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Post by Althea on May 16, 2017 19:03:01 GMT -6
Something's wrong here. Oh, I thought the villagers all just went on a picnic. Althea, seriously, something is seriously wrong here. I can smell it. ...Sense it... whatever. Yes. That's why we're here.
For her part, Althea just sighed, not particularly enthusiastic about any of this but resigned to her terrible fate. She could be doing literally anything else today, but instead here she was, following a wild goose chase along a yellow brick road to retardation. Investigating the village of Lesphon 'going dark' as the neighboring mayor had claimed - no messages, no visitors, and the courier they had sent out to investigate never came back. It was as if the village was just gone. Except... not, because it could still be seen from far away. So it was just empty. Probably. Maybe everyone there had been turned into ghouls and they would have to kill them all (and then explain that too to families elsewhere), or more likely they would all die horribly in the process. How exciting! Truly a wonderful way to spend a day. Or a lifetime.
She wasn't... mad... at Aura for wanting to come investigate, in the end it had been her decision as well, but a sizable walk had definitely put a significant damper on her enthusiasm for adventure and eagerness to live alike. At least if it WAS full of zombies, Drei would have an opportunity to play around with his magic and that newfangled Anima stuff he liked so much for whatever reason. For her, she only needed the cold purity of darkness... and a bit of healing magic that she had like, two total experiences with. Because that was just really fitting for a group of dark magi. One of them moonlighted as a proper mage, the other thought she was a Elimine dammed priest, and Aura... danced or something. He seemed to really like that, and hey, guy could have worse hobbies right? Especially for an amnesiac who might have been an insane villain beforehand.
They were still a few minutes walk from the actual village proper, its nonthreatening wooden walls mostly obscuring whatever lay within, but Althea stopped nonetheless to turn to her two companions, looking about as happy as she felt. Might as well make sure they were all on the same page before dashing in pell-mell like a bunch of idiots. She was fairly confident in her and Drei's actual combat ability but not delusional enough to think that it was completely beyond reproach; it only took a few encounters with individuals like Jalid and Shara, and those bloody gargoyles, to remind even the cockiest magus that they were still very vulnerable to a bad case of dead. "This is the place, right? Whole village went on a picnic and never came back?" Oh god, she WAS making jokes now, they were just super sarcastic and could probably eat through solid steel given a few minutes.
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Post by Drei on May 16, 2017 19:20:47 GMT -6
So. This wasn't the first Lycian Village he'd visited that'd gone quiet. Was that sad? In-fact it was that very facet of truth that'd led to him volunteering to accompany Althea. He remembered all too well the last time he'd wandered into a village with no signs of life there'd been countless dead. The only trouble was they weren't...idle dead. He'd taken quite a few wounds that night. It'd been him and Mila, and it was about as close to night time as a dark storming afternoon could get. The lightning was terrible, and especially inside the buildings. No lights lit, hidden away in those dark corners where every floorboard squeaking indicated something near by.
Worse yet was the entombed. A lone undead that'd worked to try and bring them low. He'd barely been able to see it until his eyes had accustomed to the darkness of the room. Even then he'd nearly lost an arm to those horrid clawed hands. The gash had nearly ruined his robes at that. Tearing the shirts beneath asunder like the most frail substance in the world. Drei'd quietly hoped not to replicate such an encounter. However now..he wouldn't be ensnared in the dark. Not any longer...
How strange it felt. Walking aside Althea, the shaman held both hands to his sides and palms aloft. Within one he quietly manifested the twisting shadows that he had grown so comfortable with commanding. Even within it he felt the vast endless expanse of the nether. That great sprawling entity that he had to commune with regularly. Yet this time...it was not all he spoke to.
It was...different. Strange indeed. Manifesting not just his own power but that of another. Much like the nether, he did not have to reach out far to find that which he sought. However this time..it spoke with a palpable sense. Not a voice persay, but he could feel it. Intent. His left palm was aglow. Though it was small, a small flame burned a few inches above his palm. The heat radiating from it heating his skin but strangely...no horrid burn. He did not melt his own flesh by "holding" the flame as it were. Light from it danced upon his figure and illuminated him into dancing brighter shades while it stained a lighter murky shade of almost ink upon his darkened magic.
Though he very much doubted he could effectively brandish both forms of magic at once, acclimating himself to the elemental magic was important. So much like a student frantically studying before an exam the night prior, he was taking every opportunity he could to familiarize himself with the anima magic. His gaze quietly cast upon Althea as she spoke to him and the other male. Drei...had not opened communication with him yet. He was not fond of strangers.
"I very much doubt it...though it is not without the realm of possibility. Ceremonies are common in some places, festivals especially in Sacae. Though the duration of one enough to prompt concern makes it unlikely. Especially if no communication has been made. Such festivities are often loud and easily discernible."
Some things never changed. Drei was one of those things.
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Aura
Priest
Posts: 117
Profession: Hereticus Exterminatus
Affinity: Light
Profile: Aura
OoC Alias: Vincent
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Post by Aura on May 16, 2017 21:17:50 GMT -6
Aura was not as physically weak as the last time he and Althea met, and it showed. He was however not much better off for where he wanted to be in his magic abilities. He had met a master willing to teach him the ways of a pugilist and he was beginning to make headway in regards to the Strength magic he was inspired to master. Regrettably for him this only meant that he was not in danger of running himself into an incapable position, and could call to him the faintest of auras that promptly snuffed out. His healing had been the only aspect of his capacities to show any significant progress and even that still amounted to repairing a day's worth of training damage.
Naturally when a letter was brought to him addressed to August detailing the imminent destruction of a village shortly before one did in fact go dark, he needed to investigate. More fortunately, he came into contact with Althea again and was able to bring her along. Their third companion was a man named Drei, another shaman, or druid? He really only knew those scant details about him, the two had yet to speak properly. Looking at the three of them there was a joke in there somewhere. Did you hear the one about the two druids and fake priest?
Three white haired individuals each experienced with the nether going to a village gone dark... he took a deep breath when the walls came into site. From the outside there was a lot left obscured but the taint of magic was thick. Whoever caused it to go dark wielded it, and a lot of it. The grounds were blackened, seemingly burned and drowned in mire until it was dead. He shuddered in apprehensive anticipation.
As the three came to a stop the others exchanged a few humorous quips about the village. He felt it was safe to say they certainly did not go on a picnic, but one could hope. If the letter was indeed from Vadis then he knew just what took place here, and ceremony would be a proper fit for it. "They call it a Culling." Aura rubbed his head. More and more memories of Vadis were returning but much of himself was still a mystery, perhaps most important of those memories, his abilities. "If... if this was in fact done by the people I think it was it is a process of destruction they engage in in hopes of finding a survivor in the face of destruction. Someone they can force to rise up and become a hero... or villain."
Just thinking about it made him sick. Remembering he had a hand in this made him furious. The prospect of meeting Vadis here frightened him, having been called out by name more so, but he had companions now. Vadis wanted August back, not Aura, so he should be safe enough, and he would watch over the other two. He hardened his resolve and looked to Althea who was ultimately the leader of the day. He offered the others a soft smile and clutched his pendant. "Pray there be no need, but I will be ready if we need healing."
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Post by Althea on May 16, 2017 21:40:23 GMT -6
Eris didn't seem very happy about any of this either. Wow. Althea couldn't help but be amused that the ONE time she agreed with the daft spirit - HEY! - was when everything was terrible. She only barely managed to resist the urge to sigh again. "I doubt I need to tell either of you this, but... something is very wrong here." It wasn't just the lack of people, or the marks on the outside. She could feel the darkness roiling in the town, the tidal depths of Nether that had been used here. It was all too familiar in fact. The last time she had seen it, felt it, sensed it, was when Eris had obliterated the burning village in her name. It spoke of dark tidings, both figuratively and literally. Enough magic to wipe out a great deal of life... and the kind of person who would actually do that. "I... would prefer not to lose either of you." Which was about as close as she actually came to saying 'I don't want to lose you,' in Althea's typical passive sideways-honest backwards way.
The rest of the walk took little time, and the actual gate to the village was, conveniently enough, ajar - though not by choice. As far as she could tell from the singed, savaged wood, while one door still stood strong, the other was damaged to the point that it was nearly a miracle it was still in one piece, much less hanging on to its hinges. Given the relative size... well. Food for thought.
On the bright side, once they got inside it turned out that she had been very, very, very wrong. There wasn't something wrong here. In Instead, EVERYTHING was wrong! The whole damn village looked like a pack of bandits had ransacked the whole thing, but with magic. Traces of dried blood - that was either a good sign (they might be gone) or a bad sign (blood everywhere), but either way she didn't care much for it. It wasn't until they reached the center of the village that the true horror of the scenery came to light though, a massive pile of corpses piled together, a sight so terrible that even the typically reactionless dark mage winced at it and muttered something under her breath. Body after body piled upon each other, some of them... damaged beyond mere death as best she could tell. Traces of dark magic, missing body parts, body parts without their bodies - it wasn't just some... bandit attack, maybe with a few dark magic users. At least some of these people had been tortured until they had begged for the release of death, and then had it granted to them. The stench of death was only matched by the scent of Nether surrounding it, still pooling and dripping from house rooftops and shattered stables.
"...This is terrible."
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Post by Drei on May 17, 2017 11:12:48 GMT -6
He didn't know what bothered him more. That Drei had become accustomed to the scent of metal in the air when the musk of heavy bloodshed filled it, or the fairly muted reaction he had to this disaster. Had he some form of connection to the individuals slain he might've felt...something. He was sentimental after all. Perhaps even if he'd visited this place. He however, did not ever step foot within this local. The Shaman's palms closed slowly. Condensing the flames into non-existence as he cut the flow of magic for it. His right hand however only partially closed, before slowly extending as he began to accrue more darkness within his palm. The thick murky black twisting into a larger inky globe hovering above his palm as he let the orb float higher slightly. Trying his best to ease into it. Similar to a swordsman with hand upon hilt, slowly starting to unsheath it in preparation.
His steps slowed, steady and cautious while he followed Althea. Her confidence in traversing the hellscape they had walked into seemed apt. However ever sense was on edge. His ultimate concern was their own survival. As he touched the well of power within that was the void he quietly started to weave the magic into a more prominent ball of murder. Inky tendrils slowly coiling around his finger, laced with fell magic and they snaked around as if sentient vines nesting themselves for a solid foundation. Though he did not solidify them or adjust the composition to create the hardened magics that he wielded far more comfortably. Just barely resting on the precipice instead as cautious strides brought him further through the town. A few glances around in that idle silence brought him to a darker conclusion than the initial idea. No, they were certainly not on a picnic. Though Aura began to explain it, Drei focused on the overwhelming presence of the Nether. It was a ripple that he felt with every step. The abundance made it all too obvious as to more of the truth.
Culling? An apt term. Honey hued eyes drifted to a few of the corpses. Noting the obvious far too easily before he began to tap just a little bit more into the pulsating darkness. The hairs on the back of his neck rose. The moment itself felt far to precarious. As if a hanging silence was sourced from the inhale before a strike. When one sucked in air to further push out the blow. That bothered him. Paranoia maybe, but the bodies sense of survival was seldom to be ignored. With a quiet tone and steady shift of gaze Drei tried to quietly articulate his thoughts without compromising his focus.
"So..artificially doctored hardships to root out the weak and collect the survivors to be tailored with the very traits that enabled that survival? I'll stick to old fashioned progress. Far less...casualties."
For once, his ability to deaden came in handy though. The knack for expunging emotional thought so he could better retain a vice grip upon his magics. As long as particular scenario's did not arise to compromise.
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Aura
Priest
Posts: 117
Profession: Hereticus Exterminatus
Affinity: Light
Profile: Aura
OoC Alias: Vincent
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Post by Aura on May 19, 2017 10:57:17 GMT -6
[Apologies for the wait, but thank you for the patience.]
As Althea took control of the group Aura nodded in agreement at there being something wrong. It was, in short, and understatement. The tragedy that had just transpired was something inhuman. When she uttered words of not wishing to lose either of the two Aura was immediately reminded of the 'healing lesson' he gave her where she admitted to not wishing to lose anyone else again. She was never an emotional, or remotely emotion driven woman, so those words meant a lot.
He wanted to tell her that they will all be fine, they will all make it out just safe, but he had his doubts and concerns that stayed his tongue. The three of them entered into the remnants of the village. The air stank of concentrated magic and blood. It took a great deal of Aura's self control not to react negatively, but all of that broke when they bore witness to the trash heap. The rejected pile, the hill of corpses consisting of the ones too weak to rise above death.
He covered his mouth and looked away trying to stomach it, but the smell, the sight, and the flies and maggots writhing within trying to devour them was too much and he found himself leaving his last meal all over the dirt. "Terrible?" No, that word did not do it justice! But then, what word could? "Animals! Whoever did this is a pack of animals!" They did not deserve to be called humans. They did not deserve to be called monsters, merely animals.
Aura could not tell if Drei was making a further quip on the scene and a momentary heated rage welled in him. How dare he make light of this!? But when he looked at him his rage quelled into quiet understanding. You would have to be a complete animal not to be moved by this. And Drei was no animal either.
It was then that out of the corner of his eye an all too familiar figure of an old woman called to them with her hands. Urging them to come around a building to her. Aura glowered darkly, more than ready to accept the invitation. "Hildebrand!" He spat the name like a vile curse. His suspicions were confirmed by this and he ensured the others saw her just before the figure shattered like glass. "Shall we accept the invitation?" He asked the others.
Beyond the building three figures lied in wait for their guests' eventual arrival. Hildebrand stood to the right of a masked figure atop a building. To the left of the man was another, much smaller of stature with a mask depicting an owl. They would wait for the guests patiently and without aggression. Vadis wanted to speak with his old friend and, new puppets- er, companions after all.
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Post by Althea on May 19, 2017 20:02:43 GMT -6
Animals...? No, this was not done by animals. Animals killed in self defense, or to feed themselves. It took humans to do this. Humans who had left behind their conscience, perhaps, but human nonetheless. If Aura's story about these 'cullings' was true, it was even possible that it was a pragmatic way of going about those ideals; certainly seeing a sight like this would inspire those capable of heroism to do so, or break the weak beneath its horror and weeding them out in the process. By those standards one could even say that it was intelligent in a way that only humans could manage; optimizing results, though she had her doubts as to the ah... efficiency of the creation process. Certainly, even if your goal was to create heroes and villains, there were methods that would waste less time and energy.
But she was no hero, and this changed nothing for her intellectually. She had seen some of the terrible things humanity was capable of already. Bandits, thieves, raiders; to say nothing of those who did even worse in the name of good. That was not to say that she was inured to the sight by any means. It was disgusting and cruel. But she had spent too much time trying to minimize her own reactions to anything to go to pieces at one more sight now. Beneath the surface there was anger, a mix of some of her own and a much greater deal of Eris's, the spirit emanating waves of disgust at the pile but as yet unwilling (unable?) to give a comment. It was for the best. Althea focused some of her attention on keeping Eris's emotional overflow under control as well.
For now, it seemed that the insane older woman from that town she had met Aura in was present as well, something that filled Althea with a mix of disappointment and resignation. She had had a feeling that it would lead back to Aura... again. But Drei hadn't met her already, had he? "That would be Hildebrand," she said mostly for Drei's benefit, adding to the explanation after a moment as she marshaled her thoughts. "A mad mage who wields light and illusionary magic." Her voice was kept carefully neutral as Althea explained, before following Aura in his journey for... whatever the hell he thought he was going to get out of this. Vengeance, answers, or explanations? If Hildebrand WAS here, then that meant whoever she was working with was to - whichever dark magic users had actually done most of this tragedy - and perhaps there would be answers to be found.
It was somewhat disconcerting that she was having trouble telling her and Eris's anger apart again, though.
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Post by Drei on May 20, 2017 22:45:17 GMT -6
Well. Perhaps he was the only one taking it with such...stride? It was a strange situation for him. Had he known these people, or even remotely known the location he might've felt a vast difference. He would've felt guilt at inability to save them, or sorrow at their passing. He might've felt revulsion at their butchery. However with all the dead Drei'd seen? All the brutality, butchery and otherworldly undead horrors? He felt fairly desensitized to it. As if he was merely seeing without feeling. Though the deadened senses from his dark orb as he honed the concentration within it and fueled it further might've had some level of impact on the balance of his emotional state as well. Drei's palm quietly lifted, as he let the conduit of power begin to extend the orb further. So it fueled into a larger globe of shadowy corrosive magics with small inky tendrils squirming out of it. His tone was, as always, fairly reserved.
"Animals seldom act without purpose. They also tend to act with efficiency bestowed by nature. This..is not that."
Drei let his other hand approach the convulsing orb of dark magics. Fingers probing and lacing around the writhing tendrils of fell essence and further nurturing them. His touch almost like a mother attempting to cradle a newborn child, in the care he laced into the magics. Each gesture a slight alternation. Condensing. Redistributing. Adjusting. Every minor aspect of the orb being tuned to perfection. Drei's mind shifted a moment later however when Aura spoke a name.
The shattering likeness of the elder certainly caught Drei off guard, but the sacaen shaman altered his visage with merely a squint of his gaze and furrow upon his brow. Althea's words brought clarity to that which confused him. Light magic, he disliked. The deception, and illusionary magic? He had a feeling he disliked it already. Though in response to the announcement of such foes potentially present, he increased the rate at which he fed his orb energy. Still sculpting and molding it as he fell into line following the steps of the others when necessary while quietly tilting his head. Now he was invested. The vendetta he felt towards all holy magic wielders was an unfair but un-preventable one. It was Etruria's chosen magic and it was that very magic that robbed him of his family. Even as his pulse quickened, so did the rate at which he further enhanced his magics. Nodding in thanks towards Althea before speaking his thoughts aloud.
"I...do not like Light magic. "
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Aura
Priest
Posts: 117
Profession: Hereticus Exterminatus
Affinity: Light
Profile: Aura
OoC Alias: Vincent
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Post by Aura on May 21, 2017 20:30:09 GMT -6
Not just one of them, but both of them, both of them misunderstood his words about animals having done this to the villagers. Had it not been such a grim sight he would have clarified himself and his words, he never meant to say animals had done this, but rather the people who did had revoked their right to be named men in his mind. There was another possibility that he had not considered, they very well may have understood his intentions but simply thought it was too insulting to animals. Drei in particular seemed to have a certain respect for the beasts and their organization.
'I... do not like Light magic.' No, at this point Aura did not much fancy it either.
As the three took Hildebrand's bait they rounded the corner to see the three figures that waited for them. Aura clenched his fists turning them white. "Vadis!" He shouted the name of the middle figure, the one in the completely featureless mask. Despite the overwhelming pressure of his presence Aura stormed forward.
"August! It is always a pleasure to see you again!" With a quick cast of magic a tendril of nether wrapped around his arm as he used it to lower himself from the roof safely. His control of the dark magic was flawless. As Vadis faced Aura and his, puppets, he folded his hands behind himself. Vadis was an imposing figure, at least six foot three and strongly built. His clothes were light but hardened to allow maximum protection and he was adorned in a mantle with trimmings marked in all sorts of incantations. He might appear as a nonsomantic caster but in truth, he had a tome, and around his neck was a pendant much like the one Aura himself wore. The jewels within it revealed themselves to be the same you would find within a staff upon closer inspection.
"Why? What did you do this for!?" Aura asked enraged.
"As though you don't already know." Vadis approached Aura and clapped his hands on his shoulders in a friendly sort of greeting. "My heroes against your gods."
"What does that mean?"
Vadis paused and sighed. "You really have forgotten much my friend."
"Do not call me friend you bastard!" Aura glowered darkly.
There was a soft sigh. "Memories or not, I see you continue to surround yourself with those loyal to the dark. Care to introduce me to your proteges?" Vadis looked the two figures over. His mind remained as unknowable behind the mask as his face did. But one thing was clear, Drei was interesting, But Althea far more so. "Failure one, come here!" With a raising of his right hand chains formed of nether latched around Hildebrand and jarringly forced her to his side. Aura stepped away in fear of his display losing his strong front in that moment.
"Now, tell me something, that woman there? You know her yes?"
Hildebrand was still trying to recover from being jerked around when the question was asked, the looks of fear and rage mixed on her face, fear of Vadis's fury, and rage at Althea. A moment passed and she still had not spoken up and so Vadis turned and struck her across the face. "Speak you insolent woman!" Aura instinctively had to stop himself from moving to defend her and even the third man, still on the roof, could be seen flinching.
Hildebrand's face cracked before she frantically began to make noise. It was horrible sound of fear and desperation. Not words, just primal gutteral noises as she collected herself. "Yes, great master! This is the whore that has polluted our King's MIND!!!" She shouted and spat in rage.
Vadis readjusted his gloves with a, "Thank you. Was that so hard?" Turning back to the group. "Now, I see why you keep that one around," He gestured to Althea, "The power that radiates from her is... absolutely stunning. Perhaps stronger than your own. Well, these days at least. Your diminished state is most regrettable." Vadis continued to lament Aura like a lost friend.
"They are not my proteges! They are my friends!" Aura retorted. Well, at least Althea was, he did not know Drei well enough yet, but now did not seem a time to make that distinction.
"Friends?" Vadis asked softly. "You have no need for friends August, merely pawns and me!" He sounded, almost hurt by his statement but the seething anger far more so. "First that pathetic cavalier lout and now these two?" He shook his head. "No, I will draw out your old memories. I will make you see who you were meant to be! You were supposed to become as a god to these people, not some weak willed 'ally' to them!"
Looking to Althea he had an idea. "Failure two!" He called to the owl masked figure.
"Yes my lord?"
"You allowed a pathetic bitch to kill off one of my fine horses. If you desire to make amends and regain my favor, then eliminate the spare for me."
"As you will it." The man stepped forward off the building landing carefully so as not to injure himself. His body was fixed on Drei, clearly he was seen as the spare. Electricity could be seen dancing between his finger tips and short burst of it were fired into the earth with snaps and pops in a show to intimidate. If he was not having to redeem himself he would have put on a far better show. It made him all the more irritated and intent on killing Drei. As of now he was nuisance and Eris was his real target of revenge.
"Stop this Vadis! If this is all just to take me, then take me but leave them! Please!" Aura shouted moving forward in desperation. The others had not yet seen his power like he had and sadly he did not think they could contend with him.
Vadis just laughed cruelly, "August my friend. All I do, I do for you, you see. You answered my call, and I will fix you. I will finish the ritual you began those months ago and I will eliminate those that are here keeping you weak."
"Then?" Hildebrand began to ask a question but Vadis interrupted.
"Yes, you have my permission to try."
Hildebrand's face lit up in a frenzied joy! "Oh holy day!" She faced Althea ready to have a second chance at slaying the woman.
Aura could see talks had broken down completely now. He still had no answers either, only more questions. What ritual? His gods vs Vadis's heroes? And now he had merely handed himself over to his enemy and damned the others. NO! He would not allow this! He could not allow it!
"Vadis! Call them off!" Aura took a combative stance. He knew he could not contend with his old 'friend' but he had to try.
Vadis just laughed. "Memories or no, it is good to see your reckless abandon remains intact. It... was one of the things I loved most about you, and why you could become as strong as you did. But... I cannot follow your orders while you are drunk in this stupor." Vadis suddenly began to glow in an aura of dark red light. It was the magic of strength.
Aura stepped away. "Everyone! Run!" He shouted fearfully before Vadis struck him in the chest. It hurt, oh gods did it hurt! Vadis was strong and now further augmented with magic? His right ribs were rattled and cracked. Aura's Eyes grew wide as everything around him seemed to vanish in an instant. His senses jolted, some became stronger and others shut down.
"I will save you August. Even if you hate me for it, friend." Vadis gently took Aura into his arms as he rendered him unconscious. "He will wake soon enough." He clarified for the other two. He just left out the agonizing pain part. Setting Aura onto the ground he folded his hands behind his back once more. It was time to see how Aura's gods fared against his heroes.
Hildebrand began by circling Althea and conjuring magic to both of her hands. She was not going to allow for a repeat of last time. If only one source of power could be halted she would simply force her to contend with two. "Oh how I have dreamed of this day you wretched whore! Our king is back to us and I get to sear you into nothingness!" She laughed wildly in wicked mirth as she let out a strike of Shine followed by her second, slightly more powerful follow up.
The man with electricity charging in hand, slowly walked towards Drei. "Dunno who you are and I hold no ill will to ya, but your head is my key to being back in good graces with my lord, so..." He let his words trail off letting their natural conclusion fill in themselves as he moved into a combative casting stance. It was an old form not used often these days, considering most mages preferred to simply overwhelm their foes and make their own methods. He brought his hands together the electricity jumping between hands as they had built to his full capacity. His movements were graceful, almost as a dance as he released his first strike. A large bolt true to the Thoron tome. The first strike was not one he could easily replicate but he had little interest in offering his enemy opportunity.
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Post by Althea on May 22, 2017 17:08:27 GMT -6
Could she go back to meeting quaint friends in moderately dangerous locales? This Vadis individual was a madman, that much was clear, and the way he spoke to Aura nigh made her skin crawl. But she could not entirely turn off her mind to surrender to fear, no matter how her emotions played beneath the surface, and so Althea listened. Listened and learned. The more she learned about who Aura had once been the more she was... grateful than he was not that man anymore, if he had indeed been responsible for warped beings like Hildebrand and Vadis. She'd take an awkward punch priest over that for sure.
Bile burned in her throat when Aura was struck down where he stood, but there was no time for recrimination and arguing. Hildebrand was allowed to attack her and going by the madness in the woman's eyes, Althea did not even care to try diplomacy. That was what Aura had not understood, in her mind. That sometimes, people did not deserve another chance. Sometimes the only thing they deserved was a swift end in order to save many more. And in this scenario, it was crystal clear that the only way to Hildebrand's evil from this earth was to wipe her from the earth.
And so while normally she would have tried to come up with something witty to say, here Althea simply kept her mouth clenched shut, emotions growing ever more turbulent beneath the surface as magic seals unfurled around her, a hexagonal pattern swirling to life as her arm came up to match Hildebrand's initial assault. There was no time to muck about with slow-but-strong here, only speed could match speed - and while her own speed needed... work, it was all she had. Calculating vector properties. Gauging projectile velocity. Predicting trajectory... The two seals to her side spat forth streams of purplish light wreathed in tendrils of shadow, slamming into the initial Shine burst with limited success - she had still yet to figure out how to mingle fast casting with reasonable power - another two streaked out from above, all four beams slashing into and through the ball - Hildebrand's spell destabilized. The meeting of light and dark detonated violently, incinerating all involved attacks and singing the earth below in a brilliant flash of light that masked Hildebrand's second attack until almost too late.
The panic she felt was not her own, but she felt it as if it was. Althea was too busy focusing, turning the remaining two seals to intercept and deflect the insane light mage's attack. With limited success. With half her firepower of a moment before and the rising swell of emotion clouding her judgement there was not enough time to perform the calculations to create more, and the second burst of light enveloped her as well.
If she hadn't been biting down hard already a scream might well have emanated from her. It was nothing like the gentle push of the last time she had been struck by light magic, back in the sands of Nabata; whatever Hildebrand was, she was no pushover, and especially in the midst of channeling Dark magic, the Light burned. Even blunted, even with much of the actual blast deflected, it still singed her skin and sent waves of pain racing through her body as her body trembled through even her supposedly iron focus.
Althea, you need to get out of here!
Just what she needed. More annoyances. Slightly ironically the frustrating spirit's voice served to help salvage her own concentration to a degree, though she was unable to focus enough to respond to Hildebrand's assault effectively. If anything it was the tone of almost - as stupid as it sounded, concern in her shadow self's voice. Eris sounded honestly distraught rather than just a snarky piece of crap as usual and that was strange enough to take her attention.
I can't leave them behind.
...And she couldn't. Wouldn't. Even if Aura's past was... questionable at best, and Drei's in some regards as well. But they were about the closest she had to friends right now. Even aside from her desire to watch Vadis writhe and scream for what he had done to the villagers, she couldn't just up and ditch Drei here.
Hildebrand surpasses you in speed and power. You're fighting with experimental magic. What are you even trying to prove?
It sounded more like her own voice than Eris's, and for a time Althea was confused as to which it had been. She didn't know the answer to the question, either. She wasn't sure what had become of her or why she had allowed herself to start caring for people again. But she HAD to do something. That was all she knew. It was all she could answer.
Because sometimes you have to fight for what you believe in.
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Post by Drei on May 22, 2017 21:05:26 GMT -6
Right. So the man before them was clearly unstable to some character. Every mannerism. Every bodily gesture and direction of his gaze and tone in his voice hinted at a few things. First impressions? Acute Narcissism. A common trait to varying degree's in most humans no doubt. Higher so, it seemed, from this man. An absolute lack of empathy. The strewn corpses around them were beyond proof of this. The taunting tone and emphasized mood in words setting such a casual stage further punctuated this. Compounding that? Moral insanity. Though morals were a skewed thing, especially in their day and age when mindsets were so heavily swung to absolute opposites, it was clear that the antagonistic male who brandished the same magics as his father was quietly nestled into his own corner of moral standing that few might ever dare to approach.
Instinctively he pressed the conduits of magic further. Even as the others made themselves known. Drei's gaze almost dead as he focused on generating and gathering his energy in an efficient way. Until things so abruptly devolved. The barely known Aura was sent flying past him and Althea. At which point all pretenses vanished. Drei fully opened the valves of power within as he lifted his left hand to caress the globe of darkened magic before extending his hand outwards and weaving through it as he dragged the inky stain of void with him, extracting silken sized threads of the Nether from his primary orb. Silently a second orb blossomed into existence from that singular one's residue upon his palm. The faint violet stain of energy within his veins exuding from his fingers in a much darker form.
Father. Guide my hand as I spin fate upon this most capricious spindle...
His pulse quickened as the mage approached. He briefly gazed towards Althea while light and darkness clashed. The sudden flash of electricity drew his amber hued eyes back to square upon the mage. He had no time to reply with a retort that would jeopardize the precious focus he needed to rely upon in that instant. So...in another sort of manner, light and darkness would clash between them as well. Drei's robes rustled as he let his body immerse in the tendrils of shadow. Both hands concealed behind twin orbs before he collapsed them together with hands still apart. The easiest form to control and provide power. Here he could supplement it as needed or sculpt and adjust. His chin tucked slightly and he lowered his head as the electrical surge approached.
Drei's palms gestured forwards slightly and the explosive burst of the entirely solid tendril punched forth. Thick as the average storage barrel that littered the town's empty escape, the shaman assailed the electrical assault with his own spell. The blinding flash and explosive burst tainted with the miasmic void infused explosion shifted with a muted outwards pulse as the umbra wave also surged outwards. As that dust settled though...
He saw brief tidbits of the struggle his fellow dark practitioner went through. Her struggle. Her pain. Her fight. He felt a faint fire rouse within. However in that instant he snuffed it out. Crushed it with overwhelming forced harsh reality. That if his focus did not stay with his fight he could die. Drei lifted his right hand through the air as the smoke cleared, and tendrils of darkness burst from his hand in smaller numbers to converge into one larger one. Thickening and spiraling. His left hand extended outwards parallel with the ground as a second tendril began to sprout as well. He could already visualize it. The reverberation through his magics as the vine like tendrils coiled around this man's body. Bones shattering. Buckling under the crushing power of the void. Now...he had but to make it reality.
He did not strike though. Instead he channeled his magic further in preparation for the next strike. Now he spoke. His tone measured. As if devoid of all emotion.
"They say the spirits of nature cower in the presence of the Nether...I shall show you why."
Some what out of character? Maybe. But that tiny roused fire needed to be expunged somehow.
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Aura
Priest
Posts: 117
Profession: Hereticus Exterminatus
Affinity: Light
Profile: Aura
OoC Alias: Vincent
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Post by Aura on May 23, 2017 21:57:15 GMT -6
It was like being the leader of an orchestra! With light swings oh her hands and wrists she made that whore dance! Her first attack went about as expected, matched and unreaching the target, but oh ho ho! What a delight! Her magic had destroyed the whore's own! And now her second strike not only struck, but it was accurate! The look of pain on her face was exquisite! Why, if she could produce light magic like this in a place tainted by the torrent of nether magic than surely she was someone of TRUE POWER!!! Her king should look at her and lavish her in praise most high! She began to cackle as her mind went wild with fantasies. In truth, the strength of her magic attested to her corrupted faith and unfortunately, horribly misguided natural talent.
Her laughing cut short as she realized something. Where were the screams? Where were the screams!? WHERE WERE THE SCREAMS!!!? Was her strike not good enough!? But she led the orchestra! The whore should learn to play her instrument! "Damn you! I will tune you until you sing the right key!" She screamed at her foe. She began to call forth her magic. It twisted and swirled into shape above her head.
She would not kill her king's favorite mistress, oh no no no, that would not earn her favor, but what if she delivered her to him with no arms or legs? Then he could have his way with her and Hildebrand could enjoy tormenting her! Yes, YES! Her eyes went wild in mad joy. How brilliant was she? "Oh, I will not kill you!" She sang, "I will rip your limbs from you! and make you sing!"
KRAKOOM!!! The sights and sounds of the nether tendrils of Ruin and the mighty bolt of Thoron clashing was spectacular to behold. A shockwave blowing out from the point of impact and cratering the earth ever so slightly. The mage knight shielded himself from the particles of debris the two blew up.
The man groaned, that bolt took a lot of time to prep, hell, he was working on it all throughout their little dialogue and he stopped it in such a spectacular fashion. This was going to be a real pain to deal with him. Man, if only he had all his gear still he could have ended this in a hurry and spectacular fashion. Now he was stuck with this fixed form nonsense he knew. He wasn't a great caster damn it! He was a cavalier! The others just made him take it up.
Well, that was neither here nor there so he had better focus, their leader, a paladin, lost to some snot nosed novice for getting cocky. Shifting his foot across the ground moving closer to his opponent he released a small shock of electricity. "With the faintest of light nature has no call to fear the dark!" He challenged back. "And lightning is the greatest light of all!" He spun releasing another surge.
Pain, it was one way to incapacitate a man, but there was no telling how long they would remain unconcious, and for Aura, that time was drawing to a close. Where was he again? What was all that noise? His every breath was labored and painful! But why!? Oh, that's right, he had his ribs broken. "Ah! Uh! Gah!" He let out pained noises. Proper words eluded him as his mind was flushed with thoughts of pain.
"I avoided doing too much damage. The other side of you risked crushing your heart as well." Vadis explained to him, noticing he had awoke.
Thanks for that? Aura, ever so slowly and gingerly began to rise. "Don't, you'll only hurt yourself, you must rest for now, my friend. I will heal you when this is all over." To hell with that! And to hell with you! He longed to yell at him, to rip that stupid mask off his face and crack open his head! Aura felt violent, and more and more it was a gruesome fantasy, it scared him. But Vadis was right, trying to rise no matter how softly invited only torment. He was out of this battle for certain. His eyes watered in pain threatening to make him cry like a child who had pricked their finger as he gasped for proper breath and quivered.
"I..." He managed that much. I can still heal myself you fool! It took a great deal of him and quieting his mind was near impossible, no at this moment it was entirely impossible. Still he forced himself to call upon a healing wave to his hands which he folded over his ribs. Nonsomantic healing was hard, self healing was hard, and healing broken or fractured bones, was hard, his efforts, as impressive a feat it was to fight through, were futile. He did little to help, but it did ease the pain ever so slightly. Just enough to rise.
Aura stumbled, winced and fell to his knees again. "What? You can stand and walk like this? Perhaps I should break your legs to keep you down next time." Vadis was impressed by this display of forced will. "I'll admit, your gods are not bad but, that one there has a handicap, and do you REALLY believe Hildebrand is worth a damn? Hardly." He scoffed with a snort to that one. "I only brought her along to shut her up and see this... mistress of yours in person. Honestly she does not seem your type." He mused, "You've done better."
"Get back!" Aura managed through gritted teeth, drawing out his words. "DREI and ALTHEA are their names! They are not my pawns!" Aura once more tried to rise keeping one hand firmly on his ribs with a constant flow of easing light. His breaths were labored but there he stood defiantly, hunched, but defiant.
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Post by Drei on May 24, 2017 16:42:54 GMT -6
Drei had already woven the next set of disastrous waves of magic betwixt twin palms that kneaded through fabrics of the ethereal and converged it with the physical, conjuring a very real essence of the void. The magic itself was no real uniqueness, but upon brief comparison to his initial unfamiliarity with it so long ago now, he found the ease quite satisfactory. The amber clad gaze locked upon the foul electrical foe. Such was his intent that few things in the world could've torn his stare. So he thought at-least.
The incandescent wave that washed over his field of vision as the clearly unstable woman with which Althea did battle definitively caught his attention. As he and Althea had once confirmed between themselves, he loathed light magic. In totality, he found nothing appealing of the art and those who wielded it less so. However a brief glance with Althea and then her foe told him all he needed, and in that moment he felt his pulse quicken. As if it caught within his throat and danced about with hammering repetition while blood slowly began to boil into a bubbling magma that slowly filled his veins. At the same time he grew pale. Internally he felt heat. Externally...a chill. It traversed his spine in the fraction of a moment it might've taken to bat an eye, and his digits stiffened.
I can't. I can't lose another. Not like this.
The overwhelming fear at losing someone he'd grown comfortable with to such a degree to the hands of celestial magics earned his ire in full. As if his mind had singularly focused upon this woman he turned with stiffened spine and cast out his hand, magic from his other palm converging into that one to create twin tendrils twining around his right palm and coiling into a colossal one that extended his out-raised hand. His inexpressive look almost an entirely detached one. As if he conformed to some mundane task and simply acted on reflex. The two tendrils punched outwards with devastating speed from condensed pressures and punched forwards as two foul lances of physical manifestation per the shaman's will. Constructs of the Nether. From the great void itself that spiraled through the air like a drill of intertwining tendrils, he had aimed for her torso but not picked a specific location. Drei did not take time to aim for vitals. He simply wished to interrupt and wound.
He barely had time to turn his head to the left and see the electrical currents that instantly sent him down to one knee in muted agony. As if his voice had been stolen from pale lips, though the wracking of his spine and trembling of his shoulders as currents scorched or burnt at his coat and stained skin with electrical fury. A pain he'd never experienced washed over him. New. Thus robbing him of expectations and devoid of prior experience to draw back on, the shaman fell into a literal shock of sorts as his body briefly numbed to the pain yet responded as if it continued.
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Post by Althea on May 24, 2017 18:03:43 GMT -6
Althea allowed herself one shuddering breath in her weakness - physical and mental - she could not allow the pain to overcome her, WOULD not allow that, but she was not strong enough to shrug it off entirely. Not yet. Maybe not ever. And she might not get the chance to find out if Hildebrand's building attack was allowed to complete. Althea was already performing the calculations to target several more vertices on Hildebrand, but in her dazed confusion and overly emotional weakness they were slow - far too slow - and she did not have a great deal of confidence in her ability to actually stop the massive torrent of light energy that would soon be heading her way. It had taken several beams to stop a much smaller scale attack, and this... this was something else entirely.
Still sure you want to throw your life away like this?
Rather than answer immediately, Althea could only watch as tendrils of shadow pierced the air towards Hildebrand. It didn't take a genius to identify them as being sourced from Drei, even though she was one, and in that moment she was more than a little grateful.
Because I have people I can trust.
The renewed focus aided her in her actions, helped stabilize her emotions and thus her casting, and in turn each vertice of energy pointed directly towards the light mage in synchronized movement almost immediately afterward, spitting out their typical smaller rays of darklight. Individually each was fairly weak, but between the three portals that she had managed to construct she was fairly confident that they would do significant damage if they struck directly - and between whatever damage Drei managed and the moderate damage her triple attack could inflict, that would hopefully at least stun Hildebrand if not take her out of the fight temporarily. Althea was... not idealistic enough to think that a couple small scale hits like that would actually kill the light mage.
Flushed with momentary victory she turned her attention away from the bearer of light and towards her dark savior - just in time to watch the blast of electricity connect with the other druid and bring him to his knees in none too subtle pain. There was a moment of silence, as if the world was waiting in anticipation for something to occur, and then the horrified magician broke her silence to loose a single word in tones of concern and anger mixed into one single unified entity: "DREI!"
And behind her, vertice after vertice sprang to life, not so much carefully calculated and aimed as larger vortexes of roiling Nether. The geometric pattern behind her continued to grow in size and density as portal after portal sprang to life behind, above, and ever further above her, the number rapidly climbing from two to four to eight to sixteen and reaching the low thirties just as these closer to the ground began to loose their payloads - far larger streams of pulsing purplish light that screamed through the air, audibly scything through reality and leaving vacuum in their wake as they bombarded the general vicinity of the mage knight. The first blew through a wooden wall like so much tissue paper and kept going as three more slammed into the ground around him, sending up clouds of dust and dirt that limited visibility, but it was the barrage afterwards that really left their mark. More than two dozen of the beams bombarded the area with unrefined, inaccurate, but overwhelming force, striking randomly within the blast zone. In the wake of each strike was left hazy floating Nether, the air between them left murky by the myriad trails of dissipating darkness.
The attack ceased after a full ten seconds or so, leaving only a heaving Althea, stunned by the massive magic drain as well as uncertainty about exactly what had happened, but her emotions much more under control, almost deadened momentarily, in its wake. It took effort to even stand much less run to Drei as she had hoped, and she wasn't sure how Hildebrand - if she still lived - and Vadis would react to the sudden show.
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Aura
Priest
Posts: 117
Profession: Hereticus Exterminatus
Affinity: Light
Profile: Aura
OoC Alias: Vincent
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Post by Aura on May 25, 2017 22:03:07 GMT -6
Hildebrand's power was reaching it's zenith. She was ready to rip Althea apart with every scrap she could muster, but her madness blinded her to the real threat before her. A threat so simple and common and yet unknowable to her. Teamwork. She never once paid any mind to the other battle with 'the spare' and so when his assault of tendrils reached out she was wholly unprepared for it. With hand reached high Drei's attack struck Hildebrand. One tendril struck her shoulder puncturing into the soft space of muscle between joints. It pierced cleanly through leaving a gaping hole. The second tendril struck her outraised arm ripping it from its rightful place and splattering spewing blood and gore forth. The hand lost into the chaos.
"Ughaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!" The scream was shrill and sharp. Althea had released an assault of her own nary a moment after Drei's own and the damage merely wracked up. Each strike of nether pelted her body not as strongly as Drei's own but greater in number. The absolute end however came from her own power. Her spell had relied upon her raised hand to hold the magic as she gathered it, and without said hand her channeling and control ceased. The magic dropped upon its own caster enveloping the woman's upper half and consuming it into a searing flash that tore her apart. When the light faded the scene was one of grizzled violence.
Aura watched the defeat of Hildebrand in a mix of joy, awe, and horror. Each emotion fit for differing reasons creating an odd mixture. Vadis had hardly noticed the removal of his follower's torso. "Hmm," Was all he offered. It certainly was effective in dealing with their enemy but it seemed as though it was nothing more than a one for one trade as 'the spare' dealt with the other. Friends were a distraction.
The mage knight was relieved to see his opponent fall and writhe in pain under his power. Now he could end him. Where he was outmatched in control he was able to make up for it with the man's sacrifice. "You give up your life just to save another. But you forget to account for something." The knight moved forward as he spoke concentrating his power to his fist, intent upon ending it with a blow to Drei's heart. "Once you're dead, I'll just kill her too."
The air seemed to dim and oppress as suddenly Althea's magic grew in scope. Greater and greater still into a terrifying peak. The mage knight could only react to the onslaught. The first payload missed him, to his good fortune. He could not prepare for that spell as it took him unawares. The next set was one he had to evade, leaping from his place just before the magic crashed into the earth that was moments ago beneath his feet. Off balance another landed beside him hammering him with debris.
Vadis was taken aback by this. This... this was something else. This was on the level of August, no, this was far greater even. August had never done something of that scale. "You cheating prick August! Your gods were only playing with feints!" He began to laugh overjoyed before realizing the danger his 'hero' was in. He was not yet fully groomed and could not be allowed to die early. Just before one of the payloads could strike his puppet he cast a barrier around him. The power crashed into it warping the shielding under its mass before dissipating and breaking around the force. "Incredible!"
As the assault ended Vadis began to head forward to become involved himself. "Vadis! Don't!" Aura tried to plead and follow but the pain overtook him as his magic flow began to wane. He went to his knees and reached out in futility. "Althea! Drei!"
"Go!, you have done enough, this fight is now mine!" Vadis dismissed the mage knight who stepped away but was not completely gone. Vadis cast a sidelong glace to check on the state of 'the spare' in case he had any ideas of getting involved. Looking to Althea, who seemed confused he spoke words of encouragement. "Your potential is impressive but unrefined my dear. You may be one of 'August's Gods' but I can teach you to become more." He glanced at Aura, "More than even he!" Sweet words would not be enough to sway her, owe he was not that overconfident and so he called upon the powers of Ruin. A single cantrip was all he needed summoning honed and compressed blade like shards of nether between his fingers. Focused like throwing knives. "I will make you mine."
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