allegreta

[allegreta]

december activity check: hiatus

[allegreta]

november activity check: passed!

skill points: 28->30

flying: C+->B (monthly skill point, arena)

obtained: pending

[allegreta]

Leanne's tunnel vision widens, and the whole arena seems to shift. A hiccup in reality, and suddenly Elincia, battered but alive, is by her side.

"I'll be alright, Elincia. Don't worry about me." Leanne feels heavier, somehow, more wounded than she'd been before everything twisted and warped. She shakes her head. It must be a trick of the illusory fields. "We can take it down, together."

But something is wrong. Elincia comes in close, firing off some errant shots, but the dragonoid's eyes are sharper than they should be. Was Leanne's attack not...?

"Elincia! Look out!"

Areadbhar 13/15HP crits ELINCIA 2/10 HP with Retribution. [Roll: 19, -4HP; ELINCIA 2/10 HP] ELINCIA has been defeated!

Once more, Elincia falls. Leanne cannot help but feel like it was her fault, that her blows were not enough. She could have sworn she'd seen it stumble back, envenomed and dazed.

It's a replay, once more. And this time, she's going to properly avenge Elincia. She has to. For her. For Naoise. For Minerva, her only ally who still stands.

Leanne’s Galeforce activates! LEANNE 4/10 HP hits Areadbhar 13/15HP with Gradivus! [Roll: 13-2=11, hit! -3.5HP; Areadbhar 9.5/15HP

With a prayer on her tongue and tears in her eyes, Leanne dives at the dragon once more, ripping into its softened flesh and wringing out roars of pain.

Trample activates! -2HP, Areadbhar 7.5/15HP Areadbhar 7.5/15HP is inflicted with Toxic Poison [Roll: 1] Areadbhar 7.5/15HP is inflicted with Stun Areadbhar 7.5/15HP is stunned and cannot counter!

There's that dazed look, the acrid smell of tainted blood. Leanne lingers far too long, but she detaches herself before it can get a lucky hit onto her, circling back into the air.

"We can finish it!" She nods to Minerva, her voice hoarse with fury and grief and blood. "Just a little further!"

Dragon Slayers defeating the long-lost King (Gold Round - Team 5)

[allegreta]

Elincia's grace and prowess always take Leanne's breath away, and she can't help but feel a little flutter at the playful quip. Her dear friend makes short work of the husk, coming out a bit worse for wear but still standing. Everything looks like it will be okay.

But the lance-dragon has other ideas.

Minerva bests it, her magic cleaving through its scales with ease. But like the husk, it rises again, eyes glowing with a life that should not be, and it attacks with a monstrous fury.

UNBEATEN triggers! Areadbhar 15/15HP attacks Everyone with Atrocity!

Leanne is caught off-guard, but she manages to maneuver herself out of the way of one of the hits, shrugging off the first as best she can. It's a whirlwind of magic and melee, and she's barely able to keep herself steady.

Slaughterer activates! [Roll: 15 & 3, -3HP & miss = -3 HP; LEANNE is 7/10 HP] LEANNE is debuffed [Roll: 8, 4  ; -2 LCK, -1 RES ] through next combat.

"Elincia! Naoise! Elincia, no!" When the dust clears, all she can see is the broken bodies of Naoise and Elincia laying on the ground. They're dead. She knows they're dead. She can sense no life coming from them, and with the state they're in that's probably a mercy.

This is just a simulation. She reminds herself of this. But it could happen, and the smell of her friends' blood in the air feels real.

LEANNE 7/10 HP hits Areadbhar 13/15HP with Hit and Run! [Roll: 3+2=5, -3HP; Areadbhar 10/15HP] Trample activates! -2 HP ; Areadbhar 8/15HP Areadbhar is inflicted with Stun! Areadbhar is stunned and cannot counterattack. Areadbhar is inflicted with Toxic Poison!

"Stop this!" Leanne dives in at its throat, getting between its scales to deal a stunning blow. She tears a little before flapping backwards, getting some distance between her and the foe before it can get itself together. Her voice chokes on grief and blood. "Monster!"

Dragon Slayers defeating the long-lost King (Gold Round - Team 5)

[allegreta]

It will never get easier, the consuming darkness, the lurch of getting whisked away to some other battlefield of essence. This one is no less unnatural, but its strangeness courses through her in a more direct way than just vague unease.

There is also the huge, sickening dragonoid monster that clambers onto the field, accompanied by a beastial husk of a foe. Both emanate nauseous, uneasy energy, things that should not be alive, yet have been cursed with existence.

Areadbhar 15/15HP* attacks Everyone with Atrocity! Slaughterer activates! [Roll: 14 & 11 , -3HP & -3HP  = -6 HP; LEANNE is 4/10 HP] LEANNE is debuffed [Roll: 8, 8, 4, 3  ; -2 LCK, -2 LCK, -1 RES, -1 DEF ] through next combat.

Even in her empowered heron form, Leanne is battered with ease, waves of attack wearing her down and nearly knocking her from the sky. She's lucky to still be flying; she wants to be useful to her allies, but she's flagging badly.

Areadbhar 15/15HP* attacks LEANNE 4/10 HP (Roll: 10 ,1; barely hit, miss; -2HP) [LEANNE 2/10 HP receives -2 AVO, -1 RES until the end of her next combat.]

Once again its claws and teeth rend her flesh; how she still lives is a miracle, certainly. Bones that would normally break at half the pressure maintain their integrity, and magic bubbles in her throat. It thinks itself her better, it thinks she is easy prey, but she will prove elsewise.

Amaterasu heals Leanne for 1HP! LEANNE 3/10HP LEANNE 3/10HP uses Gradivas to recover all HP! LEANNE 10/10HP

"I'm alright!" It's not galdr, but the energy that washes over her and heals her feels different than regular healing magic, something older and more inherent. She still feels lingering vulnerability from that nauseating magic, but her wounds knit themselves together so quickly it's as if nothing else happened. She wishes dearly she could pass this to Elincia, but it remains stubbornly locked to her form. "They'll not best me here!"

She itches to move, to attack and aid her brave allies, but to do so now would incur unnecessary, counterproductive risk. If she just repositions herself, if she waits for the right opening, then surely she can contribute the way Minerva has.

@amitieos

Dragon Slayers defeating the long-lost King (Gold Round - Team 5)

[allegreta]

Something is wrong. The difference between the mirror images and her true allies has been distinct, until now, but everything twists and melds, down to her bones. Even her heron senses cannot pinpoint who is who; it would be oh so much easier to just pause things, to try and talk through and find out who is the imposter, but everything launches back into battle before she can even give voice to the idea.

Minerva 8/10HP attacks Leanne 7/10 HP  with Halahala  [Roll:17+6=23, hit! -5HP] Leanne 2/10 HP's buffs are inverted!  Leanne 2/10 counters with Blessed Lance [Roll: 20, crit hit!] Beak of Gofannon activates! Minerva 5/10 HP is inflicted with Toxic Poison!

"Minerva, stop! It's me!" Leanne's hands move before she can think about it, and she's pierced her ally(?) clear through her upper shoulder. She stumbles back, the tang of blood and acrid poison making her sick. It's all she can do not to pass out then and there. It should be burning, her senses tell her; flames spill over the arena, yet her skin does not feel the heat.

Naoise follows up, an arrow nocked and drawn, flying loose towards Minerva before Leanne can even say something. He seems off, wrong, but in a way that she is not entirely certain marks him as a fake. She charges him, but stops short of skewering him; she needs to see something.

Leanne 2/10HP recovers +1HP from Blessed Lance. Leanne  3/10 HP. Leanne 3/10HP misses Naiose 1/10HP with Blessed Lance! [Roll: 3, miss!]

"Naoise! It's me, Leanne! Please, listen to me!" His eyes are fixated on something else entirely, something that bears upon him like the flames that consumed Serenes. There's nothing to do for him now, and a familiar buzz of black begins to eat at the edges of her senses.

But she doesn't want things to end this way. Not with all of them attacking each other, not with their blood on each other's hands.

Leanne throws her weapon down, embracing the taller man in a hug, wings surrounding them and blocking out the chaos of the battle around them. If one of their foes wishes to strike her down like this, so be it; things are ending, anyway. This is more important.

"It's not real. None of this is real. We're going to be alright. I promise you."

Minerva or her mimic bombard Leanne with magic, she does not know at this point, leaving her barely standing. But she refuses to leave her vigil. Even as she watches her own mirror image approach them in the rapidly darkening space, she stares them cleanly in the eyes. These foes may have bested them physically, but her heart will not succumb.

[ team 5 silver ] how are you me. I'M me.

[allegreta]

"Elincia!" Leanne cries out in concern, watching her friend crumple to the ground at the hands of her own doppelganger. Naoise and Minerva quickly fall in line, protecting their stunned comrade; clearly, they have marked experience on the battlefield. Leanne is slow to act in comparison to them, losing precious time to her own worries and nausea, but she swallows, shaking her head. She must do her part.

Leanne 10/10HP auto-crits CERVID HUSK 2/10HP* with Hit and Run! [Roll: 6, hit!]

Gripping her lance, she swoops in as the deerlike beast is distracted by Naoise, landing a hefty blow that sends it flying backwards. It twitches, spasming before it finally grows still.

"Is it over? Has it fallen?"

MULTI HEALTHBAR activates! CERVID HUSK 10/10HP.

It rises again, hooves unsteady and antlers ready once again to kill. Despite this, it surely seems less coordinated than it was before, on its last legs, so to speak.

"We're close!" Leanne eyes the mimics as well; they are still fearsome, holding all the power of the allies they copied. "Just a little more...!"

[ team 5 silver ] how are you me. I'M me.

[allegreta]

The world reforms, and Leanne finds herself on solid ground, armed with a spear and imbued with her usual power of galdr. It is a relief, in some senses, that she can aid her allies in a way she is used to; in other ways, she is frustrated she has not gotten the chance to redeem her performance earlier.

There is no time to be reflective, though; strange, twisted beings look back at them with their own eyes, twisted facsimiles of Leanne and her allies. The arena will stop at nothing to challenge them.

"Fantastic, Naoise!" Leanne cheers for her companion, the man who'd nobly sacrificed himself prior and puts himself directly in the fray now. A seasoned soldier, for certain, someone she can rely on to cover her and the others' backs. "Please, lend us your strength!"

Leanne 10/10HP uses Refresh on Naoise 10/10HP! Naoise gains an additional turn!

Leanne sings, clear notes echoing through the battlefield as seid magic imbues Naoise with vigor. She can do this, she can be useful and she will make sure no one dies this time.

@amitieos

[ team 5 silver ] how are you me. I'M me.

[allegreta]

Leanne awakens in the arms of a savior, reverted to her beorc form. Minerva is a strong, impressive woman, clearly used to the battlefield, and here she is spending her time rescuing Leanne when she could be helping Elincia.

Frustration bubbles in Leanne as she musters the strength to get to her feet, to shift once more, to ready her beak and her body for another onslaught. She turns to Elincia, nodding in understanding. Their physical strength wavers, one of their allies lost to the tides. This is a last hurrah, an effort into a cold, uncaring universe, a sea that will just as soon suffocate than nourish.

Backup activates! ELINCIA assists! [-1HP, SOPHROSYNE 10/20HP] LEANNE 2.5/10 HP attacks SOPHROSYNE 11/20 HP with Short Spear and uses Combat Art Hit and Run [Roll d20-2=9, hit! -1HP, SOPHROSYNE 9/20HP]

Leanne darts in quickly, wearing the aquatic monster down yet again. Elincia backs her up, and together they chip away at its hide. Despite their impending doom, despite the nausea of the seawater in her belly and the chaos in the air, she finds herself proud, satisfied that she too can contribute to efforts as a combatant. She quickly sweeps back to Minerva's side, watching her rescuer's back; as the only landbound fighter left, she is at a disparate disadvantage.

@amitieos

[TEAM 5 BRONZE] fr what happens if we can't swim /srs

[allegreta]

Even heron senses cannot fully overcome a sea that is actively trying to drown you, but Leanne can hear bits and pieces of her allies' predicaments. They cry out her name while in peril themselves, and she wants to tell them she'll be fine, she'll be fine--

SOPHI [2] 3/3 HP attacks LEANNE 6/10 HP [Roll 2d20-2: 17, hit!, 8, hit!] LEANNE 5/10 HP SOPHI [5] 3/3 HP attacks LEANNE 5.5/10 HP [Roll d20-2: 17, hit!, 13, hit!] LEANNE 4.5/10 HP

The turtle-beasts bite and scratch at her, the pain at once driving precious breath from her lungs and prompting her limbs to move, to try and propel her upwards with a final exertion of her burning muscles.

LEANNE 4.5/10 HP is still drowning! LEANNE 3.5/10 HP

The world grows dark, darker, and the panic of her teammates fades into muffled sounds of indiscriminate meaning. The water beckons, gentle in its violence, whispering in her ear just to let go. It would be so easy. It would be oh so easy. She wants to fight, but it isn't in her heart, and the water lulls her back to rationality, back to peace, back to order.

LEANNE 3.5/10 HP is unconscious!

[TEAM 5 BRONZE] fr what happens if we can't swim /srs

[allegreta]

Elincia moves in graceful tandem with Leanne, striking true between the aquatic monster's scales. It reels back, howling in pain, lashing at Elincia and churning the very waters to its command. Leanne hardly has a chance to move back before the tides grab her, crush her, drive the water from her lungs--

OPHROSYNE 11/20 HP uses CRUSHING WAVES [Roll: 4d4: 2, 2, 4, 4] LEANNE 10/10 HP takes -4 HP [LEANNE 6/10 HP] drowning!

--and she is drowning, surrounded by smaller monsters as she flails, trying to surface her head above water. There's no sign of Elincia or the others, and she hears the muffled yells of her allies as the waves come for them too.

SOPHI [4] 3/3 HP on LEANNE 6/10 HP: 9-4= 5, barely hit! -0HP = LEANNE 6/10 HP SOPHI [5] 3/3 HP on LEANNE 6/10 HP: 9-4= 5, barely hit! -0HP = LEANNE 6/10 HP

The minions gnash at her, but her feathers feel harder than before, more protective, and all she feels are the dull impacts. They struggle to get anything more in than glancing blows, too, the tides as tumultuous for them as they are for her.

LEANNE 6/10 HP is drowning! [Roll: 2, 4, 4, 3], conditions not met!

She struggles, tries to position herself to swim upwards, and she can feel herself getting close, but oxygen is waning and the water's grip is too tight.

[TEAM 5 BRONZE] fr what happens if we can't swim /srs

[allegreta]

To be paired with her lady Elincia fills Leanne with such joy, despite the general forboding of a combat simulation. Her other teammates seem to be seasoned soldiers; Leanne feels distinctly out of place, but it is her duty as a princess to have knowledge and ability to defend her people and loved ones, regardless of conflict's antithetical nature in her heart.

(And perhaps, these simulations in which she is granted power beyond what she normally has are something she seeks out, regardless of discomfort.)

Leanne finds herself in heron form, but empowered, somehow. Like the hawks Reyson idolizes, claws and beak ready to rend flesh. She is in flight, circling the boat where her allies Naoise and Minerva face down the wretched beasts surrounding them, adjacent to Elincia who sits atop a pegasus as she does in the waking realm.

"I'm here!" Leanne turns, watching as the smaller fishlike beasts circle the boat, focused in such a synchronized way she feels they must be following something.

There! A shadow beneath the surface, the gleam of armored scales. Something monstrous and calculating, lurking and watching their every move.

"I think I see their commander!" Perhaps to a beorc, attributing this level of intelligence to such inhuman beings so easily would seem odd, but Leanne feels confident. This is who they should target, the mastermind pulling the strings. "There!"

Backup activates! ELINCIA assists! [-1HP, SOPHROSYNE 19/20HP] NAOISE assists! [-1HP, SOPHROSYNE 18/20HP]

Elincia and Naoise flush it out with ranged weapons, hardly piercing its hide but revealing its location for Leanne to dive in, sharpened beak and waterproof feathers flashing as she breaches the water herself. If it won't come to them, she will utilize her abilities to bring the fight to it!

LEANNE 10/10HP hits SOPHROSYNE 18/20HP with Short Spear! [Roll 13-6=7, 13-6=7, Hit and Hit! -2HP, SOPHROSYNE 16/20HP]

The beast screeches as it swims away from her; she can feel the blood on her tongue as it pierces a weak spot. Feelings swirl together in a dizzy haze as she takes to the air once more. Where there should be nausea, there is a hawklike enthusiasm. She wonders if Reyson will be jealous when she recounts.

[TEAM 5 BRONZE] fr what happens if we can't swim /srs

[allegreta]

october activity check: passed!

skill points: 27->28

faith: C+ (1)->B

obtained: pending

[allegreta]

Why can't they know? Don't you think it might mean a lot to them if they did know? I think you are correct, some people show affection by being rude, but things might end up sorted out in a way that clarifies both of your feelings if you talked to them about this!

It might seem scary, but if you don't, you'll lose valuable time with this person you care about. If you really wanted to, maybe you could pretend to bump into them, but I would recommend honesty. Not only does it help communication, but you might be able to talk about any problems you've had and strengthen your friendship!

So there's this annoyance Person I've known before, that I once again find myself face to face with. And like, they've always been so rude to me! Or maybe that's their way of showing affection. I don't know. But here's the thing. They can't EVER know that I actually missed their company. I guess I'm wondering, what should I do? I really want to catch up with them, despite everything...

.

[allegreta]

hiiii you Will Look at this wonderful leanne/ephidel art i commissioned from my buddy @ufocraze.

[allegreta]

"Oh! No need to call me princess, just Leanne will do." Nils' anxiety palpably lessens when he catches sight of her wings; even if she couldn't sense it, it feels rather obvious he is some manner of nonhuman. His face creases into an easy, infectious smile that she cannot help but return. "My own homeland's magic is harnessed through singing rather than instrumental performance, but this is familiar to me."

Leanne nods respectfully, allowing the weight of the song to wash over her. It is great luck on both their ends that it was her who witnessed this song; she hopes she can provide some semblance of familiarity, even if it isn't quite the same.

"In Serenes, we have a similar song. The galdr of remembrance, or galdr of remembrance in the modern tongue." She doubts Nils will recognize her words, but it feels easy to share these things with him. She hopes it helps him feel more comfortable. "While it is not the same, it shares a similar melody. It is curious and beautiful, that our people, so far away, share something like this."

Melody of Dragon and Heron

(Nils and Leanne thread)

[allegreta]

You say that your life is a lie, but how so? Even if your feelings are conflicted, are your bonds and actions not real? Destiny is not set in stone.

I know you say that kindness hurts, and I fear my message may harm you further. But sometimes, pain is necessary for growth.

The self you herald as truth seems to be an unkind, even cruel person, feeding off the suffering of others. Why does that have to be who you are? Who told you that is what you are doomed to?

You are changing, yes. And perhaps, originally, this face was not yours. But, in the practical now, is it not you? Are these not your actions, your feelings, your new cultivated selfhood? I think that is beautiful, an opportunity for you to have a new life beyond the misery that was dictated for you.

I'm not who I say I am and I find myself losing more of my sense of self as days pass. I find myself jealous disgusted that the person I present myself as is able to live a normal life.

I have become blisteringly angry that I was destined for a life of pain and destruction but they lived cluelessly and were loved by so many even though they are me. I think they're a fool for trusting others. I fear I was wrong. Stuck in this way of living, in a cycle that keeps repeating, I'm tired. I am too far gone and have enjoyed the pain I brought but I've seen the same scenarios unfold repeatedly. I am changing for the worse.

To be on equal footing as others sickens me. That I could be brought down to their level enrages me. It's driving me mad to be spoken to with kindness and concern when they speak to a face that is not mine. The kindness hurts more than their scorn.

Should I continue to live this lie and make them even more beloved in the hearts of others? Is it possible the people who seek to know me could like what they see?

.