[ Temenos is inside a cell. It's huge, all things considered, like a battlefield.
Luckily, Temenos is here with his familiar staff.
He'll also find himself wearing a black suit set with white shirt and red tie with the green and red armband around his upper arm.
The Snow Queen has arrived, and everything is freezing. There's even a mini blizzard going on in here with lots of ice and snow. This duel is essentially a time limit. Defeat the Snow Queen before you either die or get frozen solid... like that coworker of yours over there, encased in a block of ice--Castti is also wearing the same suit and armband. Her promises are honorable--Castti will be set free once she is defeated in a fight.
The Snow Queen is about three times Temenos's height and she carries a big sword.
[ MY CASTTI!!!!!!! i thought it was going to be yuri and i got slapped with the castmate pain
anyway. this is terrible! it's cold, but it's nothing unfamiliar - the travelers have been through it all, and this is like the worst of an ice guardian, the worst, frigid cold of stormhail, his least favorite place in the world. he has his staff in his hand, though, and the battle instinct is immediate. for the moment, he forgets all about the fact that these are lived memories, for the sake of protecting and caring for the travelers he holds so dear.
first check: does he have any magical abilities? that's probably important. he's not doing much defeating without them. well, maybe - he's gone staff to sword against monsters here and there. ]
[ Sure. Temenos might feel it's not real magic, but it's close enough. His skills are unlocked for this duel. (yay) However, if he has any crowd-control magic, those are very ineffective against the Snow Queen.
While Temenos drinks in the information, the Snow Queen looms over Temenos and swings her sword down at him overhead. ]
well, okay. maybe he doesn't have quite enough time, because there's a sword being swung at him. instinctively, he rolls out of the way (i rolled a 12) but he's not very fast. that's fine. having his skills unlocked is a boon and he can take a couple of hits if he absolutely has to.
mostly because doubt is what he does. however, you know what else he does? he swings his staff around in front of himself, and says a prayer. ] Aelfric, banish the shadows from this world!
The dome of light covers half of the arena and the Snow Queen suffers a direct hit. She takes a lot of damage, which makes the snowstorm blow even wilder. Hail starts to rain the size of golf balls. The Snow Queen is yet to be deterred, and swings her sword horizontally to cover a lot of area. If one gets hit, it'll be quite the rough smack instead of being sliced. ]
[ you know, honestly, being nerfed has sucked. he hates being nerfed. for as much as this snow queen is clearly violently dangerous, it is
kind of nice to be able to blow things up again. he thinks this haphazardly when his spell hits, and then about three seconds later is pelted with hail. that hurts, and the visibility in the area is getting worse and worse by the second.
his gaze flicks to castti and this time, (16!!) he tries to jump out of the way of getting smacked into a wall like a bug. it's hard to see, but he summons up his magic and casts another spell, this time with - ] Holy light, illuminate the darkness. [ so it's less of an insane nuke but still a bright, concentrated flare of aelfric's holy power. temenos firmly believes that violence is not always the answer but it is always an option, especially with someone in danger. ]
The Snow Queen is hit again. Despite the powerful spells, she still remains standing. Perhaps she has high magic resistance. It's cold. Really cold. His suit can't do much to keep Temenos warm.
She strikes her sword down, creating fissures in the arena. From each crack of the ground, an icy wind blasts upwards with the force of a geyser.
In the meantime, Castti remains to be a block of ice. ]
[ it's weird. the icy cold of this memory, of this awful snow queen. something about it feels a little different, for half a second. for some reason, it feels like he should be standing in the front yard of a bastion fortress, on an iced over road. in an icy, frozen graveyard.
... but he's not. he's in the middle of a battle, isn't he?
temenos snaps out of whatever that was and rushes away from the sword strikes. he needs to get to castti as much as he needs to defeat this woman, and the shivery cold of the winter is too familiar, too miserable. he has never been any good at close combat - but the light spells aren't working, and he's going to run out of mana, if he's not careful. maybe he can get closer. he hurries forward, now, fighting against the icy cold (the frigid winter winds of stormhail biting at his cheeks) and hurrying past the cracks the best he can. another light spell, fired off from a distance, but he's trying to get as close as he can. ]
[ "â–“â–“â–“â–“â–“ was brave and stronger than anyone else, they'll fight for â–“â–“â–“â–“â–“, who's trapped in the Snow Palace."
The Snow Queen's movements seem to be rushed when she tries to stab Temenos with the giant sword. She takes the light spell again as she usually does, but she doesn't seem to like the idea of Temenos getting closer. After the stab attempt, her swings get wilder.
On a rank of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, how would Temenos's fortitude be ranked? ]
[ well thank fucking god this score is not physical because he'd be dead off schedule
because it is mental, temenos mistral, who spends much of his time mentally breaking the shields of others in interrogations, is a strong five. he may not have a lot of physical strength, but his own bravery and acuity are what make him such a relentlessly good inquisitor. he is, in short terms - relentless.
he winds his staff back, ready to just whack the absolute shit out of her and steal away some mana in the process. magic steal rod ]
[ There's a loud crack when the staff connects the hit and it sounds like something shattering. Like with some duels, it ends with whoever lands the first hit with their weapon.
"Temenos Minstral was brave and stronger than anyone else, he'll fight for Castti, who's trapped in the Snow Palace."
The Snow Queen reaches down after she collapses on the floor, caresses Temenos's head quite strongly, and gives him a kiss.
"The Snow Palace Temenos reached was so cold, but the Snow Queen's kiss froze his heart, and he couldn't feel the cold anymore. There was no joy in the palace, only the long winter night. Temenos was strong enough to remain unpierced by the mirror."
As such, the snow and everything cold is no longer felt. The block of ice that encased Castti melts and the snowstorm gradually subsides. There's a little cheek decal on Temenos's face with three small icicles.
"The roses blossom and the Snow Palace falls. Not a single soul remembered the woman sleeping there."
Castti smiles, thanks Temenos for saving her, and promises to return the favor twofold next time. Is it weird to see Castti in a suit? Maybe he won't have time to process it with the setting disintegrating. Temenos Minstral won his duel against the Snow Queen! Did it seem laughably easy? Bless his mental fortitude stat for power amplification. Castti is gone, the arena is gone, everything is just a pitch black void--the one that Temenos and Yuri were sucked into.
Yuri stands there with her gauze having the same decal over it. The decal that was on Temenos's face is short-lived as it also disintegrates with the setting. ]
... You brought her down much faster than I could have ever hoped to. Congratulations, Temenos.
[ temenos is a rude snot so when this memory ends he
wipes his mouth. his expression is that of someone looking into the camera like this is the office as he slowly processes what the heck just happened. the spark of his magic being gone is disappointing, but not surprising, and once he gets over the initial reaction...
...ah! a familiar voice. he looks to the side, reaching up to touch his cheek. ]
... Is that normal behavior for a monster of your memories? [ it sounds like a joke, at least - more bemused than anything else. wild. ] Goodness.
[ Yuri just gives Temenos a lopsided smile when she sees him wipe his mouth. Poor youth pastor... She shakes her head no. ]
The Snow Queen was most likely based off a fairy tale, so it was a part of her mechanic. Others don't normally duel either--they would prefer to kill the person and get on with their existence.
... That was a rough duel for me. I had to go in because we were shortstaffed at the time and I only won due to sheer luck.
[ Unlike Temenos, Yuri did not have as high of a fortitude stat. ]
Abnormalities really are aptly named, aren't they...?
[ brr. well, he's cold now, but at least he doesnt' have snow queen germs. he gives yuri a smile in return, wiggling his shoulders in a shiver, and considers that. sheer luck... ]
Sheer luck - now, I doubt that. [ you're tough he believes in you. ] ...I take it the conditions were the same. Did you have to free a coworker of yours?
A duel with the Snow Queen occurs when she traps a coworker. She usually gives three kisses for the duel to trigger: the first one was safe, but the other two gave strange effects to the person who work with her. The third one would be encased in ice and someone would have had to defeat her before the end of the day or they would have died.
[ bonks her affectionately. me, sisi. temenos just gives her a little bit of a look but allows the remark to pass. ]
Goodness, what a pain that must have been. Well done, in taking care of it and saving the day.[ professional work by miss yuri! ] All in all, not too odd of an experience.
This memory... It was the first time when I could win over an Abnormality in any way on my own. It was also when I started to dislike the cold a lot more.
[ Yet it continues to taunt her. The icicle decal is still over her gauze. ]
I don't like the cold much either. [ he says, a little quieter - perhaps without admitting it, but yuri's clever. it's for the same particular reason. bad memories.
but, ah. he glances at the decal, frowning as he reaches up absently to touch his own cheek where the same sticker sat. ]
... Isn't it? But I put it on over the gauze starting from this week... it feels like I can reclaim a little bit of lost control.
[ She's trying. ]
Ah, but dire situations like that occurred in L Corp all the time. Having a duel with the chance to save someone was very generous, all things considered.
I think that's a wonderful thing, Yuri. [ to regain that control. temenos is about to say something else, make a joke about her being a gallant knight in shining armor, but the memory void suddenly reopens, and he makes a short, surprised noise, but it's too late. ]
[ however, he doesn't even get time to enjoy it - because one second later, a rift opens up right in front of them, and turns the world to blackness.
... and then, once more, it's cold.
yuri. you find yourself standing in a frigid cold mountain town. you know, instinctively, that you are in stormhail, the bastion of the sacred guard in the winterlands. in front of you is said bastion, a massive cathedral-like structure. however, before you can even really consider much of that, you might notice that there's a large crowd of people standing just outside the front stairs. it's quite the hubbub - people are murmuring and whispering to each other. you can't see anything on eye level through the throng of nervous townspeople.
though, you can hear someone say, "That's one of them from the Sacred Guard, isn't it? How'd this happen?" and another person gasp, then say a soft prayer. the murmurs are confused. scared. sorrowful, and you feel this odd sense of trepidation.
[ Yuri was about to call for his name, but it's too late. She frowns when she sees the crowd of nervous townspeople. She's heard of that term before and that doesn't sound good from seeing their reactions. There's quite the crowd, but Yuri does her best to swerve through the people to try and get into the bastion. If the door is locked, she will try to find another way inside. ]
[ she can try! the door itself appears to be locked.
but, as yuri ascends the stairs, she might notice that the people seem to be... upset? or at least sad. the memory that she finds herself in fuzzes a little, like something's weird here.
the voices continue. "It must've been a monster.... the poor thing."
"Yeah. But, think of it this way - we'd be even more in trouble without them protecting us. He was doing his duty."
[ For Yuri, honor and pride means nothing when you are dead. That's why the frown stays on her face as she continues to ascend the stairs to try and find out what's going on and to find the subject that the people are talking about.
She's aware that this may be Temenos's memory, but she feels like she's not allowed to call out for him. ]
[ from the top down view, she can see what the people below are talking about, and as yuri ascends the stairs, she'll feel this great sense of... trepidation. this feeling that something is wrong. horribly wrong.
when she stops partway up the stairs, she can see from the top, down that there's a person, slumped up against the fence. from this angle, it's a little harder to see, but the urge to look is almost violently overwhelming, and somewhere in there, the memory clicks into place, and suddenly, yuri - yuri? - will realize she (temenos) knows this person.
the body against the stone fence is crick wellsley. he's a member of the sacred guard, yes, but more than that, he is your erstwhile companion. crick, your little lamb. you met him what feels like years ago, now, back in flamechurch - he fought by your side when you confronted the felvarg that killed the pontiff. you met with him by chance in canalbrine, and he threw his whole heart into protecting you, no matter how much you reminded him you didn't need it. he reacted when you teased him so easily, bullied and frowning, but stalwart and true.
crick, your little lamb. crick wellsley, led to the slaughter.
his body is mangled; blood seeps through his white cloak and down into the white snow, down his white, lifeless face. by some miracle of aelfric, at least his eyes are closed.
your stomach does a sudden horrible, unpleasant twist - it's like being slapped in the face. these aren't your emotions, are they, yuri? they're someone else's, and they're visceral. horror, despair, recognition. no, no, no - you have to go to him. you have to go. maybe you can save him, your magic is strong enough, can't you revive him? ]
[ Truly, it's been a long time since she's ever felt this way. Even when Aya died, she wasn't allowed to mourn and had to continue despite everything. These sort of emotions take her by the storm and they flood her mind. It leads her to go fast. Fast. Faster. She can revive him. The idea isn't blasphemous. It's possible. She can do it.
Yuri doesn't even bother going down the stairs properly. In fact, she just leaps off the handrail and she lands wrong, feeling the pressure run through her leg. It's fine. Who cares. She continues going down like this until she reaches Crick and brings out the staff (does she have the staff?) to start casting resurrection magic (how? just do it). ]
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w3 monday
Luckily, Temenos is here with his familiar staff.
He'll also find himself wearing a black suit set with white shirt and red tie with the green and red armband around his upper arm.
The Snow Queen has arrived, and everything is freezing. There's even a mini blizzard going on in here with lots of ice and snow. This duel is essentially a time limit. Defeat the Snow Queen before you either die or get frozen solid... like that coworker of yours over there, encased in a block of ice--Castti is also wearing the same suit and armband. Her promises are honorable--Castti will be set free once she is defeated in a fight.
The Snow Queen is about three times Temenos's height and she carries a big sword.
What will Temenos do? ]
Re: w3 monday
anyway. this is terrible! it's cold, but it's nothing unfamiliar - the travelers have been through it all, and this is like the worst of an ice guardian, the worst, frigid cold of stormhail, his least favorite place in the world. he has his staff in his hand, though, and the battle instinct is immediate. for the moment, he forgets all about the fact that these are lived memories, for the sake of protecting and caring for the travelers he holds so dear.
first check: does he have any magical abilities? that's probably important. he's not doing much defeating without them. well, maybe - he's gone staff to sword against monsters here and there. ]
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While Temenos drinks in the information, the Snow Queen looms over Temenos and swings her sword down at him overhead. ]
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well, okay. maybe he doesn't have quite enough time, because there's a sword being swung at him. instinctively, he rolls out of the way (i rolled a 12) but he's not very fast. that's fine. having his skills unlocked is a boon and he can take a couple of hits if he absolutely has to.
mostly because doubt is what he does. however, you know what else he does? he swings his staff around in front of himself, and says a prayer. ] Aelfric, banish the shadows from this world!
[ he smites SO good ]
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The dome of light covers half of the arena and the Snow Queen suffers a direct hit. She takes a lot of damage, which makes the snowstorm blow even wilder. Hail starts to rain the size of golf balls. The Snow Queen is yet to be deterred, and swings her sword horizontally to cover a lot of area. If one gets hit, it'll be quite the rough smack instead of being sliced. ]
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kind of nice to be able to blow things up again. he thinks this haphazardly when his spell hits, and then about three seconds later is pelted with hail. that hurts, and the visibility in the area is getting worse and worse by the second.
his gaze flicks to castti and this time, (16!!) he tries to jump out of the way of getting smacked into a wall like a bug. it's hard to see, but he summons up his magic and casts another spell, this time with - ] Holy light, illuminate the darkness. [ so it's less of an insane nuke but still a bright, concentrated flare of aelfric's holy power. temenos firmly believes that violence is not always the answer but it is always an option, especially with someone in danger. ]
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The Snow Queen is hit again. Despite the powerful spells, she still remains standing. Perhaps she has high magic resistance. It's cold. Really cold. His suit can't do much to keep Temenos warm.
She strikes her sword down, creating fissures in the arena. From each crack of the ground, an icy wind blasts upwards with the force of a geyser.
In the meantime, Castti remains to be a block of ice. ]
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... but he's not. he's in the middle of a battle, isn't he?
temenos snaps out of whatever that was and rushes away from the sword strikes. he needs to get to castti as much as he needs to defeat this woman, and the shivery cold of the winter is too familiar, too miserable. he has never been any good at close combat - but the light spells aren't working, and he's going to run out of mana, if he's not careful. maybe he can get closer. he hurries forward, now, fighting against the icy cold (the frigid winter winds of stormhail biting at his cheeks) and hurrying past the cracks the best he can. another light spell, fired off from a distance, but he's trying to get as close as he can. ]
no subject
The Snow Queen's movements seem to be rushed when she tries to stab Temenos with the giant sword. She takes the light spell again as she usually does, but she doesn't seem to like the idea of Temenos getting closer. After the stab attempt, her swings get wilder.
On a rank of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, how would Temenos's fortitude be ranked? ]
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because it is mental, temenos mistral, who spends much of his time mentally breaking the shields of others in interrogations, is a strong five. he may not have a lot of physical strength, but his own bravery and acuity are what make him such a relentlessly good inquisitor. he is, in short terms - relentless.
he winds his staff back, ready to just whack the absolute shit out of her and steal away some mana in the process. magic steal rod ]
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"Temenos Minstral was brave and stronger than anyone else, he'll fight for Castti, who's trapped in the Snow Palace."
The Snow Queen reaches down after she collapses on the floor, caresses Temenos's head quite strongly, and gives him a kiss.
"The Snow Palace Temenos reached was so cold, but the Snow Queen's kiss froze his heart, and he couldn't feel the cold anymore. There was no joy in the palace, only the long winter night. Temenos was strong enough to remain unpierced by the mirror."
As such, the snow and everything cold is no longer felt. The block of ice that encased Castti melts and the snowstorm gradually subsides. There's a little cheek decal on Temenos's face with three small icicles.
"The roses blossom and the Snow Palace falls. Not a single soul remembered the woman sleeping there."
Castti smiles, thanks Temenos for saving her, and promises to return the favor twofold next time. Is it weird to see Castti in a suit? Maybe he won't have time to process it with the setting disintegrating. Temenos Minstral won his duel against the Snow Queen! Did it seem laughably easy? Bless his mental fortitude stat for power amplification. Castti is gone, the arena is gone, everything is just a pitch black void--the one that Temenos and Yuri were sucked into.
Yuri stands there with her gauze having the same decal over it. The decal that was on Temenos's face is short-lived as it also disintegrates with the setting. ]
... You brought her down much faster than I could have ever hoped to. Congratulations, Temenos.
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wipes his mouth. his expression is that of someone looking into the camera like this is the office as he slowly processes what the heck just happened. the spark of his magic being gone is disappointing, but not surprising, and once he gets over the initial reaction...
...ah! a familiar voice. he looks to the side, reaching up to touch his cheek. ]
... Is that normal behavior for a monster of your memories? [ it sounds like a joke, at least - more bemused than anything else. wild. ] Goodness.
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The Snow Queen was most likely based off a fairy tale, so it was a part of her mechanic. Others don't normally duel either--they would prefer to kill the person and get on with their existence.
... That was a rough duel for me. I had to go in because we were shortstaffed at the time and I only won due to sheer luck.
[ Unlike Temenos, Yuri did not have as high of a fortitude stat. ]
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[ brr. well, he's cold now, but at least he doesnt' have snow queen germs. he gives yuri a smile in return, wiggling his shoulders in a shiver, and considers that. sheer luck... ]
Sheer luck - now, I doubt that. [ you're tough he believes in you. ] ...I take it the conditions were the same. Did you have to free a coworker of yours?
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[ She's stuck on believing that it was luck. ]
A duel with the Snow Queen occurs when she traps a coworker. She usually gives three kisses for the duel to trigger: the first one was safe, but the other two gave strange effects to the person who work with her. The third one would be encased in ice and someone would have had to defeat her before the end of the day or they would have died.
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Goodness, what a pain that must have been. Well done, in taking care of it and saving the day.[ professional work by miss yuri! ] All in all, not too odd of an experience.
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[ Yet it continues to taunt her. The icicle decal is still over her gauze. ]
I received this thing... after Eunhyuk died.
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but, ah. he glances at the decal, frowning as he reaches up absently to touch his own cheek where the same sticker sat. ]
... That's awfully cruel timing.
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[ She's trying. ]
Ah, but dire situations like that occurred in L Corp all the time. Having a duel with the chance to save someone was very generous, all things considered.
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I think that's a wonderful thing, Yuri. [ to regain that control. temenos is about to say something else, make a joke about her being a gallant knight in shining armor, but the memory void suddenly reopens, and he makes a short, surprised noise, but it's too late. ]
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but, as yuri ascends the stairs, she might notice that the people seem to be... upset? or at least sad. the memory that she finds herself in fuzzes a little, like something's weird here.
the voices continue. "It must've been a monster.... the poor thing."
"Yeah. But, think of it this way - we'd be even more in trouble without them protecting us. He was doing his duty."
"Certainly honorable." ]
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She's aware that this may be Temenos's memory, but she feels like she's not allowed to call out for him. ]
octopath ii spoilers ahoy \o/
when she stops partway up the stairs, she can see from the top, down that there's a person, slumped up against the fence. from this angle, it's a little harder to see, but the urge to look is almost violently overwhelming, and somewhere in there, the memory clicks into place, and suddenly, yuri - yuri? - will realize she (temenos) knows this person.
the body against the stone fence is crick wellsley. he's a member of the sacred guard, yes, but more than that, he is your erstwhile companion. crick, your little lamb. you met him what feels like years ago, now, back in flamechurch - he fought by your side when you confronted the felvarg that killed the pontiff. you met with him by chance in canalbrine, and he threw his whole heart into protecting you, no matter how much you reminded him you didn't need it. he reacted when you teased him so easily, bullied and frowning, but stalwart and true.
crick, your little lamb. crick wellsley, led to the slaughter.
his body is mangled; blood seeps through his white cloak and down into the white snow, down his white, lifeless face. by some miracle of aelfric, at least his eyes are closed.
your stomach does a sudden horrible, unpleasant twist - it's like being slapped in the face. these aren't your emotions, are they, yuri? they're someone else's, and they're visceral. horror, despair, recognition. no, no, no - you have to go to him. you have to go. maybe you can save him, your magic is strong enough, can't you revive him? ]
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Yuri doesn't even bother going down the stairs properly. In fact, she just leaps off the handrail and she lands wrong, feeling the pressure run through her leg. It's fine. Who cares. She continues going down like this until she reaches Crick and brings out the staff (does she have the staff?) to start casting resurrection magic (how? just do it). ]
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