Call of Colthulhu: Team Two's Adventures

Starglass could tell that what the griffon possessed was to some degree magic. But it was radically different from anything that Equestria, or perhaps even all of Equis, has ever seen before. It was ancient, in fact similar to how crystal magic would have felt to modern equestrians, except even older. The inherent difference in the two magics made any further analysis difficult, but that much was clear.

Eaglesong had been very quietly making her way around the room towards where the knife had fallen, thankful that her compatriots could keep the--assailant? Suspect? Murder-weapaon holder--occupied. She had just reached the knife when a dark shadow of herself, in stark contrast to the dazzling light that suddenly surrounded her, feel across her person. She quickly scooped up the knife and whirled around, blocking her face with a wing picking up Starglass' suggestion along the way. She instinctively wants to grab the griffon from behind, but after what she just saw the griffon weather she'd probably just fall back on top of her. So instead she bounds over a table and brings the knife down on the back of the griffons head, hoping to give Kunolf a good moment to get a grip.

ooc:

(Ooc: Well then could someone Roll d20+6+5 for me, I won't be at a pc for the next dew Hours.)

Sliverbrony wrote:(Ooc: Well then could someone Roll d20+6+5 for me, I won't be at a pc for the next dew Hours.)

(20)

Both Eagle and Kunolf dive at the griffoness, Eagle aiming to catch the griffoness unawares and Kunolf looking to hold down the griffoness. As this all happens, Starglass' magic projects a brilliant, blinding light into the room.

Eagle brings the knife down, but the griffoness whirls around and bats the pegasus aside, the knife catching the griffoness' forearm and slicing a shallow cut into it. Eaglesong, her mission complete, is sent flying by the griffoness' strike, crashing into the wall but managing to orient herself to minimise damage.

The griffoness, before she can turn back to the main group, is tackled by Kunolf and is sent crashing down into a pile of chairs in a tangle of claws and feathers. She flails wildly, sending chairs flying, before giving out a roar of fury and grabbing Kunolf by the throat, squeezing for a moment before just tossing him across the room like a ragdoll.

"ENOUGH!" The room is suddenly engulfed in pitch darkness, and Starglass feels a sense of absolute emptiness emanating from the griffoness. It's like there's no emotions, just a void. The sense of wrongness returns full force, and Starglass, more attuned to magic than the rest, even feels a little queasy from it.

A pair of crimson eyes peer out from the darkness, a bloody light flooding out of the griffoness' eyes. "Give. Up. The boss doesn't want any fatalities, but if you sunshines push me just a little bit more..."

The eyes disappear, and when the light flickers on a moment later, the griffoness has Starglass held by the throat, before she throws the pony aside after a few tense moments. "Listen, I'd like to stay to talk, really, but I'm not sure I like where this conversation is going... It's kinda personal, kay little crystal pony? So why don't you skedaddle and I head home, and no one has to get any more hurt? How's that sound? I think it sounds nice. Don't you?"

As she says that, she slams a fist into the ground, and the floor falls away, allowing her to drop down beyond. The floor then melded back together, leaving no trace save the mess she made and the knife sitting a little bit away from where Eaglesong had landed.

Kunolf puts his knife back in its sheath, which now can be seen through a tear in his shirt, next to the handle of a second knife. He takes up the gryffoness´knife and tries to get her scent, and then tries to find out where she came from or if possible where she went.

Hunt em Down:

Perception for finding a trail: 1d20+9+5 20

... her light, snuffed out like a candle.

The overbearing darkness, the sickening presence, the crimson eyes.

The nightmare... has the nightmare returned?


Before Starglass, the scene which took place was almost unbeliveable. She watched it as though she were looking from a third pony's perspective. Frozen in place, seeing her companions tossed around, unable to react even as her own being came into direct danger.

Was that a gentle emissary of carnage that they just failed attempting diplomacy with?
An avatar, cloaked in the veil of the shadows, serving a twofold purpose?
A being, which...


...

Starglass lay where she had been thrown, in a display of the grifoness's 'mercy'. She closed her eyes, feeling deep inside that what just happened was about to permeate her flesh...

She felt empty in the inner vortex she had been thrown into, one glistening with thoughts, feelings and memories intertwined.

Fow now, she focused, trying to ascertain her own position in relation to the others, as something to give her a sane ground... beginning from physical coordinates. Hoping for at least them to stay strong...

With her mind, she searched both for the one which just left through the floor and the ones which she hoped to meet here instead - for she believed, having seen that bloodied knife, for them possibly not to be far away.

Detect minds:

"Hoofah." Eaglesong says, more or less at a loss for words as she checks herself over for damage. Passing her own examination, she stands up. "Given how she exited, I don't think we're going to track her by scent." She advises, but adds, "Not that you shouldn't sniff it, though. You never know when you might find it again." He had been thrown too, but if he was up and moving there probably wasn't much to worry about. Starglass, on the other hand...wasn't moving. No shifting, no groaning..."Oh, dear." Eaglesong says softly, trotting cautiously over to the prostrate mare. She relaxed a bit once she saw that Starglass was breathing, but nonetheless began cautiously prodding the Crystal pony, checking for structural damage. Did Crystal Ponies ever crack externally? She wasn't entirely certain what she was looking at...

Spoiler:

Terrestial wrote:

Detect minds:

She opens up her mind and searches for beings around her:
she detects two other confused souls close by, many contented and merry people far away in the direction of the conference center, and one, very turbulent but definitely violent, about 60 feet away in a northernly direction. If you had to hazard a guess, that's where the griffoness is.

sunbeam wrote:

Spoiler:

The crystal pony appears physically unharmed, just slightly shaken. What ails her is likely a mental, not physical, problem.

Sliverbrony wrote:

Hunt em Down:

Perception for finding a trail: 1d20+9+5 20

A quick whiff tells Kunolf that the griffoness is not in the vicinity. She appears to have teleported, but if Kunolf can get on her trail again he's confident he can track the griffoness's movements.

So... that was not a full-on teleportation with a dramatic effect to it.

During the time it took Starglass to ascertain the collective mental presence in the surroundings, she had quite a bit of thinking. Absorbed by a twofold task, she had been caught by surprise by Eaglesong looming over her once she opened her eyes, since the poking of the Pegasus did she barely register.

Contrary to her perplexing stilness up till now, Starglass was up on her hooves rapidly after that. The crystal pony pointed briefly one of her forehooves in the direction she visualised the virulent being at...

"That way. Mere twenty metres."

... before rushing out of the room in search for a path towards it.


Those were not her limbs that were the most shaken. Despite showing clairvoyance in her actions, Starglass had her doubts.

At this point, it was more than probable that the grifoness's magic was superior to the crystal mare's. While it remained to be discovered whether the black-cloaked one's other abilities originated from the same source, or at least drew augmentation from, it was clearly not a laughing matter.


The crystal mare was not sure how or whether their trio even should face the one they just had an encounter with.


Were that indeed a purely personal matter from the grifoness's perspective, that would've been easier. Were she showing more killing intent, it would've helped now too.

That was not the case though.

Not only did "their adversary" try to handle the situation casualty-less in the first place after being stripped of cover - despite being aware of having an upper hand. She spared them when she... in fact, had an opportunity. Moreover, the talk of "the boss", the telephatic message as well as what seemed like dark magic in the hands of a seemingly non-magical race, was a clear indication that there was yet another figure pulling the strings from beyond the scene. Amidst all of this, it was most disturbing...

Also, the nature of the threats that were made came into question. Along with them, the relevance of deciding whether to inform others... at this moment, security... about this precedence outright.
Clearly, they were to get to know about this situation this way or another. Still, shouting as to summon members of that group, could alert the escaping one.

Most noteworthy was the fact that in the face of such a mighty foe, they could be just as useless as they were, supposing they even get a chance to present their skills.

In the light of that pondering, Starglass adds hastily while running:

"We can't hope to confront her as she is, but we have to get her trail, if we're to find hostages or at least have more qualified be able to join in. Right now, we have to take advantage of the fact that she may not expect us to have tracked her instantly. If we're to spot her i strongly suggest we avoid her attention while following.."

Starglass said those words with conviction, though as of now, she fought to get at least one more glance at the griffoness.

As Starglass rushes out of the room, Kunolf starts running after her, al the while trying to find a trail of the gryffoness.
When the Crystalmare finishes talking, Kunolf replies: " well I am trying to find a trail from where she teleported to, if you could lead me there, I may be able to follow her."

Perception for picking up the trail again: 1d20+9 10

Sliverbrony wrote:As Starglass rushes out of the room, Kunolf starts running after her, al the while trying to find a trail of the gryffoness.
When the Crystalmare finishes talking, Kunolf replies: " well I am trying to find a trail from where she teleported to, if you could lead me there, I may be able to follow her."

Perception for picking up the trail again: 1d20+9 10

Kunolf has literally no idea where that griffoness is.

He might have blocked sinuses.

Spoiler:

Eaglesong blinked as her patient bolted on her. That wasn't something you saw much of in the ER. "I really hope this doesn't become a common occurrence." She mutters as she chases after Starglass. Not that she hadn't done exactly the same thing on many occasions, but she'd had people around to stop her. If they both bolted at once (like, say, right now), who was going to stop them both? The gryphon (Kunilph? Kunolph?) only had so much of a wingspan. Catching up with Starglass, she replies "Fair enough. If she's still inside she can't take off without attracting attention. She'll probably be headed for an exit."

After the Pegasus gives her sugestion, Kunolf replies:
"well, as I can´t find her scent with all these ohter ponie around, let´s try intercepting her on her way there."

The group can easily track the griffoness's aura, especially with Starglass in the lead, out into the exhibition halls.

Where they promptly lose the track in the milling crowds. The myriad of scents make it difficult for Kunolf to trace the griffoness, and she's either too fast or used some kind of magic again to throw off the group, especially with Starglass's magic wearing off. The conference hall seems to be filling up again, and it seems increasingly unlikely to locate one griffoness in the mess. 

(Perception prompt)

Kunolf tries as hard as he can to get back on track to follow their target.

perception: 1d20+9 22

Eaglesong looks around wildly, hoping to just catch a glimpse of any griffons nearby.

ooc:

"Yes" - it was only so much of a short answer that Starglass allowed herself in response to her companions' most recent statements. They were right and there was little to be added.
Meanwhile, a certain Crystal Pony felt the need to save its breath.

Upon reaching the crowds, Starglass did not come to a stop. Instead, she dived in, attempting to synchronize her movement with what she felt the grifoness would try, were she in the same position. Starglass perceived the flowing mass of bodies not as a gathering of individuals, but rather as parts of a whole. She attempted to re-create the pattern of the chased one's movement via extracting the disturbance done by a non-matching singularity in the intertwined matrix. Statglass followed the trail..

Perception check: 10 + d20 (20) = Critical success

With another, ditch effort burst of magic, Starglass latches onto the signature of the griffoness and homes into her target,and she easily leads the group outside of the main conference hall where they find the griffoness, cowering behind a strangely garbed pony wreathed in all sorts of colourful cloths. 

"They're the ones! They're the ones who up and assaulted me just now!" The griffoness says, pointing at the group in a panic. 

"Hey, you bullies! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" The pony snorts, her horn coming alight with magic. "Leave the poor girl alone, or you'll gonna get a flank whoopin'!"

With her magic, Starglass can easily tell that whatever magic powered the griffoness was fading fast, and though she was still physically imposing, the griffoness no longer had the crushing alien feeling that she had before.

Quick to re-adjust to the situation at hand, Starglass raises one of her forehooves, signalling lack of malicious intent, then brings it up to her chest as she responds to the unicorn mare - slowly, as to ease up the tension:

"I admit the three of us have attempted to restrain the one behind you, but i assure you we had a legal reason to do that and we meant no harm in the first place. It would be for the best of us all if we could settle the matter conflict-less. If you had my word that nothing bad - nothing that you might not wish for - will happen to neither you nor the grifoness as long as you engage in a peaceful conversation, would you be willing to give it a try? Please?" - she tried to sound polite, yet decided, not submissive, at the end.

Persuasion check: 13 + d20 (13) = 26

Meanwhile, the crystal mare takes the time to eye carefully her conversational partners, looking for tells - facets of their feelings - as to help her ascertain their true position in this situation.

Empathetic:

Taking 10 on checks to identify both the grifoness's and unicorn's feelings, amounting up to 25 each.

After that she adresses Eaglesong and Kunolf, loud enough as to have both the unicorn and the grifoness hear it - and for a good reason to that:

"I ask of you to chill your hearts for now. I feel clearly the dark magic leaving the grifoness rapidly. It is generally of twisted nature. Therefore, there is a chance, even if little, that she may have been manipulated and is not guilty of the crimes she had claimed to be standing behind. Please, have that in mind."

Starglass was probably right. Possession was quite common in this sort of situation, especially making claims that became of somepony in an invincible position. But the first half of act clashed with that. The lying, guilty griffon hadn't seemed invincible at all. That was what had made the change so frightening. The alternative was that the resident Griffoness was just a manipulative little kestrel. Having mentally vented against their assailant,Eaglesong looks composed and polite as she asks the rainbow-wrapped pony, "Ma'am, do you know this griffon?"

Terrestial wrote:"I admit the three of us have attempted to restrain the one behind you, but i assure you we had a legal reason to do that and we meant no harm in the first place. It would be for the best of us all if we could settle the matter conflict-less. If you had my word that nothing bad - nothing that you might not wish for - will happen to neither you nor the grifoness as long as you engage in a peaceful conversation, would you be willing to give it a try? Please?" - she tried to sound polite, yet decided, not submissive, at the end.

Persuasion check: 13 + d20 (13) = 26

Empathetic:

Taking 10 on checks to identify both the grifoness's and unicorn's feelings, amounting up to 25 each.

"Oh great, you're one of them vigilante types who take the law into their own hooves, ain'tcha? From what the girl says you're anything but peaceful. Who knows if you're just gonna turn and grab me when we try and talk?" The unicorn snorts. "You stay right there, and we'll talk. You ain't getting any closer to the poor girl."

Starglass can sense that the unicorn is genuinely wanting to protect the griffoness out of a sense of justice. The griffoness, however, is harder to read, and all Starglass can sense is a turbulent mess of chaos and anger.

sunbeam wrote:Starglass was probably right. Possession was quite common in this sort of situation, especially making claims that became of somepony in an invincible position. But the first half of act clashed with that. The lying, guilty griffon hadn't seemed invincible at all. That was what had made the change so frightening. The alternative was that the resident Griffoness was just a manipulative little kestrel. Having mentally vented against their assailant,Eaglesong looks composed and polite as she asks the rainbow-wrapped pony, "Ma'am, do you know this griffon?"

"What's it to you, huh?" The unicorn asks, bristling. "Do you know this griffon?"

"I know that she tried to conceal a bloody knife from me, then threw me into a wall trying to get it back." Eaglesong replies tartly. "Given how she's suddenly taken to grovelling, it would not surprise me in the slightest if she's taking advantage of you right now. Now do you know her or not?"

sunbeam wrote:"I know that she tried to conceal a bloody knife from me, then threw me into a wall trying to get it back." Eaglesong replies tartly. "Given how she's suddenly taken to grovelling, it would not surprise me in the slightest if she's taking advantage of you right now. Now do you know her or not?"

"..." The unicorn pauses, and turns to the griffoness. "Is that so?"

"um..." The griffoness shrugs. "Nah, pretty much."

"...Huh. You sneaky little-" The griffoness winds up and sucker punches the unicorn. "SHIT!" The pony is sent flying, thrown back a few feet by the force of the attack, rolling to a stop between the griffoness and the group.

"You delayed them for long enough." The griffoness laughs. "Thanks for the help, little pony."

This time, instead of the earth opening up, her shadow seems to ripple briefly before turning into a wave of inky black liquid, rushing up and engulfing the griffoness. The wave crashes against the ground, and seems to soak into the earth, leaving no trace of the griffoness.

All is silent. 

"...Did anyone catch the number of that carriage?" A slurred voice comes from the bundle of cloth lying flat on the ground.