Not good enough.

Felix Hugo Fraldarius || Part of The Officers Academy || icon by @iimonmitaro on twt

[aegisshielded]

JANUARY ACTIVITY CHECK: Passed!

Activity Skill Point Allocation: Authority +1 (E+ -> D)

Reward Claim: Accuracy Ring (note to self, send in claim)

Submission Claim Draft to send in when time:

Event Participation Prize: Personal Skill Claim

Felix's Personal Skill [Lone Wolf]

Grand Prize Claim: [Send in on 2/3-2/4]

Knowledge Gem [Bow E -> E+]

Two event-limited prizes: [Sword: Intuition; Faith: Morningstar]

And a special item from the illusion you leave behind: 　　　　— Gospel of Zayin: Grants +0.5 strength/magic

[aegisshielded]

brother we cant keep watching people turn to dust || sephiran & felix

Team Zayin [Block A]

[aegisshielded]

@thelightofcreation

As Felix watches another person turn to smoke and ash and fade into the breeze, their resting place now an empty spot where their body once laid for their final breaths, he decides he cannot do it anymore. It is too pointless to bloody their fingers clawing at the remnants of a city only to watch the survivors die before their very eyes. He cannot do it anymore. Everyone they find will meet the same fate.

He turns his eyes to the abandoned manor nearby, a large home with a burned pole fallen into it. Ashes from it turn the stony yard of the home a charred black. The place where the roof succumbed to the pole's impact makes a soft noise in the breeze, announcing its hollowness. From the looks of the place, it was abandoned a decade or two before this all happened.

Felix gestures for Sephiran to follow him. "What we're doing... It's useless. Let's look inside here for anything. Maybe we'll learn something... Maybe we can keep this from getting worse." There's a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that this will help him understand the enemy, understand that bastard who made this all happen. The name is on the tip of his tongue, but he cannot quite place it yet.

As he steps closer, he can see the blurred, burned, painted faces that decorate the pole. At the top, the face has a barely legible name underneath it: PERSES. Felix furrows his brow. "Does the name Perses mean anything to you? I don't know it..."

[thelightofcreation]

:handshake: machine trauma

[aegisshielded]

His cranium aches with a dull throbbing, but Felix joins Sephiran once again to work side by side to try and help the victims of this tragedy. The machine working with them makes Felix wary, but he tries his best to ignore both it and the several thoughts he has in his pained head about their circumstances and the situation at hand.

But he cannot think of it now. There are people to be found in the rubble, dead or alive. Felix frowns when Sephiran announces his finding of a corpse and he walks over to join the digging. The automaton machine works efficiently enough to move the rubble out of the way, at least.

Roll: 19, bro got dusted

Felix spots a hand, then another rock is removed and Felix sees more of the person, and he swears he sees them draw a breath. "There's someone he--" He reaches to grab their hand to pull them out of the rubble, but as he does so, the body turns to wisps of smoke. When the wind carries it away, it is as though the person was never there at all. Felix stares wordlessly at the now-empty space where the body once was.

[thelightofcreation]

There is no one there. There was once, he knows- he turned fast enough to see them turn to smoke, to see hope disappear before their very eyes. He does not know what to make of it- but from beside them, the automaton reveals another, buried beneath dirt and stone. 

This time, Sephiran believes he recognizes him. 

Roll: 16, ashes ashes

Hesitant, only pulled to action with what he believes to be a groan- a cry for help, Sephiran reaches towards the other’s hand, only for him to find nothing. There was no smoke, no dust, no contact at all, the elder at most a distant dream. The city seems quieter- was there anyone buried under the rubble at all?

The automaton keeps moving. Sephiran turns towards it. “Stop- We must stop it-”

[aegisshielded]

Felix stares at his palm for a moment, wondering whether or not the ashy wisps of what was once a person now linger on his skin, but there is nothing there. There is no evidence of the person who blew away in the wind.

The ground suddenly shakes, tremors making Felix stumble, but when he looks to the sky he only sees familiar smoke rising as usual. No buildings are toppled more than they already were. An earthquake? The dull ache in Felix's skull throbs and his vision starts to darken, as though he were just struck in the back of the head and is about to pass out. Then, nothing. Normal. As normal as he was before the quake. He shakes his head, eyes screwed shut with a growing frustration.

He looks at the automaton and frowns, lips pulled tightly downward in disapproval of the machine. These damned machines all over this city. His city. His home. Felix nods and walks towards the machine, the ever-moving machine, and stops short of it as it continues to move rubble out of the way. But what's the point, knowing any survivors they find simply turn to dust in their very arms?

Roll: 14, dusted once again

Again, the automaton uncovers someone on the brink of life and death, and Felix rushes forward to push aside the remainder of the rubble covering them, but again, they give one haunting look into Felix's amber eyes before they fade from existence in a cloud of wispy smoke. There's a tightness in the back of his throat as he watches the smoke dissipate into the wind. This feels... pointless.

"What's the use..."

[thelightofcreation]

:handshake: machine trauma

[thelightofcreation]

searching for survivors starter for @aegisshielded

He is in the company of Felix again, accompanied by the one automaton available to them. Despite his concerns- the two of them did not have the best history with machinery, after all- the automaton works smoothly without their input. 

It is beneficial, too, that it moved the rubble on its own. Certainly, he would not be able to, with his strength. As it lifts another stone, it reveals not emptiness, and Sephiran remembers that there is one thing worse than uncertainty.

As he rushes forward, he knows the fate of the victim before him before he even reaches them. They are far too still, far too quiet. 

The hand is cold.

Roll: 8; corpse :(

He drops his hold on it, standing with a sigh. “We were too late…”

[aegisshielded]

His cranium aches with a dull throbbing, but Felix joins Sephiran once again to work side by side to try and help the victims of this tragedy. The machine working with them makes Felix wary, but he tries his best to ignore both it and the several thoughts he has in his pained head about their circumstances and the situation at hand.

But he cannot think of it now. There are people to be found in the rubble, dead or alive. Felix frowns when Sephiran announces his finding of a corpse and he walks over to join the digging. The automaton machine works efficiently enough to move the rubble out of the way, at least.

Roll: 19, bro got dusted

Felix spots a hand, then another rock is removed and Felix sees more of the person, and he swears he sees them draw a breath. "There's someone he--" He reaches to grab their hand to pull them out of the rubble, but as he does so, the body turns to wisps of smoke. When the wind carries it away, it is as though the person was never there at all. Felix stares wordlessly at the now-empty space where the body once was.

[aegisshielded]

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

[aegisshielded]

At the very least, Felix feels reassured that he is not the only one with doubts about this man and his supposed miracle machine. Felix nods and busies his hands helping Lyn sort through the box.

[Roll 1d6+2: 7 (Successful assist!), Roll 1d10: 7 (Scrap Metal x3)]

"I feel the same way," Felix admits quietly, not wanting to be too loud lest there be listening ears somewhere. "You're right, it does seem too easy. There is no such thing as a machine that will be the sole thing responsible for protecting all of these people. It's too damned good to be true. I know better than to put my complete faith in it, just like with anything else."

He huffs and scowls at the box, with its contents only yielding three more pieces of scrap metal similar to the one they found before. Felix adds it to the pile of their findings and shoves the opened box aside. "Still, I'm not sure what can be done about it but wait to see how things play out. I don't like that option either, though."

[sacaeblade]

Another dud. The box joins the others in the pile of useless junk and Lyn drags over the next box. It opens easily; a promising sign or an ill omen that anything useful within had already been picked through? A substantial pile of metal scraps had begun to grow next to them, but none of it was anything they could feasibly use.

If they didn't have to surrender their findings for the Upright Man, maybe they at least could toss the metal scraps at the enemy as a distraction.

roll: d6: 6 lead found! progress: 6/10

Lyn nods at Felix's words, although it is not relief that crosses her face, "You think so, too? After seeing the state the city had been, I would feel bad if something had happened to their only means of defending themselves, but what if something happens to it anyway? Even ballistae can only shoot so many times before they wear down." She tosses aside a book that has begun to disintegrate. "All of the metal we're finding could've be used to make weapons to arm these people instead of banking on a miracle."

[aegisshielded]

Felix could not agree more. He is momentarily grateful to have someone with a good head on their shoulders on their mission team. Thinking back on the previous day--or, at least, it feels like it's only been a day--Felix recalls the state of the infirmary upon their arrival to Lilium. The screams, the cries, and that damned machine. Perhaps he is simply growing more wary (or weary) of these machines, given the state of the one he and Sephiran were operating.

[Roll 1d6+2: 6 (Success!), Result: Iron Lance found!]

Felix pulls the box closer and raises his eyebrows, rather surprised to have found something like a lance in this box. He immediately recognizes the weapon, though he was never any good with them like others he grew up with. He pulls the lance out of the box completely and shows it to Lyn.

"Why was this even packed away in this place? It's like you said: this stuff can be used to help arm the people instead of going towards one damned machine!"

[aegisshielded]

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

[aegisshielded]

Felix clicks his tongue against the back of his teeth in displeasure as the contents of the box are revealed to only be some scrap metal. Regardless, resources are resources, and there are plenty of other boxes to search through. More than enough, really. Felix sets the scrap metal box aside and pulls the next one closer.

[Roll 1d6+2: 4, Lead found!]

He examines the outside of the box and some of the labels on it suggest that whatever is inside might be worth looking at. He pulls open the top of the box and slides it closer to Lyn. "Here, look through it. See if there's anything somewhat useful." Something other than scrap metal, maybe. "What do you think of that machine that guy was talking about?" He asks Lyn, wondering if perhaps she, too, has suspicions.

[sacaeblade]

Lyn sighs, "No wonder there are so many boxes here if they're just shoving anything in here. What a waste dedicating so much space to things no one is using."

The next box slides across the floor and Lyn catches it with her hand. Whoever had packed this box had stuffed it to near bursting with all manner of useless junk with no regard to organization of any sort. If they had in the time in the world, she would have liked to at least clean this place up a little bit for the next person to come through.

roll: d6: 1 no progress

"I'm not sure I trust it," Lyn replies after a moment, pushing some of the junk within off to the side. "It all just seems too easy, doesn't it? As much as I don't want these people to suffer any further, the idea of a singular invention ending this war..."

Reprieve, in whatever form we can give it.

An innocuous statement by itself and yet it made Lyn's hair stand on end.

"I worry that the cost will be greater than whatever it is they're imagining. What about you?"

[aegisshielded]

At the very least, Felix feels reassured that he is not the only one with doubts about this man and his supposed miracle machine. Felix nods and busies his hands helping Lyn sort through the box.

[Roll 1d6+2: 7 (Successful assist!), Roll 1d10: 7 (Scrap Metal x3)]

"I feel the same way," Felix admits quietly, not wanting to be too loud lest there be listening ears somewhere. "You're right, it does seem too easy. There is no such thing as a machine that will be the sole thing responsible for protecting all of these people. It's too damned good to be true. I know better than to put my complete faith in it, just like with anything else."

He huffs and scowls at the box, with its contents only yielding three more pieces of scrap metal similar to the one they found before. Felix adds it to the pile of their findings and shoves the opened box aside. "Still, I'm not sure what can be done about it but wait to see how things play out. I don't like that option either, though."

[aegisshielded]

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

[aegisshielded]

@sacaeblade

Felix awakens with a headache that only worsens when the group listens to some man drone on and on about how he's going to be the savior of Lilium. Felix has always hated those who get up on a stage and proclaim themselves to be great, and this man, this Upright Man, kind of pisses Felix off.

What the hell does he know about the real beast behind this all? Felix has an inkling of who the beast (or, should he say boar) behind the tragedy is. Who else, but someone ruthless on the battlefield, eager to see the blood of proclaimed enemies painting the grass and stone? Never mind the innocent bystanders, these helpless citizens of Lilium.

Regardless, Felix knows that there are things to be done. He keeps his brainstorming in his own head for now. No need to alarm anyone when the devastation they'd just seen seems to have been erased. He still can't quite understand how, but he cannot help the relief he feels seeing some faces he'd seen in the infirmary now filled with life.

He joins up in a pair with Lyn, a Golden Deer student, to search the area of Block B's warehouse for supplies. As much as he doesn't like the Upright Man, he seems to have a way to protect Lilium, and he needs parts to make it happen. Upon entering the warehouse and seeing the abundance of boxes to be sorted through, Felix heaves a long sigh.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us."

[Roll 1d6+2: 6 (Lead found!)]

He goes for the closest box and opens it up, shuffling through it. "Here, come help. I can't figure out what the hell I'm looking for, but this looks right..."

[sacaeblade]

Compared to moving rubble off of bodies while fearfully awaiting the next explosion, digging through boxes is a welcome change. Lyn rifles through the box that Felix opens, pushing aside the useless junk within to search for anything salvageable.

roll: d6: 6 (cumulative total: 10/10) roll: d10: 4 - spare parts x1

She isn't exactly sure what it is she expected, but these assorted metal bits and baubles aren't it. Perhaps she should have tempered her expectations of what they would find hidden in the back of a warehouse

"I'm... not really sure what this is," she admits truthfully. "But we can take it back with us anyway. I'm sure someone else can make use of it. For that Upright Man or whatever they had called it."

The Upright Man. A mechanical contraption, the hope of this city.

Something about the way the man had delivered his speech set a pit of unease in Lyn's stomach. Just yesterday the city had been under siege and now this man had appeared to claim his invention could single-handedly turn the tides of war. No singular weapon Lyn had ever encountered in her life was capable of such a feat and yet this man claimed the impossible. These people were desperate for something, anything, to come save them, but was this truly their salvation?

Lyn stands up, dusting herself off, "This is probably everything useful we're getting from this box. I would have preferred to find something to repair my weapons with, if I'm honest. Let's hope the next one is more fruitful."

[aegisshielded]

Felix clicks his tongue against the back of his teeth in displeasure as the contents of the box are revealed to only be some scrap metal. Regardless, resources are resources, and there are plenty of other boxes to search through. More than enough, really. Felix sets the scrap metal box aside and pulls the next one closer.

[Roll 1d6+2: 4, Lead found!]

He examines the outside of the box and some of the labels on it suggest that whatever is inside might be worth looking at. He pulls open the top of the box and slides it closer to Lyn. "Here, look through it. See if there's anything somewhat useful." Something other than scrap metal, maybe. "What do you think of that machine that guy was talking about?" He asks Lyn, wondering if perhaps she, too, has suspicions.

[aegisshielded]

we're going to eat the whetstones || Lyn & Felix

Block B: Search Warehouse for Supplies

[aegisshielded]

@sacaeblade

Felix awakens with a headache that only worsens when the group listens to some man drone on and on about how he's going to be the savior of Lilium. Felix has always hated those who get up on a stage and proclaim themselves to be great, and this man, this Upright Man, kind of pisses Felix off.

What the hell does he know about the real beast behind this all? Felix has an inkling of who the beast (or, should he say boar) behind the tragedy is. Who else, but someone ruthless on the battlefield, eager to see the blood of proclaimed enemies painting the grass and stone? Never mind the innocent bystanders, these helpless citizens of Lilium.

Regardless, Felix knows that there are things to be done. He keeps his brainstorming in his own head for now. No need to alarm anyone when the devastation they'd just seen seems to have been erased. He still can't quite understand how, but he cannot help the relief he feels seeing some faces he'd seen in the infirmary now filled with life.

He joins up in a pair with Lyn, a Golden Deer student, to search the area of Block B's warehouse for supplies. As much as he doesn't like the Upright Man, he seems to have a way to protect Lilium, and he needs parts to make it happen. Upon entering the warehouse and seeing the abundance of boxes to be sorted through, Felix heaves a long sigh.

"Looks like we have our work cut out for us."

[Roll 1d6+2: 6 (Lead found!)]

He goes for the closest box and opens it up, shuffling through it. "Here, come help. I can't figure out what the hell I'm looking for, but this looks right..."

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 2, Success! 2/3 doses]

Felix stands at the ready, eyes focused on the machine for any sign of further complications. It seems every full vial requires much suffering on their end, a fickle and bitter machine working against them. Whoever made this machine must not be a good inventor. It sucks, but it works... sometimes.

The machine manages to push out another dose after Felix feeds in more of the necessary ingredients. Someone in the doorway shouts in distress and Felix's brow furrows further.

"There's something I don't like about this..." Felix mutters lowly. "How are these people so far in this fight, and we only just arrived?" He shakes his head before surveying the chaos again. "Why weren't we sent sooner?" Something in him aches to see these people, this place, so thrown into the hell of battle. The sentiment comes to him again: home.

[thelightofcreation]

Something he hears in the distance sets him on edge, but he keeps his focus on the machine. He must hurry- for one reason or another, the noise of the infirmary begins to wear on him. Perhaps he has been standing here for too long, or perhaps it is the constant reminder of war and failure. He adds the ingredients into the machine, braces himself for the sound of it coming to a stop. It doesn’t come.

[Roll 1d4: 3, Success! 3/3 doses]

Somehow, that makes him more wary. The dosages complete, the vial handed off to a medic. It appears he is not the only one, the student seemingly also on edge with the situation- though for perhaps a different reason.

“We could never have been sent soon enough,” Sephiran’s voice is cold as he scans the room, thinking of the lives they could have saved if they were sent here minutes earlier (of lives saved upon arriving days earlier- of destruction prevented having arrived months earlier). It would never be enough. He recalls another time- of a different home on fire. The screams of the dying were faster, more desperate; lives snuffed out rather than seeping away slowly.

“There is very little one person can do in war.”

[aegisshielded]

The medicine is handed off, and Felix watches its journey in the hands of a healer as they hurry to the side of someone dying. Felix balls his hands into fists at his side, his nails digging into his palms. A scream from someone, another sobbing, wailing from another. It's all beginning to be far too much of a familiar scene.

And then, the world is turned upside down. Massive rocks are thrown into the infirmary from above, sending walls crumbling down and more screams. Felix is thrown by the second impact of three, and he shouts in pain as he hits the ground, knocking his head on rubble He sees stars amongst the dust as he blinks wearily.

[Felix HP: -3; Current HP: 7/10]

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 2 -> Overheated (again); Roll 1d10: 6 (Success!)]

As soon as Sephiran cools the machine down, Felix gets right to work, but alas these two are the heavens' least favorite medicine makers. As soon as Felix tries to start up the machine again, the metal heats up again and Felix pulls his hand back with a rushed curse, barely managing not to scald his fingers.

"Damned thing!" He fights the urge to kick the machine and instead huffs and tries to remember exactly what Sephiran did to summon the magic to cool it. Thankfully, it works out and the heavens smile down upon them for once. The machine gets cooled and Felix heaves a long sigh, resting his head against it.

"Okay," he groans. "Try it again..."

[thelightofcreation]

Sephiran watches Felix attempt to operate the machine, followed quickly by the machine’s short-lived rebellion cut short with another wave of cold magic. He wonders if it was truly better to operate this machine when it clearly did not wish to be so. Alas, the world had other plans, and one of those plans was trying until they succeeded.

[Roll 1d4: 4, Success! 1/3 doses]

He puts the ingredients in the machine again, hesitantly, and watches for any sign of further malfunctioning. When the dose comes out, completed, he puts it to the side with some surprise. He sighs in relief, thankful that there was not any more trouble for the time being.

“Perhaps it is working again…” Sephiran steps to the side. “Give it another try?”

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 2, Success! 2/3 doses]

Felix stands at the ready, eyes focused on the machine for any sign of further complications. It seems every full vial requires much suffering on their end, a fickle and bitter machine working against them. Whoever made this machine must not be a good inventor. It sucks, but it works... sometimes.

The machine manages to push out another dose after Felix feeds in more of the necessary ingredients. Someone in the doorway shouts in distress and Felix's brow furrows further.

"There's something I don't like about this..." Felix mutters lowly. "How are these people so far in this fight, and we only just arrived?" He shakes his head before surveying the chaos again. "Why weren't we sent sooner?" Something in him aches to see these people, this place, so thrown into the hell of battle. The sentiment comes to him again: home.

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d10: 3 -> Failure, still overheating!]

Magic fails to cool the machine down and it shows no signs of doing it by itself, so Felix nods and searches for some water. He finds a bucket with some and throws it at the side of the machine, but the metal is too hot and the water just sizzles as it falls down and drips to the floor.

"Damn it," Felix curses and tosses the bucket to the side, reaching for some rags to sop up the water. "Try using magic again. Water isn't doing anything to help." He peers around them, partially hoping no one is witnessing them failing to reign in this damned machine, but also hoping that no more injured come tumbling in before they can make more medicine for the ones already inside the infirmary.

[thelightofcreation]

Oh, for Ashera’s sake. The machine proves resistant to any attempts to cool it, and in his irritation Sephiran sends a stronger burst of magic in its direction. At any other time, he would have frowned upon using his magic so strongly against an inanimate object of all things, but it seems that this time, it was what was necessary.

[Roll: 1d10 + 3: 8 + 3, Success!]

The cold air lingers for a moment, and he again tests the side. Rapidly cooling, the metal is once again safe to touch and he sighs. He waits a moment longer- hoping that it would not start again, failing at another juncture, and when he thinks it is safe to operate he steps back, removing his hand from the side.

“It should be cool this time. See if it works…” Please, let it work.

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 2 -> Overheated (again); Roll 1d10: 6 (Success!)]

As soon as Sephiran cools the machine down, Felix gets right to work, but alas these two are the heavens' least favorite medicine makers. As soon as Felix tries to start up the machine again, the metal heats up again and Felix pulls his hand back with a rushed curse, barely managing not to scald his fingers.

"Damned thing!" He fights the urge to kick the machine and instead huffs and tries to remember exactly what Sephiran did to summon the magic to cool it. Thankfully, it works out and the heavens smile down upon them for once. The machine gets cooled and Felix heaves a long sigh, resting his head against it.

"Okay," he groans. "Try it again..."

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Failure; Roll: 1d4: 2 (Overheated) -> Roll 1d10: 3 (Failure, still overheating!)]

"Hmm," he hums, letting the professor know he's been heard. So Sephiran knows the name, too. Felix feels somewhat reassured that the professor also feels the same way about this place, and seems just as unsure and confused about why. It calms him a bit, but he still feels something--maybe paranoia, perhaps anxiety--that tugs at the back of his mind. Something about this place is... off. He just can't put his finger on it quite yet.

Felix is going through the motions after Sephiran feeds another cube into the machine, but it seems he tries to use it too quickly before the machine is ready. The metal gets hot and the machine stops, and Felix curses under his breath. He tries to think of some reason spell to help him cool it down, but he draws a blank.

"A little help?" he huffs to Sephiran, not wanting to take his frustration out on a professor.

[thelightofcreation]

“Yes, of course,” The response comes automatically, though he is distracted by the sounds of something crashing in the distance. As a result, when he calls his magic to mind, it does not respond, with perhaps only the faintest of chill upon his fingertips. 

[Roll: 1d10 + 3: 1 + 3, Failure, still overheating!]

Naturally, he need only move his hand closer to find that the machine was still far too warm to operate, and he shakes his head to clear it. The sound was worrying, yes, but there was nothing to be done about it. Though he knew few of the others, (and fewer well), he trusted they must be competent enough to handle themselves. In regards to his failure, he scans the room, doing his best not to falter at the sight of the wounded.

“My apologies- perhaps we should find some water instead…”

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d10: 3 -> Failure, still overheating!]

Magic fails to cool the machine down and it shows no signs of doing it by itself, so Felix nods and searches for some water. He finds a bucket with some and throws it at the side of the machine, but the metal is too hot and the water just sizzles as it falls down and drips to the floor.

"Damn it," Felix curses and tosses the bucket to the side, reaching for some rags to sop up the water. "Try using magic again. Water isn't doing anything to help." He peers around them, partially hoping no one is witnessing them failing to reign in this damned machine, but also hoping that no more injured come tumbling in before they can make more medicine for the ones already inside the infirmary.

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 4 (Success! 3/3 for vial of medicine)]

Felix watches as Sephiran prepares the next bit of medicine to be made, busying his hands with getting the next bundle of ingredients put together to top off the vial. He frowns at Sephiran's words and opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates, his eyebrows furrowing. Finally, he speaks.

"Somewhat. I... I know the name of this place, somehow," he admits. "Lilium." The name feels both familiar and foreign, but somehow still like... well, home. He doesn't quite understand how, though. There is no explanation in his mind that makes sense.

He feeds the materials into the machine and, thankfully, the machine pushes through the rest of the medicine needed to fill another vial. He gives it to another healer passing by, who thanks them in a hurry before rushing off to attend to the bleeding and dying. Felix looks out across the room again with a frown.

[thelightofcreation]

Another vial passed on- another person saved, or so he hoped. The process had gone smoother than the prior, it seemed, with the second vial finished faster than the first. He spares no glance to the room, the contradicting information- these are his people, these are beorc- causing more headache than he would like. The sounds too- the desperation of the medics rushing to save lives, and the groans of the dying… He pushes them out of his mind's-eye.

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Failure; Roll: 1d4: 1 -> Out of Energy. 3 Energy Blocks Remaining]

“Lilium, yes…” That was this place’s name, wasn’t it? Home. Sephiran is glad it was not only he who seemed to have a strange feeling of the place. As he feeds the ingredients to the machine, it comes to a stop again- and he frowns, before remembering the energy blocks required to operate it. As he kneels by the side of the machine, another of the blocks in his hand, he continues, “I don’t recall learning the name anywhere else, yet somehow…”

He trails off, focusing on the task at hand. Stepping back to watch the machine whirr back to life, he turns to Felix. “Perhaps we should try once more.”

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Failure; Roll: 1d4: 2 (Overheated) -> Roll 1d10: 3 (Failure, still overheating!)]

"Hmm," he hums, letting the professor know he's been heard. So Sephiran knows the name, too. Felix feels somewhat reassured that the professor also feels the same way about this place, and seems just as unsure and confused about why. It calms him a bit, but he still feels something--maybe paranoia, perhaps anxiety--that tugs at the back of his mind. Something about this place is... off. He just can't put his finger on it quite yet.

Felix is going through the motions after Sephiran feeds another cube into the machine, but it seems he tries to use it too quickly before the machine is ready. The metal gets hot and the machine stops, and Felix curses under his breath. He tries to think of some reason spell to help him cool it down, but he draws a blank.

"A little help?" he huffs to Sephiran, not wanting to take his frustration out on a professor.

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Roll 1d4: 4 (Jammed) -> Roll 1d10: 6 (Unjammed)]

Felix nods wordlessly, not wanting to give voice to just how much he feels like he's helping by getting this medicine done. Even just one person... Perhaps if there had been someone with medicine or healing magic when his br-- No, this was not the time to think of that. He has a job to do for these people. The words 'my people' echo briefly in his thoughts before Felix busies his hands with the machine again. Like Sephiran said, every bit of progress helps someone.

However, the machine crunches and stops again and Felix groans with frustration, his anger towards the contraption growing each time it stops up or gives them trouble. It's almost as though the damned thing is working against them. He pries open the panel, fixes the jam, and shuts the metal door with a slam before turning to Sephiran with an exasperated look.

"Try it again."

[thelightofcreation]

At this rate, Sephiran is beginning to believe that the machine is powered entirely to break, as part of the process. How else could one explain the numerous roadblocks the two have faced so far? However, it seemed his faith has worked, and so he forms another quick prayer before nodding.

“Very well.” Putting the ingredients and starting the machinery has become a familiar ritual, yet it is a surprise as always when it works without issue. A second dosage joins the first. 

[Roll 1d4: 3 (Success! 2/3 for vial of medicine)]

Noticing the student’s irritation, he makes an attempt at light conversation, again allowing him a chance at the machinery. “Say, have you thought that this place feels… familiar?”

Familiar not being quite the correct word, yet still he hesitates to call it anything else. Yes, the feeling was of home- that these were his people, and that this was where he belonged, albeit unknown to him. Was it only he that found it so? He hoped not, but… 

Could he only find his place amongst ruins?

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 4 (Success! 3/3 for vial of medicine)]

Felix watches as Sephiran prepares the next bit of medicine to be made, busying his hands with getting the next bundle of ingredients put together to top off the vial. He frowns at Sephiran's words and opens his mouth to speak, but hesitates, his eyebrows furrowing. Finally, he speaks.

"Somewhat. I... I know the name of this place, somehow," he admits. "Lilium." The name feels both familiar and foreign, but somehow still like... well, home. He doesn't quite understand how, though. There is no explanation in his mind that makes sense.

He feeds the materials into the machine and, thankfully, the machine pushes through the rest of the medicine needed to fill another vial. He gives it to another healer passing by, who thanks them in a hurry before rushing off to attend to the bleeding and dying. Felix looks out across the room again with a frown.

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

[roll 1d4: 2 (Success 3/3 for one vial of medicine!)]

It seems that all of the finagling and repairing of the blasted machine finally pays off, and the professor and student duo manage to fill exactly one vial of medicine. Just as it is finished and Felix puts a cap on the vial, he shouts out to a nearby nurse passing by. They quickly take it out of his hands, thanking him and asking the two to continue their work, as more injured are being brought into the now-cramped and cluttered infirmary.

Felix turns to Sephiran with a sigh as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Well... That's one person getting medicine. Guess we'd better keep at it. We might be here all damned day with the rate they're bringing in injured folks..." He surveys the area, taking in the chaos of it all with a shake of his head. He looks back at the machine, dreading trying to make another full vial of medicine, but it must be done... It must be done. This place, their... home. It must be saved.

[thelightofcreation]

It is the moment when the medicine is taken that he finds perhaps not newfound strength, but a remembered purpose. This was his home, or so his soul told him- which meant these were his people. A dichotomy that he could not spend much time lingering on, for those he saw resembled beorc, and held not the wings nor presence of his heron kin. It was a dissonance he could not seem to shake, but it has been long since he had been home.

“And it is one person who could be brought back from death.” In response to the student's words, he scans the area, frowning at the array of patients- those who cried for help, but were unattended to, and those who should be abandoned, else no one would be saved… “Even if we were here all day, I doubt we can provide enough for everyone here- but perhaps we could make more sizable progress.”

Perhaps a little morbid, so Sephiran turns back to the machine, whispers a prayer again, and gets to work.

[Roll 1d4: 4 (Success! 1/3 for vial of medicine)]

Thankfully, the process again goes smoothly. The dose is set to the side and the ingredients reorganized as he steps aside to allow Felix another attempt.

[aegisshielded]

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Roll 1d4: 4 (Jammed) -> Roll 1d10: 6 (Unjammed)]

Felix nods wordlessly, not wanting to give voice to just how much he feels like he's helping by getting this medicine done. Even just one person... Perhaps if there had been someone with medicine or healing magic when his br-- No, this was not the time to think of that. He has a job to do for these people. The words 'my people' echo briefly in his thoughts before Felix busies his hands with the machine again. Like Sephiran said, every bit of progress helps someone.

However, the machine crunches and stops again and Felix groans with frustration, his anger towards the contraption growing each time it stops up or gives them trouble. It's almost as though the damned thing is working against them. He pries open the panel, fixes the jam, and shuts the metal door with a slam before turning to Sephiran with an exasperated look.

"Try it again."

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

Felix watches with a hint of disdain toward his own inadequacy as Sephiran manages to cool the machine with ease. Magic... tch. Whatever. Felix grumbles to himself a bit as he steps in front of the machine again and tries to feed the ingredients into the contraption again.

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Failure; Roll 1d4: 4 -> Jammed]

It starts up, but then a sickening metallic crunch is heard and Felix stares at the machine with wide eyes as it halts all motion, the machine effectively jammed. "This thing is such a piece of shit!" The student growls with anger as he fights the urge to just kick the damned thing and pulls open one of the panels to reveal the inner parts of the machine.

[Roll 1d10: 7 -> Repaired!]

With a few adjustments and Felix removing the materials keeping the machine stuck, he manages to free it up again for it to move. He sighs tiredly and stands back upright, shutting the panel. "Alright... Try again." Not like they had much of a choice. The people in the infirmary need the damned medicine.

[thelightofcreation]

Again, the machine breaks. Was this not an exercise in futility? Still, he does not feel- or does not express- the anger the student has, finding that he could at least still muster the patience to watch yet another repair for a machine that has provided more problems than solutions. Sephiran knows he must try again, but he pauses, giving a quick prayer to Ashera, that whatever chaos was inflicted upon the machine may dissipate.

[Roll 1d4: 3 (Success 2/3 for one vial of medicine)]

Perhaps she answers his prayers, or perhaps they have simply fixed every issue the machine may have. Still, he will not question such a result, for certainly, it was not easily replicable. Sephiran quickly removes the second dose, putting it with the first. 

“We only need one more…” He sounded more tired than he had thought he would- they had, after all, only been working for a short amount of time. Perhaps it was the frantic movements of those behind him, or the tell-tale sounds of the dying.

He sighs. “Best of luck.”

[aegisshielded]

[roll 1d4: 2 (Success 3/3 for one vial of medicine!)]

It seems that all of the finagling and repairing of the blasted machine finally pays off, and the professor and student duo manage to fill exactly one vial of medicine. Just as it is finished and Felix puts a cap on the vial, he shouts out to a nearby nurse passing by. They quickly take it out of his hands, thanking him and asking the two to continue their work, as more injured are being brought into the now-cramped and cluttered infirmary.

Felix turns to Sephiran with a sigh as he crosses his arms over his chest. "Well... That's one person getting medicine. Guess we'd better keep at it. We might be here all damned day with the rate they're bringing in injured folks..." He surveys the area, taking in the chaos of it all with a shake of his head. He looks back at the machine, dreading trying to make another full vial of medicine, but it must be done... It must be done. This place, their... home. It must be saved.

[aegisshielded]

medicine machines || Team Zayin (Block C: Sephiran & Felix)

[aegisshielded]

Felix watches the man attempt to follow his suit in using the machine, but the contraption crunches to a stop and Felix heaves a long sigh of frustration. Damned machines... Weren't they supposed to be better than doing this kind of thing by hand? At the very least, they have the materials to get the clunky thing working again and Felix nods when Sephiran asks him to make another attempt.

"Right," he replies quickly and gathers up some materials to feed into the machine again.

[Rolls 1d4: 1 -> Failure; Roll 1d4: 2 -> Overheated. Attempt to cool but failed. Overall failure.]

The machine starts up, but something seems wrong right away. The heat coming off of the machine grows and Felix, in a panic, tries to muster up what reason magic he can think of, but alas, he knows nothing of the sort. The machine sputters to a stop again and Felix lets out a growl of frustration as he carefully tries to clear out the machine of the ingredients, trying to avoid the scalding metal.

"Damn it!" he mutters, and behind him, he can hear the chaos of the infirmary continue.

[thelightofcreation]

Perhaps he should have tried his luck with his staff. The machine, regaining power, starts again, but Sephiran jerks his hand back quickly from it as it grows warmer, to the point that he is thankful that he is not the one attempting to operate it- otherwise, he may have burned himself. Felix attempts to cool it down, or at least, Sephiran assumes that is what he is doing, but nothing happens.

Sensing that perhaps this was out of his abilities- truly, he felt it was out of his own, but that was a different matter- he rises, taking the spot of the student.

“Let me try…” Normally, he would try to exude more confidence, in order to inspire confidence in others. But here that was utterly unnecessary, given his inexperience with the machine, and its apparent aversion to operating as it was said to.

[Roll: 7 + 3 = 10; Success!]

A wave of his hand tells him that some of his magic remains under his control, and a wave of cold air settles over the machine. After a moment, he tentatively presses his hand against the side, and finds it once again cool to the touch.

There is only one thing to do, having promised the infirmary workers to manage the machine. “It should be cooler now, do you think you can make another dose?”

[aegisshielded]

Felix watches with a hint of disdain toward his own inadequacy as Sephiran manages to cool the machine with ease. Magic... tch. Whatever. Felix grumbles to himself a bit as he steps in front of the machine again and tries to feed the ingredients into the contraption again.

[Roll 1d4: 1 -> Failure; Roll 1d4: 4 -> Jammed]

It starts up, but then a sickening metallic crunch is heard and Felix stares at the machine with wide eyes as it halts all motion, the machine effectively jammed. "This thing is such a piece of shit!" The student growls with anger as he fights the urge to just kick the damned thing and pulls open one of the panels to reveal the inner parts of the machine.

[Roll 1d10: 7 -> Repaired!]

With a few adjustments and Felix removing the materials keeping the machine stuck, he manages to free it up again for it to move. He sighs tiredly and stands back upright, shutting the panel. "Alright... Try again." Not like they had much of a choice. The people in the infirmary need the damned medicine.