Spoiler: Roll magic for Steel Heart 6 + 3 + 1 (Skill) + 1 (Primary Spell) - 6 = 4 Creating the shield takes more effort for Steel Heart than he realizes. A light shield surrounds the group of adventurers, but it seems very thin, not much more than a wisp and slight shimmer. If Steel concentrates hard enough, he might be able to empower it. Spoiler: Concentrating I'll just drop this here, rather than in the OOC. By "Concentrating", I mean spending Energy. When you spend Energy, you can increase your roll by however much energy you wish to spend. It's not wise to spend all of your energy at once because you'll pass out (and potentially be at risk of becoming a Walking Nightmare). Certain types of damage can deplete your energy, too, like Fatigue. If Steel wishes to concentrate on his next turn, I'll reroll his shield spell and add the amount of energy that he wishes to spend on it. But for the sake of the story, put how much Energy you want to spend on a task in wither the OOC, or a Spoiler tag, like this.
Her eyes glow for a moment and she picks her head up. She huffs dutifully under the circumstances and finally speaks up. "Okay, everyone please listen to me. I have an idea, but I need you all to work with me on this." She beckons them close to her. "Steel Heart, I need a barrier to protect us from them, in case they decide to get physical." She bobs her head towards Night Time. "I need you to help Intrude on her task by empowering her magical prowess." Then she turns to Intrude and says; "You have the important task of focusing your mental powers into kick-starting their conscious mind so that it can replace their sub-conscious minds and awaken them! Umm... if you could, please." She huffs gently, looking at the three she didn't mention. "I've already got some backup plans in mind if this doesn't work out, so please don't feel left out."
Little Sunshine walked next to Intrude. "Please Intrude, do your best to save them," she said. "I know you can do it."
"THATSH IT! KEEP YOUR DISHTANSH!" Mary swings wildly at any Nightmare that dare intrude her space. A space the sickle was carving for her. The point only just manages to miss one of the surrounding ponies while she backs towards the group. "All right! I'm open to crashy shceemsh at the moment. I'm not planning on dying with any of you. Givesh the wrong idea." Another swipe of the sickle. "SHTAY BACK!"
The Windigoes draw back slightly, taking note of Little Sunshine’s display of friendship with Intrude. Spoiler: Roll Magic for Intrude and Steel (I’m assuming you’re only going for a single target) Intrude: 7 + 2 + 1 + 1= 11 Steel: 17 + 3 + 1 + 1 – 6 + 2 energy = 18 Steel Heart concentrates on creating a shield spell large enough to cover his comrades, and before long the entire party is enveloped in a bluish bubble. Rather than being a slight shimmer, this shield appears more substantial and solid. (Allies can move into and out of the shield with no trouble, but enemies will be repelled for a time.) Intrude also gives her best shot at connecting with the mind of the “lead” Pegasus, the one who continues screaming at the party to “go away.” Intrude gets the familiar feeling of entering someone’s mind, but before she can communicate with the pony, she sees within her own mind a pair of piercing, yellow eyes. Spoiler: Roll Courage for Intrude 11 + 4 = 15 Intrude is shaken by the image, but remains stalwart. The eyes move closer, then she hears a voice in her mind: I’m impressed By your courage Young mare You could be Most useful To me Your skills Are wasted With these Interlopers When you find The missing Elements Of Harmony Bring them to me Your dreams will be pleasant Your worries will be few. Before intrude can respond, the voice pops out of existence. Intrude finds herself in the middle of Steel Heart’s shield, along with the other ponies. To her surprise, the pegasi that surrounded them have retreated. Spoiler: Results of Encounter The pegasi have left, and nopony even had to get hurt. They can still be seen overhead, but they aren’t making any aggressive moves. Intrude has something to think about. Victory…?
"phew they're gone, wait intrude you okay it' looks like your mind was tampered with". Steel took a sigh of relief and turned to Mary who seemed paranoid. "Mary the nightmares are gone you can stop seining my sickle now". Then back to the rest of the group. "Now shall we examine that thing pick found".
Mary's breathing started to slow along with her heartbeat. She stopped waving the blade around, calming down. "Heh, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna hold on to thish." She said, finally placing the sickle in her coat pocket, the curved edge poking over the side. "Can we move and keep this thing going?"
[imgfloat=left]http://furrypile.co.uk/gallery/images/23545012238057366191.png[/imgfloat]"Good job, Intrude..." she speaks her congratulations quietly, standing near Intrude, then nods to Mary's coaxing as she begins trotting forward again. "We don't need to hold up here any longer... that's for sure."
Little Sunshine kicked her hoof in the snow. "We weren't able to save them," she said. "There has to be a way to break them out of their trances, I just know it!" Being stationary for so long left Little Sunshine freezing and a little antsy. "When are we going to find our way into that castle? I'm sure it'll be a lot warmer in there."
Turning to Intrude, she gently nudged her shoulder to shoulder. "Hey... uhm... are you okay?" It was only fair, since she had earlier been asked in turn.
Rashall had been studying the whole scene not wishing to interupt though he made sure to keep close to Sunshine in case anything did happen. The cold didn't really bother him, nor did the things that his eyes had seen just then. The one thing he questioned was was everything as it seemed?
"well intrude your not the only one, constella tried to contact me during microsleep. Saying that me and my sister were very similar". Steel smiled.
Night Time suddenly feels a rustling in his pack. If he takes a look inside, he would see that the parchment that Luna gave him has words written in blue ink upon it. [size=+2]How farest thou in thy quest?[/size]
Night Time looked at it, before realizing he forgot to report back. He began writing on the parchment. We are outside of a castle of some sorts. We just encountered some Nightmare ponies. It would seem stuff is getting wierd with Steel and Intrude. Nothing much else at the moment as far as I can tell.
The writing disappears from the parchment and is soon replaced by: [size=+2]Were the Nightmares hurt at all? Keep in mind that they are citizens of Equestria. "Stuff is getting wierd?" We do not know what this means. We hope they are not falling under Constella's influence. Thank thee for thy report. We will assist in any way We can.[/size]
Night began writing once he took in the message. I do believe nopony was hurt. However, I fear that Intrude and maybe Steel are falling under the influence of Constella. I cannot tell so I shall leave it as a thought to rest for a while. As for assistance, do you think you could give a bit of information on this Castle?
