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Post by Zhiel on Aug 6, 2008 4:01:50 GMT -4
The magical city of Geffen, the seat of the Wizard order and a powerfull part of the Rune Midgart kingdom. Here inside the walls of the completely circular city could be found the Magician order as well as the much higher standing Wizard order, the later living in the gigantic spire tower that stood in the centre of the city. But not only mages and wizards lived in this city, no there was plenty of normal, mundane people to be found wandering the streets in search of goods on the market, or simply going somewhere for another purpouse. In either case the streets was almost always filled with people, but there was one thing that seemed to hang like a shadow over all the present civilians, there was a rumor that had spread like wildfire just a week earlier, about monsters suddenly emerging from the depths of the Geffen Tower, and if one listened closely to people talking in the cities taverns one could hear them discussing the details about the affair. It seemed that while the monsters had made their way out into the streets at first, it had only been moments before they were pushed back by the Mage Warriors that were the guards of the city, but no word of it had been heard since, it seemed like the Wizards in the tower refused to acknowledge it ever happening. Many adventurers had come to the city, hearing of the rumors, and deciding it was a time to make a name for themselves, or perhaps they thought they could earn money by doing so. Whichever was their reasons several groups of adventurers wandered into the tower, and never returned. In another part of the city, inside a small cheap tavern that a lot of people in the city avoided, simply because it wasnt hard to afford a better one, towards the wall laid a unconcious young man with a blanket over his body on a bench, with a small pile of clothes as a form of pillow, if one looked closer at them one could tell they were the standard uniform of a Swordsman of Izlude. Next to the young man, who could almost be reffered to as a boy, sat an older woman with a mortar in hand, crushing some herbs into a salve that to the learned man would be to ease pain from injuries and also make them heal slightly faster. OOC: Geffen: www.rpgamer.com/games/other/pc/ragnarok/art/ragnarokonlineart029.jpgStart it off however you want, you will have to fit your characters in yourself.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Aug 6, 2008 11:35:24 GMT -4
Geffen tower was a thing of mages, a thing of epic grandeur that was admittedly impressive but also wreaking of arrogance. If one stood at the base and looked upward they almost felt as if they were being sucked into the towers eminence as the howling winds shifted around the massive structure and up into the air thanks to its conical structure. Far below a single man cloaked in a rust red outfit looked up rather impassively at the tower while standing before its entrance. He had been doing this for the last five minutes and it seemed guards at the entrance were becoming bothered, they said nothing but they were eyeing him closely. Many adventurers had come seeking their fame here, none had succeeded but this man seemed more like he was casing the joint than anything else. Then after the prolonged silence finished he looked toward them with an absolutely unwavering face and said in a dead-panning voice.
“You’ve got the demons. Down below.” He said in a serious monotone though the implications were disgusting.
“How do y…Er, what?” Replied one of the door guards before he could catch himself but the man ignored him.
“What’s the reward?” He pressed on clearly seeking a material amount.
“I am not sure of your meaning sir.” The guard insisted.
“Don’t play coy with me. To purge the demons hiding in your closet.”
“Sir, despite rumors there are no problems.”
“Yes, I’m sure that’s why your tower is glowing like a beacon of dark energy…oh well, I need to prepare before I take it on anyway. See you later.”
He turned around and walked off from the exasperated guard, the others standing around looked a bit unnerved at the mans directness though he was far from the first to make accusations. The man in red, Uriel was his name, scanned the city with an unrevealing stare as to his motives and then seeing whatever pleased him headed down a particular street. He made his way down several alleys and then saw what he was looking for, a tavern; never had the gods put a more willing den of abuseable labor than when they created the taverns and bars of the world. With a firm handle on the door he flung it open and took a step inside, with a quick scan he was immediately disappointed with what he found. Most of the people within were either average citizens, old foggies or in the case of the few who seemed to be everyday travelers, not what he was seeking. He got many stares in return, he was far from the only “oddly” dressed traveler in the town but not many of them had glowing red eyes, stark white hair and what looked like tattoo lines on their face. In lesser towns it wasn’t unheard of for him to be asked to leave. He approached one older but incredibly built man and put his foot on the chair next to him looking him over.
“What about you, you’re built…”
His eyes drifted down to under the table where he spotted the man had a brace on his leg. He frowned and turned away completely losing interest.
“No just a hob-cobble old man after all.”
He ignored the murmurs of discontent behind him and continued to scan the room. He heard some form of tut-tut beside him and turned to see the tavern master looking at him with an expectant look, understanding that he was meant to pay for his time he simply threw a few zeny on the counter before he continued walking not bothering to get a drink. Then with a rather affirmative “Ahhhhh” he saw what he wanted in a young man being cared for by an elderly woman; however his eyes were at the clothes the boys head was on. He proceeded around tables and over chairs with great speed and stopped right next to the woman, his eyes scanned the mans wounds with no telling as to what he was thinking. Then his eyes turned on the salve the woman was crushing in her mortar and he looked at her darkly as if she were a fool, she seemed to be trying to ignore his presence.
“What are you trying to do old bat, he’ll take as long to heal with that as he would normally.”
She shot him a dirty look even for an old woman but in the time it had taken her to turn he was down on his knees and was holding out a wax sheet of paper with a thick poultice of what appeared to be rotted vegetables. She looked at him inquisitively and he pushed his hand out once more as if she were meant to take it, ever so tentatively she did.
“Apply it as you would normally, now excuse me.”
He put his hand on his back and reached once more into the sack that sat there. He rummaged ever so gingerly before he retrieved a set of tools. In one hand he held a vile of murky purple liquid and in the other a long metal rod, the end of which thinned considerably and looked like a primitive form of needle. It however looked far more severe and could very well have been used as a weapon; the woman gave it an extremely worried glance. Uriel saw the look and smiled sinisterly.
“Don’t worry granny, its just a bit of fun…I would start applying that salve before I shock his ass back into the world of the living and he bleeds out though.”
She looked around as if looking for help but seeing none she did as she was told with speed, filling his wounds with the old looking vegetation and started to wrap them up with bandages. Uriel meanwhile took the bottle of purple liquid and screwed it on to the opposite end of the massive needle before flicking a small lever in the middle, the needle made an all together evil screeching noise as a small handle spring loaded out of the side, a thinner needle ejected from the end and the liquid was drawn into the tube. Gripping the trigger once more Uriel placed his hand on the young mans chest and placed the needle in the dead center of his chest cavity. He turned his face to the old woman and seeing her scared look he let out a horse chuckle but his facial features never changed. With jab that could slay demons he plunged the needle into the boy and pulled the trigger and with a harsh shrill the liquid surged in, he pulled the needle out quickly and with an easy spinning motion the needle collapsed and he stowed it.
He watched the boy with an uncaring stare and the old woman watched with fear as the boys breathing stopped completely. Then in sudden sporadic burst his chest began to heave and with a great gasp of air his eyes opened in great swollen mockeries of their normal self at the pain searing in his chest. Uriel clapped and walked over to him, staring down at the man whose body would both be in to much shock and pain to respond.
“Welcome the fuck back to reality.”
He leaned down and indicated where the bandages were wrapped up while whispering so only the boy could hear.
“Who did you piss off? Those are no battle wounds.”
He pulled back quickly though as he knew the boy couldn’t answer him yet. He looked him over for a moment more as the young man began to regain his surroundings, the adrenaline like drug working wonders at bringing him to readily alert at startling speed. Uriel took a step back and when he was sure the man was aware of everything he was saying he spoke.
“There’s a tower here, needs some demon slaying and what’s not within. I’m pretty good at that I hear but even I don’t fancy facing off against an army…well no let me rephrase that I don’t plan to be knocked around by an army. You on the other hand my new meat shield are young, brash and foolish, I am sure you will be openly willing to protect an old bastard with that wonderfully young and resilient body out of some misplaced sense of honor and righteousness.”
He rolled his eyes as if sickened by the thought and continued.
“Doesn’t really matter to me, I just need someone to take hits and whether you live or not is your problem. Help me do this and if there’s a reward when it’s over you can have ten percent if you’re still alive…why only ten percent you ask? Well because for one you’re young and foolish enough to take it and second because you now owe me because under grannies care and guidance there was as great a chance that you’d be an invalid for the rest of your life as you would recover. If there is no reward well then you’ll just have to take the “honor” and the fact that you’ll be…”
He maneuvered his arms in a miniature wave and stared out the top of his eyes as if searching for a word.
“The cat’s pajamas and should be able to get yourself some fine mage booty.”
He made an all-together un-priestly motion with his body.
“And if neither of those then do not fear, for you are dead and only the gods can command you then. So there you have it, I’ll see you at the tower when your ready, and you will come. Do not fear if you don’t know where the tower is, it is rather large and like most things the mages make screams ‘Here I am! Come possess me!’”
He had been holding something in his hand up until this point and when he was finished he placed it down next to the man who should have been regaining motor capabilities. When he pulled his hand back there was a small circular glass with a cork lid and inside was a swirling sickly yellow liquid, mixed amongst it were pieces of decayed looking plants and other undeterminable fibrous pieces. If the man was brave enough to try the drink it would at first feel as if his lungs were burning, wracking him with a thirty second long coughing fit and then ever so slowly the pain throughout his body would disappear completely.
Before anyone could say anything else Uriel was out the door.
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Post by Zhiel on Aug 6, 2008 19:03:18 GMT -4
As distressed the old woman was by the strangers actions she complied, if only out of fear that the young man she was caring for would die otherwise. Although what with the large needle and the crazy look on the strangers face she was wondering if it made a difference. When the stranger shoved the needle into the young mans chest and his breathing stoped she held her own breath out of fear, but when his chest began to heave violently before the boy gasped out for air as he opened his eyes she gave off a sigh of relief.
The young swordsman was floating in a dark void, atleast thats how it appeared inside his mind. He could not remember where he was, or what had happened for several years. The last thing he remembered... Was a hazzy image of his mother waving him good bye as he went... Somewhere, and then everything was a large blank hole in his mind. Yet despite that, the clothes on his body, the sword in his hand, they were all very familiar to him, he had worn them both for a long time and he knew instinctively how to use it. But then before he could reflect upon himself further he was forced awake by an intense pain. Had it not been because his body had been so numbed down by his injuries and the liquid that the stranger had just injected in him, he would have sat upright, instead a wave of spasm went through his body for a second before it was over and he opened his eyes.
Although his eyes were highly unfocused and he was feeling pain throughout his body he knew there was a person standing not far from where he laid, and that there was another one sitting almost right next to him. The standing man said something, but he could only understand part of the message, something about being back in reality, what did it mean? He was about to ask him about it, but even as his mouth opened, no words came, was he so numb that he could not even speak? How long would he be in this state? He wondered, but he noticed how his sight was becoming sharper by the second, until he could finally turn his head towards the standing man, but he could tell the person was about to say something so he refrained from speaking himself, if he even could.
He listened intently to the mans "proposition", most because he was afraid he'd miss something important if he didnt direct his full attention to him. Although he didnt give a lot of thought about what was being said, he did take in all the details, while it was obvious the man was speaking to him like he was insulting him, it seemed more like he was disgusted with what to him was probably a stupid stereotype, what with rolling his eyes after the sense of righteousness remark. 'Demons...? I've only heard about them... I've never really seen one.' He thought, unsure of himself at this stage, yet somehow he knew he had the skills to protect himself, but where had they been learned? He assumed time would provide the answer, and perhaps going along with this strange person would provide him with those answers.
After the man had left, a tension that had been rising ever since the man had entered the tavern was let loose, especially for the old woman who gave a heavy sigh of relief as she turned her attention back to the young man. "So what is your name, young one?" She asked in a friendly tone, though she was still a bit riled up over the weird mans behavior. The young man looked surprised for a moment, then thoughtfull, as he thought back for an answer. All he could come up with was the voice of his mother shouting for him on varios occasions, such as when it was time for dinner, or to come back inside for some reason, she had called him... Rei... Was it his actual name, or a nickname? That was another mystery, but atleast he had one piece of the puzzle. "..Rei..." He responded in a slightly hoarse voice. "Well you just lay still right there, and I will get a new set of blankets for you." The woman said in a calming way, but as she stood up and began to turn away the blonde haired young man had sat upright and even laid one leg over the side of the bench, gritting his teeth in pain from moving so suddenly, but surprisingly enough enduring it well.
Though despite his resistance to the pain moving so soon caused he couldent help but let out a low gasp when he moved his other leg over the bench and corrected himself along its edge. This naturally caught the old womans attention and she hurriedly walked back to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, telling him to lay down again. Gently Rei pushed her hand away as he looked her in the eyes, his own gray eyes looking strangely empty for a moment before they focused on hers. "Dont worry, thank you for helping me, but I need to get going. I dont... Remember anything, and I think he may lead me to an answer of who I am." Rei said as he gave the woman a warm smile, even through the pain he was experiencing. Giving up the granny sighed and walked over to the fireplace and sat down in a rocking chair, while at the same time Rei stretched for the bottle of the strange liquid that had been left behind by the stranger. Whatever it was it seemed intended for him.
Assuming it was intended as a form of healing or mending potion Rei opened it and in one quick motion drank all of the interiors before he put it down again. Suddenly a similiar burning sensation as that which had awakened him burned in his chest, causing him to chough violently for several seconds, catching the attention of the people in the tavern, however appart from the old granny no one really seemed to care much. As the coughing stoped Rei could feel the pain throughout his whole body diminishing, wheter it was a form of painkiller or a strange kind of healing potion it seemed to have done its job. Taking a moment to stretch his arms and legs before standing up Rei began to wobble slightly as he finally stood, before he was able to regain his balance. It seemed it had been a while since he had stood up on his own. Without pause he turned towards his "pillow" and began to dress up, he noticed how the clothes had been washed, as they were relatively clean and had no blood on them either.
After putting on his leather undershirt, putting on the swordsman uniform and firmly fastened his waist belt and the leather straps on his arm and leg guards. Noticing a small bag that had been laying under the pile of clothes Rei picked it up and looked inside, the low glow that met his eyes was familiar, yet it, like his name, was beyond his grasp. And as such he put the bag under his uniform, in a inner pocket hiding it from view and making it hard to notice even should one take the uniform from him. How it had avoided being stolen was impossible to say, but he was glad he seemed to have everything that belonged to him around. As he was thinking this he leaned over to the side of the bench where a sheated sword was leaned against the wall, grabbing it he tied the sheat to his waists left side, allowing him to easily pull it out if need be.
After having dressed up and prepared himself, his horrible injuries hidden by both bandages and clothing, he really didnt look so bad, for a 16 year old boy that is. With steady steps Rei walked up to the owner of the tavern and bowed deeply to both him and the old woman. "Thank you for taking care of me, I'm afraid I have nothing to give in return except for my thanks, but I will repay my debt to you after I have earned some money to do so." He said matter of factly, but still with gratitude in his voice as he turned away from them and walked out. The tavern owner didnt really show any particular expression to this, though he was probably thinking that Rei was going to get himself killed before the day was over.
The man had not been lying when he had said that tower would be hard to miss, even when he stod in the opening of the tavern the first thing he noticed was the large white spire that towered up before him, dwarfing any and all structures in the entire city. "Wooow... That is quite something..." He said to himself as he walked outside, most of his focus on the tower as he walked along the streets to find his way down to the base of it. It took him a few minutes to navigate the city streets to find the staircase leading down to the lower area of the city, where the towers base could be found, and also its entrance, but once he did he could see a large opening with two guards in intricate coats and a bird-like helmet, no doubt the cities own guardsmen. Although he could not see the strange man anywhere just yet.
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Aug 6, 2008 19:18:36 GMT -4
"Aaaaah....."
The clunk of a mug onto a table was the sound of sweetness to the blonde haired young woman. Blue saphire eyes looked down into the wooden cup, seeing the steamy goodness of a good amber ale. Petite hands cupped it dually, bringing it up to her lips and taking a sip, then letting out a sigh of joy. Truly, it was delicious. She set the cup down after another sip, then leaned back from her bar seat, to look around.
Having stayed in the tavern the night before, the woman named Elander Collins eyed the place she had been watching for "targets" for a while. None, for the moment, for only another young person and his old ward trying to fix his wounds. However, it sooned changed.
A man walked in, largeset and well built. He had a multitude of objects on his person, his rust red attire looking well with his white hair. But what Lander noticed was the many pretty things she could pilfer.
She pretended to drink her small cup of ale as the man walked around, eyeing the many people in the bar. She did quick body scans whenever he wasn't looking in her direction. He had a few things she could swipe, but one that stood out was the medallion like object hanging from his waist on the side. A good look showed it to be a pocket watch, a very nice one indeed. It would fetch a pretty good amount....but she had to get it first.
She again played ignorance to him and finished off her drink as he was discussing something with the young man and the old ward. By the time she payed attention again, he was storming out, the boy shortly after. And a certain young lady was right behind them.
Within seconds on exiting the tavern Elander had spotted Uriel, and was tracking him. Eventually, she was within reach of him, behind him silently. Her hand was outstretch to snatch to watch....
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Post by GoldenKitten on Aug 6, 2008 20:23:59 GMT -4
Uriel had gone directly to the tower as he said he would, he didn’t actually know if the boy would come but he had his bets that he would. Along the way though his attention drifted elsewhere, he had walked the streets of the world for a long time. He knew when he was being followed, he had after all been hunted by the church for close to a year and it wasn’t the first time he saw signs of being tailed. A few subtle movements on his part from one side to another confirmed his suspicions but he was immediately let down when he realized the pursuer was just a little girl, probably looking to make some pocket change. He turned his head over his shoulder and made direct eye contact with her at one point which she quickly averted from and he grinned wickedly though she wasn’t watching to see. He wasn’t worried, he had walked the streets of Morroc and faced true thieves who you didn’t even know where there until they struck and came en masse. Compared to that this was simply…an amusement.
He entered the massive circular area around the tower and approached it though he never went up the steps. He kept his back turned to the city and stared up at the massive tower above him while placing his right hand in his pocket and his left on the pommel of his sword which was strapped low on his back but could easily be twisted to be pulled out from the side. While from the back he seemed to be admiring the tower his eyes and sense were focused behind him. He waited, he heard her coming and then right as she was within reach he pulled his hand out of his pocket, reached around without looking and knocked her on the backside of the head. She cursed and stumbled a bit but before that he had her head in his hand and while he was still turned away he began twisting her head like a screw, slowly turning his body toward her one twist at a time.
“Hello”
*Twist*
“OW!” she yelped.
“There”
*Twist
“OW!!!”
“Whatca”
*Twist*
“OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!”
“Doing?”
With the last twist he grabbed her by the base of her scalp and picked her up so they were looking eye to eye. She seemed startled for a moment and then realizing she had been caught she quickly sweat dropped.
“N-nothing!”
“Really?”
He looked the girl over more closely this time and pulled his free hand from his sword, with calculated care he pushed her directly in the center of her bosom just between her breasts and smiled. This of course sent the girl into a spastic attempt to get away while she squealed at the top of her lungs and brought both her legs up and around his arm while she tried to gnaw at his hand like a cat. His heavy leather outfit and the length of his arm compared to her size though meant it was an utterly futile effort though.
“Not even worth it huh?” he said clearly meaning multiple things at once.
He stared at her once more uninterested. Then his attention was drawn up the steps while he still held the girl in his outstretched arm and she struggled to no avail. He spotted someone and chuckled to himself, he noticed the girl seemed to be going for the two metallic blades on her back clearly having enough of him. He however had also had enough of her and with no warning dropped her where she promptly fell flat on her ass and cried out. He waved at her and for once had a dead serious look on his face.
“Go away, I don’t have the time…try pick pocketing some old hag, seems more your level.”
He walked up the steps and approached the young swordsmen who seemed to be looking around for him. He extended his arms and clapped several times before pulling his hands to his chest.
“You came! I’m truly touched…” he said in a mock passion voice before for the last part switching back to monotone, “Let’s go.”
And without waiting he walked toward the entrance to Geffen tower, the guards once more gave him strange looks but he walked straight through this time, after all the first floor of the tower was open to commoners. That didn’t stop the atmosphere inside from being highly…strained.
[[OOC: Responses approved by Steven.]]
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Post by Zhiel on Aug 7, 2008 19:50:30 GMT -4
OOC: Joint post with GK
"Master Vermillion, a man in a red militaristic leather suit has entered the tower in company of a young Swordsman." A man clad in a long black mantle with a high collar said while bowing low to another man, who sat behind a finely engraved desk of some exotic wood from far away. The man had a fine red shirt on him with gold trimming, with the wizards guild emblem in the center of his chest, on his legs he wore a pair of black trousers made from a similiar material as the shirt, and with a few gold trimmings running down on the sides. To the knowledgable person they would be runes used for protection or enhancing something. The man had slightly spiked orange hair with a few gray stripes here and there, his eyes being a golden color that seemed to burst with power, while at the same time his slightly wrinkled face held a soothing calm over it. A large mantle, similiar to the first persons, but with gold trimming similiar to that of the shirt and trousers hung on a chair next to the wall. The man behind the desk was known as High Wizard Grantz Vermillion, one of the five masters of the Geffen Tower and the mages council, he currently held the position as "Patriarch" of the tower, and as such all immidiate concerns fell on him, with the long-term ones being decided by the council, who he saw as a bunch of childrens squabbling.
The slightly over middle-aged man raised his attention from the large book that laid on the desk infront of him as he showed he had give his attention to the lower standing Wizard. "I see, and why do you bring me this information?" He asked, though his voice was neutral it was obvious he did not like being disturbed for something uninportant. The wizard who had delivered the message tensed up and got a worried look on his face as he bowed again, even deeper this time. "M..my apologies Master Vermillion, but the tower guards said the strange looking man had mentioned something about there being demons below the tower, he seems to know something. The guards also mentioned that the man had said something about the tower being a 'beacon of dark energy', do you think he may be from the church?" The Wizard said quickly, trying to redeem himself in the eyes of the Patriarch. Grantz rested his well-shaved chin in his right hand as he kept his eyes locked on the wizard for several seconds before he finally spoke. "Alright, bring them in."
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Rei figured he would have to get used to this mans rather unsocial way of speaking, it was hard say what really went on inside his head, but he figured he was mostly just being honest with what he thought. Without saying anything, even though he felt he needed to atleast know the mans name, he followed past the tower guards and into the tower. One could at first wonder how many floors this massive tower held, but the answer was soon right infront of ones eyes if they walked through the entrance, as the ceiling was atleast twenty meters up from the floor, with massive pillars spread around the large hall they now entered. By a quick look he noticed two staircases, one on either side of the large circular hall, both leading up. And farther down the room was what appeared like a form of basement door, which looked like it could lead directly into a staircase. By all of these staircases stood two guards, the ones by the basement door looked like they were higher standing though as their uniforms also had gold trimming like that of higher standing wizards. A young man, only slightly older than Rei, who was clad in a standard mage cloak walked up to the strange man Rei had accompanied. Looking slightly nervous due to the older mans glowing red eyes and unnatural white hair, he swallowed his doubts or fears as he introduced himself nervously. "Uhm, welcome to the Geffen Tower, I am apprentice Mathius. May I ask your name and your reason for being here?"
Since coming in the tower the older mans demeanor had changed. It didn't seem as if he had, had a switch in personality but rather that he simply became more formal. He stood straight and kept his left hand on the pommel of his sword once more, not in an aggressive stance but rather a formal one. As the man approached he kept a neutral face as his eyes rather lazily studied the apprentice, not seeming to really care too much for the little mage.
"I am Uriel Gabranth. I am one with the light and I see the darkness that lies beneath this tower. I thought that perhaps the proper powers might come to do something about it with this being in their realm but that has not happened and I cannot allow it to continue. If you would I seek an audience with one who can explain the situation and then I might lend my powers to purifying the evil...no the demon that lays in waiting." He said all this with upmost sincerity and with the bravado of one used to public speaking, he held his hand out and indicated Rei. "This boy is but a member of my entourage, should your leaders allow us this job he shall be accompanying me in the endeavor."
The apprentice seemed a bit hesitant when Uriel mentioned he was "one with the light", but Uriels way of speaking certainly caught his attention. Without saying anything the mage took out what looked like a paper charm from his cloak, and he seemed to be concentrating for a few seconds before he put it back in its pocket. "The master has already been notified of your precense, he will meet with you shortly. Please follow me to his chambers." Mathius said as he began to walk towards the left staircase, the guards moving aside like if they had been ordered too, yet there had been no one by them and Mathius had said nothing either. Rei who was following shortly behind Uriel was surprised by how smooth the man had talked with the apprentice, there was obviously more to this Uriel than what at first met the eye. After climbing the massive tower for nearly three minutes, seeing almost only staircases and a few guards along the way, the trio finally steered off away from the staircases, though there was still a few more to tread to get to the top of the tower. Mathius who was a regular mage seemed nearly exhausted from the trip, but he held togheter well despite this, indicating he was atleast moderately used to traveling the many floors of the tower.
After a short walk through white corridors filled with gold ornaments, paintings of various kinds and other things of material wealth they reached a pair of large double doors by which stood two other seemingly elite guards. After a quick trade of words the guards moved aside, opening the doors in the process. The room they now entered was fairly simple in both design and furnituring, there was flower pots and bookshelves, but appart from the large desk at the end of the room everything was what you would expect to find in the common mans home. Behind the desk sat a middle aged man, his facial expression showing a slight smile. Without hesitation Mathius bowed deeply to the man, even though he had not even entered the room. "I will now take my leave, Master Vermillion." And with that the apprentice backed away from the doors as they were closed behind Uriel and Rei. The man that they had learned to be Master Vermillion stood up from his chair as he raised his arms in a greeting manner. "Welcome to my office, I am High Wizard Grantz Vermillion and current Patriarch of the mages council, but you may simply call me Grantz." The man introduced himself, from both the way he talked and how his office looked he seemed to be different from the regular stereotypical arrogant wizard. "Now then, I heard you wish to purge the demons under the tower?" Grantz continued, bluntly confessing that there was indeed something going on under the tower.
Uriel bowed lightly though not to the extent the mage had to his master. He then approached and stood before the desk, he stared at this man with more interest, appreciating his directness. “Thank you for seeing us Master Wizard…or Grantz then if that is your preference. Indeed that is the plan. I assume your wards suggested by my way of introduction that I might be compartmental of the church, this is not entirely accurate but if you would allow me?” He suggested his hand with the other. Holy magic like any other used the same routes that the magic the mages used and this man should have clearly felt that Uriel was a magic adept if not exactly which type. He was pleased to see the man was forthcoming and nodded his head at the idea; Uriel raised his hand and opened it out in a flat palm. There was hardly any waiting and his palm began glowing with a faint white light, it was non-obtrusive and non-aggressive but the aura that emanated from it was completely pure. Eventually the light died down and Uriel once more lowered his hand placing it back in his pocket.
“I am not with their order anymore and thus usually leave these…grander ventures to their capable hands but I have waited and they have not come. This presence I feel is not just a danger to everyone else but it presses on my mind greatly no matter what I do to try and look over its existence. It is dark, it is evil and from the emissions it sends I know it has killed others already, presumably those you might have sent before. I cannot wait now and so I offer my aid in this matter. I may be of the church no longer but I would hope that by still wielding my powers I might convince you of my intentions.”
During this Rei had followed Uriels example of bowing, but other than that he remained silent. From what Uriel told the Patriarch he figured that the man had once been part of the church, however why he no longer was was a mystery, although he had to admit that he was unsure of which church he had been part of alltogheter. He had no memories of directly believeing in any religion. Grantz observed the light that Uriel summoned in his hand, he had seen similiar things many times done by priests, and by showing him this Grantz was confident that Uriel had the experience of one. "Very well, you and your friend are allowed to enter the Geffen underground, from what out records tell there used to be another city under where Geffen was built, I believe this is where the demons have come from as entrance to this ruined city has been sealed off for hundreds of years." He explained, hoping to give Uriel atleast an idea of what they would be walking into. "Not long ago another member of the council sent a wizard and some mages down into the underground to study the remains of the ruins, perhaps that is when the seal was broken. We have heard nothing from the group, nor any of the other groups whom have attempted to solve this problem, and fear the worst. If you would solve this problem, or discover its source, I would be glad to reward you. Unfortunately my job as patriarch and councilmember keeps me from taking care of things like this myself, and the most powerfull members are away on personal assignments." Grantz continued, sighing after explaining it all. "It is a shame the council are so stubborn, they refuse to ask for help by the church, they think we can take care of it ourselves, yet nothing is done. But enough about that, I wish you luck in your task." Grants finished, raising his right hand towards the two as he said a few words in a language that only magic wielders learned. Both Uriel and Rei was suddenly enveloped in a bright light, and then a moment later they stood yet again on the first floor of the tower, a runic circle covered the floor they stood on, probably a form of warping device. It only took a moment for the duo to get grips with what had happened, maybe even faster for Uriel, but without further ado the two began to walk towards the basement door, the guards opening it for them as they approached, and within a few seconds they had disappeared underground.
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Aug 7, 2008 21:30:51 GMT -4
"Ow!!!"
After being pushed onto her arse by the crudest man she had ever met, Elandar decided that this guy knew what he was doing. She didn't even have a chance to draw her prized Al Revs, he twin hand blades she had lifted from a wondering merchant when she realized that life demanded defense. After whining for a second about how unfair it was and that he shouldn't have done that, nonetheless touched her in such an indignant way! She blushed in embaressment and crossed her arms. Stupid man, thinking he could do what he wanted! Such a womanizer. However, after a few minutes her pity party was over and she stood up, brushing herself off. She looked up to see that the rude one was gone, gone off towards the tower before her. She looked up, having previously been too occupied with her failed theft to notice it. It seemed big enough for a simple tower, but something was odd about it. Lander felt her lips quiver slightly just looking at it.
But, oh well. Elander thought about going back to the tavern, and was already turned in that direction to go when her mind was invaded by the thoughts of something shiney and gold with silver coloring. It was the pocketwatch she had eyed and tried to steal before. She made an attempt to clear it from her mind, but combined with the fact that she still wanted to give that damn man a piece of her mind, she was already skulking towards the tower entrance.
She looked to see the man and some younger teen enter through a very large, old musty looking door. Wonder why? Ah well, still had to follow him.....except for the guards. They made the appearance of knowing what they were doing, but it was obvious that they were new. Easy fodder.
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"Sigh....This guard gig sucks."
"Oh, quick your whining, Felix. It pays. It pays."
"Yes, but-"
Suddenly, A clamor was in the far corner, like a thumping sound, echoed by the room. The guard named Felix turned towards it nervously.
"M-Mikal, did you hear that?"
"Sigh....hear WHAT, Felix? You know I'm deaf in my right ear.....damn poring..."
At this Felix shuddered. "A-A-A poring?!" Fear was in his voice.
Another sigh from the older Mikal. "Whatever...let's go check that sound." Mikal was hating this fucking holiday more and more. The real guards had gotten off for the day, and the reserves - him and pathetic Felix - had been called in for the next 6 hours. The mages figured that nothing would happen....nothing would, right? Right?
They both walked over to the corner, unaware of the snickering figure slipping into the hall after the two before her...
Entering a long staircase, Elander crept down at a non-creeping speed, unable to resist the urge to get the goodies that the vulger one most likely owned. And who knows? The boy might have something good to sell for food as well.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Aug 7, 2008 22:00:26 GMT -4
Uriel was rather pleased; everything had gone the way he wanted it to. He came off looking like the good guy doing this out of the kindness of his heart and never had to say anything about a reward but it had still been offered. That was of course what he was in this for in the first place but he long ago learned that things went smoother and you often times got more if you looked like the good guy. He would have laughed his head off at the naïveté of some people but he was to reserved for that, instead he simply bore a mild smile. He was a little ticked off at the way they had been forced out of the office and having to play aristocrat to the man had left a bad taste in his mouth but the rewards were greater than any minor aggravation could undo. They silently walked down into the dungeon passing two guards and once they were out of earshot Uriel spoke though it was little more than a word, dripping with despair and disapproval.
“Wizards…”
They entered a long downward staircase though this one was extremely wide and the steps long. Despite the fact that there were no “normal” lights except for two torches on the doorway behind them and on one far below they could see clearly due to glowing blue crystals lodged into the ceiling. They continued down at a slow stride, Uriel seemed to be in no hurry to move along though it didn’t seem to be out of fear or caution; it just looked like he wasn’t the sort to rush things. As they drew closer to the door below he turned his head toward the boy and spoke in a nonchalant manner.
“As you probably gathered, I am Uriel. What is your name? I would know so that should you die I can light a candle for your soul.” He bore a devilish grin for the last part but whether the boy responded or not he said nothing further.
They eventually reached the bottom of the old stairwell and Uriel had taken note that already as they moved farther down the walls themselves looked older as if this place had been sealed off for so long that the attaching corridor had been lengthened over time. He looked at the massive door before him, wooden and looking strangely new amongst the rest of the ruin, he decided the seals magic had either kept it “fresh” or that it was often replaced to keep the barrier strong. He pushed at the door and to no real surprise felt it give under the pressure, the seal had been undone and the door while large would freely move on its hinges. He opened it into what was only darkness beyond or so it seemed and took a step through, he pushed the door completely open as Rei followed through and perhaps though he wouldn’t admit it to make a hasty retreat if necessary.
What lay behind it was not to impressive, the darkness was looming and it was difficult to see more than twenty feet or more in front of their faces. The same blue stones cast light but they were so high above with the ceiling feeling more like a sky in this massive place that what they provided was hardly enough to pierce the miasmatic false night. Uriel stood in the darkness for a bit. He was no stranger to the gloomy lighting but it had been a long time since when he had grown up and so like anyone else his eyes now had to adapt to the darkness for a few moments. He caught some motion to his left and something dark launched at him, his sword was out in a moment, stepped to the side and the mass went falling to the floor faster than you could blink with a massive gouge ripped in its body. Looking closely it appeared to be a giant living mushroom; an adventurer would know it was a poison spore and it was currently squeaking out the last bits of its life. He picked at the carcass with his the tip of his sword and turned his eyes on Rei, it was semi-creepy because the inner-luminescence of his eyes made them ridiculously blood red in the darkness of the cave.
“We may be here for the evil but it just so happens these dark places are a breeding ground for all form of aggressive animal, they are of no consequence but watch your back. Just keep your eyes open but I wouldn’t worry until we get deep down…where the parents like to sleep.” He chuckled a bit to himself and then as if he saw something he cut off and turned back to the darkness, walking forward and bending down to scoop up something from the ground in a casual manner as he did so.
He looked at the smooth and rather large rock in his hand and then with a swift fling of his wrist released the rock like a bullet over his shoulder. A few moments latter there was a squishy thud followed by the sound of something falling over and what sounded like a curse muttered under ones breath. He shook his head and walked forward, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a blue stone in the process before he called out in a mild voice.
“Are you really still following me?” he asked.
There was a short paused.
“NO!!!” called out the young female’s voice.
“Then if there’s nobody following me should the big ugly demon staying down below decide to take the non-existent person for its sex slave after I cast them over this very deep cliff I am going to claim no knowledge of the event.” He yelled back with no evidence that he was joking in his voice.
He held the blue stone up without saying anything else to the girl and held it up. There was a little bit longer wait than before and then light exploded from the crystal, far more light than had formed when he had just used his hand before. It was piercing and bright and cast a spider web of shadows around all the dead bushes, rock formations and other items laying about the cave. One could occasionally make out a moving object around them, likely another one of the creatures or something similar. What was truly impressive was what was before them.
“Well would you look at that, who would have guessed?” There was something in Uriels voice, for once it almost sounded like he was genuinely surprised or at least impressed.
Even with the light it was difficult to make out but there could be no doubt of what it was. As he promised there was a massive drop off right before them and should you have gone over it was likely you might have fallen for a full minute as even the light could not reach the bottom. What lay out beyond the drop off though was what caught the eye for it looked as if there were several giant spires, the underground city the lord wizard had spoken of, each as large as the tower above. Then as quickly as they had seen it all the light cut off and Uriel turned away from the site, picking one of the routes along the cliff face and marching forward.
“Hmmm, try not to miss your footing, though I guess the monsters would do the cleanup job for me here.” He said out loud for both of them to hear, “Let’s continue then shall we?” But as he was already moving forward it was clear the question was rhetorical.
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Post by Zhiel on Aug 8, 2008 19:20:08 GMT -4
"Heh, another amateur thief." The Elite Magewarrior to the left of the basement door said as he lowered his right hand, having just a few seconds earlier cast a simple illusion spell he had named "Thieves Folly", it worked by simply playing on the targets imagination of what they wanted to happen. The guard to his right snickered as they both watched the female thief throw a small object, from the looks of it a rock, into what could be said to be a corner of the tower floor, even though you could clearly see nearly everything from the basement door, with the exception of what was directly behind the pillars, but that was why the Magewarriors could communicate telepathically with one another. The two guards gingerly watched the thief snicker about something, probably assuming she had lured them away, then began to sneak towards the door. "So, should we stop her?" The one on the right asked the one who had cast the spell. "Nah, too much trouble. Let her go get herself killed if thats what she wants." He responded, the girl was nearly right inbetween the two and they just kept on talking. "Yeah I guess your right, so much trouble to prevent them from talking about this sort of thing, and I dont feel like doing another mind cleaning." The two guards nodded to one another as the one on the left opened the door for the thief, who just kept walking in oblivious that they had watched her the whole time. "Most of the people who show up here are plain idiots, the only one who has 'almost' snuck past us successfully was that one assassin earlier..." (HINT) "Yeah I know what you mean, people these days seem to have a deathwish." The both of them sighed as they returned to being the motionless disciplined guards they were known as.
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Rei followed Uriel shortly behind him to his left, his left hand rested on the hilt of his sword ready to draw it at first sign of danger, instincts that he did not remember where he had gained them making him scan the dim stairwell as they descended it, his grip around the sword tightening for a moment with every moving shadow, before he realized it was nothing but the light from the gemstones above them and their own movements that caused it. When Uriel asked Rei his name, he was half expecting the rather insidious and insulting continuation that the man followed up with, probably thinking he wouldent be very usefull. Rei ignored it however and simply responded honestly. "I guess you could call me Rei, that is the only thing related to me that I can remember, I'm not sure if its even my full name." After this it took them only a short while to reach the door Uriel had scouted at the bottom.
After following Uriel through the large door at the end of the stairwell Rei switched the hand which held the longsword in its sheath, deciding that this place held too much danger to relax. It took Rei a moment longer to notice the spore than Uriel, and that was the moment needed for it to jump out at him. Fortunately the man was prepared, drawing a short sword in a flash and slicing a large wound in the spores body, while Rei had only managed to get his sword half-way out of its sheath. 'Wow, that was impressive.' He thought, slight surprise being obvious on his face, although due to the darkness it was probably hard to see. Ignoring Uriels rather unnerving eyes and while he listened to what the older man said he knew that he himself knew all this, how was as much a mystery to him as why he could wield the sword he carried. He shock his head slightly, he needed to stay focused, otherwise he would be worthless in this endeavor. Out of the corner of his left eye Rei noticed how Uriel bent down to pick something up, then a moment later he suddenly flinged something his way, being more ready now he quickly moved his head to the side as he followed the stones path into the open door behind them.
He was about to ask what he was up to when he suddenly heard a low muttering from the staircase 'So someone is following us? How come I didnt notice?' He wondered, perhaps he had been too focused on keeping check on the shadows infront of them. After watching Uriel pick up something from a pocket, then talking to whoever was stalking them there was an amusing pause before the girl that was following them shouted back in denial. You could nearly see the giant sweatdrop falling from Rei at this. '..Ok...' Was all he thought before he walked up beside Uriel as he shielded his eyes for a moment when the man surprised him once more by creating a lightsource with a gem he held in his hands. Rei was about to say something, when suddenly he was cut short by Uriel, making Rei look towards the source of his surprise, several large tower like ruins laid ahead of them, across a gaping chasm. When Uriel began to tread the sides of the pit Rei followed a meter behind, being carefull about his footing but also making sure he would not bump into Uriel incase the older man had to stop for whatever reason, but as they had gotten half-way across it he decided to try again. "So, do you know the person following us?" He asked, not really whispering, but silent enough to not cause an echo in the hole beneath them.
---
"Ssss.. Let us try this again." A shadow spoke with a sinister voice to a robed man that laid in a runic circle infront of it, from how the runes where glowing a deep red one would be able to figure they were active. "Where is it?" The shadow then asked, clenching a shadowy hand as red energy arched through the circle, running through the man like electricity, which he responded to by screaming loudly in pain. As the being opened its shadowy palm once more the man in the circle stoped screaming, but instead he was panting heavily. "I.. I do.. I dont know what you.. Your talking about! Th.. This treasure you speak off... I was sent to find it, but I.. I dont know where it is!" The robed man answered, his voice wrecked with pain and fear. His only answer was a sinister laugh that seemed to echo in several different tones and voices. "You certainly dont believe that I would be so easily fooled..?" Once again the shadowy being clenched its hand, the red energy arching through the circle once more, causing the man to scream in pain again. "Humans are such... Pitifull creatures." It then said, as it disappeared into the shadows, the man was left in the circle, the powerfull energies still coursing through it.
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Aug 9, 2008 18:27:23 GMT -4
With her head hurting and her only way of getting anywhere in the dark chasm was to follow the one harming her, Elander quickly realized that today sucked. She brought her small hand up to rub the small red line on her forhead where the stone had knocked her down. It wasn't bleeding, but raw flesh could be seen as it had scraped right through it. She winced up upon gingerly poking it. Damn that person... maybe she wasn't cut out for this job after all. She could just be a waitress....
But no, she was already down here, and going back would result in her getting lost yet again. She turned back towards her "guides" when the brute threw down a glowing stone, illuminating the entire gorge below she hadn't seen. Amazingly, great large objects poked up towards the ceiling, and they seemed man made....were the buildings? Spires? Not knowing alot about the world or anything, Elander couldn't say for sure. However, she knew that once she spotted the big ugly one and his younger compatriot head out for the small path they had chosen, she knew she needed to follow.
Moving quickly and, in her mind, silently, she tried to stick to where they had previously tread, not wanting to hit a weak spot or a crumbled edge and plummet down to the demon with which anal raping had just been proclaimed as something that would happen if she did take a tumble, pushed off or not. She managed to overhere to boy's comment, having developed rather good ears from her time in thievary, and snapped back before she realized she had spoken.
"No I do NOT know that oversized orc brained fool!" She said in a loud voice but not quite yet a yell, not realizing it was foolish in itself to call him a fool, what with what she usually did. However, she was too caught up with herself to notice.
Instantly bringing her hands up to her mouth, she realized how idiotic it was to shout at the person she was trying to follow without notice, but it didn't matter much since they already knew she was here. But she kept walking still, the feeling of dread within her as she tried to keep a lookout for any more thrown objects.
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Post by GoldenKitten on Aug 10, 2008 20:12:17 GMT -4
Uriel, like usual was impossible to read as far as his thoughts on the Elander issue went though given his personality it was no doubt an annoyance. Rei questioned him about their little follower and while he had no real reason to answer the boy he figured he was there to help so there was no reason to ignore him or be hostile. He continued to walk along the chasm without ever actually turning to Rei as he spoke; he was apparently more interested on what lay ahead though he hadn’t actually seen any new enemies yet. The voice he used was practically mechanical in the way it was uttered.
“Pickpocket, failed, probably looking to get back at me, seems to be an idiot…don’t worry about it.”
The party…if that was what you wanted to call them headed down the ramp more or less unimpeded. This wasn’t unexpected though as few creatures would have made their home so deep underground and even those that did would probably have run from the dark powers that had since entered this place, regardless Uriel remained vigilant as the poison spore before had proved their was life below. Occasionally he spotted movement in the shadows, he became convinced this was not animal life but rather something more sinister at work but it never approached and since they could do nothing about it he didn’t bother speaking to Rei on the matter. As they moved down the cliff the path became narrower with the sheer bluff to their left and a higher cliff to their right. What had previously been quiet and dark started to become filled with noises however though Uriel never stopped and the bits that could be heard really did sound more comical than dangerous. Like before they were merely the squeaks of poison spores though it now sounded like a great group of them together.
It didn’t take long to spot the source either, ahead of them was what appeared to be a large stone building with a massive entryway. It was connected with the cliff though whether it was made like that in the first place or had grown in such a way over time would never be known. In front of this entryway though was the source of the squeaking, two dozen or more poison spores dashed to and fro, communicating with each other…or doing whatever it is giant sentient mushrooms do when they squeak. Along the rock face Uriel spotted a large purple blight on the pure brown in which appeared to be a tunnel; he assumed this was the spores nest. Before the creatures could spot them Uriel reached into his backpack and produced a jar similar to the one he had given Rei earlier, what was in this one was impossible to tell in the lack of light though. Before anyone could ask the man had hurled the jar through the air and it came down in the middle of a large group of the spores, the liquid surely spilled everywhere but nothing happened.
That was when Uriel took several giant strides toward the closest creature that only had enough time to let out one loud warning squeak before the top portion of its body was disconnected from the lower. All the other spores locked on to the new threat but at that very moment there was a spark of light from where Uriel had thrown the jar. It started out small and then spread, it was obviously taking on the shape of fire and reacted as if slicked on oil but this fire went from a small candle light to a raging inferno within ten seconds. It lit up the area amazingly and caught more than a dozen of the animals in the process. Those few that escaped came charging at them but Uriel, and to a little bit of surprise on his part Rei, ended them quickly. When it was finished Uriel produced another jar and with no real effort as if he was doing little more than taking a pleasant stroll tossed it into the spores nest which several seconds later exploded outward and sent one squeaking, flaming spore clear off the cliff to its squeaky death far below. Uriel managed a look over to Rei.
“Nothing like the smell of fried innocent animal in the morning.”
They continued walking and were soon at the entrance to the building, it was as massive as it had appeared from before but unlike then the still burning flames and new light from similar blue crystals in the ceiling inside the building allowed one to see within. The building was hollowed out and had a stairwell that wrapped around the buildings edges and descended far below. Uriel took a step to the edge and looked down the shaft; he noted that all the way down there were long metal cables strung from one side of the shaft to the other. He was about to turn around and say they should go down when he heard the tell-tell squeaks of a spore behind him. He barely had time to look at Rei next to him with a look of utter annoyance before he felt something heavy knock him in the back.
“Well shit…”
Spores weighed more than they looked and taken from behind with no warning he couldn’t stand up to the force, easily pushing over the edge where upon he fell head first. He didn’t yell out or act surprised, instead he quickly assessed what lay below him as best he could in the darkness. The distance down was far greater than anyone would have imagined and as he fell farther from the top it became difficult to see, he knew he caught glimpses of silver sheen from below though. While it was impossible to tell just where the bottom was exactly he used those silver flashes and the widening of the walls to guesstimate and while he didn’t know it, barely twenty feet from the bottom he held his hand out. His entire body jerked as his hand caught one of the metal cables which nearly sheered straight through his leather glove due to the speed he fell and strength of the thin metal. His body convulsed and nearly spun around the cable completely before he was forced to release it and fell the rest of the way.
Despite whatever he fell on being relatively soft though there were definitely some uncomfortable sharp pieces jabbing into his gut and he blacked out momentarily. His vision faded in and out after thirty seconds or so and then he took a hold back on reality with a good bit of ease. He turned his head and his eyes focused on the large silver object sitting before him, a massive claymore sticking straight into the air barely two inches from his nose.
“Mmmm…lovely.” He grumbled to himself.
With a great heave and a ho he pushed himself off his landing zone, suddenly very aware of what it was he had landed on. He looked down with a bit of contempt at his eyes at the nearly six huddled corpses lying in the middle of the shaft and studied them closely. He couldn’t help but notice the obvious, all these people had been killed by weapons and not a demons power or even a monsters claw, and he also noted the blood on each of their weapons. His eyes swept around the room and it didn’t take long until he spotted all sorts of corpses lying around in a similar state, there was a strange buzzing in the back of his skull all the while.
“Priest sense tingling.” He said mundanely though his eyes scanned the darkness around him and he drew Ragnhildr while performing circles and falling back into a defensive stance. “Now where are you?” he whispered more to himself than anything.
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Post by Zhiel on Aug 11, 2008 20:02:15 GMT -4
Another giant sweatdrop rolled off the back of Rei's head when the girl following them shouted in response. Was that her idea of keeping herself unnoticed? Uriels answer to his question a few seconds later cleared up some of his questions regarding the thief, although with how impatient or careless she seemed to be he was not surprised she had failed to pickpocket Uriel, especially seeing how quickly he had reacted to the spore earlier. 'Well, I doubt she will be a problem.' Rei thought as he continued to follow Uriels trail. As they continued down the long ramp Rei heard a slight buzz from somewhere above, and as he looked up he saw what appeared to be a massive red fly, almost a decimeter in length, circle around a large pillar like stone before flying off, as he followed its path he noticed how it flew into a hole in the rock wall probably fourty meters above them, and from how it looked there seemed to be dozens of holes in the wall around it, a nest of Hunter Flies. Silently thanking whatever greater powers was out there that it had not noticed or cared about them, what with its nest so close by, Rei picked up his pace as he caught up with Uriel a few seconds later.
After merely a minute of walking down the narrowing ramp Rei heard the tell-tale sound of poison spores, or spores in general really. Walking slightly slower to not make too much noise the duo came close enough to see both the dozens of spores running around aimlessly like the pathetic critters they were, but also their nest and what seemed like an old building that was mostly intact, despite most of it being buried under rocks and dirt. Seeing how Uriel stoped Rei walked up beside him before he crouched down, stabilizing himself with his left arm, never letting go off his swords hilt, as he surveyed the area below them. 'Well, there sure is a lot of them... Wonder how we should deal with this... Maybe if we could lure them up here we could fight just a few at a ti-' Rei's thoughts was interupted when he saw in the corner of his eye how Uriel made a tossing motion with his right arm, and then saw how a object flew into the middle of the group of spores before a liquid like substance spilled out over all of them. Being the simple creatures they were they all looked towards the location of the noise, rather than where it had come from.
Noticing that the liquid the bottle had spilled had no effect at all Rei was about to ask Uriel about it, but just then he saw him take several quick, large steps towards the closest Poison Spore, ending its life before it could let out more than a painfull squeek. 'So much for subtlety' Rei thought as he stood up quickly and rushed to Uriels side, drawing his sword with grace as he side-stepped one of the closer Spores, stabbing it in its 'face' in a swift motion at the same time, after putting his left foot towards the spores side and pushing it off the blade. It was then he noticed how there was suddenly a fire where the bottle had landed, and soon after it grew into a burning inferno. Not really giving it any thought and instead focusing on the incomming spores Rei shifted the weight of his sword around as he held it slightly to the side, and the moment a spore came within range he quickly slashed at it, cutting a deep wound in its body. It continued like this for a short while, both Rei and Uriel easily dispatching the few remaining spores. After the battle Rei stood more or less frozen in place with his sword still out, as he stared at the blood on it. Had he really done that? While he felt he could handle the sword he now held, the fact he did not really remember how he had just used it the way he did was, to say the least, chocking to him. It felt like there was more behind his lost memories than amnesia...
Shaking his head slightly Rei decided there was no use in dwelling on these thoughts right now, and instead used one of the dead spores bodies to remove some of the blood on the blade, before he sprinted after Uriel, catching up just in time to see him toss another of those vials, this time into what appeared to be the nest of the spores, knowing what was about to happen Rei moved aside, just a second or two later the nest exploded, with a spore being sent out and into the chasm, on fire. “Nothing like the smell of fried innocent animal in the morning.” Uriel said as he looked at Rei as he said this. 'I would hardly call them innocent.' Rei thought, though he didnt really enjoy the unecessary pain that came along burning them, although he had to admit blowing the place up rather than killing every single one of them by hand was most definitely easier. Either way it hardly mattered.
Not really wasting any time the two walked into the large house, with the new light sources it was easy to tell how the place was constructed, and that it would be easy to walk down there using the staircase. And with how the chasm had looked that seemed to be the best way down to the bottom of it. However suddenly the sound of a Poison Spore sounded out behind them, spinning around nearly instantly with his sword ready Rei saw the spore come rushing towards them, but more directly towards Uriel who stood at the edge. Quickly thrusting with his sword as the spore came within range his sword pierced its skin and cut deep in, making it give out a painfull squeak, however it was not enough to stop its mad rush as it hit Uriel in the back, sending him off the edge. "Damn it!" Rei said aloud as he pulled his sword out of the now dead spore as he rushed down the stairwell, not really considering it could be in bad shape.
On his way down Rei heard a loud whizzing sound as he saw from the corner of his eye how Uriel had grabbed one of the cables in the shaft, taking a lot of the momentum from his fall, but he could not hold on to it and then continued falling. After another few seconds he heard a prety loud thud, stoping momentarily he looked down the shaft, but he could not see the bottom very clearly. "You alright!?" Rei shouted down the shaft, his voice echoing both up and down for a few seconds before it faded. Not getting any response Rei feared the worst, although he still believed the older man was alive. Continuing to run down the stairwell it took him nearly a minute to get all the way down, as he stoped a few meters from ground level he saw how Uriel was standing up with his sword out, this made a slight sigh of relief escape Rei, but when he surveyed the rest of the shaft and took in the whole scene of the dead, bloody bodies he seemed to be shocked by something, as he froze up, his eyes seemed suddenly disfocused and his facial expression seemed to be that of fear.
Rei was no longer in the dark ruined city that lay under Geffen anymore, what he saw infront of him was a completely different place, yet everything was fuzzy, dark and shady, like out of a nightmare, yet still real.
"This ones no good either..." A man who looked completely white to the dark background said with malcontent, just as a bloodied down body was tossed down what appeared a hole, the mans face seemed shrouded in shadows just like the background. There was a whole pile of bodies laying around, but there was also a dozen of black clothed men whos faces was shrouded in darkness as well, several of them was talking with one another of something, but there was two that seemed to be standing in front of Rei, holding strange steel objects in their hands.
As Rei stood in shock for nearly a minute, suddenly there was a flicker of movement from the corpses. When Uriel turned his back to them, several of the bodies of the dead adventurers suddenly rose up from their positions, nearly without making much sound at all, but enough to make the outcast priest notice and probably react just as most of them had stood up. It was pretty obvious they were dead, but they did not seem as brainless as most undead abominations were, as several of them held weapons in their hands in ways that suggested knowledge of how to at least hold them properly, one of those and the one that seemed the most dangerous was a dead knight whom held the same claymore that Uriel had almost fell on. While this was going on Rei suddenly dropped his sword as he fell on his knees, bending down slightly as he grabbed his head in his hands, shaking as he stared at the ground, his mind still trapped in the vision, as he then suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, a scream of both pain and fear, however it did not seem to be connected with the undead that was now moving towards Uriel.
OOC: Ugh.. That scene did not turn out as I had imagine it, oh well, better luck next time...
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Post by Mr. Butterfly on Aug 13, 2008 18:28:24 GMT -4
Elander picked up the pace to keep up with the other two, her petite form unable to take the large strides the big rude one took, and she didn't want to get lost down here by herself, considering the shadows she had spied earlier....some of them were not rock formations. She shivered at the thought, hoping that it was just her imagination.
As they continued down the rocky ramp, Elander heard a slight buzzing noise, and looked to her left, seeing nothing, then to the right, and there was nothing again. The buzzing clamored down for a second, and Elander decided it was nothing. A few more steps later, and the buzzing had started up again, a little louder now. She felt a sweat drop roll down her face and she looked around again, still seeing nothing, then looking ahead, and noticing that the two males had gotten out of her range of vision. Not good. Elander took a hasty step forward before something landed in front of her.
With red insect armor and large wings, the decimeter long Hunter Fly simply stood in the way of Elander's path, motionless, it's wide spec eyes staring at her. Elander had frozen up, except for the shiver running down her spine. She HATED bugs, and a large deadly one was no exception. She took a step backwards out of bodily reaction, and the Hunter Fly reaction, launching at her.
Luckily for poor Elander, then step she took was off the rampface, and she fell backwards, her body lurching forward and her hand flying out. It caught the edge of the rampside, and she gripped it tight, the rest of her body hanging off. She dared to look down, seeing the darkness of the chasm. She didn't want to find out what was down there, or if the brute's joke about being a demon's sexual slave was true that was just another reason.
Elander noticed something hanging from that cliff: the buzzing had stopped. What did that mean? Had the Hunter Fly flown off? Had it lost interest in her? Whatever the reason, Elander wasn't going to hang from a cliff until she fell to find out. She pulled her other arm up and heaved herself onto the cliff.
She grunted as she got up, her head down before laying flat out. She sighed in relief, almost grinning to herself, and looked up. Her Grin vanished. Almost a centimeter from her face was the Hunter Fly, it's back turned and twitching it's head like the fly it was, occasionally buzzing it's wings.
Move away slowly....move away slowly...
Elander got a good four inches before the Hunter Fly stopped and focused on it's surroundings, sensing movement. Elander froze with a worried look on her face. Great. Just Great. If this fly doesn't kill me by devouring me or pushing me off this cliff, that brutal man surely will. Elander slowly stood up, starting in the prone position then staying crouched low but ready to sprint if needed. The Fly was still absolutely still, and Elander took the chance. Step. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Elander screamed as she shot off like a rocket, just knowing that that damn fly was chasing her. She may have run for a good 7 seconds before she saw a greatarch and a light like a fire before everything went up. Or, she went down. And got splattered.
"Eeeeeewwwwwwwwwww....."
Falling face first in a pile of what smelled like sewage was NOT pleasent, considering it painted the entire front of her body with it. It was all in her hair too, and the smell was almost unbearable. Sitting up with her arms out grimacing, all thoughts of the nasty filth were wiped away. Bzzzzzzzz.
Turning her head slowly, she saw the Hunter Fly peering down on her from above where she had fallen, about 10 feet. If it was capable of human expression it would have been curious disgust, then it flew off, deciding that something that wasn't coated in crap would be better to get a bite off of.
Gulping once it was gone, she stood up, using her hands to wipe the gunk off of her face and arms for the most part, the her middrift. She climbed out, using a small slope the waste-making animals obviously used to create the cesspool. Once she reached the top, she spotted the culprits. Or, what was left of them. Only a fraction of the poisen spores remained, the remains of embers scattered on the ground, with charred remains here and there. Those that were not burned to oblivion were obviously slashed open, the work of the two before her.She gulped, wondering if that had been a simple task for them. Maybe she SHOULD reconsider who she was trying to pilfer from...
She sloshed, and by sloshed it means that her once fine shoes were slightly damp from crap and made a very faint squishing sound upon hitting the ground. With the rest of the spores in an odd semi-panic, to busy trying to figure out if they should have followed their slayers down the cliff but somehow knowing that "bad" things lay down their or just recooperate, Elander figured it would be easy to get by...until a bloodcurdling scream echoed out. It was one of horror and pain, and Elander looked to her side, to the side of the crevace, where the sound had omitted from.
But before Elander Collins could get down there and see what was up, she heard a sound behind her. Turning, she saw that a few of the poisen spores had found a new target, and were moving in on it: a young blonde thief covered in cesspool waste. The target gulped, one hand reaching behind her back for her Al Revs...
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Post by GoldenKitten on Feb 14, 2009 1:28:18 GMT -4
There’s a saying in life it’s, “Undead are fucking annoying”…ok that’s not really a saying but it had always been a core belief of Uriels. Of all the evil he had fought in his life they were by far the most annoying to face off against, your usual zombies went down with great ease and were fun for slaughter while your tougher demons at least gave you the joy of getting ones blood pumping. Undead who were fresh were in between this, they were slow but tough; some could also hit hard because they still retained a good bit of musculature. So basically what this whittled down to for Uriel was time, he hated wasting time and undead were never going to kill him they were just going to waste his time, he hated that.
Thus as he felt the dark presence that had obviously been making changes around him dissipate he was struck by the annoying sound of some armor clinking as the bodies began rising. He didn’t have to look to know what was happening as he had seen this sort of thing plenty of times, rather he grimaced as he inwardly acknowledged the before statement of hate for these creatures. He called them creatures because he was of the particular belief that your body didn’t mean much once you were dead, after all you weren’t in it anymore, so these weren’t people in his eyes at all.
Uriel spun around with grace the blade and his arm fully extended and in one blow he cleaved the head from one of the female creatures before it could even focus on him. This might have seemed a bit to easy but in truth Uriel had gotten lucky she had been the one standing directly behind him. She was in the tattered remains of a mages outfit so her body had already been relatively weak in life, had it been the knight he likely wouldn’t have made such an efficient first blow. As the girls head fell to the grown and the body twitched several times before simply going limp and plummeting to the ground Uriel backed up several feet ensuring that most of the creatures were now in front of him instead of coming from different angles.
It was at this point that Rei let out a blood curdling scream and Uriel cursed thinking he had misjudged the boy’s physique and the young man had found himself dead already. But to his surprise when he looked over the boy was simply on the ground covering his face as if he were scared. Uriel had missed the fact that the boy had been cowering for near a minute due to his concentration on the enemy in the dark but even so he quickly realized the boy wasn’t following the undead but rather seemed to be in his own little world. In classic fashion though Uriel cared little about the lads issues and was more concerned with the fact that he was one down a meat shield.
Uriel pointed to one of the creatures and rolled his eyes while talking as if it could actually understand him, “Ten billion wannabe swordsmen in this world and I have the good fortune to pick the psychotic one who starts crying like a little girl our very first true battle…great.”
Though obviously not as intelligent as living people the creatures still showed a semblance of strategy as the others made way for the knight and took up obvious positions around him. Uriel tipped his blade to the ground and kicked the end with his boot once before running straight at the undead mob. He came in with a slight jump and placed his feet on the ground at the last second to perform a crouching slide where upon he held his blade out to his side to cut the knight at the waist. The knight meanwhile had brought his blade high and intended to crush Uriels skull but the priest was simply to fast for that as he landed a solid blow at the torso and the knight’s blade simply hit the ground before them kicking up some dirt. However it was at this time that Uriel realized a slight flaw in his plan, Ragnhildr was indeed excellent at cleaving undead flesh, it was less useful for cutting through a knights inch thick steel however. Uriel had of course considered this but he had aimed for one of the weakest areas in a knight’s armor, clearly this individual was wearing heavier armor than the norm dictated and his blade stopped less than two centimeters through. Uriel only had time to comprehend this fact afterwards though as one of the surrounding undead, another mage it seemed plunged a large mace in his direction but luckily this ones movements were far more unwieldy and weaker than the knights.
Uriel rolled to the side of this particular blow and then quickly pushed off the ground and launched backward before watching the group again and reorganizing his plan. The undead seemed to do the same as they moved their positions and the knight seemed to take a looser grasp on the blade, perhaps in retaliation to a faster opponent. The priest turned his gaze to Rei momentarily to see if the boy was up yet and he grimaced when he saw one of the creatures, a swordsmen from the appearance, had broken from the main group and was headed in the boys direction. He had no real care to save the young man but if that kid died then he would have to explain to the wizards why his followers had wound up dead instead of appearing as if it had not caused any trouble at all, he preferred to be considered the latter, made for better business should his services ever be needed again. Uriel looked back and forth between both issues and formulated a plan.
He began walking toward the knight again though this time at a plodding pace instead of a run while he spun Ragnhildr in his hand, he figured the creatures senses weren’t good enough to keep up with the blade the more random he kept its movements. A smaller man wearing a fur outfit and wielding a small hatchet attempted to come in from the knights right side but Uriel spun to the side and delivered a backhanded blow with his free hand to the back of the hatchet mans head sending him to the floor for a moment. Uriel meanwhile kept on moving toward the knight who pulled backwards and aimed a wide swinging arc at Uriel. This time Uriel raised his blade and met the incoming blow, he immediately shuddered under the impressively powerful strike but he did not buckle and shrugged the blade off his own as quickly as he could. The knight then quickly whipped around far faster than Uriel expected and delivered several more blows, which Uriel managed to continue parrying. However he was no fool and realized that his arm strength could not match that of a knight, even a dead one and soon one of his blocks was going to fail.
This in mind Uriel darted straight for the knight as the creature raised the blade high in another attempt to break him. He wasn’t certain what he was doing would work but he knew blocking all day was going to get him killed. Uriel aimed the pointed tip of his blade right for the seam in the knight’s armor directly above the groin and plunged it inward. With the charge behind it and the pinpoint accuracy of the blow the armor quickly buckled beneath the pressure and the blade ran through the knight. In response the undead creature stopped for a moment and did not finish the swing it had been preparing, even the undead knew when they had a sword through them and it was this pause that was its undoing. Uriel left his blade in the creature and spun around its body until he stood behind it while extending his arm and grabbing the back of the golems head with his hand. Holy energies quickly poured through his hand and the area lit up as the visage of two angels wings exploded out of Uriels back though they quickly dissipated, at the same time as they came out his back a burst of white energy formed into the sharp edge of a sword shot forth from his palm and when the light disappeared so to had the knights head. Uriel once more spun to the front, wrenched his sword from the belly in which he had left it causing the now truly dead body to collapse in the process and then looked across the room. With not a second to spare he took aim, pulled his sword arm far back and then threw the blade up into the air where upon it spun several times and flew clear across the room. It only stopped when it planted itself tip first in the back of the skull of the swordsmen whom had been so close to Rei the boy was actually splattered with blood in the process. Uriel immediately began walking in the boy’s direction thereafter though he gave the knights body a momentary look.
“That was your fatal mistake…well…your second one.”, he would chortle heartily about that one later.
Meanwhile the undead mage whom had forced him away during his first attack was now shambling to place itself in between Uriel and Rei. Uriel picked up the pace and zigzagged back and forth as he approached the undead, performing a quick movement to the side to avoid a clumsy swipe from the undeads mace before launching straight at him, hand extended. This time his attack was far less subtle and refined, a single long arm punch to the creatures face planted it on its back where he then applied his boot and crushed the creatures skull in a rather gory display. Though Uriel couldn’t claim to be an appreciator of the martial arts he did have to admit the small range of movements he had picked up from a few acquaintances along the way had aided him greatly when fighting less capable creatures such as these ever since his excommunication.
Uriel quickly made his way to Rei’s side from there and looked down at the boy who though was no longer crying out still seemed to be in his own world. Uriel wasted no time on weak attempts to wake him up, he reached down, ripped Rei up off the ground by the scruff of his collar and set him on his feet though he didn’t let go just yet lest the boy simply fall back down. Once there he gave his “comrade” a vicious scowl and then yelled at him.
”Wake the FUCK up you blighter!” holding Rei in one hand he pointed at the undead laying dangerously close to them still sporting his sword in the back of its skull, “You now owe me TWICE. Now listen here and listen well, this ain’t the place to be daydreaming I don’t care what your problem is, don’t help me and I certainly don’t fucking help you. There’s bad things in this world, things you can’t imagine and one of them is here, now, last thing I need is you collapsing every time something shows up. So wake the fuck up! Help me cut these undead down because their possessed, never give up and will eat your flesh…don’t help me and you might find we have one or two of those things in common…take your pick which.”
Uriel dropped the lad and turned around quickly placing his foot on the dead creature next to them and grasping his blade, giving a swift jerk and pulling it out. He turned around and viewed the situation, the hatchet man was back on his feet and by far the closest to them. Farther back one or two mages were milling about seeming to have far less aggressive temperaments than the others and to their side was another swordsmen though a limp in its right leg slowed it down considerably and was likely why it had yet to attack anyone.
Then with no warning a object flew out of the darkness and sheer luck, not skill, saw it deflect off of Uriels blade which he had just been holding to the side. After regaining his lost stance from the unexpected blow he looked off into a far corner and saw a female carrying a bow, her body seemed in far better shape than the others and likely stood to why she was still able to wield such a sensitive instrument, luckily it seemed reaching back for another arrow from the quiver was a far more complicated procedure and was taking her some time. However to Uriels great disdain he could also see several corpses behind her that had been in the shadows till now rising as well, mostly more harmless mages and such, but one giant suddenly rose from the grave. He was not silent as his armor clinked with every movement and a loud thud echoed out as he planted his feet on the ground before rising. He didn’t even need to step into the light with his sword as large as a child and shield as round as a carriages wheel for Uriel to realize they had a crusader on their hands.
“That…could be a problem…” he muttered under his breath as he took in the requirements of what they, or he at least, was about to have to do.
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Post by Zhiel on Feb 16, 2009 13:16:35 GMT -4
While Uriel fought the hideous undead that had risen in front of him, Rei still sat on one of the staircases large steps, holding his head inbetween his trembling hands. His eyes were empty, but his face was full of fear and pain, yet like Uriel was able to guess, it had little if nothing to do with the undead before him, no it was linked to a secret which was locked in his mind, even from himself.
Blood, bodies, screams of pain and suffering. It all filled the young boys mind, but the most shocking of all was that, atleast in the vision, he was responsible for many of them all, even as he gazed at his own blood soaked hands through his hazy vision. It was a nightmare, it had to be a nightmare, he could not have done that! Was his thoughts as he let his hands fall and once more took in the gory display infront of him. There laid the bodies of dozens, maybe even twenty armed men and women of varying ages, though like everything else, the details was obscured by his hazy eyes and the shadow-like state of the vision.
Their bodies were soaked in blood from deep wounds, some had even had appendages torn straight off. It was a monstrous display, something you'd only expect the worst of demons to be capable off. Had it not been in a vision, Rei would certainly have felt an urge to vomit at the sight. Thats when several shadowy and hazy 'people' appeared, too far away for Rei to tell who or what they were, but still close enough for him to hear them speak.
"Failed, failed, failed... All of them failed, only one shows promise. Let us proceed."
"Yes, the master demands results, and we are almost there."
That was when another two shadowy silhouettes appeared shortly infront of where Rei thought he was, and approached him with the same strange metal objects from before. He wanted to run, to scream, but he was unable to, he could not control his body, and as such he just stood there as they approached. And then he was shook awake as Uriel dragged him off his feet and started shouting in his face.
”Wake the FUCK up you blighter!”
Rei was pulled free of his daydream right away, though having gone through quite the mental ordeal his mind was still fuzzy and he did not grasp the entierty of what the man who was now holding him was saying. Wait, he recognized the man, he was some kind of priest was'nt he? Oh yeah, his name was Uriel, and Rei had followed the man down into the big tower to...
Finally fully awake and fully aware of what was going on, just in time for Uriel to loosen his grip on the boy's collar, he stumbled a little when he was forced to stand fully on his own, but was able to regain balance in just a second as he looked around afterward. He could not forget what he had just witnessed outright, but the situation demanded that he push it aside for now and focus, so he did. However what was infront of him was still a terrifying scene, he had never seen undead before afterall, though he instinctively moved his right hand to the hilt of his sword and pulled it out as he placed himself in a defensive stance with his right foot moved back behind him and his sword in a double-grip and held infront of him.
Rei was just about to move forward when an arrow came from nowhere and hit the side of Uriel's sword, making the older man lose his balance for a moment. Rei looked to where he thought the arrow had come from and saw the form of a female with a bow, not looking nearly as 'dead' as the other corpses, but still notably so. Though it took time for the archer to ready its bow again, Rei knew that its arrows could become a great threat if Uriel and him was distracted by the other undead. And as such he was just about to rush toward it when he stopped suddenly when he saw a large silhouette rise in the darkness behind the archer.
"What.. the hell..." He said, stunned at the sight of the undead crusader. After a moments pause Rei turned to Uriel with a hesitant look on his face. "So, uhm... Whats the plan?"
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