Patrollogs
Williams Ghost Banishing 250110
In the chilling atmosphere of Arkwright Cemetery, an eclectic group gathers to confront an infernal threat, taking form as demonic beings amidst a brimstone-scented mist. William, the focus of the spectral assault, scrambles for cover behind a gravestone, pulling a revolver in defense. The group swiftly springs into action: Harriet with her Celtic sea salt creating protective barriers, Elias wielding frost magic to shield and attack, and Sam, brandishing a snake-adorned knife, cutting through the malevolent smoke. Sae-byeok, amidst this chaos, performs a crucial ritual, surrounding herself with symbols and incantations, aiming to banish the dark forces at play.
As the battle rages on, the spirits target William relentlessly, driving him to his knees with psychic assaults. Elias and Harriet rally to his aid, attempting to fend off the advances of a particularly menacing figure that appears among the smoke, directly attacking William with a potent, heart-gripping curse. In the climactic moments, Sae-byeok completes her ritual, her chanting and symbols pulsing with energy. The combined efforts of the group, from Harriet's demonic tongue and protective salt circles to Elias's frost magic and Sam's bloodied defiance, culminate in the dispersal of the smoke demons. The cemetery becomes still once more, the threat seemingly quelled by their united stand against the darkness.
(William's ghost banishing)
[Thu Jan 9 2025]
On the Sprawling Hillside of Arkwright Cemetery
It is after dusk, about 3F(-16C) degrees, and there are a few dark grey stormclouds in the sky. There is a waxing gibbous moon.
There is the sudden smell of brimstone that fills the area, and along with a rising, black mist: smoke, coiling along the surface of the graveyard. It seems to form strange whorls and shapes, and as they draw close to %n they begin to look more and more like creatures -- horned creatures, with red eyes full of menace.
Harriet reaches into the pouch and her fingers close about the fine little pieces of Celtic sea salt, pulling them up and out and then letting them lie flat upon a palm as she nods to Elias in agreement. "I carry sage, too," she states before the mist is rising and her hazel eyes widen some as she takes in the sudden shift. "Oh," comes out upon seeing the demonic beings take shape.
With a sigh, Sam grabs his knife, a strange, oily blade, adorned with snakes. His form shudders all over, and he lets out a long, trembling breath before turning to the infernal specters. "All right, let's go, then!" He clasps his hand around that knife, the charre ddragon-shaped ring around his finger glowing with angry, red runes.
"Well, I will just support whomever would like to handle this and use their methodology. I am versed in several, unless you have a rather... unique way of doing it." Elias methods to the others gathered before glancing over to Sam.
A twisted figure forms out of infernal smoke, shaped like a terrible canine shape. It's a hellhound, leaping towards William with an awful snarl. When its mouth closes on %n, it has some phantom force, sending a vision of suffering in hellfire.
"Oh, lovely, the smoke creatures again" William sighs out as he watches the spirits start to take form, scrambling away to make some distance between him and the creatures that are likely to attack him, taking cover behind a gravestone and taking out a little knife from his coat "I can-" He says about to comment on rituals before being struck by one rushing mist hellhound, letting out a pained groan "Fuck! I can't... If they're going to focus me, someone else has to ritual them"
Sae-byeok sighs up to the sky, warming her hands. She sets herself on her knees in a patch landscape of snow and begins to draw the outline of three circles around her with the butt of a knife longer than her forearm. She draws the cryomantic rune of eis along her pants, and in response, the frost begins to crawl up her legs.
Out of nowhere, Harriet is smiling a bit too brightly, like she's absolutely living her best life, despite the dangers and the terrifying creatures that are forming. She scatters that handful of Celtic sea salt into the air, and the grains fall to the ground as she seeks to form a protective barrier around the group. "I am no arcanist, and am simply here for backup," is said after Elias' words. Once William becomes the main event, the tall brunette begins to sprinkle salt closer to him. "Perhaps you can draw some runes in the air to deflect or deter them? gets said in a suggestion."
Out of nowhere, Harriet is smiling a bit too brightly, like she's absolutely living her best life, despite the dangers and the terrifying creatures that are forming. She scatters that handful of Celtic sea salt into the air, and the grains fall to the ground as she seeks to form a protective barrier around the group. "I am no arcanist, and am simply here for backup," is said after Elias' words. Once William becomes the main event, the tall brunette begins to sprinkle salt closer to him. "Perhaps you can draw some runes in the air to deflect or deter them?"gets said in a suggestion.
Steeping forward, Elias's breath visible in the rapidly cooling air as he raises his hands, channeling power through them. Frost begins to form beneath his feet, spreading outward in jagged, crystalline patterns, and the temperature around him plummets. With a sharp gesture, a wave of icy wind surges forward, the force of the wind and frozen magics attempt to offer some degree of protection to William.
A hiss, and in a blink of shadow, Sam is next to William, spreading his broad shoulders to try and inter-pose btween William and whatever fresh hell, heh. Is coming at him. He narrows his eyes, and bares his teeth a little. "Fucking cold as tits out here." He mutters.
With a howl, some kind of winged monkey-demon swoops down near William, its body made of living smoke. It's all grasping claws, striking hard to leave psychic scars that hurt like deep slashes. Other monkeys attack anyone nearby, with similar screeching, rending claws.
Phantasma, Phantasma, Exilium, Hypothermia
Written in a series of four quandrants in the midst of her four circles, from top left to bottom right. This process and is as quick as it is pivotal as Sae-byeok begins to hum with a shivering smile at the drop in temperature. "Sss-pirii-tus immuuunde? Ecks-ee ahbb hawc low-coh.." Sae-byeok begins to chant. Whatever romance sits in the esoteric language shrivels up and crawls out in vague translation. Yes, in response to her incantation, the words begin to cycle around the second concentric, cementing.
"Runes in the air?" William almost asks to Harriet, blinking a couple times and catching his breath after the vision is gone, trying to gain some footing again and giving a nod of appreciation to Elias, glancing around once more, spotting what Sae-byeok is doing and shaking his head "It's alright- She's doing it, cover her... These things are stubborn they tend to go for one person over and over..." He tells the group with a couple deep breaths, seemingly not bothered by the cold rush around them. But seeing as the monkey beasts start to take shape and claw around, he pocket the knife, no longer intent in getting his own blood and instead brings out a little revolver, shooting the mist figure that is approaching him in an attempt to simply have it lose form and turn back into mist
Harriet is simply beaming. She can't seem to help it, nor can she hold back her desire to fact share as she's claiming, "Celtic sea salt is traditionally harvested with wooden tools, preserving its purity and the energetic imprint of the sea -- elements believed to be anathema to malevolent spirits." The light grey pieces of salt continue to get spread around William, and she's keeping an eye on the spirits whilst also watching what Sae-byeok, Sam, and Elias do. "Yes. I've seen many an arcanist do it. They trace some sort of insignia looking thing in the air with their finger. I've never done it myself," is said honestly. The comment Sam makes earns a brief fluttering of her lashes before she's shaking her head and holding back her tongue, but she does give a glance down at her rather modest chest. This is when the monkey-demons come in to play, and she proceeds to throw salt at the one that is swiping its claws her way. She winces in response to the psychic wounds that feel so real in that moment.
With the air filling with the piercing howls of winged monkey-demons, their bodies twisting and shifting like living smoke, their claws rake across his mind rather than his flesh, leaving searing psychic scars that feel like deep, burning wounds. Elias raises his hands, his storm-gray eyes narrowing as he channels both frost. With a sharp motion, he casts shards of icy wind into the air, their edges slicing through the smoke-like bodies of the demons and forcing them back. With this, hopefully William can work to endure this onslaught, "I will do my best to keep them off of William. He seems to have the flavor they like tonight."
With the air filling with the piercing howls of winged monkey-demons, their bodies twisting and shifting like living smoke, their claws rake across his mind rather than his flesh, leaving searing psychic scars that feel like deep, burning wounds. Elias raises his hands, his storm-gray eyes narrowing as he channels both frost and wind. With a sharp motion, he casts shards of icy wind into the air, their edges slicing through the smoke-like bodies of the demons and forcing them back. With this, hopefully William can work to endure this onslaught, "I will do my best to keep them off of William. He seems to have the flavor they like tonight." (fixed)
Nodding some to William, Sam sighs, and like a sprite of legends, small wings form at his ankles and the jock flits over to stand right in between Sae-byeok and William, ready to engage any other spirits that might bother either. The jock seems rather relaxed, like he's comfortable the assembled group can handle it.
With a howl, some kind of winged monkey-demon swoops down near William, its body made of living smoke. It's all grasping claws, striking hard to leave psychic scars that hurt like deep slashes. Other monkeys attack anyone nearby, with similar screeching, rending claws.
Sae-byeok shivers preternaturally violent as the cold rivers of ice, cast from eis, start to harden from the air, sculpturing her waist in a crawling freeze.
"E-EIS is.. Is.." The rune appears in last concentric, responding as if called, "Ehh.. European. N-not know. Runes.. Rune just EASY.." She manages, then returns to the rest of her butchered incantation.
"I don't have the best of lucks, really" William comments in response to Elias, nodding his head slowly, and, seeing as Sae-byeok is the one that will eventually drive the beasts away- He simply starts getting further away from her, if the creatures were lured to him, better have him as much at a distance from the caster as possible. But he is caught in the attempt by some more of the monkeys, wincing in pain at the incorporeal wounds they cause when sweeping their claws around, once more reaching for his weapon to try and scatter them back into the gaseous substance that made them up
Sae-byeok is delighted to freeze to death!
The winged monkey-demon dives at William with a terrible howl, Elias reacts instantly, raising his hands as frost gathers in the air around him. With a sharp motion, he directs the freezing energy toward William, encasing him in protective armor of thick, crystalline ice. The barrier forms like a second skin, shimmering with a pale blue light and radiating a numbing cold that repels the smoky claws of the demons.
Harriet lifts the pouch of grey Celtic sea salt, and with a measured hand, begins to let the grains fall slowly from her fingertips. Each grain cascades in a fairly controlled stream, landing to create a circlular shape around those near William to try and form a physical barrier between the spirits and the living world. Her hazel eyes trace the path of the salt as it falls in a steady line, ensuring the circle is unbroken. Glancing over at Sae-byeok, she says, "I am European," in her posh British accent that is flaunting clipped tones. "That's interesting," she tells William once he claims he does not have the greatest of luck, but then her soft lips are forming an even wider smile, and she even makes a strange, pleasurable noise at the back of her throat, even if she seems entirely unaware of it. As Elias is reacting and battling the incoming monkey-demon, she's crouching some to avoid getting hit.
Seeing as most of the battle seems to be going well, Sam just decides to lay into the smoke-demons, the jock definately taking his job as muscle for this iteration seriously. He starts slashing his knife about, the smoke trembling and shimmering at it's touch, like even these demons do not wish to be glanced by that blade. A hiss escapes the jocks lips with a smirk.
William is surprised by the sudden ice armor around his clothes, once more, seemingly not as disturbed by the cold sensation as most people would be- Of course, there's still a reaction, he's encased in ice after all, but it's lesser than one would have expected, and weirdly enough, it protects him some from the ethereal attacks of the spirits targetting him "Thanks" He comments in the direction of Elias, trying to catch his breath for a moment before, adding "I'm also European..." with a similarly pronounced english accent, shaking his head and straightening again "If they weren't targetting me... This would be going so much faster..."
"C O O L." Sae-byeok delivers like Mr. Freeze before she goes back to speaking latin like a kindergartener, "ayt ten-ay-brrrrr-ray non compreh-en-der-un-tay eammm. Ahhh-mehhn! She circles crack and press into the snow, furrowing the ground in small trenches as Sae-byeok 's arms are incased. Her skin now pinked, she stops shivering."
"C O O L." Sae-byeok delivers like Mr. Freeze before she goes back to speaking latin like a kindergartener, "ayt ten-ay-brrrrr-ray non compreh-en-der-un-tay eammm. Ahhh-mehhn!" She circles crack and press into the snow, furrowing the ground in small trenches as Sae-byeok 's arms are incased. Her skin now pinked, she stops shivering.
A twisted figure forms out of infernal smoke, shaped like a terrible canine shape. It's a hellhound, leaping towards William with an awful snarl. When its mouth closes on %n, it has some phantom force, sending a vision of suffering in hellfire.
Harriet keeps it up with her salt duty. If it is doing anything at all, it's difficult to tell, but this woman seems intent on keeping it up. She nods to the fellow Englishman, and dips her chin downward towards pronounced clavicles, but as the hellhound is moving on William, she's tossing salt right at the beast. "Look out!" If that is a warning about the incoming salt grains or the dog, one can only guess. Maybe both. Poor William likely gets struck by a handful of salt anyway.
Turning to look at whatever Harriet is warning about, William finds a smoke hound coming his way, and likely striking him again, as well as being showered with tiny little rocks of salt, which probably add some to the whole sensation. But soon enough, as the mist encroaches him into a canine bite, he lets out another loud "Fuck!" Much like the monkeys, the damage not being physical but rather coming in the form of visions of both suffering and fire, together in one, not great
The infernal smoke twists and churns, coalescing into the grotesque form of a hellhound. Its skeletal body radiates heat, seeming to try to push back the unnatural cold radiating around Elias, but the dark haired man stands fast, focusing to maintain his strength in the icy ward that he is using to aid William. Under dressed for the weather does not seem to bother Elias, but on the contrary, it seems to give him strength. He casts his stormy-grey gaze back to Harriet, trying to judge how far she is into her ritual, before looking back to William, "Keep up the good work, you got this." He offers words that should sound reassuring, but from him they sound cold.
"How is everyone." Purple lips croak out as a crystalline blue-white light glimmers the ice touched to her skin and flows out into the rest of the circle in a dim glow. Sae-byeok stares faintly at William as he's splattered with white grains that, to her hypothermia failing body, could just as well be snow.
Seemingly the only one severely under-dressed and shivering, Sam's movements are slowed down... and simultaneously sped up by his sped. He just shivers, cuts, slashes, sometimes into the smoke close to William, sometimes close to Sae-byeok. He nods to Sae-byeok, and gives a thumbs-up. "All you, Kim!"
A hot wind blows through the cemetery, and with it comes sibilant whispers in the ears of William and all their companions: they promise depraved, decadent desires fulfilled, and for a moment that's all anyone can focus on.
Two fingers, slow as sand, as painfully as salt, slowly unbend from Sae-byeok 's clasped fingers and stretch out to Sam.
Peace.
Harriet continues to loyally lay out that protection barrier. "Fuck," also comes out of her mouth, but her expletive is quieter that William's as it is in response to what happens to him. She's entirely fine. After she's winced, she crouches lower, filling in any places where there are small gaps in the grains that are laid out atop the grass. Her work is quick and precise, with several glances being made continually to check on everyone. She nods to Sae-byeok to verify she's just dandy, and then looks between Elias and Sam before rising back to stand up straight.
Sae-byeok giggles, rolling her neck slowly at promises, and thence the wind is taken by cold silence as she writes the rune of eis into her palm and sets it into the circle. With a ripple, more a sensation than a sight and as naturally confusing as stepping into the Nightmare without charm, the last, largest circle glows brightly and pulses out to cover the cemetery.
For a moment, Elias attention seems to falter as his mind wanders away from the task at hand. He slides a foot back behind the other, widening his stance as he looks towards the sky, the clouds overhead slowly getting thicker, perhaps responding to the so called stormcallers will. He whirls a hand around, over his head and the winds start to pick up with this motion, perhaps in an attempt to overwhelm the hot wind that is blowing in with his own Arctic blasts.
William slowly recovers from the tormenting visions, not even trying to straighten himself anymore, instead going down to his knees to rest for a moment in the cemetery grass. And then comes the warm breeze, and with it the a wave of desires. Looking distracted and maybe hopeful for a moment, but a couple seconds later it seems to turn from a positive expression to one more akin to bothersome, a strong headache or something like that, glancing towards one of his hands for a moment or two, but not saying anything to the rest of the group, simply focusing on catching his ragged and heavier breath
Some figure forms in the smoke: tall, it has twisted horns and red eyes. It levels a gnarled finger at William, beginning to chant in an unknown language as the air begins to crackle with magic. Immediately, William can feel something like a vise closing on their heart.
For a moment, Sam stops his fighting, and instead, he slices his blade across his palm, covering the human fingerbone around his neck with the bloodied palm. After a pause, however, he is back to the task at hand, instead channeling his power into the blade again, and returning to slicing up smoke-demons.
Harriet goes for a handful of salt in each of her hands, taking up the last of it with a now empty pouch. She holds up her hands and in response to the demonic beings, she begins to speak in what sounds like a very demonic tongue. It's something between Tuvan throat singing and a swarm of hornets in its tone. "Get back and go home. Leave us alone," comes out in a wicked hiss as she tries to move in front of William who is getting almost all of the unwanted attention.
And just as he's down to the ground, William drives his hands towards his chest, gasping with widened eyes as he grips on his left side, no voice coming out of his mouth at first. Gulping and trying to get something out, but not managing with to do, one of his hands flailing instead, pointing at the chanting mist figure
"Get up, William, before you die," Harriet says rather dramatically to William, but she's also trying to hold back what seems to be a fit of giggles. She's something else.
Elias's eyes flash with storm-gray fury as he watches the towering figure raise its finger, his dark magic tightening its grip on William's heart. Moving forward with determination, Elias grabs onto William's arm to assist him to his feet, noting in agreement with Harriet, "To be on the ground in battle is to be dead. Get to your feet."
The last circles, glowing in a tandem, begin to fire off at the same intervals. Slamming into the smoke in a swirl of sin and snow from above in the sky and down below. The ripples are felt by the soul rather than the touch of skin, and all at once, Sae-byeok 's prison solidifies weakly as it takes the last of its cost.
The smell of smoke seems to peak, and then, with a rush of magical power, it's gone. The smoke monsters in the cemetery disappear, banished -- fading away as wisps of mist in the air around $n.
As the battle rages on, the spirits target William relentlessly, driving him to his knees with psychic assaults. Elias and Harriet rally to his aid, attempting to fend off the advances of a particularly menacing figure that appears among the smoke, directly attacking William with a potent, heart-gripping curse. In the climactic moments, Sae-byeok completes her ritual, her chanting and symbols pulsing with energy. The combined efforts of the group, from Harriet's demonic tongue and protective salt circles to Elias's frost magic and Sam's bloodied defiance, culminate in the dispersal of the smoke demons. The cemetery becomes still once more, the threat seemingly quelled by their united stand against the darkness.
(William's ghost banishing)
[Thu Jan 9 2025]
On the Sprawling Hillside of Arkwright Cemetery
It is after dusk, about 3F(-16C) degrees, and there are a few dark grey stormclouds in the sky. There is a waxing gibbous moon.
There is the sudden smell of brimstone that fills the area, and along with a rising, black mist: smoke, coiling along the surface of the graveyard. It seems to form strange whorls and shapes, and as they draw close to %n they begin to look more and more like creatures -- horned creatures, with red eyes full of menace.
Harriet reaches into the pouch and her fingers close about the fine little pieces of Celtic sea salt, pulling them up and out and then letting them lie flat upon a palm as she nods to Elias in agreement. "I carry sage, too," she states before the mist is rising and her hazel eyes widen some as she takes in the sudden shift. "Oh," comes out upon seeing the demonic beings take shape.
With a sigh, Sam grabs his knife, a strange, oily blade, adorned with snakes. His form shudders all over, and he lets out a long, trembling breath before turning to the infernal specters. "All right, let's go, then!" He clasps his hand around that knife, the charre ddragon-shaped ring around his finger glowing with angry, red runes.
"Well, I will just support whomever would like to handle this and use their methodology. I am versed in several, unless you have a rather... unique way of doing it." Elias methods to the others gathered before glancing over to Sam.
A twisted figure forms out of infernal smoke, shaped like a terrible canine shape. It's a hellhound, leaping towards William with an awful snarl. When its mouth closes on %n, it has some phantom force, sending a vision of suffering in hellfire.
"Oh, lovely, the smoke creatures again" William sighs out as he watches the spirits start to take form, scrambling away to make some distance between him and the creatures that are likely to attack him, taking cover behind a gravestone and taking out a little knife from his coat "I can-" He says about to comment on rituals before being struck by one rushing mist hellhound, letting out a pained groan "Fuck! I can't... If they're going to focus me, someone else has to ritual them"
Sae-byeok sighs up to the sky, warming her hands. She sets herself on her knees in a patch landscape of snow and begins to draw the outline of three circles around her with the butt of a knife longer than her forearm. She draws the cryomantic rune of eis along her pants, and in response, the frost begins to crawl up her legs.
Out of nowhere, Harriet is smiling a bit too brightly, like she's absolutely living her best life, despite the dangers and the terrifying creatures that are forming. She scatters that handful of Celtic sea salt into the air, and the grains fall to the ground as she seeks to form a protective barrier around the group. "I am no arcanist, and am simply here for backup," is said after Elias' words. Once William becomes the main event, the tall brunette begins to sprinkle salt closer to him. "Perhaps you can draw some runes in the air to deflect or deter them? gets said in a suggestion."
Out of nowhere, Harriet is smiling a bit too brightly, like she's absolutely living her best life, despite the dangers and the terrifying creatures that are forming. She scatters that handful of Celtic sea salt into the air, and the grains fall to the ground as she seeks to form a protective barrier around the group. "I am no arcanist, and am simply here for backup," is said after Elias' words. Once William becomes the main event, the tall brunette begins to sprinkle salt closer to him. "Perhaps you can draw some runes in the air to deflect or deter them?"gets said in a suggestion.
Steeping forward, Elias's breath visible in the rapidly cooling air as he raises his hands, channeling power through them. Frost begins to form beneath his feet, spreading outward in jagged, crystalline patterns, and the temperature around him plummets. With a sharp gesture, a wave of icy wind surges forward, the force of the wind and frozen magics attempt to offer some degree of protection to William.
A hiss, and in a blink of shadow, Sam is next to William, spreading his broad shoulders to try and inter-pose btween William and whatever fresh hell, heh. Is coming at him. He narrows his eyes, and bares his teeth a little. "Fucking cold as tits out here." He mutters.
With a howl, some kind of winged monkey-demon swoops down near William, its body made of living smoke. It's all grasping claws, striking hard to leave psychic scars that hurt like deep slashes. Other monkeys attack anyone nearby, with similar screeching, rending claws.
Phantasma, Phantasma, Exilium, Hypothermia
Written in a series of four quandrants in the midst of her four circles, from top left to bottom right. This process and is as quick as it is pivotal as Sae-byeok begins to hum with a shivering smile at the drop in temperature. "Sss-pirii-tus immuuunde? Ecks-ee ahbb hawc low-coh.." Sae-byeok begins to chant. Whatever romance sits in the esoteric language shrivels up and crawls out in vague translation. Yes, in response to her incantation, the words begin to cycle around the second concentric, cementing.
"Runes in the air?" William almost asks to Harriet, blinking a couple times and catching his breath after the vision is gone, trying to gain some footing again and giving a nod of appreciation to Elias, glancing around once more, spotting what Sae-byeok is doing and shaking his head "It's alright- She's doing it, cover her... These things are stubborn they tend to go for one person over and over..." He tells the group with a couple deep breaths, seemingly not bothered by the cold rush around them. But seeing as the monkey beasts start to take shape and claw around, he pocket the knife, no longer intent in getting his own blood and instead brings out a little revolver, shooting the mist figure that is approaching him in an attempt to simply have it lose form and turn back into mist
Harriet is simply beaming. She can't seem to help it, nor can she hold back her desire to fact share as she's claiming, "Celtic sea salt is traditionally harvested with wooden tools, preserving its purity and the energetic imprint of the sea -- elements believed to be anathema to malevolent spirits." The light grey pieces of salt continue to get spread around William, and she's keeping an eye on the spirits whilst also watching what Sae-byeok, Sam, and Elias do. "Yes. I've seen many an arcanist do it. They trace some sort of insignia looking thing in the air with their finger. I've never done it myself," is said honestly. The comment Sam makes earns a brief fluttering of her lashes before she's shaking her head and holding back her tongue, but she does give a glance down at her rather modest chest. This is when the monkey-demons come in to play, and she proceeds to throw salt at the one that is swiping its claws her way. She winces in response to the psychic wounds that feel so real in that moment.
With the air filling with the piercing howls of winged monkey-demons, their bodies twisting and shifting like living smoke, their claws rake across his mind rather than his flesh, leaving searing psychic scars that feel like deep, burning wounds. Elias raises his hands, his storm-gray eyes narrowing as he channels both frost. With a sharp motion, he casts shards of icy wind into the air, their edges slicing through the smoke-like bodies of the demons and forcing them back. With this, hopefully William can work to endure this onslaught, "I will do my best to keep them off of William. He seems to have the flavor they like tonight."
With the air filling with the piercing howls of winged monkey-demons, their bodies twisting and shifting like living smoke, their claws rake across his mind rather than his flesh, leaving searing psychic scars that feel like deep, burning wounds. Elias raises his hands, his storm-gray eyes narrowing as he channels both frost and wind. With a sharp motion, he casts shards of icy wind into the air, their edges slicing through the smoke-like bodies of the demons and forcing them back. With this, hopefully William can work to endure this onslaught, "I will do my best to keep them off of William. He seems to have the flavor they like tonight." (fixed)
Nodding some to William, Sam sighs, and like a sprite of legends, small wings form at his ankles and the jock flits over to stand right in between Sae-byeok and William, ready to engage any other spirits that might bother either. The jock seems rather relaxed, like he's comfortable the assembled group can handle it.
With a howl, some kind of winged monkey-demon swoops down near William, its body made of living smoke. It's all grasping claws, striking hard to leave psychic scars that hurt like deep slashes. Other monkeys attack anyone nearby, with similar screeching, rending claws.
Sae-byeok shivers preternaturally violent as the cold rivers of ice, cast from eis, start to harden from the air, sculpturing her waist in a crawling freeze.
"E-EIS is.. Is.." The rune appears in last concentric, responding as if called, "Ehh.. European. N-not know. Runes.. Rune just EASY.." She manages, then returns to the rest of her butchered incantation.
"I don't have the best of lucks, really" William comments in response to Elias, nodding his head slowly, and, seeing as Sae-byeok is the one that will eventually drive the beasts away- He simply starts getting further away from her, if the creatures were lured to him, better have him as much at a distance from the caster as possible. But he is caught in the attempt by some more of the monkeys, wincing in pain at the incorporeal wounds they cause when sweeping their claws around, once more reaching for his weapon to try and scatter them back into the gaseous substance that made them up
Sae-byeok is delighted to freeze to death!
The winged monkey-demon dives at William with a terrible howl, Elias reacts instantly, raising his hands as frost gathers in the air around him. With a sharp motion, he directs the freezing energy toward William, encasing him in protective armor of thick, crystalline ice. The barrier forms like a second skin, shimmering with a pale blue light and radiating a numbing cold that repels the smoky claws of the demons.
Harriet lifts the pouch of grey Celtic sea salt, and with a measured hand, begins to let the grains fall slowly from her fingertips. Each grain cascades in a fairly controlled stream, landing to create a circlular shape around those near William to try and form a physical barrier between the spirits and the living world. Her hazel eyes trace the path of the salt as it falls in a steady line, ensuring the circle is unbroken. Glancing over at Sae-byeok, she says, "I am European," in her posh British accent that is flaunting clipped tones. "That's interesting," she tells William once he claims he does not have the greatest of luck, but then her soft lips are forming an even wider smile, and she even makes a strange, pleasurable noise at the back of her throat, even if she seems entirely unaware of it. As Elias is reacting and battling the incoming monkey-demon, she's crouching some to avoid getting hit.
Seeing as most of the battle seems to be going well, Sam just decides to lay into the smoke-demons, the jock definately taking his job as muscle for this iteration seriously. He starts slashing his knife about, the smoke trembling and shimmering at it's touch, like even these demons do not wish to be glanced by that blade. A hiss escapes the jocks lips with a smirk.
William is surprised by the sudden ice armor around his clothes, once more, seemingly not as disturbed by the cold sensation as most people would be- Of course, there's still a reaction, he's encased in ice after all, but it's lesser than one would have expected, and weirdly enough, it protects him some from the ethereal attacks of the spirits targetting him "Thanks" He comments in the direction of Elias, trying to catch his breath for a moment before, adding "I'm also European..." with a similarly pronounced english accent, shaking his head and straightening again "If they weren't targetting me... This would be going so much faster..."
"C O O L." Sae-byeok delivers like Mr. Freeze before she goes back to speaking latin like a kindergartener, "ayt ten-ay-brrrrr-ray non compreh-en-der-un-tay eammm. Ahhh-mehhn! She circles crack and press into the snow, furrowing the ground in small trenches as Sae-byeok 's arms are incased. Her skin now pinked, she stops shivering."
"C O O L." Sae-byeok delivers like Mr. Freeze before she goes back to speaking latin like a kindergartener, "ayt ten-ay-brrrrr-ray non compreh-en-der-un-tay eammm. Ahhh-mehhn!" She circles crack and press into the snow, furrowing the ground in small trenches as Sae-byeok 's arms are incased. Her skin now pinked, she stops shivering.
A twisted figure forms out of infernal smoke, shaped like a terrible canine shape. It's a hellhound, leaping towards William with an awful snarl. When its mouth closes on %n, it has some phantom force, sending a vision of suffering in hellfire.
Harriet keeps it up with her salt duty. If it is doing anything at all, it's difficult to tell, but this woman seems intent on keeping it up. She nods to the fellow Englishman, and dips her chin downward towards pronounced clavicles, but as the hellhound is moving on William, she's tossing salt right at the beast. "Look out!" If that is a warning about the incoming salt grains or the dog, one can only guess. Maybe both. Poor William likely gets struck by a handful of salt anyway.
Turning to look at whatever Harriet is warning about, William finds a smoke hound coming his way, and likely striking him again, as well as being showered with tiny little rocks of salt, which probably add some to the whole sensation. But soon enough, as the mist encroaches him into a canine bite, he lets out another loud "Fuck!" Much like the monkeys, the damage not being physical but rather coming in the form of visions of both suffering and fire, together in one, not great
The infernal smoke twists and churns, coalescing into the grotesque form of a hellhound. Its skeletal body radiates heat, seeming to try to push back the unnatural cold radiating around Elias, but the dark haired man stands fast, focusing to maintain his strength in the icy ward that he is using to aid William. Under dressed for the weather does not seem to bother Elias, but on the contrary, it seems to give him strength. He casts his stormy-grey gaze back to Harriet, trying to judge how far she is into her ritual, before looking back to William, "Keep up the good work, you got this." He offers words that should sound reassuring, but from him they sound cold.
"How is everyone." Purple lips croak out as a crystalline blue-white light glimmers the ice touched to her skin and flows out into the rest of the circle in a dim glow. Sae-byeok stares faintly at William as he's splattered with white grains that, to her hypothermia failing body, could just as well be snow.
Seemingly the only one severely under-dressed and shivering, Sam's movements are slowed down... and simultaneously sped up by his sped. He just shivers, cuts, slashes, sometimes into the smoke close to William, sometimes close to Sae-byeok. He nods to Sae-byeok, and gives a thumbs-up. "All you, Kim!"
A hot wind blows through the cemetery, and with it comes sibilant whispers in the ears of William and all their companions: they promise depraved, decadent desires fulfilled, and for a moment that's all anyone can focus on.
Two fingers, slow as sand, as painfully as salt, slowly unbend from Sae-byeok 's clasped fingers and stretch out to Sam.
Peace.
Harriet continues to loyally lay out that protection barrier. "Fuck," also comes out of her mouth, but her expletive is quieter that William's as it is in response to what happens to him. She's entirely fine. After she's winced, she crouches lower, filling in any places where there are small gaps in the grains that are laid out atop the grass. Her work is quick and precise, with several glances being made continually to check on everyone. She nods to Sae-byeok to verify she's just dandy, and then looks between Elias and Sam before rising back to stand up straight.
Sae-byeok giggles, rolling her neck slowly at promises, and thence the wind is taken by cold silence as she writes the rune of eis into her palm and sets it into the circle. With a ripple, more a sensation than a sight and as naturally confusing as stepping into the Nightmare without charm, the last, largest circle glows brightly and pulses out to cover the cemetery.
For a moment, Elias attention seems to falter as his mind wanders away from the task at hand. He slides a foot back behind the other, widening his stance as he looks towards the sky, the clouds overhead slowly getting thicker, perhaps responding to the so called stormcallers will. He whirls a hand around, over his head and the winds start to pick up with this motion, perhaps in an attempt to overwhelm the hot wind that is blowing in with his own Arctic blasts.
William slowly recovers from the tormenting visions, not even trying to straighten himself anymore, instead going down to his knees to rest for a moment in the cemetery grass. And then comes the warm breeze, and with it the a wave of desires. Looking distracted and maybe hopeful for a moment, but a couple seconds later it seems to turn from a positive expression to one more akin to bothersome, a strong headache or something like that, glancing towards one of his hands for a moment or two, but not saying anything to the rest of the group, simply focusing on catching his ragged and heavier breath
Some figure forms in the smoke: tall, it has twisted horns and red eyes. It levels a gnarled finger at William, beginning to chant in an unknown language as the air begins to crackle with magic. Immediately, William can feel something like a vise closing on their heart.
For a moment, Sam stops his fighting, and instead, he slices his blade across his palm, covering the human fingerbone around his neck with the bloodied palm. After a pause, however, he is back to the task at hand, instead channeling his power into the blade again, and returning to slicing up smoke-demons.
Harriet goes for a handful of salt in each of her hands, taking up the last of it with a now empty pouch. She holds up her hands and in response to the demonic beings, she begins to speak in what sounds like a very demonic tongue. It's something between Tuvan throat singing and a swarm of hornets in its tone. "Get back and go home. Leave us alone," comes out in a wicked hiss as she tries to move in front of William who is getting almost all of the unwanted attention.
And just as he's down to the ground, William drives his hands towards his chest, gasping with widened eyes as he grips on his left side, no voice coming out of his mouth at first. Gulping and trying to get something out, but not managing with to do, one of his hands flailing instead, pointing at the chanting mist figure
"Get up, William, before you die," Harriet says rather dramatically to William, but she's also trying to hold back what seems to be a fit of giggles. She's something else.
Elias's eyes flash with storm-gray fury as he watches the towering figure raise its finger, his dark magic tightening its grip on William's heart. Moving forward with determination, Elias grabs onto William's arm to assist him to his feet, noting in agreement with Harriet, "To be on the ground in battle is to be dead. Get to your feet."
The last circles, glowing in a tandem, begin to fire off at the same intervals. Slamming into the smoke in a swirl of sin and snow from above in the sky and down below. The ripples are felt by the soul rather than the touch of skin, and all at once, Sae-byeok 's prison solidifies weakly as it takes the last of its cost.
The smell of smoke seems to peak, and then, with a rush of magical power, it's gone. The smoke monsters in the cemetery disappear, banished -- fading away as wisps of mist in the air around $n.