Domain Game Quest

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(She was actually already going to rush the ladder this turn. Nadine still doesn't count as being on Blue, so she's more of an NPC Guest right now.)

Nadine takes off for the ladder. Aya starts to follow, but the red holds up her hand to stop her. She shouts something, or at least it looks like she does. You can't hear what, which is strange. Aya stops, and focuses on the bit of Mitt's foot that sticks over the edge.

At the same time, you wrench yourself up back on solid ground as Mitt shrinks back, flashes of confused, animal fear sliding over his face, just for a moment. But it's enough, and you lung for him blade in hand. He regains his composure, and brings up his hand to defend himself. Won't do him any good.

You descend on him, throwing yourself at him. But you're weapon stops cold, blocked by a silver thing held in his palms, some metal.....

It's a triangle. As in, the musical instrument the triangle and he's using it to stop you cold. And that's when things get weird. You hear bird calls. Tons of bird calls, the horrible, high pitched skawky kind. As you listen they begin to overlap, fuse together, becoming a single tone that bores it's way into your mind and etches itself onto your skull. You grimace, and in that moment he throws you off.

Mitt jumps to his feet, his confidence and swagger all back. He withdraws a tiny metal stick and taps the triangle once with it, adding the metallic sound to the quivering of bird voices. He clears his throat, and the next thing he says has such a low base that you swear the tree starts shaking.

"HAIL TO THE KING, BABY."

(Aya's powers appear to need line of sight to the person she is protecting with them.)
(Mitt's Domain is not space)

[Philote]

(How much are we being affected by this? Can we move? How much of our senses are we still able to use?)

>Start moving if possible, build up some void and try to direct it towards voiding sound if that is possible.
>Get to other side of him if possible, no reason to be set up to be thrown off balcony
>Stab when appropriate.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(It is agonizing. You can't hear a thing. You could still move, but you'll be slower.)
(Nadine can probably make it up that Ladder in 2 turns.)

[Philote]

(Any chance Amanda has woken up because of the noise? )

>Armand: Go off the edge, no use up on the balcony at the moment and we can not get around him without getting closer to the sound source
>Aya: Catch Armand. Concern emotion for effective catching? Calm emotion to psuedo-heal Armand?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(No, but that makes sense once you realize how Mitts powers work.)

You throw yourself over the side, and the effect is almost immediate. The sound of birds just suddenly stops, and thank god for that because you were seriously considering busting your own eardrums. You try to roll as you touch the ground. Unfortunately for the both of you, Aya tries to cushion your drop.

As you try to untangle yourselves from one another for the second time this afternoon, you feel a strange pressures bearing down on you. Then the birds are back, the long droning chirp beating on your eardrums again. But not as intense as before. Still painful, but you aren't going to mutilate your ears to make it go away.

Maybe not for Aya though, who slaps her hands over her ears to try and shut it out. She yells at you to get over the did. "What is that? I've never heard anything like this before."

Nadine continues up the latter, apparently unaware of what you two are doing. Which is odd, because she's not the far away. She should be able to hear this.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Grab Aya and roll under balcony where he can't see you.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

Nadine pulls herself up as you grab Aya and roll.

The Noise stops instantly, and your both shaking your heads trying to shake the last of it out. Aya lets out a deep breath, and says "What was thaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She throws herself onto the ground, hands clasped around her ears, screaming her head off. But you can't hear anything, not a thing.

>COMMAND?

[Zaleramancer]

>Check ears for deafness?

[Philote]

Can she be seen?

If yes
>Find Cover
(If we can find movable cover we may be able to approach him/ climb up to him while still blocking his view)

If no
>Cover her mouth and stay silent

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You lean in close, looking for some way to check her ears.

It's like sticking your head underwater, except with a noise. That chirping, that damn, agonizing, high pitched chirping fills your ears again. It's the same intensity you experienced up on the balcony. You pull back.

Nothing, except the screaming of the girl you came hear to save. You look up. There's no way he could possibly be able to see you. The only difference is sound. He must have found Aya when she made a sound. You cover up her mouth to stop her wailing, but she's thrashing around. The sound is still around her head.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Pick her up so that her thrashing doesn't cause more noise
>Slowly walk away until she calms down.

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You pick her up by the arms, enveloping her in your void, and drag slowly.

Soon she stops thrashing at all, surprisingly soon. She shakes her head as you pull her into the familiar rocking motion you have to make to keep the void power active. She breaths heavily for a few moment, before saying "It's sound. Somehow, he found us when he spoke."

You nod, and look around. He should' be able to hear you while in your void, so you should be safe. Except your not. How did he know you were there up on the balcony?

You hear the birdsong again, and you' about to cover your ears reflexively when you relies that it doesn't hurt. It's not intense, not concentrated. In fact, it's sort of spread out. You think it might be covering the entire platform. But it doesn't hurt. This isn't an attack.

What is he doing?

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

>Don't talk for a moment

Did we hear any bird sounds before we first tried to drop kick him?

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(You remember, not a bird sound. But sort of an echo from his shouts.)

(Void on or off?)

[Philote]

>Void Off

Maybe he is noticing the absence of sound

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

You stop moving, and mentally flip your switch.

The birds chirp all around you, but no further attack comes your way. Of course, that's how he knew you were there. Your Void hides you completely, even the sound you make. When you use it, you essentially became a "hole" in the world that nothing emanates from. That "hole" must be what he's searching for.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

(There is no other way up to the balcony besides the ladder right?)

>Check what Red girl is doing
>Check for place to hide since he might just fire his mind blasts blindly
>Mime to Aya, check if she is alright

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

(Only way up or down. Also, it's not mental. The sounds are definitely in your ears, not your head.)

You can't see that Nadine girl anymore. Looks like she made it up. You can't hear anything from up there, though. At this point you're not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.

You wave to Aya, who's holding her breath. So are you, come to think of it. Sometimes the body has good ideas all on it's own. You mime concern, and she gives you a thumbs up, before sticking her finger in her ear and twisting a few times. You nod, and look around. This whole platform is open ground, the only possible cover found by retreating into the entrance stairway.

That's when the bird sounds stop. Not just stop, you almost felt like they rushed past you quickly. Then, you couldn't hear them anymore. Then something, like a wave of the sound, slouches over the both of you. It's quick, but painful. You almost yelp but Aya slaps a hand over your mouth. You wait for 10 seconds, then it comes around and washes over you both again. This time, you grit your teeth. It's like being slapped, it stings, but it's not agony. You can take it.

Another 10 seconds, another wave. No, the same wave. He's running it around, like this platform was a racetrack.

>COMMAND?

[Philote]

(If we go up the ladder he will see us wont he?)

>Take shelter in entrance stairway until we have a plan
>See if we can check on what Red girl is up to

[Gentleman Vaultboy]

To dangerous to climb that latter. Maybe he'll come to you, if you give him time. You hope he doesn't notice Amanda. You and Aya head to the door, careful not to make any noise. Hopefully, you'll come up with something.

>COMMAND?
>BE NADINE?