MASKTOURN

Ace wakes in a dark, square room. The floor is dirt, but they’re sitting on a woven rug. The walls are stone brick, and enclose him on every side. There’s no way in, and no way out. The room is suffocatingly warm, dark and dry. Ace would soon begin to feel thirst clawing at their throat. He'd wake laying on his side, and soon discover he's been chained- ankle chains tether him to the ground and prevent him from moving around or getting up. Before Ace, sat a small, low table, covered by a rug similar to the one they sat upon. Two oil lamps flicker at either ends of the table, their small lights the only in the room. The only other objects on the table are three small wooden bowls, all filled with an unidentifiable liquid. The first is white, opaque and creamy. The second is glassy and clear, with a slight cloudy, brownish color to it. The third is just as opaque as the first, but is a deep, muddy red in color. Across from the table is the only other person in the room. A young adult. They’re incredibly pale, with skin so light it’s almost translucent in the low light. Their straight, white hair is cut choppily over its brow and shoulders, and it wears a black-and-white tunic draped haphazardly over a shoulder. Their gaze is brilliant-gold and haunting, piercing through the barriers of Ace's mind. The person smiles widely, and finally speaks. Its voice is that of the flaming apparition. “Welcome to the Halcyon Citadel.” @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

As soon as Ace wakes up, they're struggling to breathe, coughing and wheezing as they adjust to the...slightly less suffocating air. [It smells vaguely of dirt. Is he here?] Yet that voice is familiar. Like a spirit- or of that creature in their apartment. The entire place sets the hairs on the back of their neck arise, and they manage to push themself to a formal sitting position, achingly. [Their back is starting to sting already.] Deep tangerine eyes dart between the chains-bowls-walls- and eventually lock with the pair of golds before them. "...Hello," they tensely say, eyes narrowing into a squint. Their lungs still itch, but they try not to dissolve into another coughing fit. "Who...may you be?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

(divine intuition pls @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷 )

Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

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# 12
Details:[d20 (12)]

It watched as Ace coughed awake, and narrowed its eyes in mirror of his. "Ah, are you not feeling well?" "I am Naiyta Hauryan. I am the primal, Nascent Lifebringer. And you, Ace Lao, are now within my domain." Ace wouldn't be able to place it, but he'd get a strange sense about this person. A sense that they were more than human. A sense that they were divine. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

That was a bit more than just strange. If they were unsettled before, they certainly were now. Their eyes remain narrowed. "How do you know my name?" he asks. The itchiness is starting to vaguely subside. "And what is this 'Lifebringer'?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I know everything," Naiyta smiled. "I'm God." They tilt their head slightly to the side, and put a hand to their chest. "Why, I'm the Lifebringer." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

The corner of Ace's lip curls up slightly, yet that squint doesn't let up. "You. You're Nuwa?" [They're near certain Nuwa looks nothing like this.] A God. By the way they're acting, perhaps. Not all gods are holy and divine and silent. Should they feel intimidated? [Yes.] [[Absolutely.]] Something else pulls at them. "That answers nothing, Lifebringer." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I," Naiyta said, "Have already told you who I am." They tilt their head up, leaning their head slightly back. "I am Eternity, incarnate. I am the will of stagnation, solitude, and stillness. I am everything in its right place, exactly as it was and exactly as it will be for the rest of time. I am ageless. I am immortality." It closes its eyes for a moment, before locking eye contact with Ace again. "Does that answer your questions?" @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Ace is silent as Naiyta speaks, taking this opportune chance to finally blink and breathe. It continues to pull at them, enthrall them with every word- whatever that 'it' is. Eternity, incarnate. "Yes. That does." So Lifebringers seek to preserve eternity. [Unless it's just them.] They do not close their eyes, but they tilt their head upwards slightly. "And this domain we are in; the Halcyon Citadel. It's yours." "...then I can correctly assume you were the one who brought me here, no?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"You assume correctly." Naiyta nodded. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

'A tournament of bloodshed, conquest and victory.' Their eyes narrow slightly more. "What is this tournament you've brought me for." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"It's as you say, a tournament. Rather self explanatory, I would believe." It's unnervingly still. "A competition til the death, til only one remains standing." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"To the death? Are you not the Lifebringer, Eternity incarnate?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Yes, to the death. And I am the Lifebringer, Eternity Incarnate, but I don't see how much that has to do with it. I am immortality, but that doesn't mean you will live forever." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Eternity for only them? "Fine." They'd leave it at that, then. Ace shifts to sit upright more, ignoring the slight rattle of their chains. [It should certainly put them off. It does.] All things considered, they're not very good at competing at most things. Is it just fighting? Is it a battle of wit? Where the hell is the Halcyon Citadel exactly? "So this tournament," they say, blinking for the first time in a while, "I've never participated in one; what does a tournament to the death entail." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta laughed- dry and cackling and haunting. "Hah! What do you think a tournament to the death entails?" @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Eeugh. That laugh. Ace tries not to wince at that. "What, is it just stabbing each other to the death? Wouldn't you have something elaborate set up." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"You will compete in organized matches. Anything more I tell you would ruin the suspense, wouldn't it?" @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Okay, so not just blindly stabbing. So he at least had a chance with getting out and winning. Was it a good chance? Still probably not. [Yes, it was murder. Was he above that?] Their brows pinch together slightly more, and they fall silent. Was he above murder? What a question that normal rational people would never think of. Was he really willing to take the life of someone else- or- or be the cause of their demise? That distant crawling sensation is back, digging under their skin. It claws at their throat- is it disgust, or is it thirst? -and hollows out their chest. And losing would result in theirs. (They'd be dead either way. What an awful thought.) Was he above murder? "...Okay," Ace finally says after a moment, exhaling slightly. Their gaze hardens into something sturdier as they exhale, and their nails press crescent-moons into their palms. "Okay. I can do that." He could heal. He could do ranged things. He could kill people. He could kill people. He would kill people. "Compete, that is. I can do that." "Would...knowing about the rewards ruin the suspense of this tournament?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta's smile widens with their eyes. "Oh, I'm glad to hear that. "Mmm... you can know. If you win, you will be rewarded with your life- your immortal life, if you so please, and anything conceivable that you desire." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Ace's frown deepens with their eyes. "When I win," they say with utmost certainty. [They do not know why they're so certain.] Desire and thirst claws at their throat. "Anything conceivable, you say," they echo, wetting their lips briefly. He cared little for immortality. However... "Does that extend to knowledge, or can it only be material?" @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Of course," Naiyta repeats, mockingly, "When you win." "If it is knowledge attainable, it is knowledge I can provide." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Of course," Ace repeats, smiling for the first time. Their eyes are still as narrowed as they were before, but their eyes shimmer with something else this time. Knowledge attainable, knowledge providable. A part of them wanted to ask another question, but deep within they knew what the answer would be. 'Win, and you'll find out', or something snarky along those lines. The other part of them resigned themself to just hoping, instead. Hoping that it could know about Nathan's whereabouts. "I'll keep that in mind," Ace simply says. Thank you. They decide not to say it. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

Naiyta hummed to itself. "I hope that you will. Use it as... motivation." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

[Before, they had only resolved themself to kill.] Oh, they most certainly would. [But now...] Ace only hums in response, relaxing ever slightly as their attention roves over the bowls before them. Three bowls, each with an indescribable sort of liquid. "And what are these for?" They have a gnawing feeling they need to drink it. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"To drink," Naiyta smiled. "Of course. Choose only one." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Of course." Why wouldn't it be. Their attention is immediately drawn back to the deep, muddy red one. Could be blood. [They did not want to drink blood.] ...It could not be blood. [They did not want to drink blood.] Thirst strangles them. Ace reaches for the bowl with the red liquid, watching as the surface ripples slightly. He's careful not to spill a drop as he downs the entire thing, silently half-preparing for the worst. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

It was, of course, blood. Human blood. Thick and metallic and somewhat sweet. It was horrible, but it did quench his thirst. Naiyta watched with unmasked delight as Ace not only drank the blood, but drank all of it. "Good. Good." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

They didn't know why they drank the entire thing. "Don't say that," Ace grimaces, setting the bowl down on the table with only slightly (slightly) wavering hands. That gnawing feeling of thirst has all but faded now, but that coppery, metallic tang sits uneasily on their tongue. Fuck. Hell. They really didn't know why they drank the entire thing. To intimidate them? To intim- to what? For what? They feel sick. That look on Naiyta's face unsettles them more, and they try with all their might not to double over right there. They try to inhale, but all they get is the metallic taste of... Blood. That was blood. Human. Blood. Blood. [What else could it have been. What else could have been red and viscous and kind of runny and metallic-tasting.] "...Why is it sweet," Ace manages to wrangle out. Blood still clings to their lips. They don't want to wipe it off on their sleeve, that's disgusting. [And they're not going to lick it off either, that's even worse.] "W-whe- khm. Where did that...come from." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"The woman it came from had a bit of a sweet tooth. A taste for decadence, if you will." Naiyta's smile didn't falter for a second. "And you don't need to know where it came from." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"...Alright then. I suppose I don't need to know." Oh, she was dead for sure. That smile is still incredibly unnerving. Ace doesn't stare for long, their gaze shifting back to meet Naiyta's. "Could I have a towel....or a rag." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"No, you may not." Naiyta shook their head. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"Alright then." Sleeve it was then. Still retaining eye contact, they wiped the blood from their lips with the corner of their sleeve, silent the entire process. [It tastes unlike their blood, though they don't know too much about this world to grasp exactly what that entails just yet.] "...What happens now," Ace asks once they've wiped off all they could. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Now," It rose to its feet. "There is something we must take care of, regarding your... abilities." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"My...abilities," Ace repeats, in that same, unnevering tone. "What of them." Heal, mend, mana, repair, mend, string, fire. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta stepped over the low table, to where they could stand over Ace. It rested a hand over their forehead. "I need to modify them." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

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# 10
Details:[d20+6 (4)]

@Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷 def

Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

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# 12
Details:[d20-2 (14)]

Nothing happened. Naiyta furrowed their brow. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"...I didn't do anything." Ace was very tense now. "What...do you mean by 'modify'." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

(second times the charm)

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

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# 7
Details:[d20+6 (1)]

(could i edit my response to ask a question?)

(NAIYTA HAURYAN)

Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

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# 18
Details:[d20-2 (20)]

(yeah)

(JASON LAO)

OH MY FUCKING GOD

3:20 PM

(I'm rolling damage for nays after I'm done putting my wash in the drier)

(oh my go d)

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

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# 7
Details:[2d5 (5 2)]

(god)

3:25 PM

(Naiyta 93 hp)

( for ace's sake i hope naiyta rolls well)

Naiyta seemed to crumple as they still tried to do something to Ace- barely standing on their feet. Whatever was happening, it was clearly paining them. "You- you will learn..." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

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# 26
Details:[d20+6 (20)]

(DAMN)

(FUCKING. HELL.)

Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

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# 14
Details:[d20-2 (16)]

(hm. im surprised hes been rolling semi well though)

3:29 PM

"Whatever's happening, I'm not doing a thing. I don't think I could even...do that." The suspense of the situation is essentially...gone as Ace watches Naiyta with slight confusion. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

Naiyta takes in a shuddering breath, and begins to painfully seal away Ace's healing abilities. No matter what he tried, he wouldn't be able to access those abilities for as long as Naiyta had power over them. And, judging by how it was talking, that could be a while. The process hurt, like fire searing through his veins in place of his blood. Naiyta didn't break eye contact throughout it. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Despite the curiosity and mingled confusion Ace holds, it begins to give way to awe as they feel something...shift as Naiyta preforms their magic. Yet pain overwhelms them near-instantly, and Ace's composure wavers for the first time since they were brought here. A strangled noise escapes their still bloodied lips, and a hand instantly shifts to cover their mouth as they double in on themself. It hurts too much to keep playing up this facade. Their free hand clutches at his stomach, pressing into their side as they try not to cry out with pain. Whatever it is Naiyta's doing, it's working- they to focus on their own powers- mend, ~~heal~~, ~~repair~~, fire, but he can't. Not for long. It feels like a part of their soul is being picked apart and smothered away, something that's so deeply innate and personal and it aches like shit. "Fuck," Ace gasps out, muffled. Their lungs strain as they try desperately to keep their breathing even. Not a thing. He continues to burn from the inside-out. This is pathetic. They're pathetic. They feel sick. Their gaze, slightly hazy and distant, shifts from the ground-feet-legs- and eventually locks with the pair of golds looming above them. It's still staring. Ace holds their stare, despite how much they burn- despite how much it's magic modifies their soul- modifies them. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

Once it's all done, Naiyta shakily steps back from Ace, taking their hand away. "There. Now you have been... fixed. Now, you are ready to compete." It put a hand to its shoulder and, in a matter of seconds, began to look better. Ace would almost certainly be able to recognize the signs of self-healing. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

As soon as it's over, Ace feels his limbs go soft. They wheeze quietly in labored breaths as they try to...readjust to being 'fixed', their hand shifting to press against their side to ease the pain. They don't say a word in response; they don't exactly have the energy to keep that facade going. Instead, their attention is caught by Naiyta healing itself. Right. Lifebringer, healing, Eternity incarnate. Their hand pressed to their side presses deeper. The stitch in their side doesn't let up. Ace's eyes narrow. "What did you do with my magic." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"I have sealed away your healing. I will not risk the possibility of you going around and... undoing what needs to be done." Naiyta hissed. They weren't smiling anymore. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"...If you mean 'reviving' the dead, I can't do that," Ace flatly responds, their lip curling upwards. Their healing. Their healing. Their healing. "Revivalist magic isn't anything anyone can just do, even with practice." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs (edited)

"I do not speak of revival. I speak of undoing what needs to be done. I cannot risk you saving lives I mean to end." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

"You think I want to save lives here? You think I want to save people from the brink of death to keep another competitor here?" [He's not usually like this.] [He doesn't know why he's like this.] "The less people the better. I want to get out of this- thing. Even if you didn't seal my healing away, I still wouldn't heal anyone at death's door," Ace spits out. "So seal it away. I don't care. I want to win." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Then, it shouldn't be a bother not to heal." Naiyta said. It tossed its head back and laughed- a cackling, full body, shaking laugh. "Good. Good. Slaughter them all, and you shall succeed." @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

That laugh again- their nostrils flare as they smile in some mockery of what it used to wear. It sends chills down their spine, but they've gotten used to it at this point. Right. They could manage without their own healing. They could keep at a distance. Use their bow, their arrows, their Mending. They'd figure something out. "When does the tournament begin." In this state, they would practically be dead on arrival. @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

"Soon." Naiyta took in a few final deep breaths. "It will begin, soon." It rests its hand ontop of Ace's forehead again. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

Ace exhales through their teeth, their breathing as even and steady as it always was. "Very well." @innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

innsjo | kyrie🪶+ darcy🖋+npcs

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# 23
Details:[d20+6 (17)]

@Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷 def

Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

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# -1
Details:[d20-2 (1)]

(holy shit)

(BLESS UP KING. ALRIGHT. GODDAMN.)

(hes gonna wake up with damage)

4:42 PM

(d5 pls)

(hooray,)

Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

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# 3
Details:[d5 (3)]

Naiyta didn't reply, but simply forced Ace into unconsciousness. He'd slump forward into deep, dreamless slumber. @Kip | Ace 🏹 / Ellie 📷

They taste saltwater and blood again. Ace slumps to the ground and begins to drift. [Murderer. How unprepared they were for that role.]