Dungeons & Danmaku (Touhou)

[Rolaran]

(OOC thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=160397))

It's 11 p.m. in the human village, and at the most tavern-like of the local sake shops, things are in full swing. The talk of the evening seems to be the strange activity over at the Misty Lake: a windstorm is causing the mists to spread over the surrounding area, and take on an unhealthy red appearance. One of the humans looks up from his drink, a look of concern on his face.

"Last time this happened, it covered all of Gensokyo. D'you think it'll get that bad again?"
One of the old timers smiles. "Nah. I betcha there's already someone investigating. Probably that shrine girl from out east. She always drops everything when something like this comes up. Kind of irresponsible really, but at least it means the incidents get resolved."

The door opens, and a young woman with her face obscured by a large white hood enters. She quickly takes in the room, apparently looking for someone- or several someones...

[potatocubed]

A bit of wind and fog don't mean anything to Aisling - it actually reminds her a bit of home. Not a proper moor or heath in the whole of Gensokyo... or at least, not in the bits she's visited. Not a proper drink either, but that's not why she's here.

No, Aisling's here for the music and the dancing. If she notices the white-hooded newcomer she doesn't react - she's too busy clearing herself a space for dancing in with a combination of enthusiasm and iron-toed boots.

[Silver Coin]

Kana sat quietly in the distant corner of the room, quietly watching everyone that came and went, listening to the whispers and conversations. She noticed the white-hooded figure enter the room, but pretended not to, keeping an eye on things while looking as though her thoughts were somewhere else.

Not that it worked, the local folks knew her well enough to tell that she was just pretending. The harder she tried, the more obvious it was. Especially when she was practically overflowing with excitement over all that's happening. Fun! Adventure! Tea Parties! They are all possibilities now. It's a great world she lives in.

[Poison_Fish]

Out in the middle of the crowd, Raitan is swinging around her sake with a bunch of the local lushes, singing songs with them and generally being jolly, if a bit red in the face. She is completely oblivious to the arrival of the young women.

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru is sitting at a table in a corner, with a poster put on the wall next to her. It reads:

FORTUNE TELLER
KNOW YOUR FUTURE
2 GOLD COINS

She made and put it there herself, of course, which is obvious from the amateurish, almost child-like scrawl and coloring. Nevertheless, she sits there with a content, maybe even smug smile.
Come on, customers! Any second now!

[Rolaran]

The music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hg2mUfcXPk) tonight is a group playing a number of folk instruments- a fiddle here, an accordion there. They're not the most skilled musicians anyone has heard, but they're doing a good job keeping the energy high, and the dancers seem to be having a good time.

Aisling is getting a wide berth, as few dancers are willing to risk having their toes stepped on. Raitan, on the other hand, is right in the middle of things. One of the clumsier dancers trips over someone else's foot and tries to steady himself on Raitan, which would have worked better if the fairy had not been hovering two feet off the ground at the time. Raitan is shoved across the dance floor by the impact, and ends up regaining her equilibrium next to Aisling.

The white-hooded woman walks to the corner where Kana is sitting, and says, "Is this spot still free?" Without waiting for an answer, she seats herself at the table near Kana. The hood shifts enough that the lower half of her face is now visible by the candlelight; she looks nervous and slightly out of place. "I'm told you're the kind of person who wants to have an adventure." As luck would have it, the musicians finish playing one song as she says this, and pause to rest for a few seconds before the next starts in. The word "adventure" carries across the momentarily quiet tavern.

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan pushes herself up and starts to hover again, then looks down and sees her sake spilled over the floor. "Uuuuuuuuhhh... That was so tasty..." (;_;). She glances around and notes everyone went quiet as the word 'adventure' drifts throughout the room. The word brings out a gleam in her eye as she glances around to see where it came from.

Maybe there will be coins!! I can get more delicious tea!! Enough to bring back to everyone!!! Muhahahaha, I'll be adored!!!!!!. She seems to be looking around everywhere in addition to being caught up in her thoughts, unaware that she is right next to Aisling.

[Fri]

A dark hooded man sits on the darker corner of the tavern. If not for the bouncing yukkureimu on his side, he fits the stereotype of dark hooded men that sits on corner of taverns exactly.

"Gon-chan! Gon-chan!"

He pulls his hairs and bashes the table in front of him with his forehead, looking frustated. "Ugh, shut up, shut up you bouncing lump of meat. And stop calling me that. I swear if I find whoever taught you that..."

He wearily nurses his drink as the song ends. He hears the word "adventure" and looks toward the source. He tries to secretly scoots closer to that table, eventhough the bouncing red ball-creature kinda makes his attempt useless.

[Silver Coin]

"Adventure!"

Kana's excited voice echoed across the room, loud enough that the musicians stuttered a little. It was loud.

Trying not to think of how her parents would feel about this, she simply said how she really felt. Her hunch was right! Strange hooded people are harbingers of adventure! There was no hesitation.

"Of course! I've always wanted to go on one!"

[potatocubed]

Aisling spots the gleam in Raitan's eyes and gently swivels the fairy around so she is pointing in the right direction.

"Adventure is that way," she says.

After a moment's thought she sidles along after Raitan to hear what the newcomer has to say, her boots making an unsubtle *clonk clonk clonk* on the floor.

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan, now pointed in the right direction, charges off towards the new comer. "Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me!. Her eyes are sparkling as she slams up to the table and places both hands on it between the hooded figure and kana "I WANNA KNOW MORE!".

[Rolaran]

The hooded woman seems momentarily startled. Then she regains her composure. "That worked even better than I expected." She motions to the hooded man in the hide armor, who is just passing in front of the fortune telling booth. "If you're trying to get close enough to listen in, you might as well join the group. So many would be adventurers- I guess she was right about this place. Anyway, the adventure involves the spreading red fog you've heard about. I know where it's coming from: the Scarlet Devil Mansion." She pauses for effect.

"Last time this happened, I- that is to say, I know someone who went to look around. According to her, the place is full of old and valuable stuff. So I'm asking you to go to the mansion and investigate. If you can solve the problem of the fog, then anything you find in there, you can keep for yourself. It's not just an adventure, it's a chance to find all kinds of riches."

[Tengu_temp]

One of Kaoru's pointed ears twitches when she hears the woman's words, though it's a bit hard to see under the hair. She approaches the table where all those people have gathered nonchalantly.
"Ooh? Did someone mention old and valuable stuff?"

[Fri]

Embarassed, Ganzo joins the group.

"Scarlet Devil Mansion, eh?" Gonza put his hand on his chin. That's one famous landmark, another one full of powerful supernatural creatures. Anyone who can loot plunder investigate this would definitely gain some recognition. This would be a perfect start for his journey for fame.

"This sounds dangerous for gensokyo. I agree with you, mysterious personage of uncertain motive. Gonzaemon of the human village volunteer myself to investigate this matter further," he says, slightly louder than he should be, as if he want to be certain that everyone around hear his name.

"Yuu!"

[Rolaran]

The hooded woman smiles at the newcomers. "That's the spirit. Adventure, wealth, fame... whatever your reasons are, it's good that there are people interested. Now, I'm not sure how many of you have fought according to spellcard rules before, but you should probably make sure you understand them. There are some pretty strong opponents in there, and a spellcard fight allows you to fight them without the risk of getting yourselves killed."

(A full explanation of spellcard rules is in the OOC thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8950035&posted=1#post8950035). Also, calling your attacks with spellcard nomenclature (for instance, "Divinity Sign "Turn Undead"") is both highly encouraged and highly entertaining ^_^)

[Poison_Fish]

"Ah... the mansion is scary..." She looks around at the others around her and then shrugs. If I am able to deal with some of those scary people, then I truly will be the best! There should also be stuff to take!. She gives a wide fanged smile "It could be fun though!"

[potatocubed]

The hooded woman smiles at the newcomers. "That's the spirit. ... fought ... strong opponents ... fight ... fight ..."

This is the sort of thing Aisling can get behind! Spellcard duelling isn't the same as real fighting, and you don't get to eat anybody afterwards, but it'd be nice to get a chance to cut loose again.

"Sign me up!"

"...what's a Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

[Rolaran]

The hooded woman smiles. "If you all are up to it, I have a couple of things that should make getting there easier. Resolve this incident on my behalf, and you can consider them the first part of the spoils of adventuring."

She lays on the table two objects: a small weather-vane crafted from red iron, and a pouch containing a dozen test-tubes.

"A friend of mine took this off the roof of the Mansion as a prank. As an experiment, she enchanted it to point back towards "home". In other words, you can use it as a compass on your way there. These are potions that should enable you to stand on liquid water for a few hours at a time. The wind out there makes flying tricky, and it's too far to swim."

She quickly looks over the group again. "It's always best if these sorts of things are resolved quickly, so you should get going as soon as you can. Are there any questions?"

[Silver Coin]

"Yes. Will we be able to get back for dinner? Or would we have to pack food?"

Excited as she was, Kana really had no idea now an actual adventure goes. Same goes for walking long distances. She also has the sense to ask about things he don't know about.

[Fri]

"Sign me up!"

"...what's a Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

"One of the local landmark. You know, that castle filled with monsters led by vampires. Hm, does that castle appear every few years to signal the apocalypse or that's another castle filled with monsters led by vampires I wonder? My youkai lore is getting rusty."

I'm already up to go. Rarely sleep in home anyway. Gonza pats his backpack.

[Tengu_temp]

"Even getting into the mansion is no easy trick. It's guarded by a ferocious dragon, which never sleeps and eats anyone who wants to enter without permission. Which also means us." Kaoru sounds strangely content and not worried when she says that. Probably because she's in full trollan mode.

[Poison_Fish]

"Let me get my stuff!" Raitan runs off to the shop owner and he hands her back a staff with some storm cloud etchings. She hurries back just in time to hear about the dragon. "That Dragon is super duper!" she nods in agreement.

[Rolaran]

"If you're worried about food, why not pack some up now before you go? Of course, if things got really bad, you could always scrounge up something in the mansion. Though I don't know how much there is for humans to eat..."

At the mention of a "dragon" who "never sleeps", the hooded figure chokes on her sake, then winces as it hits her sinuses. "Aah... damn, that really burns!" After a few moments, she regains her composure. "I would hardly describe her as never sleeping. If you're lucky you might not even meet her at all. Of course, you've got a better chance to sneak by at night. So, um, you'd best hurry!" She gets up to leave.

[Fri]

"So... that's that, eh?" He says, scratching his hair."What a strange person." Gonza comments as their patron goes away. He then throws a quick glance toward all of the table occupants. Gonza shivers. As expected, they're all girls, and most likely all are supernaturally powerful. But he can't give up yet!

"Anything you want to do first before we try our fate?"

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru points behind her with a thumb, way back to the poster at the wall where she was sitting not so long ago.
"How about this? See what the venture will bring you instead of going in blindly!"
This is just a marketing trick, of course. Despite her psychic powers she can't really see the future, though she is an imaginative liar.

[potatocubed]

"I met a dragon once," Aisling says, nodding sagely. "She was Welsh," she adds, as if that's all that needs to be said.

"I'm ready to go now, anyway. Me sword's outside." Aisling points at the door. "They won't let me bring it in here."

[Silver Coin]

"Welsh..."
Kana muttered the word as though considering its implications as she stood up.
"Well I guess that's that then. All of us are going. I'll be going back home to get some of my stuff. We can meet back here...soonish? How's an hour from now sound?"

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan looks a little sad "But the longer we stall, the more dangerous things are about! Hurry it up human, get your stuff! go, go!" Raitan starts feebly trying to push Kana to the door.

[Rolaran]

It is currently 11 at night. The party has agreed to meet up in an hour at the Misty Lake. What do the individual adventurers do between now and then?

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru, from the lack of better things to do (nobody seems to have any interest in her totally legitimate fortune telling, much to her disappointment), will just stalk see what the rest of the group is up to.

[Silver Coin]

Kana dashed out of the room and went home to grab her stuff. Things like this never happens!

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan happily spends a little more time within the bar, listening to what others are saying while still jovially having fun. She stops drinking some of the sake, but will gladly encourage (and likely get) several others drunk. When a bit of time has passed, she'll head on out to the lake.

[Fri]

After he's sure that everyone have disipate, Ganzo catches up to Kaoru. "Wait, tengu-girl, wait! Sorry, I never caught your name. Anyway... Is it true that you can see the future? I'm never much into these things but... Well, don't tell the rest of them, but this would be my first time on uh... these so called 'quest' and I need all the edge I can have against these things that could easily snack on me without batting an eyelash, if half the things I heard are right. Don't tell anyone about this though!"

[potatocubed]

Aisling will go outside to recover her sword, where it is stuck point-first in the ground, then aimlessly prowl the human village for an hour, deep in thought.

She considers luring someone to her home and eating them, since that's what redcaps do, but then remembers she's not supposed to be killing anyone. What do you do with someone you've lured to your home if you're not killing and eating them?

Truly, Gensokyo is a land of new and confusing experiences.

[Silver Coin]

Kana dashed home, flung open the door and grabbed her ready-pack, where she had dumped everything she thought she would need for an adventure like this. As she lifted it, it seemed pretty hefty, but nothing she couldn't handle. Pausing for a moment to grab some non-perishable foods and stuffing them into her pack, she sprinted as fast as she could to the meeting place. She was only 50 minutes early.

It was a good thing she was not waylaid by her parents. They tend to be mysteriously absent whenever something serious happens.

[Tengu_temp]

After speaking his request Ganzo can find Kaoru almost immediately after the table where she was sitting previously. Well, tengus are supposed to be very fast after all.
"Don't worry, all of this is strictly confidential.", she lies reassuringly, and pulls out a slightly dusty crystal ball from under the table. It starts to float slightly above its surface, for extra mystical effect.
"My name is Kaoru - Kaoru Karasuwatari! All I need to see your future is your name... And your gold." She smiles, a bit cat-like. "A fortune teller of my stature requires payment up front."

[Fri]

Ganzo instinctively grabs his money pouch. "Uh... I'm not exactly rich though. Will 10 pieces of coins enough?"

[Tengu_temp]

"A bit on the low end, but it should be enough." Kaoru quickly pulls the poster off before Ganzo can take a better look at the price written on it. "Well then, shall we get started?"

She stares into the crystal ball intently. "I see... I see that both good and bad things await you in the future! You will find treasure, and your experiences will leave you wiser and more powerful. But these will come at a cost - you will get hurt, and your yukkuri will get hurt even more. Furthermore, nobody will be able to remember your name correctly!" Wasn't she supposed to ask about his name anyway? "Oh, and I see one more thing! There is a possibility of love in your future! Watch for signs among your companions!"

[Fri]

Ganzo listens to all of the prediction carefully, gripping the edge of the table.

"Huh... thank... thank you. I'll take note on all of your prediction." He says, wiping sweats from his brow. "Here, a thank you gift" he says as he puts one more coins onto Kaoru's table.

He could care less about the yukkuri being hurt, but love? This questing business might be more than he bargain for.

And he wonder if he should start to wear a banner like that momotaro guy that he used to hear...

Either way, he then walks toward the appointment place and waits for everyone there.

[Rolaran]

At the edge of the Misty Lake

The lake stands still and unusually silent. There is indeed a wind; at ground level it doesn't appear to do more than rustle leaves and raise up dust, but it increases in intensity at higher altitudes, causing the discolored mist to be blown up and over the landscape. If you squint slightly, the appearance is that of a scarlet wave, suspended above Gensokyo, ready to crash.

Interestingly, it appears the water itself has not been discolored or otherwise affected; the lake is clean and clear, despite the ominous mist floating on its surface.

Nearby there is a strange sight: A sphere of fitfully flickering darkness, about 15 feet in diameter. Next to this, a sapling has been knocked clean over, as if something hit it forcefully.

[Silver Coin]

Kana looked around and took count of the party members.

"Alright. I think that's everyone. So umm...what do we do now?"

OOC: I try to identify the sphere with Arcana: [roll0]

[Fri]

When everyone had gathered there, Gonza opens the conversation. "Um, we haven't introduce ourselves, have we? I think we should at least know each other's name. As you know, my name is Gonzaemon."

"Gon-chan! Gon-chan!"

"Shut up you. And you can call me Gonza. Just call this bouncing thing Yukkuri. Don't bother to give it a name, it'll just encourage it to stay."

"Take it easy! Take it easy!"


After they introduce themselves to each other, Gonza orders Yukkuri to lead the way. "Better it than us." He says, not entirely clear what he means by that.

---

(OOC: Um, how do we deal with player knowledge? Gonza have high youkai lore though. )

[potatocubed]

"I'm Aisling," Aisling says. She carries her sword, almost as tall as she is, propped casually on one shoulder. "All this mist on the water reminds me of home," she adds, sighing wistfully.

She decides not to mention the strange darkness. Is that a normal sort of thing for Gensokyo? Don't want to seem stupid...

[Silver Coin]

"Nice to meet you all." Kana smiles warmly. "My name is Mukage Kanatsu. You may call me Kana. So...uh...any of you know what that dark sphere is over there? I don't like dark. I like things bright you see. Bright and cheery."

Edit: Speech Colour

[Poison_Fish]

"I'm Raitan! The true fairy sentinel! The watcher of stupendous capers! The eater of things delicious!" She peers into the mist "I could give it a little light" she chuckles malevolently.

[Tengu_temp]

"I'm Kaoru Karasuwatari. Learning this name is a very good idea." Kaoru nods to herself. The stupid mist annoys her - as a tengu she's prefer to fly up in the skies, not walk on the ground. Well, the fact that she somehow manages to walk in those crazy tengu shoes without tripping already is an accomplishment.

"Hoo..." She observes the ball of darkness. "Sure, why not? Throw a ball of light at it!" Kaoru steps away to the side discreetely.

[Silver Coin]

Kana was a little uncomfortable with the idea but decided to just go with it, on the assumption that her companions knew more than she did. Summoning her magical power, she fired off a beam of bright light at the sphere.

OOC: Attack stats below

Lance of Faith
Attack vs Ref: [roll0]
Dmg: [roll1]
Crit Dmg (If applicable): [roll2]

Enemy gains vulnerability 3 to radiant until the end of my next turn if hit.

I'll grant the attack bonus to Kaoru since she suggested it.

[Rolaran]

RumiaYou've heard stories about encounters with Rumia, a mysterious youkai of darkness. She's been known to try to attack and eat humans, but she's rarely successful. Her main magical ability of note is the ability to generate magical darkness, which is impenetrable even by sunlight and torches. However, she herself cannot see through it, so it's as much a liability to her as to her opponents. Despite this, she keeps the darkness up at nearly all times, making her true form unknown, at least from the stories you remember.

The darkness is powerful enough that it even diminishes incoming light-based attacks somewhat- as a result, Rumia has radiance resistance 5.

The beam arcs into the darkness. You suddenly hear a high pitched "OWWW!" The darkness shifts slightly. "Is someone there? ...Maybe someone I can eat? They say a snack is the best cure for a headache..."

[Tengu_temp]

"Nope, nobody here. We're just a very convincing and detailed illusion." Kaoru creates a large danmaku and sends it flying into the orb of darkness on a parabolic trajectory. "That was an illusion too. Pay no attention to it!"

Attacking the square behind Rumia with Dishearten, so only she will get hit and not any allies. It's an area attack so no penalty.

Attack: [roll0] vs Will
Damage: [roll1] and -2 to her attack until my next turn if it hits.

[Fri]

"Oh, it's just rumia" Gonzaemon turns his head toward his companions. "She's a carnivore, some says that she eats human too, but she's mostly harmle...."

Before he manages to finish his sentence Kana already throws her beam of light. Gonza facepalms.

"I'll pin her in place, then maybe we can get away! Maybe this encounter still can be salvaged!" Gonza lets loose a couple of shot from his bow.

"Yukkuri, go distract her!" Gonza says as he throws the yukkuri away toward unknown danger.

"Yuuu!"

standard action:
scattering shot [roll0] [roll1] for damage [roll2] [roll3] and slide her as far as she can. After that,

move action: move yukkuri to her side for opportunity attack threat. Or just as close as possible to her if it's not possible.

[potatocubed]

"A fight!" Aisling grabs her sword in both hands and lifts the huge blade over her head like it was nothing. Her danmaku technique is... unconventional. Rather than shooting them at the enemy she wraps them around herself and her weapon in a tight bunch of scarlet bullets - then shoots herself at the enemy!

With a blood-curdling howl Aisling plunges into the darkness, boots kicking up turf as she charges.


Minor: Ready greatsword.
Move: Move to get into range if necessary.
Standard: CHARGE! Using howling strike. +10 attack, +1 for charging, -2 for concealment, is there any bonus for having low-light vision? If so, add that too. Total of +9.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] + 5

[Poison_Fish]

"No eating humans! Their fun!" Raitan points her finger towards the darkness and a line like danmaku forms and arcs towards Rumia.

Lightning Strike [roll0] (normally it's 1d20+8 vs. reflex) If it hits, my dex mod damage is going just into my main attack, hitting a uh.. part of the water with the extra lightning for fun) [roll1]

[Rolaran]

All attacks hit except for Gonzaemon's first arrow and Raitan's Lightning Strike. Rumia takes a total of 53 damage. The yukkuri and Aisling are both in melee, on the side nearest the group; everyone else 4-6 squares away, with Kaoru closest to the lake.

An arrow whizzes through the darkness and out the other side, but the second of Gonzaemon's volley finds its mark, causing the darkness to lurch violently backwards. The yukkuri bounds fearlessly into the blackness, and you hear it squawk "Found it easy!"

When Kaoru's danmaku lands, you hear a scared and nervous yelp from inside. "Uwaaah... Not fair all attacking at once, I just woke up!"

Aisling's charge attack propels him into the darkness, and she connects solidly with her blade. Rumia says, "N-now I'm really mad!", but she's plainly nervous.

The lighting danmaku flies into the darkness before scattering, and you hear a nervous giggle. "Um, now it's my turn!"

Attack info
[roll0] vs. Fortitude on the Yukkuri and Aisling; damage [roll1], and target is slowed (save ends).

Suddenly, a buffeting wave of danmaku that slightly resembles a pair of flapping wings is thrown up from the darkness. It appears to extend about 5 feet out from the darkness's edge as well. Both Aisling and the Yukkuri are hit; in addition, the danmaku seems to "stick" to them, limiting their movement. Rumia carefully moves, the epicenter of the darkness shifting with her, so that she is out of reach of Aisling's greatsword for the moment (but still next to the yukkuri, which is now interposed between the two); Aisling is once again visible by the moonlight.

[Fri]

Gonza bites his lips. They're already past the point of no return now.

"I guess this can't end in a tea party even if we apologize now, can it?"

He then moves away to keep his distance from the darkness youkai, there's no chance a normal human like him would let himself chewed by a youkai, before launching another volley of arrows.

Two fanged strike [roll0] [roll1] for [roll2] and [roll3] and if both hit gives extra 3 damage.

[Silver Coin]

Kana frowned. This felt like a really stupid reason to get into a fight. Still, shoot first, ask questions later. Moving forward towards her foe, she Channelled her power through her implement and brilliant energy lanced out around her as she tried to dispel the darkness, then following up with another ray of energy in an attempt to pierce her shell.

Move action: Move to 2 squares from Rumia
Minor Action Attack:
Channel Divinity: Solar Enemy (Divine Power Domain)
Enemies within burst 2 gain/increase radiant vulnerability by 5. Rumia now has nett vulnerability Radiance 3.
Standard Action Attack:
Lance of Faith
Attack vs Ref:
Dmg (Radiant): [roll]1d8+10
In case of Crit: extra dmg and someone may choose to spend a surge for surge+5 hp

[Poison_Fish]

"That was totally intentional! I was uh... striking someone else... totally a fluke! Raitan points her staff again, forming the same danmaku beam towards Rumia.

Lightning Strike [roll0] vs reflex, damage [roll1] again, the side shot zapping some of the water.

[potatocubed]

"Oof!" Aisling reels a bit under the impact of the sticky danmaku.

"Have you tried pork?" she asks, skipping around to keep herself between Rumia and the others. " 'Cause if I don't get to eat people, I don't see why you should either!"

Standard: Using pressing strike to shift around to stand between Rumia and the squishies. On a hit, she'll slide Rumia one square away and towards the lake.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Save vs. slow: [roll2]

[Tengu_temp]

"Do you know this one?"
Kaoru shoots a swarm of small Danmaku and puts them into a pattern looking like a boat - a nice boat, one could even say. Then she sends them all flying into the cloud of darkness.

Disturb, augment 2. Targetting a square that borders with Rumia and nobody else as before.

Attack: [roll0] vs Will
Damage: [roll1] and -4 to Rumia's hit for 1 round if it hits

Also using a move action to stay 10 squares from my target square, if I didn't before.

[Rolaran]

Rumia is hit by Gonzaemon's first arrow, Kaoru's disturbance (Dishearten? That's what I'm assuming), Aisling's charge attack, and Raitan's lightning danmaku. She takes an additional 44 damage, bringing her total to 97 damage.

The arrows streak through the darkness, and once again, one hits while the other flies through without effect.

Kaoru's attack slams into the darkness. You hear a now noticeably fearful voice; "This is getting scary! And I'm getting hungry!"

Kana steps up. Her blast of radiance doesn't entirely dispel the darkness, but it does dim it, so that the culprit youkai's true form can be seen...

...A little girl?

Kana fires a second energy ray. The girl ducks, dodging it, and the darkness shifts lower, following her actions. Yep, the girl is Rumia alright.

There's no time to ponder this, however, as Aisling rushes forward, her form blurring as danmaku whirls around her. She slams into Rumia, the sheer force of the blow sending the target momentarily reeling back. This time it's the yukkuri that's forced into sudden daylight; it seems to be rolling on the ground, frantically trying to remove the sticky darkness from the last attack.

Rumia's outstretched arms windmill a bit before she regains her balance. However, that moment of vulnerability is all Raitan needs to aim and fire a second blast of danmaku, which hits home perfectly.

Rumia shakes her head angrily. "F-fine then! You wanna play rough, I guess I'll have to use one of these!" She pulls a small card from her pocket; with a sound like a thunderstrike, the card melts seamlessly into the darkness, which intensifies and grows.

SPELLCARD: Darkness Sign "Demarcation"!

The darkness now extends three times as far from Rumia in all directions. In addition, it seems to have taken on a life of its own; those inside the sphere (which, for the moment, means Aisling, Kana and the yukkuri) notice solid blobs of shadow spinning disorientingly across the ground, and threatening to slam into the unwary.

Everyone gets a Knowledge check. The darkness is now zone 3, and difficult terrain in addition to the heavy concealment.

Rumia's attack: [roll0] vs. Aisling's AC (-4; I forgot to account for Dishearten); damage [roll1] and target is dazed (save ends).

Move action: Rumia moves to be next to Kana, provoking an opportunity attack from Aisling.

Taking advantage of the disruption, Rumia leaps up, yells "Boo!" and sinks her teeth into Aisling's shoulder. Then she dashes, cackling, toward the person who dared to illuminate her true form- apparently failing to notice that Aisling's thick clothes absorbed the brunt of her bite, and that she's now leaving herself wide open to a painful counterattack...

[Fri]

Ooh crap.

"Yukkuri! Rumia isn't taking it easy! Go tell her to take it easy!"

"Yuu!"

Gonzaemon then pulls another arrow and shoot it at the darkness while trying to keep his distance from the blob of darkness.



move action: move yukkuri to threaten rumia with ooc again
standard action: fading strike [roll]1d20+9/roll]+1 from running attack for [roll0] damage

[potatocubed]

Attack of Opportunity! (+10 base, -2 darkness)
Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Also, Youkai Lore: [roll2]

"!" Aisling is surprised but unhurt by Rumia's bite, and flails wildly at the shadowy girl as she scurries past.

"Gh! Wh! Ack!" Still fighting off the sticky danmaku, Aisling stumbles in Rumia's general direction, tripping over the blobs of shadow on the floor as she struggles to get close enough to keep fighting. "No fair! Fighting in the dark's bad enough!"

Move: Her speed of 2 (sloooow) carries her 1 square.
Standard: Pressing attack. A shift of 2 carries her 1 square, which should be enough to put Rumia in swording distance once again! I'm going to try to set up flanking with Kana if she sticks around long enough. If I can get the flank, I'll go for power attack and trade the +2 to hit for +3 damage.

Attack: [roll3]
Damage: [roll4] (+3 if flanking)

Save vs. slow [roll5]

[Silver Coin]

Kana yelps and leaps back. (Shift back 1 square) Bigger shadow? Bigger guns! Reaching into her cloak, she pulls out a gold tinted card, which flares as Kana channels her power.

"Sun Sign: Light of Arvandor!"

Light of Arvandor, Divine Power
Attack vs Will: [roll0] 9 base, -5 for HC
Dmg: [roll1] (0 nett resistance now)
Crit: [roll2] and someone can spend a surge.
I'll centre the burst 1 on Rumia. On a hit everyone adjacent gets a +2 to AC till end of next turn.

Seeing her allies taking the hits, Kana reaches into her and converts her sympathy into healing magic. The wounds mend a little and the pain is dulled.

OOC: Anyone needs a heal? Also, Arcana: [roll3]

[Poison_Fish]

"Got ya!". As the darkness expands, Raitan takes a few steps back Using my move action to maintain a distance of 8 squares
"Now face my stupendously awesomely powerful follow up!!" Raitan pushes one hand out and an orb of danmaku pops out like a bubble, and then swiftly goes flying into the darkness, slightly following the route of the previous beam, with thundering sounds echoing behind it.

Thunder Orb, hit with a lightning power so +1 1d20+4 vs reflex. Damage 1d10+10
Arcana [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

"Isn't trying to eat your opponent against the spirit of a Danmaku fight?", Kaoru wonders. She shoots a barrage of small Danmaku into the darkness, which start to circle around Rumia, occassionally hitting her and generally being a pain in the ass.

Mind Thrust, augment 2"

Attack: [roll0] vs Will
Damage: [roll1] and -4 to all defenses until the end of my next turn if it hits

[Rolaran]

Hits: Gonzaemon and Kana. Damage this round: 17 points. Total damage inflicted: 114 points.

Darkness Sign "Demarcation"
This spellcard takes the darkness that naturally surrounds Rumia, and intensifies it many times. This increases its size, and also causes it to become semisolid, clinging to people caught inside and impeding their ability to escape.

In addition, Rumia's danmaku attacks, being partially infused with darkness, fly faster and further before they dissipate, causing a noticable increase in their effective range.

Another arrow finds its mark; Rumia squeaks, more out of surprise than pain. A moment later, the Light of Arvandor strikes her, sending a ripple through the darkness and causing a friendly luminescence to settle on the yukkuri and Aisling.

She then dodges, in chronological order (and, by coincidence, order of difficulty), Kaoru's dangerously off-course danmaku, Aisling's flailing greatsword, and Raitan's close-but-no-cigar thunderball.

Rumia's attack: [roll0] vs. Aisling, Kana and the yukkuri's Reflex. Hit deals [roll1] psychic damage, and target cannot make opportunity attacks until end of Rumia's next turn.
Move action: Rumia shifts adjacent to Kana. End result: Aisling and the yukkuri are 1 square away, Kana is adjacent.

Rumia performs a quick pirouette, releasing tiny danmaku bursts in all directions. To her visible disappointment, not one of them connects. Sulking slightly, she carefully moves closer to the person who keeps lighting her up.

[Fri]

Gonzaemon is visibly upset. Rumia is supposed to be one of the less dangerous youkai. And they can't even defeat him six to one?

The yukkuri happily follows rumia. "Take eet eaasy!" While Gonzaemon fires another arrow.

as previous, move yukkuri to threaten rumia with OA (I don't actually know whether this is useful) and fading strike to shoot and fade 2 squares away [roll0] for [roll1]damage

[Silver Coin]

Capitalizing on her hit, Kana quickly moved on to further increase the Rumia's vulnerability, finding holes in her defence. The Danmaku were not meant to hit, simply to distract, confine and limit her options.

Exacting Utterance, Divine Power
Attack vs will: [roll0]
On a hit, she gains vulnerability 5 all for one turn and whoever hits her gts 5 temp hp.

OOC: The duration of Solar Enemy has expired. She now has resist 5 radiance if I miss. 0 if I hit.

[potatocubed]

"Right." Aisling finally shakes off the last of the sticky danmaku. She whips a small card - suspiciously resembling a beermat - from a pocket of her dress; the card flares red and hangs in the air in front of her.

"Stitch this, blondie! Brawler's Sign: 'Everybody Gets A Piece'!"

She drives her sword at Rumia through the floating card, releasing a blast of scarlet danmaku at everyone nearby.

Move: Move to get a flanking bonus from the yukkuri. I should be able to do this without provoking an OA, but if not then so be it.
Standard: Blade sweep, an encounter power. +10 base, -2 from concealment, +2 from flanking.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

Also, all adjacent enemies (including Rumia, I think) take 2 damage just because.

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan keeps her distance of about 8 squares. "You cheat! Stupid darkness!" She steadies her hands and throws another glob of thundering danmaku at Rumia

1d20+3 vs reflex (remember folks, subtract your minuses) [roll0] damage: [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

"That one didn't count. Repeat!" Kaoru performs the same attack as previously - hopefully it will hit this time.

Using Orb of Live Conversion to spend a healing surge to Augment 2.

Attack: [roll0] vs Will
Damage: [roll1] and -4 to all defenses until the end of my next turn if it hits

[Rolaran]

Hits: Everything except the arrow. Damage: 67. Total damage so far: 181 points. Rumia is now bloodied.

The arrow goes ever-so-slightly wide, threatening to catch the edge of Rumia's hairbow...

...then goes streaking off into the night, ineffective.

"Fufufu... I think they call that "grazing"! Looks like you can't hit me at all- Wait, what's this?" Kana's danmaku pattern hems her in quite effectively. This time Kaoru's danmaku flies accurately, Aisling's blade hits hard, and Raitan's thunderball slams into Rumia's head.

Darkness Sign "Demarcation" Captured!

There is a sudden cracking sound as the darkness seems to shrivel away, returning to its original radius. The three who have been in the darkness are all in melee, with Kana next to the yukkuri, and Aisling opposite the yukkuri.

Recharge Roll for "Dark Side of the Moon": [roll0]
Rumia's move action: Shift 1 square away from Kana. Aisling and the yukkuri are still adjacent.
Attack action: Total whiff! (I rolled in the OOC thread)

As soon as the danmaku barrage allows, Rumia takes a step back from Kana.

"You even beat one of my spellcards-! But don't think I'm done yet."

She launches more of the sticky danmaku, but all the targets dodge it easily.

[potatocubed]

"You look pretty done to me." Aisling looks dubious. "We've got you outnumbered... onetwothreefourfive...six? five and a bit to one, and we're handing you your arse in a pretty little sack, all tied up with ribbon."

She hefts her sword and bares her teeth, every bit as pointy as Rumia's.

"Give it up! It'll hurt less and leave more time for drinkin'."

Aisling's standard action is an Intimidate check!

RAW, you can use Intimidate to force a bloodied foe to surrender - it's a bit OP when applied to solos, though, so I don't know how you want to handle it. Assuming the dice roller likes me, of course.

Intimidate: [roll0]

[Silver Coin]

Kana watched Rumia carefully, the spheres of light floating around her glowing ominously, pulsating in the dark. It would be good to end this quickly, but she wouldn't run from a fight.

OOC: Aid another! [roll0] vs DC 10+1/2 lvl = 12.

[Rolaran]

Rumia frowns.

"I can still win, you know! I don't think I'm ready to give up yet. Besides, I still have another spellcard! Don't you want me to show it to you?"

[Poison_Fish]

"Fine! Since you if you don't want to stop, take this!!! Thunder Sign! 'The crack of dawn, time to rise!'" Raitan claps both of her hands together pointing towards Rumia and electrical danmaku hands form and slam together producing a shockwave at Rumia.

Thunder Slam 1d20+3 vs fort [roll0] Damage [roll1] If it hits, it also pushes her back 3 squares. If it misses, it does nothing and looks pretty.

Edit I'll totally claim that bonus to hit

[Fri]

Gonzaemon is taken aback by all the fireworks that're flying around him. They just started the day and is only fighting rumia! Oh, well, this is life in gensokyo

as usual move back 2 steps and [roll0]attack for[roll1]damage

[potatocubed]

"I don't know how you expect us to see your spellcard with all this darkness flying about," Aisling grumbles, "but I've never backed down from a fight and I'm not about to start!"

If Rumia is knocked 2+ squares away then Aisling will charge her, for an extra +1 on the attack roll. Otherwise, it's a move-and-attack. Either way, howling strike and power attack.

Howling Strike is +10, -2 for the darkness, -2 for PA, +6 final.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] + [roll2] + 8

[Tengu_temp]

"Nope, not really interested. Why won't you look at our spellcards instead?" Kaoru is almost out of juice for this fight, so she uses her basic wide-area danmaku. No need to strain yourself against this opponent.

Dishearten again. You know how it works.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Silver Coin]

Kana frowned. That didn't seem very nice or polite. Well, might as well get this over with.

Lance of Faith
Attack vs Ref:[roll0]
Dmg: [roll1]
Anyone can claim the bonus to hit. Up for grabs!

[Rolaran]

Hits: Everything except the arrow (critical fumble), Kana critically hits. Total damage: 60 points. Damage so far: 241 points.

Gonzaemon's next arrow is warped; it flies only halfway to the darkness before pitching wildly and falling to the ground.

However, Kana's attack balances this out. A shining blast strikes Rumia even through the barrier of darkness. Light also arcs from Kana, seeking a wounded ally to heal.

A moment later, Kaoru's danmaku slams into Rumia again. This is followed up by another expert sword slash from Aisling. Finally, Raitan's danmaku hits with incredible force, knocking Rumia 15 feet away.

"I admit it, you're really strong... B-but we'll see if you can survive this!"

It's tough to see from this distance what exactly Rumia is doing inside the darkness, but everyone hears the sound of a spellcard being activated...

SPELLCARD: Moon Sign "Moonlight Ray"!

The darkness suddenly recedes; in fact, Rumia appears to be glowing.

"I don't like this card- it's so bright it hurts my eyes! So I save it for tough opponents, like you!"

The glowing coalesces into long streams of intense light, which zero in on the party.

Minor action: Moonlight Ray. [roll0] vs. Aisling, Kana and the yukkuri's Fort, on hit target is blinded (save ends).

Move action: Rumia moves next to the yukkuri and Kana (Aisling is 3 squares away)

Standard action: [roll1] (+2 against anyone blinded) vs. Reflex, on hit [roll2] psychic damage, and target cannot make opportunity attacks until the end of Rumia's next turn.

The rays overwhelm the eyesight of all within range. Rumia flits in close to the cleric and the yukkuri, and fires off another barrage of tiny danmaku. The yukkuri dodges instinctively, but Kana's inability to see leaves her vulnerable, and she takes the worst of the attack.

[potatocubed]

Aisling bathes in the healing glow of Kana's spell. Then, a moment later, she bathes in the less healing glow of Rumia's spellcard.

"£$%&!"

[Silver Coin]

"Ommph."

Rumia had gotten her good. Through her armour, it felt like a solid punch in the gut but this was nothing she couldn't take. Now that the Darkness was gone, she was vulnerable. Retribution was at hand. Dancing back from her foe, she channelled her unhappiness into another beam of piercing light. In the absence of the darkness, it seemed to glow and flare.

Move action: Shift back 1 square.

Lance of Faith
Attack vs Ref: [roll0] Blah, still 4.
Dmg:[roll1] 7 base, 3 vulnerability
Crit Dmg: [roll2]

I'll give the +2 bonus to Gonzaemon if I hit. Pity the fumble.

Saving throw: [roll3]

[Fri]

"Oh brother!" Gonzaemon runs away from the blazing youkai. "Okay, it looks like quantity have a quality of its own then. Special attack, machine gun arrow!" Gonzaemon shoots two arrows quickly this time, though it's clear that by doing that he can't aim or pull the string as good as usual.

He looks visibly embarassed. "What, I also want to try to have flashy attack like you girls... Okay that might not be the best idea though."

[roll0] and [roll1] for [roll2] and [roll3] damage

[Tengu_temp]

"Oooh? That was convenient. Thanks!" Finally they can see their opponent! Kaoru takes the opportunity to bombard her with Danmaku.

Dishearten again. If it hits, I'm using an action point to attack with Mind Thrust. If it misses, I'm using an action point to attack again with Dishearten. We'd lose this spell card if I used an action point now, so let's not do this.

Attack : [roll0]
Damage : [roll1]

Attack 2: [roll2]
Mind Thrust Damage: [roll3]
Dishearten 2 Damage: [roll4]

[Poison_Fish]

"So much better! All this darkness was boring" Raitan launches an orb of thundering danmaku at Rumia

thundering orb vs reflex [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Raitan, Kaoru, and Gonza's 2nd arrow. Total damage: 37 points. Damage so far: 278 points. Rumia's starting hitpoints: 250.

While one of Gonza's shots goes a little wide, the other one finds its target. Kana's blind attack is ineffective, but Rumia's attempt to dodge away from it carries her square into Kaoru's newest danmaku field. Finally, Raitan strikes Rumia with a barrage of thunder that knocks her flat onto the ground.

Moon Sign "Moonlight Ray" Captured!

Rumia Cleared!

The remaining danmaku vanishes. Rumia's darkness flickers back into place, and Rumia, a little wearily, says, "Oww... you're much too powerful. I don't think I could eat any of you. Or should I try to eat that one who's been watching the fight from the water?"

A look reveals that there is indeed somebody at the water's edge, observing the fight.

Captured Spellcards:

Demarcation
Minor Action
Effect: Creates a close burst 1 zone centered on you. All squares within the zone are heavily obscured. This effect moves with you, and lasts until the end of the encounter, or until you dismiss it as a minor action.

Moonlight Ray
Standard Action
Ranged 5
Target: 1 creature
Attack: Intelligence vs. Fortitude
Hit: The target is blinded until the end of your next turn, and you slide the target 2 squares.
Sustain Minor: You can slide the target an additional 2 squares.

[Tengu_temp]

"A fitting punishment for your crimes against Tengukind! (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/528419/-_-animal_ears-biting-blonde_hair-chibi-detached_s)", Kaoru comments when their opponent finally falls down to the ground. And hey, new spellcards! Gotta catch'em all!
"Ooh? Who might you be?" She looks at the observing figure.

[Fri]

"Whe... whew. Good job I say." Gonzaemon wipes sweats from his brow. Surely different than hunting deers.

"Yuu! It is easy!" Yukkuri happily bounces back to him, ignoring danmaku bits that're stuck on it.

Then Gonzaemon take a careful look at his comrades. Is... is one of these violent spellslinging females that he helped beating a mostly harmless youkai is truly his supposed soulmate?

Is it the triggerhappy lightblasting human girl that more or less started this fight recklessly?

Or is it the fairy?

Don't say it's the crazy, giant-sword wielding youkai?

The tengu girl looks honest and least violent at least. And she did helped him with the propechy from the first time.

"Take it easy, gon-chan!"

[Silver Coin]

Kana was still a little jumpy and unusually trigger happy after the last encounter. When she was told someone suspicious sounding had been watching, she immediate whirled around, and almost let fly. Politeness kept her in check. It was probably quite rude to attack someone you just met.

"Who might you be? State thy name and purpose."

[potatocubed]

"Wait, what, it's over?" Aisling blinks sight back into her eyes. "Alright, victory pose!"

She sinks her sword into the ground and strikes a heroic pose.

After a few moments of that the novelty wears off and she turns to see what everyone is looking at in the lake.

"Is there somebody in there? Come out, come out. I don't want to get wet."

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan jumps and splashes next to Aisling with her fist up in the air "WE ARE THE WINNERS!!!".

She then spins towards the person who was watching. "Was it an awesome battle! It must have been! tell us as the audience!"

[Terraoblivion]

The first thing the group sees rising out of the water is a large, miraculously dry furry lump. Giving them just enough time to be puzzled, the rest of the girl follows, revealing the lump to be an ushanka sitting on a perfectly normal head. Unlike her hat, the girl is wet with her green hair hanging wet against her back, though like the hat her dress is dry. Seems like physics don't work properly around her, at least as far as water and clothes are concerned.

Now that she is standing the group can also see that she's a very big girl. Larger than almost anyone they have seen in Gensokyo and definitely larger than any member of the group. Just how much larger is hard to tell, however, as she stands hunched over slightly, trying to look smaller than she is. How that fits together with the broadsword strapped to her side is anybody's guess. "Ummm, sorry...I didn't mean to watch. I was just out investigating this mysterious fog when i heard the noise and wanted to see what it was." There is a clear insecure ring to her voice and something sounds a bit off, like she's trying to raise the pitch slightly to something younger and girlier.

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan happily laughs "It's fine, it's fine! What matters is it looked cool! We were cool looking, right!? Danmaku flying everywhere, shooom, thunder explosions and stuff! How can that not be cool?" Raitan splashes through the water towards the new comer to get a closer look.

[Silver Coin]

Kana shook her head and waded into the water to help her up.

"Sorry about that. And my companions here as well. Please forgive their rudeness and insensitivity. No need to be nervous. A little more about yourself would be good though."

[Tengu_temp]

Who are you calling rude and insensitive? Okay, maybe I am, but that doesn't mean you should say it aloud.
Humming to herself and trying to look as innocent and distracted by the patterns in the fog as possible, Kaoru flicks her finger and causes a telekinetic force to pull Kana's skirt up, letting the newcomer take a good look. It's just a sudden and strong gust of wind, honest.

(Using Far Hand.)

[Silver Coin]

Kana frowned and pushed her skirt back down. This was not exactly how she wanted to greet a stranger. Of course, the sudden gust was unnatural in the still, stifling air. And there were a few possible causes for it. The likeliest of which are standing behind her. Turning around, she scanned each or their face, her gaze piercing and judgemental.

Insight vs Bluff: [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru totally didn't do it. No sir.

Bluff: [roll0]

[Silver Coin]

Kana spotted the suspiciously nonchalant on Kaoru's face. Her eyes narrowed. So this was how it was eh?

"This was exactly what I was talking about. What did you you do that for? I am not happy. Yes, I am talking to you Kaoru."

Intimidate: [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

"It's... It's..." Kaoru's eyes become puppy-like and start to tremble, on the verge of tearing up. "I didn't mean to do that... It's just a wild power surge, after I used too much psychic energy... I tried to control it, but it didn't work..." She is, of course, trying to sell total bullcrap, even if she is afraid of Kana, kind of.

Bluff: [roll0]

[Poison_Fish]

A look of amazement passes by Raitan's face as water splashes around and she gets a pantsu flash. She falls back into the water on her back giggling "Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha", then gets back up to look over the new comer, squinting while walking around her in a circle to get a closer look.

[Silver Coin]

Kana eyed Kaoru. This was all so immature. Of course, she knew that Kaoru did it on purpose. It was just a bit too coincidental after-all. A quiet word exited from her mouth, carrying a tinge of anger. It sounded clearly through the empty air.

"Liar."

[Fri]

Gonzaemon sighs and faintly blushes. "Can we put 'who flips whose skirt' for later? We have an audience. Manners..."

He then greets her. "Good day. Forgive my comrades, we just had a battle with a... uh... man eating youkai and everyone are still tense. What a coincidence. We're also trying to... uhm... investigate this mysterious fog. I'm Gonzaemon the human male hunter." He says with a certain strange inflection on some words. "The girl that... uh, was just got skirt-flipped is Kana, the tengu girl is Kaoru, the fairy is called Rai-tan, and the girl with the giant sword is Aisling." he introduces his newfound friends since it seems that his friends are kinda occupied by one thing or another.

"Yuu!"

"Oh yeah, just call this blob Yukkuri."

[Terraoblivion]

"It was hard to tell if it was cool. All that darkness..." The girl's voice still sounded a bit uncertain and trailed off completely as chaos erupted. Opening her mouth and making little uhhh and umm sounds trying to cut through the noise and argument, with little success. It wasn't until a wet fairy bumped into her leg that she was shaken out of it, picking it up with one hand and placing it on the shore with . "You might catch a cold if you keep that up..."

The man, how long had it been since she'd seen one anyway, did give her a focus. "I see," her hand edged towards her sword, "you wouldn't happen to be involved in this incident? I'll restore the temple's honor by showing that it can resolve incidents as well as causing them."

[Tengu_temp]

"Well..." Kaoru rubs her cheek with a finger, grinning uneasily and looking quite distressed. She wonders, would it be a good idea to run away?
"Let's concentrate on important things, okay? Like celebrating the victory or talking with the new girl!"

[Silver Coin]

Kana shook her head, then realised that she was just sulking. She'll let this one slide, but she'll also keep a closer eye on Kaoru from now on.

"Right then I think introductions are in order. My name is Mukage Kanatsu. I'm basically responsible for making sure the rest of the party doesn't get wounded too badly. The girl over there who just flipped my skirt is Kaoru. She attacks people with her mind, and messing with theirs. The one who laughed in that unrestrained, rather silly manner is Raitan. She's responsible for blowing stuff up. The one with the red hat is Aisling. She basically attacks people with that big sword of hers. The one with the little critter and the bow over there is a male. I think that about covers the most important aspects of everyone here."

[potatocubed]

"Hello, creature of the lake." Aisling waves in greeting. "Another swordy type I see, good, good."

She looks thoughtful for a moment, as a dim sense of something forgotten crawls through her mind.

"Oh, the incident! I clean forgot about it in all the excitement. What was it again? Where were we going? Does anyone have a sandwich?"

[Terraoblivion]

Kana's explanation got what could, extremely generously, technically be called musical accompaniment as the girl from the lake did what could, theoretically, be described as humming along with it. Or maybe she was torturing a kitten, it was hard to tell the exact nature of the sounds she made.

"I had one...Aisling? But, well, i got overcome by the desire to have a swim...It's all soggy now, but you can have it if you really want to." Reaching for her belt she pulled what indeed looked like an extremely soggy sandwich out from a pack she kept hidden somewhere on her side and handed it to the redcap. "My name is Elena Pasternak. Like i said i want to resolve this incident and show that the faithful of the temple don't just cause incidents."

[Fri]

"We're trying to break to this mansion and hopefully find out that the mansion is responsible for this strange weather, Aisling. Because if not, we're going to break into a mansion for absolutely no reason. Anyway, one more member for our party should do good. Especially since we're not actually paid for doing this or anything. I guess we should continue now?"

[Silver Coin]

"Wait what? I thought we were just going to knock on the door?"

One of Kana's eyebrows seems to have disappeared into her fringe, which was saying something since her hair was swept back so her forehead was exposed, as she stare at the Ranger in mild confusion.

[Fri]

"I....f half of what I heard about this mansion is true, we'll be lucky if we're able to touch the door to knock it. But asking nicely first wouldn't hurt I guess."

[Poison_Fish]

"Don't forgot the giant dragon guarding the door!!!!" Raitan giggles as she dries herself out. "It might be best to sneak past it.

[Tengu_temp]

"Let's think about how to get in once we reach the mansion, shall we? It won't walk up to us on its own.", Kaoru says with a content, slightly frog-like grin. "Are you coming with us, Parsnip? We could use another meatsh... another brave warrior."

[potatocubed]

Aisling pokes the soggy sandwich. Squish squish.

"Cheers Elena!" she says, and shovels it into her mouth with abandon. "Mmmm, sandwich."

"Well," she says when she's finished, "let's go and see if we can sneak past the dragon and knock on the door of this mansion. It's good to have a purpose!"

[Terraoblivion]

As the other kept talking, Elena suddenly seemed to catch herself in the humming and clamped her mouth shut with a very embarrassed look to let them continue. She did take advantage of a break in the conversation, to straighten herself, fire in her eyes. "I see that i'm not the only one who wants to resolve the incident. Then let's head out across the lake to investigate the mansion...you do have a reason you think the answer is there?"

[Fri]

"Because a random stranger in a tavern told us so."

[Poison_Fish]

"Not just any random stranger, but a hooded wise women stranger! Those are like super rare incidents and they always bring rumors of great importance!"

[Terraoblivion]

"I see. That does make sense, i mean why would she send us to the mansion if not to resolve the incident? And if they aren't involved they might know something. Some of the people at the temple talked about how prior incidents have been resolved. Asking random people is the way to go."

[Fri]

"So... the afromentioned mansion is somewhere on this lake, right? That's why that mysterious stranger gave us this potion, so we can walk on the lake. I guess we should drink it now. What's next then?"

[Silver Coin]

Kana wrinkled her brow for a moment, but the answer came to her easily. A little too easily. Hmm...

"We walk on the lake?"

[potatocubed]

"Where is this mansion anyway? I can't see anything for this fog."

[Fri]

"Well, I remember that the mysterious stranger gave us some kind of magic item that can lead us to the mansion. You bring it, right kana?"

[Terraoblivion]

"I think the mansion is on the other side of the lake. Just follow the guards who attack us for trespassing. I think that's how you usually find things while resolving incidents."

[Fri]

"Well, let's go then. You could have half of my potion if you like." says Gonzaemon. He drinks some of the potion and tiptoes at the edge of te lake to test it. When he knows that the potion works, he then stands there, waiting for everyone to do the same before continuing their journey.

"Yu... Yu?" The yukkuri tries to do the same. "YUUU!" it panics as it simply drown like a bag of bean. With a few jumps it manages to land on top of Gon's head and it perches there for the rest of their journey on the lake.

[potatocubed]

Aisling knocks back her potion in one.

"Mmm, fruity."

She grabs up her sword and hops onto the surface of the lake.

"Alright, best get moving before it wears off. Wouldn't want to have to swim." She eyes the yukkuri. "Or sink like a sodden sack."

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan chugs her potions and chucks the bottle.

"auuu.. normally I'd just fly there, but this weather sucks!"

She hops up onto the water and starts walking behind Aisling

[Silver Coin]

Kana looked at the bottle curiously, seeming to pause for a moment to think about it, then simply shrugged and downed the whole thing. A few steps were enough to confirm that it worked.

"Forward!"

And she charged off into the fog.

[Terraoblivion]

Rather than ask if Gon had actually meant her, Elena just grabbed the other half of the potion and stepped out on the water. It was not like falling into it would be a real problem. Humming, for a lack of better word, she followed the redcap into the mists.

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru's laziness sense and business sense ding both at once. She takes her potion out, but instead of drinking it she waves the closed vial in the air.
"Hey! Who wants to give me a piggyback ride and split the money we get from selling this thing?"

[Rolaran]

After a few minutes, the shore has fallen behind the party in the fog. The water is unnaturally still; aside from the ripples caused by the party's footsteps there seems to be no motion at all on the lake. In contrast, the wind above is whipping the clouds of fog around at a fever pitch: from directly underneath, they appear to churn and roll like angry steam.

Unfortunately, the fog combines with the still surface of the water to make navigation nearly impossible. There are no landmarks, just banks of identical fog on all sides, surrounding a smooth-as-glass stretch of water indistinguishable from any other point on the lake...

[Fri]

"Um, anyone know how long the potion will last?" Gonzaemon eyes the others nervously.

[Silver Coin]

Kana shrugged.

"I don't know. So I suggest we start running."

[potatocubed]

"How big can one lake be? It never looked this size from the shore."

Aisling keeps travelling in an arbitrary direction. *splik splik splik*

[Poison_Fish]

"Let's go this way!!!!!!!!!" Raitan points in a direction for them to go in and marches.

Nature to orient ourselves in the right direction [roll0]

[Terraoblivion]

"I could go ahead and scout. I'm good with water...

But shouldn't we just try to go straight ahead? It's just a lake, we'll get to the other side at some point...

Why didn't we just walk around instead of across? Can any of you even swim?"

Managing to hold a full discussion with yourself about the same topic that the others were also talking about was actually pretty impressive. Elena managed it though.

[potatocubed]

"Dunno if I can swim. Never tried. I'm sure it can't be that hard." Says the girl carrying the big, heavy sword.

[Rolaran]

Raitan begins running into the fog, at nearly a right angle to the direction the party was following. A few moments later, she somehow runs in from the side exactly opposite where she left, barreling into Kana.

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan topples on top of Kana. She sits up and gasps. "I MUST HAVE GONE SO FAST I CIRCLED GENSOKYO!!!" she doesn't take note of who she landed on.

[Tengu_temp]

Kaoru's disappointed. Nobody wanted to share her business plan? How boring. It seems she had to chug the potion down after all.
"Swimming? Ho ho, no. My feathers wouldn't like that." Kaoru makes an X sign with her arms. "Let's just get to the other side of the lake - it can't go on forever, can it? And I'm pretty sure we have someone who can track on water here."

[Terraoblivion]

"We have a hunter..." Elena didn't seem entirely convinced by Kaoru's logic. Water was water whether they could walk on it and she knew it well enough to know that it have any branches to break or kept footsteps. At least not on the surface. "We should just keep walking until we reach the shore or guards from the mansion. Really, it should be easy."

[Rolaran]

((Left a message in Fri's message box, he hears something.))

There's something odd about the water; anyone not wearing footwear notices that it is becoming noticeably colder.

[Fri]

"Wait. I heard something this way." Genzoemon raises his hand and stops. "Come, anything will be better than walking aimlessly and waiting for the potion's effect to end."

Gonzaemon leads the group to where he hears the sounds from. Sounds kinda like something gliding. Will it be the mansion?

"Is it just me or it's getting kinda chilly?"

[Rolaran]

A few seconds later, it becomes obvious- the water isn't just cold, it's literally freezing. There is in fact a thick, clear layer of ice over top of this area of the lake- and it doesn't take very much effort to guess at the culprit.

The source of the gliding noises is Cirno. Apparently being grounded by the wind hasn't bothered her too much; she seems to have gotten a pair of skates from somewhere and is happily skating in circles.

When she sees the party, however, she brakes to a stop and grins wickedly."Raitan! So you, too, have come to challenge the strongest! And I see you brought some backup. Well, that won't matter! Just the other day, I beat up that bunch of mischievous fairies three-to-one! And just now, I beat up one who was singing too loud! You don't scare me!"

[Silver Coin]

Kana smiles. A fight! Or not. Better focus. Stepping in front of the group, she addressed Cirno directly, "Right. Now uh...which direction should we go if we want to 'challenge the strongest'?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Hey, it's a tiny fairy! Just what we needed. We're going to the Scarlet Devil Mansion - do you know where that is, tiny fairy? Don't worry, we're so weak and afraid of you that you shouldn't bother to even fight us. That'd be a total waste of your time." Kaoru's face is not an expression of fear. More like good-natured laziness, if anything.

Youkai Lore: [roll0]

[Rolaran]

Cirno blinks in confusion. "What... which direction? I'm right here, aren't I?! You already found me!"

At the mention of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Cirno gasps. "Oh, I know where it is, but why would you wanna go there? That place is scary! Er, I mean, not that I'm afraid... or anything like that!"

[Silver Coin]

Kana was sceptical. Strongest? Really? She was tempted to test her skills really. The previous encounter had been easy. Hopefully this one will be just a little more challenging...

Glancing around at her party members, Kana looked for a sign. If anyone else agrees, this should be quite fun.

[Terraoblivion]

Reaching the ice, Elena stomped her foot on it a couple of times. "Just like back home...reminds me why i left. It's freezing there. All the time. And then the Germans come and start complaining about it too!" Her outburst seemed about to complain when she noticed Cirno. "Oh, hi there. You're to blame for making this like how it was back home? Do you have something to do with the fog as well, it's quite inconvenient."

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan giggles "Puahahahahahaha, strongest doesn't mean the wisest!!"

She points to her sherpa hat and fur boots. "It's not cold at all!! I feel nothing, Hehehehehe"

Raitan falls onto the ice and starts laughing more then suddenly stands back up sharply "THAT'SREALLYCOLDSTOPIT".

She points her finger in an accusing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVVECt2cP_A) manner while wrapping her arms around herself to warm up, generating static electricity. "You'll fix this right now and get us to our destination!!! I'll have to beat sense into you again!!!"

[potatocubed]

"The strongest?" Aisling, never having met Cirno before, seems confused. "First, you're a fairy. Second, you're tiny. Third, you're a... tiny fairy."

"Thanks for the raft, though. Now all we need is an oar and some directions, and we're set!"

[Rolaran]

Cirno looks a little offended. "Yeah, of course I did this! I mean, the ice of course... I don't know about the mist. But I figured it'd be okay, since there'd be nobody else out on the lake with the sky like this. So it's your fault for running around on the lake when I didn't expect it!"

Suddenly Cirno stops, momentarily lost in thought (to be fair, for Cirno it is unfamiliar territory). "Yeah, come to think of it, you shouldn't be out here at all. It's practically trespassing! So if I fight you, that's just me defending myself from dangerous intruders!"

Cirno strikes a pose. "That settles it! Time to teach you some manners! I'll fight all of you at once, as punishment for bothering me, and that'll prove that I'm the strongest! What do you think of that, huh?"

[Tengu_temp]

"Challenge accepted. Surprise Danmaku to the face!" Kaoru doesn't even move. Her crystal ball just spins around her in an arc and sends a wave of fast, small Danmaku into Cirno's direction.

Mind Thrust, Augment 2. If it hits, Cirno gets -4 to all defenses until the end of my next turn.

Attack: [roll0] vs Will
Damage: [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Cirno crouches, and the wave of danmaku passes juuust over her head. She spreads her arms in front of her, and three laserlike streams of freezing energy lance out toward Kaoru in retaliation.

Cirno's Attack: [roll0] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll1] cold damage.

The attack has no effect. Cirno hops to her feet, seemingly unconcerned.

Cirno Information: You are aware that Cirno is a fairy of ice, and a regular inhabitant of the Misty Lake. You are pretty sure that all her powers are ice-related, but beyond that you don't know much about what to expect. Hopefully, hearing the names of the spellcards will jog your memory.

Gonza, on the other hand, has heard the following "totally reliable information". Cirno is extremely dangerous, and a master of both advanced danmaku and combat tactics; entering a fight with "the Strongest" will result in your sure destruction. Your only hope is to keep your distance, as allowing her to get close to you will give her a chance to unleash her devastating fists of fury.

[Fri]

Gonza doesn't understand what's with his comrades and their penchance for jumping at creatures. For all of his life he's been trained to lay low and try not to attract anyone's attentions. This had been a change of pace, indeed.

"Girls, are you sure this is a good idea? She said it herself that she's the 'strongest'.... One thing I know is that you can't judge anyone in gensokyo from their looks..." Gon whines as he pulls his bow. "Look! Even she dares to challenge a full party alone! I don't like the look of this..."

"Yuu!" Yukkuri jumps from Gon's head and touches the frozen lake happily.

[Poison_Fish]

"It's lesson time!!!!" Raitan points and a blast of Danmaku lightning arcs towards Cirno, while Raitan moves back on the ice to keep her distance.

Moving to keep a distance of 12 squares
Lightning strike +8 vs reflex [roll0] Damage [roll1]

[Fri]

"We're fighting the strongest. Time to use the big gun then..." says Gonzaemon.

Gonzaemon's eyes twinkles as he raises one of his legs and both of his arms.

"Activate! Skirmishing Falcon Stance!"

"Yu!"

Is skirmishing falcon stance really a meaningful collection of words? Dunno, but Gonzaemon does seem to moves faster and shoot harder somehow.

Activate Skirmishing Stance as minor action
Moves as far away from cirno as possible as move action
Use Two fanged strike
attack: 1d20+ 9 and 1d20+ 9
for damage [roll0] [roll1] and [roll2] damage bonus from skirmishing stance

[Silver Coin]

Well you only live once. A fight is always good fun. The air around Kana glowed with a cold radiance, as she moved towards her opponent, energy beams leading the way. A quick spell revealed vulnerabilities in Cirno's defence that she had the sense to gun for.

Move to 5 square away from Cirno
Minor Action: Channel Divinity: Solar Enemy
Standard action: Lance of Faith
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

[Tengu_temp]

"Well, she might be the strongest, but she surely isn't the most accurate." Kaoru dodges Cirno's projectiles with annoying ease. "That last attack didn't count. Repeat!" She fires the same danmaku again, this time taking the fact that her opponent is a tiny fairy under consideration.

Same attack as before, also moving closer to the distance of 6 squares.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[potatocubed]

"A tiny ice fairy, huh? Well, I've got a special trick for dealing with the likes of you!"

Aisling readies her sword, and with an audible whoomph it bursts into flames!

"Stitch this, tiny!"

Aisling half-sprints, half-skids across the ice in Cirno's general direction, flaming sword weaving perilously.

Minor: Ready weapon.
Free: Ignite weapon. All damage is now fire damage.
Move: Get into range for a charge - I don't know if the ice counts as difficult terrain or not, so this is just in case.
Standard: CHARGE! With howling strike. +10 vs. AC, +1 for charging

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]+[roll2]+5

[Tengu_temp]

"And now, if I remember from Bunbunmaru correctly..." Kaoru fires a cloud of danmaku that hovers above Cirno and starts raining smaller projectiles on her head. Except that, in Cirno's head, they're not danmaku. They're frogs. And they're all singing. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUBbigtfCWs) Most of them bounce off and disappear, but a few stay on her head, hopping up and down and generally being annoying and asking to be swatted away or frozen.
The others might see the phantoms, though they also see what they are in reality.

Cirno gets -4 to all defenses until my next round! Also, using an AP to fire Hypnotic Pulse.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

If it hits, Cirno makes a melee basic attack on herself, with +4 to attack and damage. If it misses, half damage.

[Terraoblivion]

"It's a public lake! We can't trespass on that. Just let us pass and..." Cirno was attacked by Kaoru. "What'd you do that for? She's just an innocent bystander!" Making up for lost time she still drew her sword and rushed in to help subdue the tiny fairy. The fight was on anyway.

She pulled out a small, lacquered card and raised it in preparation for her attack. "Scalding Sign: Blazing Lunge!" A hiss rose from her sword as it got surrounded by pale, wispy danmaku not unlike steam. Amidst the hissing steam, however, came a very poor hummed rendition of The Ride of the Valkyries.

I use a minor action to draw my sword. Then i either move close enough to Cirno to charge or i just charge. No matter what i use Blazing Lunge at the end of the charge. If i didn't have to use a move action to get close to the smuggest i also use another minor action to mark her.

Attack vs Reflex: [roll0]
Fire Damage: [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Aisling, Kana, Gonza's 2nd arrow, Kaoru, and Cirno criticals herself. Total damage to Cirno: 115 points.

Aisling charges into the fray. Her flame danmaku is a solid attack (although it doesn't appear to have any additional effectiveness imparted by the fire).

Kana's Lance of Faith strikes Cirno's icy wings, glinting kaleidoscopically.

Gonza's arrows both hit hard, and sink deep... however, only one hit the intended target. Aisling has taken an arrow in the back (16 damage).

Elena's steam blast goes just slightly wide, but the magic mark Elena inflicts holds true. Try as she might, Cirno's attention is continuously drawn to Elena.

Kaoru's mental powers leave Cirno bewildered and angry. Now her attention is torn between Elena and the spectral frogs, and her concentration is shot. She holds up one of her fists, and frost swirls in the air around it. "Now is not the time for fighting frogs! Leave me alone!" She swings her fist, attempting to hit a frog dancing on her nose- of course, the illusion vanishes just in time for her to realize what she's about to do.

"Wait, wha-"

POW!

The impact of Cirno's own attack knocks her end over end. When she regains her equilibrium, though, she is holding a spellcard.

"I don't usually get to use this so soon! You're gonna be sorry now!"

SPELLCARD: Infamous Opener "Icicle Fall (Easy)"!
Cirno launches a spray of water upward, then freezes it as it falls. The result is a painful and wide-reaching barrage of icicles. However, the arc required makes it impossible for Cirno to strike targets near herself.

Also, hearing the name of the spellcard jogs Raitan's attention. She knows this spellcard. This is the one Cirno always insists on using- and Raitan knows that Cirno's been trying to remember to keep people out of her blind spot lately...

Cirno's Turn
Standard action+action point: attack Elena
[roll0], [roll1], and [roll2] vs. Elena's AC, damage [roll3] plus [roll]1d6[roll] cold damage for the first roll, [roll4] and [roll5] for the second and third rolls.
Move action: shift a square away from Aisling and Elena.
Minor Action: Icicle Fall at the people 5-6 squares away.
[roll6] vs. Kana and Kaoru's AC, on hit [roll7] cold damage.
I believe Elena gets Aegis of Assault.

Cirno yells at the top of her tiny lungs (which isn't really that impressive), "That punch hurt! Who made me do that? Was it you, great big dangerous person right in front of me? We'll see how you like getting punched!"

Cirno slams into Elena, attacking with surprising speed and strength. The first hit, covered with a nasty-looking gauntlet of ice, is blocked, but two others slip past. Cirno then carefully backs up, raises her hands above her head, and launches a blast of ice towards Kana and Kaoru's position. Razor-sharp ice descends on them.

(Elena takes a total of 19 damage, none of it is cold damage. Also I forgot to take the mark into account for the Icicle Fall, so it's actually only 19 vs. AC.

...the 9s just keep on coming...)

[Terraoblivion]

"Hey, that hurt!" Elena hadn't quite been prepared for a tiny fairy actually hitting that hard. The uncoordinated flailing hadn't convinced her otherwise. Weren't fairies supposed to be weaker than youkai anyway? Why did this one hit so hard? She seemed aggressive too, if she didn't know that there were people stronger than her she could threaten the people of Gensokyo, nobody expected a fairy to be this strong after all.

"River Sign: Sword Burst!" Raising her sword and sweeping it in an arc around her, Elena drew a burst of watery danmaku from the lake beneath them, spraying against the smuggest.

Not doing much, really.

Attack vs. reflex [roll0]
Force damage [roll1]

[Silver Coin]

The icicles struck heavily against Kana's armour. Distance and steel protected her from the worst of it, but she was not happy.

"Well Cirno...I think we are going to be really close friends by the time this is over."

Radiant flames appeared and dashed itself against Cirno's defences. Kana was not happy.

Standard Action: Sacred Flame
[roll0] vs Ref
[roll1] 7 base +5 from Solar enemy, which expires this turn, +3 from LoF
[roll2]

Move action: Move to within 5 squares of Elena and Cirno
Minor Action: Healing word on Elena. Surge + [roll3] for HP regained


And almost as an afterthought, she did a little something to mend the damage that Cirno has just caused. This ought to help things along a little. And put a small damper on Cirno's morale.

(Everyone within 5 squares, including Elena, also gets 4 temp hp. I just used a Healing Word on you Terra. Read above for details.)

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan, realizing the weakness of Cirno's spell card decides to do just the opposite against it. She takes steps back to create even more distance from Cirno. If I know the distance in the future, this'll be more fun to deal with.. besides, there are other people to test her!!.

using move action to get to 18 squares away from her

Raitan then dramatically points at Cirno and another bolt of lightning danmaku sheers from her finger tips to strike Cirno

Using another lightning strike, luckily my two at wills are range 20. vs reflex [roll0] Damage [roll1]

[Fri]

"Whoops, sorry..." Maybe I really should keep both of my feet on the ground while shooting...

"Okay, once more into the breach!" Gon unleashes two more arrows. Hopefully both will strike the intended target now.
move as far away from cirno again, and use scattering volley
attack [roll0] [roll1]
damage [roll2]+2 [roll3]+2 and [roll4] damage bonus from skirmishing stance

[Tengu_temp]

"It's a public lake! We can't trespass on that. Just let us pass and..." Cirno was attacked by Kaoru. "What'd you do that for? She's just an innocent bystander!"

"An innocent bystander who clearly wants to fight. Who am I to refuse her wish?" Before Kaoru can say anything more she gets caught in the icicle blizzard.
"Brrr... Hey, that was cold! Let's do something to warm up the atmosphere. Kira. (http://hanyan.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/wf-ranka.png)"
The star that sparkles when Kaoru makes the memetic pose enlargens and flies towards Cirno, slamming into her.

Moving to the distance of 4 squares, and using Dishearten on the square right behind Cirno, or wherever else it will hit only her. She still has -4 to all defenses against this attack.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] and -2 to attack rolls if it hits

[potatocubed]

"Whoops, sorry..." Maybe I really should keep both of my feet on the ground while shooting..."

"OW." Aisling pauses in her fight with Cirno, letting the distracted fairy beat on Elena for a little, to shake her fist at the distant Gonza.

"You and me are gonna have words, pal!" she shouts across the ice. "Words like 'argh, ouch, please stop chewing my limbs'."

But first... the fairy!

Feet skidding on the ice, Aisling scurries past Cirno to attack from her blind spot with another blast of fiery danmaku.

Minor: Shake fist. *shake shake*
Move: Shift 1
Standard: Pressing Strike - I'm going to assume that between the move and the free double-shift I get from pressing strike I can flank Cirno with Elena.

Attack: +10 base, +2 flanking, -2 power attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Everything. Total damage: 105 points. Total damage so far: 220 points.

Cirno is so preoccupied that she doesn't even know Aisling has moved until it's too late. The sword swipe is a little off-balance, but it still clips Cirno hard enough to do some respectable damage.

Raitan's ultra-long distance attack strikes home a split second later. The combination of Aisling's fire and Raitan's electrical blast causes a cloud of steam to rise from the fairy- or maybe the steam is a result of her very obvious annoyance at the still-continuing mental chicanery coming from a source as yet unknown.

Gonza's arrows both find the correct target this time. By now, Cirno is too distracted to even try to dodge. Immediately afterward, she bursts into flame again, as Kana's flame danmaku crashes into her.

The ice beneath Cirno's feet cracks and shatters, as Elena's danmaku calls jets of water from the lake with enough force to knock the fairy off her feet, juggling her in the air for a few moments. It is during that time that Kaoru's star hits with considerable force, knocking her back to the ground. She bounces on her head, leaving a spiderweb of cracks in the ice.

Infamous Opener "Icicle Fall (Easy)" Captured!

Like the ice below her, the spellcard Cirno had been holding cracks and shatters. Cirno jumps to her feet with a pained expression in her eyes, looking for all the world like a child whose ice cream has fallen onto the sidewalk. Then her hands bunch into fists again, and she pinballs between Aisling and Elena, fists swinging haphazardly.

"That was my favorite spellcard! It's not fair for you to break through it so fast. You're making me really mad now!"

Cirno's attack: [roll0]vs. Elena's AC, [roll1] vs. Aisling's AC. Damage is [roll2] vs. Elena, and [roll3] vs. Aisling.
Move action: Shift to no longer be next to Elena. Still next to Aisling.

EDIT: The hit on Aisling crits, damage is 11 normal + 1 cold damage.

Cirno's flurry of attacks are for the most part too random to actually get through the redcap and the rusalka's tough exteriors. However, one lucky hit just manages to strike Elena, and Cirno leaps straight backwards into Aisling, gouging her in the face with her sharp wings.

[Terraoblivion]

"So-sor...Hey, wait a second. Why am i apologizing? Let's just get it over with so you can tell us where the mansion is. We have a job to do."

With her brief confused spell over, Elena goes back to humming her, let's just call it a battle hymn and pretend it isn't there, as the battle continues. Seeing how well it worked last time, she keeps battering the ice fairy with the force of the lake beneath them.

Attack vs. Reflex: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Poison_Fish]

"Favorite doesn't mean it's good!!" Raitan haughtily brushes her pony tail aside and points her hands from which a thunder orb of danmaku comes flying at her.

Thunder Orb [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Fri]

"We might just make it!" Gonza attempts to raise his companions' spirit. "Keep faith, everyone!" But this is fighting against gensokyo's strongest after all. Who knows what trick the monster might hold.

Suddenly, an epiphany. Gon remember all of his hunting training that his father, and his father's father before that had taught. His shock from fighting against the intimidating fairy had made him forgot about all that, but his own stirring shout had made him regained some measure of coolness. He then studies the fairy's movement with his keen eyes.

"Strike true!" He shouts to himself, before doing some wild somersault and unleashing an arrow toward the fairy. The keen study is what his father had taught him. The wild somersault is not.

Minor action: Hunter's Quarry
Move action: Move as far as possible from Cirno
Standard action: Fading Strike for [roll0] +1 from running attack for [roll1]damage +[roll2] bonus from skirmishing stance + [roll3] bonus from hunter's quarry

[Silver Coin]

Kana's voice chimed as she laughed,"So much for the strongest. One down and...how many spellcards do you have left?"

Well, she'll find out when it comes to that. Pulling out a golden spellcard, Kana closed her eyes and whispered into the air.

"Light of the heavens, answer my call. Purify the land upon which I stand. Protect my allies and vanquish my foes."

Move Action: Move to within 3 squares of Cirno
Standard action: Consecrated Ground, PHB 65
AP action: Move centre of Burst onto Cirno.

[Tengu_temp]

"I wouldn't get too angry. Don't ice fairies melt if their pressure gets too high?"
Kaoru causes an illusionary mallet to hit Cirno in the head before retreating to a safe distance.
Wait, did temperature rise with pressure, or drop? I forgot... Does it matter anyway?

Dishearten, standard effects. Then moving to a distance of 10 squares.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Aisling. Total damage (including ongoing from Mukage's Consecration): 22 points. Total damage so far: 242 points

Aisling seems a bit discombobulated by the sudden strike to the face. Nevertheless, she swings her sword, striking Cirno with a solid blow.

"Eep!" Cirno jumps over Raitan's thunder danmaku. "Agh!" Cirno ducks Gonza's arrow. "Whoops!" Cirno sidesteps a danmaku geyser courtesy of Elena. "Nonono..." And Cirno rolls out of the illusory hammer's angle of attack.

"Ha! If that's all you've got left, I can still win this! Wait, why do my feet hurt..." A circle of light on the lakebed below indicates the presence of consecrated ground; the light filters up through the water, bathing Cirno and the combatants around her in an eerie glow. "Ow! Ow! That's a nasty trick! You'd better stop right now!" Heedless of the two combatants in weapon range, Cirno rushes into melee with Kana, hopping as if the ground were hot coals. Grabbing a bit of ice as she goes, she enlarges it so that by the time she actually reaches Kana, she has a sharp blade about the size of a short sword.

Cirno's move action: Charge Kana (melee get opportunity attacks)
Cirno's attack action: [roll0] vs. AC, deals [roll1]+8 cold damage.

The attack is a bit clumsy, but it does find a chink in Kana's armor, leaving a stinging wound.

[Terraoblivion]

"Stay here! I can't let you beat up my friends. Or random strangers i decided to join up with to handle the incident..." Elena trailed off on a tangent for a bit, before composing herself with a firm slash, sending a spray of razorsharp danmaku against Cirno. "Anyway, i can't let you beat them up."

Despite the slash the little fairy kept running towards Kana. "Hey, come back. Weren't you listening?" When Cirno struck Kana, Elena seemed to shimmer and dissolve into water before appearing behind the fairy, slashing once again. "I guess i'll just have to enforce it!" She wasn't done yet, however, instead sweeping her sword out and sending a large surge of water against the fairy, pushing her aside, following along to harry her.

Okay, first there is an opportunity attack. Then there is my Aegis and finally my ordinary action.

Opportunity Attack: [roll0]
Opportunity Attack Damage: [roll1]
Aegis of Assault: [roll2]
Aegis of Assault Damage: [roll3]
Luring Strike: [roll4]
Luring Strike Damage: [roll5]

[Silver Coin]

Kana coughed and a bit of red appeared on the pristine ice. Danmaku fights were suppose to the non-lethal, but when hitting pieces with pieces of actual ice is the preferred method of combat...

Adventuring was suppose to be easier. Still, nothing she couldn't handle. A quick aria and she was back on her feet. There goes the heals for the battle.

"You are not going to get away that easily.Your feet are still on fire."


Move: Move the Zone 3 squares, centred on Cirno.
Minor: Healing Word.
Minor: Sustain Daily.


Note: Those who started your turn next to Cirno's square gain 4 actual hp when bloodied. Please keep track yourself. Also, everyone gains 4 temp hp.

[Fri]

"Blah"

The others think Gonza might say something. Can't be that important. He unleashes an arrow.

fading strike [roll0]+1 from running attack + 1 from unescapable longbow (everytime it misses it got +1 attack bonus) for [roll1]damage and [roll2] hunter quarry and [roll3] bonus damage from skirmishing stance.

"Blah Blah!"

[Rolaran]

Gonza's yukkuri has, in absence of orders, been hopping around the battlefield, thrilled to be stretching its... leg-equivalent analogues... after a long ride on Gonza's head. Suddenly, it finds something sticking out of the ice. It's a long, thin string, and it hums musically when the yukkuri approaches it.

"Ooh, id priddy!"

The yukkuri grabs the string in its mouth, and manages to yank it out of the ice. It has a thought- Gon-chan has a string like this on his bow! Maybe if Gon-chan used this string instead, it would make his arrows sound pretty too! Excited, it begins to hop back toward Gonza to show off its discovery- not noticing the lute, bag of other supplies, and live fairy that are embedded in the ice a few feet underneath...

[Poison_Fish]

"HAH, THAT WAS MY TRAP TO FALL INTO LIGHTNING, YOUR DODGE MEANS NOTHING!!!! HAHAHAHAHA!!! A lightning danmaku shoots out of Raitans mouth as she is laughing, arcing towards Cirno.

attack lightning strike vs reflex [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

"That didn't hit? Come on... Watch the birdies!"
Kaoru repeats with the hammer. She has one more trick up her sleeve, but she saves it for later.

Dishearten. Again.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Aisling (opportunity and regular attack), Kana's consecration, Elena (opportunity and regular attack), Kaoru. Damage this round: 67 points. Total damage so far: 309 points. Cirno is bloodied.

It was definitely unwise for Cirno to try and run around the battlefield without paying attention to her adversaries: Elena and Aisling swing in near-perfect unison, catching Cirno in a painful-looking two-bladed pincer attack. Cirno does manage to jab Kana with the icy knife, and dodges when Elena's protective magic summons her to Kana's defense.

However, Aisling leaps into the fray in a state of fury, hammering Cirno with a heavy blast of danmaku from her sword. Raitan's lightning danmaku explodes around the cluster of combatants, but doesn't seem to actually hit anyone. Neither does Gonza's arrow- it seems as if the humidity of the misty lake may have damaged his bowstring, nothing is flying straight.

Although Cirno dodged Elena's protective strike, she is not so lucky when a blast of water bursts through the ice following the arc of Elena's sword. The water sweeps Cirno away from Kana, and Elena quickly interposes herself between the two of them. Aisling and Elena loom over the tiny fairy, who can barely even see Kana behind them, let alone attack. However, Kana's prayers can still be heard, and the light erupting from the ground continues to sear at Cirno.

Cirno takes a step back, clears her throat, and begins to taunt, "Hiding behind the big ones won't save you. I'm still the stro..." THWACK! Cirno is clobbered by the illusory hammer. She holds her head, weaving slightly on the ice. "Oww! What was I saying again? As I was saying, I was... saying... that... I'm the strongest! Still! And I'll prove it! With... this thing!" She weakly holds up a spellcard, which flares to life vigorously despite her current condition.

SPELLCARD: Chain Reaction "Ice-Nine"!
This card is a new one Cirno's been working on that first saw action during the Great Fairy Wars. Rumors have spread quickly, and there's been reports that she even managed to take down Marisa with this one.

It creates a field of extreme cold around Cirno. Danmaku and other projectiles traveling through the field may be frozen solid, becoming "stuck" in midair. After a moment, these become so cold that they in turn freeze other projectiles that touch them. The result is that every time an attack doesn't connect with Cirno, she enjoys some temporary shielding from subsequent attacks.

Fortunately, there are weaknesses to it. Any form of fire will melt through the shield. Even if there isn't a source of fire handy, the frozen projectiles are fragile enough that they shatter naturally every few seconds, so Cirno can't build up more than a few attacks worth of protection.

A cloud of mist, so transparent as to be almost invisible, swirls into existence around Cirno. A leaf, blown across the lake, catches the edge of it- and instantly freezes solid, a thick layer of white frost engulfing it.

Cirno's turn: Move action to shift back, then another move to approach the ranged attackers, giving Elena and Aisling a wide berth.

Cirno, however, doesn't immediately attack. Instead, she skates toward the people who have been firing on her from the back.

"What, you thought I'd forgotten you? Well, maybe I kinda did! But now I'm gonna come fight you, and I'm gonna make up for lost time too! Which of you should I beat up first? Eenie, meenie, minie, moe... that guy!"

The fickle finger of fate has selected Gonza.

[Poison_Fish]

"Ha! I see how it is!" Raitan flutters her lightning wings but remains where she is. Electrical energy spikes out of her and runs along her entire body.

"Thunder Sign: Crack of Dawn, Time to Rise!" Raitan forms a set of electrical hands again, but this time, one of them just slams down on the ice in front of Cirno and sends a Danmaku shockwave reverberating through the ice towards Cirno.

Dropping my resist 5 lightning and thunder to gain +4 to all defenses. Using my encounter power; Thunder Slam vs fort. [roll0] damage [roll1] also, if it hits (not likely) it'll knock her back 3 squares.

[Terraoblivion]

"Hey, come back here! We're fighting? How can i perform a proper extermination when you run away all the time!" Rushing after the fairy, Elena swung her sword out in a wild blow trying to knock the tiny creature aside with the watery danmaku that followed.

I move up next to Cirno and then use Luring Strike. Quite frustrating to fight someone like this when you realize that half your encounter and daily powers rely on cold damage.

Attack vs. AC: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Fri]

"No! Oh cruel fate, why do you hate me so!" Gonza braces himself from the inevitable attack from the strongest being in gensokyo.

Then he realizes that he can actually run from her. Or, as his father used to say. To "skirmish." Or in some circle, he suppose they'd call it 'kiting.' So he does.


As usual, move action to move as far away as possible from cirno, then use uh, fading strike to move 2 square even further.

[roll0] attack + 1 running attack bonus [roll1]damage [roll2]hunter's quarry [roll3]bonus from skirmishing stance.

[Tengu_temp]

"Hey, stay away!" Kaoru pushes Cirno back with a gust of telekinetic force.
"This spellcard looks really strong... Let's make sure you get no opportunities to use it, shall we?" Kaoru fires an array of Danmaku that start to circle around Cirno and constantly yell "Baka! Baka!". And, to add injury to insult (instead of the other way around), a few of them change their trajectory to hit her from time to time. The Tengu doesn't wait to see for the result though, and moves as far away as she can.

Minor action: Froceful Push, pushing Cirno away 1 square.
Standard Action: Dishearten, powered by Orb of Life Conversion (costs me 1 healing surge).
Move action: Get as far away as possible!

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1] and -4 to Cirno's attack rolls if it hits

[Silver Coin]

Kana just watched the scene with mild amusement, and adjusted accordingly. Moving the origin her spell to directly beneath Cirno once more, she managed to find the time to squeeze off one more danmaku attack.

Move Action: Move Conserated Ground
Consecration Dmg: [roll0]
Standard Action: Sacred Flame
Attack: [roll1]
Dmg: [roll2]
5 temp HP to Elena if Hit.
Minor Action: Sustain Daily

[Rolaran]

Hits: Aisling, Kana, Gonza, Elena and Kaoru. Total damage: 60 points. Damage so far: 369 points.

Aisling, noticing the shield, raises her sword, still aflame, and grins wickedly. She seems to be biding her time for now.

Raitan's danmaku shockwave hits the shield, but it distorts and slows to a halt, forming a band of ice around Cirno. A moment later Aisling leaps into action, battering Cirno with her sword and destroying the momentary protection offered by the shield.

Kana's consecration continues to wear away at Cirno, and her danmaku gives Cirno a double dose of intense radiance. Momentarily dazzled, Cirno doesn't even have a chance to dodge Gonza's arrow, which strikes with a satisfying "thunk".

Elena's attack barely makes it through Cirno's shield, but it does make it. It doesn't hurt her much, but the momentary confusion enables Elena to move into position, and once again, Cirno has two hulking youkai between her and her target.

And then the singing danmaku begins. Cirno is too irritated to pay attention to dodging, and the danmaku swoop around her head like angry bees. But when she realizes what they are saying, a vein twitches ominously.

"What? I am not an idiot! Stop saying idiot! The idiot is the one who keeps saying idiot!"

Cirno's attack vs. Aisling: [roll0] vs. AC, on hit deals [roll1] cold damage.

Cirno takes a swing in Aisling's general direction, but it's impossible to tell whether she's actually targeting Aisling, trying to swat the danmaku out of the air, or just swinging her fists in a tantrum of frustration. Either way, it's a complete whiff.

[Terraoblivion]

Elena seemingly gave up on trying to talk to Cirno and instead just focused on beating the little fairy so they could get on. Dissolving into water, she flowed along the ice to reform behind the ⑨. Pulling out another of her beautifully painted, lacquered cards she raised her sword for another attack. "Tundra Sign: Enervating Slash!" Pitch black danmaku began gathering around Elena's sword as she spoke, a single quick slash sent them flying towards Cirno.

I use my Swiftcurrent power to shift behind Cirno so i flank her with Aisling. Then i break out a daily in the form of Enervating Strike, causing her to deal half damage (save ends) to everyone else.

Attack vs. Fortitude: [roll0]
Damage: [roll]2d10+5

[Silver Coin]

Confusion is good. Cirno could use more of it.

Minor: Sustain Minor
Dmg: [roll0]
Standard action: Astral Seal
Attack: [roll1]

If the Attack hits, Cirno takes a -2 to all defences for 1 turn. Also, the first person to hit Cirno gains 5 HP.

[Poison_Fish]

"CIRNO!!! Stop moving so much!!! You keep not being hit!!" Raitan shouts as a lightning blast flies forth from her fingers, hoping to actually catch her this time.

lightning strike vs reflex [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

"Bleh, out of juice, gotta use the generic stuff. Well, generic is still good enough to handle an idiot, ain't it?" Kaoru shoots some annoying, but otherwise non-descript Danmaku at Cirno.

Dishearten: [roll0] vs Will
Damage: [roll1]

[Fri]

"We have the advantage! now let's push it!"

[roll0] for fading strike for [roll1] + [roll2] quarry + [roll3] skirmish stance

[Rolaran]

Hits: Aisling, Gonza, Kana, Elena (Elena heals 5 points) and Kaoru. Total damage: 70 points. Total damage so far: 439 points.

Raitan's danmaku fractures in midair, becoming a forked entanglement of lightning. It looks pretty, but none of it comes anywhere near Cirno. Some of it does catch the edge of her freezing field though, creating a protective bubble of interestingly shaped icicles. Aisling quickly burns the worst of it away.

Gonza's arrow strike flies through the shield and hits Cirno in one of her wings. A hairline fracture appears in the ice of the wing, and the field of Cirno's spellcard wavers slightly. Gonza repositions himself as part of the attack, and nearly steps on the yukkuri, which has just caught up with him and is carrying a piece of string in its mouth. "Gon-chan! Treasure!"

The shining light of Kana's attack continues, and momentarily focuses into a holy sign. A gridlike pattern of danmaku dances across Cirno, but instead of dealing damage it highlights weak points in her defenses (one spark flits around her head, apparently trying to find the most vulnerable part of her brain before giving up and illuminating her entire cranium as one big weak point).

Guided by the pattern, Elena's dark danmaku slip past what is left of the shield and strike home. Several of the danmaku then appear to return to Elena, now shining brilliantly, and knit her wounds. But most of the danmaku stays behind, and Cirno is now covered in unpleasant-looking black marks.

Finally, Kaoru's danmaku, a small set of irritatingly curvy lasers, completes the pummeling. The field vanishes with a slight hiss.

Chain Reaction "Ice-Nine" captured!

Cirno's actions:Shift to escape the flank, still adjacent to Elena
Attack roll:[roll0], on hit [roll1] cold damage.

Cirno slips to the side of Elena, and swings her hand up in a pretty respectable attempt at a raking slash, with icicles growing from her outstretched fingers like talons. However, Elena sidesteps instinctively, and Cirno misses completely.

[Silver Coin]

That seemed to have worked well enough. Rinse and Repeat!

Minor Action: Sustain
Dmg:[roll0]
Move Action: Move Origin Square of Consecration to Cirno
Standard Action: Astral seal
Attack: [roll1]

If the Attack hits, Cirno takes a -2 to all defences for 1 turn. Also, the first person to hit Cirno gains 5 HP.

[Terraoblivion]

"Why do you keep this up? You're danmaku have barely even hurt us, just let us get this extermination over with so we can continue!" The fairy's pointless persistence was starting to get to Elena. Weren't they supposed to be heroes who protected Gensokyo? So why was beating up a single fairy so hard? Lashing out in annoyance, the watery danmaku twirling around her sword caught Cirno and swept her back between the rusalka and the redcap.

Quite simple, i just use Luring Strike to move Cirno back between Elena and Aisling. Not gonna let her take any advantage of mobility, even if it is my weakest attack in terms of damage.

Attack: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan sheds tears at being so useless this time around. "Fine...." she sniffles "I'll just keep throwing, maybe one day the light from me will reach you". she looks away and shoots another lightning danmaku blast in Cirno's general direction.

Lightning strike [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Fri]

Gon tripped over Yukkuri. "Gah, yukkuri, I told you to not bother me when I'm fighting! I'll look over your treasure later, you stupid bun. Go catch a ball or something."

He then continue his attack. "Come on, don't you think this had gone long enough?"
(similar attack as before)
[roll0] attack [roll1]damage [roll2]quarry [roll3] stance

[Fri]

Critical! Gon's annoyance toward the yukkuri transfered well into his attack... or something.

(do I have to roll a critical assurance or what do you call it? [roll0]
extra damage [roll1])

[Tengu_temp]

"Hey, why not listen to the rest and give up? We'll be taking the spellcards we already captured, of course, but since you failed to beat us with them they're not that good anyway, right?" Kaoru punctuates this conversation with shooting more annoying Danmaku.

Dishearten: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

Extra necrotic damage on a crit: [roll0]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Raitan, Gonza (crit), Kana's radiance (main attack missed), and Kaoru (crit). Total damage inflicted: 83 (!) points. Total damage so far: 522 points.

Raitan's attack hits, throwing off a shower of sparks. Cirno reels, slightly stunned. Kana's illumination continues, but this time, Cirno notices it preparing to seal her, and hops out of the danmaku pattern as it forms. However, the wind catches her, and holds her aloft for a few seconds longer than she intended. She's a sitting duck for both a well-placed arrow from Gonza, and a perfectly timed burst of danmaku from Kaoru. However, she does avoid Elena's blade, and manages to land on her feet despite having soaked up a lot of danmaku. What's worse, she's now... smirking.

"This is it! The last spellcard! With this, I'll beat you for sure! There's nowhere to run now..."

SPELLCARD: Cold Sign "Perfect Freeze"!
With this spellcard, Cirno desperately sacrifices survivability for pure power. The attack has two stages. First, a spray of danmaku flung in all directions, without pattern or aiming- the unpredictability of the attack makes it impossible to plan against, you just have to be quick-witted and/or lucky. Second, a shockwave of cold energy that, while lacking in raw power, causes the first wave of danmaku to freeze solid and scatter unpredictably. If you are unfortunate enough to be hit by both parts, the frozen danmaku will interfere with your movements considerably.

Cirno raises her arms above her head. From seemingly out of nowhere a fountain of multicolored danmaku pelts across the entire battlefield...
Versus Reflex, Gonza and Rai-Tan (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2758365/) are hit for 5 damage each (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2758371/)...
...until Cirno lowers her arms, and a blast of frozen energy follows the danmaku, freezing it solid and knocking it in all directions.
Versus Fortitude, Gonza, Kana and Rai-Tan (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2758373/) are hit for 1 point, 3 points, and 3 points (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2758377/) of cold damage, respectively. Anyone hit by both attacks (Gonza and Rai-Tan) is dazed until the end of their next turn.

[Fri]

"Blahrgle!"

Gon was going to say something, but he caught a faceful of freezing danmaku with his face.

"Blurp! Warble!"

[Rolaran]

(Actually, dazed is the one where you still get one action. So you can take a standard action to attack, but you can't also move.)

[Fri]

Somehow in between swimming through a wave of freezing danmaku Gon manages to stumble a shot toward Cirno.

([roll0] attack [roll]1d10+5[/damage] and [roll1] quarry if he can take a minor action. no skirmish bonus this time since Gon is swimming through a tidal wave of danmaku

edit:
1d10+5=12 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2759817/) damage)

[Silver Coin]

Kana frowned and shook her head. That didn't seem to have worked too well. Back to the straightforward danmaku attacks then.

Minor Action: Sustain
Dmg: [roll0]
Move Action: Move Origin Square of Consecration to Cirno
Standard Action: Astral Fire
Attack vs Ref: [roll1]
Dmg: [roll2]

5 temp HP to Elena if hit.

[Poison_Fish]

"Oww, oww, oww" Raitan brushes off some of the bits of ice on her and flicks a thunder ball at Cirno.

Thunder orb vs reflex attack [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Terraoblivion]

Elena seems to be surprisingly agile for her size. At least she manages to duck and weave through the uncontrolled barrage of unpredictable danmaku to reach the fairy at the center. "Getting desperate? Just give up already, you aren't fooling anybody about your strength." Once by the side of Cirno she swept her sword to the side again, triggering a powerful geyser of water punching through the ice at the strongest.

Attack vs. Reflex [roll0]
Force Damage [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

Quick-witted and lucky? That describes Kaoru, alright!
"Whoo!" She slides between projectiles flying at her, dodging them with ease. "This is not much of a final spellcard, don't you think?" And she fires some of her own danmaku in response.

Dishearten: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Rolaran]

Hits: Gonza, Kana (critical), Elena (Elena also receives 5 points of healing from Kana). Total damage: 44 points. Damage inflicted so far: 566 points.

Raitan's aim is thrown off by Cirno's danmaku, and her attack flies off to the side and hits the unfrozen water of the lake, vanishing with a snapping sound. Gonza, however, manages to keep his shot steady despite being unable to successfully strafe through the danmaku, and his arrows flies through the danmaku to strike its mark. Kana manages to dodge the danmaku, and Cirno's blast only stings a little- her astral fire flares brightly around Cirno, eliciting a startled yelp. Elena dodges the entire attack, and slams the ice hard enough to make cracks appear several feet away; a moment later, a geyser strikes Cirno. Kaoru has also managed to evade everything, in a dramatic and show-offy manner; however, the thick danmaku obscures her counterattack, which whistles harmessly through the air.

"You haven't beaten me yet! When I've won, you'll all have to admit who's the strongest around! And you'll have to do what I want! That's the rule!"

Cirno's attack: Danmaku
Vs. Raitan: [roll0] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll1] points of damage,
Vs. Gonza: [roll2] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll3] points of damage,
Vs. Kana: [roll4] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll5] points of damage,
Vs. Elena: [roll6] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll7] points of damage,
Vs. Kaoru: [roll8] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll9] points of damage.

Cirno's Cryo-freeze:
Vs. Raitan: [roll10] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll11] points of cold damage,
Vs. Gonza: [roll12] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll13] points of cold damage,
Vs. Kana: [roll14] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll15] points of cold damage,
Vs. Elena: [roll16] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll17] points of cold damage,
Vs. Kaoru: [roll18] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll19] points of cold damage.

[Silver Coin]

Cirno's Danmaku struck solidly against Kana, and for a moment, making her lose her balance. Flailing her arms wildly through the air, it was the best she could do to keep her light going.

Sustain Minor
Dmg[roll0]

[Poison_Fish]

Bits of ice strike against Raitain, doing some more damage. Raitan just chucks another ball of thunder in Cirno's general direction.

thunder ball vs reflex [roll0] damage [roll1]

[Terraoblivion]

The Russian's luck didn't last long, unfortunately. Standing right next to the Strongest didn't give her much warning about the location of the danmaku. Without thinking, she through herself to the side right into a bullet that she had not noticed.

Shivering in the cold, the rusalka still somehow managed to raise her sword. "Th-this is nothing..." Even if the shivers and clattering teeth might indicate otherwise. "The winters in Russia were much worse." A single swing was all she managed in her current state, yet it was enough to create another spray of water beneath the fairy.

Attack vs. Reflex: [roll0]
Force Damage: [roll1]

[Tengu_temp]

"So if I win, you will do what I want? How convie-" Kaoru's monologue is interrupted by a projectile hitting her straight in the forehead. "Ow, that hurt!"
She counters with her own danmaku. Not much more to do right now.

Dishearten: [roll0]
Damage: [roll1]

[Fri]

"Ow. Ow" Cirno's danmaku hit Gonza straight on his face again, but luckily it didn't freeze him this time.

"Id ged you for dat!" Gonza's ability to quip is severely inconvenienced by his swollen nose. But at least now he can make more distance from her before shooting.

[roll0]attack [roll1] damage [roll2]hunter's quarry [roll3]skirmish

[Rolaran]

Hits: Kana, Kaoru. Total damage inflicted: 21. Total damage so far: 587 points. Cirno has 600 max hp, Kana's ongoing will shave off a minimum 8 of that next round, and I don't think it's possible for anyone to do less than 5 points of damage with most attacks, so just roll to hit.

Danmaku continues to streak through the air toward Cirno, but only a few blasts from Kaoru manage to connect. Luckily, Kana's energy is still taking its toll. Cirno's hands are still held above her head, projecting danmaku, but she's wobbling dizzily in place, looking like she's about to pass out. One good strike should bring her down...

...but first, you've got one more burst to dodge.

Cirno's attack: Danmaku
Vs. Raitan: [roll0] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll1] points of damage,
Vs. Gonza: [roll2] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll3] points of damage,
Vs. Kana: [roll4] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll5] points of damage,
Vs. Elena: [roll6] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll7] points of damage,
Vs. Kaoru: [roll8] vs. Reflex, on hit [roll9] points of damage.

Cirno's attack: Freezing
Vs. Raitan: [roll10] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll11] points of cold damage,
Vs. Gonza: [roll12] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll13] points of cold damage,
Vs. Kana: [roll14] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll15] points of cold damage,
Vs. Elena: [roll16] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll17] points of cold damage,
Vs. Kaoru: [roll18] vs. Fortitude, on hit [roll19] points of cold damage.

[Terraoblivion]

Of course the frosty danmaku of the little fairy were still cold. But the numbness of the last one wasn't there anymore. Perhaps invoking the name of the land of winter had helped her withstand it or maybe the hit had been to a less vital area.

No matter the explanation, energy returned to the russalka, who seemed to not have let her prior experience get to her. No taunts, boasts or orders of surrender. Just a simple blast of water, it was quite a miracle that there was any ice left now that you thought about it given how the Russian had conducted herself.

Attack vs. Reflex:[roll0]

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan shivers in the cold and whimpers a little at the ineffectiveness of her cold wear. She kicks a foot forward and another thunder ball danmaku comes flying forth at Cirno.

vs reflex [roll0]

[Tengu_temp]

Suddenly, Kaoru appears right next to Cirno!
"Bleeeeh! You can't hit me! Stupid fairy!" She just begs to be punched. Except she's not really there - it's just another of her Tengu mind tricks. And the mental image is actually on the exact same spot as Cirno, so she'd be hitting herself...

Betrayal to make Cirno punch herself: [roll0]

[Rolaran]

The mind trick gets Cirno's attention. She growls in frustration. "Don't call me stupid! You're lucky I need both hands to keep this spellcard going, or I'd slap you right in the face!" Suddenly, an alarming smile (http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=290694) creeps across her face. "Then again, maybe I should just add you to the list of targets..."

As soon as these words are out of her mouth, the danmaku that was previously radiating outward refocuses. The ball of energy above Cirno's head begins raining danmaku straight down, knocking Cirno flat against the ice. A moment later, the ice, having taken a heavy beating from Elena's spellcards and Kana's irradiation, gives way entirely, plunging Cirno into a water-filled hollow about the size of a dunk tank. She swims to the surface, spluttering slightly. "That was... a dirty trick..."

Cold Sign "Perfect Freeze" captured!

And suddenly, the energy ball vanishes with pop, sending one last blast of cold toward its new "target", and refreezing the pool into solid ice. Cirno is now stuck up to her shoulders in her own homemade iceberg.

Cirno Cleared!

"Uwaaah, I can't keep fighting like this..." Finally feeling the effects of the battle, Cirno swoons from exhaustion. After a few seconds, she begins snoring softly.

[Silver Coin]

Cirno's last attack smarted a little but it wasn't anything major.

Kana watched the sleeping Cirno and shook her head. She really was a lot cuter when she wasn't trying to hurt people and having that haughty/angry expression on her face.

Picking up one of the spellcards lying beside Cirno, she flipped it over and read the words: Perfect Freeze. This should come in handy.

[Fri]

"We win! I, Gonzaemon from the human village, have won against gensokyo's strongest!" Gon cheers and lifts his bow in a victory pose. Too bad that no one around him are interested, except for the Yukkuri that jumps and cheers with him.

"Win it easy! What is win, Gon-chan?"

[Terraoblivion]

Gon's enthusiasm and excitement over the victory was enough to make even the Russian youkai stop for a moment and raise her eyebrow in puzzlement. "But...it was just a little fairy who thinks she's the strongest. She's no real threat to youkai...Or shouldn't be at least." She had apparently also forgotten that Gon was human and not youkai.

Walking over to Cirno, she squatted before her to look at the fairy. "Why didn't you just surrender when it became clear we were winning? There's no point in fighting a losing battle when all that is at stake is pride...At least that's what Her Holiness always says." From the position Elena noticed one of the cards on the ice and picked it up, turning it to see the words "Icicle Fall" on it. "I guess this could be useful."

[Tengu_temp]

"See who's celebrating victory now and who's stuck in a block of ice? This is why you never pick a fight with a tengu." Apparently in Kaoru's mind causing the finishing blow means that the victory is hers alone. "Looting time!"

She picks up the last remaining spell card and stares at it. "Huh. Not that useful for me, but better than nothing!"
Maybe it'd be a good idea for someone who could use it more to take it from her hands.

[Fri]

Gon put his hands on his knees and pants. "Huh, who's the strongest now, fairy? But now I'm completely out of arrows. I took my whole store of them! I wish I could just throw multicolored explosives like you girls."

"Take it easy Gon-chan!"

"Oh, you're still here Yukkuri? I thought I've finally got myself free from you for good. What did you wanted to show me back then?"

[Rolaran]

The yukkuri, thrilled at having Gonza's attention again, hops across the ice to where it had left the strange string it had picked up earlier. Its over-exuberant approach causes it to skid on the ice, and it rolls clumsily onto the string with enough force to shove it across the surface. As the string wobbles, it seems strangely alive, and a musical sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSgDtfcwAdg), reflective of the environment, emanates from it.

"Pretty string! Gon-Chan! Make it pretty!" The yukkuri pounces on the string (well, what passes for a pounce without any limbs- more of a belly-flop really), causing a new round of noise.

Cirno has woken up, and seems a lot friendlier now (or maybe she's just trying to avoid provoking another fight). However, when the tengu approaches and taunts her, she giggles. "Hee hee, I still proved that I'm the strongest! All five of you trying to beat me, but I got the last hit with my own spellcard! I think that means I'm still the winner technically... but you guys can say you won if it makes you feel better," she quickly adds.

When the yukkuri wanders through her line of vision, carrying the string, she calls out. "Hey, don't touch that! That's mine, I won it fair and square from the other fairy I fought today! That's why I put in my secret treasure stash that you won't be able to find!"

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan shivers and dusts herself off. Then she stands up "It's TOTALLY ours! We just won if fair and square from you!! Unless you want to be the strongest looooooser! Raitan stands in front of Cirno and places her hands on her hips.

[Rolaran]

Cirno smirks. "Ha! You'll never find it! I was clever and put it where you'd never find it in a thousand years! You'd never think to look under the ice!" Cirno snickers to herself, apparently impressed at her own cleverness, before suddenly gasping. "Wait... forget I said that! I didn't say anything!"

[Terraoblivion]

Immediately after Kaoru made her comment about the spellcard, Elena went over and plucked it out of her hand. "If you can't use it, let's give it to someone who can. Who gets hit often?" She looked over the group, holding the spellcard up to show the rest of them what she was talking about. "It's a defensive charm, after all."

[Fri]

"How... strange..." Gon says as he tighten the strange string and plucks it. "I wonder how I can use this." "Yukkuri, where did you found it?"

[Rolaran]

The yukkuri bounds across the ice excitedly. "Here it easy!"

A dark patch under the surface suggests something embedded in the ice. Anyone who examines more closely will see...
... that the shape is a humanoid about Cirno's size...

[Silver Coin]

OOC: You know, before this thing dies off permanently.

Kana strode over to Cirno, creasing her eye brows and bringing her face uncomfortable close to Cirno's as she eyed her suspiciously, her hand scratching thoughtfully against the bottom of her chin.

"Oh really now. And what would happen if I do look under the ice?"

[roll0] (you never know)
[roll1] (you never know either)

[Terraoblivion]

Seeing no one respond, the Russian youkai simply shrugged and pocketed the spell card. She could certainly use it at least, it was her job to protect the others after all. Would be easier to do that if the enemy didn't just defeat her first.

Though why the others kept focusing so much on the defeated fairy she had no idea. "Hey, just let her go. The incident isn't going to solve itself while you play with the fairies, Kana."

[Tengu_temp]

After her spellcard gets so deviously stolen Kaoru looks depressed. She is on the verge of tears for all of five seconds before her ADD kicks in.
"Ooh, what's this?" She stares at the ice. "Is it just me, or is there a person there? A victim of fairy mafia wars, maybe? Anyone got a fire spell?"

[Fri]

"I have some flint and steel! We can boil some water, and pour it on top of the ice until whoever inside can free themselves!" Gon tries to use her experience in outdooring.

[Rolaran]

Cirno glowers at Kana. "Ha, but you wouldn't know where to look for my super secret treasure stash! It's like one of those pirate stories with the buried treasure, it could be anywhere on this island!"

Kana immediately deduces that Cirno has hidden some treasure under the ice, apparently forgetting that when pirates bury treasure, they tend to choose terrain that isn't transparent. Looking over at the crowd forming reveals that Cirno's "super secret treasure stash" was indeed poorly hidden enough that Gonza's yukkuri was able to find it completely by accident. Closer inspection has revealed a small lute, a small bag of loot, and what is indeed a fairy, apparently frozen solid.

Loren:
Luckily, Cirno's ice is semi-magical, and being completely engulfed in it put you into a state of suspended animation. You are vaguely aware of motion above you, but you're not suffering from hypothermia, lack of oxygen, or any of the other effects that would logically follow from being embedded in a glacier. Following the finest examples of cartoon physics, you're even somehow able to blink.

When the fairy is mentioned, Cirno pipes up again. "Hey, she's not allowed out yet! I told her she has to stay in there until she apologizes for startling me!"

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan's eyes grow big when seeing another fairy down there. She turns to Cirno and raises her fist. "CIIIIIIIIRNOOOOOOOOOOOO What have you done to one of our sisters!?!?!?! That is not fun at all!! That is in fact SUPER NOT FUN!!!!" Raitan bonks Cirno on the head with her fist.

"You apologize to her RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!" Raitan stands over Cirno (only by an inch or two) with her arms folded and eyes closed, waiting for Cirno to apologize to the Frozen Fairy.

[Tengu_temp]

"Well, technically you might be correct... But we've won the fight, so we get to dictate everything now! Commence with the extraction!" Kaoru just watches the operation, trying to look like a boss. Her powers are almost useless when dealing with inanimate objects, and she's too lazy to work here anyway.

[Silver Coin]

Kana simply sat down by the side and watched, feeling vaguely bored. Reaching into her backpack, she extracted a worn and dog-eared paperback and started reading.

[Rolaran]

Cirno looks up, and then sighs. "Fine, I apologize for fighting with other fairies, when I'm clearly so strong that it's not even close to a fair fight. I should be more careful, or someone might get hurt. Maybe next time, I'll just call the six of you and... hey wait, weren't there six of you? What happened to the big one with the noisy boots?"

Looking around, it becomes apparent that Aisling vanished at some point toward the end of the fight. There is no trace of her, except one thing- her large sword, still dimly burning, has been planted near the edge of the ice floe.

Cirno notices the sword. "Hey, that's perfect! You can use that to cut me out of this ice! Just be careful, I wanna get out in one piece!"

[Fri]

Not really noticing what's happening around him, Gon is currently trying to lit up a fire on a bunch of leaves that he collects from who knows where on the surface of the frozen lake.

[Tengu_temp]

"Too long!" Kaoru's too impatient to wait for the water to boil. "At this rate, pulling that mysterious stranger out of the ice will take ages! There must be a faster way to do it!" Her polished Tengu senses quickly notice the sword. "With this thing, for example! But where did the one who owned it go? You don't think that she decided to take her life and plunge into the lake, did you? That'd be such a shame! Another young life lost so senselessly today!"
Just what is she talking about?

[Terraoblivion]

"Someone trapped in the ice? Just a moment and i can help them, i just need the spellcard to recharge." Elena concentrated for a few seconds, holding her sword in front of her as if to feel any changes coming about. "This should do it, just step aside everyone and i will get her out."

Walking towards the spot where the frozen girl was, the large youkai's broadsword started hissing with steam before she thrust it into the ice to carve out the frozen figure. Of course, it only lasted for a short while, but the amount of ice melted off should still be fairly substantial.

It wasn't until she looked up that she noticed Aisling's disappearance. "Why'd she leave her sword behind? It's a perfectly good one and no one should have reason to just abandon it. For that matter where'd she go? Any of you see where the angry girl went?"

[Silver Coin]

Kana shrugged nonchalantly.

"No idea. You want to take the sword along or leave it here so any passer-by can take it?"

[Poison_Fish]

Raitan still taps her foot and opens one of her eyes while maintaining her stern posture. "Mmmmmmmmmm, your apologies could use work!!!! Make an ice mirror and practicing apologizing to everyone at least once a day!! This is advice from your big sis, so take it to heart!!! HMPH!". She haughtily scoffs and then joins in on the effort to find a way out for the trapped fairy.

[Rolaran]

As the ice melts away, the fairy's head and arms are exposed. She's still marginally stuck, but it shouldn't be difficult at all to chip her out the rest of the way. More importantly, it appears that she was not injured, but in some kind of suspended animation, and breaking this much of her free has woken her up. She can now interact with the party.

[Silver Coin]

Kana watched the quiet, unresponsive fairy for a while before she got bored. For all intents and purposes, she might as well be still frozen in the ice.

"I think she's daft. Maybe we should move on?"

[originalpimp]

Loren had a sort of vague sense of the others' presence for a while when she was trapped in the ice, but even still it took a while for her to gather herself after the upper half of her body was freed. After a minute or so of just trying to get over the bitter, biting cold she was able to speak... Relatively. "Th-thanks... I r-really owe y-y-you guys..." She chattered as her teeth clacked together rapidly even when she wasn't saying anything. She tried her best to continue, while also moving her arms a bit in an attempt to get them warmed up, "M-m-my n-name's Loren... Brrrrr... S-so cold... Y-you ever b-b-been f-frozen before? N-now I know h-h-how those f-f-f-frogs feel..."

[Terraoblivion]

Seeing the fairy begin to recover, Elena reached a hand down to help her up and out of the ice. "How did you end up frozen like this? That girl attacked you?" The big girl turned to face the self-titled strongest, glaring angrily at her. "You are free now and the guilty party has been punished, though of course there is a bigger issue we need to face. For the sake of harmony in Gensokyo we will resolve this incident and stop the vampire responsible!" Whether the Russian was all there in the head or not was debatable though. At least she seemed to not being above giving really cliché speeches about punishing the guilty, maybe she wanted to be like the miko and the witch who protected the land of illusions?

[Fri]

Gon came up with a pot of hot water. "Hot water coming through! In my calculation, with only about ten, or fifteen pot, we'll be able to melt the fairy!"

"Aww...." he says disappointedly as the fairy had been out. He sighs and offers his pot anyway. "Hot water anyone?" before sulking and starting to string and pick the strange string that Yukkuri pick like a guitar string.

[Rolaran]

The string: The string is one of Loren's spare lute strings, and retains some minor magical properties. Used in tandem with a magic bow (such as Gonza's), it produces its own ammunition out of ambient sound. The user can choose to deal either physical or sonic damage.

The bag: The bag holds a number of knickknacks Cirno has taken from other denizens of the lake. Most are worthless trinkets, but there is a Diadem of Acuity (+2 to Insight and Perception checks) and a pair of Gloves of Piercing (Daily; as a minor action, ignore 10 points of damage resistance until the end of the encounter).