Evangeline A. K. McDowell (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
magus_erebea) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
imperial_stage2012-07-03 01:09 am
magus_erebea) wrote in imperial_stage2012-07-03 01:09 am
cannibal biker librarians
Who: Evangeline and Xykon.
What: A quasi-burglary.
When: During Evangeline's world tour, after Xykon's rampage in Rome.
Where: Xykon's Tower
Warnings: Probably... none...?
The problem with looking for rare and precious magical information was that, oh so often, it was not interred in the great libraries or universities or academies of magic where all could learn from it. A great many mages still preferred to remain true to the old ways and selfishly guard every last scrap of unique knowledge for the advantage it conferred. Which meant, of course, that when the public venues of learning had been exhausted Evangeline was forced to begin making potentially awkward house calls. Why yes, four centuries ago your great-grandfather did treat with a certain dark mage of legend, no she hadn't left out any 'greats', he'd studied esoterica for a reason, no that didn't make her a relation what the hell did you take her to mean no she didn't want money, just...
A certain book.
Usually it was easier to steal. Sometimes she did. But she did despite herself sometimes wonder how the fortunes of lines - whether of blood or tradition - she had crossed with many generations ago had turned, and visited in something resembling peace. Usually she found them much diminished. The mages she had bothered to associate with as such in her youth had invariably been both powerful and highly... independent... in their thought. There was a lot of room to fall there, and a lot of time in which to do it. Most saw her as no more than a vagabond asking after valuable family heirlooms. Some few realized what or even who she was, and with these things became interesting, in one fashion or another. And of those there were some that in fact remembered the old debts between them. If not always happily.
Some, of course, were not there to find. The line had ended or disappeared or abandoned its past so thoroughly she would not have anything to do with them. Or, as the case might have it, been destroyed some upstart lich just a scant few years before she had need of them.
Which meant, if nothing else, that she had to not only disable all the wards herself, but search for the damn book. Such private collections could gather incredible amounts of dust, it was true, and might appear to their inheritors truly timeless, but over enough centuries things got moved around.
What: A quasi-burglary.
When: During Evangeline's world tour, after Xykon's rampage in Rome.
Where: Xykon's Tower
Warnings: Probably... none...?
The problem with looking for rare and precious magical information was that, oh so often, it was not interred in the great libraries or universities or academies of magic where all could learn from it. A great many mages still preferred to remain true to the old ways and selfishly guard every last scrap of unique knowledge for the advantage it conferred. Which meant, of course, that when the public venues of learning had been exhausted Evangeline was forced to begin making potentially awkward house calls. Why yes, four centuries ago your great-grandfather did treat with a certain dark mage of legend, no she hadn't left out any 'greats', he'd studied esoterica for a reason, no that didn't make her a relation what the hell did you take her to mean no she didn't want money, just...
A certain book.
Usually it was easier to steal. Sometimes she did. But she did despite herself sometimes wonder how the fortunes of lines - whether of blood or tradition - she had crossed with many generations ago had turned, and visited in something resembling peace. Usually she found them much diminished. The mages she had bothered to associate with as such in her youth had invariably been both powerful and highly... independent... in their thought. There was a lot of room to fall there, and a lot of time in which to do it. Most saw her as no more than a vagabond asking after valuable family heirlooms. Some few realized what or even who she was, and with these things became interesting, in one fashion or another. And of those there were some that in fact remembered the old debts between them. If not always happily.
Some, of course, were not there to find. The line had ended or disappeared or abandoned its past so thoroughly she would not have anything to do with them. Or, as the case might have it, been destroyed some upstart lich just a scant few years before she had need of them.
Which meant, if nothing else, that she had to not only disable all the wards herself, but search for the damn book. Such private collections could gather incredible amounts of dust, it was true, and might appear to their inheritors truly timeless, but over enough centuries things got moved around.
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"...Why is there a random encounter in the library?" he asked from the door.
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She looks visibly frustrated with the shelving.
"You know as long as you're going to fill the place with undead you could have made some of them smart enough to alphabetize this mess."
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"Redcloak keeps insisting on some duck nephew and decimals, so take it up with him. In the meantime, what crime of the day are you attempting to commit? Because if it's basic thievery, I'll be disappointed."
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"Also Redcloak will probably whine," he added with a glance back out the hallway. "So that being the case, do you want to handle this the epic battle way, or the way where you trade me something in exchange and we both go on our way cackling about what a fool the other person is, despite the fact that value is relative?"
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She shrugs. If he's willing to trust her to pay up later, she's more than happy to probably cheat him.
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She doesn't bother to wait for an response before she curls a finger, drawing taut a web of steel wires that, despite his motion, seem to oh-so-conveniently have Xykon at their center. It was a pretty petty magic, as such things went, but it was almost depressing how many mages folded over and died when they suddenly found themselves restrained by 'mere' physical bonds at the outset of a fight.
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A cone of fire burst out of him, engulfing several of the strings as it washed towards Eva. Xykon, meanwhile, started half-ripping, half-brushing off strings where the one's he'd ignited gave him some leeway.
"That spell needs a different name when it has no somatic component."
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First, the shelves suddenly glow with arcane energy. Evangeline? Good luck getting through the glowing force that is now covering them - and which neatly reflects some of the fire from Xykon's spell, sending it around some corners.
Second, and perhaps more obviously (somehow), a very loud alarm goes off.
"DAMN IT!"
Immediately, a goblin with a distinctive red cloak and a holy symbol around his throat bolted into view.
"... Oh, great. Intruders."
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And finds the gesture rather needless as an alternate set of protections form around the shelving. Well. Benefit and complication.
She tears the heat from the air, mostly neutering Xykon's spell, and forms a lance of ice that speeds towards the lich. And, by extension, the goblin emerging behind him.
Red cloak. Didn't that mean something? Oh well. She has larger priorities.
A surge of arcane energy runs up her arm, and she smashes her fist into the floor, shattering the masonry and dropping into the level below. There's not much room to fly in here, but a building is a 3D space nonetheless. It poses all sorts of opportunities.
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"Hey!" he sputtered, as he picked himself up out of a pile of rubble. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a stonemason that'll work for a lich and and a goblin army? Not that I do, but hey, principle of the thing. Lightning Bolt!"
Heedless of collateral damage, the lich discharges a blast of electricity at the girl.
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Immediately, Redcloak dropped down through the gap Evangeline had created.
"Hold Person!", he shouts, facing Evangeline and hoping to stop her from moving or attacking more.
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She raised a hand and the lightning bolt bent neatly around her... but the potential manipulation had not been perfect, and her hand came away burned. Hardly a fatal wound, but... an unwelcome reminder that she was not what she once was. There was danger aplenty for her here.
...but not from Redcloak's spell. She was, after all, no longer human.
"Ensis Exequens," She answered, forming the blade of her preferred close-combat spell, and lunged at the goblin, placing him between her and Xykon.
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The five force globes burst free from his gesturing hand to swoop around the goblin, aiming unerringly for Eva.
"Also I haven't seen the cockroaches in forever."
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As Evangeline moved in, Redcloak tried to move back - melee was very much not his strong suit.
Odd, though. Now that he thought about it, that spell should've been strong enough to stop any young humanoid. Which meant this wasn't a humanoid.
Time for a guess. Quickly placing his hand against his unholy symbol, Redcloak shouted, "REBUKE UNDEAD!"
As he spoke, a wave of dark energy washed in Evangeline's direction. Notably, very much not anywhere near Lord Xykon's direction. Redcloak knew better than to even seem to be aiming in the lich's direction with this.
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She cut off as the wave of divine energy hit, charge faltering before she could reach the priest and cut him down. But if it seemed that she'd been defeated, it was to be a fleeting impression. As Xykon's missiles bore down on her she bit out a quick 'Reflexion', sending the missiles into Redcloak all the same.
"Tch. You're strong, I'll give you that, but I've transcended the weaknesses of those lifeless puppets."
She stepped forward and slashed her glowing blade at the goblin.
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Xykon waved a hand, summoning a Resilient Sphere with intent to trap Eva in it. Not that he expected it to last a round, he figured it'd be eating a targeted dispel in short order, but if it bought a moment for Redcloak to get off his ass and stop being a damage sponge, it accomplished its purpose.
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She reacted to the Rebuke Undead somewhat. Probably intelligent, meaning most likely she's a vampire. Which also means she doesn't have a lot of advantages on Xykon. Unfortunately, it doesn't leave me a lot, either. I'll have to save my remaining ace.
Sliding along the ground a few feet, Redcloak groaned. "Who are you, anyways?"
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"Exactly. And if people can kill you reliably you won't be very long for the world."
Though she smiles unpleasantly at Redcloak's question. "Ever heard of the Dark Evangel?"
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"I might be thinking of something different, here."
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Redcloak stood up. "A some centuries old vampiress. Wouldn't think someone as powerful as you would stoop to petty thievery."
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She takes a clear glass marble out of... her cloak? And presses it against the surface of the sphere. By all appearance it fails to interact in any way.
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"If you get wrecked by us and forced to flee, on the other hand, it qualifies as 'overestimating yourself massively'. If you flee by choice, it's 'being smart'."