Anime Urban Fantasy MkII IC

[Elfbird]

It's the night of Tanabata. Fireworks flash against the stars, their thunder punctuating the echo of voices rising from the lantern-lit streets. Some festivals are starting to wind down, while others will be in full swing for hours to come. The city's whole atmosphere seems giddy with excitement and magic.

Claire's bakery is fairly light on customers tonight, given the overabundance of festival foods, but makes for a cozy haven away from the bustle of the fairgrounds. The front windows offer a perfect view of the fireworks over the skyline.

Which means those watching also have a perfect view of the "firework" that descends on the rooftop a few streets over, a ball of ethereal golden light, which is promptly swarmed by dozens of shadowy non-shapes. The radiant sphere shreds the shadows into nothingness, first by the score, then in twos and threes, until they finally overwhelm and enshroud it. It's clear that the struggle continues even then, judging by the darkness shaking and pulsing like a plate of warm gelatin.

9 Shards occupy a 15ftx15ft square in the middle of a 50ftx50ft flat rooftop. The center one is grappling an unknown entity. They are not flat-footed.
The rooftop is 40ft off the ground, 15ft above and 10ft away from the adjacent rooftops, and ~300ft away from Claire's bakery - initiative won't start until you arrive on the scene.
Distances will be arbitrary, favoring the PCs; laying out numbers at first to help define the battlefield.

AC 18, touch 10, flat-footed 14, CMD 23
130 HP
Fort +10, Ref +7, Will +9

Let's see how this triple-action combat system works! Use these stats to determine the results of your actions and narrate accordingly; should be much faster than waiting for confirmation from me. You can roll however you like as long as it's properly random.

Shinobu: 29 (crit)
Penryna: 29 (noncrit)
Kiyotaka: 17
Riko: 16
Kimi: 15
Claire: 9

Shards: 8

[Recherché]

It might not be a night of any real astrological significance but it is a beautiful one Kimi thinks as she packages up her sweets and readies to head home.

Have a great night guys! Unless any of you need a ride home or to one of the-

Kimi takes a quick look around the café to ensure that none of the patrons are mundanes before sticking the manju into hammerspace and grabbing the Harmonies out. As she opens the book she lets its magic spill over her replacing her street clothes and bleaching her hair and eyes white and blue.

Anyone else know what those are? The now winged girl asks the bakery before flying over.

Are you sure you want to intervene when you don't even know who the sides are?

Please stop fighting or I will make you stop. And that will not be pleasant for you. Kimi repeats in every languages she can formulate the words in.

When the shadows fail to respond and she sees the shapes of allies coming over the singer instead pulls on the magic of the book begins to weave the powers of the stars into a song. As her power gathers Kimi begins to glow eventually becoming a miniature sun floating up in the sky above the battle. Once gathered she uses the power to pull on the time streams of the shadows below her before forming a portion of her magic into a shield of light before expanding the shield and hopefully giving the ball of light enough space to get out

Brilliant Dawn and Eternal Moment numen will already be up
Move 1: Fly over to above the battle
Move 2: Start Performance +2 Competence to attack roll and damage
Standard 1: Blazing Radiance: Lvl 4 Major Brilliant Dawn formula: +2 Morale on attacks and +2d6 damage for all allies. Kimi also lights up the area like daylight and any enemy that can get within 10 ft of Kimi while she's floating will need to make a DC 20 fort save vs blindness
Standard 2: Slow [roll0] will vs DC 19 or lose one action, halve movement speed and -1 penalty on attack rolls, AC, and Reflex saves. Kimi will be hitting all of the battle participants with this. She's not sure who's in the right yet and just wants the fight to stop
Standard 3: Shining Barrier: Lvl 2 Major Surging Spirit formula: Take 1/2 damage for next 3 attacks or 3 rounds and +1 AC. This'll be on the ball of light assuming that she can target it at all (if she can't then she also can't hit it with the slow)
Swift 1: Liberating command (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/l/liberating-command) on the ball of light (once again assuming I can target it) This will let the ball immediately make an escape artist check at +20 to get free of any effects that are binding, grappling or otherwise restraining it.

At the end of the round everyone who considers themselves Kimi's ally will have +7 to hit, +3+2d6 to damage, +3 to initiative and uncanny dodge

Also music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L72e7OgW5j8)

[NekoIncardine]

Penryna's visit to the bakery of her friends and savior had been relatively quiet - a place to enjoy Tanbata quietly. Or that had been the goal.

And then came the odd light. And then Kimi transforming. Penryna sighed, standing up with a chuckle. "Well, I guess that's a cue," she observed, as she stepped behind a booth and rapidly changed her clothes. "Someone please, remind me to work on a real transformation later."

By the time she'd stepped out, maybe ten seconds later, Penryna had a black hoodie, mask, sweatpants, gloves, and tennis shoes on, covering her from head to toe and really not showing off her appearance at all. The only color visible was her blue eyes, and a gold-wire lattice over her left forearm, ending on the back of her hand.At least Riko and Claire had seen this improvised 'conceal your identity' getup before... Clearly, Penryna had not thought to fix that since then. This would not be surprising, given how the Succubus spent, frankly, a terrifying amount of time on the Internet and in libraries.

"Gotta work my way up to 'sexy magical girl'. I mean, seriously."

And then, she twitched, dark, batlike wings forming on her back as she launched after Kimi, landing on the rooftop near the shadows.

---

While Kimi started to work her magic, Penryna observed the creatures, letting her power attempt to read their thoughts...


... "The shadows aren't exactly alive. Neither's the light. Be cautious on both, but the light seems... At least benevolent in intent?"

And then Kimi started to cast her magic, and Penryna nodded, raising the latticed hand out and speaking, an aura forming around the hand... "Be trapped in the power of Inescapable Nightmares!", she shouted, creating a wave of pale light over the entire group of shadows, burning one towards the back of the group and trying to lock them all into a sleep-like state and keep them from doing anything useful.

As the others arrived, she proceeded to use a different art, the aura around her hand turning a light purple... "My friends, time is with you! Warped Minutes!"

And, eenie meenie miney moe... Another of the shadows in the back row was smacked with a quick blast of blue force. Hopefully that'd knock it right on its butt, or maybe even off the roof entirely!

It was a start.

Rolls and action crunches are here and here:
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20986320&postcount=41
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=20986330&postcount=42



Total buffs between Kimi and Penryna's actions:
+8 to hit, +2d6 to damage, +1 AC, +1 Reflex, +3 to initiative, +15' to all movement speeds, and uncanny dodge.

[The_Admiral]

"Any of you lazy asses want to help me get the dough ready for tommorow, it would make the exorbiant rates I pay you at worth something!?" Claire shouts from the kitchen, she needed to get it ready so that it would be ready to be thrown into the oven the next morning.

She steps out of the kitchen, wearing an apron and carrying two trays full of dough balls, just in time to see Kimi leap into battle.

She sighs, setting down the trays as she pecks her wife on the cheek, saying, "dear, I think we should jump in, this looks dangerous."

At Riko's agreement, Claire retrieves a pendant from her apron pocket, tossing it into the air to release its radiance. It forms into a spear and she snatches it before it hits the ground.

Newly transformed she leaps into battle, midair, her spear glows, a beam of light rending the creatures as she approaches them, she lands next to the ring of creatures surrounding the bright light, delivering a swift three strikes to two of them.


Sorry morc making some assumptions.

Enter

Okay, using 2 move actions to actually get into combat range

Power Imbue Dust Sundering 2

Opening fire with

Power Beam 5 Horizon
Damage
[roll0]
DC 23 for half hit as many as them as possible without touching the thing they're attacking.

Entering combat range with another move action

Attack 2 of them with Scything Strike

[roll1]
[roll2]+[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]+[roll6]
Ac drops by 2 when hit

The first hit should blast 3 of them, the second hit two, and the third finish off one of them, hopefully.

[JigokuKensai]

"W-what? A permit? Hey, it's Tanabata we're all here to have fun. I'm just trying to sell some candied apples. Oh come on!"

Luckily, he was able to get away with a warning due the nature of the holiday.

And with that, looks like Shinobu's festival was already over, perhaps he could spend the rest of the evening relaxing at Claire's.

Or at least that's what he thought, until he saw a glowing golden light over by a nearby rooftop, which was then appeared to be enveloped by a swarm of shadows. Of course the real kicker was when he saw Kimi-senpai and the rest fly over.
Ya, of course something's going on
Shinobu unraveled a length of cloth that was wrapped around his forearm, and tied it over his head like bandana. He then reached within his summer jinbei and as if from the void of space, grabbed a katana and a black mask, which he swiftly put on.
The mask was composed of 2 primary parts, a mouth guard and a visor that covered over the forehead and eyes of its wearer.
"Let's get to work"

With inhuman like swiftness, Shinobu began to scale up the building in a matter of a few jumps, before reaching the rooftop with a final somersault."Sorry I'm late to the festival"
The light of various magic being cast rests softly on Shinobu's form. "And it looks like you've already set off some fireworks... I'm a bit jealous that I missed the moment."
He focuses his attention on the shadows attempting to envelop the source of the golden light in the center. "Of course it seems as if we've got some rowdy festival goers harassing the main event."
He readies his stance. "So allow me the honor of doing some clean up!"

In a single bound Shinobu places himself in front of the shadows and draws his blade to strike in the dead center with three swift blows, the final strike causing a violent dispersion of the black mass.
Using the momentum of the last strike, Shinobu continues second volley of blows to an adjacent shadow, spinning around twice, slicing with his blade with each rotation.
On a third rotation, he attempts to knock the enemy down with a spinning hook kick, but loses balance from the excessive spinning, leaving Shinobu crouching on the floor.
Catching himself from his error, he changes directions and sweeps the shadowy form from beneath. As the shadow falls, Shinobu rises up, bisecting the shadow with an upward slash that ends back inside Shinobu's sheath.
He then clears the way, rounding about the corner of the shadowy masses, as it attempts to reach at Shinobu with no avail.

The preface was meant to be a lot longer, but sort of on a schedule, and I really want to make sure this game keeps moving and doesn't slow down. I'll probably edit in some changes in the near future

[Morcleon]

Riko grins back at Claire, setting down the plates she had in her hand. "Yeah, yeah. Meet you there?"

She takes a deep breath, hands sweeping out in a wide circle. A glowing aura surrounds her body and coalesces into clothing and accessories, each flashing into existence with luminous power. Settling down after her transformation, Riko dashes off after her wife, soaring through the air to a nearby rooftop. "Okay hon, I'm gonna pull some away from you and destroy them first."

Pointing her staff at the mass of shadows, she twirls it in an arc, three rings of magical runes expanding in front of her. [color=deepskyblue]"Power from above, strike my enemies! Lucent Chains~!" The rings snap in on themselves, three blazing gold lines of light lashing out and snagging three of the dark shadows.

Full-round: Assemble device and weapon, currently with Resplendent and Weightless.

Full-round: Run action toward the rooftop.

Swift: Evoke Radiant Clarity, gaining +6 Int (also results in +6 AC, +3 saves, +3 illumination/spellshape DC).

Swift: Shape Searing Mirage, creating a major image of several knights surrounding the shards in an intimidating manner, mostly acting just to keep them corralled. Any who disbelieve take damage and are dazed for 1 round (DC 26 Will half/negates dazed).
Damage: [roll0] fire/untyped9 Will saves, use as many as needed.
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]
[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]

Swift: Shape Figment of Light, creating several mirror images around Riko for 3 rounds.
Images: [roll10]

Standard: Evoke Lucent Chains, pulling the shadow grappling the ball of light 50ft toward her and two others, prioritizing those threatening Claire. All three fall prone at the end of the pull.
RTA 1 (grappler): [roll11]
Damage: [roll12] radiant

RTA 2: [roll13]
Damage: [roll14] radiant

RTA 3: [roll15]
Damage: [roll16] radiant

HP: 61/61

Buffs:
- Radiant Clarity: 2 rounds
- Figment of Light: 2 rounds

[RdMarquis]

Kiyotaka had to content himself with sprinting down the stairs, down three streets and climbing to where the battle was unfolding. Which made the trip sound tougher than it was. Between his athleticism and a little time manipulation magic, he had caught up to the others in less than a minute (outpacing a car on the way). No transformation sequences for him, either. Kiyotaka merely removed his sword from its bag and drew it. He had to find a way to make that suit of armor easier to put on...

There was a brief moment of hesitation before he waded into the melee. He didn't know the circumstances behind this fight. For all he knew, the shadow creatures were pursuing a hated enemy. "Hey," he asks the others. "Any chance these guys could be convinced to return to their corners?" Though, considering the ball of light had been engulfed, that wouldn't be possible without forcing the horde away from it.

The world slows around Kiyotaka as he surges forward. He stabs at the nearest shadow creature, the strike carrying it off its feet and into the air. An eyeblink later, Kiyotaka appears behind his target, delivering a flurry of slashes. The creature leaves cracks on the rooftop as it lands.

[Elfbird]

The six of you easily dismiss the shadows, blasting and shredding them back into the night. They go without sound nor trace.

What remains of the angel's glow is easily eclipsed by Kimi's light, but it still seems to be alive in spite of the numerous black cracks and holes in its porcelain skin. It rises to stand an impressive seven or eight feet tall, though its presence is somewhat diminished by its current state.
"Targets eliminated. Terminating combat protocols... Combat systems disengaged. Warning: damage critical. Engaging auto-restoration systems... Error: healing functions offline. Error: flight capabilities offline. Error: multiple systems failure. Activating mortal integration mode... Engaging social drive..."

With a sudden flash, the towering angel reduces itself to the form of a young blonde-haired girl, about 12 years old, wearing a flowing white gown. There's a few loud ratcheting sounds before the wings properly fold and disappear.
The angel-girl next speaks with a natural voice for its appearance, light and airy with a tone of puzzlement.
"Are you the ones who... rescued me...?"
She then collapses in the arms of the nearest person, apparently unconscious.

On the far side of the roof, two puffs of smoke reveal two humanoid figures, smartly dressed in old-fashioned pinstriped suits. There's a tall, skinny fellow with spectacles and a matching hat, clapping slowly as he approaches. Behind him trudges the short, stocky brute who looks as if a troll sat on his face and hasn't gotten up yet. Both of their skins have a distinctly reddish tinge not native to human ethnicities.
They're clearly devils, and clearly don't mind you knowing it. Lawful Evil Outsiders, generally in the business of collecting souls and sowing corruption in whatever form possible. Love making contracts, and will follow them to the letter - twisting that letter to their own ends as much as possible.

"Well done, well done!" the skinny one applauds, his voice slightly nasal. "That was quite the fireworks display! And quite the... prize."
He eyes the angel with thinly-veiled covetousness, but doesn't seem inclined to do anything to take it from you now.
"Ah, but where are my manners? You may call me Mr. Klein, and this is my good associate Mr. Hobbs. Those creatures you so valiantly fought off are called Shards - fragments of human consciousness that became lost and corrupted without a mind to house them. That angel there is one of many who are appointed to the space between worlds, watching over humanity in the absence of their masters. As for my employers and I... consider us investors in humanity's great future.

"But let us not ruin this festive night with talk of business. We merely stopped by to introduce ourselves after admiring your performance. You all seem quite well versed in the secret workings of this mortal plane, beyond the sight of the mundanes; I pray not to offend by asking, but might there be any questions we can help with before going on our merry way? Free of charge, of course," Mr. Klein throws Penryna a wink of mutual understanding.

[Recherché]

Kimi lets the light around her fade still not sure that she did the right thing in this fight. What in all the heavens is this “angel” and what were the shadows? The appearance of the two men doesn’t help matters at all; the bad vibes coming off of them are so overwhelming that she can’t even focus on what they’re saying. It isn’t till they’re finished with their pitch that the reason why hits her though.

Devils.

I’m sorry but as a policy I don’t deal with creatures composed of elemental Evil. Well except Penny. Kimi quirks her lips slightly at that before continuing. Whatever it is you’re trying I want no part in it. Now why don’t you go back home to hell before I make you do so. Kimi’s voice waivers between perfectly calm, polite and collected and a hint of menace.

Turning away from the two men the singer moves to address the group instead.

Once I’ve tried to heal her a little I’m going to head back home and raid my family’s records to see if they have any hints on this issue. Riko, do you want to gather up your books and then research party tonight for anyone who wants to help out?

Kimi will be vital raying the angel until she wakes up and feels better, or it’s plain that healing her isn’t having an effect or it looks like it’s hurting her. It’s 4d6 hp each time and she can keep doing it as long as needed.

[NekoIncardine]

Penryna scarcely had time to catch her breath before her muscles tensed at the presence of two obvious devils. Even now, freed from her darkest impulses and generally leaning towards the 'good' side of things, she remembered the lessons of her 'youth' - to never trust a Devil's word, and always assume they had another trick up their sleeve.

"Please don't compare me to them," Penryna said towards Kimi, clearly just about ready to attack them, but not quite making a move. A quick telepathic buzz to Kimi told her: Sounds like a good plan to me.

[The_Admiral]

Claire catches the girl, and proceeds to ignore the two devils. "Dear, can you handle these jokers without me? I think she needs some looking after." she /says/ to Riko before leaping off the building the former angel in arms.


Gonna tuck the angel in. and probably make adoption jokes :P

[Morcleon]

"Yeah, sure! If you find something you want me to look for in particular, just text me or something." Riko waves to Kimi, then grins at her wife, resting her staff on her shoulder with a silent chuckle. "Of course, darling. You just get her to safety."

She walks up to face the devils and tilts her head to the side with a smirk. "Oh really? And why would you do that, I wonder..."

[JigokuKensai]

Shinobu placed his sheathed katana to rest on his shoulder, retaining a firm grip on its handle.
"You say you don't want to talk of business, but I can't say we all feel the same."
He scoffed and put on a smirk beneath his mask, "To be put it blunt, what are you two up to this evening?"

[RdMarquis]

The phrase, "The first one is free" came to mind. Kiyotaka wondered if there was some kind of private joke the devils weren't letting anyone else in on, considering how they were dressed like movie depictions of themselves. "Here's one. Why the offer? You didn't stop by just to talk, I'm sure." It occurred to him that an answer might come free of charge, but a truthful and complete answer was probably another matter entirely.

[Elfbird]

Once Kimi's healing builds up a bit, the unconscious angel seems to relax in Claire's arms - just like she's a child peacefully asleep. She probably just needs some bedrest before waking up again.



The devils are about to leave under Kimi's threats, when Mr. Klein catches the hooks Shinobu and Kiyotaka offer. His eyes glint with a mix of amusement and greed, and his tone is lighthearted.
"Asking after our personal affairs, are we? Well, nothing is without its price... perhaps an eye, or part your true name, in exchange for the juicy details of our itinerary this evening?" He arches an eyebrow toward Shinobu.

"I see nothing slips by your acute senses," he nods toward Kiyotaka and Riko. "No chance of a clean getaway now, is there? Ah, it cannot be helped - I did promise to answer some questions, after all. The fact of the matter is, our present employer is very interested in retaining the protective services of capable individuals such as yourselves, and has paid handsomely for my associate and I to assist their scouting efforts - given our unique perspective on the supernatural, you see."

"The reason? Perhaps you've caught wind of recent rumors circulating certain corners of the Internet regarding the Tower of Babel? It seems some most curious relics have come to light... but perhaps I've said too much; it could just as well be a childish hoax. Quite the wonderful invention, that 'Photoshop' you have..."

"But if you'll pardon us, we really must be going - we're not being paid to simply chitchat the night away, as pleasurable as your company has been. If you'd like lend your services, or discuss terms with our employer directly, here's a card. And wish your little angel a merry Tanabata from us!"

With those last words, the two devils explode like firecrackers! When you cease being blinded, a small white business card rests on the rooftop where Mr. Klein had stood, along with a paper purse containing (if anyone is brave enough to look inside) four gold koban coins worth 9,000gp each.
Paper purses are traditional Tanabata decorations for good business.
Koban coins symbolize good luck and fortune, as well as being valuable historical artifacts. These ones would sell for ~$4,000 each, but you also know how to draw out the latent magic/energy/what-have-you from such objects to enhance your equipment or craft new things - that's where the GP value comes in.

You also know that the numbers 4 and 9 are considered unlucky. 4 sounds the same as "death" (shi) and 9 the same as "suffering" (ku) in Japanese. It's uncertain whether the devil knew this and employed those numbers deliberately, or if it's simply the natural inclination of their magics to produce unlucky results.



When Claire returns home and takes the angel to a bed... she finds the room littered with books taken from the shelves and carelessly tossed about. Lying on the bed, legs kicking idly in the air, is a little pixie - about as long as your forearm, with iridescent skin and butterfly wings - engrossed in a book on confectionery.

[NekoIncardine]

Penryna looks more than a little annoyed by this... But after a quick check of the items, she'd grab one of the coins. "Well, they're well-funded. But that's standard devil behavior, of course. They don't go anywhere without a bevy of resources."

She, of course, was more than a little aware of the hypocrisy of her own arrival - where she'd been loaded up with magical power and items, which faded the instant she was defeated. Still...

"Back to the bakery, I guess?"

[The_Admiral]

Claire sighs, angel still in arms, she clears her throat rather itritatedly "excuse me"