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Hijinx
Exalted Player
Posts: 591
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:28 pm
Location: New look, check it out!

Post by Hijinx » Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:48 am

The original plan had been to lay into the obelisk, but deciding it would be better not to get nailed by a summon, Hijinx changed her strategy while she was still airborne. Zipping over the snake and passing the pillar, she whipped Urbosh out and swung back. The blob wrapped itself around the top of the stone and swung her around, picking up more speed from the arc and passing inches from the rock as lanceor fizzled away. Intending to cut off the counter that was bound to come, she twisted the section of blob she was holding, making the fist-fighter change angle enough to fly underneath the monster's neck below the head and back up and around as her pet released it's grip. Because of this little trick, Hijinx ended up wrapping Urbosh neatly around the serpent's neck as she slid and hopped to put herself above the eye, hammering a punch into it as she passed to cut off the reprisal.
Without waiting to see it worked, Urbosh, still attached to the snake below the head, shifted the player to the side and out of harm's way. Laughing the entire way, Hijinx swung under and over, landing at the base of the eye and preparing another shot just in case, her pet keeping a firm grip on her ankles on the off chance she needed to move in a hurry.
Hijinx the Lucky Former Rabbit
Level 35.000 Fist Fighter
Equip: Fist Guards, Wyrm Hide, guard cap, Snow panther, silver bracers
Item: 5 ressurect, 2 antidote, 10 healing potions, 6 Emperor's Soul, 3 Raging Earth, 5 Ice Floe, 4 Gale Breath, Knights Bane, 10 Speed Charms
Money: 1103gp
"The problem with life is there's no back-ground music."

Phoenix512
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Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Post by Phoenix512 » Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:33 am

Phoenix was trying to avoid the snake’s body after his attack on the eye but he was not fast enough to do so. The body caused him to force him back to a wall but was not enough to kill him. The combined impact of the snake’s body and wall caused Phoenix ache all over his body which caused him not to move for a few minutes. He looked at the battle which he noticed the group was not doing so well.

This is not good at all. We are not doing enough damage to the snake and it’s recovering its health. Who knows what other tricks that it has especially when it’s low on health. We’re barely surviving against its attacks now. Wait a second, why is the snake so attached to the obelisk? It looks like that the obelisk is not really going anywhere any time soon. So it will have to be the snake. Now I don’t think I can pull the snake away from the obelisk itself since it’s too wrapped around it. But I think I can pull enough the snake so that someone can take a nice clean cut and could weaken the snake that way. It’s time to set this plan in motion.

Phoenix cast the healing spell of La Repth on himself and anyone else who was near enough of him to be affected by the blue light of the spell. The pain from the dual impacts faded away as he took a Health Drink to restore his remaining HP. He managed to stand once again and sheathed his sword as he did not really need it at the moment. Then Phoenix proceeded to send a Flashmail to everyone in the area about his plan.

To: Everyone
From: Phoenix

Everyone, I have a crazy plan to stop this snake as normal tactics aren’t doing so well at the moment. I’m going to try to pull the snake off the obelisk as it’s so attached to it. I think the snake’s power is depended on being that obelisk as wouldn’t be easier for the snake to attack us while moving and harder to get a hit on it. So why stay at one place unless there’s an advantage to staying at that one place.

In order for this plan to work, I need everyone’s assistance on this. I know that I won’t have much of a chance to pull the snake off the obelisk since it’s coiled tightly around it. So I’m going to need someone by me or more specifically someone with a blade. I think I can create a big enough gap between one part of the snake’s body and the obelisk that it can be cut off. Hopefully that can weaken the snake and make more of our attacks effective against it. I need everyone else to distract the snake by targeting its eye and please don’t use a summon or an area effect spell unless you want your bones shattered. Wait until I give the word to start attacking.

I know it’s a crazy plan and all but what choice do we have. Either way, I’m going to try it anyway with or without you guys support. Let’s not die out here.

End Flashmail


After sending the flashmail to everyone, Phoenix changed from his Flare Guard to his Mountain Boots to quickly use Ap Corv and went back to the Flare Guard again. Suzaku, prepare to attack the snake at the eye once I get into position. After sending the order to his guardian bird, Phoenix lowered his gravity to one-half and headed towards the obelisk. He thought about lowering the snake’s gravity as well but it would be useless as it could wrap even tighter around the obelisk with its enhanced lighter muscles. He found a spot that he could grab around the snake and pull it. “EVERYONE, NOW!” With those two loud words, the plan was set in motion or at least on his end. It was up to everyone else to help him or not but Suzaku was helping her master by attacking the snake’s eye with its fire breath. Phoenix grabbed a hold of the snake’s body and began to pull on it with all his strength. He was not sure if he could do this or not but he was going to give all of might to make it a success. He waited for the person to cut the snake as he was pulling the snake away from the obelisk.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

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Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:06 pm

Lightning Bolt crashed home, the Obelisk crackling with static as the spell faded. Lanceor followed quickly, it too enveloping the stone in blue-white discharges. The Serpent, quickly realizing it had left its stone unguarded, coiled itself back around the Obelisk in protection. It's counterattacks hadn't had the desired effect, that of destroying the opposition... It was time for something new.

Or rather, it would have been, if not for the sudden appearance of the fist fighter. Hijinx and her pet sailed through the air and delivered a punch to the snake's massive eye. The eyelid snapped closed, the snake shaking its head to and fro, attempting to rid itself of the annoyance.

The effect that seemed to happen every time the eye was struck, the random casting of spells, began. Earth, Fire, and Darkness level one spells began to erupt around the cavern. These proved mostly useless, but the party was already weak, so there was no telling what might happen if too many got lucky.

The heavyblade pulled himself from the crater made in the wall, dusting off his cape and digging out his blade. That had been more painful than it should have been... But lucky for him, his level was such that the damage wasn't terminal. A quick switch to his Life Sword, and a quick cast of Ol Repth, had him feeling close to fine. Now... For the return strike.

Nighthand, seeing the effective use of certain spells, pulled another pair of Lightning Bolt scrolls from his cape. He activated the first, and despite his lackluster attempts previously, reached to grab hold of it.(9) And grab hold of it he did, but for not a very long time. Not enough time to add any power, certainly; only to aim. Still, the aim was true, and one more thunder spell crashed into the stone.

His second scroll activated as well, and he reached out again, hoping for a better grasp. Luck HAD to swing in his way once in a while, didn't it? (13) Apparently it did, for this time, he managed to take a firmer hold. Still, Thunder wasn't his strong point. The spell grew in power, slightly, and its aim was true. Far from what he could have hoped, but at least it was better than before.

Then came a pair of Flashmails. Nighthand opened the first; from Phoenix. As he read, he shook his head... what was the blademaster thinking? That snake was as big as a freight train, and he hoped to pull it away from the object it was protecting? And more... They'd all seen it descend from the ceiling when it entered; what was there to sever? Shrugging, Nighthand disregarded the flashmail and opened the other. If Phoenix wanted to wrestle with something so much larger, so be it... but he wasn't suicidal.

Marionette... Who was this strange character? Nighthand searched his memory, but could come up with nothing.
Do you have any ideas?
No... I haven't heard of this player before. No doubt a hacker, though. Maybe the guardian of this hub?
I dunno, the hackers aren't usually so subtle. What is this guy even trying to say? And why flashmail me at all?

Silverblade's silence was all he needed to know... Or rather, all he DID know. That any of them knew. Still, now wasn't the time to ponder the mystery, they had a fight to win. The snake seemed to be settling down, somewhat... Its eye would open again soon, and once more the counterattacks would come. They didn't have much time if they were to get more attacks in the opening.

---------------------ooc:
Dunno what you're trying to accomplish there Phoe, but I thought I'd made it pretty clear the monster was, well, huge. “A body thicker than a man is tall” isn't really something to heave out of the way...

Anyways. Other than that, so far so good? Marionette is sanctioned by me, by the way, as something that will have far-reaching effects. However, I'm not gonna drop any hints ooc. Nothing over AIM, or whatever. Deal with the flashmail how you wish, I don't require you to do anything with it.

Black Serpent
HP: 6657, regenerating

It appears that striking the obelisk deals damage.
It appears that striking the snake's eye causes it to cast randomly.

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Zhao Xun
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Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 3:09 am
Location: Wherever I'm needed.

Post by Zhao Xun » Fri Sep 08, 2006 8:04 pm

It came suddenly, in the middle of the battle, and such a distraction was not something I needed. However, its contents were interesting enough that I spent a few precious seconds reading the flashmail I'd just received.
Flashmail!
Sender: Marionette
RE: stringS
alL pathS leaD tO thE samE enD, aS alL stringS convergE arounD thE fingerS oF onE masteR. thE masteR toO iS A puppeT... whaT iS youR enD? dO yoU seeK youR enD?
What could it mean?

My thoughts were interrupted as I was struck by a Gan Don, though the attack seemed sort of half-hearted, as though the snake considered me a worthless target now.

That does make sense, you know. You haven't done much of anything as of late, and the only attack you made was worthless.

I know that, but you don't have to rub it in.

Then do something!

He wasn't the person I wanted to take advice from, but this was unfortunately the second time his advice was exactly what I needed. Perhaps it was the fact that his presence was one I detested... but now wasn't the time to analyze myself. I noticed that the Dek Ganz I had cast had worn off, so my first move was clear.

"Dek Ganz!"

With that done, I began to move again, trying to avoid any strikes from the snake while I plotted my strategy. But what could I do? It seemed the only viable attack option was to hit the obelisk, but I was so low on SP, how could I strike what I couldn't reach? I had to give myself time, and that wasn't something in a large supply. I had the SP left for maybe one spell, and it would be a weak one at that... but it would be something.

"Rai Rom!"

As soon as the spell went off, I continued my movement. I wasn't about to be caught off guard again, and I wanted to be useful.

Just be careful. I'd rather not die here.

Haven't lost your wit, have you?

How could I?

I stopped conversing with him. No matter how he seemed, he was still a murderer... and I wasn't about to let him get under my skin.

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:10 am

Oddly enough, none of the counterattacks imagined ever took shape. No hindering status spell messing with his controls, vengeful teeth sinking into his body, nuclear powered spells of mayhem sucking him up with a black hole…none. Instead, everyone else did a pretty good job at keeping the snake occupied. Winning awards for best distraction was definitely Hijinx, the one who seemed most directly linked with the extended breathing period the wave master was currently experiencing.

Unfortunately, the reprieve ended as the snake began to use it’s machine gun spell mode, firing off spells faster than anything should. Despite the poor aim, the massive quantity begged for some success. A forming Gan Zot crushed a bone or two in his right leg before the summoner had a chance to roll off to the side with a dodge.

Phoenix was a mixed case…the La Repth proved handy, but the follow up didn’t seem all that brilliant. The blademaster’s current strategy seemed to be on a track for failure, as it was a massive doom beast and those weren’t moved by twigs. Rayo might have been tempted to listen to the idea if it wasn’t failing so badly, or if it wasn’t suggesting to stop the ‘normal tactic’ that was working the most effectively. Both Nighthand and Zhao were flinging lightning towards the pillar of darkness, and waiting would result in a greater regeneration bonus for their opposition. Draining another Mage’s Soul, the sorcerer’s SP was bumped up immediately, granting a much more favorable fuel to burn through.

As his energies filled, the wizard took a moment to construct a warning for the gravity user. It was only fair to warn the guy to clear out before the trains passed through. If the fighter was caught in the crossfire, the complete summoning fest planned would be enough to wipe him out.


<Phoenix

Move. A thunder barrage is the only plan that is yielding any reasonable results. The summons are coming again.

Rayo>

Knowing that the player could clear out anytime he wished to, the Great Elite was aligned with a path to the target of his negative energy. Tapping once, Lanceor Ch took it’s form within the statue, set purely on shocking the Obelisk. The wolf clawed desperately, seeking to inflict maximum damage before poofing, leaving only a hazy lightning storm behind before that too faded. Yet, no sooner than the previous Lanceor expired, it’s lesser version popped back up into view.

The secondary strike wouldn’t be nearly as damaging, but the total losses should be stacking up. They needed to. Short of someone deciding to offer up some aid in the form of SP regeneration, the caster was on his bare bones for resources. With only the default SP recovery as his tool, there wouldn’t be any high powered blasts for quite some time.

How much more could the pair of creatures take with this fast paced battle? The constant stream of electricity should be making it consider investing money in stocks for rubber manufacturing at the very least.


ooc: Blue: Gan Zot
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

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Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Tue Sep 12, 2006 4:10 pm

There was really nothing new to the tactics the snake now employed. They seemed to have encountered most everything it would throw at them, barring some unforseen set of unlikely circumstances that triggered some other effect.

While the snake was busy scraping the fist fighter off its face, Nighthand and the others continued to bombard it with spells. Zhao's Rai Rom, Rayo's pair of Lanceor variants... Nighthand let them slip by without interfering. After all, if something went wrong, his controls could ruin a powerful attack.

For whatever reason, it didn't appear that the snake liked having its eye attacked. While it seemed to do little in the way of damage, the lack of focus in the resulting attacks made fine fodder for Nighthand himself.

Time to give the snake a taste of its own attacks.

Scanning the room, Nighthand spotted a quickly-forming Gan Don spell. He reached to grab it and found it easily enough to alter. The snake wasn't putting a lot of care into where it targeted, making a change in targets easy enough to effect (13)

The Gan energy moved across the room, taking shape above the Obelisk itself. Still, there was one more thing to do before the spell struck. He Reached to add force to it, to hold it back and let it grow. (2) Abruptly, his vision... inverted. Something was wrong... His hack, tweaking out again. "DAMN YOU XENOBIA" He shouted, losing control of the spell... The spell which vansihed. Nothing could come of the lack of energy which once flowed in his grasp.

By now the snake had stopped its spell barrage. Unless someone struck its eye again, it looked like they were in for some retribution. Therefore... It seemed like a good job for him.

Whipping his sword from his back, where it had ended up during all the spellcasting, the Heavy Blade rushed at the still-flailing serpent. A high leap carried him on to its slick back, and another leap left him perched on the creature's head.

"Juk Smash!" His blade flipped down, and he over it. Though his target was below and in front of him, it was just added time for the rotation. A fall, a flip, a spin, and his blade tore across the just-opening eye.

Glad that he fell to the ground, Nighthand scrambled out of the way as the serpent once more began to flail about. It smashed it's length against walls, attempting to remove the offending irritant that kept closing its eye... Not helping, of course, as Nighthand was already gone.

Now... The Obelisk was exposed.

Rushing in to the opening, Nighthand proposed to do two things. The first was a brief switch of weapons. His Corona Blade in hand, he quickly cast an Ap Corv over himself. The blade quickly was replaced by the Amiling Blade, his access to the greatest amount of attack power he could at his level.

Drawing up to the exposed Obelisk, the Heavy Blade shifted all he had into Strength. His opponent was stationary, thus his need for speed was reduced greatly. He was nearly stationary himself, now, but hopefully that wouldn't matter so much...

Ganz Maxima!

Ganz Maxima, one of the most powerful physical skills a heavyblade can bring to bear. Level three in nature, and expensive on SP, it dealt massive damage in the element of earth.

His blade seemed to grow heavier, coating itself with thick layers of granite. He swung, and each time his blade flew, the earth itself rose to meet it. His own blade was not force enough for the Maxima, the ground itself chose to add its own force to his swings. One strike, two, three. A flip and a final slam, and his attack was finished.

Not before the snake caught wind of what was happening, however. Even blind and enraged, it instinctively wrapped itself around the Obelisk. Nighthand barely had the time to shift to speed, to escape... And even so, the monster's huge mass slammed into him, sending him skidding into a wall with as much force as if the snake has been behind the blow. His stats shifted to speed, it was an immense amount of damage, and he found himself quite low on Hit Points. With the snake still randomly casting spells around the arena, it could quickly grow deadly.

---------------------ooc:

Black Serpent
HP: 4211, regenerating

It appears that striking the obelisk deals damage.
It appears that striking the snake's eye causes it to cast randomly.
Last edited by Nighthand on Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Zhao Xun
Elevated Player
Posts: 63
Joined: Fri May 12, 2006 3:09 am
Location: Wherever I'm needed.

Post by Zhao Xun » Tue Sep 19, 2006 12:39 pm

I moved around the room, trying to dodge the onslaught of spells being triggered by Nighthand's vicious attack. With my SP tapped for the moment, I wouldn't be able to make any damaging strikes, but I could keep myself alive while I waited for it to regenerate. If I could keep myself out of harm's way long enough, I might manage to get in a few more shots.

Ding!
New Flashmail!
From: Dien
To: Zhao Xun
Re: The other side of the World...
Message:
Hey Zhao, I was just wondering how you guys are doing over there in the other field, and how things are going with Rikama. Sorry if this comes at an inconvenient time; respond at your own leisure.

-Dien
He was wondering how we were doing? Perhaps it was better to not let him know our situation... and he wanted to know what was going on with Rikama? Even I wasn't sure at the moment. He had spoken to me through the seal I had... well, that I had thought I put on him. Now I wasn't sure what happened. I decided to answer quickly, leaving out most of the details.
Send Flashmail:
From: Zhao Xun
To: Dien
Re: Re: The other side of the World…
Message:
Thanks for the concern, but we're in a bit of a sticky situation at the moment... can't really take too much time here. Rikama's being... interesting. I'll tell you more when we meet up again, alright? Hope to see you soon.

... Sent!
With that done, I continued to dodge. If Nighthand could open the obelisk up for attacks again, I would take the shot, but for now, I had to focus on staying alive.

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Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Post by Nighthand » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:29 pm

Skittering to a halt across the floor, Nighthand picked himself up with care. That had hurt a lot more than it should have. Still, he wasn't one to go down lightly.

Yanking a handful of Health Drinks from his inventory, he brought himself up to a reasonably full amount of health. Wonderful thing, Health Drinks. Only, by this point in the game, it was about time to switch to something a little more potent.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like anyone had done anything meaningful while he was down. Like it or not, this snake was beating the tar out of them. Still... Losing would be a bad thing. Even he could die, and death was uncertain business... one never knew when the blow was weighted with more than just damage. Deletion was but a hair's breadth away.

Having been there, Nighthand knew that it was certainly no picnic. In fact, it was a hell of a mindfuck. Though it would probably be different for the others... they didn't have a backup ability, keeping them from really dying.

He had enough blood on his hands already, and he had no need for more. His only pupose was to prevent that blood from being spilled.

Since it had seemed to work before, Nighthand scanned his scrolls and pulled out two of a kind. Well... almost. One was significantly more powerful than the other.

"Ice Floe!"

A simple spell, the level one ice converge. Chunks of ice formed in a swirl of chilled water, hovering in mid air around the snake's head. A pause, and they shot inward, striking the beast's eye.

As the heavyblade had expected, the serpent closed its eye again, and once more the spells began to randomly impact the cavern. He ignored them. While they were a decent last resort for attacks, he had something quite different in mind.

"Permafrost!"

This spell began much like the others... though in this case, centered inside the snake's massive coils. Nighthand kept it from manifesting, though... a subtle grasp. (8) He held it, but barely... the power quivered and writhed in his grasp like it had a life of it's own and was begging to escape.

His grasp tightened, but the spell began to form. The power welled up strong, forcing its way through his ability like water. Still, he held it back... a bit more... then release. (18) Not just release. Added force. All the pent-up energy came crashing through, himself riding the wave, an intoxicating high of exhilerant control.

The spell formed like the one before. A swirl of frigid water, welling from the ground, dripping from the roof, congealing from the very air. Ice chunks formed, similar to those before... only somehow more deadly-looking. They glittered with horrible edges, icicles and blades of frozen water preparing an icy doom.

The first wave let off, but the rest continued to grow. A few seconds, and the next let off. More time, and a third, and then a fourth wave of sheer ice damage impacted the Obelisk.

Nighthand, satisfied for the moment, just hoped the others would contribute. While he could do this alone... that was all it would be, from then out. If he killed this, there would be no turning from that role. They wouldn't know how to win without him. That was something they couldn't afford.

------------------ooc:
Black Serpent
HP: 3409

Regeneration has worn off.

Alright guys. At this point I don't care if we kill the serpent or not, it doesn't matter. If activity hasn't picked up a lot by two weeks from now, this quest is over. Period. Don't tell me why you're not posting, I don't care; use that time to post instead of talk to me. And keep doing that. We were going so well, and then everything died.

An announcement will be going up once I've posted in the other thread as well. There will be penalties for inactivity, now. You're in the so-called elite board; make it seem more than just a dying beast.

Note: If both groups decide to pull out of one and finish off the other, I'll allow that. So long as it's agreed on by all, or almost all, of the members involved. The quests can be done over, too, if they're stopped. That's not an issue. The issue is the inactivity. There won't be splits again.

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:51 pm

High powered summoning spells were no longer available at this point, any of those would instantly turn his bowel sized energy into barely enough to fill a teaspoon. Besides, they obviously weren’t dealing enough damage to finish this. The pure length of this encounter had left it’s mark, and SP just wasn’t cutting it. Items however, still possessed some capacity for usefulness, despite any remaining with regenerative qualities. First came the Beast’s Bane, something that should have been done ages sooner. The mage had just kept on assuming that the fight would be over in too short a time for the effect to matter. By now however, the decreased magic defense would certainly prove advantageous. Since the Obelisk hadn’t blocked a status detriment yet, this one would likely burrow into the creature just the same. The next tool was one for himself, a hermit’s blood meant to boost his own power up. This was slightly more economical, as his spell list adjusted once more, with the coming of Ap Corma for later.

The wave master, having watched the success of Nighthand’s in progress strike, prepared his own immediately after, planning on taking advantage of the opening. While coiled around the primary target, that snake easily brushed off tornado spells, but now the situation was different.

Tapping his rod, an unnatural bit of magic pulled from the field, unlike the standard route from a piece of equipment, traveling through the user’s body, manifesting itself without delay despite the roundabout access point. Not going with the most devastating spell, regardless of it’s existence and readiness to be used, one almost as deadly was specifically picked. The gargoyle’s gift was quite welcome as MeRai Rom crashed down from the cloud that phased into existence above the battlefield. Bolts of electricity crashed down on the target, surrounding the obelisk with a layer of rotating lightning.

Remaining stationary while utilizing items and casting had it’s disadvantages however, as one of the random spells caught the spell caster within it’s blast radius. The Vak Kruz made his meager health resources lessen, but not enough to put him near death. Such weak counterattacks could be ignored for a while longer.

With the conjunction of a pair of level three magic, surely the serpent would be returning to it’s default position. A second MeRai Rom would most likely fail to land a scratch, and it would be a few more seconds before one could be attempted. Still, the coiling would be from the down up, leaving the tip exposed a bit longer than the rest of it. A convergence style should have the necessary speed, but what was available for such a plan? Medium powered wood and darkness, as well as negligible fire or thunder. Even being of the proper element, the spell was too weak to be useful.

Instead, the final remaining Lightning Bolt scroll was pulled out from underneath his cloak, poised to be used once the time was right. The pattern had been repeated too many times by this point not to be noticed, leaving the opportunity to try and skip the next phase, where the snake would do something more efficient and life threatening. The artificial Rai Don slammed down into the eye once it had opened, not wasting any time except the pause long enough to make sure not to contact a closed lid.

Afterwards, Rayo went along with mimicking the heavy blade’s tactic, having recovered enough to now make that second MeRai Rom a reality. The process repeated, resulting in just as much ruckus as the previous appearance. Once again the wizard would be drained, but that was unavoidable by this point. Unless…


<To Everyone,

If anyone has a spare Mage’s Soul, Artisan’s Soul, Emperor’s Soul, or anything of the like, donations would be very much appreciated. I’m a bit short on batteries.

Rayo>

With his plea sent forth, all the player could do was run. A Gan Don was already materializing a little bit to his left, and there would quite likely be more where that came from.

ooc: Blue: Ap Corma
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

ryok
Elevated Player
Posts: 70
Joined: Fri Oct 01, 2004 6:38 pm
Location: Unknown

Post by ryok » Mon Sep 25, 2006 2:55 am

(OOC: No excuses that would matter much, even though I should put one. I guess I could say I’m sorry, but that wouldn’t help much either. Sorry.)

-With the entrance of Tokki the crystal Gargoyle count dropped significantly. A white aura descended down from the ceiling, chasing its beginning were white angelic feathers. Ryok’s body rose up his limbs still without motion until he was floating high enough above the ground to stand. An awkward force pushed him forward leaving him standing and looking about the room. He had never experienced begin reborn that way, it felt weird, and he still ached from the battle before. Turning from the darkness he looked back at Rayo.

-“Thanks” His blade readied in his hands in under a second. Another spell of Rayo’s dropped from the heavens upon ryok. His elemental stats in which he was very in tune with changed. Smiling he looked for his next adversary, but sadly they had all been finished by his comrades. Sighing he pushed his blade back on to his back. The group met, and Nighthand exchanged some words with Elin, and she floated down through the door way and down a hall until she stopped again. Seeming to look back in distress. Ryok followed last into the short hallway. The ground shook and the ceiling started down on them. Following close behind the person in front of him he couldn’t tell who exactly it was. He was sure they were trying to get to safety wherever they were going because they were doing it fast. He looked back the fairy just managing to make it through behind him. Turning back towards the ground he realized they had all disappeared, or so it had seemed. Taking a few steps forward he realized there was a drop there, but not fully realizing it until he was midair falling down it. Hitting the ground with a thud he didn’t seem to want to move. His body mangled on the floor, the group moved forward without him. He managed to get a few words out to the fairy that was still floating above him.

-“Repth? Thanks...” He said with a sigh of relief following after it. The blue shade followed the words of the fairy as she softly said them in the darkness. Rising to his feet he waved his head back and forth to get the kinks out. He sunk up behind the closet comrade and pretended that he had always been there. The fairy floated around the room until she came upon an object.

-Ryok’s eyes narrowed as Nighthand’s spell shook the room. The spotlight burst into dark confetti that littered the ground. An invisible tendril hit the fairy from the group and the room shook with a grand and violent roar. His arm outstretched wrapping around the blink of light that was the fairy. Turning he waited for the dark tentacle to strike. A black cord wrapped itself around ryok’s waist and flung him several feet. Turning on the floor his arm opened and let the fairy free. Flying from his arm she turned back to where the once were only to see the area disappear behind a sheet of darkness. Ryok opened his eyes, the room around him crawling with life as lengths of black curled and twisted around the group. Ryok stood pulling the Light Giver from his back. The blade’s name seeming to fit this battle against the darkness. It cast a shadow of the group unto the ground. It’s radiance, a dull yellow glow, cascaded throughout the room. Ryok proudly shook it until he realized the glowing was merely the light of the fairy that floated behind his blade. Lifting it above the fairy he dropped it just behind her, as a sneaky tendril got closer. Grabbing her from the air he tossed her away from the converging absence of light around her. Slashing around the area she once was the rid the space of the darkness.

-A series of lightning spells shook the room, and Elin’s light seemed to grow in size as the dark spotlights shrunk in number. Ryok’s legs spread as he looked back at the fairy who was pushed up against the wall of the room. His blade slashed the abyss that lay in front of him, hoping to keep the darkness away. He continued until his breath ran low. His mind was somewhere else until he had stopped. Tears dripped from his face, but it wasn’t his emotions that were causing it. The humid wind that blew through the room covered his body and made him uncomfortable in his own skin. His thoughts, and sense of touch came flooding back to him as the point of his sword hit the ground. His hidden rage subsided. Something was different though the room had suddenly gone dark just seconds prior to his reentrance. His legs shivered as a cold feeling ran up them. Turning back towards the wall Elin was gone.

-“Damn it!” His arm thrust forward into the darkness, and pulled her from it. The room was instantly reborn in a light that shone from ryok’s hand. She was still alive thankfully. Setting her on his shoulder for a moment he pushed his blade into the wall where she had been. “Rai Drive!” The blade light with a bright yellow aura as the attack took hold. The light swirled around the blade as ryok pulled it up and left and right shredding the blades of darkness. Turning back from the wall he looked out at the group. With two more destroyed Elin’s light grew even greater, and the thought that they might just make it through this hellhole became a reality. Ryok looked down now addressing the cool feeling on his legs. What he hadn’t noticed before he had started his last attack was the numbness that now covered the lower half of his body. Lifting the top half of his kimono he looked down in shock at the darkness that now covered his body. He shifted his tiny weight on to one side and tried to move his leg, but nothing happened. His blade rose pointing towards him. Dropping it he cut through the darkness that laced itself between his legs, which made enough recede so that he could move. Pulling himself from his formally fixed position he watched as the room blew up with light. Crystals that were once hidden on the ceiling were revealed and amplified Elin’s lighting abilities.

-As the darkness disappeared under the weight of Elin’s light it became clear what was running the show. An obelisk sat in the middle of the room. Not to soon after a gigantic snake coiled itself around it, and their true foe was revealed. Ryok smirked at the sight of their new foe, no longer would he be weighed down by having to protect the fairy. Smiling he wanted to be the first to attack it, foolishly before anyone else had the chance too. Running towards the monstrous beast he jumped pulling the Demonic Blade from its sheath he landed a clean blow to its side. Landing on the ground he sheathed the blade, and turned back towards the group a huge smile across his face. The beast let out another deafening roar. Ryok’s eyes closed, and his mouth with a flat expression, stretched across his face. The tail of the beast swung knocking him off to the side and into the wall.

-A crater held him in the wall. His head slumped over and his eyes closed. He slept for what seemed like a few moments when he awoke in front of him multiple flash mails were strung across his vision. Grabbing them he read through them at his own pace, forgetting about the battle that was taking place right in front of him.

Flashmail
To: Nighthand, Hijinx, Ryok, Zhao Xun, Tokki, and Phoenix,
From: Rayo

This beast is doing pretty well at taking our attacks and striking back with something painful. Perhaps we could try a few concentrated barrages? We were going after the Obelisk first…let’s make that our target for now. Still toss out some physicals to keep the monster distracted and disrupted, but magic seems to be the best course of action when it comes to reaching the hidden monster.

Flashmail
To: Nighthand, Rayo, Zhao Xun, Ryok
RE: strings

alL pathS leaD tO thE samE enD, aS alL stringS convergE arounD thE fingerS oF onE masteR. thE masteR toO iS A puppeT... whaT iS youR enD? dO yoU seeK youR enD?

Flashmail
To: Everyone
From: Phoenix

Everyone, I have a crazy plan to stop this snake as normal tactics aren’t doing so well at the moment. I’m going to try to pull the snake off the obelisk as it’s so attached to it. I think the snake’s power is depended on being that obelisk as wouldn’t be easier for the snake to attack us while moving and harder to get a hit on it. So why stay at one place unless there’s an advantage to staying at that one place.

In order for this plan to work, I need everyone’s assistance on this. I know that I won’t have much of a chance to pull the snake off the obelisk since it’s coiled tightly around it. So I’m going to need someone by me or more specifically someone with a blade. I think I can create a big enough gap between one part of the snake’s body and the obelisk that it can be cut off. Hopefully that can weaken the snake and make more of our attacks effective against it. I need everyone else to distract the snake by targeting its eye and please don’t use a summon or an area effect spell unless you want your bones shattered. Wait until I give the word to start attacking.

I know it’s a crazy plan and all but what choice do we have. Either way, I’m going to try it anyway with or without you guys support. Let’s not die out here.

Flashmail
To: Everyone
From: Rayo

If anyone has a spare Mage’s Soul, Artisan’s Soul, Emperor’s Soul, or anything of the like, donations would be very much appreciated. I’m a bit short on batteries.

-So, whose this weirdo sending me these flash mails, and wtf? I couldn’t have been out that long… Could… I… Have?…

-Ryok pushed himself from the wall his hand diving into his pouch. His eyes scanned the room. Rayo seemed to be running for his life, as did Nighthand. He hadn’t time to search for the others all he knew was that he needed to help. His idiocy at the beginning of the fight he hoped wouldn’t be the cause of their demise.

-“RAYO!” His arm shot up as the two mage’s souls he had tied together in a half second shot towards the mage. Ryok’s left arm shot down to the sheath of the Demonic Blade. He squeezed it hard as he looked down at the ground. The symbols of an ancient writing or one of an unknown origin came into dim light as the glyph became apparent. The spell had already materialized. Ryok lunged forward. His body, outstretched, he seemed to move in slow motion. The boulder came crashing down on to his small body, and then disappeared as swiftly as it had come. Just shaken from the attack he rolled to the side as the best let out another roar. A glyph appeared where he had been laying a level two, fire spell that would’ve done him good if it had hit him. Pushing into the ground he rose to his feet, and quickly moved sideways to avoid being struck by another level two, fire spell. dodging the random castings of spells he realized the beast’s health was obviously low.

-How though… How are they harming it if even my blade wouldn’t cut it? How… Oh, wow…

-The thought hit him, the one thing the creature was protecting. It wasn’t rocket science… The one thing that the creature first protected. The thing Phoe had hinted at in his flash mail, the obelisk was its weakness. Ryok pointed his palm towards the snakes hide trying to focus on the obelisk inside the snake’s coils. He let the spell go as he rolled to the right to dodge another spell. He planned to waste this thing, or at least try..

-“Dek Vaks” He said rolling from nothing but air, or so it seemed. The spell converged around the area he had once been standing. Pulling Suzaku’s Pants from his body and the Kaga off his back he replaced them with a Winter Coat and a Frost Anklet. Again he pointed toward the snake’s hide and concentrated deeper then just that, beyond the snake and at the obelisk. Another spell left his hands… “Dek Ruem” With that spell said and done he hoped that they had indeed hit and were working and were on the target he was aiming for. A level two, darkness spell engulfed him its shards converging around him as both of his palms shot forward. The words were muffled behind the darkness, the only way one were to be able to hear them is if he too were inside the violent storm of the spell. “Vak Don…Rue Zot!” The spells flew from his hands with fury towards the broken target.

-As the spell lifted ryok stood on his hands and knees looking up at his opponent. Falling away from where he was another earth spell formed and broke within seconds. Mentally blocking the pain he knew he had to make what little healing products he had last. Again he rose from the ground hoping away from the obelisk and snake to evade yet another spell. From inside his kimono he pulled a scroll, one that he had been saving for a time like this. A time that he hoped it would somehow pull him through. Raising it towards the desired target…

-“Flame Blast!” The scroll disintegrated after the shouting of the spell its ashes being swept away as ryok moved over them to dodge another spell…

(OCC:Yeah, I hope I covered everything. Sorry again, and I’ll be posting after the next person. I hope I’m not to late to redeem myself.)

Image
Ryok| Lvl. 27| Heavy Blade| Demonic Sword| Kagayuzen| Fire Bracer| Suzaku Fiery Pants
Karin| Kannon| Miu Lei| Vak Rom| Vak Don| Dek Vaks| Ap Vaks
Skill Drain| Death

Wish list:Black Sharp Angelic Wings| Time Headband| Unique Weapon

Phoenix512
Exalted Player
Posts: 304
Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:42 pm

Post by Phoenix512 » Tue Sep 26, 2006 3:13 am

Phoenix was trying to pull the snake away from the obelisk but somehow he didn’t realize that the snake was quite huge. Along with the fact that nobody was going to help him, he decided it was pointless to pull on the snake in hoping to remove it from the obelisk and went towards one of the walls just as a barrage of attacks strike the obelisk.

They could have warned me about the barrage instead of relying that I would naturally avoid it by common sense. Why do I stay with them when they don’t tell me anything and ignore me with ease? I just want to help but they think I’m that just there and shouldn’t be trusted with a plan at all. I’ll think I just better off not getting into this fight right now. My magic attacks are just pathetic and attacking the eye is bringing a counterattack against me and the others. I rather fight an Elite than this damn snake. I just want to be useful that’s all but everyone makes me feel useless. What’s this?

Phoenix opened up a Flashmail that Rayo sent to everyone.

Flashmail
To: Everyone
From: Rayo

If anyone has a spare Mage’s Soul, Artisan’s Soul, Emperor’s Soul, or anything of the like, donations would be very much appreciated. I’m a bit short on batteries.

End Flashmail


I think that I should help Rayo and kill this damn snake and get on with our quest in destroying this hub. After that, I’m doing nothing else in this battle.

Phoenix went towards Rayo who was running around to avoid the snake’s attacks while trying to regain his valuable energy. Good thing for Phoenix that wavemasters are slow by nature and with his enhanced half-gravity movement, he was able to catch up to Rayo with ease. He takes a couple of Mage Souls that he bought recently from the hideout and gives to the wavemaster and speaks to him.

“Here you go, Rayo. Next time, give me a better warning when you’re about to summon Lanceor instead of a Flashmail. Just yell out. It’s not like the snake understands human speech. Well that should be enough to defeat that snake and move on. I’ll just get out the way now.”

Phoenix leaves Rayo’s company and goes to one of the corners of the cavern. He leaned back on the wall as his faithful guardian comes to him. Kazuma-sama, I need to rest for a bit as I used all of my energy against the obelisk and the snake. Suzaku transforms into her necklace form as Phoenix was in deep thought about something. What was that one Flashmail all about? It’s like that every last letter was capitalized instead of the normal way. I probably think more about this once we get the hell out of here. One thing is for certain, this person knows who we are.
Phoenix
Level 48 Blademaster
Equipped Skills: Vak Revolver, Gan Revolver, Dek Vorv, La Repth, Juk Kruz, Rue Kruz, BiVak Rom, GiGan Zot
Other Skills: Rue Kruz, Rip Synk, Rip Saem, Crack Beat, Rue Slash, Ani Slash, Gan Crack, Gan Revolver

Wish List: Phoenix's Fire, Gold Necklace
EX-Spheres: LV 3 - Overdrive, LV 3 - Curative, LV 3 - Elemental Breath

Hijinx
Exalted Player
Posts: 591
Joined: Thu Apr 03, 2003 11:28 pm
Location: New look, check it out!

Post by Hijinx » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:31 pm

OOC: Sorry for the lateness, lack of creativity and production of a 3D rendered 2 story building to scale have kept me occupied :evil: . That said, on with the posting!

Too many spells, too little space to manuever. The only option was to move, and fast. Grabbing her pet and running forward, Hijinx stomped on the eye before jumping, buying some much needed time to escape the massive volley of elemental harm. She hit the ground running, hopping around to dodge the occasional random spell and working her way towards the wavemaster, nearly catching a nasty blow from a vak kruz in her haste. As she was running, she was also pulling emperor's souls out of pockets, preparing for something that was bound to be unpleasant for a someone at least. Four of the sp items in hand, the fist-fighter grinned, throwing a pair of them straight at Rayo.

"Think fast!"

Taking advantage of the time it would take him to catch the things, she tossed the other two at his feet and swept in an arc, turning a full one-hundred and eighty degrees, as she grabbed the top of his staff and pointed it towards the obelisk.

"Lanceor CH please!"

Turning her head enough to smile back in his general direction, she waited as he used the souls, scripts already in motion to make the summon something to be feared.

OOC: Rayo is actually going to be finishing this one for me either today or tomorrow, I forget which :D .
Hijinx the Lucky Former Rabbit
Level 35.000 Fist Fighter
Equip: Fist Guards, Wyrm Hide, guard cap, Snow panther, silver bracers
Item: 5 ressurect, 2 antidote, 10 healing potions, 6 Emperor's Soul, 3 Raging Earth, 5 Ice Floe, 4 Gale Breath, Knights Bane, 10 Speed Charms
Money: 1103gp
"The problem with life is there's no back-ground music."

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Tue Sep 26, 2006 9:00 pm

Watching as the snake still had yet to open it’s eye from the previous closing, the Great Elite tilted upwards. One quick utterance of Rai Kruz was all it took to keep the damage climbing. The rotating spheres did not pause, but rapidly struck the Obelisk near it’s zenith. The spell caster prepared to repeat with another basic attack, but the situation was constantly evolving.

Suddenly, it was his birthday. Hearing Ryok’s call just in time, the wizard got a grip on one of the two flying items, acquiring the second one through their unity. Before consuming either of the substances however, the blade master landed beside him, offering up yet another pair of the addictive Mage’s Souls. To Phoenix’s chiding, the mage only nodded. At least he had given a warning in the first place. Still, it was good to have the other player in a position to offer support if it was necessary. If the snake was allowed enough time to actually get off more of a counter than random spells, people were inevitably going to die.

The wave master took a long swig of one of the Mage’s Souls in his hands, storing the rest of his temporary possessions away for the moment. Housekeeping was first on the agenda. Since the battle heated up, there hadn’t been any sort of decent recovery going on.


“Ap Raio, Ol Repth.”

Accessing his unnatural spell inventory, his boosting was nearly perfect. The only thing left to do to put him in the optimal situation would have been a Dek Raio, but there wasn’t enough time to waste on every possible status change. With the newly boosted thunder stat as a backing, the lightning mage retargeted the Obelisk, planning to get a strike in with the first move to fail in the encounter.

“PhaRai Rom!”

Dropping from the sky as more of the electricity surged in from the sides, both forces twisted together around the Obelisk, ensnaring it within a brutal thunderstorm. Golden beams curved around to the base, light shining through the openings where the serpent wasn’t blocking the path. The entire radius of the assault seemingly shuddered itself, ending with an oddly timed popping sound. He nearly smiled, pounding the snake down was much better than when it was nuking him was shards of the darkness. Still, ill timed thoughts had a way of repaying themselves. Both Ani Kruz and Ani Don broke out of the darkness in a most convenient fashion for what should have been an ill aimed strike. The series of skulls dropped from the ceiling directly on top of the wizard, while the floating bones slammed in from the sides. There was an elemental hit, but neither spell was above level one. The damage certainly wasn’t major, but the scattered hits would add up.

The next object coming in to impact his body was much more welcome as a pair of emperor’s souls bopped the forehead of the still disoriented sorcerer. Off of the rebound one dropped into his bag, while the other was fumbled in his left hand for a moment before being secured. By that time the Fist Fighter was already by his side, demanding a hasty summoning. There was no reason not to comply as the recovery items mounted. Summons seemed to be the only effective attack routine while the snake was in place defending, a position it surely wouldn’t leave vacant much longer than it already had. Rayo devoured the contents of the Emperor’s Soul on hand, recovering his energy back up to it’s maximum levels. Placing his free hand also on the staff, the wavemaster raised the weapon by a few degrees to make sure it was fixated on the top half of the boss before chanting the appropriate phrase.


“Lanceor Ch!”

The electrical backlash surprised him, as the electricity traveled back through his body in a painful manner, lowering the boy to one knee. The bigger surprise was the creature rampaging above, not a standard wolf, but a more godly figure. If he tried to place the origin of the design, one would probably agree on Thor, given the overly large hammer than rivaled the snake in width. A few stones littered the floor, not from any sort of Gan Dons being cast, but from the fact that the titan’s horned helmet was carving up the ceiling. With a loud ‘ding’, the godlike summon spread forth, scampering over part of the snake’s tail as it bounded up even higher, imposing hammer of doom raised up before crashing down on the Obelisk’s top. Perfectly timed with the slamming steel, a thunder sounded much like that of the PhaRai Rom, but the visual far surpassed it. An unholy light filled the room, blinding at least the wavemaster momentarily with the overload. Caverns just weren’t supposed to change lighting schemes that quickly. Nor were they supposed to deal with shockwaves, but the wind that kicked up quite a few more stones, but mainly just harmlessly pelted the walls. Rayo mainly just held onto his stick that was propped in a crack in the ground, remaining where he was until the his summon departed. With that kind of display, he only half noticed that over three times as much SP as usual had been consumed.

ooc:

Blue: Ani Kruz, Ani Don

Ryok’s Mage’s Souls: One used, one held

Phoenix’s Mage’s Souls: Two held

Hijinx’s Emperor’s Souls: One used, three held
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

User avatar
Nighthand
Master of Games
Posts: 1265
Joined: Mon Mar 31, 2003 9:23 pm
Class: Bladesmage
Location: ...Tracking...please wait...

Unscramble...

Post by Nighthand » Thu Sep 28, 2006 4:43 pm

Nighthand was busily running over his inventory of scrolls, trying to come up with a plan on what to use next, when a massive discharge of energy caught every one of his senses. He glanced up at the snake and obelisk, exactly the wrong thing to do.

Immediately, his eyesight was destroyed by the immense flashes of light. His skin tingled, the static reaching every corner of the room. Hearing was battered with constant crashing thunder, and the smell of ozone filled the room. Even his hacked sense was overwhelmed by the sheer force of the thunder spells crashing down on to the snake.

When the thunder stopped, the ringing in his ears faded away, and his eyesight returned, Nighthand looked on with the others at the effect the spells had on the beast.

The Serpent was no longer coiled around the Obelisk. No longer was it even upright, for that matter. It seemed every muscle, which it had plenty of, was lax. The obelisk still stood, but it had changed. It's once-black surface, smooth as a mirror, was now covered with yellow-glowing runes and cracks that glowed with an inner fire. The room was still.

Nighthand looked around, but there was no sign of life other than themselves. The snake was dead, the Obelisk was static, and Elin was nowhere to be found. Where had she gone? Maybe she was just some kind of lure, like the glowing light on an angler fish, attracting smaller fish into it's mouth. Then again, she could have simply died... Either way, they seemed to have plenty of light, though no source was readily apparently.

Nighthand cautiously aproached the Obelisk. Nothing happened as he neared, nor as he stood before it. He reached out, a hand touching the cracked and still-hot surface...

-The snake reared up, roaring to life once more stronger and more powerful than ever. Nighthand yanked back, but not soon enough; the beast plunged into the ceiling and ruined what support it had left, crashing the cavern down around them, leaving them all buried under tons of rock...---

-Nighthand pulled back. What the hell was that? Some kind of hallucination? The snake was still as it had been, draped around the room. The ceiling was as strong as ever...

The Obelisk began to shudder and shake. It's last-ditch psychological attack hadn't won it the battle, and so it conceded victory. Faint lines appeared in it's surface, a hatchwork of vertical and horizontal. It shot upwards, like an extension ladder, disappearing into the dark spot in the middle of the ceiling. Rungs appeared on it's surface, enticing them to climb. And so, climb he did, the heavyblade leading the way.

Once up at the level of the ceiling, he was given pause. The ladder continued, but into what looked like a pure black pool of darkness. Anything could be hidden beyond... but there was no other way out of the cavern. Cautiously, he climbed a little higher.

Head sticking through the darkness, he saw it for what it was. A simple layer, a two-dimensional cloak of black fabric to keep them from seeing what lay above, and keep the light from getting into the cavern below. What lay ahead was a short tunnel, that lead quickly back to the surface.

Where he, and the rest of the party, emerged looked much like the clearing from which they had entered the cave. Behind them was a hole in the ground, the exit from the snake's chamber, and ahead of them was a path through the forest.

Between them and the path was something else entirely, however. A pool, a clear spring trickling off in the form of a stream, and a set of stone benches. A resting point, he supposed, and he fully intended to take the time to rest.

Nighthand headed for the spring, splashing himself with some of the cool water. To his surprise, it immediately filled up his HP and SP bars. Smiling and feeling quite refreshed, the heavyblade sat down heavily on a bench to wait for the others.

Something glittered in the bushes beyond... Nighthand leapt up. What was it? Moving over, his sword drawn, he pushed the underbrush aside.

A treasure chest lay in the shade, revealed from it's long abandonment. Pushing back the lid, they all heard a chime, and the chest disappeared.

Sighing, Nighthand headed back to the bench and sat once more to rest. They had some decision-making to do.

"Well... we beat that, but it was pretty clearly not the hub. So, what say you all? Do we press on, in our weakened state and diminshed numbers, or do we return to perhaps help the other group?" He loathed the idea of giving up, even if they could come back later. That was a huge mess to go through for nothing... but if that was par for the course, how could they expect to make it much further?

-----------------ooc:
Rest time. The chest gave everyone two items:
-Key Item: Golden Leaf
-Nighthad, Ryok, Jinx: + Health Potion
-Rayo, Zhao, Phoenix: + Artisan's Soul

Discuss IC and/or OOC what we're going to do. The other thread picked up nicely, so it's unlikely to be cancelled if it keeps up, but this one's not doing so hot. If you choose to press on, I fully expect at least one post per person per round. Less than that won't cut it.

Rayo
Exalted Player
Posts: 485
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2003 7:21 pm

Post by Rayo » Thu Sep 28, 2006 7:25 pm

That dual action summoning was impressive, but painful for all of the senses. His hands still burned from the contact forced by the ceremonial posturing. His ears were mostly unaffected, the sounds of crashing thunder already well established from past experience. The same went for his sense of smell, leaving it nearly untouched, where the leading heavy blade felt the noticeable difference. No, direct contact left more of a numb feeling than anything else. Statistically the effect was minute, with only a few health points vanishing from the surge.

Preparing for the next round, another Emperor’s Soul was drawn. The just recently established summon, which by this point was deemed Lanceor Th, referencing the shape which was undoubtedly the Norse god, was the most powerful and draining technique available. However, using the item proved unnecessary. The offending creature lay prostrate on the base of the floor in some state…disabled, dead, or at least silent.

The wave master watched as Nighthand inspected the Obelisk, which seemed to have decided to add on the symbols of his own element by this point. By either the group leader’s actions or by those delayed, the Obelisk removed itself as a threat and left instead a path for them all to follow. Since the heavy blade had already begun the climb, the mage followed suit. The caster hesitated at the base, noting how dangerous these advancing points had been last time.


“La Repth!”

Even though the group wouldn’t be fully healed off a single speck of white magic, moving on under their current condition begged for some monster portals to present themselves. Well, not those gates, as all of the monsters thus far had been free roaming, but the concept still applied. Once he had begun heading up, Rayo attempted to dart up as quickly as he could, with no wish to remain in the room below for any longer than the imprisonment past.

Once they were under the glory of the sun, shielded by the trees as it was, the environment had a much more pleasant atmosphere. Water, trees, benches…the forest resembled a peaceful park more than a dangerous field. Moving over by the water, he knelt down and cupped his hands, washing his hands and face of the foul muck from below. Surprisingly, the water both cleansed and rejuvenated, setting his deductible statistics back to full. The magic user stripped off his dirtied cloak, rinsing that next and beat it dry afterwards. He was tempted to bottle some of the liquid up, but removing the curative water from the pool would more likely summon some sort of leviathan that guarded the spot. No, Rayo was more interested in the chest that was being raided. After dipping his hand in, the sorcerer was up a recovery item and an odd Golden Leaf.

Odd…that reminded him. Sifting through his flashmail archive allowed him to read the one from the unknown player. ‘All paths lead to the same end, as all strings converge around the fingers of one master. the master too is a puppet… what is your end? Do you seek your end?’ Some of the letters were lowercase while others were lowercase without respect to the standards upheld by the language. Yet, the only uppercase letters were those at the end of a word. S, L, S, D, O, E, E, D, S, L, S, E, D, E, S, F, E, R, E, R, O, S, A, T, T, S, R, D, O, U, K, R, D. If there was any deeper meaning to that, it wasn’t clear from the initial glance over the message. Who was Marionette anyway? The name matched the message about puppets and strings…but who took on which of the roles?

Shrugging, the player emptied out some of the contents of his bag and set them on one of the stone seats. There were all of his borrowed tools, six in total. Nighthand spoke up during the process, suggesting that it might not be possible to take on the rest of the field after all.

That indeed might be true, just a few sets of monsters left them weak, batted around like they rag dolls for a good stretch of the time. The unity perhaps was too fresh, too untested together to really function. The coordination so far was limited, often by observation or chance than really any structured effort. Also, the snake and Obelisk were no slackers. If there had been more of them, equaling or surpassing their number, the battle would have been quite different. Those weren‘t even the guardians of their objective, just a sideshow.


“Before I comment our direction, I’d just like to settle inventories. Ryok, Phoenix, Hijinx… do you want your things back? I’ll hold onto them if you want, but the immediate threat has passed. As for this place… I’m not sure I wish to remain here much longer. We might have overextended, and that’s partially my fault. If we haven’t even found the hub yet, we surely haven’t faced their best. I have doubts on our ability to repeat that performance another three or four times before we do find our objective.”

ooc:It'd probably just be more fun to link up the quests, since that'd help speed things up. As things are now, it isn't too much fun.
Rayo
Lv.47 Archer 745HP/311SP
Bell, the Silver Grunty of Thunder
Skills/Spells-Shocking Arrow of Voltage(30), Arrow of the Burning Stars(10), MeRai Rom(40), Rai Kruz(10), La Repth(20), Rip Maen(40), MeRai Kruz(20), GiVak Kruz(20), MeRai Don(20), Rig Saem(15)
Weapon/Armor/Book-Golden Royal Bow/Thunder Torque, Thunder Cloak, Able Ring, Ivory Greaves/Thunder Magic
Wishlist: YL Fukuoka, Stormlore, Winter Stone, Silver Grunty

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