Let No Soul Hunger For Justice: Suddenly... Demons!

[justice_is_blond]

WHO: Anders, Adelaide, Bethany, Hermione, Ingrid, Jamie, Kaisa, Kirk, Nathaniel, Solas
WHAT: Binding a spirit has to go better than anything else has.
WHEN: TJustinian 5th
WHERE: Location
NOTES: Plotting post is here, warning for violence, there will be no tag order.

The atmosphere as they head out this time is a little more tense, but they're headed for the same place because the chance that it's some sort of cursed location would be far too convenient excuse and therefore it's been entirely dismissed.

At least the day isn't too chilly. Relatively speaking. For the mountains in the south.

Comments

Preparation & Ritual

[justice_is_blond]

This time, the setup is exceedingly simple. There’s little time for chatter or just plain messing around when most of the work is setting up a binding circle… but there’s still a few moments to be grabbed before getting in place. Potions are at the ready, precautions taken for whatever could possibly go wrong in this.

Preparation & Ritual

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Bethany was in fact, checking her notes on such a ritual. Her spirit magic was becoming stronger, there was no doubt of that, but she had yet to become the expert that Adelaide was.

Or, in fact, the mysterious Solas.

So it was abundantly clear to her, at least, that the way she had learned her magic was greatly different from the Circles, and from whereever Solas had learned his. So however this ritual was put together? She was simply going to have to prepare her barriers her own way.

So after reading her notes carefully, she constructed a simple barrier, eying it before dismissing it and trying it again.

[fleurdesel]

"There is a simple way to reinforce them." Adelaide is bent to her task, marking every line in the binding circle they are to use with the utmost precision- but she can spare a moment to look up to Bethany and her barrier. "Several ways, actually. Layering them like an onion is most often used but then you must extend your focus to each shell. What I have found works best is this."

It's a simple barrier, similar in scope to what Bethany cast. Once she is certain of having her attention, Adelaide gestures, the barely there shape stretching somewhat, growing- and curling in on itself.

"If you double it back upon itself, you need only focus on the one and it holds twice as well as the one layer."

[sunshinethroughgrey]

Bethany looked over at Adelaide spoke, and then put her full attention on the slightly older woman. Her brown eyes narrowed as she watched, nodded, and then lifted her hand to follow the motion, focusing her will to turn the barrier over once she has cast it.

"Like that?" It does not look as smooth as Adelaide's -- but she should be able to cast it on the fly, easily enough.

[justice_is_blond]

He watches, trying to be calm as he does so. Being trapped and held has happened so many times. It never gets easier, even though he knows this time it's friends trying to help. When she dismisses it the next time he gives her a tight smile.

"Getting a little practice in?"

[sunshinethroughgrey]

She looked over at Anders, offering him a warm smile. "Simply practicing the skill, to see if I will need to help the others with the barrier. I haven't quite gotten it yet - but I am close."

Preparation & Ritual

[universal_charm]

Kirk was actually unsure of how he had gotten roped into this, but he was here, and he was committed regardless of the hows. He was still miffed at Anders over the kittens, maybe less so now then before, but the man certainly sounded like he needed aid, and he had never been able to resist someone who needed help. So here he was.

Not that he precisely understood what it took to perform the ritual. He had mostly come as support in case something unexpected happened. But if someone needed him to do something, he would help - bring over last minute items, hold something, draw something even if it was needed given he was shown what to draw.

If not that, he stretched and ran through a few warm up exercises - just in case.

Preparation & Ritual

[singularwill]

Solas, while usually polite and generally amiable, is certainly not today. He is here because he knows that they are all determined upon this course, regardless of whether or not he is there to help. But beyond that, he had a duty to protect Justice.

Or any other poor spirits they manage to conjure.

So he is there, but he is grave and silent, and not exactly pleased.

The actual binding ritual was not one he was overly familiar with - despite his knowledge of Spirits, the whole point was that he generally did not bind them - was almost always completely opposed to the idea. It was closer to a modern Tevinter magic, than anything else. But in this case, binding was a half-measure towards freeing, so the ends justified the means.

[justice_is_blond]

Solas looks cross. Anders isn't completely certain about the expression, he's not spoken with the elf a great deal, but he's definitely leaning toward cross which means he comes over to take a seat near the elf.

"Is there something wrong?"

Wave One

[justice_is_blond]

Toward the end of the casting, it’s clear something is happening. Anders’ skin appears to crack and there’s blue showing through the gaps but the blue does not leave him. Instead he stands, eyes blue as the sky, and holds out a hand. Power crackles, arcing between his fingers and the edge of the binding circle- the runes flaring, searing into the grass with acrid smoke. A sub audible hum winds through the air as the fade warps, wrenches, rips- fade green spilling and twining around Justice’s blue, power bouncing back and forth as the sigils glow brighter and the cracks grow wider, air thick with distant shrieks from just the other side of the veil-

Something gives. The ground sunders underfoot and demons begin to claw their way out of the ground, solidifying in whirls of smoke, wraiths, lesser shades, and a rage demon already intent on setting the landscape on fire.

[ingrid_kief]

"Caution, everyone!"

Ingrid is on her feet, drawing her sword and her templar abilities as she moves to challenge the demon. Teeth bared, she means to smite the beast with the full power of the Maker.

[fleurdesel]

Once again, it should have worked. Once again, it turns back upon them.

Adelaide has a moment to be thankful that she took the requisite preparations in recommending they have warriors and a templar present. At the first skittering shapes she snaps the point of her staff down, littering the clearing with shards of ice.

Wave Two

[justice_is_blond]

Whatever happened to the binding and Fade to bring the first several demons through is still in effect, however. The moment after the rage demon falls to the ground and all goes still is very brief before there’s another glimmer of blinding green, another crackling surge of power that arcs between Justice and the binding circle. A despair demon, lumpy and cloaked, slithers forward with a howl as multiple shades, greater and lesser both, charge their way forward with deadly intent.

[pinprick]

"Oh, a despair demon," mutters Nathaniel as if that was exactly what they needed. Those are quick little bastards, able to cover a great deal of ground very quickly.

So can archers.

Nathaniel fits an arrow to the string and shoots it straight at that faceless black hood.

[ingrid_kief]

"Faith can help overcome despair," Ingrid adds. And so does she whisper a prayer and use her faith to call forth a holy smiting of condemning fire upon the beast.

Wave Three

[justice_is_blond]

The circle is still crackling, but not as much as it was before. Now it’s fizzling in fits and sparks, bright green and bright red, and there’s one final flash before it stops sparking altogether and Anders sags to the ground, no longer glowing. The conflict isn’t over yet, however, because the last flash is accompanied by smoke and three final shapes in that smoke: two glowing an unearthly red, and one that towers over them all for a moment before disappearing under the earth.

[pinprick]

Nathaniel is at Anders' side the moment he sees flames on him, though they are dying. He rips off his cloak and its fastenings and uses it to put out the fire with shaking hands. Anders slumps, and Nathaniel catches and cradles him, guides him gently to the ground. He stands over Anders' body and nocks another arrow, looking for a target.

[universal_charm]

"Stars, these things are worse than tribbles!" Kirk grunted beside Hermoine, the momentary lapse enough to let the pain of his injuries register and force him to his knees. He didn't like the look of any of them, least of all when one went underground. Amazing. A sub-terranean demon. Like they needed anything else to worry about.

He pushed himself back to his feet, the grass stained red in spots from his blood and the scent of scorched linen and skin in his nose. He tightened his grip on his broken staff and demon bloodied knife.

"If anyone can harden the earth, nows the time to do it!" He called out. Give the one that went under less places to move, but for all he knew it could move through stone anyways. Licking his lips he shifted himself purposefully into a fighting stance, beginning to edge warily closer to the remaining two, trying to get a read on them.

Aftermath

[justice_is_blond]

There’s scorched rocks and melted snow, some of the nearby ruins are in shambles, and the landscape isn’t the only thing hurting. Regroup, get some healing for the critical stuff, brag about how you totally just killed fifty demons by yourself, and then it’s time to head back to Skyhold.

[universal_charm]

Finished. It was all finished.

Kirk kept his feet for just a bit longer after the three demons shattered, waiting for another rift, for more to come spilling through. When it didn't look like more were coming through, he collapsed where he stood - or perhaps it was more accurate to say that his body simply had had enough. The adrenaline couldn't fight the pain signals from his arm and across his shoulder, and his side ached anew. He pressed his hand to the wound and it came away slick with blood, still fresh and glistening. He thought the blood flow was slowing, or maybe that was a bad sign that he was thinking that.

Either way, it didn't leave him much strength to get up and check the others, try though he might. "What's the damage?" he asked as he began to try and work his burned shirt away from burned skin.

[bookish_lioness]

Given that Bethany seems to have a good amount of competent, concerned people looking after her already, there's really little else that Hermione can do there, especially when she looks up and realizes that the demons have all finally been destroyed. Breathing a small sigh of relief, she finally lets down her shield charm and moves away, letting an actual healer take care of things.

As she gets up, she hears Kirk's voice, though she doesn't see him. It leaves her confused before she finally does lay eyes on him, and the confusion gives way to immediate concern as she remembers the extent of his injuries. "Kirk!" She isn't hurt, at least not to the point where she's actually bleeding, and having been knocked around hardly seems like anything to complain about, so she quickly makes her way towards him, kneeling at his side.

Asking if he's all right seems stupid, and she feels that familiar panic setting in as she tries to figure out whether there are any healing charms she's comfortable enough to try. But she's still too wary to actually try any magic directly on living subjects, so she falls back into basic first aid, holding a hand to the source of the bleeding and applying gentle pressure until he can see professional help.

"You'll be fine. Once Adelaide is done helping Bethany, I'll call her over. Or...." She's about to bring up that perhaps Anders could help him, but that's when she remembers about Anders in all this mess, and she looks up, trying to find him in the midst of all this.

[pinprick]

"ADELAIDE!"

Nathaniel saw the glow, sees the bleeding slow and then stop as Bethany casts, then she goes limp in his arms.

"ADELAIDE, HELP!"

[fleurdesel]

No longer quite so winded Adelaide levers herself upright, flinching at the scrapes on her palms. A quick glance around the field shows who is well enough for the moment and who needs her most. Nathaniel's call is reason enough to stagger over to Bethany, eyes and hands already glowing. "Let me see-"

[wontforgetyou]

Once he brain catches up with the fact that the battle is well and truly over, Jamie tries to make his way over to help. There's people that are hurt, badly, and even if he's not a healer, he's been working with more than one in them at Skyhold long enough that he's confident he can at least manage to bandage some wounds or hold things for someone else.

But while he's not nearly as injured as some of the others, the battle has had its own toll on him - the whatever it was the shard's started to do with him draining him as surely as if he'd closed a rift, and he doesn't manage to get very far at all before his knees buckle and he finds himself reaching for the nearest thing - or person - that looks stable enough that he can grab onto it and cling for a few seconds. If it's a person, he'll just have to apologize...once he's a wee bit steadier, anyway.

[justice_is_blond]

Anders is not paying as much attention to his surroundings as he could be. Between the guilt over how poorly this had gone and a headache that comes back almost as quickly as it heals it away, he keeps getting distracted. The sudden grab from Jamie almost pulls the both of them over... but then he's finding his focus again and getting stable.

"Are you all right? What can I... What can I do?"