2563/Ice Palace: The Kid

Ice Palace: The Kid
Date of Scene:	22 July 2020
Location:	Ice Palace
Synopsis:	Nessa finds the ice palace under assault, and encounters a young mage needing rescue.
Cast of Characters:	Loki, Nessa Donovan

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Loki has posed:
The Ice Palace is a turbulent twist of magical forces and danger. Multiple skeletons made of pure frost lumber about, wielding icy axes, each standing eight feet in height. They have bright, central pulses of blue magic in their chests and eyes, which slide back and forth as they move around the exterior.

Inside, magic bleeds and pulses, as icy weapons swing! There is a mage, fighting desperately against a much larger foe; the ice darts seem to do little against the monster.

It is a true horror, at 15 feet tall, a massive four-armed skeleton monster with bone wings and multiple skulls making up the head. Armed with multiple axes, it spins and strikes, while the nimble white-haired mage attempts to stay just out of reach: though it seems little of his attacks find any real mark against the skeletal foe...!

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Her usual visits to the Ice Palace had been normal. But the mentions of danger to people had Nessa investigating to see just what was going on. Even from a distance she could sense there was more going on than had been and much more than she liked. Making her way to the palace, she stops nearby, adjusting the strap of her messenger bag before she tries to get in closer.

"What the hell," she mutters. The ice palace should have just been a /palace/, not covered in skeletons of ice and bone horrors.

Loki has posed:
There is a great deal of cover; lots of pieces of ice have been flung around, giving lots of locations to creep in without the giant skeletons seeing. Though if they see with something beyond their eyes, that is another thing entirely.

In fact, getting closer reveals some of the zones feel like someone /built/ these little bunkers, shielding themselves as they got in. They could have been made defensively during a fight. Some droplets of dark red nearby do suggest there was violence here.

There's certainly violence inside: the huge sweep of ice-axe glints as it moves inside the palace, as the fight there continues, in bursts of blinding white and slams of icy metal on metal.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa darts between bits of cover, her attention drifting between the dark spots of blood and the interior violence. She hurries from the bunkers, trying to make her way in for a closer look. Once she's run out of clear bunkers to carry her forward, she takes a moment to assess the fight on the interior. She moves just inside so she'll at least be out of sight from any of the exterior skeletons.

"Everything okay in there?" She calls towards where she hears the battle, trying to at least figure out /what/ is going on.

Loki has posed:
There's a pause, and... the creature comes for her voice. Stomping through the front of the palace's entryway, the massive multi-headed skeleton abberation shrieks: cones of frigid air pulse out of the front, blisteringly freezing, in swirls of assault.

It is bashed from behind, though, and diverts, swinging the axe back behind it, and leaving Nessa's hiding spot alone for a moment. Through the monster's bone legs, the mage Jianyu is visible, with a flurry of small magical looking daggers floating in the air around him. "Whoever you are, get to safety!" yells Jianyu sternly, seemingly unaware of who the monster focused on.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Apparently the fighting wasn't distracting enough for the creature, and Nessa finds it closer than she'd like. But she's not running away, especially with the sound of a familiar voice nearby. While she doesn't call out, when Jianyu distracts the bone creature, she moves out from safety to offer forward a blast of cold towards one of the legs as she hopes to knock it down. The cold's not a thing she has to worry about, after all. Others might be in a lot more danger.

Loki has posed:
The cold anchors one of the legs to the ground, freezing it's foot in place, and it shrieks in protest, stumbling, then leans down to apply axe to where the ice has bonded it's foot to the floor. It does give an opening, a chance, to go running past it, to where a group of defensive barricades are erupting from the floor: Jianyu, no doubt. A swirl fo animated white ice birds descend, to peck and distract the faces of the skeleton.

Jianyu's visible briefly, gesturing Nessa over, back towards the barricades and the stairs, silently and urgent, his expression tense.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"How'd this happen?" Nessa asks, hurrying forward to come to rest near the barricades. Her attention remains on the creature, not daring to be too distracted despite the fact that she's completely baffled as to what was happening. She makes sure to get out of the way of any potential blow, grateful it doesn't look like it's doing anything at range. "I came to make sure everything was okay here. How is this..." She just gestures around.

Loki has posed:
"Something dark, something strong, has attached itself here," explains Jianyu, moving behind the barricade to talk to her, though his attention stays on the monster. "This isn't my magic," he says, eyes moving to her, brows together. "It's spreading in the city, too. I didn't expect it to erupt here, not /today/," he says.

The monster spins loose, stumbles, and starts to lumber towards them. Jianyu spreads both hands out sideways, and icy mirrors begin to appear around the monster, confusing it; it wanders in them briefly, though Jiyanu breathes heavily and uses part of the barricade to rest against. He seems very tired, or spent.

"Can you do something for me? Something very important?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Can't you just... dismantle things? Cut it off from whatever source it has, then?" Nessa isn't sure exactly how it works, but she's making suggestions. His words, however, do catch her attention. She looks over in his direction. "Important? ... yes, of course, anything." This is more than enough to convince her to help--they need to contain it, if they can't stop it.

Loki has posed:
"Maybe. It keeps soaking up energy and magic from this building, it may explode if I sever it-- or worse. It's very unstable," Jianyu explains. He moves towards her, and attempts to place one hand on each of her shoulders, to get in closer, and give her a request that very clearly is quite important to him. Close examination shows lines of wear on his face, a trail of blood from scalp down one cheek in a slow line.

"Upper floor, behind the couch. There's a child. Get him out of here, keep him safe. Can you do that for me?" He asks, with an earnest, focused worry. "Make a slide from the back end. Just get him clear of all this. All right?"

There's a slamming of the creature and he releases her, to immediately begin to cast; white magic froths around his wrists - light, not ice: intense.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"There's a child in here?!" Nessa's gaze flicks from Jianyu to the upstairs. That's something that has her attention. The suggestion that anyone else is here, much less a child, has her on edge. More than before, that is. Her gaze moves back to him. "Yes, I can get him. I /will/ get him. This is..." She's not sure what to make of what feels like a /warzone/. There's something she's not sure she wants to ask.

"Are you going to be okay here for now while I get the child?"

Loki has posed:
Jianyu gives her a tight look, as if the trust were already possibly difficult for him, and moves away, not giving her an answer. Perhaps it's best if she doesn't get an answer, so that he doesn't have to lie about it....

Jianyu releases multiple flashes of light, physically teleporting away: disappearing from view, while the monster hunts the flashes that materialize in the other side of the palace's ballroom, starting to hunt out onto the front 'lawn', big cleaves of axe wrecking the beautiful inlaid columns like toothpicks.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Maybe part of her mourns how pretty the ice palace was before axes were smashing it, but there's the potential of someone needing her help. Someone in danger. Nessa takes advantage of the distracted creature for her to rush for the stairs. She makes sure to tug one of her gloves back on, that way if she needs to assist the child she's able to offer a hand.

As she makes her way towards the second floor, she's already looking for the aforementioned couch. "Hey," she calls, trying to make her volume somewhere soft but loud enough to perhaps get the attention of someone listening for something. "I'm coming to help, alright?"

Loki has posed:
The palace seems to sag a little as supports get ripped away: a shifting of the magic as some places get thin, and others are reinforced. There's flashes from where Nessa just fled from, and the icy chandelier overhead swings and tinkles in the upper floor room.

There's no response to her calls at first, but a bit of movement: a young hand visible beyond an icy, elegant couch leg, as someone there scoots laterally and then finally peeks out from one end.

The boy is dressed simply, hands a little torn up from sliding on sharp shreds of ice, knees and sneakers covered in shreds of white snow. He looks entirely spooked, black hair hanging in his eyes a little. He's probably about ten or so. He inspects her critically with big eyes.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Good. There /is/ someone there. Nessa makes her way closer to the couch, her gloved hand directed towards him. "Hey," her tone's still low. "My name's Nessa. I'm a student of Sorcerer Vega's. I'm going to get you out of here, if that's okay." She's offering the hand, but she does spare a glance towards the stairs, just looking to try and make sure nothing's coming up.

While she's giving the boy the offer, the choice is really an illusion. She glances towards the back of the second floor, figuring out where she'd need to build the slide to safely get the two out. "We'll be going out the back, it should be safe that way, alright?"

Loki has posed:
The boy stares at her, weighing, but then steps out, and reaches out to accept her hand, and hold it tightly. Emerging WITH the boy... are eight little snowy squirrels. They bound out around his feet and over the couch, in a little cadre of companions: as if the boy were being accompanied by his very own Disney movie.

"Okay," says the boy, trying to look past her towards the sounds and booms worriedly. "He's really good; he'll win," the boy says to her quietly, as if saying it helped make it real. "The back? It's far to drop. I looked."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Was this the universe joking with her? Was someone going to start singing? Nessa raises an eyebrow at the squirrels, but she takes it in stride. Disney film or not, she's not letting someone remain in danger. "Sure, he will. I've seen him do some incredible things. He'll win. But I know he'll do better if he knows you and I aren't in here in danger. He told me to make sure you were okay."

She looks towards the back, moving in that direction, though she makes sure he's following before she moves much further. "Too far to drop, sure, but I never said we were gonna drop down." She grins at him. "Told you he was my teacher. I'll show you."

Loki has posed:
"I need my guys. Come on guys," the boy says, squatting, to try to gather up the little creatures, even as a shriek of the skeleton reminds how serious this actually is. The boy is doing well with gathering them, but it IS taking time; two are up on his shoulders, and he hugs the others in front of him, to then look at her with a brave jut of chin and a nod.

"Are we going to fly?" he asks, with childlike interest and hope. "Or teleport?" He moves to follow her, with his various ice squirrels in arms. One of them attempts to climb up onto his head, but then instead huddles on his neck.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Your guys will be okay, don't worry," Nessa looks at the boy and his squirrels. As soon as he's got them all gathered, she hurries towards the back, looking for the best window to head out of. "It's not flying or teleporting, not quite my specialty... but that would be nice to learn. Some day, perhaps."

She peers at a window, then moves to lean in and check if there's enough space. "We're gonna slide. You ever go sledding in winter? We're gonna do that."

Loki has posed:
"Um, not out of a /window/," The boy answers, following her. "Stop it," he whispers at one of the squirrels, but joins her at the window. He'll fit without an issue, but he's smaller than she is; it might just need a bit of editing for her.

From behind them, the ice monster is stomping again: and it sounds closer. Did it get loose to come for them? The stairs shatter, and it starts to haul itself up onto the upper landing, using the extra arms. A huge burst of freezing cold froths into the room behind them.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's aware of the stomping behind there. There's no time to alter the window immediately. If she can get the boy and his squirrels out first, he should be able to make it to the ground and hide. It looks vaguely safe down there. She steps between the monster and the boy. If there's cold, she's going to keep him from it physically. "I know this is gonna be scary, but I'm gonna make an ice slide and we're gonna go down it."

With the open window, her ungloved hand moves to form a small platform on the frame before starting to form a slide all the way down. Not so steep as to go too fast, and curves on the sides to make certain the passengers won't go flying off. "Now, you gotta go first with the little guys, hold on tight to them, okay? I'll be right behind you. Once you get to the ground, if you see a good spot to get out of the way, go there and I'll come find you."

Loki has posed:
"It's here," the boy whispers, suddenly sliding behind her some, moving one hand to try to grab her arm or elbow. And the boy casts some magic; no doubt Nessa's own abilities will pick up on it right away. Not dangerous -- some sort of illusory spell.

It turns them both invisible, if she remains in contact with him. The squirrels, as well. The monster crawls partially up the stairs, releasing another big breath of frost in on them, but, not seeing them, stares with huge dead blue eyes, and starts to orient to continue to look for them, dragging itself towards another door on the upper floor.

The boy makes a few little scared noises, petrified and invisible.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa hadn't noticed before, not with all the magic swirling around. Of /course/ he'd have some kind of magic. Why else would he be there with Sorcerer Vega? Thankfully, her arm is fully covered, no skin to touch, so when he touches her no one is injured. She freezes, the illusion keeping them safe, and she remains silent. As soon as it seems remotely as if they're out of sight, she returns fully to focusing on the slide.

As soon as it's fully formed, she nudges him towards the window with her gloved hand. "Okay, I need you to go now. I'm gonna need to find a way to alter this window real fast and then I'm right behind you." Her voice is soft. "I'll be okay. You're safe now."

Loki has posed:
The boy holds tight to her hand while he climbs out of the window, carefully, clinging. "OKay. On three," The boy requests, still hanging onto her, seeming to not want to let go and pummet down the slide while the skeletons lurch about. What if one sees, or...?

"One...." the squirrels adjust, and then one of them missteps, and goes flying down the slide with a 'WHHHHEEEE??!' sound.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa's fairly certain the squirrel will be fine, it's the boy she's worried about. "Alright, remember, once you get to the bottom find a spot to hide. I can fight, I'll get to you if something's coming. If you're in trouble, yell for me. Nessa, remember? You've got this." She's ready to let go of the boy's hand as soon as he's ready, her other hand already attempting to warp the size of the frame of the window, trying to shape it into a wider frame and larger size to accomodate for her.

Loki has posed:
The boy looks down, stareeeees down, and then looks back up at her, eyes large and dark. "Two.... Three." He's brave, he lets go, with a big breath, and goes shooting down the slide into the mix of swirling ice and trooping skeletons below. The squirrels vanish as well, as Nessa adjusts the window so that she can follow him.

There's a shriek of the largest monster behind her, and a brief yell, as the monster re-engages with Jianyu, by the sounds of it, and the ice palace shudders with impact.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
With the boy making his way to safety, Nessa hurries to finish altering the window. She glances over her shoulder towards the sounds of the monster, but it's not something she can worry about right now. Instead, she climbs out of the window for the slide, deciding it's better to go find the boy. It doesn't stop her from looking over her shoulder though, still concerned the fact there's still fighting going on.

Loki has posed:
Once Nessa's down to the bottom, he's easy to find -- in that he invisibly moves to try to grab her hand securely, and tugs her quickly. "C'mon," he urges, melting them both into invisibility, though he doesn't really lead in particular, he's not really sure what direction is best to run in.

There is one skeleton very close nearby, but it orients on a magical squirrel, and starts to stomp away after it, hefting an axe.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Thankfully he's got her once she reaches the bottom, but Nessa is mildly worried about the squirrel. "We'll get him," she comments, her ungloved hand held out towards the skeleton, moving to ice his feet so they can go after the squirrel themselves. "Okay, we're going to get out of here, out to safety. If I get us out there, can you wait for me while I go check on the Sorcerer?"

Loki has posed:
The boy looks concerned but nods, attempting to keep her hand for now, though. His squirrels have mostly all moved to the ground, except for one that's clinging onto the back of his sweatshirt, white tail flipping up and down. The squirrel doesn't come back over, it continues to bound and distract the skeleton for the moment, even though the skeleton is more focused on the iced foot than paying attention to the squirrel.

The boy will go wherever Nessa goes, sticking close.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa decides the squirrels seem smart enough to scamper and find them on their own if necessary. So instead, she focuses on leading the boy towards away from the ice palace, holding onto his hand as they go. Given the district isn't totally safe, she seeks out a good location hidden in an alley near a dumpster.

"Okay, please be safe. I'm going to check in on him," she looks towards the ice palace, though the worry is evident on her face. "Keep invisible if you can, if something is coming for you and you can't hide, yell really loud for me. Got it?" Once she's sure he'd be alright, she's heading back.

Loki has posed:
The boy nods a little and moves to sit next to the dumpster, picking up a few of the squirrels, raising his knees. He stays there, one arm hooked protectively over the magical little ice critters, and watches her.

The palace itself, as she heads back, seems quieter. Eerie. The skeletons continue to patrol the exterior, but the sounds of a fight within are gone, leaving it feeling more it did to begin with - except for the patrollers outside, that is.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
The silence certainly does alarm her. While the boy would have been useful to sneak back in, Nessa stands firmly by her decision to keep him safe. She moves, slowly treading her way in to get to the door, sneaking from bunker to bunker, sneaking her way closer. The fact that there's no combat isn't a good sign--so she's keeping an eye out for blood or sounds of /anything/ from the inside.

Loki has posed:
The squirrel that was left behind comes over to accompany her, as if sent as a scout. Or perhaps to be used to distract skeletons? In either event, it comes along, bouncing like a white ping pong ball across the icy ground.

The inside of the palace is in shambles, but the bones of the defeated monster are there, in a big pile. It seems inanimate, defeated... but it's hard to know for sure with magical bone constructs, when it isn't entirely destroyed. There aren't any signs of Jianyu.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
Nessa glances to the squirrel, giving it a nod as if it could somehow understand her. She moves forward, peering inside the ice palace. The sight of the bones, while reassuring, have her looking around for any sign of Jianyu. "Hello?" The question is there, but soft. She's not looking to draw the attention of anything else, but she's at least offering it up if he's still lurking nearby.

Loki has posed:
Some of the skeletons from outside orient on the call a little bit, pausing outside the windows and turning to look towards the palace itself, but they don't yet approach.

Her squirrel helper does nothing to help, except to hide behind her heels and fluff its tail.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
With no answer to her call, Nessa takes only a moment or two more to check that there's no sign of non-ice life in the place. She doesn't take too long, though, not wanting to leave the boy by himself. She turns, heading back outside, glancing at the squirrel only once to make sure it's following before she's ducking and weaving between bits of ice bunker, making her way back to where she's hoping the boy's still hiding with the rest of the squirrels.

Loki has posed:
When she gets back, the boy is there; he didn't just disappear. He's there with arms of his light blue sweatshirt wrapped over his hands a little, and arms around his raised knees. He looks up as she approaches, and hastily gets to his feet to come over, meeting her partway.

"Is ...?" He doesn't finish the question, he looks beyond her, then back to her, searchingly.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"He wasn't there. To me, that means he probably got out, perhaps with some injury... but he's not so harmed that he couldn't get out," Nessa pulls her other glove on once she comes to a stop, her eyes scanning the boy now to assure that he's uninjured. "So I think he's alright. That creature's dead. How... did you get in there, anyway? Was Sorcerer Vega showing you the place?"

Loki has posed:
"It wasn't /supposed/ to be full of monsters," the boy answers, as if that were an important point to convey. "And then skeletons came out of the walls, out of the /floor/," he explains. The squirrels come over and crowd around like a mini audience to the terrifying tale. They're all back now, the full set of them.

"Is it dead? I can see some of them though. What are they doing there? Why would they attack us?" the boy asks her urgently, seeking answers.

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"The big one is dead," Nessa says, moving to lean against the wall near the dumpster. "The other ones are there, but they don't seem to bother anyone unless they're close, I don't think." She glances in the direction of the ice palace. "Sorcerer Vega said that there was something powerful anchoring itself here. I'm not sure much beyond that." She gestures towards the squirrel audience. "Did you make those or did he?"

Loki has posed:
The boy listens to her description of the anchoring of the evil thing, chewing on his lip. "Something worse than the skeletons? Like that was a mini-boss, not a boss-boss?" He looks down at the squirrels when she asks about them.

"He helped me do it. Or maybe I did it. I'm not really sure. We did it together; I'm learning magic," he suggests, with only a brief hesitation. A stomp of a skeleton makes him jump a little, and crowd in a bit closer to where she is. "Can we go, please?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Worse than the skeletons, yes," Nessa nods. "I got the impression it was something he couldn't just take care of on his own. He may need help later." She smiles at his recount of the squirrels. "Well, looks like we have something in common then. He was helping me make some of those." She offers a hand to him. "Okay, let's get out of here. I'll take you somewhere safe." She pauses. "You like pancakes?"

Loki has posed:
The boy brightens right away. "Who /doesn't/ like pancakes? I bet they're an alien or an ice skeleton," he suggests, accepting the hand. The squirrels, around that same time, flicker, and disappear, in little darts of magic, winking out like a series of bright white christmas lights. The kid doesn't seem concerned about it, though.

"I like blueberry ones; do you have those?"

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"I never caught your name," Nessa offers. "But I'm the best at pancakes. Best in town. And I'm pretty sure I can find some blueberries to add." Her attention darts to the squirrels, blinking for a moment. Not the same as the rabbit, it seems.

Loki has posed:
"Tristan," the boy volunteers right away. Tristan notices her looking for the squirrels. "They're still here," he assures her, in case she was worried. "They're just invisible. But they don't eat pancakes, so you don't have to make them any."

Nessa Donovan has posed:
"Well then, Tristan, there are more pancakes for the both of us," Nessa offers him a smile before she starts to walk away from the ice palace, glancing over her shoulder. "We'll have a talk about what happened, sort this all out, okay? The pancakes will help."