as a massive orange streak of feline malevolence, claws extended.

Looking to use the Size Advantage knack to take those shiny claws out of action if the attack is sufficiently successful.

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[OOC No idea how these rules work. Stress or consequence? Please explain? wink ]

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[OOC: Ah. Sorry.

So when a character in Fate, or Fate Accelerated takes damage, looses a contest, or some other element of that nature. They can take the resulting damage etc.. in one of two ways. There are two tracks on every character, not necessarily every NPC. Anyway, there is a Stress Track and a Consequence Track. In essence consider this your hit points.

The Stress Track is just that, stress that the PC's body is under. At the end of the scene, the stress goes away. If all the stress boxes are used as the character is hurt, then Consequences can arise. A cat has 2 Physical and 2 Mental Stress boxes unless something modifies that, ie a Brawny cat for example would add a physical stress box.

The Consequence track is made up Three boxes, a Mild, a Moderate, and a Severe. A Consequence can be something like a Sprained Paw, or A Broken Paw, or a Nearly Torn off Paw, as examples of Mild, Moderate, and or severe respectively. Generally a consequence takes longer to heal than stress which just goes away at the end of a scene.

The idea being that as a cat gets more beat up, they take more lasting damage. However as a PC you can skip taking stress and go straight to a consequence by choice.

Note once you loose all your Consequence boxes, your character is out of the fight/scene.

Does that help put it in perspective a bit more.]

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A bit. I guess stress would be best for Dizzy?

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[OOC: Unless there is a story reason to take a consequence, yes stress is best. So in this case, that is what Dizzy will suffer.]

Dizzy is knocked but rises only slightly worse for the blow.

Shadow's attack is a surprise to Sable, and he strikes the cat with a massive clawed paw. It might have completely eviscerated a lesser cat, but Sable takes the blow and rolls with it.

His silver tipped claws didn't loose their shine. A fact that Shadow discovers first hand as they whip around and cut through his enlarged form.

[OOC: So a stress box was marked for Dizzy. She can act.

Shadow takes three hits, which can be stress for 2, and a Mild, or a more severe consequence. Shadow can act, and his player should tell me how the damage is taken care of. Does the Enlarge magic also add stress boxes? I don't think so, but correct me if I am wrong.

For Sable, he has taken two stress boxes as well. And to sing according to the sound of the Glen Frey song.. The Fight is On! ]

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Dizzy

This does not have to be a fair fight, not at all! Whilst Sable is attacking Shadow, Dizzy comes up behind him and goes for his eyes.

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[OOC: Another option for Shadow is to use a Fate Point to adjust the hit by 2 in his favor. Just tell me how an aspect or some other element is used by that Fate point to offer that benefit. Then it would be one stress.]

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Shadow

Many cats would be cowed by the danger posed by such vicious claws, but the shaper was not among them. Indeed, he did not back down or give the faintest hint of submission, instead pressing on with his attack imperiously, as if the threat of those vicious weapons was insignificant in the face of his burning ambitions. In truth, there was no foe he feared to face, no matter how powerful, and he had no intention of letting Sable's best shot have even the appearance of slowing him down. As Dizzy came in for the blind, he did not let up in his own assault.

Spending a fate point, tapping Shadow's main aspect to reduce the damage to one stress. Pressing the attack.

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Shadow's attack redoubled in ferocity was evidently a surprise to Sable. Possibly the second in command was not use to cats challenging him as strongly. Or possibly it was just Shadow's apparent will to press the attack.

It did have the effect of keeping Sable's attention focused on Shadow. That left Dizzy a free and clear attack. She took full advantage of that and sank her claws into Sable's hindquarters. It would have been a severe wound on a lesser cat, but whatever magics the second was using, made him quite strong. In addition the blood that came out with Dizzy's claws was greenish in color.

Sable howled in pain and struck at Shadow ineffectually. The fear of loss was apparent in the cat's eyes for the first time in this battle.

[OOC: PCs up again. Sorry had to sort out character sheets behind the scenes, and then I got busy. wink ]

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Dizzy

**Ugh! Green blood. No way is she licking that off! **

Dizzy is a very clean cat who takes pride in her appearance but this is not the time or place for beauty considerations. She might not be the fighter that Shadow is but two onto one significantly increases the odds in their favour and she has to play her part.

She attacks again and in the place that Sable is already wounded. Nothing says she has to fight fair in this battle. The more she can undermine their betrayer, the more chances Shadow will have.

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Shadow

The ambitious ginger tom was not one to let chances and opportunities go to waste. If anything, the spatter of green blood made him even fiercer, going for savage, killing swipes. Cats did not have green blood. Sable was not truly a cat. That meant he was prey.

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Shadow's combat abilities were known by many in their home. Most knew of it as a story, Dizzy was seeing it first hand. His claws were punishing slicing, dicing, and releasing more of the bright green blood. As more rivulets of the foul smelling fluids poured out of Sable's wounds the color was brighter and brighter.

Sable howled and began to grow in size, matching Shadow's increase tit for tat. Yet it wasn't good enough, even Dizzy landed a blow on and already wounded hind quarter.

Sable struck at both of them ineffectually. His paws thrashing about silver claws glinting in the darkness with their deadly edge. If Sable was able to hit even once, now that he was larger, it might spell the end of the cat that was struck.

But giant Sable's movements were slower, and more clumsy. The two other cats were winning, that much was obvious. The question would be at what price would be the cost for that win.

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Dizzy

She knows she is doing good, even if only providing opportunity for Shadow. She knows she is the weaker of the two and guesses that Sable know that too. So she will continue her 'assault' but be ready is Sable turns the attack on her. Ready to jump back, to dodge. For she is sure of one thing and that is that she is quicker than Sable. It is more important that she stays in this fight, albeit as a distraction, that it is to take unnecessary risks to land a blow. She will leave that to Shadow.

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Shadow

As Sable got larger, the Shaper looked to take advantage by becoming smaller, nimbler and more dextrous, going for deadly precision strikes against the big, lumbering foe and dodging its more imprecise answers. Size had its advantages, but that cut both ways, and cutting both ways was a speciality for the vicious tomcat.

Shrinking to get a better advantage as Sable slows down from size and exhaustion, invoking my Scrapper stunt: if I hit, spending a point to force a larger foe to take a consequence.

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Sable had only intended to match paw for paw. Shadow's clever use of alternative forms, took the cat by surprise. Shadow's back claws raked across the large black cat's abdomen and out spilled almost fluorescent green blood. Following the blood was the black of dead flesh, though no internal organs fell out, even though the wound was large enough for such an occasion.

Dizzy tries to do more than be a distraction, and lands a light blow, small cuts on the giant cat's ribs.

The pair of them are eviscerating the cat. Sable howls and something else happens. The color bubbles begin to vibrate in tune to that howl.

Sable is unable to harm Shadow with many swipes.

[PCs act. Sable is staggered to use DnD terms.]

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Dizzy

Seeing the bubbles reacting to Sable, Dizzy becomes alarmed. This cannot be something good.

Shadow is easily coping with Sable now. She maybe needs to do what she is good at too.

She can climb, she has catwalk. Her best skill is Warding. And she knows in that big building with the sick burdens she disrupted the conduits of power by warding. Maybe she can do the same here?

She looks around for a focal point.

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Shadow

Something ominous in that howl, and whatever it was, Shadow didn't intend to let it be realised. Almost protean, he looked to enlarge again at just the right moment for an attack on the possibly dead, hollow thing's neck, and silence the vile sound at source.

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Dizzy can pick a spot and begin a ritual but she knows it will take time. Do they have the time?

Shadow begins to enlarge and tries to strike at the precise moment to end this fight once and for all.

His bite is perfect, fangs out, he sinks them into the neck of the thing that opposed them. The taste of the foul ichor that might be blood is cloying and too sweet.

Sable falls beginning to return to his normal size.

The bubbles are vibrating more and more, agitating within their confines.

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Dizzy

She doesn't know if she has time.. but she has to try. This is her thing, her reason for being.

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Shadow

Back arched, he got rid of the vile stuff in his mouth before it could permeate him, as if it were a hairball. He kept his eyes on 'Sable' all the while, in case tearing out its belly and neck hadn't been enough.

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Sable didn't move, looking all the while like a dead cat.

Dizzy sought a good spot where she could perform her ritual. [OOC: How do you see the ward being used? Encircle all of the bubbles, block the door? You tell me.]

She knew that in addition to inscribing the circle she would need some sort of sacrifice to power it.

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[OOC Can she use Sable as the sacrifice?]

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[OOC: Oh that is an interesting idea. Technically Sable should be dead. But it is far more entertaining a story idea to use Sable for such an act. So the GM over rules the DM and says YES, by all means. Write it up! grin ]

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Dizzy

She works out the placing of her ward, her idea is to cut off the bubbles from whatever is powering them which she thinks must be the spirit that seem tethered there. She also thinks she hasn't much time but she does need a sacrifice.

Fortunately Shadow might just have helped to provide one. It seems a fitting, if ironic, end to Sable.

So she starts her working in full Warden of the Wild mode, centering her ritual on Sable and defining her lines of power to cut off the bubbles from the trapped spirit.

This has to work!

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Shadow watched, Dizzy worked. Time passed.

It took precise movements and efforts to bring a ritual to life. An interesting turn of a phrase that might be if she thought about it. Slowly the lines are drawn, even as the bubbles vibrate more and more.

Shadow can feel the world around them changing the Veil between this world and that thinning. Midnight is fast approaching. Soon spirits will be able to cross freely and wreck havoc should they have the want.

Dizzy is concentrating too hard on her wards to notice the changes, yet even the hackles on her back raise involuntarily in response.

Finally she is done. She completes the powerful magic using what was left of Sable's life force. She has sealed the spirit away from the bubbles.

That is when all hell breaks loose. The bubbles snap free of their tethers and that weird warbling howl that Sable had given off earlier comes from all of the bubbles at once. The entire cave is a cacophony of painful howling.

[OOC: The cats may act. The ward is in place. Things are happening. smile ]

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Shadow

There was something wrong, deeply wrong, with using anything with a mind to power magic: The law banning it was there for a reason. Still, Dizzy had not killed Sable, and Shadow had had no intention of using him for a working. Shaky ground, questionable ground, but it was at least something and rght now they were shy of options.

Then the howling erupted. Shadow once more whispered himself into incorporeal darkness, able to take spirits on on their own turf. He hissed, loudly, piercingly,

"Quiet, all of you! Control yourselves or be controlled, for this is not your territory and it is protected!"

Using the Dangerous Moves stunt to try and intimidate them all into submission based on Shadow's Fight ability.

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Dizzy

She looks around, finally aware of her circumstances as the howling began. Had she done wrong? Had she made things worse? She quivers.

Then Shadow fades physically but dominates mentally as his voice is commanding. She takes courage from his presence and is ready to assist in any way she can.

She jumps to the ground and turns, ready to face whatever comes.

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The bubbles didn't seem to care if Shadow might be able to hurt them, though they did quiet some from his tone. He could see red lines from each of the bubbles to the thing in the middle. There was some kind of a transmission going on. The bubbles all seemed smaller too.

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Shadow

Whatever was going on, it would be best were it not completed. He went about and attempted to sever the links before the bubbles were drained...

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To sever the links Shadow would have to cross the ward that Dizzy just put up.

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(Where's everything in the room in relation to everything else currently?)

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[I have a hard job picturing this too wink ]

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Imagine a round-ish cave with a high ceiling. The entrance and the battle near it are on the westerly wall. The bulk of the room is now walled off via the ward that was created. In this eastern section are the bubbles and the one large spirit thing. It isn't a spirit, that much is clear, but spiritual energy flow around it, and through it.

The cats are on one side of the ward and the bubbles and thing on the other. As far as the cats can tell this is the end of the mine, no other passages lead from this deep cool room.

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(Was that the intended ward placement?)

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[I am open to a change if that was not the intention. I understood that she was warding the bubbles so that they couldn't get away or influence the world outside. Was that the case? Tell me now, and I can adjust my narrative, if desired.]

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Yes but also to separate them from the spirit. My understanding was that the boy's body was there, Sable had been sitting on it, and that had been used to generate the spirit and the spirit is 'fuelling' the bubbles, hence cut off the fuelling source and contain the potential for damage.

Does that make sense? And are her interpretations reasonable based on what she knows/sees? smile

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Yes thank you for the memory jog. Yes the boy's body is right at the base of the large spirit thing. Yes that is all reasonable. smile

So we will revisit the scene. Let us start from here.
=====================
The ward was drawn close to the spirit blob, cutting off the little multicolored bubbles. The cats are on the same side with the howling little bubbles.

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Shadow

Whatever was going on, it would be best were it not completed. He went about and attempted to sever the links before the bubbles were drained...

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[OOC: Sorry I wasn't clear again. The bubbles are cut off from the spirit thing that was connected to them. That is when the howling began. To the cat's minds the energy from the bubbles (sacrifices) was stopped at the point of when the ward was put in place by Dizzy.

Why they are howling? That much is not clear.]

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[OOC Protesting that they are not being fed.. Dizzy can empathise with that.. but she will still starve them! grin I really can't work out what is happening here. I expect AJ feels the same. Is this something where the cats might have more knowledge than their players? smile ]

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[OOC: It is intended to be quite obtuse as far as what is going on. You guys are doing fine. This situation is unlike anything the cats have ever seen before.

Much they already know.
1) A cat has been sacrificing humans. A big no no.
2) Said cat had undergone some kind of a change. Completely unknown to them.
3) Some sort of energy was passing from the bubbles (likely souls) to some kind of a spiritual conduit for some nefarious purpose.

Things to resolve and or figure out.
1) What to do about said conduit?
2) How to release the bubbles?
3) What was the cat up to?

Oh and don't forget it is only just nearing the bewitching hour when the veil between worlds becomes so thin that spirits can cross and affect the living.

See not so complicated, oh wait maybe it is... grin ]

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And the ward is between the conduit and the bubbles?

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[OOC: That is what I understood to cut them off. You tell me, now that you know a bit more about the situation out of character. I was under the impression that you were cutting off the flowing energy from the bubbles to the spirit conduit.]

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[OOC: Yes that was the intention. smile ]

Dizzy

"Perhaps we should try popping one of the bubbles and see what happens?"

She really isn't sure what to do but doing nothing doesn't seem a good option either.

"Or.. leave the ward in place and take the small body away. We might be able to do that working together?"

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Shadow

Pride held him back from admitting he didn't know what to do either, but he acknowledged the younger cat's ideas.

"It cannot hurt to try. Let's see what happens when we end these bubbles..."

He raked shadowy claws against the nearest translucent sphere.

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The sphere slipped apart like a soap bubble should. That one sphere stopped howling, and for the briefest moment they both saw a young woman's spirit. She sighed in relief and floated upward through the roof of the cavern. She disappeared from sight.

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Shadow

"Free them all."

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Dizzy

She nods, happy to see the spirit freed and at peace. This is why they do what they do. She too reaches out to the nearest bubble to pop it.

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The two cats work hard to pop the spirit bubbles. It takes a few minutes, but soon the cavern's howls have stopped. There is still that odd breathing of air moving in and out of the cavern.

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Dizzy

"Now what?"

She whispers into the darkness.

"I wonder if we can trace the sound of that breathing?"

She moves her head listening carefully, trying to get a direction to it.

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Dizzy is pretty sure it has something to do with the thing she warded off. Whatever that spirit energy collector or conduit was, it was part of something on going, even if it was not getting energy now.

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Dizzy

"It seems to come from that thing that was connected to the bubbles. Do we need to attack that?"

She is unsure of the situation, not being a very experienced young cat but she is certainly willing.

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Shadow

Pacing around the thing,

"Just breathing? Hmm. We have it warded off, it shouldn't be a problem still. Is it?"

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Dizzy

"As long as the wards hold, it should be safe.."

She is not entirely comfortable with the situation though, like a job half finished.

[OOC Please correct me if I am wrong Pande, thanks! smile ]

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The wards would have to be reinforced from time to time, but they should hold for several days given the value of the sacrifice. She had never used a cat for such a working. But if a mouse could offer two to three days, certainly something sentient had to offer a much longer and stronger ward.

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Dizzy

"Maybe we just have to contain it beyond this night? I think the ward should last for several days. Perhaps we should look around and see if there is anything else?"

Her eyes are already moving around the chamber, searching.

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[Anyone? grin ]

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Shadow

He sniffed and pawed at the corpse of their enemy: It had seemed not to be a living cat when they had battled it. If that was the case, how long ago had it died, what had controlled it, and would it have truly empowered the ward?

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There is enough scent to know that it was a cat, even that it was Sable. But there was something else, something spirit like, otherworldly, evil magic at play as well. If Dizzy the warder had to guess given what they could discern, the ward should be stronger than many, if not all of the ones she had done in her life.

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[OOC Does the ward surround it? Contain it?]

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[OOC: I didn't have that impression, but you tell me. Does it? Sable's corpse was powerful enough to do so. ]

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[OOC Then we cannot attack Sable's corpse as it is powering the ward. But the bubbles are gone now yes? So there is no need for us to keep the ward in place? Struggling a bit to find a way forward here.]

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The bubbles and their spirit energy had been released. Whether or not the ward was necessary, remained to be seen. Certainly this conduit shouldn't benefit from anything since it didn't have little bubbles now, but who knew if that was the only purpose, especially this close to the All Hallows Eve.

[OOC: I agree it isn't clear because there are a lot of choices. You could report things, you could break the ward and see what happens. You could leave the ward in place till the veil between worlds returns to full strength in a little over a day. There are lots of options.]

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Shadow

During the fight in particular, whe he had sliced open the belly of his enemy, what he found was not what he would find in living prey. The question was, when did this become the case?

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It is tough to guess as Shadow has never seen such a thing. But given that what he found was cat like, Sable was still a cat, just infused with other things. If the dark tom had to take a guess, he would imagine that Sable has been consorting with things like these spirit things for a long time. He was able to use the power that was being controlled to enhance his own magic. Shadow would guess several months in anticipation of this day when he could transform.

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Dizzy

"Well Sable seems to be dead. Also seems to be powering the ward. And we have released the spirits in the bubbles. Not sure if there is anything else we can do here?"

She is beginning to worry about her burden. Who knows what he might do, left to his own devices.

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Shadow

"Hard to say for certain. We can always come back if needed. Let's get your burden away before it pokes its head somewhere it shouldn't."

He took one last look around the room, taking stock of what remained here.

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Shadow takes note of all the different things in the cavern and where they lie. He is certain that if necessary he would remember each and every piece.

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Dizzy

She considers for only a moment.

"Yes, let's."

She is much happier with the thought of leaving this dark damp underground and returning to her burden. Hopefully he is still OK. She turns to lead the way out, retracing the route they had come in by.

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Shadow

Back the way they came, remaining a shadow so as to avoid contact with the already stressed burden, as before.

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[OOC: I am fine with the cats showing up in the other thread, when you guys want to... smile ]

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