{ OPEN } I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard

[aceso]

WHO: Christine and OPEN
WHAT: One more mage with an unaccounted for phylactery is suffering.
WHEN: mid-Guardian
WHERE: The Gallows
NOTES: OOC notes and a general warning for pain and torture.

For those who take notice of such things, the usually busy Knight-Enchanter Delacroix has all but disappeared from public view. Every day, some spell is cast upon her, and because several have an area of effect, no one is safe if they're near her. She stays holed up in her office, trying to sort through paperwork and hoping it doesn't catch on fire. Her work in the infirmary and her research lab has ceased completely; she can't risk what she might do to the area or those within range.

But Christine still needs to eat, talk to collegues, and return home to Lowtown at the end of the day. And so she can be seen several times experiencing the affects of a terrible spell. The question is, will others be caught in it too?

{ ⚡ shock (aoe) ⚡ }
Avoiding as much of the Gallows as possible should be an easy task because she has an office, but Christine finds that runners are in short supply at the moment, and she has to deliver certain messages and reports herself. All is going well until she finds herself nearing the infirmary on the second floor. She merely wants to pass on some notes to people like Carlos and Sam before leaving again, but before she gets to the door a blast of electricity hits her body and arcs across the walls and floor. Her body goes rigid as the spell runs its course, finally releasing her (and anyone else unfortunate enough to be caught up in it) and causing her to hobble to the wall to lean against it for support. She mumbles an Orlesian curse word and closes her eyes. How much more of this can her body take?

{ ❄️ blizzard (aoe) ❄️ }
Anyone that has reason to be on the seventh floor of the central tower where the project offices are might be feeling a little frosty, and on following the chill, they might just freeze solid for as long as eight seconds before the spell ends. Once it's over, the hallway is still a little slick with ice, and following it will lead one to the Red Lyrium project head's office. Knocking on the door will result in a voice calling out, "Enter!" and the sight behind the door is an office covered in frost, with one very cold mage throwing kindling into the fireplace and lighting it.

"Were you caught in it?" Christine releases a sigh. "This is ridiculous. We can no longer sit here doing nothing about this issue."

{ 👊 stonefist 👊 }
Christine peers outside her office to make sure the coast is clear before she leaves for the day. Her gait is brisk and with purpose as she tries to escape back home as quickly as possible. Of course fate would be cruel, and as she's descending the stairs to the first floor of the central tower a large stone materializes in the air and slams into her ribs, sending her flying down the steps to land in a battered heap at the bottom. For a moment she's still, but then she makes a pained sound that at least alerts those nearby that she's still alive.

{ 🃏 wildcard 🃏 }
The other spells affecting Christine are Sleep (AOE), Paralyze, Fireball (AOE), Chain Lightning (AOE), Earthquake (AOE), or Entropic Cloud (AOE). If any of those tickle your fancy, hit me up via PM, plurk (megoom), or discord (megoom #2520) to hash out details and get a custom starter.

Comments

Stonefist

[circleprodigy]

Inessa's heading down the stairs as well, and she perks up when spotting Christine doing the same. She quickens her pace to catch up...and that's when the boulder materializes and slams into her friend. Eyes widening in shock, she promptly rushes down the rest of the way.

"Christine! Remain still, I'll help...." Crouching by her, Inessa concentrates, sending healing blue energy her way. It's nothing on a Spirit Healer's level, but she hopes it will help somewhat.

[aceso]

Christine's response is to groan weakly, head pounding and breath labored. One of her ankles is radiating with pain too. But the healing magic takes some of that down; just enough for her to become aware of her surroundings.

"I can-- can heal," she assures Inessa, though at the moment, all it appears she's capable of is lying still and not dying. The Spirit of Faith is concerned, but can do nothing until Christine initiates the healing. Still, the spirit speaks to her, encouraging her to try and start. Her hand glows with blue magic, and she positions it over her ribs. The process is slow, because she's in a lot of pain and that makes it hard to focus, but at least it's better than not doing anything.

[circleprodigy]

Once Christine's hand begins to glow, Inessa relaxes a bit. If she's well enough to focus on a spell with the help of Faith, she'll be alright. She nods and remains by her nonetheless, observing closely just in case.

"That's it...just do what you must, I'll cover you if anything else happens in the meantime." Maker, please, let that not be a thing that comes to pass.

[aceso]

"It will take some time," she answers weakly. Even though Faith is right here to assist, Christine can feel that enough of her is bruised and battered that this will be a process. Best then that she starts with her ankle so she can stand and get out of the way of people needing to use the stairs.

"That one has never happened before." It's muttered as she concentrates on her ankle, slowly rotating it to test its strength and finding her magic has repaired it. "Can you help me to a bench?"

[circleprodigy]

"Of course." Inessa's slight and slim, but she can manage a moment's assistance. Only when Christine is situated does she look the woman over, her lips forming a thin line. "That hasn't happened to me, yet, but I suppose now we can't rule out anything as a possibility. I can contact Church or Sam, if you'd prefer. Sam...has he been affected?"

[aceso]

Once seated, Christine continues working on her injuries. The Stonefist only hit her ribs, but the tumble down the stairs did more. The magical healing energy penetrates her body, slowly mending muscle and bone. She makes a vague noise of pain as a rib bone is repaired, but she grits her teeth and continues.

"I suppose they will want to know, but at this point, I worry about my loved ones being anywhere near me." There's a pause before she says, "Sam has, yes." It's already dangerous for Christine and Inessa to be in the same place at once, but it will grow even more so if Sam arrives too. Christine hates this. As speculated, whoever is causing this probably wants them to feel isolated and alone.

[circleprodigy]

"We need protection runes, to be sure. It won't stop this, but it will mitigate the worst of it. It would also help for every mage to know Dispel...." Inessa looks Christine over anxiously while speaking, ready to contribute with more healing if the assistance is required. "I have the same concerns; I don't want to harm those I care about, or random civilians. This will only lead to isolation, which may be just what they want."

[aceso]

Christine makes a vague displeased noise as she hears this. "I despise Dispel. I have had my friendly magic dispelled before, but one of your fellow Wardens, in fact." And the fact that he didn't understand how utterly terrifying and insulting that was to her had been a thorn in her side for quite some time, until she realized he treated everyone with the same utter disregard. At least he wasn't targeting mages specifically.

"Probably," she adds, moving from her hunched over position to carefully sit more upright, testing to see if all the damage to her ribs is now gone. Feeling much better, she now moves to her neck and head, the latter of which has a bump forming.

[circleprodigy]

Inessa pauses from inspecting the forming bump that Christine is taking care of herself anyway, and frowns at mention of an unwanted Dispel on her friend. It's not something she remembers hearing about before, but with everything that's happened a use of Dispel wouldn't exactly surprise her. "I...what? Did this happen recently?"

Shock, because Elros and ladies who zap him is a thing in FR apparently

[tar_minyatur]

Elros being more or less back to himself means an Elros who needs to feel useful, so he's in the infirmary helping when it happens. He probably shouldn't have reached out to her, but the gesture was instinctive and he curses as he wobbles back to his feet.

"Milady Christine, are you well?"

Also, ow.

[aceso]

For a moment she doesn't speak, eyes pained as she sees the result of her simply trying to walk out in public, living her life. Is this thing that's happening meant to kill her, or force her to isolate herself from everyone?

"I am sorry, Elros," she replies, filled with guilt. "I should not have come down here. It was only to deliver a note; I was not going to stay... but it makes no difference, I see. I can be attacked wherever I am." She heaves a sigh and gives him a good once over.

"Do you need healing?"

[tar_minyatur]

"An attack?" He manages a frown.

"Who is attacking you?" He blinks a little.

"Ah...not ...sure? Which probably means yes."

[aceso]

There's hesitation in her approach, as if she's worried what might come next, but when everything remains stable, she's able to take a look at him, searching for burns or scorches on his person.

"I do not know. It is blood magic being used on me from afar. The person or people responsible is not in sight."

[tar_minyatur]

He wobbles and sits and grins up at her wryly.

"I am feeling very crispy. Now I know why Adalia scolded me when I suggested she practice her lightning on me."

He frowns at that.

"That sounds disctinctly unpleasant. Is there nothing I can do to help?"

[aceso]

"Why would you suggest such a thing?" she asks, close to a scolding tone herself. Honestly, some men are too brave for their own good. Her eyes suddenly glow with a blue light, and the same light covers a hand as she passes it over any injured part of him in order to send healing magic into him.

"I doubt it. It is happening to many mages at the moment: all former Circle mages. It is because we all had blood taken from us when we entered the Circle, and it is being used against us now."

[tar_minyatur]

"It seemed like a good idea at the time?"

He grins at her and accepts the healing with a grateful sigh. He's not as badly hurt as might be - crispy, yes, but nothing serious, fortunately.

"That..." He frowns deeply. "That is Dark Magic, alright. I assume there are steps being taken to find the one responsible - is there nothing I can contribute in that area?"

He will totally stab this horrible person.

[aceso]

"There are suggestions floating around, but no solid plans just yet." She doesn't want to tell him about her talk with Inessa; about how they agree that probably the only way to find their phylacteries is to use more blood magic. Neither one would suggest it if they knew of any other options, and the wait now is mainly so they can see if anyone knows another way.

Finishing her healing, she steps back, folding her hands together. "There; are you feeling better?"

blizzard

[motherfucking_ghost]

Church has plenty of reason to be outside the office, because now that he's not at risk of fading away and dying, he has a lot of catching up to do--and a lot of fretting over Christine to do. Funny how now their positions are somewhat reversed, but where Christine is a useful healer, Church...is way out of his depth. There's nothing to be done unless--until--there's some clue as to where these phylacteries are being held, so he can go take someone's fucking head off their shoulders. That's what swords are good for.

The first thing he thinks is that there's a draft somewhere, and the second thing he thinks is 'fucking Sidewinder' before ice creeps up and he can't move at all. Mere seconds pass, but god does it feel like an eternity. Christine will know who's outside from the fact that someone slips on the ice, smacks into the door, and lets out a curse. In a familiar voice.

Especially since he keeps on cursing when he actually is able to get the door. You'd think he was a sailor from the language.

[aceso]

Funny how a string of curse words is music to her ears right now, because it means Church is here. There's no way she'd be able to send him away from her to protect himself from these spell attacks, so he might as well come in to spend time with her, especially since it sounds like he took a spill on the ice. It's still a bit slick inside the office too, so she carefully makes her way over to the door, calling out his name. Then she opens it to find him on the other side, and she sets a hand on her hip, giving him a soft smile. Despite everything that's happening, she can't not smile at him and the fact he's solid again.

"I wish I could say I planned this blizzard to deliver you right to my door, but I am afraid I did not. Here; come sit by the fire."

[motherfucking_ghost]

"Fire. Warmth. Please. Shit."

He does, in fact, huddle in front of the fire. There might still be some frost on his eyelashes, but that'll get taken care of soon. But these are storms, sometimes very literal storms, he's willing to weather for the sake of his girlfriend.

"Enough ice over winter."

[aceso]

"I am sorry," she says, though it's in no way her fault. She sits beside him, leaning her shoulder against his and releasing a sigh. "Every day a different spell is cast upon me. Today it was unfortunately Blizzard. It has a wide radius." Her head lolls down to nestle against him. "I am quite sick of this."

[motherfucking_ghost]

He lets out a shivery breath and lets the warmth of the fire, and the warmth of her presence, calm him. "We can't seem to catch a break. Someone's gotta have a clue, somewhere, even if I have to go out there myself and figure it out. At least you had researchy, medical shit you could do to help when we were sick; all I can really do is be here. Is that...enough?"

[aceso]

"It is enough," she murmurs softly, staring into the flames as she considers what needs to happen next. "It is blood magic, you know." Such an awful, terrible thing, unless it could be used against mages. Then the Templars were all for it, weren't they?

"I was eight years old when I was brought to the Circle, and one of the first things they did when I walked through the door was cut me and drip my blood into a vial. I was terrified, but the Templars and mages said this was a good thing. That they could find me in an unfriendly world if I ever got lost." Christine lets out a bitter laugh. "Lost. It is what they said to children because we did not yet know we might want to escape."

[motherfucking_ghost]

"I don't really get it," he says at last, taking her hands in his. "I've done some reading, and it's...like it's religious-based, is kind of the cause of it, seems like, but I just don't really understand it all. I mean, sure. Magic. Some people have it. Some people can set people who don't have magic on fire. That's...I get that there might be people who think that's really scary and dangerous. But then you have these...schools that aren't schools where some mages live their whole lives but then others can kind of do what they want, and then we've got the big guys watching out who may or may not be tormenting the mages, and some people want it back, and some people don't, and--" Does he ever take a breath?

"I dunno. Never had that problem where I'm from. I mean...not in the case of magic, anyway."

[aceso]

Christine's eyes watch his hands envelope hers, as she brushes a finger against his in a comforting gesture. Talking about the Circle system isn't always easy for her.

"It is a complicated issue. I want things to change, but in order for it to happen, the world must change, and I fear it is impossible. Certainly in my lifetime, at least. Do you know how nearly every town has a Chantry? My wish is for nearly every town to have a school for mages. A place where they are taught to use their magic, but not fear it. A place that they go during the day and then can return home at night. But how is such a thing possible when villages band together to murder mages? It is not. It is an ideal, not reality."

She tilts her head up towards his face, studying his features. They haven't spoken much of his world. Not since he explained what he is and what the people in his world used him for.

"It is so difficult to imagine a world where it doesn't exist. Who would I be in your world if I was not a mage?"