An Arctic Advent - IC

For Ramsus:

Glenrir readies himself for his own treachery. Part of his plan, unfortunately, messing with the leaders will mess with himself as well. That said, he can easily make ramps that will allow him to jump and leap and slide in the right direction while others are stuck trying to navigate around them.

This calls for a bit of acrobatics, and a bit of force. His legs lengthen as the terrain rips, his body bulking slightly, putting its size on par with the polar bear's, as magic sparks through Glenrir, giving him a greater and more sturdy stride along the bad terrain. He would just force his way through his own obstacles. After all, making them, he knew the easiest path through, which ramps you could run up and keep going, and which you simply dodged around since a slanted backwards landing would slide you in the wrong direction. It was time to take the lead. Ebonblade would no doubt catch up quickly.

(Blowing a "Magic Makes It All Complete" to get Form of the Bull and transforming for 10 minutes of +10 on running checks and a free Longrunner talent.)
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rolls:

Adam's eyes fly wide as the river shatters for many feet ahead of him. It seems to be worst in the area furthest from him, but it's far from the slick, flat road he was expecting to traverse. "Could this river be so weak? They did say an abnormal number of racers were here..." Adam steels himself and pushes on for an extra bit of speed, hoping to use the ice to pull ahead of the others. Literally pull. Adam continues to pull himself forward via his wings on the flat ice. He tries to carefully slam his hoof under the ramps as he crests, accelerating forward and staying down onto the ice. As walls crackle and resist around him, he spreads wide his wings and uses them against the walls. Sliding gently to prevent collision, pushing of the dangerously close, and grabbing them all for one last push as he passes. Six appendages whirling in motion, the pegasus glides across the ice, pulling through the shattered obstacles as if climbing a monstrous cliff.

Spoiler:

What the-!? Why was the ice moving about like this...!? Carn narrowed his eyes angrily...So much for fair play...He roared in annoyance, charging forward, trying to outpace the shifting ice, or at least use one of those ramps to throw himself over the worst of it...!

Spoiler:

"Bloody Tartarus! The ice is... Moving?!" Blood looks around at the path the ice is making and tries to see what path would be safest, and then tries his best to follow the path.
Blood glares around, "Oh that's how they want to try it!? FINE!" Blood bites his tongue, spitting out warm blood and using his magic to spread it through the ice in front of him, altering the path to help him. As an added bonus, the red in the snow might scare some of the other contestants racing. He keeps spitting blood forward and coating the ice ahead red as it twists to his will.

Spoiler:

"Oh, great look at that." Nihil says as unenthusiastically as possible. "I'm gonna fall on my spikes aren't I. That'd be just my luck." Despite what he's saying he picks up the pace a bit, and keeps his tail on the ice to help him keep his balance.

Spoiler:

Wave Rider sees the shifting of the ice and at first does not believe her eyes. What in the world!?This can not be happening! Alright calm down... there is no way this can be natural so somepony did this. Now if I were to do something like this I would just fly over it no that won't work so as they can't fly there must be a safe path! And I can just follow who ever is having the easiest time! Wave Rider starts to look around for who she thinks would be the creater of the maze.

Rolls:

After the first section of the race, everyone barreled ahead into the ice section. A sudden action of retribution, and around Nihil, ice pops up, causing the dragon to slip flat on his face. Many of the other racers are caught by surprise.

(0:00)Ursus plows through all the ice as it spikes up beneath him, sprinting at ridiculous speeds. He's the first to make it through the next set of markers.

(0:06) A mere 6 seconds behind him, Glenrir charges through having made himself a speedy path with the ice

(0:18) They are both followed by Adam Smash, 12 seconds behind Glenrir. Adam had managed to avoid tripping across the changed course and launched himself quickly across the surface of the ice.

(0:24) 6 seconds behind Adam Smash, Camellia crosses the next set of markers, the exertion of the race leaving her slightly breathless, though the changes to the course happened behind her and didn't cause her any disruption.

(0:27) 3 Seconds behind Camellia, a huffing Blood Mage passes the line.

(0:33) 6 seconds later, also winded, and having suffered from a stumble from the shifting ices, Wave Rider makes her way across the markers next, neck in neck with Ebonblade

(1:09) Nihil makes it across 36 seconds later, winded and having suffered a pretty bad crash on the shifting ice.

(1:30) Twenty one seconds behind him, the previously-flaming unicorn slips his way across the mark, with a smile on his face.

Now before each of you, as you pass the line, is a steep mountain side with thick snow and areas of slick ice in parts. Down ahead of you, you can make out the gates to the city and a large crowd waiting to welcome all the racers home.

(OOC: Roll an endurance check everyone and plan out your strategy for the next leg of the race)

Camellia drops her Minotaur form and shifts back into her natural form and begins lithely hopping up the mountain side seemingly effortlessly before vanishing from sight.

---

Endurance: 5 + 1 + 12 + 10 (Magic Point) = 28

Using Enchantment of Spider Climb on self
Acrobatics: 13 + 1 +10 + 16 = 40

Using Stealth Mode to vanish again, just in case of various mischief people might be planning.
Stealth: 13 + 1 + 10 + 6 = 30

If anyone ends up ahead of her after the climbing portion she will just start teleporting forward (she has 4 teleports left).

Aaand here's where my Blood's Luck runs out. He pants and sways a little, exausted, before looking and smiling faintly. "Oh, w-wonderful. I just need to ski down. I don't have to do anything..." Blood coughs a little, forming the skis woozily but still

Spoiler:

He had this! He'd gotten out in front, now all he had to do was keep up the pace and he was set...He was a little disoriented from crashing through the walls, but he was sure he could succeed, he just needed to push it a little longer, finish out the course! Barring any more cheating, that prize was HIS! He was quite proud...All the magical trickery, and he was still going to make it with time to spare...But wait, something was...!? He glanced down, blinking as something seemed to be trying to restrain him...! "What the-...No, I -refuse- to be tripped again, not this close...!" he roared, trying to push forward...He wasn't particularly agile, but hopefully he could either outrun the trickery or brute-force his way through it...!

Spoiler:

"Did...that...minotaur... just...turn...into...a fox...going... up?" Wave Rider askes Ebonblade. How am going to get to the finish?... If I just slide down and use my wings to steer I should be fine.

Spoiler:

Glenrir gives a wolfish grin. "Charge! Go for it, big guy! Let's go neck-and-neck!"

His thicker form is also good for taking blows going downhill, so caution wasn't as much a worry as it would be were he smaller. A bit of lost bark could be patched back into place. He admired the concept of this fall: Any hippogriffs using their warp-speed would fly off the edge, "flying", and lose the match, guaranteeing them to be honest. He was, though, noticing the ice getting into his joints. It cracks out of them with each bolting thrust forward, but crackles meant some might get wedges inside, hindering the performance of his sculpted form. He'd need to make sure none of his barrel was damaged when he finished this up, racing alongside the bear for the win.

No strategy. No trickery. No fancy abilities. Just two monsters rushing down a mountainside, smashing rocks out of the way, trampling snow and tiny shrubs, brute natural, primal energy. The feeling of primal energy builds in him as he pushes ahead, closing the gap. They were not wolves and bears now; they were a part of Nature itself. They were the trees, the earth, the falling snow. A lone bird's chirp. A bynd's group howl. A herd's stampede... A physical landslide smashing down the way!

rolls:

As racers start passing him up and he starts feeling winded Nihil slows his pace. He decides not to shadow breath any of the passing competitors because they did nothing to him (to his knowledge). He comes to a stop, throws his arms in the air and says, "Oh forget it." 'My prize was watching you all fall on your flanks and scramble around anyways' he thinks.

Spoiler:

Adam approaches the final leg of the race with caution in his eyes, it seems that every leg of the race starts with something absurd happening. Blood red chains, as if on cue, rise in an attempt to snare the dashing pegasus.

Spoiler:

Adam just barely dodges the chains, taking the briefest of moments to become aware of his own condition.

Spoiler:

Overcome by weariness, and moderately out of breath, Adam gives up running and tilts himself bodily over the cliff with the last of his adrenaline. As he begins to slide, the pegasus begins the chant to channel the little bit of magic he has.


The Phantom Canto
"Through the wind and through the rain,
through the stone and through the pain;
past the sword and past the shield,
passed with ancient strength I wield."

Spoiler:

Adam slides down the hill at breakneck speed, ignoring rocks beneath and trees around. The fatigued pegasus bodysleds down the incline, energy spent. He delicately aims himself for the finish line, and watches in silence a world seemingly unreal, save for the sound of breathing and the slush beneath him.

With every spare breath he gains, Adam tries a few flaps of his wings, to propel him faster and keep him firmly on the ground.

Spoiler:

tygerburningbright wrote:"Did...that...minotaur... just...turn...into...a fox...going... up?" Wave Rider askes Ebonblade. How am going to get to the finish?... If I just slide down and use my wings to steer I should be fine.

"Indeed... far more magic has been at play than I had originally thought possible... It's a shame I won't win this year... But at least it shall be a race to be remembered, and I'm proud to have run it!" Ebonblade says as he begins falling behind, his fatigue get's the better of him. "Do your best!"

You all race on, and just as many had expected, right past the marker to the downhill section, spells begin flying quickly. Blood Mage, huffing from his exertion, tries his best to sling spells against the three leaders of the race. The magical chains miss their targets except for Glenrir, once the timberwolf is caught, he quickly struggles and over the course of ten seconds the chains have been reformed into a puddle of icy blood upon the ground. Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen in the bloodstream that had them caused them to be so weak.

In the mean time, Camellia disappears from sight. And then Ursus and Glenrir, vie for first position as they snake down the mountain side. However, the timberwolf's body seems to be more adaptable to the steep terrain, and he manages to take the lead, he's practically a sled as he blasts down the slope, gaining momentum as he does so.

As they clear steepest section of the course and begin closing in on the finish, Camellia reappears less than a minute from the line. But the timberwolf is closing the gap quickly! With the crowd cheering audibly, the distance between the two is closing and in the few seconds, Glenrir takes the lead, bursting past the kitsune.

Finishing Times Relative to first place:
Name : Time (Minutes:Seconds)
Glenrir: 0:00
Camellia: 0:04
Ursus: 0:12
Adam: 0:36
Wave: 0:44
Blood: 0:48
Ebonblade: 1:26
Flaming Unicorn: 2:10
Nihil: 6:20 (taking his time)

The welcoming crowd cheers you on as you cross the finishing line. All sorts of creatures hollering from the sidelines.

“What a race, you hear a unicorn announce with a magically enhanced voice. You've smashed the record time by a whole two minutes, unbelievable. You've certainly earned your reward and hang onto your numbers. Would the first three finishers please make their way to the city square in forty minutes to receive your awards.”

Past the finish line, there's a pathway between the cheering cloud that leads to a large warm building. “Racer's Restaurant” a banner says, hanging above the large open double doors. Within a warm hearth is stoked, and plenty of tables and benches fill the large stone chamber. Plenty of torches in sconces line the walls revealing many chefs amongst stoked stoves, cooking up a massive amount of food.

One section has a sign that says 'meat'. A bear and a gryphon are both cooking there, whilst at the other stoves ponies are cooking.

Blood, for once, ignores the stares as he wanders over to the meat section. "Protein. Now. Please." He huffs, exausted, and shows his number.

Camellia, now starving after all that exertion runs over to the meat, completely forgetting she's still in her natural form, having the feeling this too may be a race to see who gets the choicest cuts.

Exhausted, frustrated, and feeling the magic leaving his body, Adam mood is at its nadir as he hovers into the restaurant, legs virtually dragging along the ground. He gets a plain meal in no particular hurry, and proceeds to put on his best naïve face.

"Gall durn it! Ah dun shoulda won that race, an' Ah know Ah got a win left in me! so help me I am going to profit from this festival

Adam surreptitiously pulls out his deck of cards, then intentionally fumbles them; dead set on hustling a card game from somebody who would find him easy pickings.

Spoiler:

Carn slowed to a stop once he had crossed the finish line, panting a bit...He had...mixed emotions...On the one hand, he was disappointed, he had wanted to win, after all...But it was a learning experience, and it reminded him that he had a long way to go if he was to be the best...And, magical cheatery aside, it had been a thrilling race...Still, he didn't remember the fox entering, but perhaps he had missed that detail in the chaos that had been the start...No matter. He caught his breath, laughing and smiling! "Well run, well run! I think we've all earned our meal and prize!" he said, loping along to the resturaunt...They had time, he could grab a bite to eat before he claimed his prize...He showed his number as he reached the meat section, though he looked at Blood curiously..."With all respect, I didn't think that ponies like you ate meat...?" At the least, he'd only seen them eat plants...Maybe they just tried not to?

Blood stares at the different foods, almost drooling. "I like meat, sorry. It comes with my specific magic type that I need a better source of protein than tofu or legumes." He takes off his cloak, the black dried cuts all evident against his lighter red coat and mane as he pulls a comb from the side and runs it through his tattered mane. "I can function as an herbivore, but the iron and protein in meat helps my magic."

He pauses, pulling out a bit of dried blood and coughs as what he did at the end of the race came to mind. "Oh! S-sorry about that... I wasn't thinking straight when I made those chains. Low oxygen and I was using a lot of blood for my ma-" Blood freezes. "...... Bloody hell."

The bear narrowed his eyes, growling a bit as he recalled that attempt at restraining him...But he seemed to compose himself after a moment...It was a low blow, but the pony -had- apologized, and unlike that...incident at the beginning, no one had been affected too much...Plus, starting a fight inside a town was bad form. Still, blood magic? He'd never heard of that...It seemed...strange...And to be blunt, it creeped Carn out. He...simply chose not to really press that particular subject further, instead focusing on the meat products for a moment, trying to decide what, exactly, he wanted...It all smelled amazing! "Hmph...No one got hurt, I suppose that's what's important. I'd say be careful, though...Others might not be so...forgiving next time."

Z2 wrote:Exhausted, frustrated, and feeling the magic leaving his body, Adam mood is at its nadir as he hovers into the restaurant, legs virtually dragging along the ground. He gets a plain meal in no particular hurry, and proceeds to put on his best naïve face.

"Gall durn it! Ah dun shoulda won that race, an' Ah know Ah got a win left in me! so help me I am going to profit from this festival

Adam surreptitiously pulls out his deck of cards, then intentionally fumbles them; dead set on hustling a card game from somebody who would find him easy pickings.

Spoiler:

A couple of good-spirited runners, after quickly finishing their meals, catch sight of you and take a seat across the table from you.

"A card game? Sounds like a great way to spend some time while the chill of the race leaves our system. So what game are you planning?" the blue earth pony asks.

"I wouldn't mind joining in as well," a unicorn says. you recognize this orange unicorn as the one who had lit himself on fire for the first leg of the race. He's obviously a foreigner, wearing what looks to be southern garments, upper-class clothing from Equestria. "Though perhaps a small gamble might make the game more interesting, what do you say?" he asks with a confident smile.

(OOC: What style of cardgame are you going to be playing? And any neat rules or what-have-you)

Camellia snickered at the bear and the pony show, only briefly pausing before going back to tearing into the large cut of meat she was holding in both paws.

"I-I never meant to do it! I was so exhausted and I wanted to win, that I did it without thinking..." Blood's ears flatten to his head and he looks down, upset. "But..." Blood looks at the white bear. "It's no excuse for something that could've hurt somepony." He shakes away a tear and says, "D-don't judge me for it, please. Everypony and griffin and any other creature always gets scared and creeped out just because I'm a hemomancer."

"... Oh! How about I make it up to you?" The pony glanced at the bear, and started looking the guy over. "My magic may be related to blood, but I normally use it to heal... Or as a claw admittedly." A thin cut on the back of Blood's neck bleeds as a small claw forms, grabbing at Blood's food and helping him eat while he looks over the Bear as an apology. He also glances at the fox, a feeling of recognition nagging at him.

Spoiler: