Something Barto This Way Comes

[chicken_kun]

Who: Bartolomeo and OPEN TO ALL
Where: around Aldrip and the forest
What: Barto is branded and out there being terrible. Choose your own adventure! We got yer mind-controlling, yer random magics, it's a grab bag for anyone looking to encounter one of the branded from the onset to right before the main event on the 19th. Hit up a prompt or PM for specific setups! Oh and reminder of his permissions and opt-in or -out.
Warnings: at the very least mind-control and general assholery, potential nudity and adult language, will update if it gets any worse.

It's not obvious that Bartolomeo is one of the branded, since his clothing hides it, but if one were to notice just how much he's idly scratching his right buttcheek with increasing frequency, well.... There's also the fact that he's much more mobile, easily spotted around town rather than lazing somewhere out of boredom. The brand pushes him to get into faces, both locals and Chosen alike, confrontations happen, and as the brand grows stronger and the deadline approaches, he roams closer and closer to the forest fringes, while anyone who interrupts him puts themselves at risk of turning victim to the bizarre magicks he suddenly possesses.

1. Early phase

What is happening? Bartolomeo is just standing near the town square, occasionally chuckling to himself. Something is really funny to him, and it's creepy. Then, he raises a hand as if to make a rude gesture, but snaps his fingers to make a spark of fire flare up. Followed by more weird chuckling. The personal entertainment doesn't stay self-contained, though - he abruptly hauls off and shoots some of that fire at a nearby cart of flowers to light it right up. People freaking out and rushing for water to put it out don't faze him, he stands there basking in the glow.

Or, perhaps it's the time or two he can be seen beckoning someone closer to him, then leaning down and whispering something. Said person then turns and does something shocking - drops their pants, punches a passerby, tries to climb a pole, and more. Still Bartolomeo just stands there cackling to himself, thoroughly into it.

Be his victim, or save people from him - please!

2. Middle phase

By about the 12th or so, Bartolomeo's antics are getting a bit serious. He's not just pranking, he's roaming around looking for victims, and snapping at anyone who tries to hold him back. The mind-controlling and elemental magicks are getting beyond control, and since no one has "sentenced" him that he can see, he will push every boundary.

But then, when someone tries to stop him, he rounds on them to rant only to spew snarling gibberish at them. I takes even Bartolomeo aback, and he tries again. Nothing coming out of his mouth makes sense, and he knows it, and from the shock in his red-brown eyes, he's not sure how to handle this.

3. Late phase, up to May 18

The urge to go into the forest is getting stronger and stronger. At first he was able to shake it off after a minute or two, but the more this all goes on, the more likely it is to find Bartolomeo standing in a field or on a road with his hands in his pockets, visibly sweating as he tries to look deep into the wooded shadows to find what's calling him. His pranking drops off as he starts making trips out toward the forest, then back, then arcing as close as he dares before veering away.

And occasionally scratching at the brand on his ass.

Comments

3

[finisaeternam]

While Vholran may not be the most well educated of men, he is clever, cunning, and observant. If he weren't, he'd have died a long time ago. He has been watching people from the rooftops of Aldrip. Other Chosen are acting erratic, sometimes wandering off in the direction of the forest as if in a trance or pulled along by invisible strings.

It's a pattern he's noticed, one too obvious to be a coincidence. Determined to learn more, he's perched himself on a ledge to watch the comings and goings of people who seem to be obsessed with the forest. One such person comes into view and makes him sneer.

"You!" he snarls from his position on top of a small bakery. "I remember you..."

[chicken_kun]

A happy Bartolomeo would have a snappy, sassy comeback for that, but this is not a happy Barto. He bristles and whips around, baring his fangs without thinking. Oh yeah, the fun fighty guy from that entertaining first party-time in this world. It seems like so long ago already, but that may just be the brand talking. "Ehh? Oh, yeah, yeah, me, right, whatever. Buzz off, buddy, I got...things..."

He trails off somewhat distractedly, and doesn't keep prowling, but instead lingers, looking huntedly around like something more wicked than Vholran is going to jump out of the bushes at him any second now. One doesn't have to even know his usual casual bullshit to know something's wrong. He tips his head up again and decides to throw his anxious irritation at Vholran instead of phantoms in bushes. "So, what, you want another piece 'a me?"

[finisaeternam]

Vholran watches Bartolomeo cautiously. He doesn't know the other man well be he can tell these are not his usual mannerisms. He seems more ...restless. Perhaps paranoid. Fear can make people do dangerous things.

But he doesn't care. Just seeing that face again reignites an old grudge.

"You made a fool of me in front of those crowds. You will pay for that..."

[chicken_kun]

Something inside him is giving him bad ideas. Control him is one. Smash him is another. Yet another is nothing but weird dark gobbledegook that would come out of his mouth as more of the same, so that one can be ignored. Bartolomeo fully swings around and thrusts out his arms to make his coat flare out. "Bring it on! C'mere pretty boy, let's see you make me pay!" There's no humor in the challenge, only savagery.

[finisaeternam]

Vholran sneers at "Pretty boy" but doesn't say anything in response.

Instead, he leaps from the roof and abruptly vanishes. He reappears a heartbeat later with a flurry of ice behind Bartolomeo and lunges at the other man's back with his frozen katana. When they had fought before, Bartolomeo had thrown up a barrier with shocking speed. Vholran does not want to give his opponent a chance to do that again.

[chicken_kun]

Bartolomeo's shiny new powers don't give him any advantage in predicting that level of speed, but he's no slouch in a fight, dropping and dodging almost a hair too late. The tip of the sword catches his jacket and takes a chunk of maroon feathers off in the instant before he can swing around and aim a punch in Vholran's general direction. Unlike last time, there's no barriers here, but rather a burst of flame that he definitely didn't have before. He's been playing with it, fancying himself something of a shadow of the great Fire Fist Ace, but flinging fire-punches at experienced fighters is far different from lighting rooftops aflame.

The look on his face is ugly, but he doesn't let on what he's thinking. This guy's almost as fast as that asshole...