[PQ+] Let the right one in

Hotaru

My ghost was lost to the grownup gallows

Hotaru curses to herself and transforms back to her human form, lunging for Talyson and the spider alike as she pulls an ice sphere from her pouch. Its radius of explosion is a bit of a pain for close quarters combat, but it would hopefully ensure that if the spider tried to skitter away again that it would be caught in the icy blast regardless.

Throwing her arm to the side to try and shove Tal back away from the spider as well as her sphere, Hotaru shatters it as close to the spider as she can get it while still trying to maintain distance enough to protect herself and Talyson from the blast.

- - -

Ru shifts back, tries to shove Talyson backward enough to use her ice sphere, and launches it at the spider hoping if it tries to move away it'll be caught in the 5ft radius.

Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded
Elemental Projectiles | A small bag with an unlimited supply of incredibly dense spheres of ice. Best when used with a slingshot, but can also be thrown. Explode upon impact in a 5ft radius. Will not melt while in the bag.

So I find my spirit in the bottle

He kept pushing the Ring's healing magic, scowling down at the pulsing purple veins and keeping his grip on Maea in spite of her struggles. "Sorry, fuck, sorry, just... just hang in there..." he muttered under his breath, a steady stream of reassurance and swearing as the Void infection began to slowly subside under his efforts.

He'd hoped that Hotaru could have distracted the spider, but he still felt the cutting lash of the arachnid's legs and flinched as it attacked him. He didn't stop what he was doing though, only letting out a louder curse and curling his body protectively over the Ancient in his arms.

He heard the rush of air through feathers and then the pressure of a hand on his shoulder and he obediently went limp, letting Ru push him away as he pulled Maea with him, making sure she ended up behind him before he wrestled his Dagger back out and glared at the spider.

Boreal, meanwhile, saw her chance and intended to use it. She'd watched the woman and her human spar often enough to recognize the icy sphere and she waited the extra heartbeat for the ice to spread out. Hopefully it would do some damage of its own before she dived and let loose a blast of fire breath at the spider from the safety of the air. Then she pulled up and flapped heavily to drag herself back up for another bombing run.

---

Tal lets Ru push him and Maea out of the way and uses his body - and armor - to shield Maea. He draws his Dagger in preparation of attacking next turn.

Boreal waits for Ru's attack to hit (or miss) and then does a fiery strafing run on the spider!

Type: Grey | Style: Defensive | Level: Mastered
Rockhide Vest | An armoured vest flecked in black and white and lined with cool, fur-like material. This item blocks physical damage. Requires a 2 post cool-down between uses.

The coldest blood runs through my veins

To Maea, it was like being dragged backwards out of a nightmare. Her mind still swam with the dredges of terror and illness even after the spread of infection was halted. Shadows lined the edges of her mind, crawling with twisted, unknowable things that made her twitch and whimper with fright. As Talyson pushed her down behind him, she lashed out with a burst of fire in freaked out response - butthankfully she was still too addled to aim and the flames scoured a very harmless patch of snowwy ground.

For such a seemingly easy target, the spider did a good job of keeping itself alive. It dodged Hotaru's attack once again and lashed out against Talyson a second time, while the elemental sphere erupted and scattered icy shards against the walls of nearby buildings. The spindly clawed legs tore through his coat but slid harmlessly off the Rockhide Vest.

Then Boreal swept down to take her vengence, and the spider scuttled off along the streetin an attempt to escape the fire. Not quickly enough, however; a thin screech issued from the Voidweaver as flame enveloped it - a foul reek of burning keratine spread in the air and the Spider appeared momentarily stunned. Though it was still alive.

---

Round 5

Hotaru missed
Talyson/Boreal hit
Maea missed

Spider attacks Tal and hit, armor absorbed all damage

Voidweaver Spider: 116,5/200 HP

Talyson: 480/500 HP
Hotaru: 228/228 HP
Maea: 135/135 HP

Boreal 50/50 HP

You know my name

Table by Skylark

How was one horrible little spider causing them all so much trouble?? There was fire and ice and more fire and the little fucker had the gall to try and scratch him again and Tal was just about fucking done with the Voidweaver running circles around them.

"Y'can fuck right off an' see how you like a nightmare!" He grumped at it, scowling his fiercest scowl and lashing out with his Dagger from a safe distance. "Ru, can't y'Compel it or somethin'?" he called to his friend as he focused on his own attack.

Boreal was busy gaining height and it took her some time to get her muscled mass high enough in the sky to catch an anemic Deepfrost thermal so she could circle and find her prey. She took the round to reposition herself, rather than risk getting stuck on the ground with the nasty little arachnid.

---

Tal tries to hit the Spider from a distance with his Dagger. He asks Ru if she can Compel the Spider!
Boreal spends her round pinpointing the Spider from above in the hopes of getting Advantage on her next attack maybe?

Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Special Delivery Dagger | A carefully crafted dagger veined with crimson markings, decorated with the foot of a blink hare. Upon making a stabbing motion in the air, the dagger may damage a target up to 30ft away from the user.

Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Honed by Nightmares | A curious silvery coating covers the Special Delivery Dagger. Causes extra physical damage at a Basic level.

Hotaru

My ghost was lost to the grownup gallows

Hotaru snarls, more feline than woman, infuriated by her continuous bad luck and inability to hit. Tal’s voice calling out to her only rankles even more given her last experience with continually missing with her favored weapon had been against the courier.

Admittedly she isn’t sure if her compulsion can work against something with a conscious or intelligence as minimal as a spider given she’s only utilized it against larger mammals, but it’s certainly stronger as one of her demigod abilities, so what could they lose? “Freeze,” she snarls, hoping it would allow the other attacks from her compatriots to land.

- - -

Ru uses her Compulsion to try and make the spider freeze so Maea and Tal’s attacks can land.

Magic: Compulsion | Outside of a KQ/PQ+, can influence a target within 10ft of her to do something they would realistically find themselves doing. In a KQ/PQ+, gives disadvantage against 1 target within 30ft. ((END+LUCK+d100 contested roll).
Type: Dark | Rank: Upgraded

So I find my spirit in the bottle

The coldest blood runs through my veins

Talyson's dagger finally landed a blow, just as Hotaru snarled out her command. The spider froze mid stride and screeched as a deep laceration carved into its body. Purple-black blood oozed onto the ground, and survival instinct strained against the compulsion to remain in one place.

While strength was returning to her body, Maea had continued trouble focusing properly. Shadows of terror made her twitch at things she thought she saw in the periphery of her vision, and though it would have been better to let her friends do the fighting until she regain composure, she couldn't bring herself to do nothing. It was only luck that made her miss her friends in her wild flailing; beneath the searing heat of her fire, snow was turning to slush.

---

Round 6

Talyson hits
Hotaru hits
Maea missed

Spider immobilized by Compulsion

Voidweaver Spider: 64/200 HP

Talyson: 480/500 HP
Hotaru: 228/228 HP
Maea: 135/135 HP

Boreal 50/50 HP

You know my name

Table by Skylark

"Yeah! See how you like it!" Tal grumped at the Spider as Hotaru's compulsion took hold. He remembered just how horrible it had felt to freeze, helpless and unable to defend himself when she had used it against him, and it was pettily satisfying to see it turned on something else this time. Something that had hurt Maea, scared the fuck out of all three of them, and definitely needed to be dealt with before it infected anyone else!

Maea's fire was uh. Not really... reassuring?? with how it was flying around, but the courier figured they could deal with that once the spider was ended. Feeling Boreal's impatience pressing against his thoughts, Tal waved at her with his free hand. "Fire comin' down!" he called to Hotaru in warning just before Boreal folded her wings and dove like a brick, pulling them open again a few dozen feet from the ground to turn her fall into a curving glide at high speed. She waited until she was almost on top of the Voidweaver before she let loose a stream of fire at it, swooping past and up again with a smoky burp.

As soon as she was clear, Tal stabbed at the Spider with his Dagger, moving into a long-distance flank of the nasty critter with Ru so it would have fewer directions to try and flee.

---

Boreal does another strafing run to use her firebreath at the spider!
Tal stabs it from a distance with his Dagger and then moves to flank it with Ru, staying ~15 feet away from it.

Type: Grey | Style: Offensive | Level: Mastered
Special Delivery Dagger | A carefully crafted dagger veined with crimson markings, decorated with the foot of a blink hare. Upon making a stabbing motion in the air, the dagger may damage a target up to 30ft away from the user.

Type: Dark | Style: Offensive | Level: Basic
Honed by Nightmares | A curious silvery coating covers the Special Delivery Dagger. Causes extra physical damage at a Basic level.

Hotaru

My ghost was lost to the grownup gallows

While Tal might remember the horror of falling beneath her compulsion, Hotaru can only be grimly pleased as the spider shrieks and screeches, viscous blood spraying out from Talyson's well-aimed attack. She would have lunged for it herself were it not for the courier's shouted warning, leaping backward to try and avoid Maea's flames and Boreal's nimble flight path.

With some more distance gained and Talyson on her flank in a maneuver that comes as natural to them as breathing after so many years sparring, Hotaru dips her hand into her bag again and launches another sphere with her bare fingers. She prefers to use her slingshot for them, but time is of the essence, and they're still in close enough quarters that she shouldn't need the extra distance. Now hopefully at least one of their attacks will land.

- - -

Hotaru jumps backward at Tal's warning and throws another ice sphere with her hand.

Type: Light | Style: Offensive | Level: Upgraded
Elemental Projectiles | A small bag with an unlimited supply of incredibly dense spheres of ice. Best when used with a slingshot, but can also be thrown. Explode upon impact in a 5ft radius. Will not melt while in the bag.

So I find my spirit in the bottle

The coldest blood runs through my veins

To say that Talyson dealt with the problem would be an understatement. The nightmare-honed dagger severed the spider in half, and a moment later a barrage of dragon fire incinerated the remains into a fine dust. It could be claimed that the only reason the two women missed was because there wasn't anything left to hit... if one were generous. Between Hotaru's ice projectile erupting against the far wall and another fireball flying wild from Maea's attempt at fighting off illusory threats, things just weren't going too great for them.

Speaking of Maea... she wasn't having a very good time at the moment. The lull that followed on the spider's demise only highlighted her distress. While the venom and the infection had been neutralized, the initial potency had rendered her in a state of utter terror, and the effects seemed slow to subside. Wild eyed and shaking from head to toe, she kept twisting this way and that where she sprawled on the ground, flinging fireballs at nothing even though the fight should have been over.

---

Round 7

Talyson Hits, killing the Voidweaver spider!
Hotaru missed
Maea missed

Voidweaver Spider: 0/200 HP

Talyson: 480/500 HP
Hotaru: 228/228 HP
Maea: 135/135 HP

Boreal 50/50 HP

Maea is in a state of panic and can't seem to tell friend from foe! She is throwing fireballs around - be careful not to get hit as you try to help her calm down.

You know my name

Table by Skylark

Hotaru

My ghost was lost to the grownup gallows

Damn, she really has to return to Frey to turn in her quest at this point or she's going to pull her hair out from frustration. Or perhaps she needs to change around her training schedule given she has different magic now. Regardless, Hotaru doesn't linger long on her failure once she's sure the spider is good and dead, mostly because Maea is suddenly their top priority.

Cursing colorfully, the Valkyrie holds up her reflective bracer as she hurries toward the other woman to deflect any fire coming her way as she maneuvers to get to Maea's side. Not only does her compulsion work better up close, but if it fails she can try to keep Maea pinned, even if it likely will make things worse for her mentally in the short-term. Ru is certain it would be worse if Maea came-to and realized she'd actually hurt one of them.

"Maea, hold still. It's okay, we're all okay." She isn't sure what effect the spider bite has on people, but clearly she's in some sort of panic so vague reassurances are all that Hotaru can provide.

- - -

Ru runs to Maea with her deflecting bracer held in position and tries to kneel down next to her and get hands on her/reassure her verbally that they're fine. No compulsion yet due to active use of her bracer for her action.

Type: Dark | Style: Defensive | Level: Upgraded
Ornate Leather Bracers | The wearer can, at will, redirect both magical and physical attacks. For magical attacks, can redirect them within 10ft. Physical attacks must be within melee range to be directed, and can then be redirected within 10ft. Hotaru still takes the damage of these attacks and redirects them at her ability-level.

So I find my spirit in the bottle

Boreal let out a bass carol of victory as her fire cleansed the Voidweaver from the streets of the Hollowed Grounds. By all rights there would be steak and cream for dinner tonight, at least in her bowl. Her human had helped a bit, sure, but the only way to be certain was with fire, and that made her the MVD of the day, didn't it?

In fact, she was winging around to land and accept the praise, accolades, scritches and general attention that was her due from the gathered humans when Tal's sharp mental warning sent her flapping back up and away in surprise. Maea, she of the handsome coloration and fine rack of horns, didn't seem to realize the battle was over and the dragon crooned worriedly from high out of reach.

Tal, on the other hand, knew exactly what Maea was going through. He'd experienced it himself, and more than once. It sucked, and it sucked even harder because she was throwing fireballs around, but Tal was confident in his ability to heal up any damage they happened to take in calming her down. Following Hotaru's lead, he trotted over to kneel down on the other side of her, attempting to give her an awkward pat on the shoulder. "It's just a nightmare, I promise," he tried to reassure her. "If y'can wake up you'll see it's fine now. You're safe. An' Boreal's worried about you. Will y'let her come down for pets?"

---

Tal follows Ru and tries to bribe Maea into calming down with the lure of dragon pets.

The coldest blood runs through my veins

It would be worse to hurt her friends. Much worse. But for all the good intentions Hotaru had, it was not the face of a friend that Maea saw when the golden haired woman approached her. It was overlaid with the echoes of something shadowed and monstrous, streaked through with purple and jet and twisting violently mere inches away from her nose. It was instinct and self preservation that kicked in when the figure grabbed her, and it was mere luck - and no doubt the Valkyrie's extensive experience - that prevented the fireball from landing dead in her face.

But land it did.

And maybe that was what finally snapped her out of the panic. Or Talyson's awkward shoulder pat accomplished more than anyone would have thought possible. Or - perhaps more likely - it was Boreal's worried croon that broke through the visual disruptions and caused the Ancient woman to grow still. Her breath labored to catch up, but her eyes cleared, seeking and finding the comforting sight of the white dragon coasting through the snow.

---

Round 8

Hotaru Crit fails
Talyson Crit succeeds

Maea attacks Hotaru and hits

Talyson: 480/500 HP
Hotaru: 184,5/228 HP
Maea: 135/135 HP

Boreal 50/50 HP

You know my name

Table by Skylark

Hotaru

My ghost was lost to the grownup gallows

She can't dodge this close, can only get her face out of the way, and her shriek of pain is loud and catlike as Komodo scales rush to her skin to prevent the burn from spreading, leaving her heaving for breath but still stubbornly hanging on to Maea's arm. The scales glint in the grey light of the snowy day, concealing the extent of the harm and minimally dulling the physical pain. Whether it's akin to a cornered animal hiding its wounds or some half-baked hope that neither Maea nor Talyson would realize the extent of it is unclear even to herself.

Maea finally falls still then, and Hotaru forces her hand to unclench and remove itself from the woman's arm to kneel on her own power instead of hanging tight to pale skin like a lifeline. "Are you with us Maea?" No time for coddling herself, not when she's uncertain where Maea's head is at and whether they can safely journey onward.

- - -

Ru talks to Maea to see if she's capable of continuing on.

So I find my spirit in the bottle

He couldn't see how much damage the fireball did through all the kerfluffle and then the scales, but then again Tal didn't need to see it. It was enough to hear his best friend's shriek of pain. He reached around behind Maea, his pat turning into an inadvertent half-embrace as he aimed to get his hand on Hotaru's wrist, pressing silver ring to flesh and pushing his will through it to Heal the Valkyrie before she could shift away from his clumsy attempt to patch her up before Maea realized the extent of what she'd done in the grip of nightmare.

Boreal didn't wait for further permission from her human. She landed with a heavy whump in the snow and trotted over to shove her head under Maea's hand, offering warm scales and rough tongue that attempted to wash the Ancient's face in concern.

"Hey! Stop that!" Tal scolded her gently, pushing her muzzle down with exasperation born of worry for both of his friends as he looked between them, unsure of what was needed but offering his presence until they figured it out.

---

Tal attempts to Heal Hotaru with his Ring of Mending and Boreal comes down to join Maea for pets!

Type: Light | Style: Other | Level: Mastered
Ring of Mending | A silver ring imprinted with gold, as if it has been kissed. Capable of delivering Mastered Healing to one target of the wearer's choosing.