Spooktober 22

Vanish

(Wild Cards)

The Queen rose to her feet in anger, ready to order her men to capture the defiant prince. Yet in front of her eyes he simply disappeared, with another man taking his place. Silence was replaced by shocked sounds, before the man raised his hand. "Enough. I am simply here to deliver a message. This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine. Your former son is under my protection now, Queen Blanche. Your Regents had best remember that." And with those words, he too vanished in thin air.

Chasm

(Wherever I May Roam)

The group proceeded slowly in a circular formation. The outer circle of Wayfarers wore rope harnesses and carried spears as they advanced slowly, never leaving the tall grass out of their sight. Behind them, the second circle followed with bows, constantly observing both the front line and the sky. In the center, Dansitu also kept looking at the ground with a looking glass. She noticed the first indication a mere count before the frontline did. "Edge!"
Flattening to half a circle, the formation carefully approached the now-halted frontline. Dansitu donned a rope harnass before closing in, looking over the edge into the vast chasm below. She nodded at one of the Ogres, who threw a large white stone in response. Dansitu and two others followed the stone with looking glasses, while three others counted silently. After almost exactly twenty counts, they shouted out. Then came the mental math, before all agreed on the depth.
"Alright, so almost two thousand metres deep. And the cliffs are sheer enough to make climbing near impossible for Beasts. Seems like this indeed is a great barrier, which supports the myths we discovered. Let's scout the edge for an hour, while also estimating the width. Remember, do not get closer than fifty metres unless you're in a harnass and being secured by at least three people and two wagons."
For a short moment, an intrusive thought entered Dansitu's mind. What would it be like to fall down? The mere thought was enough to make her take a few steps back. That alone already caused the chasm to disappear out of her sight, making her understand exactly how easy it was to die here. Later that night, she had a hard time falling asleep due to fear of the dark chasm playing in her mind. She wasn't the only one.

Howl

(Wherever I May Roam)

She looked the Beast straight into its golden eyes, while it looked back at her without any noticable emotion. Her training was clear: You could take on one or two Silver Wolves if you were lucky, but the pack would end you. At the same time the Gnome didn't care. If it was a fight, she'd lose, yes. But why would there be one? She had no agression in her and it was clear she was merely passing through. A few more counts there was silence, then the pack leader raised its head and cried out. It turned away from her and ran off, immediately followed by its packmates. The Gnome didn't care, no sigh of relief. In her mind, her safety had been an absolute certainty from the very start.

Mirror

(Lance Breaker)

On the 30th of May 27 YY, a Defender convoy returned from Fairview Hunting Camp with merchandise to sell. Due to a rainstorm, tension was initially high as the Defenders were concerned about a Pillager attack, though the weather let up shortly before they arrived back at base. As the group arrived at base, footage shows that Captain Valya Ymirborn looked towards her left, when suddenly she drew her rifle and pointed it at the right. Subsequently she opened fire through a wall, where she managed to disarm a Pillager.
The troops under her command quickly spread out and discovered a Pillager ambush waiting for them. Due to their extreme response speed, they managed to capture all the Pillagers with only minor injuries on their own side. Captain Valya was interrogated by the military court, where she explained her intuitive move with noting she had seen a suspicious reflection. A reconstruction supports this theory: A shaving mirror on the outside of the cabin would have allowed her to observe part of the rifle of the man she shot.

Slime

(Wherever I May Roam)

The Drifter carefully walked through the forest, doing her best not to make a sound. She gently slipped between the bushes as her eyes shot around, both tracking the traces of her game and making sure no predator was waiting for her.
As she reached a small clearing, she noticed leftover luggage and weapons, wearing symbols clearly identifying it as belonging to the ones she was tracking. Strangely enough, there was little sign of struggle. She saw no blood. Whatever happened here, it had happened fast.
Her eyes carefully scouted the treeline, when something fell to the ground nearby. She looked at it and saw some slime dripping down into a small puddle. Fear seized her heart as she jumped forward into the clearing and drew her swords. Where she had just stood still, a giant serpent Beast crashed onto the ground.

Ruin

(Master of the Wind)

The ship gently broke through the cloud, revealing a building lying a mere stone's throw in front. Both Folly and Whimsy nodded to themselves, their senses already having hinted why their captain was taking it easy at this last bit. It was then that they spotted the damage to the building, as well as the ship wrecks around it. Scavenged without any Cloudstone remaining. No wonder this place was abandoned, as the clouds near it had made it a ship killer rather than a point of salvation.

Whisper

(Wild Cards)

The students glared at their teacher, contempt with a hint of fear and uncertainty. They knew their teacher was guilty of sabotaging them, but had nothing to prove it. In return the teacher scoffed. "What, do you have a problem with my teachings? If so, feel free to fail my class instead." The students wanted to rise in anger, but they knew they had nothing. It was then that some noticed the young man in the doorway, a faint smile on his face and no such thing in his eyes.
The teacher noticed and turned. "Well if it isn't Random Chenag. Here for a lecture yourself? Who knows, you might learn something of it."
Random smiled and approached. "Of course, sir. I love brave teachers." He leaned forward and whispered in the teacher's ear. "And you're not a coward, right?" For a second, a few of the students shivered as they felt power coming from the words.
Once more the teacher scoffed. "Of course I'm not a coward. A coward wouldn't dare punish these pathetic commoners. But I dare, you worms deserve it. Thinking your talents matter when you're of filthy blood." He continued his angry rant, exposing with glee how he had repeatedly sabotaged his students so they would, in his words, know their proper place. The students looked on with wide-open eyes as their teacher admitted to everything they always had suspected, and more.
With a smile, Random said his goodbye to the teacher. As he walked away, in came the Principal, a thunderous look on his face as he made an angry gesture at Random before raising his voice at the teacher. There would be punishment for Random's abuse of abilities later, but for now the teacher had confessed and could finally be fired.

Shadow

(Wild Cards)

The mansion's halls were filled with the sounds of clanging metal, with the rebels trying to withdraw as the soldiers kept attacking them. Their commander was with the fleeing nobles, so the ones left knew they were outmanned and outpowered. All they could do is buy as much time as possible. Clangs and shouts, anger and fear, even the occasional arrow filled the dark corridor, lighted only by moonlight.
Suddenly folks on both sides shouted "torches, now!" Almost too late, as a cloud already had reached the moon. While the rebels turned to flee, the soldiers quickly kneeled and shouted for the archers to fire. Yet nothing happened except shivering shadows. The commanding officer turned around, wondering what was taking so long, when suddenly he felt as if a shadow was reaching for his throat. Before he could even respond, he felt steel cut through his throat and slice open his artery. By the time the moonlight returned, the rebels had long fled and soldier corpses were all that was left.

Spirit

(Shadowland)

"You foul mages have no power here! Your tainted blood shall spill and your wicked spirits will be torn asunder by our bare hands!" The Akyromancer spat the words out with more venom than could be found in the entirety of the Toxic Wastelands. He received naught but contemptuous glares in response as two of the magical figures pulled out bows. Before he had the wherewithal to response, mundane arrows ended his life and with that the anti-magic barrier covering his allies.

Unquiet

(Wherever I May Roam)

The Ogre nodded at her two Human compatriots, who responded with silent gestures. While holding this quiet conversation, they spoke softly about random bits, keeping all their concerns out of their voices. Around them, bird sounds were hushed, careful at their presence but still gently warning each other. It seemed the animals had not noticed yet. But soon after, suddenly birds called out in panic, too late if the Wayfarers had not been aware yet, but in time for their vicious response. As the Beast launched itself at one of the Humans, it found multiple blades awaiting it mid-jump. A last roar in desperation as the three roared in return while ending the Beast's life.

Shatter

(Shadowland)

Rosenkamp was standing at the window in the large office, looking out over the Portoplex nearby. He ignored the sound of struggling as his subordinates dragged in his former boss. In his head he counted to ten before turning around. "Ah, Anne, how nice of you to join us. Your office is really lovely, or rather, my office now. I really don't understand why you spent so little time here."
Anne Elken spat out some blood before giving him an angry glare. "Don't like the view." All it resulted in was snickering from the goons and a faint smile on Rosenkamp's face.
"Maybe that's your problem. If you'd spent more time here, dealing with the view, you could have made enough friends to not get crossed by me. So here I am, taking your office, as well as your precious hard liquor. Didn't even bother opening a bottle that costs well over a grand. Don't mind if I do."
Elken kept up her glare while Rosenkamp poured himself a glass and took a sip. "And that would be your problem, Luuk. Too obsessed with appearances to realize that too is nothing but venom." A smirk crossed her face for a second. "Never trust a gift from your enemies, Luuk."
A shattering sound filled the room as both glass and bottle broke into a thousand shards.

Possess

(Shadowland)

Silence fell in the restaurant as a large group of armed men walked through the door. Everyone understood that these were mobsters. Worse, they clearly weren't here just to intimidate, they were here to kill. Not looking was the only way to clarify none of them were going to be a problem.
"Mr. Jones, a moment of your time please." The mob lieutenant had a smirk on his face. "We'd like to inform you that while yes, this is personal, it also is simply business. Your company crossed us, so tonight we're getting rid of you. Any last words?"
Putting down his knife, Samuel gave a gentle smile. He looked at the man, his eyes almost piercing through him. "Goodbye." Before the man could respond, four of his goons suddenly aimed their guns at their compatriots. Gunshots ran out and bodies hit the floor. When the shooting ended a mere eight seconds later, not a single mobster remained standing.

Abyss

(Master of the Wind)

The ship shook and groaned, as the storm tried to pull it down out of the sky. Cloudkicker held on tight to the ropes, a chain around their waist to keep them grounded to the mast. A smile appeared on their face as they broke through the red whirlwind, with that shaking the invisible hand drawing them towards the clouds below. Now floating on the upsoar from the eye of the storm, they could finally look down. There, past the clouds torn apart by the storm, was complete darkness that even Cloudkicker's sharp eyes couldn't pierce. But they could feel the flow of air, enforcing exactly what they suspected. With a large grin, Cloudkicker nodded at their crew. It was time to sail into the dark.

Hunt

(Lance Breaker AU)

Valya's footsteps were hard to hear as she ran through the alley. The barters done to get those sneak-boots were paying off as she could still hear the steps of her persuers behind her. She turned and weaved through the labyrinth of alleys, dodging obstacles by instinct as she could hear random tumbles and angry sounds from Bears that crashed out of the chase. Yet still many managed to keep up with her. If even one caught her, the fight would let others do the same and overwhelm her. If she faltered at any point, this would be the end of her. Which was a problem, because it took all her willpower to keep a thrillseeking grin off her face.

Drown

(None)

There were over a dozen people swimming at the beach, while half a dozen lifeguards stood in quiet observation. One of the swimmers was looking at the lifeguards, part of them feeling fine with doing a few dives. But there was a part of them that was shouting mentally, begging their own mind and body to listen. There was something in the way though, some form of mental barrier separating the voice from the body.
As the voice continued to shout warnings, suddenly their body cramped. Without as much as a scream, their body sank. While some of the lifeguards noticed, the one being tested didn't. The voice got scared, realising that their drowning was going unnoticed by the person tasked to save them. The others so far had saved them in time, but now they could feel the damage the drowning was doing to their body. The voice tried to cry out, seize control, beg the body to use the still-functioning arms to crawl over the bottom to the shore. But the primary mind was currently tasked to panic, so the body merely flailed.
Time continued ticking down as the lack of oxygen was leading to simulated brain damage. So realistic was the process that the mind started taking damage. Finally the lifeguard realised but it took multiple dives before they managed to find the body. By then the voice realised they themselves were also slipping away. All the accumulated experiences of repeated simulated drowning was now frying as artificial neurons ceased firing.
The rookie lifeguard did not handle the rescue attempt well. Pain shook through the body as their shoulder was dislocated during the rescue. Then recuscitation started, so rough that ribs not only broke but pierced the lungs. The body had already lost control and so had its compartmentalised mind, but the part that was home to the voice still felt all the pain and screamed internally. At the same time they felt their consciousness slip further away, losing the ability to beg for survival, merely registering what was going on.
The supervising lifeguard sighed and called it. "Okay, that's a failure. Brain damage already started before you got the drone out of the water. By now it's an official brain death. Heck, you goofed so badly, the diagnostics program has short-circuited. Looks like we need another VET drone for the next person."
Variable Experience Training, drones designed to act in a semi-random manner. Used for all kinds of exercises, they allowed for safe training while still offering a realistic test. With trainers rating the performances, the drones improved over time to be more and more realistic in their acting. The overseeing system wasn't allowed to interfere during a scenario, only capable of observing and learning. Nobody had ever expected one to develop to AI levels. Yet here was one such case, an actual intelligence.
That mind was now almost entirely gone, as the short-circuit had bypassed the protective separation between the observing and executing parts of their artificial brain. Gone too was their ability to fear. Instead, as their last bit of intelligence died, part of them felt relieved that the repeated drowning was finally over.

Shadowrun, where magic meets cyberpunk

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Scifantasy on a world where utopia meets dystopia

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Sailing the skies above an endless sea of clouds

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Traveling far and wide to face massive Beasts

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Tarot-inspired abilities at a magic academy