Fae Mood - A Flying Circus Quest

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Hilda can do blood magic, we can fix this. We've got Riya's scarf to help focus, and we know her. Just heal her. Or, if that's not working, move the bullet wound from her to us.
We just need to actually succeed.
 
I'm gonna roll Go Down for Riya offscreen. I'm gonna go off of what the dice say. If she goes over 5 injury she's going to die because she is an NPC and not a super protagonist like Hilda. She is currently at 4 injury. I see y'all wanna do a healing spell so I'll put it to a vote:

[ ] Use Water Magic (normal spell risks and conveniences)
[ ] Use Blood Magic (heal at the cost of becoming injured yourself)

Either way she's still going down.
 
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[X] Use Blood Magic (heal at the cost of becoming injured yourself)
It's going to hurt, but it gives us a better chance of saving her. (And we do have advantage, from Eyeball)
That said, I'm the only one who said anything about a healing spell, so there should probably be an option for other things. Like getting vengance, or running away.
 
Ok never mind. We're gonna put what happens next into the next combat round. I'm gonna summarize and then let you do what you want to do next.
 
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  • Threadmarks
    • "GONNA TRY AND REPAIR THE STRUCTURE!" You yelled next, taking the seashell between both of your hands and praying loudly for protection from Rhona, trying to imagine the holes in the canvas closing and the wood mending itself, but finding it difficult over all the adrenaline and noise. You continued praying, looking around at the wings and fuselage expectedly, but nothing seemed to be happening.

    "DO YOU SEE RIYA?!" Edgar yelled, craning his head around. You circled your head around too, looking below, and saw Riya's plane behind your own in the middle of a long turn. She was clearly trying to quickly recoup speed after spending it all dogfighting the Mammut. A white, square shaped monoplane with a red stripe on the left wing was following just above, and it was clear Riya didn't see it. It nosed down and opened fire on her. She reacted and tried to twist out of the way, and managed to keep most of the plane from being hurt, but through the light on her dashboard you saw two huge blood splatters explode out of her torso. She tried to keep steady, going straight, but just slipped off the controls and collapsed against the dashboard.

    "FUCK!"

    "WHAT?!"

    "SHE GOT HIT! SHE'S GONNA CRASH!" You yelled, your voice breaking, as she started to nose down while you muttered "no" over and over under your breath while starting to hyperventilate. This didn't seem real.

    Current Altitude: 27/29 (Ground is 21)
    Current Speed: 21/21 (Altitude) (Letting you extend cause you're not in immediate danger)
    Toughness: 0/9
    Strain: 9/40
    Fuel: 9/9
    RPM: 4/7
    Wear: 0/5
    Edgar's Plane
    Holed Radiator: Autofail all Cool Off rolls. (Patch Fix)
    Damaged Control Surfaces: -1 Ongoing to Dogfight.

    [ ] Make a new fucking plan. Keep in mind you have 5 bomb mass hanging off your plane.
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Texas Red said:
    [ ] Make a new fucking plan. Keep in mind you have 5 bomb mass hanging off your plane.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...

    [X] Plan : Skedaddle
    -[X] Hilda : Go to Riya's plane, cuddle up in the cockpit, take control, then use water and blood magic as needed to staunch the bleeding.
    -[X] Edgar : Go to that place in the sky where NPC pilots live whenever we're not paying attention to them.
     
    [X] Plan : Skedaddle
    -[X] Hilda : Go to Riya's plane, cuddle up in the cockpit, take control, then use water and blood magic as needed to staunch the bleeding.
    -[X] Edgar : Go to that place in the sky where NPC pilots live whenever we're not paying attention to them.
     
    [X] Plan : Skedaddle
    -[X] Hilda : Go to Riya's plane, cuddle up in the cockpit, take control, then use water and blood magic as needed to staunch the bleeding.
    -[X] Edgar : Go to that place in the sky where NPC pilots live whenever we're not paying attention to them.
     
    Alone in the Garden
  • Apocrypha
    • Alone in the Garden

    You awake to the smell of soft loam and cut grass. These scents, still vaguely foreign to you after all the time you spend on the ground, are cut through with a few others that have become frighteningly familiar in recent weeks. The earthy tones of leaking castor oil blend well with the natural scents, while the petrochemical odor of gasoline only gives you a mild headache. Above it all, filling your nose and mouth, is the metallic, coppery scent of freshly spilt blood. Your blood. You look down upon your instrument panel, the gauges cracked where the bullets passed through, the lacquered dashboard painted a splotchy red where your blood covered it. A bit further, and you see the ruin of your chest. Your clothes have been rent asunder, the white bone of your ribs visible where your flesh was torn away. You can feel the darkness rushing in from the edges of your vision. "This is it", you thought. You were going to die.

    A stick jutted in front of your eyes. With gentle pressure, it's sharp point forced your head upwards. It was easier now, not seeing the wound. The darkness receded, and instead you looked at the interloper. She was tall and willowy, towering over you and the ruins of your plane. Her skin was rugged and blackened, textured like the bark of a great tree, but riven with red glowing cracks that shifted as he moved, as if her very flesh was smouldering. Her clothes, what little she wore, seemed to have shared the same fate. In some places, the silk had been burned away, in others it was so caked with gray black as to be solidified. A fae, you knew. But what kind, maybe one of the dark elves? Hilda would have known, but she wasn't here.

    "A dryad" the Fae answered. "And yes, your friend would have known." Her voice was unlike what you expected, with none of the crackle of inferno or the touches of ash, only the gentle sense of a summer's breeze and sound of growing plants.
    "I must say" the fae continues, " It is a surprise to see one of her associates, so soon after she burned my garden". She gestures at the surrounding forest, the trees all blackened and bereft of leaves, even far away from where the plane crashed.

    Of course Hilda knew the Fae, you realized, she's a Witch. And of course, she made a mortal enemy, because she was Hilda. But whatever, this time, it was not your fight. So you lied.
    "What associate?", you said. The fae shrugged, unimpressed with your tactical deception. "Brazen you are", she responded "to try and deceive one as powerful as me, while you wear your allegiances so openly".
    You grimace, looking at the remnants of your planes wing, the insignia still unburnt.

    The Fae laughs. "Oh, so obsessed with material trifles. I was referring to your scarf". You look at her, confused. You hadn't worn the scarf Hilda got you today, preferring to led the bitter cold distract you of your sorrows instead.
    "Oh, such strange creatures you are" the Fae continues. "You put your faith in paint and canvas, in bonds of paper and ink, so readily burnt and torn asunder. But when I speak of the true bond, those bound in the exchange of favors, the granting and denial of requests, the withdrawal of the favor, you look as puzzled as a wayward boar."

    She gestures, and the smoke that drift around your plane coils in the air, forming figures and shapes. Some are too vague to recognize, almost degraded into nothingness. A glimpse of your home air convoy, an oath to the captain. Others are clear as day. The moment Hilda gave you that scarf, the signing of your little mercenary outfit, you and her having a fight about inviting others along. You closed your eyes as the smoke coiled and formed the last fight you had, before all this. When you opened them again, you were looking into Hilda's eyes. She had just kissed. Her lips moved, wordlessly, but you knew what she was saying. You turned her down, and the smoke mirage collapsed.

    "You know" the Fae said. "She would have saved you, were it not for that." The crushing realization sets in, but much as you try to deny it, you know in your mind that it rings true. The Fae can talk Truth, and you know in your heart that this one did not simply lie. Even so, you have heard the stories. The Fae do not interact with humanity without reason, without desire.

    "Why are you helping me?" you retort, struggling to keep a bit of panic out of your voice. The Fae's answer is courteous, almost cloyingly sweet. "I see a kindred spirit, one which has been hurt as I was, not just the fire now, but a far greater blaze. I doubt you heard of it, you barely remember your younger years. " She sits down upon your plane, the structure settling with tortured creeks, and begins her story.

    It started, much like yours. A pilot, crashing into isolated glade, disturbing a young fae. But rather than flee or fight, as humans in those era where want to do, she spoke. The young fae, still naive and trusting in the world, listened to her stories, and was enraptured by them. She spoke of her wide voyages, the desperate flight of her people, the coming to a new land, and the second flight when it was all set alight again. Now, they stayed in the air, ever watchful, ever fearful of the ground below. But the great balloons, the very machinery and the bones which held them in the air, were tired. Too heavy was their load, too many people to carry to safety. They could not take enough food, take enough water, make enough distance. And so, some of them had elected to stay behind, to try and make a living on the ground once more.

    They were not far away now, trudging through the wild, heading for the Dark coast, was inhospitable conditions they hoped would deny them jealous neighbours. The young fae, moved by this tragedy, agreed to open her glade for them. She grew fruit trees for them to eat, lured beasts for them to slay. She shaped the branches of the trees into planks for houses, drew upon the very ground so that a spring might sprout. And each night, the humans would regale her with their stories, and rejoice with them, though the first human she met remained her favorite.

    But then, the betrayal came. In small bits, one by one, twos by twos. The humans would leave the garden, to continue towards the dark sea. Each time, the Fae would prepare to set out in charge of them, and each time the first human would call upon her, urging her to stay to protect the remainder. And so it continued, until only the first remained. And when, one night, the first and last human left as well, the fae found that so many trails had been made through her forest that tracking her was impossible, and she wept.

    "But that's all right now", the Fae said, springing up from where she was seated. "You're here now, and nearly all fixed up." You looked down and saw that the blood had been cleaned away, a hundred ants and other little insects carrying of the little bits of bone and flesh. You chest was covered in leaves, stitched together by a myriad of ants. They'd even started to try and repair your clothes, bringing in a variety of multicolored leaves to try and match the colors. The fae noticed your attention, and smiled.
    "The carpenters do good work, even if they are bit stuck in their ways when it comes to materials. Alas, my other yeoman are still indisposed, given the state of disarray in which the garden finds itself." She pauzes, for a second. "But we can fix that, together. Should only be a small decade before the last of the trees grow back in."

    "A decade", you grimace. You'd thought you'd die not half an hour before, made your peace with it, but now you couldn't wait to get back to the city. There were things you wanted to say, to Edgar, to Hilda, even the latter might not want to hear them and perhaps did not deserve it.
    "A decade", the Fae answered. "And that is just to rebuild our little paradise."
    "Did you really think, my little Anisha, that I could bear to let the world hurt you a second time?"
     
  • Apocrypha
    • @10ebbor10, holy shit. This is SO GOOD. I'm glad you caught that whole foreshadowing with the wildfire. Thank you so much for basically fanfiction about my silly little story. You're a fantastic writer and I'm so so flattered you choose to write little bits here. I enjoyed just reading that story in general, but I might incorporate inspiration from some of that in the future.

    Also y'all get an Omake bonus, as usual, one free advantage to spend. Though I honestly feel like that deserves two.
     
    Alright, now, what I'm gonna do first is roll Empty Seat to see what happens to Riya's plane. That's gonna determine how easy it is to get onto it for you. Her stability is -1 so I'll just roll that.

    Edit: 💀
    Texas Red threw 2 10-faced dice. Reason: 2d10-1 Empty Seat Total: 5
    4 4 1 1
     
    You're gonna have to dogfight to get there on your broom. Time to break out the stats! You have 130 Handling. Wow. Ok, you're gonna start at 21 speed but your max is 9, so you're gonna slow down from energy loss until you hit 9, unless you keep diving. So getting to her requires you to dive for 1, so you'll gain speed up to 24. So you have a higher speed and +4 from higher handling.

    Roll me Dogfight!+9. Oh Jesus. Ok, well, I guess you'll do it, but a partial will mean you're gonna take injury from trying to slam yourself into a spinning fucking plane. You'll be fine though, I'm sure. Now roll!
     
    Alright! You made it in clean. Now you gotta cast the spell, and you have to tell me if you're using blood magic or water magic.

    Blood magic:
    • Full Success: Heal her back to full again, take 1 injury from the strain.
    • Partial Success: Stabilize her, take 2 Injury.
    • Failure: Injury is simply reflected into you, you take 4 Injury
    Water Magic:
    • Full Success: Stabilize her and heal 1 Injury, as per the book.
    • Partial Success: Do that, but you take disadvantage to recover since you're spinning out.
    • Failure: You simply don't heal Riya and she is actively dying.
    Roll +Wild and tell me which magic you're using. You can absolutely spend an Omake advantage on this if you want.
     
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    Water Magic, since even if the 1 injury isn't enough to get her awake we will still be back up to two planes
    wrecksalot threw 2 10-faced dice. Total: 18
    10 10 8 8
     
    Alright! Great! Now you need to roll to Recover the airplane! This is a calm roll. So 2d10+3, unless you wanna spend an Omake hold for advantage!
     
    Okay, it really seems like we should spend an omake on this, but I haven't written any and would feel bad using something I didn't make
     
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