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un: strange / video
( Forward-dated to the 7th / during the Clawing. )
[ The image opens to a view of Alem from above and at great distance. It's an awkward angle, somewhere to the side of the great stone Citadel where a couple of the smaller merchant entrances open into the Crossing. The view dips and sways, wind howling across the network as the pendant that captures it sits against its wearer's chest, floating high in chill air.
Only this for a few seconds - and then the slow zoom of an approach until Alem is much larger and the small figures of people and their wares can be seen disappearing in through one of the more secluded merchant's gates, more figures closing them up behind. Another eerie stretch of nothing but the buffeting of wind and an unaware fortress, then hands raise into the forefront of the image. Precise white scars trail the backs of all the fingers and that's the last detail there is before everything happens too fast for detail.
Those hands move through two swift patterns and a pair of vibrant orange mandala burst into life. They crash together, spark, and huge angry bolts of raw magic leap from them, hot and bright as fire and travelling in violent arcs toward an unwitting target.
They strike the gate. An explosion.
From this distance, the sounds of screams and cries for action are difficult to separate from the screeching of the wind. The broadcast cuts dead. ]
( ooc: somebody got Clawed!! He's attacked one of the rear merchant's entrances of the Crossing, so there's no pressure for anyone who is frequenting the Crossing in general to have been caught up in the blast, but if you'd like for your characters to have been there to witness first hand when the spell struck/to have been hurt in the blast that is also A-OK! No obligation to tag into this post, but if you do have your character hurt please let me know here so I can keep track.
The majority of Stephen's replies will most likely come a few hours after the attack once he's fully released from the Claw, but if anybody would specifically like to reach him while he's still Clawed, hit me up oocly (the comment linked above works, or plurk/disco!) and we can do the thing. Otherwise, feel free to also use this post as a place for characters to talk amongst themselves! )
[ The image opens to a view of Alem from above and at great distance. It's an awkward angle, somewhere to the side of the great stone Citadel where a couple of the smaller merchant entrances open into the Crossing. The view dips and sways, wind howling across the network as the pendant that captures it sits against its wearer's chest, floating high in chill air.
Only this for a few seconds - and then the slow zoom of an approach until Alem is much larger and the small figures of people and their wares can be seen disappearing in through one of the more secluded merchant's gates, more figures closing them up behind. Another eerie stretch of nothing but the buffeting of wind and an unaware fortress, then hands raise into the forefront of the image. Precise white scars trail the backs of all the fingers and that's the last detail there is before everything happens too fast for detail.
Those hands move through two swift patterns and a pair of vibrant orange mandala burst into life. They crash together, spark, and huge angry bolts of raw magic leap from them, hot and bright as fire and travelling in violent arcs toward an unwitting target.
They strike the gate. An explosion.
From this distance, the sounds of screams and cries for action are difficult to separate from the screeching of the wind. The broadcast cuts dead. ]
( ooc: somebody got Clawed!! He's attacked one of the rear merchant's entrances of the Crossing, so there's no pressure for anyone who is frequenting the Crossing in general to have been caught up in the blast, but if you'd like for your characters to have been there to witness first hand when the spell struck/to have been hurt in the blast that is also A-OK! No obligation to tag into this post, but if you do have your character hurt please let me know here so I can keep track.
The majority of Stephen's replies will most likely come a few hours after the attack once he's fully released from the Claw, but if anybody would specifically like to reach him while he's still Clawed, hit me up oocly (the comment linked above works, or plurk/disco!) and we can do the thing. Otherwise, feel free to also use this post as a place for characters to talk amongst themselves! )
action! (Clawed.)
So when she assures him of her intent to do no harm, he believes her. No harm is inevitable. To him, like this, she is harmless.
Down he floats, lower and lower, until finally there's only a body length between himself and the ground. ]
You want to talk.
[ There's an edge of amusement to it. He's just put a hole in their fortress, and she wants conversation. ]
Go ahead. Talk.
no subject
Okay, I am going to ask you something. Please consider it seriously.
Are you in control? [ She has no game plan except to get him to look within himself. To recognize the dissonance between who he is and what he is doing. To scratch at that itch until he can somehow claw his way back. ]
no subject
Are you? [ She clearly thinks so, sure enough to come here asking him to look inward. But of the situation? No. She's wandered off the tracks now, and it's put her in the wilds. ] Go back. Help the ones you've tied yourself to.
[ He didn't come here to trouble foot soldiers. But if foot soldiers will continue to trouble him... ]
no subject
[ Yelena would love to answer yes, but the truth is more complicated than that. Sometimes she still has doubts. ]
It's hard to tell, isn't it? That's the thing about mind control. It blurs the line between your own thoughts and impulses and what you've been forced to do.
[ Perhaps if she pulls at enough threads, this man can begin to unravel himself from their enemy's grip. The controlled mind never asks why; it simply obeys. But people in control of themselves have distinct motivations. ]
Have you asked yourself why you're doing this?
no subject
It's a waste of time - both of their time. Dead merchants stay dead and he, who was done for the day with the task he'd been set on, is drawn ever closer to impatience.
(He doesn't think on the question. From here, mind still and set, his certainty still feels like his own.) ]
Go back. Now.
no subject
At least she tried. ]
Are you done?
[ She doesn't stand a chance against his magic but she also can't bring herself to leave. If he intends to keep going, she might at least slow him down. ]
no subject
[ The deadpan stare and the recent rampant destruction are grim prequels for that particular dry insinuation. He still has time to change his mind. ]
Will you go? Or should I help you.
no subject
[ This said with reluctant acceptance as she takes a few backwards steps. She would really love to wipe the floor with his smug face but that's a base impulse. Rationally, she can't blame him for how he behaves under Rathakku's control. ]
Find me when you're yourself again. I'm a pro at the mind control pep talk.
[ There is a defeated quality to her tone, born of regret and sympathy. Yelena has helped countless widows regain control; she knows how hard it is to come back to yourself and doesn't envy what's in store for this man. ]
no subject
He'll let her have it too. Instead of speaking an answer, the cloak around him billows and he begins to lift back into the air, two fingers lifted to his forehead in mock salute. And then, as raised fingers flick away to complete the gesture, he's gone. Vanished into clear, thin air. ]