Bittersweet Candy Bowl

((Jesus, there is just no standard for the quality of heroes these days&hellip)

Dave is begins coughing from the smoke and when he looks downward he catches sight of the Sword of Light. He immediately picks it up and dashes after Lieselott.

Wait Lieselott we need to stick with the group!

Coughing from the thick smokescreen, he grabs the two people closest to him and exits the veil for some fresh air.

….Is everyone alright?

Hearing Dave’s scream.

Damnit, splitting up is exactly what they want.

Everyone stick together, I’m going after them!

Can be heard in the distance

“For the moment everyone needs to vacate the area of the smoke cloud and inhalation could be detrimental to your health.”

Says McCardell

((Sean = Hypocrite IMO))

Delilah’s eyes widen as she sees the bandits in front, with Lord Makar being assaulted, she starts forward, but as the strange warrior wraps his hands around the knight’s neck, she stops, bumping into Dave’s broad back.

Makar! *she yells loudly, watching wide-eyed as the bandit strangles him* Someone, please… help him! *she shouts, but it is too late by this point, as just as the warriors begin towards the bandit a huge cloud of smoke appears in front of him*

Noooo….

When Dave rushes off into the smoke, she tries to follow him before being grabbed around the waist by Sean and carried back to Albert, who is trying to spot any signs of further attackers behind the party, wary of a rear action after the attack at the front. As Sean rushes off after the vampire and Dave, she shouts a warning to their backs

Be careful!

She stands there with a frustrated and worried look on her face, turning her head from side to side, noting that McCardell has stayed back with the rest of them, and taking his advice, stepping back from the smoke.

Is it safe to wait here? *she says anxiously, turning around, looking* I knew it sounded like a trap!

She runs far ahead now, the dense brush whipping at her face. She continues to call out his name, she stops briefly and tries to pick up his scent.

Damn it, I can’t smell anything apart from that smoke!

She turns continuously for a minute before picking another direction and runs off there.

The dust is too much for Carter. He feels dehydrated and weak, which the smoke does its best to take advantage of. Without supple oxygen to breathe, his vision dims and he feels a painful cold sweat. He coughs hard at first, but the coughs soon turn to tiny wheezes as he falls to the ground, unconcious.

Seeing as how the vampire has inhuman speed, Dave stops the pointless pursuit and begins to walk back to Sean who began to come after him. Along the way he strikes a tree in anger.

Damn it, we could have saved him!

…..

Noticing that Dave had Lord Makar’s Blade.

We still can, his sword was the only thing that penetrated Reinhild’s defenses before. They won’t be able to return to her without his equipment, which should give us a chance to ambush them…For now we should regroup…

Dave sighs.

Yes, lets regroup a formulate a strategy.

Delilah looks around, counting heads, then realizes that Carter is gone as well.

Where is the jester? He was right here next to us… did they take him too?

Narrowing her eyes, she spies the heaped form of the poor creature slumped in the middle of the path, just barely visible through the smoke. Delilah runs forward to grab him.

Someone help!

The dancer cries as she plunges into the smoke, tugging on the arm of the unconscious cat.

A long way have been walked already, but they were still too far from Reinhild’s lair. Comrade Bandit starts to pant.
Wait! Wait… Argh… I… need a break… that smoke bomb made me no good.
Leader Bandit stoped, frowning.
Did you forgot to hold your breath?! Damn! Okay, then… let’s take a little break before heading back to the hideout.
Comrade punched a tree with his free hand, making it fall with ease. He sat down on the log and threw the knight into the hole that the tree used to stake it’s roots.
Well, then…

(I’m out now.)

While her smell is less then ideal because of the smoke bombs, her hearing is still perfect. She comes to a sudden halt and flicks her ears as she hears the thud of the fallen tree. She turns in the opposite direction of where she was going, and begins to run.

“L-Lucy…?” Carter mumbled softly under his breath. Coming to, he felt himself being dragged and turned his head towards Delilah. After making sure he wasn’t being dragged off by a bandit, he tried to open his mouth to say something, but instead coughed on the dust still in his mouth. He turned his head to avoid getting dirt on it, but otherwise didn’t make any effort to get back up.

(FYI, I’m gonna switch to past-tense writing now, see how it works.)

The dancer tugs on Carter, and drags him slowly before she is joined by Albert, who lends his greater strength and helps her quickly pull him out of the smoke, the jester’s feet dragging against the earth as the pair get him to safety. Her ears lift a little at the sound of him coughing; he isn’t dead, at least. They pull Carter’s limp body over to a nearby tree and prop him up against the root, Delilah pulling a canteen from her pack and offering it to him, looking worried.

Are you alright?

(You might want to reread that first line and fix it you’re dragging Albert, and then Albert help you drag him, perhaps you should be dragging Carter)

(I have to go, assume Dave goes back to the group and will follow orders from Albert, Sir Icarus, and Sean in that order. He will carry the sword of light as his main weapon now unless it is needed by another group member in which case he will switch back to his axe.)

Carter’s eyes squint, then slowly opens to Delilah’s words. He looks at the canteen she holds but pushes it aside softly. With his other hand, he bring a canteen of his own from the knapsack he was carrying. After one more cough, he takes one large swig.

“Where’s Lucy?” He asks, unable to spot her.

Having returned to the group with Dave.

She ran off after Lord Makar…We just couldn’t keep up with her. We should be able to track their footprints…However, I have a feeling that they will threaten to kill Lord Makar again if we approach head on…

Delilah looks at him sadly.

Lucy? Who is that? There’s no one named Lucy here, nor has there been. Is she your girlfriend?

She looks around, a bit worried that the jester is the worse for the wear asking after someone who doesn’t exist.

You should rest… I think that smoke might have been poisonous or something, from the way you passed out.

At Sean’s return, she lifts her head.

Lady Lieselotte went off on her own? If she leaves, we have no way of tracking the bandits back to Reinhild! We have to find her, otherwise we’ll never save the Lord!

Completely lost in the smoke, the paladin stumbles around for a while before bumping into someone. Who it is, he does not know.

Wh-who is this?

Carter sighed at Delilah’s words, eyeing the healing potion that he had bought weeks ago while being a jester, thinking it was some sort of soup. All the healing potion in the world could not stop his emotional pain, however, after realizing the reality of the situation.

“Doesn’t exist… Yeah, you’re right…” Carter took another drink of his potion, then spilled the rest onto the ground in apathy.

(The comic relief is angsting hurp durp. Also inb4 CarterXDelilah).

Delilah tries to catch his hands, managing to right the thing before the entire thing spills on the ground, but at least half of it gets out.

So why were you looking for someone who doesn’t exist?

Delilah crouches in front of him, tilting her head a little to match the jester.

Or did you mean the Lady Lieselotte? I saw you together at the festival, I thought you knew her.

Upon checking the area, he finds footprints from the bandit carrying Lord Makar.

The extra weight from Lord Makar forced the bandit to leaves prints, we can follow them…I have a plan…

Refering to McCardell.

I don’t think they noticed our shady friend, he could strike unnoticed from the woods…Albert, I trust your aim with your knife more than mine with my bow. You should be able to sneak behind the other bandit…Sir Icarus, Dave and myself will approach head on, presenting the Sword of Light as a distraction…When I give the signal, or if negotiations break down, you two will strike…The rest of you should stay back, I don’t want to risk losing anyone else…Let’s move.

Begins tracking the bandits.

Carter, taking the first chance he got to avoid Delilah’s question, took initiative behind Sean. “Ok,” he said simply, giving Delilah a smile to ensure his well-being before moving.

She begins to slow down as she nears where she heard the thud. Moving silently now, she moves from tree to tree, getting as close as she can while avoiding detection. Once she gets close enough, she scales a nearby tree. Seeing the danger Makar is in, she decides to wait until nightfall to attack.

Delilah looks frustrated, but shakes her head nonetheless.

We need to at least find the Lady… without her, we will never be able to find Rienhild, and everyone who died will have wasted their lives. *she dusts off her skirts, then sighs* But they dealt with us easily before… what’s to say they don’t just do it again? We can’t just run in there blindly! I don’t want any of you to die.

Delilah shakes her head, walking back to Albert, but seeing the determined look on everyone else’s face, nods her head.

I guess we don’t really have a choice though… do we? Well, I can help us catch up, if only a little…

The dancer begins to dance slowly, quickly picking up speed. The entire group can feel the wind rising around her, whistling through the air, lifting loose clothing higher as they all feel an updraft around their bodies, making them feel lighter even as she continues the whirling dance.

There! I should be able to keep us moving a bit faster.

Thank you, we should be able to catch up with ease now.

The group makes their way to the campsite, but makes sure to stop when they are just outside of the bandits detection.

We should wait here till dark, that way they shouldn’t notice the other two getting into position.

Carter, not noticing the dance that had just occured, did not alter his steps accordingly. Unbeknownst to him, his strides became marginally wider. Eventually, he slipped on the air below his shoes.

“WAHHH!” Carter flailed his arms, but the wind under him kept him afloat. His legs flew above him, performing a front-flip and reaching the ground before he could fall. Carter’s eyes bulged in surprise. “Wow! That was cool…” Finally noticing the spell cast on him, he let his worries run like the wind and flung his newly rejuvenated body around, enjoying the reduced weight and gravity. After reaching the camp, he readied himself for yet another life-or-death experience.

(EDITED in response to Sean’s post).

She flicks her keen ears as she hears something new arrive. A look of frustration on her face now as she realizes the rest of the group is near.

Idiots! They’ve brought most of the group by the sounds of it, those bandits may not be able to hear their arrival, but there’s no way the entire group can stay hidden until night. If I’m lucky, most of them will move off to fight everyone else and I’ll be able to move in and save Makar.

(I’m lost Sean! And sorry for the name.)

(Due to most everyone being in automode, we moved the group near the Bandits who have Lord Makar. We are planning a sneak attack, using McCardell and Albert to pick off people from the shadows and you, Dave, Carter and myself to approach head on with the previously dropped Sword of Light to grab their attention. Lady Lieselotte arrived earlier and is planning her own method of attack, however our arrival could be a potential problem for her. Either way both the group and Lady Lieselotte are waiting till nighttime to attack.)

(Sean, I think Icarus is trying to say he’s actually lost in the game, if you notice his last post.)

(Nevermind then. Sorry Icarus.)

Delilah continues her dancing with the group, her whirling movements making her feet tap lightly across the ground as they go. While their footfalls are much more quiet than usual, unfortunately the wind makes up for it by picking up the rotten leaves and small twigs from the forest floor, making scraping and rustling sounds. Moving the way she is, Delilah can’t really keep a very good eye on her surroundings, trusting her companions to keep an eye out for her and warn her when the bandits are coming. She giggles a little when she sees the jester, who had seemed so depressed not long ago, buoyed by the winds and do a little cartwheel, and shoots him a smile for his antics. Albert follows along as the rearguard, keeping an eye out for any bandits who would attempt to ambush the party once they passed.

(Dang, I have to sleep soon, so I gotta auto-bot it. And by that, I mean ask Delilah if she’s gonna stay up for longer. If so, I’ll trust you enough to take full control of my character. If not, then Carter will stay by her side, taking orders from anyone, but especially her, Albert, and Dave. However, he will not try to avoid Lieselotte, Makar, and Hannibal (Sword thief ).

(Going to bed. Character uses same automode and combat tactics from before. Extreme caution will be used during another potential hostage situation, using vines as a stealth move to distract the bandits so that they may be picked off. Good night everyone.)

(Auto mode, default tactics, looking for the rest of the group in the smoke. And yes, my character was lost, as in “separated from the group, stumbling around in the woods” lost.)

(Cat stuck in a tree. )

(Baww I’m Taeshi and I am awesome but think I suck <3

Seriously, that is pretty damn cool.)

(Hey guys I owe you an explanation about turning Makar into a vampire.

A kiss by itself cannot turn Makar into a vampire, he would have been transformed if Lieselotte had bitten his lips, which some believed is what happened. They are wrong, that couldn’t have happened either, as the player never posted that she did.

Let’s think about this: How do people turn into vampires?

We know that a person tranforms into a vampire when said person is bitten.
We know that a person doesn’t tranform if the blood is extracted, and then drunk by the vampire.

Therefore… we know that vampirism isn’t acquired by the vampire drinking the victim’s blood, but rather… contact.

Makar was coughing blood moments before kissing Lieselotte. In a kiss, people exchange saliva, even when they just kiss their lips. Having impurities of Lieselotte’s saliva in his mouth now, it was only a matter of time it came in contact with the hemorraging area (coughing blood means internal hemorrage), which we know is in contact with either:

The digestive system - This is pretty straightforward. The moment he swallows, Lieselotte’s saliva would enter Makar’s bloodstream, infecting him.

The respiratory system - The mouth is conected to both the respiratory system, and the digestive system. While they are mostly isolated from each other, they aren’t completely. There is some exchange of liquid between the two, and the trachea is moisturized, which means that the moment there is some liquid exchange, its only a matter of time until the “contamined” saliva comes into contact.

Since Makar bled from falling, it’s also more likely that the hemorrage was in the digestive system. Stat. Next post I’ll give you some vampiric lore, so you know how to manage the situation.

Also Tae… I loved your comics. ^^)

(You just made my week with these four pages, Ms. Vera. Thank you very much!)

(Damn, she liked the outfit desing! XD)

(I <3 those pictures)

(Time for me to go to bed. Autoplay instructions are as follows:

She’ll mostly hang towards the middle or back, probably keeping mostly near Albert if possible, and Dave if not; if danger shows, she’ll probably retreat to behind the front lines, but after a short while will start dancing a fast-paced dance which will make anyone nearby fractionally faster, reacting and moving just a bit faster than they should be able to. She’ll take directions from Albert, Lady Lieselotte, McCardell, Lily, Dave, and Carter, in that order, as well as anyone who is protecting her. In combat, she won’t fight directly, but is more willing to use her dances to help out her allies today. However, being attacked will likely reduce her to a shattered pile of nerves very quickly, cowering after the first time she is attacked wherever she thinks it is safest.

Hopefully that covers it all and won’t be too necessary. See you all at roughly 5pm GMT -7)

(Sorry Pixel, but we can’t have the lead character on automode for the next week. As such, I was chosen as his understudy. I’ll try not to be a complete noob&hellip

((Sparkly vampires IMO))

((Taeshi, those comics are so full of win. Hard for anyone outside of the rp to understand, but a real treat for those of us in here who can fill in the missing dialogue ))