Post by Sogai Shengxiao on May 18, 2022 6:23:06 GMT -5
With his feet smackingly squirting bits and pieces of mud around as they desperately tried to allow an escape for the thief, Sogai hectically ran through the heavy downpoor tormenting the citizens of Hapshass this fateful night. The Shengxiao hadn't been careful enough in his most recent clash with the ever looming nobility, giving rise to a vengeful mob of bodyguards thirsting for his head. He really did have to stick his head through that door, did he. "Shit, shit shit.", his anxiety-ridden mind went on and on, he definitely wasn't ready to confront the men tasked with apprehending him. The rat could already feel his chainsmoker's lung giving up on providing him with enough oxygen to continue the hunting spree, his side stitched and copious amounts of sweat fused with the raindrops running down his face. "There! I can see him!", one of those buff servants shouted when he turned the correct corner and spotted Sogai bent over, exhaustedly huffing and catching a breath. "Fu..", he let out the corresponding expletive, quickly getting himself back together and darting in the opposite direction of his follower, only to find himself painfully colliding with a particularly tall and wide mercenary.
In his angst and desperation given his current, frankly quite hopeless situation, he let his attentiveness and mana sensing slack a bit, resulting in a perplexed and frightened Shengxiao involuntarily wallowing in whatever indistinguishable brown substance Hapshass's streets might be comprised of. One of Sogai's most impactful flaws, maybe even the single greatest one, an almost numbing anxiety when in a confrontation devoid of a perceivable solution, visibly showed itself in the thief's face, warped with fear as the bodyguard towered over him. The downpour collected on the large man's back, trickling down his sides while he bowed over Sogai and further pushed him into the mud in a successful attempt to pin the rat down. "No..", he managed to utter despite the weird shiver creeping it's way across his entire body as though his own subconscious tried to further hinder him from escaping such dire circumstances, the physically strong man's fist closing in on his face to render him unconscious.
Roughly an hour earlier, the rat was semi-gleefully whistling a chimy tune, as he so often did, accompanied by the heavy rain rythmically drip-dropping onto the protective rain coat's hood he wore. He loved this kind of weather, it culled humanity's repugnant smells and overwhelmingly irritating sounds, provided a sense of melancholy he so enjoyed and darkened the sun's glare to a much more comfortable level. With his eyes wandering across the lantern-lit, crookedly but charmingly built houses lining this particular alley, Sogai overheard a muffled shout followed by a large noise emanating from an opened door a few houses ahead. Curiosity and cautiousness fought for a split second, with the rat's innate wish for information most definitely prevailing. So he moved a little closer to the wall, swiftly moving forward and slightly turning the corner in order to be able to take in what scenery might unfold on the inside.
Being quite accustomed to the cruelty of living amongst the rather.. unfortunate humans populating the common and forsaken realm, one wouldn't have expected the thief to gasp in shock at what would forever be engraved in his memory. Out of the bodyguards mentioned before, two were struggling to keep a crying young man pinned to the wall, two others had their grimoires floating in front of them, each maintaining some sort of restraining magic on another young man and who Sogai guessed to be the father of the household. Another one was seemingly ordered to stand guard near the door, but his attention had been diverted back to the center of the room, where a most gruesome scene presented itself.
A woman, presumably the middle-aged man's wife and mother of the others, was forcefully pressed to the ground by the remaining servant that had a malicious grin distorting what facial expression was still visible beneath the many scars carved onto his visage. The more than obvious aggressor in this situation however, was an equally apparent noble, an ugly and haggard man of around Sogai's age, who had his muddied boot pushing down on the crying woman's face, shouting at her husband. "The YUL!", he continued tormenting the man as he turned his foot on the mother's cheek. "All of it, now!"
Maybe it was the woman's face ever so slightly resembling what little memory he had of his own mother, maybe the father's devastated expression of resignation and defeat, maybe it was the pain, suffering and anger visibly warping the sons' faces, with a sudden burst of a quite frankly absurd amount of confidence, the Shengxiao made himself known to the perpetrators, hate tainting his voice in a deep and menacing tone: "Hey!" The sharp expletive caught everyone's attention and the thief's grimoire started glowing with his mana's signature milky-white color, as he snapped his fingers at the most vial creature in the room. The snap's soundwaves were infused with his mana, quickly spurting towards the startled noble, and upon collision, tormented his ears with a loud tinnitus-like noise, prompting him to cower and cover his ears with his hands. He let out a cry of pain and anguish, satisfyingly enough, he didn't seem accustomed to any kind of pain, so even a spell like "Silent Swirl", merely meant for confusion, managed to harm him.
"Shit, why?", the rat rebuked himself for such idiotic behavior, the bodyguard's fist closing in on his face as though someone had slowed it down to a fraction of it's speed. Or maybe it was Sogai's thoughts that had accelerated because of the adrenaline? "Why did I do that?" Was he really going to spend the rest of his life in prison, or worse dead? Overlapping feelings of self-loathing, hatred for the upper class, fear of spending his life in a cellar, fear of the fist towering over his head numbed his mind, but a melody echoing deeply below the amalgamation of darkness shone a beacon of light through muddy waters. A sense of calm, a sense of soothing spread from said melody, eliciting a relieved smile from the thief as his grimoire once again started glowing with his mana, flipping open to an untainted page.
Almost eerily relaxed after the spontaneous revelation, Sogai had an innate understanding of the nature this spell had, it's words engraving onto the clean page. It was a spell of evolution and adaption, a spell of transformation, meant to relieve the rat of his own fear and impose said feeling onto others. As the spell was still manifesting, the punching mercenary stopped his fist, irritated by the sudden light emanating from the sound mage's grimoire, who clicked his tongue in order to activate his newly-found magic. Once again the soundwaves absorbed his mana and billowingly trickled down his body and onto the muddy ground, swiftly hushing to all sides.
Scared by the sudden activation of whatever spell the rat might've cast, the bodyguard jumped backwards in order so readjust his further actions. The spell kept spreading and as it reached is maximum range, transformed the ground to take on eerie, extraterrestrial colors of purple, blue and green, it gave rise to large stems of mushrooms sprouting high into the air, smaller versions of frankly weird-looking funghi grew across the entirety of the spells range. Bustling sounds of what seemed like large insects crawling in the thus created underwood started swelling, the rain trickled down the tree-like plant-life his spell had given life to, with the wind swaying them from left to right. "Rustling Underwood" was born.
A disgusting smell of deterioration and death reached Sogai's nose as he managed to get back on his feet, sustaining considerable damage from his own spell since he touched one of the mushrooms in the process and released it's spores. "Handy..", he mused with the pain showing on his wet face, but his mind still surprisingly calm and collected. He couldn't see his adversaries anymore, the forest his mana had produced was too thick and in turn provided a great opportunity for escape. Quickly activating his "Whispering Veil" to hide himself amongst the decaying plant-life, the rat scurried away into the dark of this fateful night.
Combat Summary
Mana:
30/90
Spells used:
Name of Spell: "Silent Swirl"
Name of Spell: "Rustling Underwood"
Name of Spell: "Whispering Veil"
TWC: 1.384
In his angst and desperation given his current, frankly quite hopeless situation, he let his attentiveness and mana sensing slack a bit, resulting in a perplexed and frightened Shengxiao involuntarily wallowing in whatever indistinguishable brown substance Hapshass's streets might be comprised of. One of Sogai's most impactful flaws, maybe even the single greatest one, an almost numbing anxiety when in a confrontation devoid of a perceivable solution, visibly showed itself in the thief's face, warped with fear as the bodyguard towered over him. The downpour collected on the large man's back, trickling down his sides while he bowed over Sogai and further pushed him into the mud in a successful attempt to pin the rat down. "No..", he managed to utter despite the weird shiver creeping it's way across his entire body as though his own subconscious tried to further hinder him from escaping such dire circumstances, the physically strong man's fist closing in on his face to render him unconscious.
Roughly an hour earlier, the rat was semi-gleefully whistling a chimy tune, as he so often did, accompanied by the heavy rain rythmically drip-dropping onto the protective rain coat's hood he wore. He loved this kind of weather, it culled humanity's repugnant smells and overwhelmingly irritating sounds, provided a sense of melancholy he so enjoyed and darkened the sun's glare to a much more comfortable level. With his eyes wandering across the lantern-lit, crookedly but charmingly built houses lining this particular alley, Sogai overheard a muffled shout followed by a large noise emanating from an opened door a few houses ahead. Curiosity and cautiousness fought for a split second, with the rat's innate wish for information most definitely prevailing. So he moved a little closer to the wall, swiftly moving forward and slightly turning the corner in order to be able to take in what scenery might unfold on the inside.
Being quite accustomed to the cruelty of living amongst the rather.. unfortunate humans populating the common and forsaken realm, one wouldn't have expected the thief to gasp in shock at what would forever be engraved in his memory. Out of the bodyguards mentioned before, two were struggling to keep a crying young man pinned to the wall, two others had their grimoires floating in front of them, each maintaining some sort of restraining magic on another young man and who Sogai guessed to be the father of the household. Another one was seemingly ordered to stand guard near the door, but his attention had been diverted back to the center of the room, where a most gruesome scene presented itself.
A woman, presumably the middle-aged man's wife and mother of the others, was forcefully pressed to the ground by the remaining servant that had a malicious grin distorting what facial expression was still visible beneath the many scars carved onto his visage. The more than obvious aggressor in this situation however, was an equally apparent noble, an ugly and haggard man of around Sogai's age, who had his muddied boot pushing down on the crying woman's face, shouting at her husband. "The YUL!", he continued tormenting the man as he turned his foot on the mother's cheek. "All of it, now!"
Maybe it was the woman's face ever so slightly resembling what little memory he had of his own mother, maybe the father's devastated expression of resignation and defeat, maybe it was the pain, suffering and anger visibly warping the sons' faces, with a sudden burst of a quite frankly absurd amount of confidence, the Shengxiao made himself known to the perpetrators, hate tainting his voice in a deep and menacing tone: "Hey!" The sharp expletive caught everyone's attention and the thief's grimoire started glowing with his mana's signature milky-white color, as he snapped his fingers at the most vial creature in the room. The snap's soundwaves were infused with his mana, quickly spurting towards the startled noble, and upon collision, tormented his ears with a loud tinnitus-like noise, prompting him to cower and cover his ears with his hands. He let out a cry of pain and anguish, satisfyingly enough, he didn't seem accustomed to any kind of pain, so even a spell like "Silent Swirl", merely meant for confusion, managed to harm him.
"Shit, why?", the rat rebuked himself for such idiotic behavior, the bodyguard's fist closing in on his face as though someone had slowed it down to a fraction of it's speed. Or maybe it was Sogai's thoughts that had accelerated because of the adrenaline? "Why did I do that?" Was he really going to spend the rest of his life in prison, or worse dead? Overlapping feelings of self-loathing, hatred for the upper class, fear of spending his life in a cellar, fear of the fist towering over his head numbed his mind, but a melody echoing deeply below the amalgamation of darkness shone a beacon of light through muddy waters. A sense of calm, a sense of soothing spread from said melody, eliciting a relieved smile from the thief as his grimoire once again started glowing with his mana, flipping open to an untainted page.
Almost eerily relaxed after the spontaneous revelation, Sogai had an innate understanding of the nature this spell had, it's words engraving onto the clean page. It was a spell of evolution and adaption, a spell of transformation, meant to relieve the rat of his own fear and impose said feeling onto others. As the spell was still manifesting, the punching mercenary stopped his fist, irritated by the sudden light emanating from the sound mage's grimoire, who clicked his tongue in order to activate his newly-found magic. Once again the soundwaves absorbed his mana and billowingly trickled down his body and onto the muddy ground, swiftly hushing to all sides.
Scared by the sudden activation of whatever spell the rat might've cast, the bodyguard jumped backwards in order so readjust his further actions. The spell kept spreading and as it reached is maximum range, transformed the ground to take on eerie, extraterrestrial colors of purple, blue and green, it gave rise to large stems of mushrooms sprouting high into the air, smaller versions of frankly weird-looking funghi grew across the entirety of the spells range. Bustling sounds of what seemed like large insects crawling in the thus created underwood started swelling, the rain trickled down the tree-like plant-life his spell had given life to, with the wind swaying them from left to right. "Rustling Underwood" was born.
A disgusting smell of deterioration and death reached Sogai's nose as he managed to get back on his feet, sustaining considerable damage from his own spell since he touched one of the mushrooms in the process and released it's spores. "Handy..", he mused with the pain showing on his wet face, but his mind still surprisingly calm and collected. He couldn't see his adversaries anymore, the forest his mana had produced was too thick and in turn provided a great opportunity for escape. Quickly activating his "Whispering Veil" to hide himself amongst the decaying plant-life, the rat scurried away into the dark of this fateful night.
Combat Summary
Mana:
30/90
Spells used:
Name of Spell: "Silent Swirl"
Elemental Type: Sound
Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate [Hex (+ Sensory/Homing)]
Range & Speed: 40m / 20m/s
Mana Cost: 20 / 10
Stats Effected: -5 m/s Speed (/ -6 Sensory)
Applicable Perks: SINISTER MAGIC
Description: In order for this spell to be activated, Sogai will have to decide on a target within his base sensory range, snap the fingers of his right hand in the general direction of said target and channel mana into the soundwaves emanating from the snap. Visually quite akin to swirling heat hazes taking on a white-ish milky color, those will gather into a spherical projectile, move towards the respective enemy at 20m/s and disappear upon colliding with any form of matter. Should a target have been hit by the sphere, roughly spanning 30cm in diameter, a loud tinnitus-like noise will torment their ears for the duration the spell is affecting them.
People hit by the spell will have their sensory stat debuffed by -6 and their speed reduced by -5m/s in accordance with standard intermediate debuffing rules. For every further post this hex spell remains active on at least one target, 10 mana will be drained from Sogai's mana pool. With the use of intermediate rank dual spec ammo rules, the thief can snap his fingers again, create additional projectiles, designate further targets and, should he decide to do so, apply homing effects to the respective soundwave/s following the dual spec control requirements and homing rules.
Reference for activation movement:
Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate [Hex (+ Sensory/Homing)]
Range & Speed: 40m / 20m/s
Mana Cost: 20 / 10
Stats Effected: -5 m/s Speed (/ -6 Sensory)
Applicable Perks: SINISTER MAGIC
This perk allows debuffs to target multiple people without losing potency.
Description: In order for this spell to be activated, Sogai will have to decide on a target within his base sensory range, snap the fingers of his right hand in the general direction of said target and channel mana into the soundwaves emanating from the snap. Visually quite akin to swirling heat hazes taking on a white-ish milky color, those will gather into a spherical projectile, move towards the respective enemy at 20m/s and disappear upon colliding with any form of matter. Should a target have been hit by the sphere, roughly spanning 30cm in diameter, a loud tinnitus-like noise will torment their ears for the duration the spell is affecting them.
People hit by the spell will have their sensory stat debuffed by -6 and their speed reduced by -5m/s in accordance with standard intermediate debuffing rules. For every further post this hex spell remains active on at least one target, 10 mana will be drained from Sogai's mana pool. With the use of intermediate rank dual spec ammo rules, the thief can snap his fingers again, create additional projectiles, designate further targets and, should he decide to do so, apply homing effects to the respective soundwave/s following the dual spec control requirements and homing rules.
Reference for activation movement:
Name of Spell: "Rustling Underwood"
Elemental Type: Sound [+ Transformation: Plant]
Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate [Sensory/Illusion + Off. Transmutation]
Range & Speed: 20 meters (AoE) [+20 from Perks] / 20m/s
Mana Cost: 20 / 10
Stats Effected: -6 Sensory / Movement Hinder [-5 m/s]
Applicable Perks: MASTER ILLUSIONIST
AREA OF TRIUMPH
This perk allows a person to have their AoE spells to have their max size increased by 10 meters + 5 meters per rank of the spell starting at junior.
Description: As with all of his sound based magic, Sogai will have to rely on actual soundwaves to channel his mana into. For this spell he will produce those by clicking his tongue three times, imitating the sound a large insect might make. Channeling his mana into said soundwaves, they will take on a white-ish hue and the appearance of swirling heat hazes, fall to the floor, start spreading at 20m/s to a max range of 40m and drain 10 additional mana per post. As soon as they hit the floor, they will affect the ground, transforming it into a decaying, deteriorated foresty area, inhabited by a large selection of extraterrestrial-looking mushrooms in varying colors, shapes and sizes. The illusion affects any impacted person's sense of smell and hearing, providing a concoction of the horrendous smells and dubious sounds one might expect to perceive in a forest of death such as this one. The eerie buzzing and consecutive rustling of seemingly huge insects crawling somewhere behind you, the loud and imposing sound of their mandibles excitedly clicking at their prey, the overwhelming smells of deteriorating flesh and other organic matter, the wind hushing through what seems like a canope of large mushrooms.
Touching any of the areas transformed by this spell will cause the mushroom's spores to apply junior rank damage and the standard movement hinder debuff from an intermediate offensive transformation, while the illusion cast alongside the transformation will debuff any given target's sensory by -6. This debuff follows the standard intermediate debuffing rules.
Seeing through this illusion requires 30 points in the sensory stat, increasing by 2 for every 10 points in control Sogai has. The effects of the illusion will naturally wane over time, reducing the sensory requirement for seeing through it by -2 for every post it is upheld. In accordance with the intermediate ammo creation rules, Sogai can exclude potential allies from the illusion, but neither them nor himself from the effects of the transformation. Upon the transformed area being attacked, the transformation does not stop, should the transformation be stopped afterwards however, the original landscape will show the respective signs of destruction.
Visual reference for the transformation:
Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate [Sensory/Illusion + Off. Transmutation]
Range & Speed: 20 meters (AoE) [+20 from Perks] / 20m/s
Mana Cost: 20 / 10
Stats Effected: -6 Sensory / Movement Hinder [-5 m/s]
Applicable Perks: MASTER ILLUSIONIST
Those with this perk will be able to make their illusions harder to see through than normal. They will now require the needed sensory to see through an illusion to increase by 2 per 10 control an illusionist has.
AREA OF TRIUMPH
This perk allows a person to have their AoE spells to have their max size increased by 10 meters + 5 meters per rank of the spell starting at junior.
Description: As with all of his sound based magic, Sogai will have to rely on actual soundwaves to channel his mana into. For this spell he will produce those by clicking his tongue three times, imitating the sound a large insect might make. Channeling his mana into said soundwaves, they will take on a white-ish hue and the appearance of swirling heat hazes, fall to the floor, start spreading at 20m/s to a max range of 40m and drain 10 additional mana per post. As soon as they hit the floor, they will affect the ground, transforming it into a decaying, deteriorated foresty area, inhabited by a large selection of extraterrestrial-looking mushrooms in varying colors, shapes and sizes. The illusion affects any impacted person's sense of smell and hearing, providing a concoction of the horrendous smells and dubious sounds one might expect to perceive in a forest of death such as this one. The eerie buzzing and consecutive rustling of seemingly huge insects crawling somewhere behind you, the loud and imposing sound of their mandibles excitedly clicking at their prey, the overwhelming smells of deteriorating flesh and other organic matter, the wind hushing through what seems like a canope of large mushrooms.
Touching any of the areas transformed by this spell will cause the mushroom's spores to apply junior rank damage and the standard movement hinder debuff from an intermediate offensive transformation, while the illusion cast alongside the transformation will debuff any given target's sensory by -6. This debuff follows the standard intermediate debuffing rules.
Seeing through this illusion requires 30 points in the sensory stat, increasing by 2 for every 10 points in control Sogai has. The effects of the illusion will naturally wane over time, reducing the sensory requirement for seeing through it by -2 for every post it is upheld. In accordance with the intermediate ammo creation rules, Sogai can exclude potential allies from the illusion, but neither them nor himself from the effects of the transformation. Upon the transformed area being attacked, the transformation does not stop, should the transformation be stopped afterwards however, the original landscape will show the respective signs of destruction.
Visual reference for the transformation:
Name of Spell: "Whispering Veil"
Elemental Type: Sound
Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate [Sensory/Illusion]
Range & Speed: 20 meters (AoE) [+ 10 for every 10 points in sensory + 20 from Perks] / 20m/s
Mana Cost: 20 / 10
Stats Effected: -6 Sensory
Applicable Perks: MASTER ILLUSIONIST
COLD-BLOODED
AREA OF TRIUMPH
This perk allows a person to have their AoE spells to have their max size increased by 10 meters + 5 meters per rank of the spell starting at junior.
Description: Given most of his magic is used in order to rob someone, a spell like this was almost mandatory to the thief. Similar to most of his other spells, Sogai will create a set of soundwaves via a very quiet whistle, which he will then channel mana into. Wildly and seemingly uncontrollably moving and swirling distortions in the air will form a roughly 1/2 m thick cloak around his body and create an illusion, taking on a white, milky hue. Visually quite similar to "Singularity of Sound", it moves along with the Shengxiao and will blight all sounds the thief or affected targets might produce during the time this spell is upheld, basically removing those sounds and draining an additional 10 mana per post. Should Sogai bump into a very expensive vase, for example, and shatter it in the process, none of the falling pieces or the shattering itself would be audible to anyone in hearing distance. Said illusion can be expanded into a sphere or shrunk back to its original size at will and a speed of 20 m/s, with the maximum range being 60 meters in diameter.
Should the thief decide to have it expand in a spherical manner, anyone within AoE range will have their sensory stat debuffed by -6. Affected targets will also have their capabilities in sensing mana signatures hindered, as there will appear to be multiple of the rat's own mana signatures scattered throughout the range of the spell, slowly but steadily moving around. Additionally, the effect of this illusion will wane over time, further reducing the amount of sensory necessary to break the illusion by -2 for every post "Whispering Veil" is kept active. Given the sound mage decides to apply his Cold-Blooded perk, the spell will also completely mask his mana signature and presence, which may only be upheld for up to three posts at a time and be applied twice a thread max.
Rank & Spell Type: Intermediate [Sensory/Illusion]
Range & Speed: 20 meters (AoE) [+ 10 for every 10 points in sensory + 20 from Perks] / 20m/s
Mana Cost: 20 / 10
Stats Effected: -6 Sensory
Applicable Perks: MASTER ILLUSIONIST
Those with this perk will be able to make their illusions harder to see through than normal. They will now require the needed sensory to see through an illusion to increase by 2 per 10 control an illusionist has.
COLD-BLOODED
The user can completely mask their mana signature and presence from anyone regardless of either's sensory stat or Ki abilities. This may last up to three posts before it is faded. This can be used twice a thread.
AREA OF TRIUMPH
This perk allows a person to have their AoE spells to have their max size increased by 10 meters + 5 meters per rank of the spell starting at junior.
Description: Given most of his magic is used in order to rob someone, a spell like this was almost mandatory to the thief. Similar to most of his other spells, Sogai will create a set of soundwaves via a very quiet whistle, which he will then channel mana into. Wildly and seemingly uncontrollably moving and swirling distortions in the air will form a roughly 1/2 m thick cloak around his body and create an illusion, taking on a white, milky hue. Visually quite similar to "Singularity of Sound", it moves along with the Shengxiao and will blight all sounds the thief or affected targets might produce during the time this spell is upheld, basically removing those sounds and draining an additional 10 mana per post. Should Sogai bump into a very expensive vase, for example, and shatter it in the process, none of the falling pieces or the shattering itself would be audible to anyone in hearing distance. Said illusion can be expanded into a sphere or shrunk back to its original size at will and a speed of 20 m/s, with the maximum range being 60 meters in diameter.
Should the thief decide to have it expand in a spherical manner, anyone within AoE range will have their sensory stat debuffed by -6. Affected targets will also have their capabilities in sensing mana signatures hindered, as there will appear to be multiple of the rat's own mana signatures scattered throughout the range of the spell, slowly but steadily moving around. Additionally, the effect of this illusion will wane over time, further reducing the amount of sensory necessary to break the illusion by -2 for every post "Whispering Veil" is kept active. Given the sound mage decides to apply his Cold-Blooded perk, the spell will also completely mask his mana signature and presence, which may only be upheld for up to three posts at a time and be applied twice a thread max.
TWC: 1.384
