burn your kingdom down

I can give you freedom from your guilt with a flick of my wrist

So perhaps killing is off the table for the moment. Does that stop Nephele?

Oh, certainly not.

You see, there is far more damage that can be done against the Ascended than simply culling the herd. Humans are complex creatures after all. Mortal, squishy, fearful...easily manipulated. Ironic then, that what she is planning? She considers it to be for their long term benefit.

Nephele has explored the entirety of the Grounds you see. And now she is a practiced hand at concealing her wings beneath a traveler’s cloak, appearing as any other diminutive, nutritionally-stunted Grounder; once her flaming hair is suitably darkened to a plain brown once more with clay and expertly braided around her crown to conceal even the length of it.

She watches and waits patiently until curiously enough, the leaders depart in a group. And when night falls, Nephele acts.

Her rucksack is filled to the brim, and she boldly steps into the Temple with a prayer to Ludo seeking aid in her mission. Using her illusion magic, she raps her knuckles on the Infirmary door, and mimics a muffled voice calling for her to enter. Of course, there is nobody inside.

Once she enters, Nephele swiftly drops her bag and wedges a chair underneath the door handle. Working quickly, she pulls the prepared items from the rucksack. Fae are creatures of nature after all, and Nephele knows all the best fire starters in the Greatwood; old man’s beard moss, tar and sap from the pine family, birch wood, pinecones which work as long-burning embers. And the icing on the cake?

The last few remaining droplets of Robin’s Ascended fluid.

She lines the edges of the baseboards with the moss and pine cones, circling the entire room. Then she shoves the furniture to the outer sides; ruining the walls and structural supports is most important, and furniture is quite flammable with its stuffing and dried, untreated wood. Removing the blockade from the door, she drops the fluid onto the moss, and pulls out her flint and steel to strike the match. If it catches, she plans on slipping out through the door and closing it behind her to let the fire blaze unnoticed; and hopefully disappear into the night, holding her cloak in her arms to hide in the night sky.

- - -

Nephele is attempting to burn down the infirmary!

Plan:
- Concealment: crown-braided hair coated in clay, a travelers cloak hiding her wings, working at night during the Prince KQ, using her illusion magic to make it sound like another person is in the infirmary who she’s meeting with for supply drop off

- Actions: barricading the entrance, praying to Ludo if they decide to help (lol)

- Materials: Ascended fluid obtained from Robin here: fear the fae, moss/pine tar/pine cones, flint and steel striker, utilizing the infirmary beds and linens and using strategic placement to burn the walls and supports

- Escape Plan: leave calmly closing the door behind, removing and holding her travel cloak to fly up high out of sight before leaving

I can give you death with the look upon my face

Clever, clever. The infirmary is housed within the Temple, which is itself stone. The interior though? Oh, that is quite capable of being burned. Isla and two patients are within the clinic. It is easy enough for Nephele to sneak inside, wedging a chair beneath the door. However as she begins to spread the ascended fluid and tar, Isla hears a sound (read: even with advantage Nephele rolled terribly). Just as she drops the first spark and one of the beds roars to fiery life, the medic leaves one of her patients and seeks out the source of the noise... Nephele, do you continuing lighting fires? Do you hide? Run? Other? Isla, upon discovering the blaze, do you try and put it out? Save the patients? Run? Other? If you would like your character to try and intervene, pop a note in your admin-chat! Wessex/Peter/Sam/Sunjata are currently KQ locked and cannot join. You have 24 hours to reply or your actions IC will be rolled with disadvantage. Please post a summary of all actions taken/items/shifts/upgrades/etc used.

I can give you freedom from your guilt with a flick of my wrist

The patients matter little to Nephele. The Ascended...

Well, like she said. Killing is off the table.

Instead she dives for the next bed and the pine tar there, striker wielded like a sword. Only now she pulls Ludo’s rags over her face, both for the smoke and to conceal her features all the more. What matters is the fire, and though her chakrams are still ever-present at her wrists to defend herself if the Ascended tries to fight, what matters more is the fire.

Though she does try to use her illusion magic to mimic the sound of faint alarm from the patients, perhaps a noise of pain. Something to distract the medic while Nephele tries to encourage the fire to burn. (By hand unless her magic counts from the drop timeline-wise)

- - -

Nephele hides her face with Ludo’s Rags and tries to set the next big bed on fire. Uses her illusion magic to mimic a faint sound of pain from the patients; she also has her chakrams on her wrists.

Base Illusion: Can create minor sensory effects within a 5ft radius
Type: Grey | Rank: Basic

Type: Dark
Ludo's Rags | A shawl made of pitch dark, lightweight material. The wearer will not feel cold or the effects of the cold, regardless of the temperature. You look spooky.

Type: Dark
Lasracha | A pair of chakrams. The outer rim of these throwing discs are sharpened to a razor's edge, and glint with a curious crimson. Imbued with fire, they burn as well as they cut.

I can give you death with the look upon my face

Nephele is successful in coaxing the flames around her to grow. To Isla's ears it will sound as though patients in the room next room are crying out in pain. Nearly 50% of this room is now engulfed in flames. If the fae continues, she might find herself trapped. This accounts for 15% destruction of the Infirmary.

The patients matter little, and yet killing is off the table? Something does not add up here. Isla’s patients are all very much human, and very susceptible to smoke inhalation and death, and whilst she has no idea how this fire has broken out, she is very much inclined to stop it. Unflappable as usual, but with a note of urgency about her movements, she has isolated the two patients to keep them as far from the fire as possible, dousing the curtains around their beds with water and ensuring they have something to cover their faces against the smoke. Isla tries to protect her patients from the fire! ISLA pray for me pray to me

Both patients are now covering their faces with rags as smoke from the attached room where Nephele is, begins to pour in from beneath the door. The curtains that separate their beds are now drenched with water.

I can give you freedom from your guilt with a flick of my wrist

The Ascended runs for her patients, and Nephele’s mind clicks away, considering. Nobody has emerged fully yet, and that gives her an opportunity. The flames are licking away, growing larger by the moment, and Ludo’s Rags may protect her from the cold but they certainly don’t from fire. Time is running out, but her identity has not been forsaken.

So she makes a very risky choice.

Using her illusion one last time if she can to make a loud distracting sound behind Isla, she spins immediately and darts for the doorway - counting on the rags’ blackness and her raised hood to lend a vagueness to her form even if Isla does spot her retreating. Past the doorway she turns sharply and throws her cloak off to stuff in her bag, ripping her braid out and shaking it out to reveal the red that wasn’t surface-coated with clay. “FIRE!” she shouts at the temple goers, and then - face revealed, hair down, wings out and looking entirely different (or so she prays) she races back inside.

“Who is in here?!” she yells past the crackling that even through the wall is a cacophony of sound. There is only one way to get to the humans - through the wall or back through the fire. But at least she can say she ‘tried’.

If she can help get the patients out, perhaps the infirmary will continue to burn while they move them, and no humans will be lost. And surely the helper would not have caused the fire.

- - -

Nephele runs out the door and to the side and does an appearance-switcheroo then runs in to help Isla move the patients.

I can give you death with the look upon my face

Those gathered in the large hall run for the door and into the darkness outside to escape the threat of flames. Meanwhile, the room Nephele originally set ablaze is now burning merrily. The door leading to the room Isla is in is now fully engulfed, and at least 1/4 of the space is filled with smoke. As Nephele returns to the room she set ablaze, magic and persistence get her about 1/4 of the way before the fire blocks her path. Magic might work, with enough time. But is an ascended worth it? Neph: 35/42 HP This accounts for 25% total damage to the infirmary. If you would like your character to try and intervene, pop a note in your admin-chat! Wessex/Peter/Sam/Sunjata are currently KQ locked and cannot join. You have 24 hours to reply or your actions IC will be rolled with disadvantage. Please post a summary of all actions taken/items/shifts/upgrades/etc used.

ludo Braved the forests, braved the stone Braved the icy winds and fire Braved and beat them on my own Well, well, well. Isn’t this lovely. Only, it’s a nasty way to go, fire. And very frightening too. Cant have that, not for two unsuspecting patients just trying to recover while the gods and monsters do their work. So Ludo does what Ludo does best. He blesses the patients with a boon - a Lullaby to sing them to their rest. Ludo has dropped Remi into the room with the patients. Remi will not be able to see Isla.

the tightrope that i'm walking just sways and ties,
the devil as he's talking with those angel's eyes

It's a scratch against his spine that makes his eyes snap shut. It's cold and smells of winter, and as Remi looks around the familiar room in the infirmary, his fingertips itch as if having recently been numb.

Two pairs of eyes look up at him, smoke already choking their lungs. Someone has placed wet rags over their faces, but the strips of cloth will do little to save them from the flames that snarl outside their door.

"Hallo." Remi says simply, sweetly, his actions unhurried by the danger that lurks. Sinking down onto one of the beds, the Lullaby reaches out a hand for the man who has suffered a broken leg and fractured pelvis from a hunting accident. With a warm smile, he reaches for the man's hand. As he does so, half of the infirmary seems to bloom to life, making it appear as though they're in the thicket of a wood. "Shhh, do you hear the deer?" He wants to know. The man nods, his eyes suddenly shining as he gazes at the illusory creature over Remi's shoulder.

It's then that the Lullaby strikes.

---

Remoodle kills patient 1.

THE ALCHEMIST

but i just want to be there when the lightning strikes
& the saints go marching in

A lot of things happen at once. Isla hears a voice through the smoke, but there’s already a garish glow coming from beneath the door - her only exit. ”I’m in here with two patients!” she calls - and then Remi appears. Her heart leaps into her throat, but it’s like she isn’t there at all. Indeed, as he sits upon the bed an expression of horror twists across her face. ”No, Remi! There’s got to be another way—” But for the first of her patients, there is no other way. It’s far too late, and Isla finds herself seeing Remi in a new light both wonderful and ghastly. ”There’s no way out! We are the only ones in here, run!” she calls back to the voice, not wanting to put anyone else in danger. ”Remi? We have to go.” ISLA pray for me pray to me

The room Isla is in, is now engulfed in 50% smoke. Remi will not be able to hear her, but outside if she listens carefully, Nephele will hear about the roar and crackle of the flames.

I can give you freedom from your guilt with a flick of my wrist

In a way, Nephele respects the woman inside for her selflessness. For remaining, for trying. For encouraging the Fae she doesn’t know is her attempted murderer to save herself. “I’ll get water!” she shouts instead, though she will surely take her time doing so.

But her skin is already scorched, and she backpedals quickly out of the flames, not hiding the hiss that contorts her face. It’s a better facade than the pleasure that wants to emerge.

Now she has clear physical proof she tried to help. What’s a little pain when that is her reward?

Nephele backs away further into the Temple main, waving her good arm to hurry along the few nighttime patrons out the door if they linger or try to intervene. She may not love humans, but she doesn’t detest them the way she does Ascended. It’s fortuitous she has trapped one at all when she had only intended to burn the rooms themselves. “Does anyone have water magic?” she calls as she hovers up above the crowd, a suspended angel wearing a facade of helpfulness.

- - -

Nephele backs out of the infirmary, saying she’ll get water. She asks the crowd if anyone has water magic.

I can give you death with the look upon my face

The crowd has all but fled given the fae's warnings. Of those who remain, none are abandoned and of the remaining ascended, none have syphoned water magic available.