the Rift


Guard you from the light [Mesec]
Ascended Helovian

Ophelia the Amaranthine Posts: 701
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.0 hh :: 6 Years HP: 77 | Buff: BULK
Tinek :: Royal Silver Dragon :: Frost Breath & Shock Breath Tamme
#1
Ophelia
The day is my enemy; the night is my friend

The thistle meadow, green with the last riches of the season, was more alive than she felt. Stars overhead twinkled in the darkness, a large, pale moon pregnant in the looming sky. Lightning bugs flickered, and an owl called from his birch in a nearby tree, but her heart was heavy, unable to take pleasure in the small wonders of nature. The light upon her brow bobbed with the gentle length of her lithe stride, cloven hooves resting in the rich, damp earth. Clouds cast their shadows in front of the open moonlight, a crisp breeze pulling at the strands of her sparkling hair. Those shards of stone from years ago had still not left, not even though rain, dirt and swimming.

Ophelia was a poor thief in the night, glowing and illuminated as she was. In fact, she was beautiful, an ethereal grace of white in a blackened landscape. She would not see herself as such, and the bloodied tresses of her hair marred this angelic image, but there was no denying that she was truly a sight. Lost in her thoughts, she stood as far as she dared from the World’s Edge – still able to see the large, towering trees on the horizon, but she needed space to think. Her heart was heavy from Roskuld’s words and accusations, and her soul was swimming with doubts.

Had she failed her daughter so completely?

Had she failed Mesec?

Hototo?

Even Ranjiri must think her a monster, for her father died in her herd by lightning. Ophelia let out a hitching breath, one she did not expect to carry as much emotion as it did. That was when she noticed Mesec. He was hard to miss with his beautiful, black and silver coat and soft, velvet wings. Though she desperately wanted to call out to him, hold him tight in her embrace, she held still. Would he blame her too? Accuse her of leaving? Failing? She would not blame him either, she supposed. Karma was nasty that way – going around and coming around in an endless circle.

Still, there was much she could teach. Would he be willing to learn? To set aside his pains to let her share of herself to her adopted son? Ophelia took a hesitant step forward, letting out a soft, feminine call. “Mesec,” she said, her voice leaden with emotions she could never put into words. “Do you want to spar with me?” Foolish words, she supposed. But, this was all she had right now. This was as much of herself as she could give.


[[(intro) (429 words)
SETTING: Thistle Meadow at night with a crisp clear atmosphere, soft ground and a large, round, full moon!
TEACHING SPAR! But Phi gets -5 HP for two spars so close together

:D



Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA



@[Mesec]




Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.


Please tag me in every response!

Mesec the Nightwind Posts: 476
World's Edge Glazier atk: 5.5 | def: 9 | dam: 5
Stallion :: Tribrid :: 16.3hh :: 7 years old HP: 76 | Buff: NOVICE
Lucius :: Royal Zephyr :: Roc & Lyra :: Common Kitsune :: Dreams Sarah
#2
a light from the shadows shall spring

The silver markings glowed beneath the light of his mother, the only thing that saved him from being a complete shadow in the night. But if he stood out a little bit, Ophelia was a spark of daylight. There was no missing her in this meadow and the sight of her instantly brought a smile to his face. Their reunion in the Basin had been brief, business driven, and he had been looking forward to seeing her again. He moved toward her with that smile still present, drawing closer as he heard his name. And a rush of air escaped him in a surprised laugh when she finished her sentence - stopping with two meters between them still. He wanted to move closer and embrace her again but given the subject, maybe not getting too close was safer.

This might not have been the ideal manner of reunion but he would not begrudge any chance that he got to spend time with his adoptive mother. There was no harboured resentment in him toward her, no intention on making her feel guilty about their past. She had rescued him, after all. Accepted him into her family when he had been a scraggly youth that she had stumbled across. She had been a better mother, better parent, to him than those he had been related to by blood. And for that he would forever be thankful to her. “It would be an honour to learn from you once more, Ophelia.” The warmth of his voice showed his sincerity but it was chased soon by uncertainty, his smile faltering.

He had never sparred before, never learned how to fight - not really. He had been in a few small scruffles here and there - once when he broke Aviya’s horn; hundreds of time when Roskuld tried to pick fights while they were foals (and she always won); and once on the beach... though he had the help of friends there. The desire to properly learn had not been in him until recently, though he felt guilty about it. The desire to adequately protect his friends and family should have kicked in sooner than his fourth year. But he had naïvely thought there would be little to protect them from. He had certainly learned in the past few years just how wrong he had been.

“After you.” The quiet words slipped out as moon’s son dipped his head politely, nerves starting to swarm in his head as his body tensed.


----------
Intro - 413 words
@[Ophelia]



image by Blu
please tag Mesec in replies
non-life threatening force is allowed at all times
Ascended Helovian

Ophelia the Amaranthine Posts: 701
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.0 hh :: 6 Years HP: 77 | Buff: BULK
Tinek :: Royal Silver Dragon :: Frost Breath & Shock Breath Tamme
#3
Ophelia
And all things will end...


When was the last time she had been greeted with a laugh and a carefree smile? And why did that make her feel like dropping to her knees in tears? A life time of failures served as a mountain to climb, but every time she thought she reached the apex of her sins, another tower waited in sarcastic greeting. How did he escape her misery? How had she actually been able to do right by this shadowy, handsome child? Oh, and how he had grown into a handsome, strong man now… She was not brave enough to face her emotions, rattled as she was from the poor battle for the Falls and Torleik’s admittance. Tears welled up in her eyes, guilt at knowing she did not deserve his love any more than she deserved the Bloodskald’s.

The silver armor on her body was an exoskeleton, a silver lie. With the burnished sides of the minimalist angles, she fooled them all into thinking she was a leader, a Lady, a warrior and a good woman. Maybe, on the outside. And like any gilded thing, what lay beneath was pale and gaunt, a whisper of white entrenched in blood. Maybe he was a fool and did not see it? Maybe she had not raised him well enough to see…

What did he ever learn from her than to run away? Was a year or so of love truly enough to sediment her as an agent of light in his eyes? Ophelia prayed this was true, but she held no hope. One day, he too, would wake and realize that he was better off without – just like Roskuld. Osiris. Djinn. Tor. Her father.

So let her relish this moment that she had. Ophelia tried to smile, the corners of her eyes wrinkling too much as she squinted in the pain of her own emotion. “I have no doubt we will learn from each other,” she murmured in return, watching his lithe and fit form glide backward, seemingly blending into the night. The boy had grown since she had last seen him, his height well beyond hers now. He was a handsome, ornate stallion who was as beautiful as he was strong, and the guilt she felt for failing him mixed with pride in a nauseating concoction.

Her hooves acted on their own. Every nerve was frayed from the overwhelming extent of her inner turmoil and anxiety from having to be still during battle. Ophelia danced forward, testing, tempting. Cloven hooves gripped the dark emeralds of the grass beneath her hooves, relishing the cool, crisp breeze that caught in her sanguine tresses. If she had to warrant a rough guess, she was more practiced than he and perhaps more agile. Those two, feathered wings (once so soft) and his height would be her greatest hindrances from victory, and her two, strange colored eyes shifted over her opponent, changing to something dangerous.

With each purposeful advance, she felt numbness pervade her system, offering a much relished and interesting relief from the dragon of stress. The cry of her soul for blood and war was louder than her doubts at this juncture, serving as a dam to ebb the torrent inside. Ophelia moved her hips slightly, dancing sideways toward him as she began the preliminary execution of her attack. The pale princess, hopefully near enough now, lashed out with a hind hoof, but that was only a distraction. Seconds later, she spun on her haunches and lunged forward, jaws wide open, gaping and hungry.

Snaking her neck to the side, she aimed to catch her son on the shoulder, and her white teeth were prepared to give a solid, firm bite. Would he smell like she remembered now that he was this close? Like childhood innocence and clean winds? Or would he smell of stallion and musk, pheromones and strength? Ophelia inhaled deeply, taking concern with his wings and quickly ducking her head lest one massive, heavy appendage come flying her way.


[[(1/3) (665 words in word)
- Ophelia lashes out with a hind hoof to try to catch him off guard
- She then spins on her haunches and lungs to try to bite his shoulder
- Ducks to try to avoid getting hit in the head by a wing

Don't mind my emo :|
I'll have a teaching spar post for you after your first attack <3
]]


Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA


@[Mesec]




Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.


Please tag me in every response!

Mesec the Nightwind Posts: 476
World's Edge Glazier atk: 5.5 | def: 9 | dam: 5
Stallion :: Tribrid :: 16.3hh :: 7 years old HP: 76 | Buff: NOVICE
Lucius :: Royal Zephyr :: Roc & Lyra :: Common Kitsune :: Dreams Sarah
#4
a light from the shadows shall spring

Were those tears? Mesec would have readily cast aside their agreement to spar so that he could move toward her instead of away, so that he could hold the mare that had been a second mother to him. The memories of their time together were not tarnished by her disappearance. He had told Roskuld recently that he wouldn’t trade the memories of their childhood for anything and he believed that with all of his heart. When he looked at Ophelia he didn’t feel the pang of abandonment poisoning his fondness for her. She had left, yes, but he had been more sad and worried than he had felt betrayed. Far easier to focus on the fact that he had been happy for a time rather than think about his terrible record at parental figures, his inability to hold onto a family. It was too easy of a slope from there to questions about what it was about him that seemed to make everyone feel the urge to leave.

He caught her murmur as he retreated, causing a smile once again. What did could he possibly have to teach Ophelia? In her company, it was easy to forget that he was fully grown. Easy to forget that he wasn’t a scrawny yearling, getting chased by his little sister. She made him feel like a child again, and he wasn’t entirely sure whether it was good or bad. Probably the latter, given their situation. She looked impossibly both incredibly delicate and incredibly fierce in her ornate armour as she readied herself for the first attack - closing the gap that had existed between them. But it was not for an embrace this time and he watched with awe as she changed from a smiling, tearful adoptive mother to a teacher, to an attacker.

Mesec flinched away from her hind-hoof, readying for an attack from there but finding that she was feigning so instead he felt the sting as her teeth pinched the skin in his shoulder, scraping off the surface of his skin. A sharp gasp escaped him at the pain and his wings flew out in reflex rather than with any intent behind the jerking motion, he had no conscious intentions of buffeting her with them. The gasp was followed by a dark chuckle, though: now both of his mothers had left scars on him. At least this one was only physical.

The chuckle eased some of the tension in him, wary and hesitant as he was about this next part, and allowed him to focus as best as he could on the task at hand. Mesec called on his magic, drawing the shadows around him from the night until not even the light of the full moon could penetrate the darkness around him. As the shadows came, he began to balance on his front legs - knowing he would have little time once he was in position - and he is gone from his spot beside her. How much time passed between when he disappeared and reappeared? A second? Shorter, the time it took to blink. It took so little time for him to move between the shadows, especially at night and over this short of a distance. For when Mesec reappeared, he was in front of Ophelia - just off her left shoulder, facing away from her. He completed the transfer of his weight onto his forelegs and kicked out with his rear - aiming for a strike to her shoulder.

-------
1/3 - 577 words using wordcounter.net

Ophelia’s bite lands on Mesec’s shoulder, causing his wings to jerk out in reflex.
Mesec uses his magic (stated below, do I need to do that?) to teleport from beside Ophelia to in front and to the left of her, facing away. He bucks, aiming at her left shoulder

:: [Magic: Dark (U) | able to teleport through shadow and shroud himself in it to disappear]
:: [Restrictions | May be used to evade an attack or travel quickly across the battlefield and can turn invisible for 20 seconds at a time]

holy frick I'm nervous <3 LAY IT ON ME



image by Blu


@[Ophelia]
please tag Mesec in replies
non-life threatening force is allowed at all times
Ascended Helovian

Ophelia the Amaranthine Posts: 701
Outcast atk: 6.5 | def: 10.5 | dam: 7
Mare :: Hybrid :: 16.0 hh :: 6 Years HP: 77 | Buff: BULK
Tinek :: Royal Silver Dragon :: Frost Breath & Shock Breath Tamme
#5
Ophelia
all I see is silhouettes trying to close the distance


Come and go, near and far, she would love Mesec as a son no matter what. If only Roskuld could understand that she felt the same about her, but she could never blame her daughter for having doubts. How were they to know that her disappearance was not caused by either child when her words meant nothing? Her memories were a plague, her heart heavy with moral quandaries that could only be resolved in the unchanging landscape of the north. Admitting that weakness was not so simple, especially when she strived to maintain a calm, unflinching façade. Leaders and Ladies could not afford to go insane, so she had fled, but she was glad that Mesec seemed to understand.

His kindness chiseled a hole in her heart, one of guilt and happiness. And just like the daughter of the Valiant himself, she expressed that affection in instructive violence. A spar. At his insistence, she attacked first, holding nothing back as she decreased the distance between herself and her full-moon-son. Tinek’s offer for assistance was easily waved away in her mind, shrugged off with a distracted ‘thanks’, but he took no offense. The silver was content to circle overhead, one red eye trained on his bonded as he played on the thermals.


Back on the ground, the spar was visceral, real. Ophelia felt her back hoof slide past air, but the brunt of her teeth gripped onto Mesec’s shoulder. He would have to be faster if he wanted to improve, she thought absently, and she tried to shift focus from aching heart to palpable battle. She fell back on what she knew – what she was good at, just like anyone else would. Teaching, instructing, fighting and manipulating was what she knew, and her compassion for Mesec shifted her mindset. Observations regarding his technique sparked in her mind without analysis, ones she desired to share. Under her breath as her she opened her jaws again, she spoke. “Predict,” she murmured softly. “Don’t react. You’ll be faster.”

A second later she was ducking beneath a jerked wing, and she heard a soft chuckle chime through the charged air around them. That made her smile. Just the simple action of curling her lips took a weight from her heart, and she breathed deeply. Just as she was about to advance again, she watched as darkness began to blot him from her vision. Startled by this awe-inspiring show of power, she felt her legs turn to lead, rooting her cloven hooves to the soft, dewy grass. Even the light of the full moon could not find him now, and she looked around her, lost.

Silence. The beating of her own heart thumped rhythmically in her ears, unable to find her adoptive son’s lithe, tall form any longer. An emotion stronger than pride and deeper than affection filled her chest as she continued to seek any sign of his body from a stray shadow to a depressed print in the ground – but there was nothing!

Barely a second passed and he suddenly appeared in front of her, hind hooves lashing out before she had a chance to react. Was this what it felt like when she used her magic against others? Ophelia grunted in pain as both of his solid, black hooves collided against the point of her left shoulder hard enough to force her to recoil. The sound made a hollow, piercing thud, and she felt the skin split beneath the pressure, two large, semi-circle punctures marring her white hide. Ophelia and felt the pain steal her breath away. Mesec was strong – much stronger than her initial speculations.

She did not truly understand the gravity of the injury until she stepped back and toward the right, her plan to move forward and catch Mesec the second he returned to the ground again. But, as she put her weight on her left, foreleg, the muscles bunching, she felt searing pain radiate up into her poll, nostrils flaring as she tried to recover from the mind-numbing alarm. Knowing that she was in trouble now and needed time, Ophelia actively sought out his mind through mental space, attempting to erase her position from his memories. Hopefully this would give her a few, precious seconds so to get close with her limping gait. The pale princess, unwilling to risk further injuring her front left, aimed to move along his left side with her right, reaching over with jaws open to bite at the point of his hip.


[[(2/3) (748 words in word)
- Ophelia takes the full, crit hit to her left shoulder where he leaves two, bleeding hoof-shaped gashes and deeper trauma
- Ophelia uses her mind erasing make (tries) and then, hoping she's erased, aims to bite at his left hip bone

]]



Credits: Image by Schwartze @ DA



TEACHING SPAR NOTES
1. You don't necessarily need to include the magic you use in the bottom of your posts, but it IS a really good idea, so awesome! I would definitely keep doing that, especially since his magic can be a little abstract. The less ambiguous the better!

2. DONT BE NERVOUS THIS WAS AWESOME! Congrats on your first roll being a crit hit too! :D Just to explain, a critical hit occurs when the d14 and the d2 both end up being 14 and 2, thus "maxed". This means that Mesec's attack was FLAWLESS and thus the damage he deals is automatically bumped up to 6.

6 is the MAX damage you can do without a modifier (the modifiers come from your character's damage stats). So when you take damage, you base it off of the 1-6 damage roll with 1 being barely any damage to 6 being the most damage. Since you rolled essentially a 6, I had Phi take the most realistic damage she could for your attack - which means both of his hooves hit their intended target causing bleeding/bruising/lasting damage that continues to affect her through the rest of the battle.

What I like to do is create a scale for myself to use for battles. For example, I'll say, okay, Mesec bucked at me, so his roll will mean the following:

1- 2 :: grazed by, maybe some hairs lost
3-4 :: One hoof landed solidly, probably some bruising and maybe alittle bleeding at 4
5 :: Both hooves landed, some blood, lasting damage
6 :: Both hooves landed, blood, bruising, long lasting damage

I hope that helps you in your future rolling!!

3. Since Ophelia rolled a 1, I wouldn't say that her bite caused any lasting damage at all. I know you wrote in your post that she would leave a scar, but I am not sure if that's realistic given that roll! 1s are ALMOST misses, meaning that you could have even had her pull out a feather lol. Basically, she hit you, but it didn't even have to be on your shoulder since your character was pretty much close to a full dodge anyway. I hope that makes sense!

4. Don't forget to mention the the differences between them! He is much taller than Phi and also has big wings. Those wings can be used for a variety of things, so don't be afraid to mention them. He can balance, fly, buffet, etc. They are just as much of an appendage as legs, so I would use some of that extra word space to add that in. Also, compare their stat numbers too. Is he faster than Phi? Stronger? Slower? etc.

5. Don't forget about your landscape! Is the ground soft? Hard? Are there fireflies? Really try to put your ready directly into the environment as well as his thoughts.

6. ". For when Mesec reappeared, he was in front of Ophelia - just off her left shoulder, facing away from her." ---> This COULD be interpreted as powerplay since it's up to me whether or not he gets that close! Be careful to use ambiguous language, even when defining your character's position in relation to someone else.

7. Otherwise, great job with emotion and realism! I look forward to your post, and please feel free to ask lots of questions! :D




Undertow has come to take me. Guided by the blazing sun. Look at everything around us. Look at everything we've done.
Please. Anyone. I don't think I can save myself. I'm drowning.


Please tag me in every response!

Mesec the Nightwind Posts: 476
World's Edge Glazier atk: 5.5 | def: 9 | dam: 5
Stallion :: Tribrid :: 16.3hh :: 7 years old HP: 76 | Buff: NOVICE
Lucius :: Royal Zephyr :: Roc & Lyra :: Common Kitsune :: Dreams Sarah
#6
a light from the shadows shall spring

“Faster than you?” He questioned quietly with a grin, not sure if he could catch up to the quick movements of Ophelia. She wasn’t much smaller than him - just by a couple inches - but the difference in their speed was noticeable. If he did not have the help of his magic she might very well dance circles around him while he was trying to catch up and land a glancing nip or blow with his hooves. All the same, he welcomed the advice that she gave him and took it to heart. From then on he tried to pay more attention to how she moved - trying to figure out what she might try next. He did not think like a warrior, that much he already knew, but he was so willing to learn and knew that she could teach him. In the cool night, his moonlight eyes flashed as he paid close attention to the mare, the mother figure, that was with him, teaching him and guiding him with her soft words and sharp nips.

After the completion of his attack there was a brief window where he felt a little proud, feeling the impact, before he remembered himself. Mesec wasn’t one to cause injury and not worry about the outcome. The concern rushed over him and he turned to see whether she was okay. “Ophelia.” Her name slipped out, quiet like all of his actions. It only got worse, his worry, and with it there was a quick stab of guilt as she seemed to move in more of a stiff manner after his attack landed. Maybe he was imagining things, even by the full light of the moon small things were more difficult to see, but he could have sworn that she winced - her nostrils flaring - as soon as she put weight on that side. She had only nipped him, after all, perhaps he should not have put so much behind his attack. His immediate reaction was to put a stop to this spar, to tend to her injuries now that he knew he could, and see that she was okay.

But she did not stop and he’d defer to her judgement on the matter. If she thought she was okay to continue, Mesec wouldn’t interfere. They had come together to spar, after all.

Only, suddenly, he couldn’t seem to remember where she even was. Hadn’t he just been looking at her? He had been watching the way her slender, pale legs moved so that he could predict what was coming next - thinking she might try a different approach than the last time. He was forgetting his surroundings in the process, forgetting to pay attention to what was around them, and only paid attention to her. Only now she did not seem quite capable of focusing on her either. “Where…” He was searching his mind for where she was, it was as though she had disappeared, he was just looking at her! For a quick, confusing second there was absolutely nothing before a hazy memory of her movement gave him enough warning to jerk away - his left wing unfolding in a quick reflex action to give him balance as he stepped to his right so that her teeth grazed along his skin.

It was then that he remembered Ophelia's magic and understood why he had not remembered where she stood in relation to him. It seemed only fair - one magic trick in response to another.

Thinking quickly, he extended the large, feathered limb further - a loose black coverlet getting caught by the cool night wind as he did so - hoping to catch her on her side. Well, he hoped that he wouldn't do more than buffet her lightly, perhaps with the long flight feathers that would not cause as much damage as farther up the wing with the strong muscles. He did not wish to cause her any more damage than he already had. They were here to spar, yes, but he was unable to shake the fretting and because of that, unwilling to put more effort or strength behind his attack.

-------
@[Ophelia]
2/3 - 684 words using wordcounter.net

- Ophelia’s magic is not 100% effective (?? see question below!) and Mesec is able to move his hip just enough that her teeth scrape against his skin but don’t leave a lasting mark.
- In reflex (and attack) Mesec’s left wing shoots out for balance when he tries to side-step away and avoid Ophelia’s bite and he hopes to buffet her with it



image by Blu


Questions and Things

a) alright so I definitely was looking more at the HP hit that Mesec took from Ophelia rather than the damage dice roll, so that was how I based the damage on in the post. The damage that is taken is the "1d6 rolled for a total of: 2 (2)" part of the stats thread, yes? Thank you for the helpful description of what each number would be associated with for the damage taken, I'll definitely have to remember that for the future! Although I have to admit the mention of a scar was partially just for the joke about his moms ;D but maybe not the best time for that haha.

Does the amount of HP removed affect the character then at all throughout the battle? Or even afterwards? Would more HP being removed affect them differently than fewer?

b) Ah! I will have to watch my language, I think was trying to describe more the angle than the proximity so I will definitely be more careful about that in the future.

c) For the stats, how much of a difference is a speed stat of 7 vs a speed stat of 5? And is Ophelia's SWIFT buffer already in her stats or would her speed be 7 + 1

d) Do the stat rolls have anything to do with how effective magic is? Or is that up to the players to decide? Like, in this post because the damage was low (right?) I thought maybe Ophelia's magic wouldn't be 100% effective, giving Mesec enough warning to move his hip away from her teeth.

e) How do you decide what attack to use next? I'm not really sure about Mesec's attack in this post, I feel like it is awkward but I couldn't think of something else that wouldn't be making assumptions on positioning or closeness.

You know I started writing this post thinking "naw I only have one question!"

Also I am sorry for taking the full 3 weeks to get this up!!
please tag Mesec in replies
non-life threatening force is allowed at all times

Blu the Bootyful Posts: 443
Administrator atk: 99 | def: 99 | dam: 99
Mare :: Other :: 5'7" :: 25 HP: 99999 | Buff: TWERK
Blu
#7
Ophelia defaults to Mesec. Mesec earns 0.5 VP. Ophelia does not earn teaching EXP.
 HP: 1100

Helovia Hard Mode


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