Amelia Eva Steinbeck 📚 Teacher 📚 Witch 📚 Available for pop culture consultation regarding the arts, literature, and other foreign mediums of expression.
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NAME: Amelia Eva Steinbeck BIRTHDAY: February 28th FAV CAKE FLAVOR: Mixed berries, whipped cream, and lemon curd
WHAT THEY WANT MOST FOR THEIR BIRTHDAY: For her AP Lit. class to pass their test w/ a 3 or higher.
[He follows her gaze into the dimly lit distance; not for the first time, he curses his human eyes, knowing that even summoning a bit of light won't do much to reveal it from where they stand. Now that he has bones in mind, however, what they're seeing begins to take shape, and he exhales.]
That does seem very, very possible— and in my experience, giant bones are never a good sign.
[Is it possible that they could be lucky enough that these won't reanimate in some way?]
This place almost feels akin to a necromancer's playhouse...
[Amelia decides to throw a little caution to the wind and summon a small orb of emerald green light. It orbits around the witch to help illuminate their path even further but with a narrow enough scope to not light up the whole dungeon.
Let's just say that up ahead the curvature of some hip bones begins to emerge and even further up is the outline of a ribcage.
This is not promising. Amelia's lips are a thin grimace.]
Gale. What's the most physically gigantic monster you've ever taken down?
[You know so that they can plan accordingly. Amelia has experience, for better or for worse.]
[He assesses what Amelia's emerald light reveals and frowns further when he sees the width of those hip bones and the ribcage beyond— it's difficult to say whether or not this thing is larger than the Apostle of Myrkul, but they're certainly comparable.]
There have been a fair few, but a dragon would likely be the easiest example.
[He's not eager to relive that one, though no doubt he'll have at least a few opportunities to do so back home before all is said and done. Even compared to some of what he'd faced during his travels as Mystra's Chosen, it had proven a challenge.]
We'll want to spread out if it's something large, divide its attention. My mirror images can aid with that.
[Even as he muses aloud, he doesn't sound terribly averse to the idea— dangerous though it may be, he's certain it's nothing they can't handle, and so long as they're not in a position to be ambushed...
Their combined curiosity may well get the best of them.]
As we're on the subject, and just for curiosity's sake, hat's the largest thing you've ever found yourself up against?
[That's quite the question. It makes Amelia's lips purse but he isn't without an answer for long.]
Years ago, there was a creature that had no physical form that attached itself to my world. Slowly, silently, insidiously, it spread its influence throughout my town.
[The Hive of Thorns was unlike any other. The seeds had been sown and by the time she had settled into Blackgale, the reaping had already begun. She wouldn't have managed going up against it without Berna, Michael, Adam, and...]
Long story, short, the moment it gained a container, I confronted and destroyed it. It's easier to deal with a monster that has a shape than one with none.
Edited (sorry rewording galore ONE MORE TIME) 2023-12-29 04:10 (UTC)
[A creature that spread itself unseen like a disease— not so unlike the infected becoming a part of the Illithid hivemind. Something that could not be destroyed because it had no shape of its own, unless one were to find the source. The description she gives is familiar enough to him, and he wishes it was the sort of thing that either of them had only ever read in books, rather than experience some form of it themselves.]
That's quite a formidable foe, to say the very least.
[He can tell from the brief purse of her lips that it's not the sort of tale she shares openly— she has shown herself to be a private person more often than not, but it's yet another piece of the puzzle, another small portion of the larger picture of her life revealed.]
But you managed it— you brought an end to its spread and freed your town.
[That part doesn't surprise him all that much, to be perfectly honest.]
[He watches her for a long moment, studying her quietly as she uses her orb to light the way and survey what's ahead.
The way she had trailed off, her voice faltering— he remembers, not for the first time, the memory that she'd been made to revisit at the heart of the Vale of Tears, the way she has told him that it wasn't a bad memory at all, even through the tears. There is so much he does not yet know about her, what she's been through, but every sliver that she reveals, every bit she chooses to share, he understands why she's been so carefully guarded just a little better.
More than anything, he wants to be able to take her hand and chase that hesitation from her voice, offer comfort of some kind, for whatever good it may or may not do.
He follows her lead when she changes the subject, unwilling to press or ask her to dwell when she clearly wished to direct her focus elsewhere. With her light showing the way, he starts towards the skull at a steady pace, his mouth set into a thin line.]
Let's see what we're dealing with, shall we? If we're going to wake it, I imagine that's an excellent place to start.
[Perhaps things would be different if other people from Amelia's life could reveal those excerpts from her life. It would be easier if someone could tell her story with the empathy and care she needed. But at the end of the day, only she could be able to give the whole truth of the strain her heart and mind have been through and how existing as a magical being has been taxing.
They're not at that point yet. Maybe someday. Every little interaction, thoughtful discussion, each small adventure in this hotel, and what Gale has revealed to her is slowly unraveling her defenses.
Maybe someday.
Her emerald light floats up through the ribcage. Though she focused on the skull at first, there's something within the ribs that becomes more apparent, a fleshy lump of sorts. Lungs? No...]
[He narrows his gaze at the heart as she illuminates it, slipping between two of the ribs to join her on her side of the skeleton— because it does seem to be at least one in its entirety.]
It appears so. Jumpstarting that could be the key.
[Something he's sure they're both capable of, if they so choose.]
One has to wonder exactly what was able to bring this creature down in the first place— or rather, why it's remained here, inanimate. Everything else we came across seemed intent on keeping us out, which led me to believe they were protecting something, here at the heart of everything...
[He gestures at their discovery, his expression thoughtful.]
[Her emerald light begins to spark and crackle. It circles the heart ominously. Just that little taste of magic should be enough to shock this thing to life.]
You can levitate and jump around like we did in the Vale, right? If it wakes up, we'll see if it's hostile and then I can work from there.
If need be, I'll prepared to take wing at a moment's notice.
[That's a 'yes'— his flight spell is at the ready should he have need of it, along with the rest of his arsenal. However this situation progresses, they surely have the tools to handle it.]
Ready and willing— do what you will.
[He tugs at the strands of the Weave that he's able to reach even from here, magic beginning to course through him, ready to be shaped and released to make his intent manifest.]
[Amelia's hair gleams even in the dimmer lights of the magic emanating from their persons. Her crackling emerald light shoots itself into the heart with a flick of her wrist. At first, nothing happens.
But the magic within the heart oscillates between green and red and starts to beat loudly. It continues to suspend itself in the air but glows red from within. Around the spellcasters, the creaking of bones echoes throughout the dungeon as the giant skeleton begins to stand up. Its skull looks down with glowing red eye sockets. Never a good sign.
Amelia can anticipate the next course of action the moment she sees the skeletal palm rise.]
MOVE! You take right, I go left!
[It's going to try to squash them like flies. Amelia gets a head start with a decisive sprint.]
[The gleam of magic cuts through the dim light, her silhouette striking as her hair begins to glow, but there is little time for him to admire the beauty he feels is always inherent with magic— he fixes his gaze on the heart as her lightning shocks it to life.
There's nothing to start, then the pulsing between red and green begins, and Gale lets his flight spell loose so that he can ready another, feeling his entire body grow light. He follows Amelia's advice without hesitation, remaining grounded as he takes off and veers right, pausing just long enough to hold up a hand and shoot a long, spiraling ray of frost at the skeleton's feet in an effort to slow it down before pushing forward.]
Well, we wanted to see what would come of it— we have our answer!
[Fortunately, the larger they are, the harder they fall, and as they run in separate directions, it doesn't seem sure of who it should follow. Unfortunately, it doesn't waste much time trying to decide; it turns towards Gale and lumbers in his direction, footfalls heavy, and Gale quicky takes to the air to keep himself out of squashing distance.]
[Amelia doesn't banter back. Her goal, their goal is simple: defeat the giant and leave the dungeon. After she circles its foot that's taking a very slow step toward Gale, the witch jumps up and her body bursts into a swarm of emerald green butterflies. The swarm encircles the skeletal titan and flies between its ribs before flitting around its skull to capture its attention.
And capture its attention it does. The skeleton stops, partly because of this distraction and because of Gale's frost slowing it down. It raises its hand towards the butterflies, determined to swat them away giving Gale ample opportunity to cause more damage below.]
[The distraction is well-timed; the swam of butterflies keeps their foe unfocused as it can't seem to decide where to swing, raising a hand for another swat that does little more than pass through the swarm itself. With no time to waste, Gale lands himself on a ledge above the door they'd entered through, focusing his attention on the ground beneath the skeletal giant and raising a hand with spread, clawed fingers, palm facing the ceiling.
That movement seems to draw on the shadows themselves, as though pulling them up from the floor and forcing them to manifest into something more substantial; a large patch of floor beneath their foe looks as though it's covered in pitch until that same substance begins to form long, thick tendrils, black tentacles that reach upward and snake their way around the skeleton's ankles and tarsals, grasping at it. Confident that this will impede its movement, Gale is quick to follow up with a second spell. Fireball was a favorite among wizards for good reason, and the orb of flame he throws forward grows larger as it approaches its target— though even as it expands, the spell is sculpted to strike nothing but the skeleton itself, leaving Amelia's swarm of emerald butterflies untouched and unsinged, even as she'll be able to feel the heat of the flames.]
[The skeletal titan is stopped in its tracks by the dark tendrils summoned by Gale and cannot react fast enough to the Fireball that he casts. The flames engulf and lock the heart beating within and the skeleton flails at the overwhelming stimulations and attacks.
Amelia, still in the form of the butterfly swarm, flies higher and higher to avoid the flailing skeleton. They glow even brighter, akin to an emerald flame before their formation changes into a giant lance aimed at their enemy.
The witch isn't someone who casts magic. In this moment, she is magic in its purest form.
The lance launches itself right through the skull and between the eyes. The skull cracks and splits in half at the sheer force. It sways back and forth before tumbling backward and fortunately away from Gale's direction.
Amelia shapeshifts again, this time as her true self. Green magic gives way to red hair and she floats gently down to the stone floor as the giant falls.]
[It is nothing short of breathtaking to watch her work her magic, even in an act of violence; Amelia is magic made manifest in a way he has never seen before now. She strikes the final blow, their combined efforts having brought their foe to its knees— or they would have, if it still had any. As Amelia returns to her true form, Gale pushes off from the ledge and proceeds to descend to the floor as well, some distance between them still as he touches down with one foot and then the other.]
I quite agree! Masterfully handled— I wonder if we'll be rewarded for our efforts?
[They may have awakened the creature of their own accord, but every good dungeon has a bit of loot in it, in his experience, even if it's just a handful of coin. Adventurers still have to eat!]
That last spell of yours— marvelous. I've not seen shapeshifting of its like before now.
[—And thus the edge of her foot hits the angle of a lumpy stone just right, enough to make her stumble and then fall forward. There's a crack— no worries, it's just her glasses which ironically help cushion her forehead hitting the floor.
She may, or may not have said a vulgar swear word, muffled by the ground.]
[He lunges forward with a hand outstretched as she trips and begins to pitch forward, but it all happens so quickly that he doesn't have a prayer of making it in time. He settles for dropping to one knee beside her once he closes the distance, his stomach having clenched at the sound of that crack, though the fact that there's no blood is... promising, he supposes.
Everything they've been through since setting foot on this floor, and this is what threatens to do the witch in? That hardly seems fair.]
Are you alright? Here, allow me—
[He takes one of her hands and reaches for her shoulder, intent on helping her up.]
[This is embarrassing... Worse than the Pocky Incident where she also felt like a fool. This is her feeling like a fool x10000. Amelia grunts as Gale reaches for her shoulder and she pushes herself up with both hands.]
I'm okay. Could be worse. Let me just—
[She shifts her feet beneath her or tries to. A sting of pain shoots to her right ankle when weight is put onto it and she stops, groaning.]
[He winces when he sees the pain in her gaze, hears it in her voice, and immediately shakes his head.]
I wouldn't advise trying that again. I don't have the materials on me, but if I can get you back to my workroom, I ought to be able to fix that right up for you.
[He presses his lips together, reaching to lay his index and middle fingers against her ankle and pressing ever-so-gently, hoping to test for a break.]
Can you move it at all? Without putting weight on it, mind you. [She doesn't need to be told, he knows, but he can't help himself.] Regardless, getting you out of here will be a simple enough matter.
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no subject
That does seem very, very possible— and in my experience, giant bones are never a good sign.
[Is it possible that they could be lucky enough that these won't reanimate in some way?]
This place almost feels akin to a necromancer's playhouse...
no subject
Let's just say that up ahead the curvature of some hip bones begins to emerge and even further up is the outline of a ribcage.
This is not promising. Amelia's lips are a thin grimace.]
Gale. What's the most physically gigantic monster you've ever taken down?
[You know so that they can plan accordingly. Amelia has experience, for better or for worse.]
no subject
There have been a fair few, but a dragon would likely be the easiest example.
[He's not eager to relive that one, though no doubt he'll have at least a few opportunities to do so back home before all is said and done. Even compared to some of what he'd faced during his travels as Mystra's Chosen, it had proven a challenge.]
We'll want to spread out if it's something large, divide its attention. My mirror images can aid with that.
no subject
[For a world full of magic and mysteries like hers, it would seem dragons are a true rarity.]
Still, it appears inert. I wonder if we have to wake it up??
[That would be kind of worse but they have descended down and there doesn't seem to be another exit.]
no subject
[Even as he muses aloud, he doesn't sound terribly averse to the idea— dangerous though it may be, he's certain it's nothing they can't handle, and so long as they're not in a position to be ambushed...
Their combined curiosity may well get the best of them.]
As we're on the subject, and just for curiosity's sake, hat's the largest thing you've ever found yourself up against?
no subject
Years ago, there was a creature that had no physical form that attached itself to my world. Slowly, silently, insidiously, it spread its influence throughout my town.
[The Hive of Thorns was unlike any other. The seeds had been sown and by the time she had settled into Blackgale, the reaping had already begun. She wouldn't have managed going up against it without Berna, Michael, Adam, and...]
Long story, short, the moment it gained a container, I confronted and destroyed it. It's easier to deal with a monster that has a shape than one with none.
no subject
That's quite a formidable foe, to say the very least.
[He can tell from the brief purse of her lips that it's not the sort of tale she shares openly— she has shown herself to be a private person more often than not, but it's yet another piece of the puzzle, another small portion of the larger picture of her life revealed.]
But you managed it— you brought an end to its spread and freed your town.
[That part doesn't surprise him all that much, to be perfectly honest.]
no subject
[And it wasn't without cost.
She swallows down the additional detail. Looks up and makes her emerald orb of light fly a little higher.]
I think I see the skull.
[Change the subject. Focus on the present, not the past.]
no subject
The way she had trailed off, her voice faltering— he remembers, not for the first time, the memory that she'd been made to revisit at the heart of the Vale of Tears, the way she has told him that it wasn't a bad memory at all, even through the tears. There is so much he does not yet know about her, what she's been through, but every sliver that she reveals, every bit she chooses to share, he understands why she's been so carefully guarded just a little better.
More than anything, he wants to be able to take her hand and chase that hesitation from her voice, offer comfort of some kind, for whatever good it may or may not do.
He follows her lead when she changes the subject, unwilling to press or ask her to dwell when she clearly wished to direct her focus elsewhere. With her light showing the way, he starts towards the skull at a steady pace, his mouth set into a thin line.]
Let's see what we're dealing with, shall we? If we're going to wake it, I imagine that's an excellent place to start.
no subject
They're not at that point yet. Maybe someday. Every little interaction, thoughtful discussion, each small adventure in this hotel, and what Gale has revealed to her is slowly unraveling her defenses.
Maybe someday.
Her emerald light floats up through the ribcage. Though she focused on the skull at first, there's something within the ribs that becomes more apparent, a fleshy lump of sorts. Lungs? No...]
A heart...?
no subject
It appears so. Jumpstarting that could be the key.
[Something he's sure they're both capable of, if they so choose.]
One has to wonder exactly what was able to bring this creature down in the first place— or rather, why it's remained here, inanimate. Everything else we came across seemed intent on keeping us out, which led me to believe they were protecting something, here at the heart of everything...
[He gestures at their discovery, his expression thoughtful.]
How would you like to proceed, Amelia?
no subject
[Her emerald light begins to spark and crackle. It circles the heart ominously. Just that little taste of magic should be enough to shock this thing to life.]
You can levitate and jump around like we did in the Vale, right? If it wakes up, we'll see if it's hostile and then I can work from there.
Are you ready?
no subject
[That's a 'yes'— his flight spell is at the ready should he have need of it, along with the rest of his arsenal. However this situation progresses, they surely have the tools to handle it.]
Ready and willing— do what you will.
[He tugs at the strands of the Weave that he's able to reach even from here, magic beginning to course through him, ready to be shaped and released to make his intent manifest.]
no subject
But the magic within the heart oscillates between green and red and starts to beat loudly. It continues to suspend itself in the air but glows red from within. Around the spellcasters, the creaking of bones echoes throughout the dungeon as the giant skeleton begins to stand up. Its skull looks down with glowing red eye sockets. Never a good sign.
Amelia can anticipate the next course of action the moment she sees the skeletal palm rise.]
MOVE! You take right, I go left!
[It's going to try to squash them like flies. Amelia gets a head start with a decisive sprint.]
no subject
There's nothing to start, then the pulsing between red and green begins, and Gale lets his flight spell loose so that he can ready another, feeling his entire body grow light. He follows Amelia's advice without hesitation, remaining grounded as he takes off and veers right, pausing just long enough to hold up a hand and shoot a long, spiraling ray of frost at the skeleton's feet in an effort to slow it down before pushing forward.]
Well, we wanted to see what would come of it— we have our answer!
[Fortunately, the larger they are, the harder they fall, and as they run in separate directions, it doesn't seem sure of who it should follow. Unfortunately, it doesn't waste much time trying to decide; it turns towards Gale and lumbers in his direction, footfalls heavy, and Gale quicky takes to the air to keep himself out of squashing distance.]
slaps away brain dust
And capture its attention it does. The skeleton stops, partly because of this distraction and because of Gale's frost slowing it down. It raises its hand towards the butterflies, determined to swat them away giving Gale ample opportunity to cause more damage below.]
no subject
That movement seems to draw on the shadows themselves, as though pulling them up from the floor and forcing them to manifest into something more substantial; a large patch of floor beneath their foe looks as though it's covered in pitch until that same substance begins to form long, thick tendrils, black tentacles that reach upward and snake their way around the skeleton's ankles and tarsals, grasping at it. Confident that this will impede its movement, Gale is quick to follow up with a second spell. Fireball was a favorite among wizards for good reason, and the orb of flame he throws forward grows larger as it approaches its target— though even as it expands, the spell is sculpted to strike nothing but the skeleton itself, leaving Amelia's swarm of emerald butterflies untouched and unsinged, even as she'll be able to feel the heat of the flames.]
no subject
Amelia, still in the form of the butterfly swarm, flies higher and higher to avoid the flailing skeleton. They glow even brighter, akin to an emerald flame before their formation changes into a giant lance aimed at their enemy.
The witch isn't someone who casts magic. In this moment, she is magic in its purest form.
The lance launches itself right through the skull and between the eyes. The skull cracks and splits in half at the sheer force. It sways back and forth before tumbling backward and fortunately away from Gale's direction.
Amelia shapeshifts again, this time as her true self. Green magic gives way to red hair and she floats gently down to the stone floor as the giant falls.]
Gale! I think that's a job well done!
no subject
I quite agree! Masterfully handled— I wonder if we'll be rewarded for our efforts?
[They may have awakened the creature of their own accord, but every good dungeon has a bit of loot in it, in his experience, even if it's just a handful of coin. Adventurers still have to eat!]
That last spell of yours— marvelous. I've not seen shapeshifting of its like before now.
1/2
Thank you. It's a challenge to shapeshift into a different form as it is, much less multiple forms or into a less corporeal weapon.
Anyways, are you alright? It looks like we're both relatively unscathed but just to make sure—
[She might be walking too fast without taking the terrain around them into the account, such as the very bumpy stone floor—]
no subject
She may, or may not have said a vulgar swear word, muffled by the ground.]
OW!!
[as the kids say, fuckin owned]
no subject
[He lunges forward with a hand outstretched as she trips and begins to pitch forward, but it all happens so quickly that he doesn't have a prayer of making it in time. He settles for dropping to one knee beside her once he closes the distance, his stomach having clenched at the sound of that crack, though the fact that there's no blood is... promising, he supposes.
Everything they've been through since setting foot on this floor, and this is what threatens to do the witch in? That hardly seems fair.]
Are you alright? Here, allow me—
[He takes one of her hands and reaches for her shoulder, intent on helping her up.]
no subject
I'm okay. Could be worse. Let me just—
[She shifts her feet beneath her or tries to. A sting of pain shoots to her right ankle when weight is put onto it and she stops, groaning.]
Really? Really? My ankle?!
no subject
I wouldn't advise trying that again. I don't have the materials on me, but if I can get you back to my workroom, I ought to be able to fix that right up for you.
[He presses his lips together, reaching to lay his index and middle fingers against her ankle and pressing ever-so-gently, hoping to test for a break.]
Can you move it at all? Without putting weight on it, mind you. [She doesn't need to be told, he knows, but he can't help himself.] Regardless, getting you out of here will be a simple enough matter.
no subject
Just sprained. Nothing a little bit of ice can't fix but I'd rather we leave first.
[Amelia sits up frowning at such a common injury she's inflicted on herself.]
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