The Challenge(R)

[Philemonite]

When Jarod takes you through the Velvet Door twice you are surprised to end up at some kind of medieval fair. Jarod explains that you are back in your world, having used the Velvet Door to create a shortcut. He also mentions something about Lady Anabel, and from his words you assume that she is the organizer of the fair. For no apparent reason Jarod's face turns serious as he starts sniffing the air.
"This does not smell good."

As soon as he finishes the sentence, an explosion rocks the ground around you. As if he was expecting it, Jarod remains staining, looks around and whispers:
"We must find Lady Anabel. Hurry."

[banthesun]

Kyoko had been wandering confused through the fair before the explosion struck. Already confused, the blast takes her by surprise, and she falls to the ground in shock and takes a while climbing to her feet. Above her, Mimi is already taking form, and Kyoko looks up at Jarod wide eyed.

[alchaos]

Alice turned toward Jarod and materialized her spirit weapon.

''Is it those black things with the mask?''


OCC

Just for later post.
''Black''
''White''

[Penguinator]

Dorian stood, arms crossed, searching around. Aimed at the newcomer, he stated flatly, "I'm not seeing what you're seeing."

As for Jarod, he nodded. "Lead the way."

He drew his blade, motioning for Galahad to do the same.

[Philemonite]

''Is it those black things with the mask?

"I am not sure. I can sense...interference. That is not good."

You can see by his expression that he is surprised, and not only by the explosion. If you pay careful attention you notice that his voice is inconsistent, as if he was hiding something.


"I'm not seeing what you're seeing."

As for Jarod, he nodded. "Lead the way."

"I don't see it either, but I can smell it, and I hope my senses are fooling me. We must act quickly."

He starts messing with his communicator, trying to get a message through.

"Jarod to the base, can you hear me?"

He repeats this a few times, before realizing that there is no effect.

"Dammit. I can't send you through the Velvet Door on your own, and there is no other way to contact the base. Looks like we are on our own this time. Lady Anabel's tent is that way. We must hurry."

[alchaos]

Alice started following Jerod towards Lady Anabel's tent with an almost shimmering butcher knife in her left hand that had what looked dried blood on the edge and a book covered in a multitude of rune that were almost glowing under her right arm.

''Does Lady Anabel's know what's going on??''

''He's hiding something,make him talk.Before following him to parts unknow.''
''Whee pretty explosion.Let's go see,i wanna see,i wanna see...''

[banthesun]

Still shaken by the blast, Kyoko had missed most of what Jarod had said. She was looking round the fair, seeing how the others were responding. When the group starts off towards Lady Anabel's tent Kyoko was almost left behind. After a moment of hesitation, she chases after the group.

"H-Hey! Wait for me!" she stammers out.

Just what have they gotten me into...

[Philemonite]

''Does Lady Anabel's know what's going on??''

"I am not sure, but she would be the first one to know. She has special methods of obtaining information."

After answering her question Jarod gives Alice a strange look, shrugs and continues running towards Lady Anabel's tent.
A few moments later you find yourself standing in front of a large tent as Jarod tries to focus, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Hermes!" He yells as a male figure, adorned with golden wing on his hat and feet, appears above him.
"We must hurry."

As you step into the tent, the first thing you notice is woman surrounded by shadows, but before you have a chance to react she easily dispatches them all. Distracted by the shadow, you don't notice the three figures in the corner until they start to speak.
"Civilian evacuation at 95%."
"Shadow decimation at 60%"
"Additional signature detected. Identification blocked."

"I can smell that much, but I was hoping you would be able to identify the signal. Knowing there is something doesn't really help us if we don't know what it is."

[Penguinator]

Dorian cracked his neck and kept silent. He shrugged at Galahad, who eased his grip on his weapon. It seemed to be another game of hurry up and wait.

[alchaos]

Alice seemed kinda interested by all the strang stuff in that tent.She start poking at something that probably should have been left alone.

''So you want us to run reconnaissance ?''

[Philemonite]

''So you want us to run reconnaissance ?''

"Yes, we will have to do it ourselves. Lady Anabel, can you round up the remaining civilians? My friends here will do a quick sweep of perimeter and then come to assist me."

"We will meet here in 30 minutes. Stay safe."

As the two of them leave the tent you see the direction in which Jarod leaves. You decide to follow his directions and search the place before joining him.

Search the place, kill a few shadows (graphically, not mechanically) and have some fun before joining Jarod. You can even split up for some extra fun.
Then join Jarod for some fun story time.

[Penguinator]

Dorian nodded and took off. Galahad was behind him in the blink of an eye. This seemed like a time for getting rid of as many enemies as possible. He quickly found a couple shadows, and circled them. Slashing at one, Galahad came at the other. They went down quickly, but more shadows came. Dorian took out as many as he could, and eventually several shadows surrounded him. Galahad let loose a blast of light, and the shadows disappeared. Dorian nodded. "New trick, Galahad?" The knight bowed low in response. Dorian laughed. "Good work."

[alchaos]

Alice took off towards the west side of the fair.She healed some hurt passerby, oblitered some shadow while looking like a total psycho with the crazy laugh and knife play.Afterward she skipped toward the center of the fair reading her strange glowing book while covered in strange ichor from the shadow.

[banthesun]

Kyoko crept after Dorian, keeping low and continually glancing around. Even bent over, Mimi still loomed over the tents, a ghostly figure half gliding, half walking. When she caught up with Dorian he was just finishing up some shadows. Kyoko followed him into the clearing, surveying the scene of the fight. It looked like he was pretty good at it.

"Uh, Mr Dorian... Um, do you enjoy this kind of stuff?" she asked. "The fighting and persona stuff, I mean."

[Penguinator]

"Uh, Mr Dorian... Um, do you enjoy this kind of stuff?" she asked. "The fighting and persona stuff, I mean."

Dorian shrugged, sheathing his blade. "I have been training with swords since I was only young. It is nice to have a reason to put that training to use." He paused a moment, eyeing the girl carefully. "But I don't believe it is the kind of thing that one ever really enjoys."

[banthesun]

Kyoko took in Dorian's response silently. Had he just let slip something about his childhood? She wasn't sure if she wanted to follow that up. She also was a little suprised that he apparently didn't like the fighting, and she wondered if he'd been pressed into this persona thing too. Could even the instructors be being made to do this? It was all a bit too much for Kyoko to take in.

"Ah, it's probably about time for us to be moving back."

[Penguinator]

Dorian nodded, examining a pocket watch. "Yes. It is about that time."

[Philemonite]

As the team gathers in the center of the fair, they are surprised by a strange scene. A humanoid figure, dressed in dark robe sits on a large rock, presumably used for decoration. What makes the figure strange is the hood covering it's head, and purple lines all over the robe. Staring at the figure, it takes you a few moments to notice that Jarod is fighting against a pretty large shadow.
"Stay back!" He yells before returning to his battle. There is something strange in his battle style, as if he is dancing around his target, delivering the occasional slash, while evading all of his targets attacks.

[banthesun]

Staying back was something Kyoko could handle; she was good at that. Still, watching Jarod fight was definitely nerve-wracking, but she was confident he could handle the giant shadow. The hooded figure in the strange outfit was definitely important too, but Kyoko didn't have the slightest clue as to who he could be. She turned to Dorian, presuming him to be the most knowledgable about this stuff.

"Uh, do you know who that guy is?" she whispered to him.

[alchaos]

Alice looked at the scene and decided to look for hidden foes,to be sure that Jarod would not be distracted in his battle.

''Blood,explosion and shadows.A day at the fair indeed.''
''Let's fight the shadow,let's go,let's go,....'

[Penguinator]

"Uh, do you know who that guy is?" she whispered to him.

"Not at all."

[Philemonite]

It doesn't take long for Jarod to get the upper hand, paying some attention to the hooded figure.
"You are just going to watch, aren't you? Let me give you something to analyze."
In a few quick slashes, Jarod manages to rip the shadow to shreds. As it dissipates into nothingness, Jarod turns towards the figure, with a strange grin on his face.
"I guess you lose this round."
"Your return does put a minor dent in our plans, we did not expect that. It is a good thing I can deal with any contingency. You will only be a slight bump in the road. Nothing more."

[Philemonite]

"So, you are the brains of the operation? Interesting. Since you are prepared to deal with any contingency I take it you have a special retreat in mind?"

"Because every villain needs to make a dramatic escape after his first encounter with the heroes? And it needs to be in a way that the heroes can not follow him, right? Then let's embrace the cliche then with a little smoke bomb, shall we?"

True to the cliche, the mysterious figure disappears behind a thick curtain of smoke, as if he was never there.

"We are done here. I will check on Lady Anabel once I get you back. Things just got complicated."