Are You Feeling Alive? [DP PvP]

[Koshka Volkov]

Thread Title: Are You Feeling Alive?
Participants: Celes Shindazu vs. Koshka Volkov
World: Human World
Death Setting: Permanent Injuries Enabled
Rating: R
Location: North of a Free Quincy Encampment in Central America.
Special Conditions: If desired, Celes is welcome to maintain a cinematic takeover for an unspecified duration of the fight. The mechanics of a statistical takeover still function as normal.
Circumstances: After an Arrancar's attack in Mexico, a few Free Quincy sleepers alert a Captain Supervisor of a particular Captain's arrival.

[Koshka Volkov]

To say Koshka rushed to mobilize would've been an understatement. Stepping into the arid weather of the Human World, she took a deep breath while taking in the summer sun. It was quite the environment change from what she was otherwise used to, but that didn't matter at the moment. No, she had a goal in mind, and one she was going to accomplish. For there to be a Shinigami Captain in the area? It was an opportunity too good to pass up. But, for that to be a Captain that she was paid to kill? That was an entirely different story.

After hearing about the rise and fall of the Late Sternritter H, Koshka saw herself very desperately desiring to take someone she'd previously fought down. After all, something like that would not only make her quite a bit of money, but good lord, the amount of reputation that would amount to? She practically salivated at the thought. She was quite excited to see something like that happen, and she would be damned to bring it about.

For the time being, she simply had to play the waiting game. Sinking into the ground beneath her feet with a cold splash, Koshka submerged herself within her own watery world. As "gravity" seemed to shift and she saw through the reflection of water, she took her time walking - swimming? - about where necessary in order to get a better location to be in. She was going to take her time with reconnaissance here, as she wasn't about to allow this intelligence to reign free. Instead, she was going to make sure this Captain met an early grave.

And, an early grave she was prepared to deliver. Making sure that she had a number of vials appropriate to the situation, Koshka ran through her supplies for a moment. She was fully prepared to pull out all the stops against this Captain; after all, a kill would've meant a potential rise in rank, and that was not something that she was going to pass up if she could help it.

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{Koshka's Stats & Skills}
Type: Shadow

Koshka's Stats:

Strength: 400 [640]
Speed: 400 [1,000]
Reiatsu Strength: 100 [50]
Spiritual Pressure: 400 [240]
Senses: 100 [75]
Instinct: 250 [375]
Energy Sensory: 50 [37]
Healing Expertise: 0 [0]

Light Aura: 0
Dark Aura: 100
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Stealth: 4
Bu Gei - Whispering Mononoke School: 3
Weapons - Serrated Daggers: 2
Strength of Will: 3
Toxicology: 2

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{Items}

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{Hollowbane - x3}

Name: Hollowbane
Description: A toxin sold by Pesticide. A single purchase of Hollowbane comes as a singular vial, easily stored in a Gintō-esque container. One dose is enough to coat a weapon for three successful strikes, or enough to coat five consumable weapons and/or ammunition. Durability applies to the vial itself, and not the contents inside.
Class: 4
Item Type: Weapon - Poison.
Item Power (IP): 200
Offense Type: Physical.
Durability: 150.
Bonuses: Hollowbane applies to its victims through contact; so much as 1 point of incoming damage is enough to infect a victim with a single dose. Every dose that courses through the veins of a being with Hollow reiatsu will begin to break that being down over a period of 25 posts. Every post that passes will result in a 3% decrease to a target’s Reiatsu Strength, as their soul is slowly beginning to deteriorate. Every additional dose after the first counts toward one post in this ticking duration. Should the duration of this technique come to a finish, those with Hollow reiatsu will be debilitated to the point of being unable to fight in NDE/DP threads, or have their soul destroyed per Quincy reiatsu in DE threads. Consuming any number of vials alongside 75 reiatsu will douse a Quincy’s bow in this dose, applying the effects of this poison to all strikes and arrows over two posts per vial.
Drawbacks: Consumable. Requires multiple consecutive strikes in order to get noticeable effect from the toxin, requiring multiple doses. While Hollowbane can be applied to non-hollow beings, it will result in no effect. Every rank in Poison Resist that a victim has will increase this overall duration by 10 posts, to a maximum of 45 posts. Three ranks in Poison Resist will negate the effects of Hollowbane altogether. Five posts after application to a weapon, the poison will wear off, requiring another application.
Cost: 1,800/vial.
Crafting Skills: 2 in Toxicology.
Donated to Urahara's: No, going to Pesticide - Vandenreich Only.

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{Wilting Flower - x5}

Name: Wilting Flower
Description: The go-to toxin sold by Pesticide, Wilting Flower serves as the shop’s main “moneymaker”. A single purchase of Wilting Flower comes as a singular vial, easily stored in a Gintō-esque container. One dose is enough to coat a weapon for three successful strikes, or enough to coat five consumable weapons and/or ammunition. Durability applies to the vial itself, and not the contents inside.
Class: 4
Item Type: Weapon - Poison.
Item Power (IP): 200.
Offense Type: Physical.
Durability: 150
Bonuses: Wilting Flower applies to its victims through contact; so much as 1 point of incoming damage is enough to infect a victim with a single dose. Every dose that courses through a victim will result in rapid necrosis and decomposition within one inch of the area struck, requiring an ability of equal or greater Class to heal from the wounds left. Every subsequent dose administered will cause all previous Wilting Flower wounds to spread two inches in all directions, and leave a similarly large wound in the new location. Consuming any number of vials alongside 75 reiatsu will douse a Quincy’s bow in this dose, applying the effects of this poison to all strikes and arrows over two posts per vial.
Drawbacks: Consumable. Requires multiple consecutive strikes in order to get noticeable effect from the toxin, requiring multiple doses. One Rank in Poison Resist reduces the spread from subsequent wounds to one inch, two Ranks in the Skill removes the spreading from subsequent doses, and three Ranks will grant immunity to the toxin altogether. Five posts after application to a weapon, the poison will wear off, requiring another application.
Cost: 1,800/vial.
Crafting Skills: 2 in Toxicology.
Donated to Urahara's: No, going to Pesticide.

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{Entropic Embrace - x3}

Name: Entropic Embrace
Description: A lesser toxin sold by Pesticide. A single purchase of Entropic Embrace comes as a singular vial, easily stored in a Gintō-esque container. One dose is enough to coat a weapon for three successful strikes, or enough to coat five consumable weapons and/or ammunition. Durability applies to the vial itself, and not the contents inside.
Class: 6
Item Type: Weapon - Poison.
Item Power (IP): 100
Offense Type: Physical.
Durability: 150
Bonuses: Entropic Embrace applies to its victims through contact; so much as 1 point of incoming damage is enough to infect a victim with a single dose. Every dose that courses through the veins of a victim will lower the Stepping Technique multiplier on their techniques by x1 for three posts. Subsequent applications will refresh this duration, and lower this multiplier by an additional stage. Consuming any number of vials alongside 75 reiatsu will douse a Quincy’s bow in this dose, applying the effects of this poison to all strikes and arrows over two posts per vial.
Drawbacks: Consumable. Requires multiple consecutive strikes in order to get noticeable effect from the toxin, requiring multiple doses. 1 rank in Poison Resist will require two total doses after the first to lower the multiplier by one stage, whereas two ranks will outright negate the effects of the toxin. Five posts after application to a weapon, the poison will wear off, requiring another application.
Cost: 900/vial.
Crafting Skills: 1 in Toxicology.
Donated to Urahara's: No, going to Pesticide.

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{Akki's Kiss - x5}

Name: Akki’s Kiss
Description: A particularly lethal toxin sold by Pesticide. A single purchase of Akki’s Kiss comes as a singular vial, easily stored in a Gintō-esque container. One dose is enough to coat a weapon for three successful strikes, or enough to coat five consumable weapons and/or ammunition. Durability applies to the vial itself, and not the contents inside.
Class: 2
Item Type: Weapon - Poison.
Item Power (IP): 300
Offense Type: Physical.
Durability: 150
Bonuses: Akki’s Kiss applies to its victims through contact; so much as 1 point of incoming damage is enough to infect a victim with a single dose. Every dose that courses through the veins will store itself within the victim’s blood, going unnoticed until enough of it is there to prime all at once. Each dose that infects a target will last for the duration of the thread, leaving behind the combined IP of all doses of Akki’s Kiss within the victim. When this amount of IP equals or surpasses a victim’s current Reiatsu pool (before any alterations), that victim will be incapacitated to the point of being unable to fight in NDE/DP threads, or slain in DE threads. Consuming any number of vials alongside 75 reiatsu will douse a Quincy’s bow in this dose, applying the effects of this poison to all strikes and arrows over two posts per vial.
Drawbacks: Consumable. Requires multiple consecutive strikes in order to get noticeable effect from the toxin, requiring multiple doses. Each rank in Poison Resist will treat the target’s current Reiatsu pool as 25% higher for the purpose of this item only. Five posts after application to a weapon, the poison will wear off, requiring another application.
Cost: 3,000/vial.
Crafting Skills: 2 in Toxicology.
Donated to Urahara's: No, going to Pesticide - Vandenreich Only.

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{Reiatsu Pool & Resources}
Reiatsu: 2,400/2,400
-200 for Class 4 Property Activation.
+400 from regeneration.

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{Class 4 - Power - The Queen of the Deep}
Koshka's Power Property allows her to do some rather interesting things with everything directly around her. By spending 50 reiatsu, Koshka can sink into a surface at her Speed, ripping through that surface like she were submerging herself in water. This Property allows Volkov to remain submerged within the surface itself as though it were a "pocket dimension". While inside of a surface, she is capable of moving to adjacent surfaces at her Speed in order to easily reposition herself. As one might be able to tell, detecting her while she's submerged can be quite difficult, requiring 200 Energy Sensory, and half of her Stealth Ranks in Anti-Stealth to track her. Ranks in Anti-Stealth will lower this requirement by 100 per Rank someone has, but this requirement will increase by 100 for each Rank in Stealth that Volkov has. If terrain that Koshka has submerged in is destroyed, she is no longer capable of reemerging from that location and thus needs a new spot to emerge from. The inside of this watery world appears as a complete opposite of the world Koshka currently inhabits, except completely submerged in deep, murky water.

While submerged, Volkov is incapable of striking at a target, and is required to resurface in order to attack; this can be a partial-resurfacing, but she's still required to make herself visible in this situation. While resurfacing however, she'll still remain difficult to detect until after making an attack. Resurfacing costs no reiatsu, but 50 Reiatsu can be spent in order to do so violently; in doing so, Volkov's next attack will Mark For Death twice as much as normal, but will reveal her position to even those with 0 Energy Sensory. By expending 100 reiatsu to do so, Koshka can pull individuals into surfaces to submerge with her, so long as her Strength is higher than their own (or if they're willing). Those that find themselves submerged will have two posts plus an additional post per Rank in Strength of Will they have before drowning; while this Property is active, Volkov is capable of breathing in any and all water. Forcibly resurfacing after being dragged into a surface in this fashion will Mark For Death, though can be done by anyone willing to spend 150 reiatsu to do so, provided something doesn't keep them within this watery world. Should someone need an "emergency escape" (i.e. while being held in the water), they can instead expend 300 reiatsu, plus an additional 100 reiatsu per Mark For Death on that target. Spending such will result in an immediate escape, regardless of circumstance. Dragging someone into the depths requires a violent emerge, meaning that an individual will be made immediately aware of an attempt to do so. Those that are submerged in addition to Koshka are similarly cloaked through the property, be it friend or foe, though Koshka is innately aware of all whom reside within the deep.

[Celes Shindazu]

Celes wiped the sweat off her brow as she ran across the arid lowlands of Central America. She had gotten more acclimated to the dry climate due to her experiences in the Sahara desert and Death Valley, but it was still less than ideal. The temperature, however, had proved to be the least of her worries. The tattered remains of a white haori clung to her shoulder, her sarashi which was wrapped tightly around her chest and waist was stained by spatters of blood, and the Captain let out grunts of minor exhaustion. If nothing else, it seemed as though she had found herself in one hell of a scrap.

What was initially intended to be a brief patrol to assess the steadily growing concentration of Hollows in the area had quickly grown more complex. During her travels, Celes had come across smoke that rose in the distance. Upon checking it out, the Shinigami would come across an encampment of Free Quincy that had recently been attacked, besieged by a band of Arrancar. She couldn't simply leave them to their fate and so she had agreed to hunt down the group of Arrancar brigands.

Together, with a small hunting party of survivors, they came across the Arrancar who resided in the mountainous regions nearby. Unfortunately, their numbers were greater than Celes had anticipated. One by one, the Quincy that accompanied her fell to the ensuing slaughter. Despite the odds, Celes was a seasoned Captain of the Thirteen Court Guard Squads and executed the remaining numbers of Arrancar and Hollows quite quickly. Unfortunately, to Celes, it was a pyrrhic victory. All but one of the Quincy sent along with her were killed.

Slung over her shoulder was the last remaining Quincy of their hunting party. She had been critically injured and was bleeding out. So here Celes was, trying to get Quincy to safety and give her access to medical attention. After all, the Captain of the Tenth had no experience with Kaido nor basic medicine. Her only hope were the Quincy who resided in the small encampment. Celes only had a singular goal in mind. To protect this woman just as she had gotten in the way of a devastating attack intended for the Captain.

The lime-haired Shinigami ran at a speed of 100, making sure to avoid harming the Quincy woman's injured form. After all, the intensity of whiplash could threaten to do more harm than good. Clearing another small hill, Celes finally saw the remnants of the Quincy encampment in the distance. She gently rustled the Quincy over her shoulder and spoke softly, "Look, Erika. We'll be there soon. Just... hold on a little longer." Soft groans arose from the woman as Celes continued onward. "I'm not going to lose another one...", she muttered to herself with conviction.

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{Celes' Stats n' Skills}Type: Genius

Strength- 500 [1500]
Speed - 400 [1200]
Spiritual Pressure - [400]
Reiatsu Strength - 150 [100]
Light Aura- 100
Dark Aura - 0
Instinct - [300]
Senses - [150]
Energy Sensory - 100 [66]
Healing Expertise - [0]

Total SP: [2000]

Pain Tolerance: 4
Bu Gei - Blessed Breath Contemplation: 3
Martial Arts - Hakuda: 3
Battle Analysis: 2
Strength of Will: 3
Weapons - Longsword & Shield: 3

[Koshka Volkov]

As Koshka continued to venture through the depths of the oceanic world she resided within, a sight eventually stuck out to her; a Captain and a Quincy, walking together at a leisurely pace. Certainly quick for a Human, but nothing to the spiritually aware. Oh, how much fun she was going to have with this little engagement. As her bow formed within her hands, only to take a more physical form as the large blade she'd grown accustomed to, Koshka quietly began to approach from the depths.

As she eventually found herself upon Celes' own location, She took a deep breath, before reaching into the ground - and into the real world - to grab hold of the Quincy slung over Celes' shoulder, and swiftly drag her into the supposed ocean beneath their feet with a large splash. One that would prove a bit refreshing, though, as the water was a good bit cooler than the air around the Captain. Presumably with a quickened scream before being silenced by the depths, all remained calm in the real world for a short period of time.

In the deep, however, Koshka held a blade to the girl's throat. "You've two options; swear fealty to His Majesty the Emperor, and you may run free, or drown here, never to be remembered by your next of kin." She was more than willing to give that choice as necessary, and simply awaited a response from the girl. Assuming she were willing, Koshka would let her leave the depths, albeit with a slashed heel, as to prevent any quick escapes. If she were unwilling, well, then an arrow through the knee to pin the girl into the world was going to be fired. She was not to escape from there.

After that situation had been settled, Koshka took the opportunity to slowly emerge a good twenty feet from Celes, watching her over and preparing for what was to come. "Well done, Miss Shindazu," she spoke, venom in her voice, "you've really outdone yourself protecting that little encampment. You've my gratitude in dealing with them for me. Really makes this whole thing that much easier." And with that, assuming Celes turned around, Koshka vanished from sight. Multiplying her speed tenfold to appear on the other side of Celes, Koshka watched onward as a barrage of arrows fired from her original location toward the Captain at a speed of 1,600, aiming to pierce through the captain's own flesh if she wasn't going to be able to get out of the way in enough time.

"Hope you're ready for quite the fight."

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{TL;DR}
Active Properties: Class 6, Class 5, Class 4

Koshka is moving around Celes, and utilizing The Megalodon Loanshark to fire five Class 7 arrows at Celes, each at 1,600 speed.

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{Reiatsu Pool & Resources}
Reiatsu Pool: 2,300/2,400
-100 for Class 6 property activation.
-150 for Class 5 property activation.
-50 for Hirenkyaku.
+200 from Quincy regeneration.
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Marks for Death:
Celes Shindazu: 5 Marks

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{Class 6 - Bow Form - The Depth Collector}
Through her Class 6 Form Property, Volkov transforms her bow into her signature serrated dagger. This dagger is quite large, and a rather thick rope remains tied around the handle attached to her wrist. As one can expect, her ability to use this weapon scales off of the woman's Strength. Instead of firing arrows, however, this dagger can be charged with reiatsu and thrown, flying at the speed of an arrow and being treated as a Class equal to the price of the arrow that had been paid for. Once this dagger finds itself embedded in a surface - be it biological or otherwise - the only individual that can remove the dagger without problem is Volkov. As one can expect, this makes the dagger exceptionally strong when it comes to pulling people back toward the Quincy, or pulling the Quincy to a new location.

Attacks dealt by Volkov's Bow will Mark For Death, putting this Mark on the target that was hit specifically. Trying to remove the dagger with less than 3 Ranks in Bleeding Tolerance and without help from Koshka will also Mark For Death. These Marks interact with the rest of Volkov's abilities, do not expire, and remain specific to each individual Marked. Being a weapon designed to quickly and efficiently kill those marked on Koshka's list, the OS of defensive properties, abilities, or items used by someone with at least one Mark For Death on them will be reduced by 150 for each individual Mark. Wounds left that Mark For Death will leave a black, necrotic mark on individuals based on the location struck.

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{Class 5 - Firing - The Megalodon Loanshark}
Volkov's Firing Property allows her to fire her arrows as part of her Stepping Techniques. While utilizing any variety of Stepping Technique, Koshka is capable of firing any number of arrows from her starting location. The arrows she can fire must directly correlate with the cost of the Stepping technique (i.e. she can fire a single Class 3 arrow, up to five Class 7 arrows, or any combination in-between with base Hirenkyaku, provided the arrows' costs always equal 50 reiatsu). The arrows fired from her movements possess a homing property to them and will Mark For Death. This homing property is capable of making no tighter than 90 degree turns while following a target, and will simply fly straight after one post has passed.