World Tree MUSH

    Salem, Massachussetts, has not been doing well since the last week.
    The village has been cursed, and with increasing raids by the Native American Wood Elves, the High Elves of the village are beleaguered and on their last legs.
    Governor Phipps, the leader of the people of Salem has placed a new request for aid with the rising tensions and the weakening state of his people's defenses. Find the witches causing the curse and put an end to it by any means possible.
    The people of Salem are looking miserable. There have been more deaths in the past week, both from the hexes on the town and Wood Elf raids, and the village looks even more like a ghost town than it did last week. Phipps stands, impatient and nervous at the entrance to the forest with an armed guard, and as soon as the gathered hunters, adventurers and job seekers arrive he's very quick to point them at the forest and basically says to get going.
    Those who were already here should have no issue leading others through the fog to the clearing in the woods, where a bubbling cauldron sits stewing its reeking contents, venting a thick smog into the forest, bu once again there's no sign of anyone around.

Holly's not exactly the best when it comes to dealing with hexes but she is an expert when it comes to detecting magic. Someone has to put a stop to this, people dying unpleasantly often leads to vengeful spirits after all. Of course the question is Salome directly involved in all of this? She rather not fight the other witch directly but something has to be done. Plus she would like to know why all of this is happening.

    Weiss still insists that magic isn't a real thing in her world, so this is all 'new' to her. The reeking smell is familiar though. "Okay, this is really something they have to stop. People dying isn't something to mess with, you know?" Grumpy Weiss is grumpy for some reason tonight. Her sword is still sheathed though, and... well if people want to be sneaky, that's fine. She isn't going to be one of them, she'll be a distraction if she wants to.

    "Helloooo!? Is anyone here?" Just walk up and call out, Weiss! Direct and to the point, that's it!

Emily has taken the form of a high elf with long pointed ears, glowing purple eyes, and four arms; she's wearing a blue bikini-top, forest-green booty shorts, blue boots, and a sword-pendant. In Salem, Emily was frankly somewhat subdued, and missing her trademark amused and faintly smug smile, but the group isn't very far into the woods before she's looking quite enthused by the current situation!

This is probably not a good thing; she's so focused on the prospect of meeting and possibly fighting Salome again that their original reason for coming here has basically just slipped out of her focus.

She smiles, standing behind Weiss and Holly. "Hoooo boy," she murmurs quietly.

Rumors, information, everything and anything when it comes to the occult has ways to propagate in ways that are unexpected. While she had heard something about Salem prior, it was once the Governor had put out something again, that Sonia was able to better direct her attention personally to the matter. After all, she's still been working on establishing personal contacts around this... confluence of worlds. 

Yet, with the sum of information known: curse, attacks and witches involvement, plus deaths were more than enough to warrant her attention. Thus did the hooded and feminine figure emerge from the fog--possibly by simply tracking some of the others through that sense of hers, unwilling to be sociable towards others just yet. Which... well, might make her seem ominous--a cloaked figure emerging just as how-do-you-do as anything else. 

But she has sense not to draw suspicion when she doesn't need to, not when a call for help has been sent out, drawing her hood back and inclining her head in Holly and Emily's direction briefly, as well as a more polite look for Weiss before looking towards the cauldron itself. And expanding her senses towards around her--more to the point if there's anything active nearby--or lack thereof. Not to mention actually trying to see if she can pick out any particulars in the scents and the look of the cauldron's contents. What? She's curious. Belmonts always are interested in Weird Things. 

    Much like the last time, the contents of the cauldron reek to high heaven, it's a dastardly spell if ever there was one, born from the mixed contents of herbs, animal matter, and ill will.
    As Weiss, Emily, Holly, and the mysterious Sonia arrive, it's only a moment or so of waiting before someone actually responds to the young huntress' call.
    "Yes? Yes what is it?"
    It's a familiar voice as The Maiden comes hurrying into the clearing, a bushel of herbs in her arms, muttering under her breath as she checks the contents of her basket.
    " Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting, lizard's leg and howlet's wing..."
    The young elf witch with her blonde hair in a braid, pauses long enough to dump the basket into the cauldron with a huff before setting her hands on her hips.
    "You should all not be here. She's coming tonight. This is the only warning you're getting, if The Covenless Calamity catches you here, we're all dead."

Emily claps and rubs her hands together at the Maiden's pronouncement of doom. "Excellent!" she says, glancing around at the others present. "Releasing capacitor seals three and two!" She's surrounded by three distinct auras, one gold, one silver, and one pearlescent; the first two shatter, and the third one fades. In a swirl of silvery glitter, the sword-pendant vanishes, replaced by a full-sized broadsword on her back.

Then a second pair of arms appears, and she claps them over the first pair, rubbing all of them together. Is there a protocol for rubbing your hands together in anticipation when you have four hands? She guesses there is now!

"But I'm already here!" Holly thinks they're referring to her of course.

 "I believe they're referring to someone a bit more...harmful?" Servis tries to put it gently without hurting Holly's feeling.

 "Hey, you don't become the champion without being the underdog at some point!" Lavaux doesn't sound too frightened though then again he's already dead.

 "Hello Sonia! We could use your help in finding what's going on!" She greets the vampire hunter as she joins the group.

    "Calamitous... look," Weiss says, putting her foot down. "We just want the deaths in the town to stop, that's all. It's kind of our job! Well, my job anyway. Okay? Just tell us how to stop that, or we stop you, and then we're all happy, right?" She's in a bad mood and so it's not the kind of time to ask her to be patient, especially when people are being(in her opinion) wishy washy about this!

    She still looks backward though. She knows the people here, but maybe not well compared to many. She does remember Sonia at least, and Emily she knows is a good fighter. Holly is the only wild card but at least she is also a witch or something?

Sonia's nose scrunches up ever so slightly at the contents before muttering something to herself, something for the sharp-eared 'how oddly familiar' as she earnestly contemplates something objectively destructive to the inherent nature of the spell itself. 

Such contemplations are interrupted by the arrival of this witch, before her eyes harden just so; a faint luminescence of gathering magic, but not yet at the surface. "So it would seem." Sonia says towards Holly, keeping her gaze on the elven witch. "I would have an explanation, before words are of little use to anyone." Something gnaws at the back of her mind a little bit, but the truth is she doesn't have everything just yet. 

Otherwise she would bring down a proverbial magical hammer down right now. And given what Weiss says, she decides to pick up from that thread. "Death is one solution, however permanent. The curses being woven here is already well enough reason for that as a solution. Be swift and make your reasons known."

    Wow the girl practically wilts. Between Emily preparing for war, Weiss' forceful demands, and Sonia practically threatening her, the young witch's ears droop as she turtles her neck down into her shoulders. Though Holly gets an odd look for a moment, The Maiden clears her throat.
    "My mother, grandmother, and I never wanted this... We came wanting to help the people of Salem, but. She took something from us. And if we want it back she said we had to do this." She explains in a hushed tone, fidgeting and fussing nervously.
    Then there's a rustle in a nearby bush. A large black cat emerges, whiskers twitching as he sniffs the air and looks from face to face.
    "Oh hi." The cat sats. "I'm telling." That's the only warning anyone gets as he turns and darts back into the brush.
    The next two to enter the clearing, do so looking very uncomfortable. The Mother and the Crone arrive and take to the Maiden's side, faces racked with grief and guilt, but also trying to shy away, for some reason.
    That reason comes with the soft clink-clink-clink of spurs floating through the trees.
    "Well I DO declare..."
    For anyone who does not know Salome Highscribe, the elf witch in red struts with the swaggering confidence of a supermodel with deadly intent. A hand rests on her hip by one of the revolvers at her gun belt, black cat on her shoulder and leering hat flashing a sharp-toothed grin.
    "Girls, girls, girls, you never said we'd be having visitors tonight."
    Anyone with a keen eye might notice the three braids of hair looped to her belt, blonde, brown, and silver, matching the trio of witches, as she drums her fingers on the butt of her Colt and flashes a sweet, fanged, smile.
    "As for the lot of y'all... You're interrupting important work... So..."
    Mismatched eyes narrow.
    "Only warning. Git or get got."

  There comes, from the shadow of the trees, the sound of a long and beleaguered sigh, with notes of exasperation and resignation.

  "They'll not leave so easily." The voice belongs to a woman, but strangely hard and low, as though echoing within something. "That would be far too convenient."

  Sauntering even more slowly from the shadows of the trees is a figure clad in light leather armour and a crisp white silk shirt. The leather is elegantly tooled; the silk artfully but simply embroidered. The hat she wears is a magnificent specimen, with very broad brim and a fearsome black plume jutting straight up from the shorter white feathers at its brim.

  Her face is hidden by a mask, which explains the strange echoing tone of her voice.

  She sits astride a magnificent warhorse, dapple grey of hide, with a lively stride and a spring in its step. She reins the horse to a halt to stand beside Salome, looking down at the witch, shrugging and reaching up to draw the massive cavalry greatsword scabbarded behind her back.

  The blade is pointed straight at the interlopers, but she gives no command and issues no challenge. There's not much point. They'll just argue anything she says anyway, so there's no point in wasting the breath.

Emily rolls her eyes. "Wynn, they were talking about Salome," she says dryly. "Yeah, sorry Weiss, but ... looks like we're going to have to do this the rough way." There's just the slightest bit more gentleness in her tone there. Sonia's ... roughness gives her pause ...

And then she bursts out laughing at the cat's brief comment.

She shoots Salome a winning smile. "Let's see ..." She glances between Salome, Lucatiel, and the three witches. "Girls, girls, girls, girls, girls ..." She glances at Holly, Weiss, and Sonia. "... girls, girls, girls ..." She points at herself. "... girls. Heh."

She gives Lucatiel a wordless nod, then looks back at Salome. "Don't s'pose you've got a good reason this time?" she says conversationally, but even as she speaks, she's reaching up for her sword with her upper right hand. She doesn't draw it yet, but between Lucatiel and Salome's talk, she doesn't think there's any other way this is going to go. "Also, watch out, girls, Salome can fire hexes from her guns."

"I'm not leaving without an explanation at least! I though you were helping animals and trying to make the black hole disappear! Not forcing others to cast death hexes on people!" Holly balls her fists as she says that. Is she actually angry? This could get very unpredictable in a hurry. Weiss was right about her being a wild card

 "Holly, I know you want to do the right thing but I think you're in over your head. Er even more than usual..." Servis suggest that it might be a good idea for her to back down. 

 "T thought the whole scary witch thing was just an act! I mean it's fun to scare people but it's another to kill them!" Of course she isn't exactly the best judge of character to begin with.

For a fleeting moment, there is a slight--very slight--softening of her expression given the way the Maiden deflates under her pressure. Yet at the same time, many things begin to click into place. The choice of words, the hint of desperation--and the cat--the talking cat. The cat that she had only discerned first as a living presence rather than something else. A frown begins to furrow her features at first. 

A frown that only deepens at Salome announcing her presence in the fashion she does. She herself for the most part appears stone still, though her eyes have gone from a faint luminescence to a sharp gleaming. Beneath her cloak she's shifted her stance ever so slightly, moving her weapon to one hand out of sight.

The predator's air, the hunter in the midst of the women here no longer disguises her own presence. She can do no less, in response to Salome, and it is something that becomes all the more... prominent, now that the woman on horseback appears.

"So we are. I say to you, you have one chance to abandon your work should you want any mercy." A wordless look in Emily's direction as she gathers her strength to the surface. By everything she's seen, everything she feels, caution must be joined with swift action. No room for half measures, already gathering the divine and arcane in her fingertips.

Granted, the 'mercy' Sonia speaks of is more akin to 'swift and painless', as opposed to the other kind of mercy. Even still, she glances over at Holly for... just a moment and becomes increasingly concerned about her judge of character.

    Rolling her eyes, Weiss starts to glower at the witch, and is probably about to fire off something with her sharp tongue when the REAL problem comes into play. The appearance of Salome and... someone else. "Who...?" It's Lucatiel that she is confused with, because she has seen the dark elf next to the swordswoman before.

    "You." Yep, she remembers Salome all right! Her rapier is in her hand in an instant, lowering at Salome and then looking at Lucatiel. "So they really weren't the one behind it. Fine, I guess we do this the really hard way." Brave words when she knows how strong Salome is... and Lucatiel is a complete unknown.

    "Well ain't this just a regular Mexican standoff?" The witch in red chuckles. Tongue darts over her upper lip and across a fang as she shifts her weight on one hip.
    "She has our hair..." The Mother whispers. "A witch's hair is the seat of her power." The Crone explains softly as Salome shoots the trio a hideous glower.
    "I'll deal with you three later."
    But then she clears her throat as her cat clambers off her shoulder and scoots into the bushes to hide. "No ma'am I reckon they'll not leave so easily." She replies to Lucatiel, fingers still drumming on the butt of her gun, before she casually pulls it from the holster. And she begins to twirl it on a finger. Back and forth, side to side, forward and backward, she has it down to an artful display as her lips curl.
    "Oh I've got a good reason." She replies to Emily and Holly in tandem, but then her grin widens into a leer.
    "Just an act...? Just an act...? HAH! Holly, babygirl, child... I am a WITCH. A real house-haunting, broom-riding, cauldron-stirring witch. And a witch ought never be frightened in the darkest forest because she should be sure in her soul that the most terrifying thing in the forest was her. And right now? I am the most terrifying thing in the forest. I'll make that calamity go away alright. But I'mma do it my way... Now don't make me drop a house on you."
    Ah, but then there are the hunters. Mismatched eyes flit to Weiss and Sonia. Ah... She can practically taste it. The killer intent on the air as the matriarch of the Belmont Clan offers her mercy.
    "Oh yes. Yes it's me~. Did you miss me?" Chimed to Weiss as she twirls her pistol, the Colt glinting silver in deft fingers. "But I can't abandon my work. This is the dark path I chose and I am going to walk it. So let's see you stop me."
    Now she stops twirling her gun, catching it by the grip and taking aim.
    At the back of Lucatiel's head.
    *Click...*
    BANG!
    The gun goes off with a thundrous report, but it is no bullet that goes firing. It is a spell. A quickening spell that suffuses and enervates the masked undead, speeding her and her steed up to unnatural levels as Salome's free hand jerks forward, a derringer pistol sliding out of her sleeve and peppering twin shots at Emily with intent to kill and Holly... Just a little off aim.

>> GAME >> Salome uses a Free Edge for: I cast Haste on Lucatiel, by the way.

  The horse, at least, seems perfectly normal. The animal tosses its head, only to be soothed by a pat from the masked figure astride it.

  Words are bandied back and forth. The masked figure seems utterly uninterested in them, heaving another one of those very bored, very beleaguered sighs as Sonia offers her Merciful One Last Chance Warning. The mask turns briefly toward Salome in distinct see-I-told-you-so gesture.

  Before the swordswoman can muster any sarcastic commentary, all hell breaks loose.

  There is a gun aimed at the back of her head. She can hear the click of the firing pin. Lucatiel's back goes ramrod-straight for a moment; in the same breath, there is a terrible sound from inside the mask, a grating, enraged snarl as she realises she's been betrayed--

  The end doesn't come, although the Colt barks in a voice like thunder. Lucatiel jerks reflexively, as though she had expected the concussive force to knock her out of the saddle.

  It doesn't. What it does do is fill her with quickness, or perhaps it slows the world around her down. She isn't sure. She doesn't care. All she knows is the power is alive and singing in her veins.

  "Naruiel!" The masked woman barks a command, at the same time leaning forward and pulling at the reins. The dapple-grey destrier rears, pawing the air and whistling a challenge. When the hooves come crashing down, the horse lunges forward, Lucatiel swinging her blade around and up with a flourish to bring it down in a brutal horse-powered slash at Sonia's midsection. No warning, no challenge; just down to business, this one.

  But no mindless Undead is this.

  In the same motion, she swerves the stallion aside in an attempt to physically body-check Weiss while Weiss spends a few critical second deciding which one is more of a threat. It might be the second or two Lucatiel needs.

Emily reaches over with her lower-left hand and just ruffles Holly's hair. She glances back at Sonia, raising her eyebrows at the sudden predatory aura she's feeling. "Glad you're on our side," she murmurs cheerfully.

She nods approvingly at Salome's speech. "Okay, I gotta say, you have style," she says, nodding in approval. "No offense to you, Holly, but Salome is really able to sell bein' a witch!"

And as Salome moves her gun to aim at Emily, those closest to her might hear the faintest rustling from inside her torso, kind of like the glitter that appears when she transforms.

The bullets tear right through her, sending silvery glitter flying and leaving obvious holes all the way through her. And Emily flinches, and hisses through clenched teeth. "But y'know," she says, in the slightly unhinged tone of someone who's struggling against pain, "you have more than one opponent here!" With only a quick glance spared for Holly, she waves her left hands, and summons three golden bolts of light. "THINK FAST!" she says, repeating her words at the train heist, as she sends all of the bolts flying towards Salome at once!

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Probably should not have tanked that, but firing three bolts at Salome.

"I'm a witch too! Holly is clearly startled by Salome nearly shooting her. "And if you want me to be the most dangerous thing in these woods, I can be!" Holly's actually pissed off. Emily's comment about selling being a witch doesn't help matters either. "I'm going to show you the effects of what you caused!" There's suddenly a loud snaping sound as she shoves her lollipop staff into the ground.

 "Oh no, now you've done it..." Servis knows something bad is about to happen

 "I summon the souls of those killed by your selfish actions!" The spirits of those killed by Salome's hex begin to float towards the fight for revenge.

>> GAME >> Holly Winn commits an Edge for: Making Salome reap what she sowed.

No, it really wasn't going to go any other direction, now was it? Not that she's... surprised, no. She was expecting this to devolve into a bloody melee of some kind. With the Crone confirming what she had suspected and stitched together--not too distant from some legends she knows... well.

This was an unfortunate situation, make no mistake.

Even in the moments before the gun goes off, the instincts that have been honed in the Belmont already have her tensed and on guard--and also preparing to fling both arcane and holy alike. Though with the aim at Lucatiel at first, it forces Sonia to shift her intented course of action.

The horse's charge, considering the blade, is enough to warrant something a bit more extreme in terms of response. Were it unhastened by Salome's intervention, it's possible she might have been able to avoid it properly, or mount something of a different defense. Which means it's the best she can do in that instant to swing her cloak around and off herself, the thick material added to her gauntleted hands amidst a pivot.

Contact registers, make no mistake, but not to the degree Lucatiel undoubtedly wished for, Sonia having to use the vambraces to deflect as she spun away and out of the direct motion of that horse on its way towards Weiss. A grunt that followed in the wake of it, as in that same spinning flourish came a quick gesture with one hand, a bolt of pure holy energy escaping a free hand. 

And from her occupied hand, with the momentum drawn from the quick set of spins, the sinous cord of imbued leather lashes out like lighting to follow along, to snap at the very same hand wielding that cavalry blade. Whether the bolt of holy light arcing along the path the whip takes is a feint or not, the hunter has quickly appraised the Undead in her retaliation. 

>> GAME >> Holly Winn spends an Edge for: Making Salome reap what she sowed.

    There it is. The hostile action. Weiss already has her sword out, but mounted combat isn't something she has a lot of experience fighting against. Adaptable she is, but that's a Grimm trick, not a human one! She's turning toward Lucatiel, not the horse when the much more massive horse body-checks her. Weiss, being the most fragile of her team, is sent flying into a tree which splinters under the impact, her Aura flaring white and blunting the damage but making her cry out from the crash that does penetrate it "AH!"

    She doesn't take it lying down though! Weiss whips Myrtenaster around, the cylinder spinning. The glyph that appears is not one of her usual ones, nor against the equine who slammed her. It's against Lucatiel, and it's a shimmering /black/ glyph that forms beneath the undead, which increases the local gravity to try to slow down and counter that speed... at least a little.

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Just barely deflecting it before returning fire with holy weaponry and such. Ow.

>> SUMMARY[Weiss Schnee] >> Trying to counter the Haste

    "Thank you, Emily. I do pride myself on my sense for flair." Salome replies, but that's about as thankful as she's going to get after opening fire, lips curled into a manic leer.
    'Think fast' Emily says. "I'll do better than think." Is the witch's reply as her left eye opens wide. A scarlet glow suffuses ruby iris... And for Salome Highscribe, the world slows down.
    Without even moving from her spot, she twists in place, arching her back and bracing on the ground with one hand, the trio of bolts grazing by, singeing flesh and scarlet duster as the witch rolls into a backflip. "Heh..."
    But it's as she takes a step forward that a cold, clammy, hand of something dead and gone latches onto her ankle.
    "... --the hell in tarnation...?"
    Glancing down to find a ghost holding her in place. As more of the dead surge forward for revenge.
    "... Well I'll be damned. Hah... HAH. That's right. Show me, Holly. Show me how much of a witch you can be!" The elf demands as she's forced to unload on the advancing spirits, to spend her energy and skill on thinning their numbers in order to free herself up before she can fire a few hasty and ill-placed shots at Emily and Holly.

>> SUMMARY[Salome] >> Matrix dodge, but mostly pinned by ghosts.

Of course Holly's not going to be able to do much else at them moment as she's trying to keep the horde of undead under control. "I actually did that...?" She seems shocked at the outcome of her spell. Of course she's likely not going to be able to do again for a while. She's actually hit by one of shots, it being a magic bullet is more than able to just graze her. "Ouch! I need to find a gun that can fire pumpkins or something!"

 "I think you've got on her bad side..." Servis points as he tries to dodge rounds...Are you able to cast any more spells?"

"Not at the moment..." She's not sure if the ghosts are going to be enough to stop Salome.

 "You might have to take it to the ring then!" Lavaux as usual suggests a more physical approach.

  The horse is large, but not imposingly so. It's more of an Andalusian than a Shire; more a destrier than a war-horse... but in some ways, that almost makes it more dangerous. Battle-trained and desensitized to the usual things that would frighten a prey animal, Naruiel's flying hooves and slashing teeth are as much a threat as the masked woman in the saddle.

  Sparks fly as the bladed edge of the cavalry sword glances off the metal of the vambraces, and there is a grunt from behind the mask, though whether of effort or annoyance, it's hard to tell.

  Hooves shuffling and kicking up dust, the horse pivots on one heel, thrashing with the front limbs as Lucatiel turns him in a tight circle, following Sonia; whom she apparently deems the more active threat. For the moment.

  The braided leather of Sonia's whip snaps out, and it snakes around the weathered steel of the cavalry greatsword. Lucatiel tugs the blade, but the whip doesn't relinquish it. So she stands in the saddle, tugging back at the reins with her free hand. Naruiel raises his head, dancing backward with the slightest touch of the rein; his sheer strength enough to help her haul against the whip.

  If she's lucky, it will wrench Sonia off her feet. Ideally, it might haul her forward into those thrashing hooves.

  In the meantime, Weiss is still there, and Weiss has a sword. Wait, no, Weiss has a glyph. Naruiel's hooves seem to move a little more sluggishly, and the horse tosses his head, flinging his mane in evident frustration. Meanwhile, Lucatiel wheels the horse again, this time in a charge towards Weiss, with evident intent to knock the girl down; sword upraised -- but she's letting the horse do all the work, thrashing hooves more of a danger than the blade above them.

>> SUMMARY[Lucatiel of Mirrah] >> Trying to disarm or trip up SONIA BELMONT by tugging against whip with horsepower. Using horsepower to try and trample WEISS SCHNEE.

Emily shifts her gaze at Holly, eyebrows raised. "Okay, wow, Holly!" she says. "You've just one-upped both of us! You go, girl!" She glides sideways over the ground, pulls Holly out of the way of one of Salome's shots, and ducks under another shot meant for herself -- though not quite fast enough that it doesn't graze her shoulder and send a bit more glitter flying.

For a brief instant, she looks impressed at Salome's dodging. "Still wish I had time manipulation," she murmurs. But then she snickers, and in a swirl of more glitter ... her injuries vanish as she moves the damaged nanomachines under her surface. "All better!" she lies, before she shifts her grip to the blade of her sword. The handle vanishes in as swirl of glitter, becoming another tip of the blade, and she simply throws it forward, spinning through the air at Salome in a manner which clearly defies the laws of physics!

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Helping Holly with defense, pretending to heal, and also throwing her blade at Salome.

    Weiss has learned to take the offense more often lately, especially with the help of her summons. Right now she's working with a different team though, one that's split in two handling Salome and this new person. She has to fall back on her old habits now, and do support while leaving the attacking to Sonia, someone she knows can handle offense.

    The practical upshot of this is that she doesn't try to engage those hooves. The slowing glyph vanishes when her cylinder spins again, a desperate shift of priorities that brings a barrier of ice up in front of her. Ice that shatters under the hooves, but gives her enough time to tumble back, playing the defensive game against the beast and rider. "What kind of steed is that?!"

    With battle swinging into high gear, the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone take flight, rushing to the edge of the clearing for their personal safety, but not quite fleeing entirely.
    And with Lucatiel's attention on Sonia and Weiss, Salome can focus on her kismesis and apparent plucky younger rival.
    It takes her a second to deal with the undead, drawing her revolver again and spinning the cylinder.
    "Three times the rings go 'round..." Salome declares. "All evil shall stay on the ground..."
    That.. That is a spell as she takes aim and fires once at the ground in front of her. "If any evil is near this place... It cannot enter my sacred space." She fires again at the ground to her left.
    "Three times three! So mote it be!" Declared as she fires to the ground on her right, the the three bullets filled with salt forming a spell circle the dead can no longer cross, before she leers.
    "Nice trick girl, but any witch worth her salt can deal with the dead." Pointed out before she has a blade coming at her.
    "Aw hell."
    Her Colt goes away, replaced by two quickly drawn Schofield revolvers, firing off twelve shots in quick succession to deflect the blade off course enough that it does not gut her, instead clipping two braids of hair neatly from her belt before she draws another Colt.
    "... Aight. Lemme show you a real curse." Snarled as she fans the hammer, firing off two quick spells in succession from Elphaba. Spells that incude horrendous sickening nausea and pain.

A very slight 'tch!' comes from Sonia, if only because the whip wrapped, rather than *snapped*--had it snapped, the very fact that the weapon itself is literally anathema to Undead might do a bit more than simply provide for Lucatiel's counter attack. 

As such, Sonia simply lets go for the time being of the whip itself--her father trained her way, /way/ too many times with regards to that tactic as it comes to others dealing with the whip. On the other hand, as she drops it, a very /slight/ flick of the wrist sends a ripple of movement up, causing it to loosen from Lucatiel's sword. 

But even then, she still has to force herself from being pulled forward, effort genuinely given to keep herself from being yanked face first into those hooves before the horse pivots away.

And as the horse pivots, she claps her hands together, index and middle fingers stretched out while closing her remaining fingers together. A soft murmur, before she separates her hands, her left sweeping in an arc upwards, light trailing her gauntleted hand as she points at Lucatiel. 

From above, light pierces down, in all of its baleful, burning majesty like a column of judgement as bidden by Sonia's will. 

>> SUMMARY[Salome] >> Dealing with the dead and a sickening curse.

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Dropping the whip and regaining her footing long enough to call down Holy Light.

"Well, I'll be a great witch someday!" Servis and Lavaux try to take the bullet for Holly but it just goes right through them hitting her. "I don't feel so good...I guess Servis was right..." Holly isn't able to tank the magic bullet like she would like a regular one. She feels like she's going to throw up and quickly dashes behind a tree.

The damage Salome deals to the blade causes puffs of silvery glitter! Emily holds her right hands out, seemingly controlling it, but she grimaces as it ends up snapping in half and disintegrating. She lowers her hands, and the glitter returns to her. "Welp!" she says. "Okay, now that I know your capabilities, time for --"

Time for another hex from Elphaba, in fact. Emily swerves straight up into the air, just a hair too slow due to the fact that she hasn't actually healed from the shots to the gut she took, and it hits her square in the leg.

"OW!" Emily sinks back to the ground, furrowing her brow. "Uhh ... what ..." Her lower hands clutch her stomach! "... the hell is ..." She winces at Salome. "... why the hell am I feeling nauseous. I don't even have a digestive system!" Grimacing, she staggers and sinks to her knees, and starts launching golden bolts at Salome as fast as she can -- she can only support five active at once with one capacitor seal still active. "Augh! Why ... th-the hell ..."

She collapses onto her side and curls up in a fetal position. There's a swirl of silvery glitter, and then she transforms into ... a bulky orange metal box with padding and backpack-straps on one side, and the text "EUDAEMON EMERGENCY SELF-REPAIR - ORANGE BOX" printed on the other.

>> SUMMARY[Emily Nyx] >> Firing wildly at Salome, followed by emergency shutdown.

  The horse, at least, seems perfectly normal. He's not some kind of demonic undead equine abomination. In fact, if anybody present knows their stuff about the everyday horse, this one is probably worth exorbitant amounts of money. He looks good, he fights well, and he doesn't panic. Three good hallmarks in a battle-trained animal.

  He's pretty strong, too. Those thrashing hooves don't let up. Lucatiel no longer has to direct him at any particular target. He's having a fine time of it all by himself.

  Behind the mask, mismatched eyes flick to watch as the whip is released, and maybe Lucatiel can sense something of its potency. She's careful not to let it coil too closely, although her armour does offer some protection. Her equipment is normal.

  The mask turns toward Sonia just in time to see that outstretched hand and the trail of ethereal light.

  Oh, hell--

  NO THAT'S BAD LIGHT IS BAD WE DON'T LIKE LIGHT AUGH.

  That is to say, Lucatiel screams when the light cmes raining down, because it's not exactly the sort of thing the self-respecting Undead likes to subject themselves to if they can help it. She very much can't help it, though, and cowers down against Naruiel. Sensing something of his master's panic, he flattens his ears and rears up on his haunches, pawing at the sky and screaming his challenge.

  Lucatiel is kicking her heels to his ribs, though, apparently sensing that this is probably not going to go well, all things considered. Breaking off is not what she's being paid for -- but dying is also not what she's being paid for, and the latter is something she desperately tries to avoid.

  So she wheels Naruiel around toward where Salome is tied up with her own targets, and spurs him into a galloping charge, clods of earth flung from his hooves as he surges forward. He thunders past Salome, close enough for Lucatiel to sheathe her sword over her shoulder one-handed (that must have taken some practise), and stick out a hand for Salome to seize hold of.

  "Get on!" Lucatiel's command is loud enough to be heard even over the thunder of Naruiel's hooves, booming from the mask with enough force to be heard over a far larger battlefield than this.

  Salome has about a second or so to decide, before both horse and rider will be past her... and they're not slowing down. If anything, she's spurring Naruiel a little faster.

>> SUMMARY[Lucatiel of Mirrah] >> Time to exit stage right. Swing aboard that horse, Mustang Sally!

    "Well..." Away goes Elphaba as Salome draws an ordinary pepperbox and begins her advance... "I think I've had enough fun for one night now how about we wrap this u--"
    Sally learns something very fast. Never underestimate a nauseous opponent, as she's forced to leap aside, one hand clutching her hat to her head as an errant beam punches her in the ribs.
    There's a noticeable grunt of pain as she rolls to her knees and braces a hand on the ground. Her other hand goes to her belt to find the third braid of hair missing.
    "Tch... Well the shamans sure ain't gonna be pleased about that. Yer a real scootch, you know that? You gavones got a lotta shit with you." She snarls, southern drawl fading entirely for a furious Brooklynite as she pushes herself up to her feet.
    AHEM...
    "But I do think it's time for little ol' Sally to take her leave. Exit... Stage horse."
    Oh she takes Lucatiel's hand alright, free hand holding her hat to her head as she's yanked from the ground and pulled through the air by a horse at top speed.

    It's a few beats of silence and quiet after that, before the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone quietly step forward to collect their braids.
    "We will leave this place and never return. Kick over the cauldron and the spell over the town will be broken." The Crone says gently.

    Looks like Weiss's plan... worked? Sonia appears to have some means of driving off the strange knight, and Weiss slumps to her knee, breathing hard. Her ribs are still sore from the opening strike that Naruiel got on her. "I think that was a stroke of luck. Is Emily... okay?"

    She's not sure what Emily IS now, but it looks like she's in trouble. And the Chrone is offering to leave while the group catches its breath. "Fine with me. The people in town aren't really welcoming of others, but they don't deserve to die."

Well at least Holly was able to help the witches, but someone else is going to need to kick over the cauldron. Filling it with vomit like wouldn't help matters, Servis and Lavaux are doing their best to try and comfort the witch despite their lack of physical bodies. Once she's able to walk more than 10 feet without tripping she would have to look into more into Salome at Columbia. Surely a witch who's research lead to a black hole should have plenty of information on her.

Sonia's about to make another gesture again--to bring down that holy light from the heavens. Technically the light is really coming from her, in terms of what powers it, but all told it's about the same, the way she cast it out. 

Unfortunately, a number of exceedingly chaotic things unfold in the moments after, and well... none of them even remotely /feel/ right. Something about that hex magic was something she could sense, and with a look to Weiss, she grimaces as Salome and Lucatiel beat a hasty retreat. "Holly, were you and Emily able to get the braids at least?" She didn't see, given her preoccupation with Lucatiel and Naruiel as she runs over to where Emily's seemingly... shut down? No, that can't be good. 

With the Crone's words, Sonia... nods. "Right... I'm going to try something." Twofold, in fact. Another swift gesture of her hand making some obscure pattern and she gestures with an open palm at the Cauldron--making the contents seemingly evaporate in a bright white sheen of light that radiates from it outward. If people inspect it and-or kick it over, they probably still could! 

But as Emily goes, Sonia stares. "This... probably... may not work, but..." Given the fact it was spells flung, Sonia attempts to discern first if the spells are still somehow /active/. And barring that activity, she would gather more magical force. "Weiss, could you get my whip, please?" She sucks in a slow breath, and holds her hand perpendicular to herself. Light radiates from beneath her feet as she murmurs softly, not unlike a prayer, before her other hand is used to guide the magic around the... box of Emily. 

Twofold magic: a bluish circle with lines patterning around it, and then that same circle becoming a dome of ice. Ice that... strangely enough, is actually healing magic. Hopefully, the combination of the two can actually /help/ restore and reinvigorate Emily from this... emergency state.

If not, she has no idea what could work, the dome shattering into misty flakes once she's finished pushing the healing energy out.

>> SUMMARY[Sonia Belmont] >> Time to do what she was going to do to the Cauldron first--simple magical eradication. Then attempting to fix Emily Nyx (without rhyming) by trying to follow the path of what forced this, in order to restore her.

The 'orange box' remains inert and silent, and stays that way the entire time everyone moves independently. The hexbreaker would find that the hex is still more-or-less active, and works perfectly well for breaking it. Exactly one second later, the box transforms back into Emily, in her form of an auburn-haired woman in her thirties with robotic-looking eyes, dressed in a midnight blue business suit.

"Okay, wow that was a bad hex," she says. Slightly rattled, but she's getting back into her usual spirits. "Salome got lucky with how hard it hit me, there!" A slight pause. "And also me being an idiot and just letting Salome shoot me, I freely admit to that. Uh."

She taps the dome from inside. "Is this ice? Wait, is this a healing spell?" Surprisingly enough, the healing component actually seems to work, though it's less effective than it would be on a human.

"Yeah, but you're not... quite... nh. I might have to research how to make it work better for others." It's better than say, holy light to heal someone. Sonia remarks as she focuses the magic, the 'Ice Soul' as she would call it. "It works on most things living, but you're not quite normal." The expression of those words is somewhat sardonic, as if anyone was really 'normal', before she lets the dome expand and become clear enough for Emily to see and be seen by. 

Emily nods, and stretches (even though she does not, strictly speaking, have muscles). "Good thing I actually count as 'living', then!" she says dryly, shooting Sonia a smile.

"Well, it also works for things not quite living either, but... never had to use it as such." Bringing her hand to her face, she makes a quick 'foooh!', like blowing air, and the dome breaks apart--allowing Emily to get back up while she goes to collect her whip. "... in either event, let us begone from this place, and see to Salem if anything needs be done."