Chapter 7
From DALpedia
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Draven folded his arms behind his back as the morning sun's rays broke the horizon. Standing atop one of the higher towers of the Crimson Palace, the cool morning air waving his hair, the view was even more spectacular now that the city was floating nearly one mile above the ground. Streaks of clouds obscured the rows of rocky foothills and valleys below.
Draven nodded to the man in black armor standing behind him, who returned the nod and promptly left via the stairway. Draven rolled the small black stone in his fingertips behind his back...
----
A very loud knock resonated on the doors of the two separate guest rooms where Rink and Xenai stayed, two messengers delivering the same message to each one:
"The high speed airship Falcon V is departing south to Redvik in thirty minutes. Details about your mission to Laus will be given on board. Report to the docking bay on the 30th floor."
----
"Lieutenant Hikari!"
The tall bald eye-patched Colonel Skul banged loudly on Aura's sleeping quarter's door holding a sheet of paper in the other hand.
"We've your test..."
----
Ven had trouble sleeping after the incident he witnessed the previous day, but now in the early morning hours, he found himself more troubled by the handwritten note that he found near the door to his room. Someone must have slipped it under the door during the night. He read it a few times, not sure what to make of it:
Traveler,
You must leave immediately! The soldiers have become suspicious of all outsiders, especially you!
He paused in thought. The was some noise resonating through the wooden hallways of the old inn. Like footsteps, only metallic. They became louder and more evident that there was more than one...
Suddenly, there was a loud knocking on the wooden door.
"Open up."
Crap.
Ven took a look around and his eyes landed on the window, the one he saw the incident with the mayor from yesterday. He was on the second floor.
More knocking (obviously metal on wood).
"I said open up!"
He had jumped from higher before, right?
Ven opened the window and scooted out the window feet first. He landed with a loud clang on the cobblestones below, his black cloak rising around him revealing the bright silver armor underneath. He stood up as the cloak fell back around him, realizing there were some six or seven people staring at this guy who just jumped out of a window. He did a sort of embarrassed smile and wave, and then started walking quickly but casually.
Time to leave.
----
The glow of the red pendant wasn't as noticeable in the sunlight...
The dirt path in the forest was wide. A group of soldiers began to pass the man in lieutenant's armor, stopping in their tracks and saluting him.
Mavas wasn't expecting this reaction and grinned...
"Where might you be off to?"
On of the soldiers wearing a silver medal took a step forward.
"South of Redvik, sir! To reinforce the line at the boarder of Laus, sir!"
"Oh, really..."
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Zeros' shimmered into view, right next to Draven. He also stared at the view.
"It seems even the all-powerful Draven can't resist the view from up here," he said. He turned towards Draven.
"So, Draven, before I can even think to help you, more then what I've done already, I need to know what your plan is, for dealing with Haraldur," he asked.
Posted by: Trent on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Xenai got out of bed. "Yaaaaawn! Right-o!" He had left all his stuff on, save for the armor. How dare he change his appearance for sleeping! <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /> He puts his armor on, and steps out of the room. Now it was time to figure out where the crap this 30th floor was.
--- -- ---
Zion and Tsu had spent the night at the inn, and were now awake and talking. "So you think she's joined the Crimson Empire, huh?"
"I'm sure of it."
"Doesn't matter, really. We're allies with them right now."
"I see..."
"Draven's been really well behaved lately. Hope he stays that way. He's got a nice city here."
"Heck yeah, he does."
--- --- ---
Aura got out of bed. She had the armor off, it was just the undersuit underneath the armor that she kept on for sleeping. Comfy, but how dare she change her appearance to sleep! She opened the door, performing the salute. "Good morning, Colonel." She looked at the paper. "My test, huh? Oh my. I can't wait..."
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
As the sun rose for a new day, Haraldur turned to the ghostly visage of the Prophet, and said, "Why did you betray me?"
"I do not believe in your foolish idealism! It would be chaos! Why not just let the weak be ruled by the strong as they always have. You know how that works, you, after all, have been instrumental in the design of the Empire system on the Dark Continent, for millenia."
"I am a changed person now, as you can see, and I will not let the status quo rest."
"Status quo?"
"It is Latin, a language from another universe."
"Anyway, are you going to let me out of this hellish place you sent me? If not, why else have you come to visit me?"
"You are released. Do as you will, I do not care. You will not find me so merciful next time."
"Merciful?"
"Indeed, I will be having lawyers fighting over your case?"
"What is a lawyer?"
"Do not trouble yourself with that, it would terrify you. I am merciful enough not to give you an answer."
The Prophet started to fly North, thinking to himself that he must ally himself with the Crimson Empire, or else find Zeros'. This foolish idealism must stop! Freedom for the masses? He must be stopped!
Haraldur watched him go, and smiled to himself as it became evident the Prophet did as he expected.
___________________________________________________________
Tesla was waiting close to a tower in the city walls, watching for any sign of attack. He moved his hands up and down, dragging the ground connecting the peninsula to the mainland up and down as well, making it rough, wet and with many sharp rocks. Any land army would need a lot of surgeon for the foot and leg injuries, he thought.
Behind him, the automated city went like clockwork. In the square were troops of men doing training with spears and swords, on the other side similar weapons were being forged in preparation for war.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Cold.
Bitter cold.
Ein got up. He felt his body, finding his cloak somewhat intact. He looked around, observed the area around him. He seemed to have been washed up on a beach, but a beach he did not recognize.
"Damn", he thought. "That was one hell of a storm... Wonder where i ended up?"
He proceeded towards the trees that were just up by where the beach ended. Trees were tall, covering a large part of sky. However, by darkness around him, he realized that night was nearing. He had to seek shelter.
As he proceeded through the small path in between the trees, he heard a twig snap somewhere behind him, to the left.
-Who's there?
No answer followed. Ein resumed his course. Then, he heard another twig snap, this time to the right of him. He spun around, but seeing nothing. "Stupid squirrels..." As he turned around, someone painfully punched him in the forehead, knocking him down to the ground. Ein gathered up his thoughts and looked at the attacker. The man was tall, wearing a cape, and had an interesting-looking crossbow in one of his hands. The other one was empty, and Ein noted that the empty hand was his right hand, therefore the man was left-handed.
-"Gimme all your money!" The man's voice was very loud.
-"I have none. I just... err... arrived here."
-"I don't take that as an answer! If you have no cash, then prepare to die!"
The robber pointed the crossbow at Ein's head. His finger touched the trigger... and the crossbow was out of his hands, and in Ein's legs. He quickly flipped it around, put it in his hands and hastily fired it, aiming at the highwayman's head. Arrow hit him in the neck. The only sound coming from him was a faint gurgle, then somewhat of a sigh. The giant was dead.
//i'm gonna watch you guys for a few posts before actually talking to other characters. don't want to sound like an idiot in front of everyone by talking off-topic <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Duilin, stood in the middle of a dusty wasteland, standing at the edge of a canyon. He sky was firey, like the depths of hell was surrounding him. The wind was hot, it blue threw his hair. He looked down, and saw tons of dead bodies in the canyon. Somebody put his hand on his shoulder, he startled him. Duilin turned around, and saw a fimular face, somebody who he hasn't seen in many, many years...But he looked different. He looked deep into the mans eyes, and saw himself in them. He saw himself being burnt alive, being torn apart, but still screaming in pain, and being left to rot, alive....
-----
Rink, was sitting on an open window sill, looking at the sunrise. He then looked at the messenger, and listened to him, the Imp nodded. "All ready, eh?" He smirked. He then stood up and cracked his knuckles, and the little guy went off, into the hallway off to find the 30th floor. He saw that Xenia was up, he looked lost. "Good morning." Rink said, waveing. "We better get to docking bay, Xenia."
------
Marshal walked threw the town, wearing the recolored Empire armor. He was holding the new bullet weapon. He had an amulet around his neck, with the saphire of summoning. He watched Tesla reform the ground. "I thought I had a werid tallent." He chuckled to himself. He then walked up to him. "I wonder how the Crimson Empire is going to plan this attack. There last attempt was lacking, do you expect anything better?"
------
Duilin's eyes shot open, and he gasped for air.
"Duilin?" said a beautiful calming voice.
He looked up, and saw the servent girl's face looking at him.
"Duilin? Are you okay?" She asked again
"I'm allright..." Duilin said, getting out of bed. "Just a bad dream..." He looked at her. "You should go...I don't think the Empire's Officers would like to find you here."
"Well...okay." The servent replied. She gave him a quick kiss. "Bye..." She then opened the door and left...
Duilin sat down on his bead, and rubbed his forehead. He was fealing flushed.
He then heard a knock on the door.
"Come in..." Duilin called.
Valos opened the door. "Have a nice sleep, Duilin?" He said with a smirk.
"Sorta..." Duilin replied. "What do you want?" He asked him without turning his head
"Oh, nothing. Just wanted to check in and see how you were doing." Valos replied. "Today might be a big day, we are attempting another strike on Haraldur. I've been called to the front lines."
"What did you do to deserve that?" Duilin asked, sitting up, with his hands on his knees, and looked at him.
"Oh, I questioned Lord Draven on why he offered High Generalship to...Zeros'." Valos replied, sounding annoyed.
"Seems that all you soilder-boys are into turning men into demons." Duilin said sternly, and then got up and walked pass Valos, and headed to the main hall.
Posted by: Dippy on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Jonny wakes up in his room. He can't remember last night very well so he looks around and sees his keys are left in the door, there is barf on the wall to his left and Bongo, his monkey is passed out in a buket of oats.
"Shit...I must have had one hell of a party last night!" Jonny exclaims.
"Nope, it was just you." A servant says to him through the door."and it was the most disgusting this I have ever seen." He adds and shudders.
Bongo wakes up and staggers over to Jonny. "I don't think that you should have drank a whole bottle of that." Jonny says after noticing the dirty little monkey. "Well you get back to your oats, I'm gonna look around."
He walks around the halls untill he sees a solder and asks him whats going on.
"Ohh its you! You got so wasted, it was diisgusting. So yeah, we are gonna attack the Aspyes." He replied. "But first we are sending spies to get info on them."
"So we are spying on the Aspyes? Get it? As-SPY-es?" Jonny jokes.
"That was terrible..." He replied.
"Sorry, I have a bad hang over."
"I see." The soilder says and heads off.
Jonny than goes off to get breakfast.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday October 23rd, 2005
Haraldur started to fly back towards Laus. As he flew, his thoughts turned to his good friend Tesla. "I am the universe, and I favour those who work to understand me," he murmered to himself. "Where I go, they try to follow. What I do, they study. Those I love, they revere.
"I have too long been apathetic. Suffering of the masses is the fault of my indifference. Zeros' is right, I am a monster, but not in any way he can imagine, and misinterprets, whether deliberately or not, my attempts at improvement. He does not work to understand me, he does the opposite."
Posted by: Kahn on Monday October 24th, 2005
"I can feel it getting closer."
Hyperion had nothing to go by but this feeling. His master told him only to go fight under the command of Draven for the Crimson Empire. He was not told why he was going or where the Crimson Empire was.
He chose to fly as a full dragon as he could fly high enough to avoid being noticed.
Something caught his eye in the distance though, and he started to fly lower. He noticed what appeared to be two figures upon a high tower in the direction he was heading.
"Could it be.....Draven?"
Whatever was coming, he was ready.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 24th, 2005
Draven paused for a moment, before pocketing the small jewel. Again speaking to Zeros' as if he were there the whole time.
"Hmmm, yes of course... Of course, it is difficult to plan if you are unsure of your opponent's next move, and a difficult one to predict this one is..."
He turned to the south.
"It would be very useful if our little inside mission succeeds, and I believe they have a greater chance if Ragnar isn't in the city to begin with... Perhaps you can make an appearance somewhere near Laus, off shore or something, to lure the fool away... I have a shuttle to Redvik below if you are interested, though I'm sure you can get there on your own..."
----
The docking bay on the 30th floor was occupied by a number of black airships, but only one had its side doors open, and a few soldiers and mechanics wondered in and out. It was the smallest one there, some 100 feet long, but it had a very sleek and smooth design, resembling something more like a rocket ship.
Outside the doorway on the metal boarding dock was a sign that simply read "Falcon V".
----
The colonel gave a sort of chuckle-grunt and handed Aura the sheet of paper.
"That's the spirit! You've been assigned to the southern front, the line north of the fallen city Laus. There you will be under the command of General Valos. Your assignment is to lead a group of twenty men-- here's their ID numbers. Now this is less than a lieutenant normally would lead. The catch? They're all newbies. All fresh out of basic training. Zero combat experience. If you can prove yourself here, you'll get a full squadron. That's at least five groups of ten at your command.*
"You'll receive specific orders when you arrive. There's an airship at the Crimson Palace leaving in... less than 20 minutes! Better hurry!"
(*See beginning of Chapter 2)
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 24th, 2005
Valos, approached Rink and Xenia, and looked at them. "You two should get to the 30th floor." He said to them.
Rink turned and looked at him. "Good morning..."
"Yes...I'm on my way there myself, I'm leading the attack. You can follow me there, if you're lost." He turned around, and began his way to the 30th floor. Rink shrugged and looked at Xenia, and then followed.
-----
An Aspye Trooper trusted his spear at a Mudman, impaleing the creature, yet not killing it. The mudman barely took any damage. Another one trusted it from behind, causeing the creature to wail in pain. Suddenly, the creature formed into a blue specter and was sucked back into Marshal's amulet. He was hosting a training session for the troops. "Very good he said. Teaming on an oppenent is a good idea, but you have to remember that the Empire troops will be fare more experinced then that." Marshal told the troops. "They will be comming in large groups, and will show you no mercy. With the Empire, there are NO innocents."
-----
Duilin, was outside, he was standing near the edge of the floating palace. He was in sight of Draven and Zeros'. He stretched his wings out, and took out his mace. He walked further from the edge. He saw Darak standing not to far looking at him, he had his large battle axe, resting blade down on the ground, and he had his hands on the edge of the handle.
"Shouldn't you be boarding one of the airships?" Duilin asked him.
"Oh, yes. But I saw you heading outside and I wanted to ask you something." Darak replied
"Okay, what?"
"I've seen you talking to one of the servent girls, lately. Me and the others have been...talking about it." Darak smirked
"That, is none of your affair." Duilin replied, annoyed
"Well, that's not all. I've also seen General Valos and you talking alot. Are you friends with him?" Darak asked
"Pfft...No, he's trying to convince me to let my demonic side to take over." Duilin answered
"Why?"
"Oh, hell I don't even think he knows. Valos is crazy, I feal sorry for you grunts haveing to take orders from him."
"Yeah, he's been acting werid ever since, a member of the clean up crue saw him doing a demonic worship. He said, he saw him do some scary shit, some things...almost...unhumen..."
"Unhumen?"
"Yeah, like his eyes...they were glowing red, and he starting makeing this werid laugh...sorta just entered your brain, like you weren't hearing it with your ears. I don't know if that's true, but I wouldn't be surprized if it was."
"Hmmm...." Duilin, slipped his mace back into his holster. "You better head to the docking bay. I'm going to leave with Zeros' and Draven, when it's time to go."
Darak nodded, and then jogged back into the palace.
Duilin thought about what Darak told him about Valos. It almost seemed famaliar...
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 24th, 2005
Ein continued walking through the woods. His encounter with the highwayman ensured him of human life upon this land, but he was now questioning the hospitality of this place's human habitation.
It was already deep into the night, and he still hasn't found a place to stay of some kind. It wasn't like he needed an actual house, or bed. He always had his cloak which could serve as some kind of a pillow if folded. However, a nice bed after all these years would've been appreciated.
Eventually, after about half hour more of walking, he came to a tall cliff overlooking a town. He could barely see now, but he saw some lights around the houses... and yet, he was too tired to get up and go... His legs felt like made of lead, he couldn't lift even his arms. So, he fell upon the dirty ground, and fell in a deep sleep.
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 24th, 2005
Xenai shrugged and decided to follow Valos, seeing as how he knew nothin' about this place anyways. This place was real nice, and it kinda made him wish he was still in the Crimson Empire.
--- --- ---
"So now," said Zion, "We'll need something to do while Xenai's doing his stuff."
"What about that Ven guy?"
"Yeah, we should probably find him."
And the two made their way out of the Inn.
--- --- ---
"Complete newbies? Ah, I'm sure they'll do just fine. I'll not let you down, sir!" She performed the salute and closed the door, putting on her armor all fast like, grabbing her scimitars, and getting outta there, heading for the airship. She stopped at a map on the wall. 30th floor? 30th floor. And she's off!
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
The mechanics stepped aside and passengers began to board the Falcon V. They were mostly lower leveled officers assigned to the front line (for troops were already stationed in the area). The small airship couldn't carry much more than 100 people.
One of the officers, wearing a more conductor like uniform brought his hand to his mouth and yelled:
"Five minutes to departure!"
----
A lieutenant met Valos in the doorway of the hangar, saluting him and handing him a scroll with the Crimson Seal on it.
"Instructions on dealing with Laus from the Emperor, sir!"
The rolled up paper read:
General Valos is hereby granted the authority to oversee the Laus front line, acting in accordance with the following priorites and instructions:
Priority 1: Prevent Ragnar and his forces from pushing into the mainland.
Priority 2: Ensure the undercover mission is not compromised.
Priority 3: Reclaim land between the front line and Laus with minimal endangerment to troops.
The order to attack and recapture Laus will supercede all priorities when the order is given by The Emperor. Laus must not be attacked until the order is given.
You are given the authority to make decisions on your own so long as they do not conflict with the above.
Crimson Emperor Lars Draven I
----
Ven walked through the grassy field, the bottom of his cloak dampening from the morning dew rubbing off of the tall blades of grass. The sun was piercing through the clouds, so he at least knew which direction he was going... Of course, that offered little help due to the shear vastness of this continent... Mavas could be anywhere...
At least it was somewhat less dismal here than the valley that village was in...
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
Zeros' turned briefly to Draven, then, turned away and looked back towards the horizon. He had felt Hyperion already, but, he sensed no maliace towards himself or his... aquantices.
"I merely don't think a simple apperance near Laus would throw Haraldur off our trail, but, I'm sure his men aren't as intelligent as himself," he turned and spread his wings, the two, large, black angel wings extended to their full wing span of 15 feet, from wingtip to wingtip. "But, I'll see what I can do," he commented before he took into the air, in the direction of Laus at a steady pace.
The early morning sunlight colored the sky oranges and reds. But, Zeros' had no doubt, the sky would soon be painted red with blood...
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
Haraldur reached Laus, and landed on the tower above where Tesla was, and shouted down to him, "It is time that Laus is permanently seperated from the Empire that has been near or on it for generations. This must be done so we are less spread out. Wait until the attack, however. I want the isthmus between us and the mainland to be fullof Crimson Empire troops before the move."
"What of the damage it will cause?"
"Who cares? I can repair any damage relevant to us. It is useless, Zeros' is already been confirmed to be objectively on the side of the Empire."
___________________________________________________________
Under the isthmus magma moved into a newly created hollow, and pressure started to build up.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
"More seperated from the Empire? Does he mean, move the land?" Marshal asked. "Indeed, Haraldur is powerfull.". He double checks to see if his gun is fully loaded, he aims it at the air, to get more so used to it. He then lowered the weapon.
------------
Valos examined the message, and read it. He nooded. "Back to work lieutenant." He said to him. Valos then turned to Rink and Xenia. "Get aboard the ship, now. We have five minutes, so don't doddle." He then walked towards the ship. "Why, fly yourself if you have a ship to do it for you." He gave a quick smirk, and then walked aboard. The mechanics saluted him as he stepped into the ship. He then looked at all the passengers, and nearly everyone saluted him. "At ease, grunts." He laughed.
------------
Duilin then spread open his wings, and then jumped into the air, and flapped his wings and began flight. He swooped up nearby Zeros'.
"Good morning Zeros'." Duilin called to get his attiention, yet he probabbly allready senced him coming. "Get a good sleep?"
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
"Still your tongue, Marshall!" said Haraldur. "We have no idea who may be listening, so never mention things explicitly."
Posted by: Kahn on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
The full palace began to reveal itself as Hyperion flew closer. When he noticed Zeros spread his wings and take off, it made him feel a little bit better about where he was heading. He began to feel the Crimson Empires power.
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday October 25th, 2005
Xenai obeyed the given request, boarding the- Holy hell, this is a nice ship!
//Aura's supposed to be on the ship with Xenai, Rink, and Valos, right?
Ah, finally. Aura reaches the 30th floor. The Falcon V catches her eye, and she figures that's the one she needs to get on. She boards the ship. "Excuse me, is there a General Valos on this ship?"
Xenai looks over to her. "Holy hell! You're that one girl that was dashing on the water after us!"
Aura looks to him. "You... You're one of Tsu's friends, aren't you?"
"Yeah, what of it?"
"Nothing, really. Just wanted to know." Yet she seemed to be thinking a little deeper.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
Draven folded his arms as Zeros' began his flight southward into the horizon. A smirk returned to his face...
"Excellent..."
He turned and strode towards the stairwell, but paused halfway there. It was at this point he noticed some sort of dragon flying about. Strange, why hadn't the wyvern riders intercepted it? He watched it for a moment...
----
"All aboard!"
The doors to the airship closed and it could be felt leaving the ground. It shot out of an opening in the floating palace in into the sky with no visible propulsion save for a yellow glow emitting from it's underside.
The conductor performed the military salute.
"Our vessel will arrive at the southern fortress of Redvik in a little over an hour."
He grabbed the pole he was standing next to as a tremendous g-force could be felt as the ship accelerated greatly.
The inside of the ship was extremely roomy and luxurious, the seats positioned more in the fashion of a train's dining car, with padded seats positioned around small tables.
(The trip, of course, will last as long as you guys need for your conversations, etc.)
----
Ven removed his blade and began to hack at the thick yellow grass before him. It seemed to be getting taller and thicker as he went on... Hmm... wrong turn, perhaps...?
He sat down on a rock. Who was he kidding? Trying to find him in a place like this... He doesn't even know what he'll do when he does find him...
Some sort of black bird flew overhead.
Fight him of course... try and break the spell... well, see if the spell happens to break at least... he still has to try... he owes him that much...
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
The Prophet was now nearing the Crimson Capital, and flew towards Draven.
"I need you to help me put history back on its proper course."
The arrogance of trying to alter the course of history! As if he is the universe or something! The upstart! It is my order that decides what happens in the future!
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
Valos sat near Xenia and Rink. "Might as well sit with you people. I have to spend the next few days with you in a huge war I might as well put up an effort to get along with you. Besides the grunts are terrible conversationist, they are to affraid of me." He then looked at Aura, and examined her. He could tell she was a soilder, she appeared to be a lieutenant, but he didn't reconise her. "Hello, I am GENERAL Valos. You may have herd of me. I belive you are the new girl, I heard about."
Rink then sat back and turned to Xenia. "You know her?" He asked gestureing to Aura.
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
Aura performs the salute. "Hello. I am Lieutenant Aura Hikari. The new girl."
Xenai sighs. "I don't know a thing about her. You'll have to ask my friend about her... Kid with black hair, you might have seen him... Though he's definitely not much of a kid anymore..."
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
Caudillo de Alterña por la gracia de Dios Generalísimo Benito Franco Salazar sat at his desk, signing the death warrants of the last monarchist resistance fighters to have survived, knowing that his orders would be obeyed the next day. It was well to give the public such spectacles, it gave the illusion of efficiency.
He sighed, and stood up, looking out the window to survey the land of which he was the abolute ruler. As he got closer to the window, an albatross came over and rested on his arm, which he stroked, and crooned to. He attached a small tube to a ring on the leg of the bird, in which was a letter. He zapped the bird's head, giving it knowledge of the appearance and smell of Draven. The bird then took off, flying towards the Crimson Emporer.
Franco sat back down, and made arrangements for his deputy to run the country on a temporary basis during his absence, before kneeling down in front of a statue of the mother of God to pray.
(It should be assumed that the albatross reaches Draven by the time of Xorlak's next post, here are the letter's contents:)
To the Crimson Emporer General Lord Lars Draven, greetings. I have heard much of your success on the Dark Continent and am very impressed. However, I have heard worrying reports of a revolution of some sort, and I do not wish such things to spread, both for my sake and yours. It is, then, my request to you that you would permit me to meet you in your Imperial Palace to discuss an Anti-Aspyes alliance, and stop this threa together.
Yours,
Caudillo de Alterña por la gracia de Dios Generalísimo Benito Franco Salazar
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
-"Ahh, bright morning light!"
Ein woke up, stretched, and started walking towards the town he saw last night. In daylight, it looked much bigger than last night, probably because some of the houses did not have lights burning in them yesterday. As physically-strong as Ein was, he could not see in the dark.
As he got closer to the town, he saw a signpost which said "Lavessov" on it. "Hmm, must be the town name", thought Ein. He continued walking into the town. Strangely, not a lot of people were outside, for a town as big as this. In fact, the remaining people were running into their houses as well.
Suddenly, Ein heard footsteps behind him. He hastily turned around, and saw a tall man walking towards him, who looked suspiciously like a mage. He was not well indeed; he looked terrible, and was probably dying. He was holding a staff with a blood-red transparent rock on top of it.
-"Touch... the... staff..." The man's voice was so weak it was barely hearable.
-"Why? Who are you?"
-"Just... touch... the... staff..." The man seemed stranger and stranger, and looked as if he was getting older, too.
-"Alright... whatever." Ein cautiously placed his hand on the crimson rock.
...everything went blood-red, then black...
---
In a far away inn, two soliders were relaxing with some nice ale. They were intently discussing something.
-"Hey, did you hear about some nut with a crossbow and a black cape murdering an entire town?"
-"Yeah! They say he was as fast as a lightning, jumping from one building to another, and firing his crossbow without even looking at the target, but never missing."
-"Gee... pests like him need to be kept under control."
Posted by: Kahn on Wednesday October 26th, 2005
Hyperion transformed into human form with dragon wings, as the tower was but a couple minutes away. He came to complete stop though, when he noticed something coming. A lone wryven rider.
He called to the rider. "Halt soldier! I have been flying for ages and only now you try to stop me. If I was the Crimson Empires enemy I could have easily lead an assault on this palace. You a have failed the Empire and you've failed yourself. If I was a better man, or even a human I might spare your life, but unfortunetly for you, you're out of luck."
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday October 27th, 2005
Zeros' looked at Duilin for a moment and cranned his head back towards the direction of Laus.
"Sleep doesn't come easy, for one as old as me. The memories of all the hundreds of years I've been alive all come back to you at that moment try to sleep, and, keep you awake through the night. I've stopped trying to sleep many, many years ago. Now, the most I've gotten, was a mediative trance. One could almost mistake it for sleeping, but, none of my body shuts down. I'm aware of everything, even some senses I have are heighted more then normal," he said quietly.
"But, enough about that. Apparently, Draven wants us to distract Haraldur, or, his men, so the spy mission won't get interrupted. Up for it?" he questioned, seemingly forgetting about his somber topic.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday October 27th, 2005
Draven turned around, completely distracted from the dragon, to see some old man flying towards him... He seemed vaguely familiar...
(Is he translucent or ghost-like or anything?)
"Hmmm... yes, you're that senile old man that tried to get in my way a few years back. Come to your senses like the others now, hmm? Tell me now, why is it that you think you deserve my help?"
At that moment an albatross landed on a brick at the edge of the tower. Draven flipped his cape and walked to it, removing a scroll from the tube attached to its leg, which bore the seal of the nation of Alterña.
"And make it quick, I'm very busy, you see..."
Alterña... yes, it was a nation located on the other side of the world. Never invaded by the Dark Empire. It was too far down the list, especially after Retan became fixated on finding those weapons... After Draven assumed control, it became of little more interest than a name on his world map. What could they possibly want?
He broke the seal and unrolled the scroll, leaning on the wall next to the doorway they lead back down into the tower casually. He read it.
Interesting... news travels fast... but why would they care about one miserable town in a foreign country?
Draven shouted into the stairwell leading down into the tower.
"Letter!!"
A moment later, a clumsy soldier emerged from the stairs carrying a blank scroll and a quill. Draven took the writing supplies and began his response:
Caudillo de Alterña por la gra--
"Aw screw it..."
He crumpled the scroll and began writing anew:
Sovereign of Alterña,
I am most pleased with your concern, and am happy to inform you that the rebellion is minor and being dealt with at this moment. However, I am always open to explore new paths of peace and cooperation. It has always been my policy that those who aid the Crimson Empire be handsomely rewarded. Your request for a meeting has been granted. Show your seal to my men located at one of my ports and they will accompany you to my palace.
Crimson Emperor Lars Draven I
Draven affixed the scroll to the albatross and folded his arms. He looked at the prophet and then the original letter still in his hand. Now, why would he say "revolution" as opposed to "rebellion"...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday October 27th, 2005
"Of course I am, Zeros'." Duilin replied. "It'd be nice to work next to you, instead of Valos. Like the good ole' days." He then thought for a moment. "To bad that, Marshal guy isn't here, he could of summonded up something to create a distraction. But, I'm sure we can do a fine enough job without him."
----
"Oh allright." Rink said back to Xenia. "Him or Zion aren't comming, are they?"
Valos then nooded back at Aura and smiled. "Good, good. So, they officers seem to find alot of respect for your skill. Do you use any magics?" He asked her.
Posted by: Trent on Thursday October 27th, 2005
"Nope. I wonder what they're doin'...?"
--- --- ---
"Where the hell is that Ven guy!?" Tsu was tired of looking for any clues. "You haven't even talked to any NPCs yet," said Zion.
"They never say anything useful!"
"Try one!"
"Fine." Tsu walks up to a random townsperson and hits the A button. He recieves the response "Shopping is fun!"
>_<!!!!
--- --- ---
"...I bet they're havin' fun."
Aura smiles at Valos. "I'm glad that the officers find me skillful. I use lots of light-based magic."
Posted by: Kahn on Thursday October 27th, 2005
The wyvern rider moved first, charging with his lance. Hyperion reacted quickly, by hitting the wyvern full force with his right wing. The beast flew for half a second longer before losing consciousness.
"You are officially relieved of your duty." Hyperion added as the wyvern and rider fell to their certain doom.
He then turned his attention back to his destination.
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday October 27th, 2005
After the odd encounter with the man and the slaughter of an entire town, Ein has gained much more knowledge about both the surrounding world, and magic. However, there was a very odd effect left by his "enlightment": the name Haraldur. He did not know who he was, but he knew he had to find him.
He then left the town. He walked on a long sandy road, hoping to find someone. After about an hour of walking, he met a solider passing by.
-"Hello." Ein decided to start the conversation.
-"Hello, citizen. Have you seen anyone armed with a crossbow in a black cape?"
-"Err, no." He felt an odd tingle behind his belt on the back where his crossbow was hidden.
-"Alright, because I was sent to Lawessov to investigate on some wild rumours i've been hearing lately."
-"OK, if I see anyone, i'll make sure to tell one of... you... yeah. By the way, before you depart again, do you know anyone named Haraldur?"
The solider was in somewhat of a shock.
-"Of course i've heard of him! The Crimson Empire is planning an attack against him!"
-"Oh? Where can i find him? I want to see if i can take him on by myself."
-"Hah, you'll die for sure. But, if you're so eager to do it, you can start on Laus."
-"Thank you sir. Have a nice day."
The solider walked off. Laus... An island. Ein just knew. He did not know where that knowledge came to him from, he just knew.
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday October 28th, 2005
Tesla sat on the edge of the wall and concentrated on the isthmus connecting Laus to the mainland. This must be done correctly.
Haraldur called down to Marshall: "Marshall, are you still trusted by Zeros', Duilin and company? If so, I would appreciate it if you would distract them from here, so I have fewer problems to deal with simultaneously? Maybe you should emphasise the evils of the Dark Empire to them? Or, at the very least, tell them that, in a psychotic rage, I destroyed Laus and massacred the populace, before leaving north again. They will believe that, at least," he added bitterly. "I need to be in a situation where I can focus on just one or two groups of enemies."
___________________________________________________________________
//The Great Prophet is quite solid.//
The Prophet said, "It is in your own interests that the Aspyes be destroyed and that you ally with Alterña, as that is what I am suggesting. I wish Retan's legacy to be destroyed no more than you, Draven."
___________________________________________________________________
Benito Franco Salazar read the letter just sent to him by Draven, and then jumped out of the window. He stood on the air, and a small bodyguard of fatigues wearing soldiers flew up to be beside him. They started flying towards the Dark Continent at a leasurely pace befitting an absolute ruler.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday October 28th, 2005
"Really, now?"
Draven folded his arms and slowly walked toward the old man, staring into his eyes.
"Then how absolutely convienient of you to arrive at the same time as that letter. I did not arrive at the position I am today by means of listening to random people, especially old men who fly in out of nowhere. You need more credibility than just being old and calling yourself 'a prophet'. Be gone, before my archers mistake you for a flying skeleton or something..."
He flipped his cape and proceeded into the stairwell.
Draven could never bring himself to trust a word of this man. No point in starting now. Still, he had already made the decision to meet with this Salazar, and intended to go through with it.
----
Through the windows of the airship Falcon V, a fortress could be seen in the distance. It was Redvik, a smaller, more mechanical looking structure than the Crimson Palace. Rather than airship docks in the towers, it's docks were located underground, and a large plate of ground could be seen moving near the walls of the fortress, like a giant lid opening up for the airship to land in.
----
Ven sneezed.
"Hah, someone must be talking about me."
He sneezed again, and realized it was the pollen of those strange flowers around him.
"Blast it!"
He began to chop at them with his blade, but this only released more pollen into the air, which caused him to sneeze several more times. He finally got up and escaped the pollen cloud.
"Arrgh! These seasonal nasal allergies..."
"Hehehehehe..."
"Huh?"
Ven looked up. In the clearing of the field stood something... very short... wrapped in grey cloth. An image flashed through Ven's mind. It was that little necromancer that hung around Mavas...
"You...! Who are you!?"
"Hsss... Who am I? What am I? Who are you? What are you? Who--"
An explosion rocked the ground at the necromancer's feet from a fireball thrown from Ven's blade, causing him to jump some twenty feet in the air. He squealed in his high pitched voice:
"H-hey, you can't ruin my intro!!"
He landed a great deal farther from Ven.
"Hsss, if you musst know, I am Degzgronzo, sservant of the all powerful Mavass!!"
"What the...? Never mind. Where is Mavas? Tell me!"
Ven flipped his sword in another ark, this time sending a much faster blade of wind at the little man, who avoided the attack in the same manner.
"Hehehehehe... Masster ssayss that he doessn't need Ven anymore... to keep you away... that I can have you now... hehehehe..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday October 28th, 2005
Marshal nodded at Haraldur and called back. "It will be done." And we went off, he straped his gun over his shoulder. He could easily explain his reasons of the new equipment, to them. He thought that he should go over to a near by cliff to the north, he would probabbly be able to get Duilin and Zeros' attiention.
---------------
Duilin flue abit faster, he wanted to hurry there, the others are probabbly almost there. "We should speed up Zeros', come on." He said to him.
---------------
"Maybe, they are looking for Ven. I hear he has probloms of his own." Rink replied. "I bet his problom might even tie into ours."
"Hmmm, light-based magics." Valos said, wile rubbing his chin. He sat back. "That is indeed a good talent. I can see you going up the ranks very quickly." He then looked out the window. "Ah ha, we are almost at Redvik." He then stood, up, to get the soilders' attiention.
"Soilders! We are almost at our destination of Redvik. Now, we are to send two spies into Laus. We are not to attack as soon as we arive, but you must still prepare. You all know your positions and what lieutenants you are to go with. Make sure that you don't get lost. We are to attack, when Lord Draven himself tells us to!"
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday October 28th, 2005
Zeros' shook his head and flew minimally faster.
"Duilin, it would do us no good to rush," he said, but accelerated agian to catch up with the other half-demon. The sky, once the colors of dawn, was now starting to glow yellow. Steam rose from the lake below them and raised into the sky, the beginning forms of clouds could be seen.
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday October 28th, 2005
Ein waited until the solider was out of sight, and looked around. He was in a small open area with lots of sand around him.
-"Hmm... sand... not perferable... but it will do."
He walked around, found a small stick, and started drawing a strange circular diagram, sort of.
Posted by: Trent on Friday October 28th, 2005
Aura was looking over the paper she recieved from Colonel Skul, making sure she knew where she was to go, and Xenai was doing... Nothing.
--- --- ---
"Come on, let's fly..." said Zion. "We've better luck flying around looking for him." The translucent teal angel wings appeared, and he took off. Tsu ejected one white angel wing on the left, and one black devil wing on the right, and took off.
Posted by: Kahn on Friday October 28th, 2005
Hyperion landed softly on the tower as his wings disappeared, turning himself into full human form. He looked around expecting to see Draven, but he only found The Prophet.
"Hey old man! In what direction has master Draven gone?"
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday October 29th, 2005
The Prophet glared. The insolence of this man! It would be better then to lie low for a while then, to some of the smaller towns to find a following of his own.
" 'Hey old man! In what direction has master Draven gone?' ? One so young as you should show more respect towards your elders and betters, else you will end up like the individual you speak of. Where did he go? Why, he turned into a troop of pixies before disappearing in a burst of fairy dust. Where do you think he would go from this high tower with one staircase, without flying, as you would have seen him if he had? Kids of today... This is proof that the education system is a joke. Good day."
He flew west, into the countryside. He must find somewhere remote.
__________________________________________________________________
Haraldur and Tesla watched him go. Tesla said, "We will also find out where his loyalties lie."
"Indeed, and I am quitely confident that those same loyalties lie with us."
__________________________________________________________________
Salazar and his troop were now reaching the mainland of the Dark Continent, but it woiuld still take some time before they reached the Crimson Capital. Around him, his agents held various strange object. One was holding a piece of canvas on wood, and was mapping the countryside at a very fast rate. Others were noting down information about fortifications.
The capital came into view in the distance, and these objects were surreptitiously put away.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday October 29th, 2005
"If you say so Zeros'." Duilin replied. He slowed down abit, but not as slow as he was going before. "I'm just getting impatient, sorry..." Duilin continued flying.
"I had another nightmare, it was alot different then the others." Duilin said softly, "My father, he was in it...I'm not sure if it had a meaning, but..." He hesitated to continue, not like he was trying to remember the rest, but like he was trying to forget it.
--------
Marshal, came to a cliff. He knealed down, and looked into the distance. 'They should be coming soon...' He thought
--------
"Hey Valos." Rink said to the General.
"What do you want, Imp?" He snapped back, as he sat back down.
"Remember what Zeros' said about killing innocents. Not all the people there are soilders for the Aspyes." He said sternly
"Hahaha...I'm sure, I'm sure." Valos smirked, turned away and cracked his knuckles. "You just worry about your mission and I'll worry about mine."
Rink gave Valos a dirty looked and then turned away and crossed his arms.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday October 29th, 2005
"Halt! Who goes there!?"
Two armed guards emerged from the stairwell and found Hyperion standing there alone. They drew their blades.
"Who are you?!"
"That is enough."
The two guards immediately stepped aside and bowed their heads. Draven reemerged from the stairwell, staying in the shadow of the structure. He folded his arms.
"Hmmm, you're that dragon, aren't you? What is it that you seek? I'm not in the best of moods now, you see..."
----
Six wyvern riders suddenly swooped upon Salazar and his entourage from above, surrounding the group. The leader was a man in bright gold armor, carrying a long spear in his left hand.
"Identify yourself."
----
The Falcon V landed in the subterranean dock and opened its door. Several soldiers were waiting as the passengers exited, saluting them as they passed. There was one man who did not salute.
"General Valos."
It was General Vincent. He did not wear any armor, but rather something resembling more of a black trench coat with a few military adornments on his chest. His long black hair was tied in a ponytail behind his back and his calm, almost brooding eyes shone behind his small square rimmed glasses. His hands behind his back, his voice was soft and unemotional.
"Welcome to Redvik. What a surprise to have you come all the way down here to quell such a small upstart. Anyway, you will find the front line set up just beyond the forest south of this fortress. 8,000 men, as The Emperor requested. Do be sure to keep those rebels away from here..."
----
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Ven brought his blade back, about to send another blast of magic.
"Hehehehehe!!!"
The small gray robed man clutched his staff with both hands and brought it above his head. The ground began to shake. A hill formed underneath the necromancer, sending him upward as it formed-- but it wasn't a hill...
...it was... a GIANT head...
... a giant ZOMBIE head...
More of the beast emerged from the ground, revealing a bipedal monster, complete with a large club in it's right hand, some 30 feet tall. Its rotting body was composed of exposed flesh and what looked like moss. With the necromancer still on it's head, it billowed a monstrous roar.
Ven took a step back.
"Great..."
Posted by: Dippy on Saturday October 29th, 2005
Jonny and Bongo had just fiished their breakfast when saw a doorway he had not seen before. "Hmm...Bongo do you remember that doorway being there before?" Bongo looks at him,"ohh yeah, you're a monkey."Jonny puts him on his shoulder and walks to the door and sees a sign on is saying "Athorized Personell Only"
"Im a high ranking dude, I guess I'm athorized." So he opens the door and sees nothing but a small pit. He looks inside and sees it leads to the mainland.
"Score! Im gonna go ask abou-" He in interupted by the door closeing and it locks.
"Shit! Ohh, parachutes!" Jonny notices tree parachutes on a rack so he puts one on and grabs onto Bongo before jumping out the pit.
Bongo starts squealing and taping at Jonny. "What is it!" Jonny asks Bongo. "Ohh, it's that three story moss-giant thing!" Jonny starts reaching for his gun and lands about 100 yards away. "I better try and take that thing down." He then spots Zion and Tsu flying off. "I looks like they are heading that way to. I might need those witches help!" He then takes out his caliberate shotgun, loads it up and dashes off to the action.
Posted by: Kahn on Saturday October 29th, 2005
Hyperion got down on one knee and looked at Draven.
"As the last command of my creator and former master, I was told to fight for you and the Crimson Empire. I have no idea as to why this command was made, but because of it my power now belongs to the Crimson Empire. Use it as you see fit."
Posted by: Trent on Saturday October 29th, 2005
Tsu pointed at the Zombie head. "Isn't that slightly unnatural?" It was quite far off. Zion squinted. "Yup..." The two start flying toward it.
--- --- ---
Xenai exited the ship with Rink, taking a look around. An eyebrow was raised at the trenchcoat man. //Should Aura salute Vincent?// Aura had exited as well, and was awaiting the order to move out. Maybe then she'd find out who her men were. There didn't seem to be any of her men around her. She glanced once more at the piece of paper. Her specific duty was to... //Xorlak can of course fill that in. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday October 29th, 2005
Zeros' nodded at Duilin.
"Yes... Sometimes, dreams have prophetic meaning. It might be a glimpse into the past — maybe a memory that was locked — or it could be a sight into what might come (The furture). Prophet's and men and woman of visions sometimes have dreams about people they are to met, or protect," he said.
"Sometimes, even the ones closely connected with gods and demons are hard to understand the ones in higher positions. The vision of your father could of also came because you share a link with him. They say blood is thicker then water," he said, once again.
Apon the horizon, a glimpse of Laus could be seen through the misty skys and horizon.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday October 29th, 2005
//Zeros', does your character of the same name see the great sign in the sky above the city, which Haraldur put up, saying: "Zeros', why must magic and technology be seperate?" It is meant to be quite large.//
Salazar look upon the leading wyvyrn rider with unconcealed disdain, and said, "You should call me Generalísimo, at the very least. I am Caudillo de Alterña por la gracia de Dios Generalísimo Benito Franco Salazar, the leader of Alterña by the grace of God." He flashed his signet ring at them, "Emporer Lars Draven is expecting me."
_________________________________________________________________
The Prophet was entering a heavily wooded area now, with many small village he could exploit. Brilliant.
Below him he could see a person of obvious magical knowledge scribbling what looked like an octogram in the sand.
The Prophet hovered above him and shouted, "Hail, my friend! What brings you outside this day?" Wizards are not usually the outdoor type afterall, he thought.
//That means you, D. Ein.//
_________________________________________________________________
Haraldur looked towards Tesla, and said, "Have you released our first settlement?"
"Oh, I forgot..."
"Do it, then..."
Tesla removed the box from his pocket, an it dissolved in the air, dropping the settlement lightly in the own square, no longer in suspended animation. The people were looking a bit confused, but were reassured by the presence of their two leaders.
The various guns and other defences were moved by Haraldur's telekinesis onto the top of the walls alongside those already there.
They looked down on the remade city of Laus. All around, there were red flags and red and black flags (like this, but without the lettering: <a href='http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/CNT_FAI_flag.png)' target='_blank'>
)</a> all with the symbol of ten men surrounding another, the red and black ones having two, in the red and the black corners (where the lettering is on the picture). All around the city, wheels turned and forges burned as the populace was busy building a large structure in the centre with a lot of pipes, hollow metal cylinders and tanks which were surrounded by the aura of there being a high magical presence. Some enthusiastic members of the public had painted part of the machine in reds and reds and blacks, with the 11 man symbol drawn on, with varying levels of quality.
'){kind=link}
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday October 30th, 2005
//He can see the sign, somewhat, but, he can't make out the lettering as of yet. I'd estimate there still a good couple miles away from Laus. If it wasn't for all the magic Gaian had absorbed, the mist — which is now saturated in magic — Zeros' could clearly see it, because of his demonic and god heiratiage. Zeros' COULD see through it, but, he want's to save his energy for Haraldur and Tesla.\\
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 30th, 2005
"Perhaps you are right, Zeros'." Duilin replied. "Well, enough of that..." He then looks foward. "There's Laus." He lived there for a little wile so he could remember it. But it looks almost totally different, from here, Haraldur must have changed the placed.
------
"Ahah. I see them." Marshal said to himself. Zeros' and Duilin were only a small spot in the sky, but he could tell that the two creatures heading there way towards Laus had wings. "It looks like Duilin, is also with him..."
Marshal prepared for them to get a little closer.
------
"Ah, General Vincent. It's been awile." Valos replied. "Excellent. We are going to send these two 'people' to spy on them before we attack." He gestures towards Xenia and Rink "Lord Draven, will give us the order on when to attack. These spies, are quite powerfull, so I wouldn't worry about them getting caught, they would be able to put up a fight." He then turned to Xenia and Rink. "Well, you two should get to your mission, I will ready my soilders to the fortress."
"Allright..." Rink replied. "So, I guess I better find a clever way to get into Laus. I'm assuming they won't allow an Imp to just walk right in. But hey, I'm sneaky!" He then spread out his wings, and then began to fly off. "Xenia, we'll split up as soon as he get close to the town."
Posted by: Trent on Sunday October 30th, 2005
//It's spelled Xenai. Just thought I'd let you know.
But I'm not going to RP anything until I find out what Aura's supposed to be doing.//
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday October 30th, 2005
Draven brought his right glove to his chin and studied the mysterious man.
"Hmmm, interesting. What is your name? And the name of the one who made you?"
He could tell the man wasn't human at all by his aura, but he didn't seem dragon either. Clearly artificial, and quite impressive work at that... He had never seen anything like it.
----
The wyvern rider nodded at the name and pulled out a small orb and gazed into it, seemingly nodding at an unheard message. He put the object away and smiled underneath his metal face mask.
"Generalísimo, welcome to the Crimson Empire."
He bowed slightly, holding up the reigns of the beast.
"If you would follow me, I will show you to your destination."
He turned the wyvern around and flew in the opposite direction, above the clouds. The remaining wyvern riders remained in their positions, waiting for the guests to follow before following themselves.
----
(Yes, Aura should salute all generals.)
Vincent sighed inwardly.
"Yes, awhile indeed... Just get your men out of my fortress as quickly as possible. I'm very busy here."
He turned and left, his entourage of troops following him back into the upper levels of the fortress. He couldn't stand the fact that this... general from the north... was given charge of the situation when he was so close to the area...
A colonel appeared from the other direction, stopping and saluting Valos. He was wearing a black cape and was adorned with military medals.
"General Valos, sir! I have prepared the troops and await your orders. We currently have our forces split into two primary base camps. My cartographers prepared this map for you last night."
He handed Valos a small sheet of paper:
<img src='http://darkagegames.net/dal/laus_map.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
"A complication has arisen, though. Scouts reported early this morning that the land just between the front line and Laus has been severely damaged somehow. Much of the ground has become upheaved and dangerous sometime between this morning and when Laus was captured. We have marked this area with the X's on the map, but we're not sure actually how far back to Laus it goes... If you would follow me to base camp 2, I will present you our forces."
(Dude Man, from here on in you can take control of the situation for the front line. Take care of Aura's assignment too. I have way too many things going on. Heh...)
----
With the necromancer still riding on its head, the zombie beast took a step forward.
"Hehehehe... die! Die! DIE!!"
It reared its huge club up into the air and slammed it into the ground, the resulting tremor knocking Ven off of his feet. Ven rolled backwards and regained balance in a crouched position.
Gotta think fast... Open field, lots of grass... undead monster... likely flora elemental... has to be weak against fire...
A short bust of crimson flame engulfed Ven's blade and he slashed it at the oncoming beast. The flame carried on to hit the beast's shin, but it was too weak to have much effect...
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday October 30th, 2005
"Interesting..." Valos said as he exaimed the map, "So, you say the ground is damaged? Hmmm, perhaps Haraldur may have something to do with this. I suspect something will happen, I'm not sure what, but our last attempt of wipeing him out, we took alot of damage before we even got into his city. I know he is able to the control the movement's of earth...Anyways, I'll explain more of this later. Lead the way colonel." He then turned to the others. "Let's move, soilders!" He then pointed to Rink and Xenai, "You two, should come with us accually, before you just go skipping in there."
Valos, had brought some of his shock troops with him, since they found out the Aspyes have bullet wepons, he thought brining high-tec weapons would be needed.
The colonel lead began to lead the others to base camp 2. He then looked at Aura, "I will explain your mission once we get there." He told her.
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday October 30th, 2005
"Indeed... There is Laus. Interesting to see how Haraldur has changed and sculpted the area to his will," he said, commenting on the buildings and such. While they weren't new to him, he was, of course, a dimensional traveler, so...
He felt a farmiliar aura... It seems Marshal was already here, but, there was something lingering on the very edge of his aura. Zeros' wasn't one to trust people impliciably over working together for only a few short hours, so he was slightly wary, seeing how Marshal's arsenal was changed.
But, he proceeded nontheless.
Posted by: Kahn on Monday October 31st, 2005
He thought he would be more nervous in the situation, but he wasn't at all.
"My name is Hyperion and I am the finest creation of the magician Edgar Gonzalo."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday October 31st, 2005
Draven stroked his chin. Gonzalo... hmmm... didn't ring a bell... This will require looking into. After his meeting, of course.
"Hyperion... very well. I will permit you to be in my service if you can perform a simple task."
He looked in the direction that the old prophet flew into.
"Find that old man and kill him. Bring his head to me..."
His eyes returned to meet Hyperion's, glistening as he grinned.
"Of course, you must not lead on that you were sent by me. You will not be granted that privilege until you pass this test..."
He turned, flipping his cape, and disappeared back down into the stairwell.
Those fools follow this old man's "visions" blindly. Hate for him to get an attitude and tell them to turn on me... Better remove this one...
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday October 31st, 2005
Benito Franco Salazar followed the leading wyvyrn rider, as did his entourage. The other wyvyrn riders followed cose behind. They came to where Draven was //the Crimson Palace, I assume.// and Franco moved forward, and bowed the shallow bow of unaquainted equals.
"Greetings. I trust you are not currently troubled by other urgent affairs of state?" he said, with the implication being there was none more important.
__________________________________________________________________
//Come on D. Ein, do not keep me waiting! <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />//
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday October 31st, 2005
// I'll nag at D.Ein to post <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /> \\
"Ah ha." Marshal clearly saw Zeros' and Duilin. "Over here!" He yelled
"Wha? Zeros', did you hear that." Duilin said, he turned his head, and spotted Marshal. "Well, I'll be. It's Marshal, what the hell is he doing there?" Marshal, was sitting on a cliff, seems odd why he would be there, and what was that stuff he had on? He swooped over, and hovered a few yards away from him. "How's it goin'?" He said cheerfully. 'Something's not right...'
"Oh, my, It was terrible..." Marshal said sounding frightened
"What, happened?"
"I went back to the Blue Minotaur Temple, and it was gone...Haraldur destroied it, so I went to Crimson Capital, and I saw he tried to destroy there to. I saw you people there to, and well...I followed him back to Laus. I stole some equipment, and possed as one of Haraldur's followers. I herd him talking with some others, and then he started killing people, and then said he was going to destroy Rivertown, next...You must hurry, there. Haraldur's has gone beserk again...I can't stop him, but I know you two can!"
Duilin turned and looked at Zeros'. "What do you think?" He asked
---------------
Valos and the others arived at the base camp. Tons of soilders were there getting ready for battle. There was one table reserved for him and the others. He placed the map down on the table, and motioned for the others to group around. He then began to explain his plan
"Allright, now apparently, Haraldur has rigged the ground. I assume the the ground may crack open or huge sprouts of water will blast out, or volcanos will sprout from the ground, or some random shit like that. So, I supose it would be best to enter Laus very carefully! Now, Aura, I want you to group with the newbies as you have been instructed, they may be abit jumpy and scared, don't let them slack off.
Now, Xenai from this base, I want you to head down to Laus, pose as a commoner, or something, try to blend in. Imp, you can enter were ever you want, since your not supost to be seen anyways. Well, try not to. You two gather as much information as possible, try and find out what Haraldur did to the ground. Telepathicly message all information to me. If you get caught, don't run back here, they will follow you, and blow our cover. Now, as soon as I get enough information, about the area, there army size and such, I'll inform Lord Draven about it.
Now, once we attack, we'll send out forces from base camp 1 to attack the north side of the city and the soilders from base camp 2 to attack from the south side, attacking them from both sides, leaveing them nowere to run. We will have a fraction of our forces to guard the front line, once we attack they some may run off and try to attack our camps, we may also get trapped from the rigged ground so, leaveing troops outside would be a wise choice. Now, I don't want the less experinced to pick a fight with Haraldur, he is very strong. Me, Draven, Duilin and Zeros' are probabbly the only ones able to put up a fight. You two spies, I want you to leave ASAP. Any questions?"
Posted by: Trent on Monday October 31st, 2005
//Don't feel like RPing Zion and Tsu... I'm in a really bad mood.
--- --- ---
Of course Aura had saluted all the generals. What, you think she didn't? Open your eyes.
"The newbies will be fine, sir. I'll get them into shape. My guys and I will be attacking with the guys from camp 2, right?"
"Like a commoner, then?" And he just tosses his armor aside, revealing normal-looking clothing. "Like I need it anyway." Zero Weapon wasn't visible, it materialized at will.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday October 31st, 2005
Ein was thrown off his concentration, by a voice above him. He stared at the man above.
-"Wha...? Who are you? Well, that matters not. I am currently attempting to use this... Gift, if you will, of magic, that I recieved from a dying sage. As he... umm... gave it to me, i gained knowledge of an entity named Haraldur, and a location: Laus. I was in the process of trying to teleport there. I may be doing a few things wrong, but... You know. We always try to do our best, now don't we?"
//Oh the joy of returning to DAL! Stupid internet wouldn't start up, so i could only go on MSN... sorry about the wait, guys.
Posted by: Kahn on Monday October 31st, 2005
Hyperion suspected he would have to do something of this nature, but was hoping otherwise. He looked towards the direction the prophet, trying to get an idea of where he went.
"I had better make this one quick. Perhaps I shouldn't underestimate him though."
He turned into a dragon and flew in the direction.
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
Zeros' looked at Marshal carefully, before lightly resting his hand on his sword hilt, almost unnociabily.
"Well... For one, what would Haraldur get out of destroying a cult of summoners who are only interesting in history and legends? More then likely, he'd want to recruit them," he said casually.
"And another thing is..." he pulled his sword out in one, swift movement and soon had the sword in its god form, leveled at Marshal's throat. The blades length didn't change, but, it got taller (As in, bigger going up ad down). The hilt of the sword also changing into a ethernal white mane, about a foot in length, which seemed to flow and shift without any wind. "... Your totally and utterly lying.
For one, your aura has more subtile traces of Haraldur and Telsa it should have. You mave of had a meeting with the two, but, it was only brief. The ammount in your aura suggests you spent more then that time around them. Another thing, is, if Haraldur destroyed the Blue Minitour temple — which he didn't — someone here would of felt a power spike.
Don't try to trick me, Marshal. I've been alive longer then either Draven, or Haraldur. I've been to Asgard (The God plane) and Niflheim (Hell) more time then you can count," he growled out. "I'll give you one chance to redeem yourself in my eyes, before I cut you down," he said, leaving his threat unfinished.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
Duilin shook his head in shame as he looked at Marshal. "I'd rather have Haraldur kill him for his failure. Just run Marshal..."
Marshal looked flushed, he was frightened "But, you don't understa-"
"Your in enough shit as it is. Go tell, your great leader what a wonderfull job you did."
Marshal, got up and ran as fast as he could, without even thinking of looking back.
"Heh, you see this might accually turn out to be good. You see, Haraldur will know we are here, therefore his main focus will be on us, not the others." Duilin said. "So, shall we go kick some ass?"
------
"Hmm, let's see." Valos said to Aura. "Yes, I supose you will, better get moveing then soilder."
"I supose that's all the info I need." Rink replied. "I'll be sure to keep my aura off. I'll give you a metal message if I see any sign of Zeros' or Duilin." He flies his way off to Laus...
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
Zeros' shook his head and resheathed his sword. The wind shifted briefly, showing his horribly scarred hands as he ran his right hand through his hair. On the back of his palm, the webbing between his thumb and pointer all had a metal welding on the back, in a net-like pattern. Barely any skin was shown through, as, the rest of his hand, even his fingernails, were littered in scars. Some even reached the bone. It was only thanks to his demonic and godlike powers half of his body was still useable.
"Kicking ass? No. We only need to cause a distraction... Remember Draven's spy plan? We need to stay true to that. All we need to do is cause some kind of distraction," he said, placing both of his hands into his trenchcoat pockets, a habit he picked up in another dimension.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
//Meh, can't go on the comp after 4:30, so might as well make my second post now.\\
"Hah, allright." Duilin said back. "Well, let's see. I supose just us being here could be big enough, but Haraldur might suspect something..." Duilin, sat down, on the cliff were Marshal was. "Well, perhaps we could run threw the city banging pots yelling 'The Rommes are coming!' but that would be crazy." He said jokeing. "But perhaps, we could just fly over the city and start dropping fireballs in the streets, and then kiddnaps some people." Duilin subjested. "You'd have to be a fool to ignore that. So, I supose that might work."
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
The Prophet looked at Ein, and said, "If you are on Haraldur's side, I will have to kill you, if not, then I suggest that you travel to the nearby town of Redvik: even now an army of the Crimson Empire are preparing to attack Laus, and they doubtless would appreciate new volunteers, especially those as magically gifted as yourself. If you are against Haraldur, I would quite like to accompany you."
__________________________________________________________________
"Nikola, I am going to start my own diversion, and provoke the Crimson Army, I am impatient for them to attack. Assuming he is still alive, whether or not his mission was a success, tell Marshall to attack the North side of Redvik, as I attack the South. If his mission has failed, which would not be a surprise, make it clear to him that this was anticipated, and we are not angry etc. etc.. It is to our advantage if we, after that setback (if indeed that as happened), further strengthen his loyalty to us, and the cause.
"Anyway, I expect you to be able to hold off the attacks in the meantime..." he chuckled.
Tesla nodded, but kept silent maintaining his concentration on the huge forces he was holding back with only the power of his mind.
Haraldur jumped off the battlements, and flew northward, preparing to destroy the frontline when he approached it later.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
"Ah, Lord Salazar, I presume."
He glanced at the accompanying wyvern riders and waved his hand, and they promptly left back into the sky.
"Of course not. You had an appointment after all. Come, we should have our meeting in a more hospital environment."
He lead the way down the stairwell at the top of the tower, through some winding hallways, and into the main dining hall, where he took his seat at the throne at the head of the long table. Dozens of servants scurried about, setting plates for the guests.
The elite in black armor silently watched from the balcony.
Draven waved his hand as the wine glasses were being filled.
"Come and sit. Tell me now, why are you so interested in this little affair with the Aspyes?"
----
Ven jumped out of the way of the beast's club, summoning another fire spell to his sword. As he landed he had to jump again, the giant left hand now coming at him. But as he descended, he jammed the blade, now burning with flame, into the undead monster's left arm. It wailed in pain as the whole arm went up in a burst of crimson, flailing it around wildly and speeding the flame to nearby bushes and grass. The left arm burned completely off, but Ven's sword was thrown some 20 feet behind the beast in the process and the beast seemed rather angry now...
Ven readied himself for some major dodging as the beast set its sights on him once more...
"Real great..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
Ein chuckled.
-"Kill me? You seem like a man with harsh methods. I can't be blaming you, though... From my general opinion of this land's population, such methods are... encouraged, or rather, needed. In any case, thank you for your information, but i prefer not to disclose my current plans."
He continued drawing the diagram in the sand. As he finished tracing the final line, he pointed to the ground directly north of him, and started drawing a shape in the air. After a few swift movements, a glowing pentagram appeared around and over him. He started chanting.
//heh, someone mind describing Laus for me? I sort of want to know what it looks like before teleporting there...
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
"And where the f*ck were weeeee?!" sings Tsu.
"I like bands of armenian descent as much as any other guy," came Zion's retaliation, "but now is not the time!"
"Party pooper. Oh yeah, where's Armenia?"
"I have no idea." They land, unsheathing their weapons. Zion chucked a ki ball at the beast. "Need a hand, Ven?" asks Zion.
--- --- ---
Xenai headed out for Laus, looking as casual as he could be, and was he good at it! He subdued his aura as much as possible, and did good at it.
Aura was about to head off to Camp 2, but oh, look. She was already there. Guess she would just hang out here until the time to attack.
Posted by: Kahn on Tuesday November 1st, 2005
Hyperion came to a stop after a while and surveyed the area. He sensed that the prophet must be close by.
"Where is he?"
He decided go a little further.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Ven prepared to do another crazy leap for his life when a ball of energy exploded into the one armed zombie-beast from the side, causing it to lose its balance and fall over. The necromancer fell off of his ride and into some nearby bushes.
"Arrrghh!!"
Ven brought his right hand behind his head.
"Uh, well yeah, I guess so..."
The ground tremored as the beast hit the ground. Seeing the opportune moment to strike, Ven lept some fifteen feet into the air, holding out both hands and charging them with the fire element.
"The sword! Toss it here!!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Marshal returned to Laus. He saw, Tesla. "Tesla...I am sorry, but I have failed. Zeros' and Duilin are probably going to attack soon."
----
Rink arrived at Laus, nobody seemed to notice the small imp fly into town. He sat on top of a building, next to the smoke stack, making it harder for people to notice him.
'Hmmm, he certainly likes things to be even.' Rink thought. 'God, this way of living really won't work.
He then scanned the area, he sees a few people walking around, some high-tech and magical things all around. It all looked crazy. He was more used to firey caves and everything terrible uneven.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
D. Ein continued chanting. Eventually, the circular diagram in the sand started glowing eerily, and soft breeze could be felt in the general area. Then the pentagram above Ein suddenly flashed brightly. For a split second, everything was covered in bright yellow-orange light, and... He was gone. The diagram in the sand was still visible, but it was twisted, and nearly unrecognizable.
As the light faded, Ein looked around. There were square-shaped buildings around him... All the same. He saw two people talking a few feet away. He came over to them.
-"Hello, gentlemen. How are you today?"
//By gentlemen, i mean Marshal and Tesla <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Tesla felt a familiar presence, enter Laus, and smiled grimly to himself: they are spying already. Oh, well, if we are not bad judges of character, it seems unlikely that they will attempt murderous sabotage, so no problem.
He turned when he heard Marshall. "Indeed, it was anticipated that might happen. Haraldur is just to the North, waiting for you to accompany him to Redvik, to agitate the enemy. He will want you to attack the North of the base as he attacks the South, understand?"
A look of intense concentration returned to his face as he turned back towards the city.
___________________________________________________________________
Haraldur waited.
___________________________________________________________________
The Prophet looked at Ein, and said, "I deamnd that you answer me, are you on the side of Haradur?"
//What Laus used to look like is irrelevant, here is what it looks like now:
Around Laus are very tall and towered gleaming stone and galvanised steel walls, on top of which are a number of plasma firing big guns (think of the larger plasma weapons on Star Wars, or the Lasguns of Dune). In the middle of the city is a large city square, on which is deposited, in a corner, a settlement from the North, Haraldur's original followers, who have been released from stasis into Laus. To the east of the square, is a large series of pipes and cylinders and liquid tanks, covered in symbols. The rest of the city is made up mostly of housing, storehouses and workshops. All the housing is of good quality (steel, stone and brick) and equally sized, and initially aesthetically identical (although doubtless the inhabitants have made some personal modifications). Everywhere is covered with revolutionary slogans, red and red and black flags, the flags with the Aspyes symbol on them.
The people, long oppressed first by the ruling merchant guilds and by pirates, and then by the much worse Crimson Empire, are almost universally enthusiastic about the revolution, which they agree with making a world revolution. Many of them, who had worked in magical and mundane workshops before, have found themselves very busy with new objects and machines they are having to learn about to help their training, and are working on a strange substance Haraldur informed them about called "electricity", whatever that is. Expect some interesting (explosive) results as they try to work it out, without guidance from Haraldur or Tesla due to their current preoccupations.//
___________________________________________________________________
Salazar sat, and said,"I am sure the Crimson Emporer likes to jo... wait, you do not know what is going on? Have you purged your intelligence forces recently?//Hehehehehe...// How much do you know of what is happening?"
He looked very concerned.
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
//Grrr... that is what happens when you spend time on a post...
Anyway, I will assume you are not in the streets, but on the wall, as that is where Tesla and Marshall are.//
The prophet swore and cursed as Ein disappeared from view, and decided to carry on west, to visit his acolytes. He flew west.
___________________________________________________________________
Tesla turned quickly, his plasma gun pointing straight into Ein's chest, as several revolutionaries stood up, surrounding the suddenly arriving intruder pointing various bullet weapons at him. Tesla said, "Who are you!? Speak quickly, lest I get impatient."
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Zeros' shook his head and chuckled ruefully.
"Yes... Dropping fireballs WOULD be quite hard to ignore, but, I was thinking something else," he said. He unsheathed his sword, but, this time, it transformed into it's demonic state. Unlike the sleekness of the god blade, the demon blade was made for power.
It doubled in length (The original sword was already about 7 feet long) and grew much wider (As in, thicker. It's now about a foot across, horiziontally). The silver sheen disappeared, being replaced with black and reds... The colors of rotting flesh. Spikes, some as small as a few inches, while others reached up to two feet, were randomly placed on the blade. Dark tendrils of energy leaked out out of sword.
Zeros' walked over, and looked down off the cliff. He saw the town below, and many of the technological improvements Haraldur had made.
"Now this, is what I was thinking of," he stated. He looked around, and found the tallest building in the area: A watch tower. It towered over the rest of the town. It was one of the best sentry outposts, almost level with the cliffs, but not quite.
Zeros' hoisted the sword, and rested it across his right shoulder (As, he had pulled out the sword in his right hand). He seemed to be contimplating something.
Hm... No... That wouldn't work. Hm... Not the Rising Dragon either... he pondered for a few more moments, before the perfect attack came to him. Faster then almost anyone could see (Well... Haraldur and Draven could probably see it), his sword blurred from his shoulder. There was a clap like thunder, as his sword ripped through the sound barrier. Now, the sword was in a downwards diagonal slash, but, that wasn't the main point of the slash.
From where his sword had slashed, a crescent blade of pure black ki flew from the point where his sword has slashed. If one looked directly at the ki blade, the person would see a distortion around the crescent blade, as, it seemed the ki blade was sucking the light from the surrounding area and taking it into itself... Or was it?
The target of the attack became clear after a moment. The blade blade of ki rocketed towards the tower. The two men manning the tower didn't have time to scream, before the blade of ki hit the watch tower. Nothing happened at first, but, after a few moments, there was a large RIPPP!.
From where the ki blade hit, it expanded outwards, until it reached the size of the tower. From there, the black aura from the attack enveloped the tower, until it was covered and completely obscured from view. There was another large RIPPP!, and the tower simply disappeared.
All around from where the tower stood, around a 5 foot radius, and sign of plant or animal life was simply... Dead.
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Haraldur, from above, saw the light absobing ki blade fly and hit the tower and saw the results. Anger seethed within him: Zeros' assertions to him being the moral one of us has now been proved to be hypocritical insult. Oh, I do not harm innocents, ha!
He saw the 30 plasma guns (shielded by Haraldur's power as of this moment) start firing towards Zeros'. The idiots! Why are they attacking one they should know is beyond their power to kill?
His face impassive, he moved his left hand towards the gap in the wall: a new tower rose up, but with the dead patch now on top, with two flags on one pole stuck into it, and seven black and red ribbons attached to the pole, each to announce a martyr to the cause. As the people saw this, he heard an increasingly loud roar of anger from the populace, now newly motivated by attack.
He dropped downwards in his flight, a large wooden shoe (sabot), about ten feet wide, in his right hand. He threw it down with great force, and it smashed against the rocks, with a small fireball following it.
The sabot dropped right onto the foot wide sword, attempting to smash it to pieces, meanwhile the rest of it broke up into large dagger sized splinters, which were ignited by the fireball, sending burning splinters at Zeros' and Duilin.
"You hypocritical bastard, Zeros'! You are moral, are you? You harm no innocents, do you? The sun, my sun, shines out of your arse does it? You have finally proven yourself just as much filth as the Crimson Emporer himself!"
Grrrr... why must I now be border control? Damn, I suppose Marshall will have to handle Redvik on his own... damn it!
____________________________________________________________
Tesla remained still as, behind Ein, a tower was destroyed and replaced with a new one, and the martyrdom signs. He heard the rising sound of anger from the crowds, and the firing of the plasma guns. He saw the agitated looks of suspicion of the revolutionaries around him towards the intruder.
"I say again, speak quickly, or, considering the circumstances, we will automatically assume you an enemy. Speak your name, damn you!"
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
//Curses be upon Dudeman for telling me tesla & marshal were on the streets >.<\\
Ein glanced at the gun pointed at him.
-"Well, hello to you too. This seems like quite the place for warm welcomes! I'm Duke Ein. I understand you are in some way related to Haraldur? Might you know whether or not he needs any assistance? I am quite adept at ranged combat, and I can crush bones in melee combat as well."
Since it looked like Tesla wasn't going to be lowering his gun anytime soon, Ein started explaining:
-"Once upon my wanderings, I have met a dying man. He kept begging me to touch his staff, and I, being the fool I was, touched it. Seems he already charged a memory-altering spell, and was just waiting for the right moment to use it. Anyway, it... changed my points of view upon the world. To make a long story short, I think he was a follower of Haraldur. He also gave me the gift of magic, as you might probably see."
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
"In that case," Tesla said, "Please demonstrate this by going out there and killing those fighting Haraldur. Any follower knows Haraldur by sight, as would have your magically gifted friend, so I trust you will be able to tell which one he is, before you see him fighting one to two."
He lowered his weapon, nodded to Ein in recognition, handed him a half red and half red and black cravat, like that which the revolutionaries wore, and then pointed his plasma gun towards the image of Zeros' in the distance and shot.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
-"All right. I will try my best."
Ein jumped off the wall, and hurried to the two figures in the distance. However, suddenly he stopped, and sat down on the ground. He looked around. "Stick, stick, stick... Oh, there we go." He picked up the stick, and drew a basic circle on the ground, with three lines meeting at the centre of the circle. Then, he drew a few symbols around the circle. After that, he quickly muttered a short chant, and the lines in the middle seemed to shift a bit. Then he took out a bolt and put it on the circle. The bolt suddenly got covered in ice. Ein carefully put the enchanted bolt in his quiver, and continued running swiftly towards the two people.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Duilin, flew back and shielded himself with his wings, and briefly surrounded himself in a fiery shield, to protect himself from the burning shards. He then stood up and dusted himself off.
"Oh, I'm sorry Haraldur, you will have to excuse my friend Zeros' here." Duilin called out. "Of course, soldiers devoting themselves to guard a war mongering city by killing anyone by blasting them to hell with a witchcraft cannon HAS to be an innocent!" Duilin, flapped his wings but still stood on the ground. "Funny because, according to your logic, anyone who has anything to do with a certain group with a violent cause such as the Crimson Empire or the Aspyes, isn't innocent. And don't tell me the Aspyes are not violent, because you people have enough weapons to kill a freaking god."
He then narrowed his eyes, and spotted a caped man, coming toward them. "I'll take capie, over there." He then upholstered his mace and then soared over towards, the newcomer...
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
"Zeros' definition seems to include such people!" shouted Haraldur. "I was using his definition is my communication with him!"
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Tsu looked to the sword on the ground. He dove for it, grabbed it, and flung it Ven-ward while Zion watched with a "Holy crap, you're gonna cut an appendage off" look.
--- --- ---
"Rock... Paper... Scissors!" Rock beats Scissors, and Aura wins.
"Lieutenant, why are we playing Rock Paper Scissors?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask that." <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/happy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='happy.gif' /> She grinned at the soldier she was playing against. "First of all, we have nothing to do until they give us the word to attack. Second of all, I'm trying to get you to learn how to predict me. If you know what your opponent's gonna do before he or she does it, you have an advantage over them... Many, actually."
"Oh... I get it... I'm still kinda nervous, sir... ma'am?"
Aura snickered. "Don't worry, you guys'll do fine. I'll make sure of it."
--- --- ---
Xenai walked on into a pub, taking a seat at the bar. What better way to be natural then to drink beer? He made sure to drill it into his head that he 's passing through and wants beer, so that he doesn't blab his assignment if he gets really drunk. "I want a Jack Daniels."
"Ah, always a good decision," says the barkeep. And before long, Xenai's gulping down that beer. Hah... Glad I decided to do this! Passing through, of course! HAR HAR HAR!
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Ein continued running towards the two figures, as he saw one of them rise up. A second later, he noticed that the figure had... wings. That stopped him in his tracks. "What the hell...? Is that a bird or something? Hmm... odd. But, in the end, it truly matters not. After all, they have to be defeated, be it a bird or otherwise." He continued running.
As Ein was right below the winged person, he jumped landing on his back, ripped out his crossbow from behind his cape, and hastily fired several bolts at the "bird", aiming for it's head.
Posted by: Kahn on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Hyperion finally noticed The Prophet flying westward. He decided to follow from a distance. He thought he may be able to give Draven some valuable info as well as the old mans head.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
//Arg, I know I'm moving to fast, but I need to update Marshal and Rink, so I might as well update Duilin. And Ein, if Duilin is with Zeros', I wouldn't refer to Duilin as the 'winged one', heh.\\
"What the hell?" Duilin yelled as, the caped man jumped on his back. As Ein fired his crossbow bolts, Duilin ducked his head, dodging the bolts, and flipped himself around, knocking his attacker off. "That was mean. And believe me, I know mean," Duilin said, "I'm a demon!" the half demon, then raised his left hand pointing towards Ein, and dark purple electric energy began to surround his hand, suddenly, a dark purple lightning bolt blasted his way at D.Ein.
-------
Marshal saw the commotion, but saw that he was not needed here. "I will carry out, on the mission. I wish you luck of defending from the demons. I will not fail this time." He said to Tesla.
Marshal, then un-strapped his machine-gun from his back. "Lock and load!" He said, describing what to do with his gun. Perhaps the phrase might catch on! He then dashed his way towards, Redvik.
-------
'Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle.' Rink thought, as he spotted Marshal dash off. 'That fool, joined the Aspyes. I'd hate to have to kill him, but I might have to in the future. I don't blame him for not trusting us, we are a rather scary bunch'
He then saw Xenai walking into the pub. He smiled and sighed. Tipical. He observed the battle headed outside the gates of the town. 'Talk about a distraction, I could probably, dance around in the streets naked and nobody would see. Oh wait, I don't wear close in the first place.'
He then, began to hop from building to building. 'Quite some weapons they have here, I'll inform Valos of the area.'[I]
'Hey, shit-face, I mean Valos. They've got some heavy-duty weapons here. It looks like, some sorta plasma cannons, that they have. I saw Tesla fire one. Also, Marshal has joined them, he's headed your way. Maybe taking him out now would make the battle a bit easier. But seriously, all the building are they same, and the technology is insane. It's run by magic. Anyways, that's all. 10-4!' He closed it with a term used in another dimension. Apparently, Zeros' isn't the only one who travels in between dimensions.
------
"Ack, I hate that stupid Imp." Valos groaned as he reseved Rink's message. He was sitting on a table, with his legs up on a barral, smokeing a cigar. He wasn't to far from Aura.
"Hey, Aura, you up for some quick action? Some, fool is coming to attack. Maybe you can take him yourself. It would be overkill if I went." Valos called to her. "Now, which one of you newbies, wants to arm wrestle me? Come, on!"
The soldiers raised their eyebrows, and immediately turned away, and step back a few feet.
Valos just laughed, and then looked back at Aura. "I hear the guy is a summoning mage. So he might be a toughie, but other then that, I think it'll be smooth sailing. So, you think you're up to it, or do you want me to go handle it?"
Posted by: Dippy on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
Jonny Albatrash arrives on the sene with his shotgun ready.
"Alright you giant-" Albatrash stops an gazes at the larger-than-he-remembered-giant.
"Well, at least I won't miss."
He aims his shotgun at the zombie a shoots it in the back.
"Ahoghe!" He grunts as he sees the hole in it ozzing with rotting zombie inerds.(Be creative with your imagination)
The zombie seems to have had no reaction to the shot so Jonny runs toward Ven.
"Looks like you need some help." he says "And if you don't then too bad, I'm bored!" he adds and gets out of his way.
"Bongo you go hide untill Jonny is done with the zombie babey steal somthing nice for me." Jonny says as he lets Bongo off his shoulder and he skurries off into the streets.
Jonny shoots at the Zombie a few more times and it lets out a loud bellow.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 2nd, 2005
//eh... i don't care. You're the only one who used the above mentioned wings. And um, HEY! How do you know my character's name so quickly in the story?\\
Ein quickly flipped the crossbow around, and hit the bolt with the crossbow handle, blasting it back at it's source.
-"Mean? Define mean, bird. You are mean in my point of view, I am mean in yours. There is no true definition, as there is no "good" or "evil". Each side considers themselves good."
He rolled over on his back under a tree, firing another bolt just as he hid under the tree's canopy.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
Draven sat back and appeared to be in a low chuckle for a few seconds.
"Heh heh heh..."
He leaned forward, his gloved hands under his chin, his gaze piercing into Salazar's soul.
"That would be the next of my questions, Lord Salazar... How much do you know? You see I've always welcomed the prospect of forming alliances. But you see, there is a small problem with allowing foreigners in your domain. I'm sure you are familiar with it. Spies tend to appear... Little insects that report your secrets to outsiders... I despise them almost as much as traitors. Before you know it, you have enemies attacking your weaker shore... Ambassadors appearing... at just the right moment... when your nation is in crisis, to offer 'help' only they can provide, to get in on your good side..."
He took a sip of wine.
"Yes, of course. We have Ragnar, the one who tried to destroy the world because he had a bad childhood or something... I forgot exactly why... anyway, who also hates me, probably because he made a bad career choice earlier in life, I'm not sure... anyway, who suddenly out of nowhere decides he has some peaceful ideals, frees a few criminals and takes over my weakest town, being as we've just subdued them a few years back, brainwashing the population, likely using some form of black magic. I've seen it before."
----
Approaching some twenty feet in altitude, Ven plucked the sword spinning towards him out of the air and took it in both hands. He pointed the blade downward as the fire energy from his hands transfered to the sword, his black cloak flowing behind him, revealing his bright silver armor. His voice reverbed throughout the open field.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"
He rapidly fell, plunging the blade into the monster's back. It billowed as it lied on the ground, the flame from the sword completely engulfing it. A tremendous explosion followed, sending burning chunks of the monster in all directions. Ven was thrown backwards, landing on his back at least 15 feet away. He slowly sat up, and gave Tsu a 'thumbs up' and a half beaten up smile.
"Guess I owe you guys."
He stumbled to his feet.
"Zion and... don't think I've met you two."
He was referring to Tsu and the pirate Johnny.
----
"Chaos... I can smell it... so very close..."
Mavas found himself in a sort of soldier camp assembled in the forest. Random soldiers will still saluting him, for he still had the appearance of the Lieutenant he had killed. Idiots. What delightful idiots...
"Where is this place? Speak."
A soldier stopped and saluted.
"Sir! This is base camp 1, Laus border, front line!"
"Hmmm..."
He turned, seeing a group of fifty soldiers or so standing at attention, with three guard captains apparently inspecting them. He approached them.
"You there! Come with me! All of you!"
The three guard captains saluted. The closest one spoke.
"S-Sir! By order of the general, we cannot move until the signal is given!"
"Oh, really... where is this... general..."
"Base camp 2, sir!"
"And where is that?"
"Follow the front line westward, sir!"
Without a word, Lt. Mavas began walking westward, disappearing into the forest.
"That was weird. You'd think he'd know..."
"What's with the red gem he was wearing...?"
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
The sabot viciously strained against the power of the sword. For a moment, it it seemed the sword would win, but... There was a sound like breaking glass as Zeros' sword broke into large pieces, and flew in random directions. Some of them imbedded themselves into Zeros' skin, along with the wooden shards.
Zeros' looked at the broken sword. He stared at it for a moment, idly blocking all the guns that had shot at him with his aura. The shards were imbedded in his skin, but he ignored them. Then... he simply disappeared. The shards of his sword that were formely imbedded in his skin hung in the air for a moment, before they clattered to the ground. With a hiss, the shards of the sword turned back to their original color, and stared to glow with a white aura.
The shards that were far away, started to magically fly back, til all the parts of the untransformed sword were in a pile. The shards continued to glow white, while they gradually reformed themselves into the sword.
---
Zeros' reappeared behind Haraldur, the hilt of his sword in a safe place. His trenchcoat was torn in many places, and burned, with blood flowing anew. Zeros' simply ignored the wounds, as, he knew they would be healed in moments.
"So... I'm a hypocrite, eh? That might be true... But, what did you say about the Crimson Empire? There were no innocents? I could say the same for you, Haraldur. Your so much alike Draven in many ways, even if you do deny it," he said towards the crazed leader of Aspyes.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
//Just because I mentioned your name in my post, it doesn't mean that Duilin knows your name.\\
The bolt stuck Duilin, in his shoulder. He let out a small yelp of pain. He was used to it, however. He just plucked it out and tossed it aside. "That's a good point, shaded one..." Duilin replied. "I do agree with you. So, die!" Duilin, then dashed towards Ein, and swung his mace down at him.
------
Rink continued hopping from building to building, deeper into the town. He then spotted a few rebels, practicing with spears. Nothing interesting. Hopefully, Xenai may be able to get more information.
//I'll update on Valos and Marshal after Trent posts.\\
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
-"Huh?"
Ein was caught off-guard, as he saw the giant mace coming towards him out of nowhere. He tried to dodge it, but unsuccessfully. The mace whacked him on his right arm, injuring him badly. The crossbow was also knocked out of his hands.
-"Ow, damn, that hurt! Grr... Go back to where you came from, bird!"
He took out his enchanted bolt, and dashed around Duilin. He then jumped on his back, putting his right arm around Duillin's throat, and using his left arm to lunge the frozen bolt into the back of his opponent's neck.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
Duilin grabbed Ein's arm, pulling it back and used his other hand to rip off Ein's hand away from his throat. "Stay the HELL off my back!" He yelled. Duilin, then flipped Ein in front of him, and swung his foot at him as he fell. "Hiiyaa!"
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
Duilin's devastating kick got Ein square in the stomach. Ein flew a couple of feet into the air, and landed in the same tree that he hid under earlier.
-"Ugh..."
His vision went a little fuzzy, but he recognized the object lying next to him: his crossbow. He took it, tried to load it with an arrow, but failing miserably due to the fact that his hands were shaking. He took the crossbow by it's other side, and ran towards Duilin, swinging the steel end of it into his head.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
The steel end of the cross bow, whacked him in the head. "Aw, shit!" He yelled. His vision as well became blurry. "Ooo...that smarts." He backed up a few feet, and rubbed his head. "Oh, your gonna pay!" He then raised his right arm, as if he was going to throw something. Flame began to spin his hand, forming a fireball; he then flung the fireball at Ein. Yet it might not be too accurate...
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
-"What the hell? Is that magic of some sort?"
The fireball hit the ground a few feet left of Ein, melting it to solid rock.
-"Yeah, that was magic... Damn, stop pulling rabbits out of your ass and fight like a man, err, bird!"
The fuzzines was all gone by now, and Ein took another bolt out of his quiver. He ran off behind a tree, and drew a small octagram in the sand. Then he dashed a simple line across it, and threw the bolt onto the octagram. The pre-mentioned bolt suddenly started glowing red, and it's head burned on fire. He grabbed the bolt as fast as he could, and put it into his crossbow, however, not without severely burning his fingers.
-"Die, bird!"
He fired the bolt at Duilin aiming at his wings.
Posted by: Haraldur on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
Salazar looked towards the Emporers face impassively, and said, "Who is this Ragnar? Is he an associate of this creature we hear tell of: Haraldur?
"Anyway, I know enough to be very concerned, and obviously more than you do. Let me fill you in on some background: as you may know, I have recently made my grip on my country uncontested, after monarchist and peasant rebellions. The peasant rebellions were mostly about the famine, at first, however, in small areas, they seemed to become more radical in their goals. They seemed, from our scanty intelligence reports, to believe in some deity called Haraldur, and that their priest and leader was a person called Nikola Tesla, who we never found, although we heard that he left the country a year before the rebellion failed.
"Now, it seems, this Haraldur is not only an existing person, but has taken over your city of Laus, as well as established at least one settlement elsewhere. We hear also that Tesla is there. Not only that, we have heard of some of their ideas, and that is what we feel is dangerous.
"The most threatening two ideals they have are these: the total abolishment of autocratic systems such as mine and yourself's, and the total abolition of property, especially of those who are our primary supporters."
___________________________________________________________________
Haraldur turned to Zeros', and glanced down at the fight below, and said, "If you wish to parley, then please instruct your associate to stop attacking mine."
___________________________________________________________________
The Prophet was now flying over bare mountains.
Posted by: Trent on Thursday November 3rd, 2005
Zion and Tsu looked at the pirate with a "WTFJOHNNY" look on their faces. "Yeah... I'm Tsu. Nice to meet you."
--- --- ---
He was now drunk, yet sober at the same time. The physical consequences were kicking in, and he would probably say/do something stupid, but he was conscious enough to know what he had to do. It's time to do some spying. Now where the hell do I start?
--- --- ---
"Will do, sir." She saluted Valos, grabbed her scimitars, and headed out to meet her opponent. "Hmm..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 4th, 2005
"Excellent..." Valos said. He then, got up to stretch his feet abit. 'Rink seems to be doing a fine job spying, let's hope the other one can get some more information.'
-------
"Hey!" Duilin snapped as he saw the bolt flying toward his wing, he simply folded it down and the bolt just flue by. "Red, glow? Looks like magic to me! And stop calling me bird. It's Talonscar...Duilin Talonscar." Duilin, vision was fine now. He then, lifted both his hands and yellow energy began to spiral around his fingers, he then pointed his hands at Ein and blasted two lasers at him.
------
"Looks, like the base camp is over here..." Marshal said to himself. He then viewed the area above, he then spotted a women, with two scimitars. "Oh, dear. I don't want to have to fight a woman, and such a looker to. But it looks like, she is after me, I wonder how they knew I was comming...Well, maybe Zeros' or Duilin messaged somebody in the camp. Well, I better make this quick."
Marshal ran foward, and looked at Aura. He aimed his machine gun and fired four times.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 4th, 2005
Draven stroked his chin with another chuckle.
"Heh, this 'Haraldur' has many names and is known as Ragnar in these parts because that is the name he went by before he turned traitor to the Dark Empire. Although he somehow absorbs other things that are also angry at the world, or something... one of them could have been named Haraldur. Minor details...
"Yes, I've heard of this Telsa before and I believe I might have caught a glimpse of him yesterday, in fact... As for the other settlement you mentioned, one of my... associates... has taken care of it..."
He grinned a bit.
"Although the reasoning for your concerns is somewhat laughable, my friend. What other sort of government is possible other than 'autocratic systems', as you call them? Are you suggesting he is promoting anarchy? Once that arises, that state is immediately given away to rule of the strong, which is what we have in place now, is it not? The strong will always govern the weak. It is the will of nature. In this world, there exists men who can kill 100 others with the mere wave of a hand or the chanting of a spell. Are these men not fit to rule? No? Then stop them. How? Oops, you can't. They're at the top of the food chain...
"Now as you can see, Ragnar is simply an insane fool with a bit too much power. The alliance I have formed has defeated him before, and will succeed again. Once the head of the snake is removed, the body will die. There is simply no one else strong enough to carry on his delusions, and his followers will simply be crushed and forgotten."
Draven leaned back in his chair and began to pluck off a few grapes from a plate.
----
Ven took a step towards the three, but there was a rustling on in a bush on the other side of the field. The short necromancer suddenly burst out of the foliage, leaves flying in all directions, waving his staff above his head angrily.
"Hss!! HOW D-DARE YOU!! CRETINSSS!! FEEL THE WRATH OF DEGZRONZO!!! COME, MY CHILDREN OF DEATH!!!!"
The ground rumbled. Ven wearily brought his blade in front of him, ready for the worst...
"Uhhhhhhhhhh...."
The zombies began to crawl out of the earth... all... two of them?
"Huh? Only two?"
"WHAT?!?!?! ... B-b-blassst...! Musst of ussed too much energy ssumoning the lasst one!"
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday November 4th, 2005
Zeros' looked at Duilin from below, and to his sword. He considered Haraldur's offer for a moment, until, he felt the planet's pain. (Zeros' has a direct link with the planet, which means, anything that happens to it, he can feel. So, he felt Tesla's manipulations of Gaia.)
Zeros' shook his head at Haraldur.
"No, Haraldur. I have no wish to call parley. You have asked me countless times why magic and technology cannot co-exist, and I have told you because they can't. One has to die out, and the other has to rule. I know you can travel to other dimensions, as can I and I'm sure others could. Have you visited a dimension where magic and technology had co-existed?
"Oh sure, there are countless ones out there that HAVE co-existed with each other... But, not peacefully. I'm sure you've seen these. What makes you think YOUR society would be any bit different? The people who had no magic would become jealous of those who had the ability, it's human nature. The people who could do magic, and did things others could without technological advances, would think they were superior.
"Now, tell me Haraldur. How do you THINK you can change this?" he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets, and staring at Haraldur through half-lidded eyes.
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 4th, 2005
-"Birds have names? Odd."
Ein jumped aside, just in time, as the lasers hit the ground where he was standing. "Damn, i'm lucky that didn't hit me..."
He ran around behind a tree, and took out one of his bolts. He quickly muttered a protection chant, putting a yellowish-orange pentagram over and around him. //sound familiar, haraldur? <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />\\ Then he started drawing a series of complex circles, lines and symbols on the ground, chanting at the same time.
EDIT: //I finally decided to show what Ein's diagrams look like, to avoid confusion... here's an example:
<img src='http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/5683/gear3sh.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
dudeman saw me make one of those <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />\\
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday November 4th, 2005
"Whether or not their aims are possible, Emporer, is irrelevant. They are still dangerous. Should certain segments of the populace, namely the slightly more educated peasants, learn of this, they will find the ideas attractive (you know how they are, I certainly do, and how to crush their revolts). This is a direct threat, whether or not this Ragnar remains alive.
"Remember, also, that "an insane fool with a bit too much power" is a dangerous fool, and dangerous fools, through history, have a tendency to stir things up too much for governments to last long."
Salazar sighed. "However, this is not the point. The point is, I wish to see them stopped, and every one of their population wiped out, all of the population of Laus, like I did to the peasants at home with similar ideas. Do you understand me? Their ideals should not leave the walls of Laus. I am, of course, willing to assist."
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur shook his head. "You are obviously not as... well travelled as I am. There are many such places in the multiverse, places where there is a stable integration of magic and technology... [whisper]of which I played... no small part[/whisper].
"Jealousy does not occur when it comes to things which are possessed by all the population Zeros'. People are not jealous of those with food when they are all well fed. People are not jealous of those with magical knowledge or ability if they have similar such advantages. Do you understand me? You or your friends may have noticed that my followers are universally of magical ability (some of which granted it or trained by myself), inluding my new ones, the citizens of Laus... now. My gift to them.
"My new associate, who is fighting with your associate, is obviously not one who has been born with magical ability, you can tell by the way he uses it. I would not be surprised if he had learnt it from a follower of mine.
"Anyway, are you going to call Duilin off my new associate? I would so like to learn his name before he might die."
____________________________________________________________________
The prophet arived near a small outcrop, and turned around, and saw a giant dragon following him, and swore a curse so unexpected from one so venerable.
He lifted up his quarter staff, and swung it around his head, sending cylinders of blue light tumbling towards Hyperion, which woul cause dangerous burns if they hit.
Posted by: Kahn on Friday November 4th, 2005
Hyperion couldn't react in time to dodge at least one of the cylinders, which hit his left wing. Due to his lack of flying opponents in the past he never relied on the ability, however it was a blow to the ego to loose it so quickly in battle.
"I wasn't expecting this."
As he was already falling he swooped down and swung his tail full force at The Prophet.
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Zeros' shrugged. He had heard Haraldur's whispered words, thanks to his superior hearing, but, put them in the the forefront of his mind.
"I don't really care. Duilin can handle himself. It looks like your subordianate is the ones who's in trouble. But, again, you assume something else Haraldur. .. You cannot simply snap your fingers, and give them the ability to use magic. They have to be born with the ability, and then LEARN how to use it. Of course, with you, you simply take magic from somewhere and shove it in their bodies, giving them the ability.
Also, you have something else to think about. What happens when your people might get better ideas, and not follow your rule anymore? They can use the magic you granted them against you. While none of them even compare to your power, many and many of them could eventually overpower you with just sheer numbers.
Did you ever think of that, Haraldur?" he asked mockingly. "And don't give me your all 'I'm-so-powerful-I-can-kill-and-decide-anything.' speech, either."
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
"Cannot snap my fingers, you say? You are quite mistaken. It is quite easy to snap my fingers, but not a method often used. If you are assuming I did so without the consent of the populace, you are mistaken. We split the city into two halfs, in one half for magic ability, other for not. We told people who wanted magical ability to go to the releveant half. They all did. And are now receiving training, Zeros'. This has the potential to free humanity from toiling at physical labour.
"Better ideas? What would they be, pray? There are none. Most of my comrades agree with my ideas, and all of them with the fundamentals. Also, if I continue to increase their quality of life, I doubt they would spontaneously start disagreeing with me without outside influence..."
He paused and sent a transparent globe, but for a few sparks when it hit dust in the air, down towards Ein, an impact and energy shield which sparks outwards when hit. It will survive 12 impacts the size of a room-sized fireball. //Use your own judgement, Duke Ein.//
"As you can see from what I have just done, and my response to your attack, I value the lives of my comrades, and yes, they are comrades, not followers. Myself and Tesla have no authority to give orders just suggestions. Everything happening in Laus is voluntary, people are allowed to leave, but choose not to (although, admittedly, they cannot get very far what with the Crimson Empire being to the north of us), they do not have to follow my suggestions, but they choose to do so. Those men you just killed, Zeros', if this is any consolation for you, were not conscripts, they volunteered. They even volunteered for that particular tower (because it is near the kitchens, I have no doubt), indeed, two of them I knew personally. Quite the ideologues. They are a representative sample of the rest of the tens of thousands of Laus residents.
"Now, Zeros', if myself and my comrades are defeated, what do you think will happen? Will the Crimson Empire just let them live to move around the country, spreading my ideas around and causing discontent? Will other countries and their governments allow that? If you stop this, you will be personally responsible for the deaths of nearly 100 000 people, and I will know that I am not to blame. They knew the risks, and agreed with me. But for you, it is a different situation. Do you wish to be remembered as a mass murderer (although that will obviously not happen if everyone is wiped out)? Do you wish to be remembered as the protector of privelege and autocracy? I myself, all ten of us, would not wish to have such a reputation, or such things on your conscience. And, even you will not be able to stop the Crimson Empire from doing so, with the help of its allies, or soon to be allies, who are grouping together even now as we speak.
"However, since you are a hypocrite, this will obviously have no effect on you whatsoever. Why did I waste my breath? The satisfaction, it made me feel good to tell you these things. Now, leave us alone, we have enough problems as it is without you adding to them."
Haraldur turned, and dropped down lower. He was just 100 metres above the fight.
My new comrade must not die so soon after becoming so.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
The Prophet was hit full on hard in the face by the flailing tail, and was knocked backwards a few metres.
"What is the world coming to? Murderers and revolutionaries and no respect!"
He dropped his staff, which transformed into a huge serpent, with a saddle and reins. He sat down in the saddle as the serpent kept floating above the ground, swimming in the air.
____________________________________________________________________
In the swim bladder of the serpent, air was being let in, a little, to rdeuce the vacuum, increasing the density of the serpent.
____________________________________________________________________
The serpent dived, dropping down and towards the falling dragon. It caught up, and the prophet directed its head to the offending flailing tail. The head quickly opened into a large mouth, with four large, hollow, venom filled fangs, lunging towards the tail in an attempt to bite it and poison the victim.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 5th, 2005
//since dude man doesn't seem to be in any hurry to post, i'll continue charging my attack then...\\
Ein drew the final line on his diagram, and continued chanting quietly. As he was doing so, his shield was suddenly hit by an orb of some sort. "Hmm... strange. This orb doesn't seem to be corrupting my shield, so i'll assume it protects me. I wonder who sent it...?"
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Bernard Goujon sat at a table in the kitchens eating from a bowl of soup as breakfast. He was aone, having arrived late. He had just returned from seeing the first attack on the revolutionary city of Laus. He had been right at the edge of the dead zone surrounding the tower during the attack, and hence had only just survived. He had seen also the quick replacement of the tower with a new one with a memorial on top, for his brother and for six other comrades.
Some other comrades had suggested he go down for some soup to steady his nerves. The soup was cooling in front of him as he thought about the fast moving events of the last few days. A few days ago he would have been toiling in the fields to grow grapes to make wine for the upper ranks of the Crimson Empire military. He smiled as he thought of how the loss of the principal wine-making area was causing a shortage of wine for the officers of the Crimson Army.
That day that Haraldur and Nikola had come, and had burned the garrison alive had been such a euphoric one, with the feeling of euphoria now stronger than ever. They had given speeches explaining their new world view, and it made perfect sense. Then theyhad said that all those who wished to become magically able should move to one half of the city, and everyone, including him did. He smiled as he caused the spoon to orbit his head, dripping soup in a circle all around him.
As well as euphoria, now there was grim determination, when they had been informed by Tesla exactly how much force woul be used against them. It was the force to wipe out an entire population. Todays events have now completely convinced him of this.
Now some strange people had been released from a sort of suspended animation, some earlier followers, with those tatoos of the symbol. It had ow become quite popular fashion, although not all took it up (he had not), and Haraldur had no tatoos, in fact no scars at all... odd.
He looked down at the two neckerchiefs he was wearing around his neck, a red one and a red and black one. They could be seen all over the city, worn almost universally, including by Haraldur and Tesla.
He finished his soup, and decided to go to the pub, his comrades would probably not have too much trouble as Haraldur was out at the front. And he wanted to drown his sorrows.
//Xenai is still at the pub, right?//
He walked down the street into the militia's bar, and walked in and asked for a vodka. He was given it, with no charge. Yes, money had been abolished too, as well as private property.
He sat down, and looked along the bar towards a strange person, no revolutionary colours, but looking a tough person.
"Hello, stranger! What are your opinions on the glorious revolution?"
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Zeros' dropped to Haraldur's height and shook his head.
"As you know, the only reason I'm joined WITH the Crimson Empire is to defeat you. I'd rather sooner join a circus and become a clown before letting the Crimson Empire take over the rest of the world. As for killing the people, what makes you think I did kill them? Did you even bother to scan the traces left over from the attack? Of course you didn't. You and myself are alike in many ways. We assume things too fast.
"If you want to know, that tower was simply transported into a pocket-dimension I had created. As for now, they're in Limbo, not able to do anything. They're basically in coma. You want proof? Here's the proof," he said, and waved his hand. A shimmer appeared to the side of Haraldur, and, the bodies of the men in the tower appeared, looking peaceful, if not abit restless.
"As you know, even with all the power I have, it is almost magically impossible to bring someone back from the dead - even you cannot bring someone back. Sure, I could manipulate the bodies into doing my biding, but, if you can their souls, you'll find they're alive and well, with their own souls. Your city would of been erdicated earlier, if I was not joined with the Crimson Empire. They had planned a blitz on the city, to reduce it to rubble.
"Draven can be remembered as whatever he wants. I, on the other hand, am not going to be seen as a mass murderer. I have never hurt, or killed, anyone that wasn't fighting against me. Stop assuming, Haraldur," he said sharply. The bodies of the men were still floating idly beside Haraldur, bobbing up and down with random gusts of air.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
//Zeros', how is my character supposed to "scan" anything, if I myself do not know what happened? In order for that to be valid, you would have to tell me explicitly, out of the storyline, what happened, so that my characters could reasonably "scan" things. "OK, yep, I have just released all the population of Romme from Limbo!" This could be used as a tool for revisionism (assuming that is not what you have done), so that anything done by the characters in the past is completely cancelled out. Apart from that, this "scanning" stuff is a complete cop-out. If your character kills, then that which is killed is dead, even if killed by your "holier-than-thou" character.//
"You should stop assuming too Zeros'.
"It is not my city, Zeros'. I claim no ownership of it. Only autocrats claim ownership of cities, and I am no autocrat. You may call it semantics, but it is an important distinction. I am a leader, yes, but not a ruler. I lead, but I do not rule. The populace rules.
"Would have beens are irrelevant Zeros', what matters is the future and the now. And you will be remembered as a mass murderer, if the Fascists of the Crimson Empire and its allies eradicate Laus. Why? Because at this time you are objectively Fascist. For all intents and purposes, you are on their side. Therefor, you will be directly responsible for the deaths of 100 000, whether that is your intention or not. Whether or not you are directly involved with the killings, they would still be a result of your actions. Do not fool yourself.
"As for bringing people back from the dead, I have some good news for you. The Prophet is once more alive, and with personality intact. I released him at the South Pole this morning. I am sure you cannot construe his death as being moved to Limbo."
He caused the air currents to blow the soldiers over to the city walls, and to blow the memorial away into the sea.
"The only thing worse than an objective Fascist is a real Fascist, and the only good real Fascist is a dead one. Think about that."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 5th, 2005
"Bah!" Duilin shouted. "The coward is using a barrier!" He looked and then saw Haraldur and Zeros' were not fighting. "Odd..." He noticed Haraldur, added protection onto Ein's barrier.
"Looks, like Haraldur cares about you..." Duilin said to Ein. "To bad, nobody else here seems to..." He examined Ein, hiding behind the tree with his barrier chanting something. 'That barrier looks strong, but I still wish to break it.'
Duilin begins to gather up heat, and charging up energy, mixing up a large energy\fire ball....
------
Rink, hasn't really found anything more of interest, so he chooses to go view the battle happening outside. 'Zeros' and Haraldur have stopped. Yet, Duilin and the other one are still fighting...I suspect the battle may go on for awhile, but the way Haraldur is protecting him, he won't allow Duilin to kill him. I hope he doesn't. He's killed to many people already.'
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 5th, 2005
-"Coward? Maybe i'm shielding myself because i don't want to die? Can't have someone LIVING, now can we?!"
Ein finished chanting, took out a crossbow bolt and stabbed it in the earth right in the middle of his diagram. Suddenly a lightning erupted from his bolt, completely breaking his own and Haraldur's barrier. The lighting then made an arc in the air, and hit the ground next to Duilin. The earth started shaking, and the place where the lightning hit slowly rose. Then a giant black scaly claw could be seen clinging to the formed crevice, as if something was trying to get out of the ground.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Haraldur called to Ein, "Comrade, be cautious. Whether your opponent lives or dies is of little matter, I know him better than to consider him an enemy, but enough to know he is objectively Fascist. Take care of yourself, I wish to learn of your name after this, and from your own lips."
He dropped another pretection orb on Ein.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 5th, 2005
-"Wha...? Wh-- God! That's Haraldur!"
Since Ein was previously under a tree he did not notice Haraldur soaring over him.
-"Thank you, i will keep this in mind."
Meanwhile, the giant claw was making progress of getting out under the ground.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Duilin, narrowed his brows, as Haraldur planted another barrier on Ein. "Now, this is just some seriously heavy bullshit!" He shouted. He finished chargeing his energy ball. He then held it in one hand, and flapped his wings into the air. "I think, I'll let this one live. But, maybe whatever is underground would like some help getting out so I can kick it's ass!"
He then tossed the energy ball down at the ground were the clawing was coming from. "Let's see what's wanting a piece of ole' Talonscar?" The energy ball smashed into the ground, most likely damageing whatever was under there...
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 5th, 2005
The ground around the creature exploded. It, however, was left completely intact, unscarred and all. As ground around it collapsed, it finally came into view.
Nine feet tall.
Black scaly skin.
Golden horns.
Glowing red eyes, eminating evil.
The whole thing looked like a giant wingless dragon standing on front feet. It let out a huge roar, and then... it spoke, in a deep voice:
-"zomg! i r teh eskapzorz from teh roon skaip, nad i r gona pwn teh nubs hree!"
Ein looked over at the creature with a "what the hell" look:
-"What?... Oh, i get it, it's speaking in demon tongues. Well, that's what you get for summoning a demon from a completely different dimension. Hmm, i doubt anyone will be able to understand it."
The demon headed for Duilin.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Draven brought his left hand to his chin.
"Hmm, yes, our point in meeting is the end result and not the method or reasons. I believe I currently have the situation under control, as my army is poised to strike Laus at this moment, after a little snooping around first of course... However, since you are so concerned about these 'ideals', then I will allow you to aid my army in speeding up the process...
"Are you prepared for a navel strike? I believe approaching Laus from the south with a fleet would catch our Ragnar off-guard, since all of my ports are located north of Laus. And of course, pinching him would be most advantageous. You need to be prepared for his weather related attacks, however, especially in the open seas... He is quite the defender, I'll give him that.
"However, my stipulations are that you both strike and cease on my command. Operations are best guided under one mind, I'm sure you agree..."
----
"Hmmm... base camp 2, I presume... You there, where is the... general?"
"Sir! In his tent, sir! Right over there, sir!"
The soldier pointed to one of the larger tents, the flag of the Crimson Empire waving over it.
"Yes... of course..."
Time for... a promotion...
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
"I must say that I dislike demons, they tend to be very heirarchical and exploitative, so I find their use distasteful, but each to his own."
Haraldur glared at the demon.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar said, "I am afraid we do not have a viable navy, it is a new addition to our armed forces, and is very small and fragile. I do not wish them wiped out.
"I do, however, have a force of canon-fodder that might interest you - prisoners and peasants with sticks! We could dress them up in uniform, your uniform, and then use them as a distracting force. They would be deafened and blinded first, of course, because of the nature of our enemy. How do you like that?"
Posted by: Trent on Saturday November 5th, 2005
//Gah, sorry about that. x_x
Uh... two? Tsu raised an eybrow. "Crimson!!!" And one of them burst upon fire. Tsu looked to the side and saw Zion with an outstretched hand.
--- --- ---
Xenai looked at the guy. "Revolution? Notta... -hic- ...Notta clue 'bout it. Jus... jus... passin' through."
--- --- ---
Aura looked at Mavas(?), not knowing who the guy was, and not having a good feeling about him.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Bernard downed his drink in one, and said, "Do you have a place to stay, comrade? You look as if you need to sleep this off. You can stay at my residence if you have nowhere else."
//May I assume that Xenai is blind drunk: unable to move and semi-conscious?//
Bernard looked at the man, barely able to make the glass reach his face. He took the glass, and poured the rest of the drink into Xenai's throat.
"Sweet dreams, mate."
He lifted Xenai up, and carried him out of the pub and down the road to his new house, opened the door and went in, laying Xenai on the spare bed, and chucking some blankets over him.
Bernard went to the kitchen and started to practise his magical skills on the cutlery. No wonder magically able people are so showy with their spells, he thought. Magic use gives a feeling of ecstacy!
In front of him, it seemed that two poltergeists were having a sword fight with a fork and a spoon.
//Of course, if you object to this, I will make it clear that this did not happen. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif' /> //
Posted by: Kahn on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Without the use of his wing Hyperion had no way of escaping. He fell to the ground turning into full human form as he landed. His tail was gone but the poison made it into this form.
"Have I been poisoned? Grr what have you done to me old man!?
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 5th, 2005
"I can heal you, shapeshifter, but ony if you answe my questions. Firstly, who sent you?"
The Prophet floated above, riding the serpent.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 5th, 2005
//Trent, what the hell? You need to pay more attention. Valos sent Aura to go outside and stop Marshal. And right now, Aura is outside and Marshal is shooting at her!\\
"Whoa, my blast didn't even hurt it." Duilin said. He took out his mace again. "Time to for some skull bashing!" He dived down, and swung his mace down at the demon's head.
(The demon is an NPC, so I do have the power to control it, but I'll let you control it Ein.)
-----
Valos was sitting down at his desk writing down something. It didn't seem to be in human writing, it was strange symbols, demonic looking. He took the note and folded it up and placed it into a pocket in his robe. He rubbed his forehead. It felt like something was clawing inside him. "Stop!" He yelled, and then he felt better, he then laid back onto his chair. He turned his head and looked outside, he saw a soldier approaching his tent, wearing a red pendant. "Wha?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 5th, 2005
//That's fine, Dude man, you can control it from this point on if you wish. The only reason I got Ein to summon it is because if I fought Duilin with Ein... Let's just say I had no way of winning, you're much more experienced\\
Ein stood up, walking out from behind his hiding tree. He then yelled to the creature:
-"You there! I command thee to attack the bird-thing!"
The demon then turned it's head towards Ein and replied:
-"wft r u yelin at? i r teh leet, i r teh pwn teh noo-" And at that point, Duilin's mace hit the thing's head, right between the horns. The demon took a step forward (because he was facing Ein at that time, making Duilin's blow come from the back)
-"zomg! u r teh hax! trun it off!"
The demon swung it's claw at Duilin, while Ein started hastily retreating. He tried to make himself less visible by jumping from branch to branch //i assumed that the fight takes place in a forest\\ , and heading towards the tall gleaming walls of Laus.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Duilin flue backwards dodging the demons claw. Duilin, then dives back at the demon and swings his mace, but the demon swings his claw again, smacking Duilin, onto the ground. The demon walks towards Duilin.
"lol nub! i r teh poon u! omg! u r teh dumxorz!" the demon taunts in it's strange tongues. The demon, stands above Duilin, and swings his claw downwards. Duilin, almost to fast for you to see clearly, recovers, and dashes behind the demon striking it in the back, causing it to fall to the ground and fall several feet back. "wtf! u r hcax! i r teh reeport u fer maconing!"
Duilin gives the demon an odd look. "This thing is truly not from this dimension..." He sighs. He then dashes at the demon, swinging his mace, the demon blocks it with his claw, and then swings it's other claw down at Duilin. He grabs the demon's claw, drawing some blood. Duilin used his demonic strength, and began to break the demons claw. He then, kicked the demon right in the gut, and it stepped back. He stared into its eyes, and it stared back. They both ran at each other. The demon brought back it's claw, ready to strike the half demon right on it's head. Duilin then jumped into the air, right over the demon, back flipping, he faced the back of the demons head, and he swung his mace right at its neck. A loud cracking sound was herd and the beast fell to the ground. Duilin gracefully landed on the ground.
"Ownt..." Duilin said proudly with a smirk.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Ein heard the demon's bones crack, in the distance. "Ah... It matters not. It was but a diversion. After all, I needed to get back from there in one piece, because I am not the type that gets killed by the first island he lands on."
He ran up right next to the walls. "Hmm... No visible gates. Not from this side, at least. But ah well, I won't waste time finding some." He searched around his cape, eventually finding what looked like a long whip without a handle. He tied that whip to a bolt, placed it in his crossbow and fired it around the top of the wall. The bolt hit the wall, getting stuck in it. Ein pulled himself up the whip, eventually reaching a small step, sort of, in the wall. He then jumped on top of the wall where Tesla was //from the absence of posts involving him, i'll assume he's there now\\.
-"So... Did i prove myself useful in any way, in case if you were watching?"
--- --- ---
//i made a new character a while ago, he's in chapter 7 signups\\
After finishing yet another successful deal, Gerard continued on his path. "Hmm... i've got aqua fortis, now i must concentrate it in order to get aqua regis. I wish there was another way, but there is not... hmm. Now. If I were a distillation apparatus, where would I be?"
Posted by: Kahn on Saturday November 5th, 2005
Hyperion was exhausted at this point. He was sure on any other day he could defeat this old man, but he would admit defeat for now.
"Draven.... Draven sent me."
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday November 6th, 2005
//Well, that IS his additude... But, what happened, was, when the ki blade hit the tower, instead of completely annihlitating it, it instead sucked the tower into the dimension Zeros' had created, bringing the dead soldiers with it. Because there was so much magic used, the soldiers bodies couldn't handle the strain and sort of, "shut down", in realitive terms.
But, all magic leaves small traces of where it once was. If one very adept in magic, say, Zeros', Haraldur or Draven, went back to the place where Alpha Retan was destroyed, they could still feel traces of barrier Zeros' had thrown up to delay the planets destruction. So, someone as adept as Haraldur in magic could scan the resadue near the tower, and find out it wasn't a maliacious spell, but, a teleportation spell.
So, the spell wasn't really "harmful" in a way, if you don't count putting them into a coma harmful. And, if your look back to where I posted the tower scene, it never said the tower was "destroyed", it simply said "disappeared", so, there could of been infiniate possiblities. As for the "dead zone" that happened after, that the result of using such a powerful spell. The magical backlash is what caused the "dead zone" to happen.
I hope that cleared things up. Onto the story!\\
"A Facist is always a Facist, even if they're only indirectly involved into incidents with make them this, eh Haraldur?" he whispered. "Maybe it is true, but... Times are changing, rapidly. Soon, more then likely, magic will be gone, and we'll be forced into hiding when they start to grow more independant and daring," he said to no one in particular. He decided arguing with Haraldur would simply give him even MORE of a headache then he had already devolped from Haraldur shattering his sword.
//The sword has a direct link with Zeros'. The pause in where Zeros' had just stared at the sword was from shock, but, he was also in pain, because he could "feel" the sword shatter. This, in terms, gave him a headache.\\
Zeros' disappeared, using his ghost technique, and reappeared next to where his sword was reforming. There was one last flash of light, and the sword reappeared, good as new. It had taken Zeros' some magic on his part just to reform the sword, but, luckly, the swords own magic took away most of the strain.
Zeros' picked up his swords, and did a few practice swings - switching inbetween Demon and God forms - before nodding, and resheathing it. His trenchcoat was almost completely destroyed, so Zeros' chucked it away.
Now, one could see all of Zeros' upper half. His body was... one big scar. Everywhere you looked, there was a dark or light scar on his body, covering almost every inch of his skin. There were even some place that were reinforced by metal and steel, much like on his right hand. Some of the scars went deeper, still.
Zeros' left hand didn't have nearly as many scars, or the problems that his sword hand did (Right hand). The scars throbbed constantly while Zeros' was in battle, but, he usually ignored and fought through the pain.
He turned, clad only in his loose, black pants, and walked over to Duilin. He put a hand on Duilin's right shoulder and stepped up beside him.
"Now, what do you want to do, Haraldur? Your other man is gone, and it's two against one," he said to the slightly crazed man.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 6th, 2005
//It does not clear it up. You should have said what you have just told me in the original post, otherwise my scanning of the area would have been impossible, regardless of the ability of my character. Just saying "disappeared" instead of "destroyed" is not enough: I have/would use the word "disappeared" to mean that they were completely annihilated, destroyed, no trace, OK? "Teleported" or "teleported to Limbo" would have been fine, as it was explicit, and my character could reasonably then have come to the conclusion that his comrades were not dead, or not, depending on my decision as to make him jump to conclusions first or to check the place before making conclusions. Instead, it forced my character to jump to a conclusion, since anything else was impossible, and so made my character look like a complete buffoon, without it being my decision as to whether he would be a buffoon. The end result is that you have effectively controlled my character's actions, which, as you know, is frowned upon. Worst of all is that my character is not supposed to be an idiotic character, so he has been forced to act out of character.//
"Magic never disappears. Magic is a law of nature, with mathematical models for how it works. Nature is uniform, so magic is an unbreakable law of Physics. I have studied Physics in several universes, including magical ones. The availability of magical energy and training and ability can be suppressed, but not destroyed.
"Two against one? Only the simple speak in terms of numerical odds only. As for fighting me, you seem to have no logical reason to do so."
____________________________________________________________________
Tesla smiled at Ein. "All we wanted to do was make sure you were not trying to trick us. You seem to be genuine. I suggest you go to the kitchens to eat."
He again concentraed on the ground in front of the frontline.
____________________________________________________________________
"That treachorous slime sent you, did he? Well, well... He must be replaced by someone more agreeable..."
He looked at Hyperion //If you have objections to what is below, then it will be removed, I just think it would be reasonably cool.// and said, "The poison my steed put into you is a residual one, after one day it will kill you, in the meantime making you weak, unless you are given the antidote (and I am the only person who can make it, as I designed the poison as well). In addition, after the antidote is given, then it is 2 days before the poison kills you, in the second day you will become weak, so you will need daily doses to remain alive, and I am the the only person who can provide them.
"Therefor, it is in both our interests that you become my slave, my servant, my vassal, bondsman, or whatever you wish to call it. Good for you, because you then will remain alive, and good for me, as I do not have to buy myself a slave at the horrendously high prices they have nowadays, and I get one more powerful than I could have hoped. Do you agree to the terms?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 6th, 2005
-"Hmm. Although I don't know where the prementioned kitchens are, finding them would be a good excersise for me to have better orientation in the city."
He turned around, nodding as he passed the revolutionaires. "Great... So this wall doesn't have a visible way of getting down, either. I suppose we all have our... ups and downs." Ein then simply jumped down off the wall, landing on one of the streets below. He walked down the street, looking at the houses around him. "Heh... the huts I saw in Lawessov don't even compare to these houses. This city must've been designed and created (recreated?) by someone skilled."
As Ein was deep in his thoughts, he eventually reached the city square. "Ah, the centre of the city. Which way now?"
--- --- ---
Gerard continued his path to find a distillation apparatus. After about 30 minutes of solid walking, he reached a town. However, the people in the town were somewhat rushing. There were also a lot of soliders, who looked suspiciously like Crimson Empire's minions. He spotted an idle person.
-"Good day to you. Might you know where I can find a distillation apparatus? Perhaps there's one in this town?"
The person he was talking to looked exactly like a 10 year old who just heard all of the principles of Earth's gravitation.
-"A distillmation what? Oh, you're talking about a witchcraft device, no doubt. I really don't know, but they say that all witchcraft devices come from one location. I'll be damned if I can remember what that location is, though."
Gerard scratched his forehead. "Hmm, no pie for me today."
-"Alright, well, perhaps you have some junk you'd sell me? After all... One man's junk is another one's treasure."
-"Yes, actually! This is not exactly junk, but I've no idea what to do with it. Here."
The villager handed Gerard a small chunk of silvery-white material.
-"Ah, i see. I'll give you 20 gold for this."
-"20 gold...?"
-"Yes, unfortunately I don't have any more at the moment." The piles of gold in Gerard's inner pocket suddenly got heavier for a second.
-"Okay... Well, I guess I should do that, then. After all, I wasn't expecting any pay for this."
-"Thank you, kind stranger." With these words, Gerard went deeper into the city.
//The city he's in is incidentally Redvik, but I'm using vague descriptions because I don't know what it looks like, either. please excuse me if i make any mistakes in the descriptions.\\
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 6th, 2005
//Ein, there will be plenty of revolutionaries stnding around the square, talking, debating, loving, whatever, so you can ask directions easily, if you like.//
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 6th, 2005
"No logical reason?" Duilin asked. "But is there any logical reason for us not to fight?" He takes a few stepps foward. "So, anyways, perhaps we should use this 'unbreakable law of physics' instead of talking, because that seems not to get us anywere."
He turns his head and looks at Zeros'. "I say we fight him. Talking doesn't stop anything." He looks back at Haraldur, and takes a few more stepps foward...
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 6th, 2005
"And what, pray, is it that you are wanting to stop?"
Haraldur prepared a spell in his cloak behind his back, a circular serrated blade of pure light energy, mostly gamma rays, which would home in on the neck of its target.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 6th, 2005
Ein came up to a pair of townspeople, who were intently arguing over something.
-"Hello...?"
The two people turned to Ein.
-"Hello, comrade. How can I help you?", said one of them.
-"I'm looking for the kitchens... Do you know where they might be?"
--- --- ---
Gerard came inside one of the houses, spotting a man with white hair sitting behind a table on a chair. He came up to him.
-"Hello sir. I am but a humble merchant, might you have any wares for sale?"
//that means Valos, as I understood he was in Redvik\\
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 6th, 2005
The revolutionary said, "Follow me."
//Assuming Ein follows...//
He led Ein accross the square to the Northeast, to the tower, now replaced, that had been "teleported to Limbo" by Zeros', and pointed into a large building from which the smell of leek and potato soup was wafting through the air invitingly.
"Bon apetit, comrade."
The revolutionary left and returned to the square, an to his debate.
____________________________________________________________________
Tesla moved his hands around, forming a red transparent dome above his head, which enlarged to encompass the whole of the Laus peninsula south of the northernmost tower in Laus. Any damage would go directly to Tesla, for him to handle.
Above the city, the whole sky became red, and the people started to carry their weapons around more often.
Posted by: Kahn on Sunday November 6th, 2005
"How does follower sound, oh I don't suppose it matters though, I wasn't really looking forward to dying anytime soon."
He didn't really want to be a slave, but he had had it worse. He looked down at the ground for a moment.
"Fine I agree to your terms, but you should at least give me your name in return."
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 6th, 2005
(Ein: Valos is in an army camp south of Redvik, waiting to strike at Laus. It's at least a good walk away. Here is a description of the city.)
Historically, Redvik is the name of the large fortress at the center of the city, however most people nowadays refer to the town as Redvik as well. The fortress is much less glamorous than the Crimson Palace, much more blocky and bleak. There is an odor about the air, some sort of pollution likely from the fact that the fortress also serves as the Crimson Empire's primary airship manufacturing facility, which extends deep under the streets, with serveral large 'trap door' style gateways scattered around the fortress in which airships enter and exit.
The city, surrounded by a standard wall, isn't gigantic, but not exactly small. A select part of the population work and live inside the fortress (under military contract) as engineers, scientists, and alchemists on airship production and... various other... projects... The rest of the population are largely maintenance workers, etc. and a few merchants.
Redvik is under the supervision of General Vincent, who seems to resent the sit-and-watch position (and who I may make a character later, if the story goes that way) and Chief Wallace, who is in charge of airship production (that fat guy from chapter 4. Heh...)
Currently security is tight, due to what is happening just south in Laus, and very few people are being let in the fortress.
----
Draven raised an eyebrow at the Generalísimo.
"Ermh... well... I don't think that would be of much use... Have you no air units? No capable troops you could land on the shores, even?"
----
Ven shielded his face from the heat as the zombie exploded in flame. Impressive! Ven ignored the other zombie and made a mad dash straight for the source...
"Hss! Wait! What are you doing?! NOOOO!!!"
Without a word Ven attacked with a full overhead swing, which the necromancer blocked with his staff, the momentum sending him flying backwards and rolling on the ground. On the third roll the necromancer lifted to his feet, and dashed into the forest madly.
"Masster!!! Ssave Degzgronzooo~!!!"
Cloak flowing behind, Ven followed in a full sprint.
----
"Sir! The general is--!!"
The Lieutenant with the red pendant pushed the soldier out of the way. His grin widened and his eyes began to burn... He walked up to the tent and ripped the opening apart with his right hand. He immediately recognized Valos as the general due to his unique uniform and medal. He snapped to attention, performing the Crimson Empire salute, with the left hand, however...
"Sir... I have a message for you..."
He stayed frozen for a second... then without warning, performed a mad jump at the general, literally flying over a wooden table and knocking a chair down, his right hand grasping for the general's neck...
"DIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 6th, 2005
"I tell noone my name," the Prophet said, "and I remain the only living person in the world, except one, who knows it. That one, who is now my enemy, I believe still has sufficient respect to keep his lips sealed. People usually call me The Great Prophet, The Prophet, or simply Prophet. I have encouraged this.
"Now, we are going to visit my acolytes. You will find your life not too arduous I hope. You might even learn something. Jump onto the saddle, you are to hold my waist in order to stop yourself from falling off. Oh, and here is the antidote."
He chucked a small phial to Hyperion.
He will fly west at a leisurely pace one Hyperion gets on.
____________________________________________________________________
"Ah, so you are not a fan of cheap diversionary tactics? OK." Salazar smiled. "We do have a large army of soldiers capable of magical flight: they have been most useful in destroying monarchist resistance in the mountain regions."
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 6th, 2005
//DAMN! Sorry about that, guys. I'll patch everything up. Also, am i going a little too fast...?\\
The man turned around, facing Gerard.
-"No, I do not. I'm sorry."
--- --- ---
After having a nice meal at the kitchens, Ein exited them and started wandering around the city, spectating the setting of it.
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday November 6th, 2005
Zeros' stepped infront of Haraldur, and stared up at him.
"I have no reason to fight you? You call manipulating Gaia, the place my mother protects, something I can't fight against you for? Well then, Haraldur, your sadly mistaken," he said to the man. He saw the barrier rise up, but, ignored it as of now.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 6th, 2005
Valos, being caught off guard, wraps his hands around his attacker's arm, trying to pull his arm away, as he grabs his neck. He then lifts his leg, and swings his foot in an attempt to kick him away.
-------
Duilin stared at Haraldur. A gust of wind began to circle around him, and bolts of energy flue threw him, he clenched his fists, and closed his eyes. He opened them, and they were glowing a slight golden colour. He then opened his hands and placed them together, he then slid his hands apart and formed a large blade of energy (Like the one he made at the end of Chapter 5). He then blasted his way towards Haraldur at great speed; he then flipped over Haraldur and swung the blade at Haraldur's back, at amazing speed.
--------
"Holy crap!" Rink shouted out loud. "I've never seen Duilin go that speed before in an attack. Zeros' does that all the time, but Duilin...never..." Rink pressed his hand against his forehead. "I'm getting worried..."
//If Trent doesn't post until tomorrow, does Aura get hit? Or does he have until Tuesday? \\
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 6th, 2005
"Your mother is a fool. The world should be used for the benefit of sentients, not the other way around. Besides, what is so special? This is just a rock. Any magician of sufficient power can create similar objects. There is nothing special, except the sentient lives. She should go and defend some other lump of rock so as to be out of my way. I think her time as my father's whore must have damaged her psychologically. You have no logical reason to fight me."
Haraldur watched impassively as time slowed for him, and he saw Duilin moving in slow motion flipping over him. He stepped aside and turned very fast, while Duilin was still in slow motion. He moved his hand from behind his back, bringing out of his cloak light blade/disc, looking a bit like a circular saw. He threw it at Duilin, and it started spinning. It curved around and then followed Duilin constantly accelerating.
Time went back to normal, and Haraldur curved around in his flight to be on the North side of the two half-demons. He then started to quickly fly backwards, right into Redvik, his original destination.
He held his right arm out to his side, and a plasma gun appeared, and then he started firing at the two half-demons.
Posted by: Trent on Sunday November 6th, 2005
//Damn... I may need to pull out. I'm losing every trace I have of a life.
Zion ignited the other one with another casting of Crimson while Tsu took off after the necromancer, on foot.
--- --- ---
//Xenai wasn't asleep, but with how I've been slacking off here lately, he might as well be.
"Alw... alw...ays... good de... zzz... cision..." He wasn't supposed to drink himself to sleep. He messed up. Not good.
--- --- ---
An eyebrow raised. Wait a second, something's not... She looks off somewhere else... OMFG GUN. She dives as she starts to get shot at, rolling to her feet, and taking cover behind a tree. She gathers a moderate amount of energy to the finger and takes aim... "Ray!" And a ray of light energy shoots out at Marshal. Wait a second... Did I go into a standing coma or something? What happened to that other guy? Is he inside the base camp? General Valos...! Damn! Gotta take this guy out fast and help Valos!
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 6th, 2005
//Can't sleep... and since it's over 12 here, i'm technically posting as tomorrow <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />\\
Eventually Ein got bored of walking aimlessly around the city, so he decided to put his time to a good use. He headed back to the city square, then went the road he came from originally. He came to the wall. "God damn this wall! Where's the ladder?!" Of course, since he is so lazy, Ein decided to make his own "ladder". He simply climbed the wall. As he got up there, he walked around until he reached Tesla, who was concentrating on something.
-"Hello again, friend. I'm sorry for disturbing you, but I've yet to learn your name."
--- --- ---
After wondering around the town, Gerard understood that this town was not so promising, as for his skill. He only aquired a piece of stannum, and not even that much. He exited the city and continued walking.
//for those who don't know their chemistry, Stannum is latin for tin, hence the strange name on the periodic table (Sn). Oh yeah, and trent, you got the 3,000th post \\
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 7th, 2005
"My name is Nikola Tesla, comrade. Now, if you would excuse me..."
Above Nikola, a patch of blue appeared in the red of the shield, becoming bright white in the centre. Suddenly, with a loud thunder crash, a long string of charge left the dome and arced upwards towards Redvik. It hits a tower (not a special tower, just any old tower) on the fortress, smashing it to smithereens, sending rubble falling onto the soldiers below (unless, of course, there is some sort of shield, but if there is, the energy has to go somewhere...)
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 7th, 2005
(Audience's reaction to Haraldur's comment about Zeros' mother:)
"Ooooooooooooooooooooooh..." (Heh...)
(Trent: Try going down to one character. I had to do that for a while, myself.)
----
Draven placed his fingertips together in front of him.
"Yes, that would work. Here, take this."
He tossed Salazar a small green orb.
"Give that to your commander. I will broadcast the order to attack over that. Now at the risk of seeming rude, I must take my leave, as I have other matters to attend to. Good day, Generalísimo."
He stood up and began to walk towards the exit behind him.
----
The necromancer's movements were very unnatural and sporadic, and he zipped through the forest while Ven began to fall farther and farther behind. He stopped, raising his staff to the sky.
"Hehehehehehehee..."
On the surface of a large tree behind him, a portal opened. It looked like a vortex of violet and black, and the matter around the portal began to twist and distort.
"I think not!!"
Sill in a full sprint, and some 100 feet behind, Ven slashed his sword through the air, sending a crescent shaped blade of wind at the tree, shattering it and causing it to fall upon the opening of the portal."
"W-W-WHAT?!?!"
----
Valos' kick hit Mavas in the leg, tripping him and forcing him to do a sort of summersault to avoid tumbling on the ground. He broke away from Valos and landed on his feet about three feet away in a crouch, splintering another wooden chair in the process. He paused for a split second.
Curses. Have to do it fast or the rest of the camp will find out.
His form began to distort, a black aura engulfing him, and his body and armor morphed to their normal forms, his eyes burning red.
"Heh heh hehh..."
Without warning, his right hand drew the jagged blade on his back and thrust it forward. What looked like liquid metal flew from the sword-- a half dozen droplets that molded into small knife shapes in mid air, while flying at the general...
----
General Vincent watched the collapsing tower through his office window within the center of the Redvik fortress. His hands behind his back, his eyes hidden behind the glare in his glasses. Soldiers began busting into his office at random intervals.
"Sir! An explosion! One of the south towers!"
"S-Sir! Witnesses report some sort of beam from the south!"
"Sir! T-they're firing at us! From Laus!!!"
"Sir! Shall I contact the capital?"
Vincent smiled. Just slightly.
"No, that will not be necessary."
"Huh...?"
He turned around to find some ten soldiers saluting him. The ones in the back waiting for the chance to give their reports.
"We have just been attacked. We require no permission for self defense. Prepare to return fire."
"B-but sir! There is no way our guns can reach that far!"
Vincent pointed to the sky. (But was actually pointing through the ceiling to the very tip of the fortress.)
"Ready. The BIG GUN."
*GASP*
"T-t-t-th-the B-BIG GUN, sir? But i-it's still..."
"Do it... NOW!"
They all snapped to attention at once, all yelling:
"Sir! Yes sir!"
and scattered out of the room.
Vincent turned back to the window. Finally, after all these years... the chance he was looking for... He shall be the one to defeat Ragnar... Oh, the fame! The glory! The fortune!
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday November 7th, 2005
Zeros' heard the comment, and his blood turned cold. His wings froze in mid-flap and his eyes stared ahead, glazed over. His hands dropped to his sides, and his head bowed.
Even through Zeros' calculating mind, Zeros' saw red. Blood red. His head snapped up and his hair color started to change widly, as did his wing colors. His aura expanded slowly, very slowly, interchanging between colors. Until finally... Zeros' snapped.
His aura exploded all around him. The sky that was formely red, was now tinged all different colors. Zeros' wings were mixed between black, white, red, gold and green, while his hair was a mix between it's original silver, black, and golden. His right eye was white and his left eye was black.
No one called his mother a whore, and lived to tell about it.
Time slowled down to a crawl. Zero's merely flapped his wings once, and he was speeding through the air faster then anyone could follow. He reached Haraldur in less then a second, and got infront of him.
Time speed up again, and Zeros' ghosted into view about 10 yards infront of Haraldur. His left hand crackled with a ball of pure light, while his right hand held a ball of pure destruction. He brought his hands out to his sides, and forced the two opposites into another. His eyes were cold and hollow, showing no emotion. Not even anger.
The ball of swirling black and white sped towards Haraldur faster then anyone could see, but Haraldur. If it was stopped, it would simply implode out 50 yards in all directions. It didn't even leave an afterimage as it sped towards the crazed man who called Zero's mother a whore...
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 7th, 2005
Ein saw the sky go up in insane colours.
-"Sir Tesla, don't you think that's sort of odd?"
He found a rock lying nearby, and etched a small diagram on the top of the wall, next to him.
-"If you stand in the middle of this, it should increase your mental powers, so you can support your shield for a longer amount of time and damage than usual."
--- --- ---
Gerard continued walking, as he heard a loud roar to the right of him. He turned around, only to see two tusks ramming into his chest. He fell over.
-"What the...?"
He looked closer at his attacker, realizing that it was a wild boar. He ripped his dagger out of it's sheath, and lunged it deep into the beast's chest.
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 7th, 2005
Tesla nodded, and stood on the diagram, feeling his metal powers quicken. He sent two more beams arcing towards random places within Redvik.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar left the room, and passed the orb wordlessly to his deputy.
____________________________________________________________________
"Oh, so you dispute the fact that she was a member of my father's harem? How else do you think she got those claw marks on her back?"
An odd spontaneous warping caused the two balls to curved around and down, now flying down straight into the heart of Redvik, as they were now right above it. The two energy balls hit the North wall of the fortress.
Haraldur's flying motion changed, now moving very fast but always within the limits of the city of Redvik. Yes, let him unleash destruction here, let him unwittingly assist me. He let himself fly backwards as if hit by an attack, and let himself smash through the North-East tower of the fortress, showering rubble into the city.
Haraldur turned in a movement not unlike that of a skater on ice, and seemed to skate on the air. Below him, yellow, red and black clouds of burning oil appeared and started to rain down on the city. He laughed, it had been ages since he had used that spell.
Lightning flew down from the malevolent clouds, onto the remaining towaers of the fortress. Haraldur caused a ball lightning to fly out of the clouds and go towards Zeros' and home in on him.
Below, the wooden built city surrounding the fortress burned.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 7th, 2005
Duilin used his blade to block the energy disc and the plasma blast. He realized that Zeros' was very enraged about the comment that Haraldur gave. He kept a grip on his blade of energy; he then backed away a few feet. He began to charge more power into his blade...
----
Marshal, gets blasted by the ray of light, and falls to the ground; his gun goes off firing, not hitting anything in particular. He grabs his weapon, but holds it only using his right hand. He then uses his free hand to hold the gem on his amulet. The sapphire shines, and a spectre begins to appear...
----
Valos, swung out his sword from its holster, and slashed at the knives flying towards him.
"Intruder!" Valos yells, to get the soldiers attention. He then charges dark energy into his sword, it then glows a dark purple. He then ghosts behind Mavas and swings his large black, empowered sword at his enemy’s back.
A few soldiers take out there weapons and dash towards the commotion.
----
"Okay, well enough fun here." Rink says. "I think I have enough information now. I better fly back to Redvik." He says. And then he jumps up and flaps his wings, and flies toward Redvik.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 7th, 2005
//someone 'xcuse me for being a noob, but does Zeros' mother exist in this RP?\\
Posted by: Kahn on Monday November 7th, 2005
Hyperion took the antidote and got on the saddle.
"Acolytes eh? This should be fun."
Posted by: Trent on Monday November 7th, 2005
//WOOT! I have the 3000th post! Damn, this RP's old! >D I may reduce my characters to just Aura, but all four of them are entagled in conflict right now.
Tsu was starting to catch up now, breathing heavily. "My god, what is this thing?"
Zion jumped up, turned a flip, and waited for the right angle... He connected his wrists and fired at the ground... A beam jump. That would send him to his destination quickly. He righted himself, landed, and skidded to a stop.
--- --- ---
"Uhhh..." Xenai slowly awakened, sitting up in the bed. "That was not a good decision... Euh? Where the hell am I?"
--- --- ---
She dashed out of the tree, fury visible in those beautiful blue eyes. She had to finish this guy off quick so she could help Valos. She rapidly came upon the man, while charging up a short-distance teleport. What the heck is this specter? She would need to get between the two...
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 7th, 2005
Ein spectated the fight, wondering whether there's anything he should be doing right now.
--- --- ---
The beast let out a deafening wail, and eventually stopped moving. Gerard threw the beast off his chest, dusted himself off, and kept walking towards his yet unspecified target. After a good solid walk he reached what looked like a military camp, with a lot of fights going on in it. He only saw one fight, though. The other one he had a clue about, because there seemed to be some sort of a commotion inside of one of the houses. Outside the house there was someone firing a gun.
-"Hmm... I wonder what principle that object operates on..."
He then came up closer to the two people fighting, hiding in the shadows.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 7th, 2005
//I think Zeros' mother appeared a couple of chapters ago, near the end of chapter five. But I'm not sure if that was her. \\
"You shall soon learn a lesson, a very valuable one indeed." Marshal grinned to Aura. "Have you heard about my skill of summoning?" He asked, not expecting an answer.
The blue spectre came into shape. It was large, about 20 feet tall. It was humanoid shaped, but had a bull shaped head. He was holding a large hammer, yet it could hold it in one hand. It had smooth brownish fur along its muscular body, and wore a rag around its waist, held up by a golden belt. The figure was a Minotaur. (It looked alot like the one in Heretic, or the Dark Servant in Hexen, if you have played any of those games.)
The monster roared, it stared at Aura, and deeply exhaled, wind visibility blew from its nose. It then smashed its hammer down at the ground; creating a large shockwave booming it's way towards Aura.
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
Perfect! He fell for it! She performs the teleport right before the hammer strikes, allowing the shockwave to wear off before phasing back in between Marshal and the specter.
"Shining Bind!" The same attack she used to prove her worth upon the soldiers was unleashed here. A large white circle appeared on the ground with her in the center. The energy in the circle lashed out, upwards at Marshal and the specter, several times. Then, 3 times more blows were unleashed all in 3 seconds, these being a little weaker.
That attack just drained her severely. She won't be doing that one again for a while.
//Again, link to a clip of the move <a href='http://n.ethz.ch/student/wmartin/videos/ToS%20PS2%20(JP)%20Abicion's%20Shining%20Bind.rmvb' target='_blank'>here</a>.
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
//Yeah. That was his mother. It was why his eyes are green.\\
Zeros' stared and Haraldur, and idly grabbed the ball of lightning that headed straight for him. He simply crushed it, and shook his hand, getting rid of the numbness that was caused from the voltage.
"Your father was a bastard Haraldur. He FORCED her! HE FORCED HER!" he growled out between clenched teeth. He disappeared, and did one of Haraldur trick, bending space and time to his will.
Haraldur slowed down to a crawl. He was moving at a snails pace now. Zeros' ghosted, and reappeared RIGHT above Haraldur (as in a few centimeters). His fingers snapped together, and he threw a knifehand thurst, right at the flesh that covered Haraldur's neck...
Outside of reality, it simply looked as if Zeros' had disappeared, and reappeared with his hand blurring down towards Haraldur's neck.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
In the middle of a stride, Ven grabbed his sword with both hands and thrust it into the ground, putting energy into the blade. An explosion followed, sending him flying upwards and over the necromancer. He performed a flip and landed on his feet. The gray robed man was now surrounded on two sides, Zion and Tsu being on the opposite side as Ven.
Ven's face was different. He seemed disgusted, even enraged...
"Last chance! Mavas. NOW!"
"Hsss! DIE AWAY!!"
A raised staff produced three orbs of shadow energy, which rotated around the necromancer once before each sped of for its own target...
----
Blast. Cover blown. Oh, well...
Mavas performed a leap backwards, tearing through the wall of the tent and landing out in the open in the middle of the camp. Soldiers from all sides surrounded him, brandishing their weapons...
But Mavas was distracted... The sky was changing colors... two large forces quickly passed overhead northward. One he recognized...
"You... I promised you, didn't I... Even better than before... Myeh heh hehh..."
He stabbed a soldier in his way, and barged through the rest, northward into the forest...
----
Chaos was everywhere in Redvik. Some of the attacks were being repelled, some reflected even. Some hit their marks, causing death and destruction to rain down upon the city.
Small magic powered cannons began to fire upon Haraldur from various turrets. A small legion of wyvern riders was unleashed to pursue. The airships remained underground... for the moment...
A large block on the top of the fortress split, a long metallic cylinder emerging from within, with various tubes and such connected to it... some 100 yards in length and 10 feet in diameter... it was... THE BIG GUN... A translucent red dome shield appeared around it as it slowly angled towards it's target.
"Sir! S-should we call for backup?"
"No! We haven't even begun to fight back... FIRE IT!"
"But sir, we must increase the energy beyond recommended levels to reach Laus. If we..."
"NOW!"
A deep humming sound could be heard as the mammoth gun powered up, the innards of the barrel glowing a deep crimson...
Vincent adjusted his glasses.
"Colonel, oversee the cannons. I'm going up top."
"Up top?! Outside? Sir, I cannot recommend--"
He was gone, dashed out the doorway, and wound up the stairs. General Vincent appeared on the roof. Not the same structure as the giant cannon, but atop a fairly close tower that jutted out of the fortress, not quite as tall as the highest point, which the cannon was resting on.
Vincent adjusted his glasses and placed his hands behind his back, eyeing the destruction around him as the breeze blew his hair and flaps of his black trench coat. There he was... flying overhead... Ragnar... the prize... and another, fighting? Who is that?
Vincent smiled lightly...
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
Around Tesla, more comrades were stepping to the edge of the wall, facing North. They copied him, and an arc of blue dots could be seen near the edge of the dome, which became white in the middle. More came, until the walls and roofs of the city were completely saturated with people, and blue dots appeared in a ring around the dome and in clusters above where roofs were. These too became white in the middle. The more competant magic users were all preparing to fire off the arcs of charge.
After muttering a spell to greatly amplify his voice, Tesla shouted: "Fire!" The word echoed around the city, and 20,000 blue and white spots on the red background of the shield started firing off charge arc towards Redvik.
20,000 attacks from Laus to Redvik.
____________________________________________________________________
Hyperion would still be weak, so the Prophet caused the serpent to accelerate only slowly. They flew west.
____________________________________________________________________
Bernard entered, and said, "Are you sober?"
____________________________________________________________________
"Yes, my father was a bastard, why else do you think I killed him Zeros'? As for what he forced, I am perfectly aware, and it has indeed caused psychological problems in the past, including with, in my opinion, your mother who thinks this world, unaltered, is more important than the people living on it. I cannot agree with that."
Haraldur sliced the time even more thinly, Zeros' moving hand standing almost still. With a movement of his left hand, he warped and ripped space in front of the whole, making a portal into empty space, far away, but in the same universe.
Haraldur saw some cannon shots in a cluster in front of him, seemingly standing still. He moved towards them, and touched them simoultaneously. Let us see if this finally gets Zeros' to open his eyes, though not obvious, this is as drastic as I dare. The shots detonated, releasing blasts of ion plasma. Haraldur's skin burned as he clenched his teeth against the pain. The Laws of Physics are impossible to break, unless the universe is damaged. Around him, the air became solid and unyielding, then plasma, then seemed to disappear in a puff of radiation as the atoms fell apart: the fundamental forces of gravity, electromagnetism, the weak force and the colour (strong) force wiped out in that instant. The area where this happened expanded, before Haraldur caused his healing systems to kick in. They did so, and the sphere of forcelessness started to shrink, but not before it was chucked down into the roof (the flat bit, not the towers) of the fortress, causing it and several floors below, and any objects or people there, to disintegrate into radiation.
Time returned to normal, and Haraldur reeled back in pain, somersaulting through the air as his body visibly healed in but a second.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
Marshal raises his hand, pointing at the minotaur, he slides it infront of the blasts coming towards him. The minotaur follows Marshal's hand movement, and strafes right infront of the blasts, taking them all. The monster roars in pain. The beast still lives, because it's one though mutha...
The monster dashes towards Aura, and swings it's hammer in a downward motion towards Aura. Regardless if the hammer hits her, it would cause another shockwave.
----
Duilin still holding his energy blade. It has grown to about 10 feet high and about a foot wide. He then, flue his way toward Haraldur.
"I'll be damned if this attack hit's him." Duilin mutters. As Huraldur tumbles, he swings the energy blade at him...
----
"Kill him!" Valos yells, as Mavas runs off. "That was him...The one who coppied Lord Draven. He had that red pendant..."
He motions two shock troops to go chase Mavas.
The shock troops run after Mavas, and fire their shotguns...
----
Rink arives infront of Redvik. "Holy crap. This place looks worse than hell!"
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
Ein watched the dots head for Redvik.
-"Hmm... looks like quite the powerful attack you're attempting. Are you sure you know what you're doing? I mean, you might blast half your shield with that. At least, that's what that looked like."
--- --- ---
Gerard watched the bright flash, and the creature taking the hit.
-"Hmm... metaphysics. Quite curious, really. I've no use for them, however, as I am in no way magic."
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
//Euh? Did you watch the video, DM?
"Light and darkness bend to my will..." Tsu held out the hand, catching it, and turning around. Like a magic trick, as he completed the rotation, the ball was now of light. He sent it right back.
Zion didn't have such an excellent balance... Heck, he had no balance. He was very mostly of light orientation. He simply slashed through the ball and countered, holding out his hand. "Photon!" A sphere of light energy appeared around the necromancer, striking inwards twice.
--- --- ---
He rubbed his head. "Yeah..." He looked at the guy. "Who're you?"
--- --- ---
Aura could do nothing about the next shockwave. She successfully evaded the hammer, but was sent into the air by the shockwave. As she flew through the air (It wasn't very far, about 5 feet), she noticed Mavas. Three birds with one stone... Many, rather. She started to charge up some light energy.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 8th, 2005
//Um, no. My computer can't run whatever type of file that was.\\
The minotaurm, stomped it's way towards Aura. It made another enraged exhale. It then roared, and then smashed at a tree, breaking it in half, it then picked it up with it's left hand, and tossed the tree at Aura...
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 9th, 2005
"NYAAAAAAHHHH!!!"
The necromancer outstretched both hands as he was slammed with the two orbs of light, throwing him backwards at incredible speed-- right towards Ven.
Still enraged, Ven charged flame energy into his sword once again.
"HYAAAHHH!!!"
He dashed and performed a two-handed stab towards the incoming body-- impaling the necromancer right through the middle... The flame from the sword and the light energy mixed and engulfed him and the burning necromancer utter one last word...
"...f...fr-ee..."
An explosion followed, knocking Ven down. A sort of green glowing mist was shot out in all directions, which condensed into small orbs, which spiraled around each other flying skyward, but then as if some unseen force caught them, dragged downwards, disappearing as they hit the ground...
Exhausted, Ven struggled to one knee.
"Heh..."
----
Bullets rained through the forest as Mavas fled, shredding through leaves and shrubbery.
"Fools."
Charging the shadow element into his fist, he punched the ground. The forest floor behind him heaved and shot up, hundreds of long metallic spikes, ranging from two to four feet high, jutted through the ground in the direct way of his pursuers.
Mavas continued on, not noticing the battle between Aura and Marshal, but fixed on the two that flew overhead a moment ago...
Back at the camp, in Valos' tent. The orb atop a table began to glow, and a holographic image of the upper half of Draven's body, arms folded, became visible.
"Valos! Report!"
----
Vincent watched Haraldur's attack disintegrate a hole in the roof near the tower he stood upon... Amazing... He hadn't seen an attack like that before... That was no ordinary spell. Was it even a form of magic...? No... had he changed the very form of the matter around him? A form of... alchemy?
A second attacker was now taking a shot at the target. Vincent decided to see how these two faired against him...
Suddenly, the multiple cannons stopped, their shields disappeared for a brief instant... the BIG GUN was drawing their power...
The humming sound became horrific as the crimson glow lit up the sky. The shot came with a massive recoil and shockwave-- a massive long beam of red energy. It flew towards Laus at breakneck speed...
The the same time, the 20,000 shots from Laus sped in the opposite direction. The two colossal waves of energy were dead on. They met half way-- too close to the base camps in between for comfort... The sky turned white for miles around... The explosion itself, while significant, only served to singe a few acres of trees. However, the two beams shattered in the process. Each shard, now a volatile ball of energy, shot out from the explosion center in a different direction.
Destruction rained from the heavens. Both Redvik and Laus, the front line camps, and forest and fields in between, were hit with a rain of fire from the sky...
Vincent watched the impending destruction as it flew his way from atop the tower, his glasses reflecting the red light.
"My god..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 9th, 2005
Valos, went back into his tent. He didn't seemed to shocked about the battle going on, he was used to it.
He looked upon his desk, and saw the holographic image of Draven. "Lord Draven.." He then sat down at his desk, and looked at the image. "What is it, my Lord?"
-------
Rink viewed over the base camp. "Whoa..." He saw, Marshal and Aura fighting. He had summond a large beast. He watched the giant blasts go flying buy...It was indeed an amazing sight. He then spotted Zeros' and Duilin fighting Haraldur. "I better land, and find Valos...see if we can attack now..." He then swooped down to the ground in the base camp...
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 9th, 2005
//Just a note for clarification: Haraldur's "attack", which is the second time a thing like that has happened (happened after attack on the Crimson Capital), is not an attack, but a consequence of him sustaining damage, intrinsic to him (and unique), which, for the purposes of the way I would like the story to go when it comes to Haraldur only, I would appreciate not to be copied by Mavas or any other character. It is, after all, not an attack, and breaks the Laws of Physics in this universe (which is impossible, implying damage to the universe) and so should not be regarded as a typical attack, but illegal, for the sake of the storyline. Just a request. This will not happen often, Haraldur avoids damage to himself as much as the next man (if not more). So, please, no copying of this one.//
Haraldur was still uncontrollably tumbling backwards, quite unaware of the energy blade swinging towards him. The blade struck him in the right leg, causing him clench his teeth again. This time, his healing systems kicked in straight away, but not before this happened: for a split second another forceless orb appeared around Haraldur, much faster and larger than previously, as the damage was so much worse, but receding almost immediately as Haraldur healed. The energy blade disappeared from point to hilt (in that order) as radiation in a split second, and so does Duilin's hand (and the rest of his body) unless he moves away quickly with his super demon powers (as he obviously will succeed in, since this effect, at aboout 1/10th of a second, is much to slow to be dangerous).
The orb having disappeared, and, after a second, the leg being healed, scarless, Haraldur tumbled further, and then regained control of his flight. He did so in time to see the Big Gun shoot while the shield went down, and decided to defend his comrades. After the shot, but before the shield came back up, he sliced the space where the gun was into several pieces, leaving a complicated warp (think of space as paper, and this as complex origami with a lot of scissors). The soldiers ripped apart and the gun exploded before the warp righted itself, causing the pieces to implode, and then fall in opposite directions on the city.
He then blasted at one of the two remaining towers (the one vincent is not on) with his plasma gun he was still carrying, causing it to ionise and explode, sending hot masonry to smash down on the already burning city. From below the stench of burning corpses was finally beginning to waft upwards, exciting the nostrils.
Redvik was now just a shell of a city, buildings within burned down, walls intact most of the population dead, and a damaged fortress, with factories below it, in the centre.
____________________________________________________________________
Tesla said to Ein, "Comrade, the shield is what makes this attack possible. This shield is the attack."
Before he could react, a couple of shards hit the shield, and Nikola had to repulse them. Then, he used telekinesis on the shards that had not yet reached the shield and they accelerated towards Redvik. Around him, at different times, others started to help, voluntarily. Others started firing at will, sending shots at different times and in slightly different trajectories, to hit different places in Redvik.
Total: 15,000 shards flying towards Redvik, 5,000 charged arcs arching to it.
____________________________________________________________________
"My name is Bernard Goujon, comrade. Care for some soup?"
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar walked through the corridors of the Crimson Palace, and then flew out of a window. Let us look at how the Crimson Empire treats its subjects.
He dropped down, and flew to the undamaged parts of the Crimson Capital to the town square, to the place where he knew there would be executions, and he could see a crowd gathering around the stands.
//Xorlak, could you continue the description of this scene?//
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 9th, 2005
-"I see. I am sorry, I do not understand magic as advanced as this."
Ein began to feel useless, and started doodling diagrams on one of the wall's bricks, transforming it to different shapes and sizes. Eventually, he got bored of this, and jumped off the wall //AGAIN!!\\ down into Laus. He went towards the city square, which he knew a little better now. From there, he turned left, and then eventually met one of Laus' citizens //or whatever you'd call them\\. He turned to him.
-"Is there some sort of inn, or any quiet spot you know of that I could visit?"
//sorry for bugging you, haraldur, or whoever will show me the way... but i still have no idea where specific buildings are in Laus\\
--- --- ---
Gerard continued watching the fight.
-"These shells that pop out of the loud object that funky looking man is carrying look like they're made of cuprum. That should come in handy... Better wait for the fight to be over, though."
//once again, for those who don't know their chemistry, cuprum is... ah the hell with it, if you want to know then look it up!\\
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday November 9th, 2005
Zion and Tsu raised an eyebrouw at the orbs. "What was that?" asked Zion.
--- --- ---
"Nice to meet ya. Naw, I don't want any." He slowly got out of the bed.
--- --- ---
Aura brought her two scimitars near each other, and slashed downward through the tree. She then returned them to their positions at her waist, and was suspended in the air.
"Judgment!"
Many, many strong beams of light shot straight down from the heavens. She tried to extend its scope as much as possible... this scope being a circle from where Marshal and the specter were, to deep into the forest, however, this would spread the rays out a little more. She was hoping that Mavas would get slammed with it too.
//I hope that the camp isn't in that scope.
--- --- ---
Zion looked off in the direction of the rays of Judgment. "That's Judgment... One of the strongest light magic arts... Who other than I has that?"
Tsu's heart was in pain... "That's Aura... I just know it..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 9th, 2005
Duilin, was shocked that he hit Haraldur. He saw his blade was dissappearing, he let go off the blade, and then flapped his wings backwards, pushing himself several feet away from Haraldur.
Duilin, then watches Haraldur. "Holy crap..." He sighes. "He's smashing this place up preety good."
He then, raises both of his hands on a 90 degree angle, and yellow energy begins to spiral around his hands. He then points both of his hands at Haraldur and blasts two yellow lasers at him...
-----
Marshal opens his eyes wide open as he spots the attack coming down. It was beautiful, but he shouldn't stay for the show, but it looked like there was one one quick way to protect himself. He crouched and held his hand toward the light beams blasting down toward him. The minotaur then sheilded Marshal, taking all the hits. The attack was to much for the mighty beast. The minotaur, then faded back into it's blue specter form, and then into a small energy matter, and was sucked back into Marshal's ammulet. The gem, was getting exhausted, that was a powerfull monster, so he would have to let the gem and his own magic energy to rest. (The amulet supplies only help for Marshals summoning abbilites, so he has to use some of his own magic to summon creatures).
Marshal, then glared at Aura. He then fired his machine gun eight times at Aura...
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 10th, 2005
Ven stood up, sheathing his sword and stumbling a bit, holding his right arm. He watched the glowing orbs as they disappeared into the ground.
"Not sure... his spirit or something? They're gone now, anyway..."
His eyes trailed up to see the bright light in the southern sky. Judgment... In fact the whole sky was lit up in multiple colors all around it.
"Looks like there's a huge battle going on..."
He climbed atop a log to try to get a better glimpse over the tree line. It probably wouldn't be a huge stretch to assume Mavas is involved. Or at least drawn to it...
"Well... guess we better find out what's going on..."
He began to limp towards the south, but paused.
"Hmmm, maybe we should find a vehicle or something..."
----
"Valos!"
Draven barked through the hologram.
"How is the mission proceeding? Has flyboy lured Ragnar out of the city? Have our spies reported anything useful? I am sensing much activity in that direction..."
It was at this time that balls of fire began to rain down around the camps, igniting parts of the surrounding forest.
----
(Laus can get a little messed up too, ya know. Heh...)
Vincent clenched his fists and swore as the primary gun and another tower fell.
"Son of a--!!"
A soldier was running up the stairwell behind him. Vincent turned around and barked his orders.
"Redirect the big gun's core energy to the secondary cannons. Cease fire and use the energy for the forward shields."
He looked up and saw a second wave of energy balls headed their way.
"You have twenty seconds!!"
"Y-yes sir!!"
Soon after, a beam emitted from the remaining smaller cannons, producing a red half-sphere shield around them, less translucent than the previous ones. The incoming blasts largely reflected off of these shields, except in the areas that had already damaged and thus had no cannons, which crumbled even more.
After the second wave of attack from Laus subsided. Three large gateways underground slowly opened, one of the east, west, and north side of the fortress. Three large black airships slowly emerged, their decks filled with mages who immediately began their work casting barrier spells around the vessels as the ships rose into the air.
Vincent did not give the order, but approved of the decision, most likely given by the colonel. He turned to set his sights back on the three fighting above.
----
There were three of them on the stands, with a noose around their necks. To their right was large buff man wearing the lower armor of a crimson empire soldier, shirtless, and a dark face mask. Another seemed to be an officer, without a helmet and a long mustache, holding a scroll. A crowd of perhaps a hundred or so was gathered around to see the end of these men, and were on all sides except behind, where there were a few more soldiers. The man with the scroll lifted the paper and began to read, the murmuring of the crowd immediately dissipating.
"Now hear this. These men, the last of the traitors of the rebellious acts of yesterday, those that seek to destroy us and our great nation, have been sentenced to death by order of our Emperor."
The crowed resonated:
"HOORAY!! LONG LIVE LORD DRAVEN!!!"
The shirtless man pulled the chord and the trapdoors under the men let way. They were hung, and their lifeless bodies swung in the breeze.
As it happened, jeers and laughter randomly emanated from the crowd. They slowly began to disperse, going on about their lives...
Except for one. There was one near the front, a younger man, who did not partake in the cheer, but seemed to be weeping bitterly. He began to dash at the stand with the hanging men, but was intercepted by a soldier. The soldier, who was much bigger, took him by both shoulders and spoke a few words to him. The young man responded by punching the soldier's armored chest, which did nothing at all. The soldier gave the young man a knee to the stomach and, with the help of a second soldier, dragged they young man into the buidling behind the stands.
And that was that.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 10th, 2005
"Ragnar is out of the city. The demons are taking care of him." Valos said, "Yet, Ragnar, is doing a lot of damage to the city and the camps..." He then paused for a moment, and turned his head, looking outside the opening of the tents, seeing fire raining down...
"But, yes. The imp has obtained some information; they have surrounded the entire town with 'plasma' turrets all around guarding the city. The technology is quite odd and is run by magic and all of the houses are the same. And also that member of the Blue Minotaur, has joined them. Perhaps, the whole clan may have joined them to, but we don't know. We may need more soldiers, we have already taken a bit of casualties, but shall we proceed with the attack?"
-----
Rink then arrives at Valos' tent. He looks and sees what he is doing, but says nothing...
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 10th, 2005
-"Actually, never mind. I'm sure I can find my own way."
Ein turned around, and walked off. He then entered the first building he saw that looked suspiciously like a tavern. He talked to the person in front.
-"May I please have a room for the night?"
The clerk responded:
-"Yes, of course. Here's your key."
Ein thanked the clerk and took the key. He then went upstairs, and entered the sixth door on his right. He looked around the room he was assinged. Quite tidy, with a bed in the middle, a small dresser in one of the corners. A window directed outside, through which other houses and a street below were seen. "Looks alright. This is actually better than the wet cold cave where I used to live." He moved the bed over a little bit, so he could have more space on the ground. Then he sat down on the floor, so that his head and back were resting on the side of the bed. He closed his eyes.
After about 30 minutes of trying to concentrate through the clamor heard from the streets, Ein finally succeeded. He completely relaxed his body, thinking of absolutely nothing. He slowly entered a trance...
He was now moving through his own mind. It was a lot like diving into a very deep pool, with the exception of the fact that he did not need to hold air in this place. However, as he got deeper, the pressure on his self increased. It was harder and harder to stay in trance.
Eventually he got to a place that looked like a lot of white dots in the middle of the blackness of his mind. These were his basic body controls, which he could do without entering a trance. He had to go deeper.
A while later, he encountered a number of different sections of his mind. First, advanced body controls with which he could slow his heart down, make himself generate more heat, be unable to feel pain, etc... Then came his memories. Things he did in the last minute, last hour, last day, last week, and eventually he was before his own entire life. "No... still not there. I must go even deeper." After passing his full memories, he entered a field of blackness. The pressure on his ego was now immense, even a slight distruption can make him exit his trance, or in the worst case, go into a deep coma.
Then... he finally reached it. A large, gray throbbing spot right at the bottom of his subconciousness. "Here we go. The Depth of my mind." He reached out for the gray... no... someone opened the door of his temporary room. He felt himself leaving his trance. He concentrated as hard as he could, using all his willpower to do so. He reached out... just a little closer... and touched it.
---
Outside, in the real world, a janitor was entering his room, since apparently there was something wrong with the bed. He saw Ein on the floor, with his teeth clenched and his eyes closed, suddenly collapse from his position.
--- --- ---
-"God damn it... How long does it take to finish a damned fight?!"
Gerard pulled out his dagger, which suddenly started glowing with red light //this is not his magic, the dagger itself is magic\\, and rushed towards Marshal, trying to lunge his dagger into his neck. This dagger would paralyze anyone it touched (except wielder) for at least ten seconds. The poison already present on the dagger should be kept in mind, too.
-"Hyaaaaaah!!!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 10th, 2005
"What the--" Marshal yelled, as Gerard ran at him. "What do you think you are doing!?" He yelled, he then backpeddled as Gerard thrusted his dagger at him, he then fired his gun point blank at Gerard.
//Remember, that I allready attacked Aura. Don't forget again Trent.\\
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 10th, 2005
The bullet got Gerard in the right part of his chest. It made a fairly large hole, and blood started gushing out. Gerard fell over.
-"Oof!"
He felt his conciousness fleeting, and lobbed his dagger at Marshal using his last strength.
//wang, my 2nd character dies in his first 10 posts <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sleep.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sleep.gif' /> \\
Posted by: Haraldur on Thursday November 10th, 2005
//The solution for that, Ein, is to produce superhuman characters.//
Bernard said, "OK, well, good morning, comrade. I am going outside to help in the defenses, so please excuse me."
Goujon left. He walked up the street, and levitated up and then stepped onto the wall.
"Good morning, Nikola."
"Good morning, Bernard. I hear you had a visitor?"
"Oh, yes. He seems to be an outsider, so I was extra polite to him."
"Hehe, he is probably some sort of spy. No matter, let them see what they can see. Why should we care if they get worried?"
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur, having recovered control of his body's flight, easily dodges the laser shots. "So, we have the dream team back, brilliant. Why bon't you two actually go and fight some bad guys, I mean, that is the point, right? Oh, wait, I remember, you are fascists now."
Haraldur spotted the airships, and thought: OK, I have done some attacking, but defence of my comrades must come first. He dropped down right in the path of the airships: they would have to get past him before reaching Laus.
Nikola, we have airships coming towards you. Set your attacks to have affinity for floating objects large than a dinghy. Also set it to attract to the magic used, you know the sort I mean.
//The one remaining tower is unshielded, right?//
Haraldur spotted the one remaining tower, and there seemed to be someone in a high ranking uniform there. Hmmm...
Extending in his right hand a massive pair of bolas, with the balls made of iron and the size of wrecking balls. He spun them around him, and himself around them, and then made himself be still in relation to the ground, and left go. The massive bolas hit the tower on the bit which was the super strong chain, causing the ends with the metal balls to wrap around very fast, until both hit the same side of the tower, blowing out a whole level, causing the tower, with Vincent on it, to to fall, down onto an airship, along with the bolas, which killed a few mages, and made a hole in the deck, but caused no structural damage.
Around Haraldur, wind speed started to increase. Then, he started to spin himself, as a tornado surrounded him, but it was a tornado in reverse, it squashed things on the ground, and threw things in the air to the ground. Below him, the city walls began to collapse. He started to move towards the airships as the wind speed increased.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar smiled to himself. Intelligence had been right, there had been a small uprising, and it has been put down.
Anyway, time to launch an attack of his own. Draven will not mind if he does not know, besides, it will be worth it just for mapping of the area. Peasants, even trained ones, are scum afterall.
He and his entourage flew back towards home, and preparation.
____________________________________________________________________
Tesla received Haraldur's message, and relayed it to his comrades. Then, including Bernard, they fired off yet more charged arcs.
20,000 shots from Laus, all hitting the airships due to attration. Despite the fact the first ones, by Tesla, destroyed utterly unshielded towers, most are not as powerful. They should be considered of equivalent destructive power as a grenade, so what effect 20,000/3 (approx.) would have on a heavily shielded airship will be an interesting thing to see how strong those things are.
____________________________________________________________________
//Where is Kahn?//
The serpent was going very fast now, and in the distance a lone mountain appeared on the horizon, surrounded on all sides by flood plain.
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday November 10th, 2005
Zeros' started to become more enraged, but, he stopped himself and calmed down. The more rage he had, the easier his attacks were to read, and the sloppier he would fight. It wouldn't do him good to become sloppy at this point.
He had watched Haraldur disentergrate the roof, twisting around matter and bending it to his will. He had watched the BIG GUN and the 20,000 lights connect. He had watched it all. He watched Haraldur destroy the city, and kill the innocents, however few that lived there.
His hair gradually settled back on it's original color, as did his wings and eyes. (Note: Normal form. Silver hair, green eyes and black, feathered angel wings.)
Zeros' sighed, and ghosted to the side, appearing right infront of Haraldur. With a simple wave of his hand, the tornado dispersed, and Zeros' unsheathed his sword, it transforming into it's Holy/God form.
His blade glowed with a faint aura, and swung at Haraldur. He used his other hand to shove a ki blast directly infront of Haraldur.
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 10th, 2005
//I try not to go above the line. A god character wouldn't be as fun to have as a normal human character (everything is easy if you're a god)\\
Ein was still unconcious, but he was coming to.
Posted by: Kahn on Thursday November 10th, 2005
//Sorry! Things came up.//
Hyperion looked at the lone mountain intrigued. This was the furthest he had travelled in his life, in fact he had never left his island home before his master died. He wished he was more amused by his surroundings, but came to the conclusion that more important matters were at hand.
"That mountain, is that our destination?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 10th, 2005
Marshal was shocked. He has never killed a person before. Sure a monster that he has summond has taken a life, yet he himself has never personally killed a person. It wasn't much different, yet it felt different. He staired at the dead body, he picked up the magic dagger. "I'll hold onto this for now..." He then looked at Aura, to see the outcome of his attack...
------
Duilin, sees that Zeros' is to close to Haraldur to make a safe attack. So he begins to charge his power, and forms two energy orbs....
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 10th, 2005
//Dudeman, before dying Gerard lobbed his dagger at marshal - if you don't know what "lobbed" is, it means "thrown", so... yeah.\\
Posted by: Trent on Thursday November 10th, 2005
"Vehicle... How much do you weigh?"
"Zion... Carrying him will slow us all down."
"But we'll still get there."
--- --- ---
Xenai eavesdropped. Naughty naughty. Mkay... Passing through... but to where? D'oh! I forgot that part...
--- --- ---
"Gah!" She whipped out her scimitars, trying to shield herself. Many bullets bounced off of them, but many others hit. Some of them brushed by, some of them connected. No vital organs were endangered though. She would land on the ground with bullets in her left ankle, right thigh, left upper arm, and right forearm. Many more scrapes would be found. She flared her aura to push the bullets out, and pulled a bullet out of her hair. Gah! He ruined my hair... "Crap..." She eminated with a soft light... She had to stop attacking so that she could take care of those wounds. An eyebrow was raised at what happened next, and then her eyes widened. Dummy... Thanks for trying, though.
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 11th, 2005
Ein finally woke up. He stood up, dusted himself off... His head hurt like someone just crammed a rock inside it. He then headed towards the door... and then it happened.
"Hello, Ein."
-"Huh? Who said that?"
"I did."
-"Who are you? Where are you? Show yourself!"
"That would be quite hard. I am but a shadow in your mind. Did your parents ever tell you that your father was a member of a cult?"
-"What? What cult? My parents would never do such a thing."
"Well, they did. However, the cult was later hunted down and destroyed. Seeing that, your father allowed me to posess him."
-"Why would he do such a thing?"
"Because, Ein, I am the subject of their worship. From this point on I will reside in your mind until I find a more suitable host."
-"WHAT?!" The idea of a voice inside his head did not comfort Ein at all.
-"Well, at least tell me who you are!"
The voice was gone now. Ein shook his head, as if trying to get it out of himself. After a few minutes of trying, he realized that it's not gonna do much to him, so he headed for the vestibule. After getting there, he thanked the clerk and gave him back his keys.
-"Oh yes, and by the way -- a comrade of mine found you unconcious in your room. Were you OK?"
-"Yeah. I was just taking a nap."
//by the way... the fact that Gerard died does not mean he's out of the story <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /> Stay tuned...\\
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday November 11th, 2005
//The concept of an "employee" does not exist in Laus.//
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 11th, 2005
//sorry about that, i'll edit it//
Ein exited the tavern and headed for city walls.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 11th, 2005
//I know what lobbed means. I guess I missed that part. Say, Marshal caught the dagger.\\
Marshal staired at Aura. He raised his weapon and aimed it again. However he hesitated to shoot again. He didn't feal good about killing people. He started to shake, he clenched his teeth, and fired a single shot again. "Gah!"
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 11th, 2005
"Hmmm, probably around 200 pounds with this armor on... Why? Oh, yeah. The whole wings and flying thing."
Ven stumbled a bit, and sat down on a nearby log.
"Erh... used up... a little too much energy, I guess..."
His head hung heavily, and his arms drooped under his cloak. Finally he leaned over, his back resting on a perpendicular log, and he fell unconscious, completely worn out...
(Actually, I'd like to give Ven and Mavas a little break, since so much else is going on. If you'd like to pull out Zion and Tsu for a while too, this would be a good point to have them make a camp and rest or something. But if you don't, I can wake Ven back up next post.)
----
The Draven hologram responded to Valos.
"Hmmm, interesting... Yes, I believe the time to attack has come. There will be some units from Alterña, who I just reached an alliance agreement with, attacking from the other side. Raze the walls, kill all who resist, etc. The Alterñians insist that everyone is killed, but I really do not care, so it's your call. As for the city itself, I have other port towns, so destroy as much as you want... Just make it clear to Ragnar that I will remove any trash he attempts to build on my land..."
Draven's image faded...
(Note when you have Valos make his move that the camps are equipped with more than just plain soldiers-- use your imagination!)
----
The orb that Draven gave to Salazar, which is now in the possession of one of his men, echoed with Draven's voice:
"If you have been able to prepare this quickly, you are now authorized to attack Laus."
----
The glow of the orb dimmed in his hand and Draven pocketed it, turning towards the window. The clouds were level with the floating fortress and seemed close enough to touch.
He could barely resist the urge to be in the front line personally, but he couldn't oversee every little operation... Still, perhaps a visit would be necessary sometime soon. It is Ragnar, after all...
----
Vincent swore again as the tower began vibrating immensely. He was going down...
As the tower crumbled, Vincent crouched and placed his right palm on the stone foor below him. A brilliant blue circle of light appeared around him, some three feet in diameter, enough to encircle the spot he was standing on. The stones within this circle flashed and turned a gray color, now smooth, uniform, and metallic. This disc fell slower than the rest of the collapsing tower, and soon the general was above the falling rubble. Three metallic blades, about two feet long each, then jut out of the metallic disc he was standing on. These blades began to rotate around the edge of the disc rapidly like a helicopter. Vincent placed his hands behind his back as the disc he was standing on gently descended downward...
The crumbling tower fell on one of the airships as another wave of attacks from Laus slammed into it in multiple locations... It began smoking immensely and began to slowly fall into the burning city. The crash was not spectacular, as the airship had barely gotten off of the ground in the first place, but it skid along the ground, smashing through several buildings before coming to a halt and beginning to burn itself. Soldiers began to leap from the deck.
The other two airships turned their cannons towards the incoming blasts, destroying a percentage of the attack. Another percentage was reflected by the mages on board, but still some of the energy made its way to the airship hulls and decks, a series of small explosions ripping across each. When it was over, both were still flying, although smoking lightly in several locations...
These two ships began to move straight up, to make way for wave 2...
Three more large airships became visible as they rose out of the mammoth trap doors, one from each...
Atop the floating disc, Vincent circled the three warriors locked in combat, his hair and coat flaps blowing to the side. He was finished observing. Of course this next stunt would be very dangerous, but certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity. For the learning experience, at the very least... The surrounding flames reflected brightly in his glasses. He leapt from his strange flying device and landed on top of a large pile of rubble, shouting so that he could be heard over the commotion and Zeros' attack:
"Ragnar! First degree criminal, public enemy number one, you are hereby under arrest by order of the Crimson Empire. You are to cease and desist all action and surrender immediately."
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 11th, 2005
//apparently i really don't know anything about DAL at all, so i'm gonna turn passive again... i really have to stop making an idiot out of myself. I'll somehow try to kill off ein, and perhaps make a new character next chapter, with godlike powers as everyone else.\\
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 11th, 2005
"Yes Lord Draven!" Valos smirked. "Let's kick some ass!" He turned around. He looked at Rink. "You herd him, Imp. Move! We are going to attack!"
He then dashed out of his tent, and swung out his sword and spun it around (kinda like how Cloud Strife does) He then, shouts to one solider. "Ring the bell! We're going in!"
He then dashes into the main barracks. "Alright, maggots! Into Laus!"
The soldiers then gave a war cry followed with "LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!". Basic soldiers armed with swords, battle-axes, maces and war hammers. There were soldiers in red armour, with small horns on their helmets, armed with flamethrowers. Mages in crimson robes began to charge their magic energy. Valos' elite guard began to load up their shotguns. There were even ninjas, armed with a katana, ninja stars, smoke bombs and a grappling hook. Wyvern riders began to fly off into the sky. Soliders armed with bolt guns (see Maxwell, chapter 5), began to charge off with the rest of the soldiers. Most eye raising of all, ogres, with pieces of armour on, and huge swords, or war hammers, even dashed off with the rest.
The signal was given to base camp one, to advance towards the back of Laus...
Valos, was at the front lines of the attack at base camp 2, going to the front. He was backed up by the mages, who began to charge energy shields, to protect the forces running in.
------
Rink, just standed in were he was, trying not to get trampled by the soliders. "May the gods be with us, ALL of us..."
//Trent, you can have Aura run off, and get her attack group if you want to. Since this battle is going nowhere. \\
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 12th, 2005
Allen walked out of the tent he was in, hearing the rallying war cry of Valos. He watched the troops move about, and sighed. He wasn't near as powerful as anyone else, and he didn't try to delude himself into thinking he was. He knew his limits.
His coat shifted briefly in the breeze, as the wyvern riders took to the skies. Dust filled the air as they flapped their magnificent wings. He didn't think this would end well... Not at all.
He looked around, observing what was happening, and saw Marshal attacking the newest Lt., Aura. He narrowed his eyes at Marshal, his blue eyes now hardened like chips of ice.
His hand snapped up, and, with speed befiting a much younger man, brought his hand down to the ground. A brilliant blue cricle of light appeared beneath him, humming with an unseen power.
The light expanded outwards, towards Aura and Marshal, as a barrier made of steel rose infront of Aura, intercepting the bullet fired from Marshal's gun.
He raised his hand from the ground, and stepped forwards, adressing Marshal.
"Well, well... What do we have here? A fool turned to the Aspyes. How disgusting," he said disgustedly.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 12th, 2005
//Dude Man, please inform me when Valos and his men reach the area of cracked and sharp ground.//
The tornado automatically started up again, squashing the remainder of the buildings. Zeros''s attacks went through Haraldur with absolutely no effect.
Hearing Vincent, he turned, shouting, "Piss off, you inbred lackey, with no ability to lead by yourself! If you were a true leader, you would have rebelled years ago. Get out of my sight."
He then saw that there were now five airships, and decided that it was now time to defend.
He started to fly back towards Laus. As he did so, he passed over the mobilised troops. He passed over a company of soldiers and one of mages. Warps appeared over them, ripping them to pieces, and sending blood and gore flying over the rest of the troops.
He flew over the cracked land, and was now standing on the air in front of Laus. Oh, well, plan B is always an option... again.
In the air above the cracked land, he produced a warp in space, to rip up flying objects.
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet nodded. "Yes, that is our destination. We will be there soon."
They carried on flying, it was now just a few kilometres away.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar received a message from his deputy relaying Draven's message. OK. He sent a message to his generals at the barracks.
____________________________________________________________________
At Salazar's homeland, a small fleet of ships left, carrying a poorly armed peasant and prisoner army. Above them flew elite mage troops. They started travelling towards Laus.
____________________________________________________________________
Tesla strengthene the shield in preparation as he saw Haraldur approach. Good, the pressure was near the limit now.
Another 20,000 shots were sent, and then the remainder of the population, including children (women were already involved, equality etc.) came up, and started to send rocks flying towards the camps.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 12th, 2005
//changed my mind <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />\\
Ein was on top of the wall again. He watched the horrific army approach Laus, and then he looked over at Tesla and citizens of the city, all trying to fend them off.
-"This is the point in time where I did something drastic."
He etched a circle with four lines coming off it's centre in the wall. He then added small marks to the lines, making them look somewhat like antennae. Then he stabbed the middle of the diagram with one of his bolts, making it get stuck in there. Suddenly, the lines lit up, eminating the area around Ein in a soft golden light. The bolt was starting to change colours, too. It went from silvery-white to somewhat rusted, and then started to turn gold, very very slowly.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 12th, 2005
//Okay, but you better not kill all the soldiers, because that would really suck. \\
Valos, signalled a few of the mages to take flight, he knew that the ground was strange and he didn't trust it. Him and about 25 mages jumped into the air, and blasted an aura around them, and flue off, they were in the air, flying next to the wyverns, the troops then approached the damaged ground...
------
"He's getting away!" Duilin shouted, he then flue off after Haraldur, he tossed the energy orbs that were now about 3 feet in diameter. The orbs locked on to Haraldur like heat seekers...
------
"Hah, you are the one who is disgusting. Aiding a force bent on world domination. We Aspyes plan to bring peace. Using any means necessary!"
Marshal's amulet then glowed, and then a blue spectre blasted out and formed into a mud man, that began to slosh its way towards Allen.
-------
"God, he really had to much rest for the past five years." Rink said as he saw Duilin chase after Haraldur. Rink then flue up towards the commotion. He saw Vincent, on his flying machine. "Now I've seen everything!" He then saw Haraldur attacking the ships. "We’ve got to protect those ships!" He then, picked up a loose brick on one the damaged towers. "Hey Haraldur, catch!" he then tossed the brick, at Haraldur...
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 12th, 2005
The bolt was now completely gold, and was somewhat eminating a soft gold light around it as well. Ein ripped the bolt out of the wall, put it in his crossbow, and fired upon the enemy army...
A bright yellowish-white flash occured as soon as the bolt hit the ground before one of the soliders. A huge explosion followed, sending chunks of soliders over others, and spraying them in blood. The explosion took out at least 100 people.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday November 12th, 2005
"Alright. Tsu, help me set up camp."
"Okay."
--- --- ---
He's just standin' there, trying to get his land legs after sleeping so deeply.
--- --- ---
Aura starts to dodge, but it seems as if she doesn't need to. She looks to the guy who came to his aid. "Hi there." o_o; Uh, she salutes just in case.
// Did I mess up anywhere?
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 12th, 2005
Allen smirked at Marshal, and greeted Aura.
"Hello there, Lieutenant. No need to salute to me. I'm but a mere researcher. I should be the one saluting you," he said. He turned towards Marshal, he eyes turned back to ice. "You need to go help the rest of the Empire. I'll take care of this pest," he said, indicating Marshal and his creation.
Allen turned, and looked at the mud man boredly.
"Do you really think something as simple as that can hurt me?" he asked mockingly. He demonstrated his point by putting his hand to the ground. Out infront of the mud man, a pit 10 or so feet deep formed, suddenly out of nowhere.
He reached to his side, where a dagger sat in it's sheath. He unsheathed the dagger, twirling it around in his hands. There was nothing special about the dagger, except some small runes carved into it's ebony handle. He held up his thumb, and made a small slit with the knife, causing a small cut to appear. Blood slowly leaked from the cut, and dripped onto the ground. Allen took a cloth out of one of his inside pockets, and wiped off the dagger clean, and sheathed the dagger.
He cracked his knuckles, and put his left hand on the groud. A glowing blue circle appeared, as it reacted with the blood. Suddenly, a rush of water was heard as the pit infront of the mudman rapidly filled with crystal clear water.
Since the mudman was made of sand, and water, the water in the pool would disolve the mudman into nothing more, but mud.
---
Zeros' sighed as his attacks missed. He hadn't expected them to hit, actually. The ONLY way to beat Haraldur was to drag down his mana stores, and exhaust him, which was almost impossible.
He looked at the attacks coming, and then to the rip Haraldur had formed. He looked between the two, deciding to fix or counter the rip.
He ghosted from his position, to where the rip was (Took him serveral seconds, too). He prevented himself from being sucked in, by forcing is aura outwards, and in an opposite direction of the rip.
//As for directions, since they're sucking something into them, they have to go some direction.\\
Zeros' waved his hands, and muttered a few wards. Another rip appeared, directly next to the one already there. Zeros' made it go in the opposite direction of Haraldur's rip. This, in term, caused the rips to work against each other, meaning the airships could flyby without worrying about being sucked into the hole.
After a few moments, though, the rips eventually countered each other, causing both of them to disappear, with a not quite so quiet RIP.
Zeros', in turn, smirked in Haraldur's general direction.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 12th, 2005
//Heh, 123 pages. One two three....\\
Marshal rubbed his chin. "Smooth move..." He mumbled.
His amulet glowed once more, this time the spectre formed into an ogre. It growled and then swung its club in a downward motion, onto Allen...
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Allen dodged to the side, barely missing getting squashed by the club. He readjusted his glasses, and looked at the ogre. It was big, and strong, but also bulky. Allen was small, and lean, but fast, nowhere near Duilin or Zeros' levels, but he was faster then normal.
He dodged again, as the ogre's club came down at him again, but the club brushed his arm. He winced, and tumbled to the side. He stood, and shook his head of the cobwebs. Ogre's also had very tough hide. The softest parts of their body were their insides, or... They're eyes!
Allen's glasses glinted, and his eyes started to shine. He let out a brief laugh. He looked at his the blood smeared on his thumb, and suddenly got a plan.
He dodged once more, and slammed his left hand into the ground — the hand that he had cut — and a alchemic circle appeared beheath him. Unlike the others, this one was green, and had a picture of a tree depicted on it. The circle started to spin rapidly, glowing brighter and brighter with each movement, then, it suddenly stopped.
The effects were felt immediately, though, as giant tree roots freed themselves from the ground, and moved to entangle the ogre (It says "moved to entangle" which means, the ogre can smash them or something). They also had thorns on them, which would probably do nothing more then annoy the beast.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Duilin's attack was ripped apart by the warps in space.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur was gone by the time the brick got to where he had been.
____________________________________________________________________
//Rips do not have direction, in the sense you mean. They do not suck anything, either, unless they link to empty space, in which case it is irrelevant to the rip itself. Also, these are warps, not portals to empty space, so there was no sucking anyway.//
The rip was not visible temporarily, but reappeared, and increased in size as Zeros' interference has damaged the fabric of reality even more. It increased in size so much that Zeros' was in danger of being ripped into pieces.
Haraldur grinned at Zeros''s incompetance. He chucked two more warps. One was added to the previous one, increasing its size again, and the other was a little behind it.
He called to Tesla, behind him, "Do it now, we need to go."
Tesla nodded, and released the concentration on his mind.
____________________________________________________________________
Below the ground, the force holding back the highly pressurised magma disappeared. The magma surged upwards and Northwards.
____________________________________________________________________
From the cracked ground lava spewed upwards at a magnificent rate. It arced upwards, covering everything from the frontline to completely shrouding Redvik in red hot melted rock.
//Please note that this has been effectively "charging" for about 10 or 20 posts. We are talking about a supersupersupervolcano. Not something you can block or stop.//
The common soldiers were wiped out, as they had no means of defending themseves. //Dude Man, you decide what happens to the mages.//
The two damaged airships were burned and smashed. The other three were significantly charred (they get hit by tonnes and tonnes of red hot lava, so...) and very damaged.
There was a large cracking sound as the Laus peninsula seperated from the continent, and started moving away.
____________________________________________________________________
In Laus, the large complex of pipes and cylinders started to make a chugging sound, and the scenery started moving. The people cheered as they saw themselves moving south and east from their former oppressors.
They then fired yet another round of 20,000 charged arcs.
Haraldur sat down behind the crowd, as the engines fed off his energy. Tesla stood over him.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar and his army are half way to where Laus used to be.
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet arrives at the mountain, and waits for Hyperion to get off.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Ein smiled at the destruction caused by the magma.
-"Seems that the entire city of Laus looks like magic and technology combined. I'm supposing that this is what you and Haraldur do here?" //speaking to Tesla\\
--- --- ---
Gerard's body was now gone, and there were drag marks on where he lay.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 13th, 2005
"Partly," said Tesla.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//Um, I'm not sure what these 'arcs' are.\\
The rest of the mages were able to save a few of the soldiers. Most of the stronger ones were saved. They then began to fly forward, dodging any attacks tossed at them...
Valos watched as nearly his entire army just died, like that. "Shit!"
The mages planted a few of the soldiers down on land floating away. They then charged into the town...
Valos turned his head, and saw the peninsula separate from the land. He clenched his fist; he then pointed his sword toward the town of Laus. "KILL THEM ALL!!"
The mages then all began to charge large orbs of dark magic energy; they then shot the dark shade blasts at the town.
Valos' began to charge his sword with magic; a dark purple aura began to highlight the blade. A dark eerie glow began to surround Valos, as he was charging his attack. Two mages then flue in front of Valos to created a large shield around them, and their general...
-----
The ogre swung its club smashing away at the roots. Marshal laughed. He then pointed towards Allen, the ogre then dived at him swinging its club downwards...
-----
"Rink!" Duilin said, seeing his small impish friend.
"What's going on?" Rink asked
"Haraldur keeps making rips, and Zeros' is trying to fix them." Duilin replied
"Well, it looks like the attack is going down the drain. Valos can't fight the entire army by himself. Those mages may die soon." Rink said, pointing towards the battle going on to the south. "Looks like Laus is floating away, because of Haraldur playing god again..."
"I hate it when he does that..." Duilin sighed. "Partly because it's such a powerful skill and partly because he does it so damned much!"
"Valos' combat plan seemed to have failed. Haraldur always seems to be one step ahead of us..." He then paused and crossed his arms. "Well, maybe we should just go off and fight. Haraldur's god playing, rebellion should stop." Rink suggested, as he uncrossed his arms and cracks his knuckles.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//The "arcs" are discharges from the shield which attacked Redvik earlier. Equivalent to a grenade.//
The soldiers could not enter the town, as they were blocked by the covering shield. They were soon killed by the defenders on the walls.
The atmosphere was now filled both with steam and poisonous sulphorous gas (killing many) as the magma touched the water. The island that was once a peninsula accelerated and left a high wake, sending tsunamis accross the land, washing away many of the mages and filling the atmosphere with more steam and sulphorous gas.
Arcs were fired towards the dark shade blasts, making them shatter and scatter onto the sea. Even more went towards the multitude of mages (although accuracy is impossible, considering that the air is filled with steam).
Haraldur was still, conscious, but only just, as the engines accelerated further. He sent a message to Marshall: Come back to Laus and defend, and make sure not to breath any of the sulphorous gas that fills the steamy areas. He then fel unconscious, resting his head on his rolled up cloak.
Tesla saw two mages protect a man who was flying towards Laus, and fired two shots from his plasma gun at his shielded form.
The island was now going at several hundred metres per second, protected by the shield, breaking both the sound barriers in air and water, sending sonic booms and the equivalent in tsunamis behind them. The red and red and black flags flew straight in the wind.
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Zeros' growled. He ghosted away from the rifts, and reappeared at a safe distance.
"**** this. So, Haraldur wants to play god, so let's play god," he spat. He mearly held out his right palm, and it started to glow with an arcane brilliance. Soon, a dome of magic appeared around all the rifts. He concentrated, and the rifts started to get smaller, and smaller, eventually growing so small, they disappeared. He countered magical rifts, with pure magic.
He scanned the area, and he felt Haraldur go unconcious. Perfect. The gasses didn't both him at all. He'd breathed in worse. His sword came from it's sheath in seconds, and soon, he was flapping his two dark angel wings, accelerating at high speeds. This, also, caused the gasses to blow away harmlessly from Redvik. (Harmlessly away from Redvik, not the rest of the world.)
"Haraldur's the hypocrite. He said humans should populate the world, and use it's resources. Look what he's doing now! He's spreading posionous gasses all over the world! Just because his people can survive all the gasses because of him, what about the others?" he questioned to himself. He soon saw the island of Laus coming into view. He didn't bother with fancy attacks. He clenched his left hand into a fist, and made his body cool as ice.
He threw a corkscrew punch, and a condensed tornado flew towards Laus at amazing speeds. Because of all the heat in the air from the magma, he made his body cold. When he threw the punch in a corkscrew motion, it caused them to mix, forming a tornado that fed off of power. The more power that was used against the tornado, the stronger it would grow.
---
Allen dodged the club again, bringing his hand briefly across the ground as he rolled. The ground glowed very briefly, with a very light blue with a tint of green, confirming alchemy. It happened in a 10 foot radius to the sides, and backwards.
He continued his roll, and sprung to his feet after a few moments. He adjusted his glasses, and smirked, waiting for the ogre to step on the part of the ground affected by his alchemy.
The ground, was affected by a alchemic transmutation. The soil was very loose, so, the heavy weight of the ogre would cause it to collapse in on itself, causing it to fall into the 50 feet of pit, where, spikes made of roots were waiting for him.
Posted by: Kahn on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Hyperion got off the serpent. He looked back in the direction they came, thinking he probably made the right decision.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//Zeros', you do know that a huge amount of magma has just landed right on top of Redvik? And that, before Zeros''s actions, the gas was just staying there due to a lack of wind? Harmlessly away from Redvik, and towards the rest of the world. Well done.//
The tornado was not travelling as fast as the island, and was blown backwards by the winds from the sonic boom, causing it to go back towards the mainland.
Meanwhile, Haraldur had his first nap since being reborn.
____________________________________________________________________
The prophet jumped back off the serpent, which prompty turned back into a staff, which the Prophet used to help himself lurch towards a bare patch of the wall of the mountain. He muttered something, and a door opened.
"Follow, my young serf."
He entered the door, and started walking down a long corridor.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//so this means that Laus is no longer a peninsula right?\\
D. Ein looked at the tornado slowing down.
-"Heh... let me help that reach its target."
He etched a small arrow pointing to the tornado and drew a circle at it's base, with a lot of lines going off it, all different size and length. He chanted a short incantation, after which he traditionally stabbed the circle with one of his bolts. The circle lit up, then emitted a flash that covered the entire back wall of Laus. Then the tornado made a sharp V-shaped turn and headed back to Zeros'.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//Yes, Laus is now a fully mobile island.//
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//Yes, I said harmlessly away from Redvik. He knows what he did, also. It would of happened anyways.\\
Zeros' looked at his own attack turned back on him, and sighed. His sword, transformed to it's god form, was brought up, and he deflected the tornado upwards, blowing away harmlessly.
Zeros' suddenly smirked, as he saw a perfect chance to amend a mistake. He charged up a blast in his free hand, and threw it directly into his tornado. The tornado ate the blast, and gradually grew bigger, the winds growing stronger, and stronger with every moment. Soon, a roaring tornado was high in the sky, almost two miles wide, with speeds up to Mach 5.
This, in term, caused the gas that was blowing away from Redvik to suddenly slow, stopping before it hit a town. It gradually stopped, and started to slowy come back towards Redvik, and eventually become sucked up in the tornado.
Soon after that, the tornado continued, and Zeros' held out his palm again. A barrier appeared around the lenght of the tornado, and soon, it started to gradually shrink the roaring twister.
After a few minutes, the tornado was only a few yards wide, but, still very powerful. Zeros' was starting to sweat with the strain of transporting parts of the gas and energy of the tornado away from Gaia, but, soon enough, the barrier and the tornado disappeared, taking the gas away with it.
To where Zeros' transported it, we shall never know.
Zeros' calmed and turned his head towards the floating island of Laus. He dropped from the sky, dodging the giant tsunami's, and reached sea level with Laus. His sword shifted, and transformed into it's demonic form.
The sword glowed black briefly, before a sonic boom resonated throughout the air, and five, deadly, but thin, crescent blades of ki were travelling towards Laus, at almost Mach 3. The waves litterly parted for the blades, as they gave off a dark aura, and approached Laus rapidly.
"This isn't war anymore, Haraldur," he whispered as waves washed over him. "This is now a sandbox..."
// Since these are crescent blades, and thin, wind won't affect them that much. Magic also wouldn't do much good, as, magic and ki are two entirely different things. The blades won't do much area damage, but, they were deadly. Anything they touched, basically died. \\
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 13th, 2005
The blades bounce off the shield and fly harmlessly upwards, out of the atmosphere and travel through empty space, until, after a few billion years, they are sucked into a black hole.
//As mentioned when the shield was put up, any attack on it is equivalent to an attack on Tesla (as are all shields put up by the Aspyes duo, as demonstrated when an attack on the settlement made Haraldur be jerked involuntarily to be in the way of the attack), so he has to deal with it, think of it as defending someone from a gun shot by jumping in front of them like a bodyguard.//
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 13th, 2005
The plasma blasts hit the shield, the mages were fine, and the shield began to spark, the mages simply used more of there magic to fix the shield. They both used their free hands to guzzle down ethers. Their magic ability wasn't as strong as our heroes, so they were getting a little tired. The three of them continued flying towards the island as the shield protected them. Valos began to sweat mostly because he was supporting mostly the entire flight as well as charging up a dark spell.
"Sir...I'm not sure if your attack, will do much. That winged guy's attack didn't seem to do anything." One of the mages said
"Shut up! Do you get paid to be smart?" Valos barked back.
"Well, being a mage isn't an easy task, sir..."
"Shut the hell up!" Valos growled.
His sword began to shake, as he began to charge more power into it...
-----------
"Let's go!" Duilin said to Rink.
The Imp, then grabbed onto Duilin's shoulder as he blasted off toward Laus, they flue near by were Zeros' was. They stopped.
"What's happening, Laus seems to be zooming off." Duilin asked. He saw Valos chasseing after the island. "Rink, I'm going to ahead, I'll see if I can help Valos with his spell."
"Well...fine. Good luck..." Rink sighed.
Duilin then blasted off to catch up with Valos...
Rink then sniffed the air. "What the crap. I smell gas..."
-------------
'That easier said then done...' Marshal thought to himself, as he got Haraldur's message.
He saw the ogre distracted his opponent, so he released the monster from his control. (So, anyone can control it now). He then blasted a blue spectre that formed into a wyvern. He hopped onto it, and flue off toward Laus, keeping a fair distance away from Zeros', Rink and Duilin. He reloaded his gun, and strapped it over his shoulder.
The ogre, then stepped into the soft ground, and the pit was revealed, it dropped its club and grabbed onto the edge, and tried to crawl back up...
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Ein watched as the blades reflected off Tesla's shield.
-"I see..."
He then leaned on the wall, watching the water below.
-"Heh... I'm gonna send the mainlanders a little present."
He scratched two squiggly lines into one of the wall's bricks, and then put a dash across it, and a line at the top of the prementioned dash. Suddenly, a lightning shot out of the carving, and arc'd around hitting the water. Electricity started arcing all over the place, the waves and such, finally raising a good 40 meter tall water mound.
-"SPECIAL DELIVERY!"
He made a somewhat waving expression with his right arm, and then pointed to the mainland. The water mound started moving, acquiering (sp) wave properties as it did, gradually turning into a gigantic tsunami.
--- --- ---
Gerard slowly opened his eyes, seeing a smiling face over him.
-"Wha...? i'm supposed to be dead..."
The man over him chuckled and replied:
-"Heh, and you would be, if not for me. I took care of that bullet hole you had in your chest, and got my assistant over there to cast a small spell on you." The man pointed to a lady dressed in mage robes.
-"I see... wha? what are you doing?"
The man injected Gerard with something. Gerard lost feeling in his limbs, and eventually everything darkened, then went black...
Posted by: Trent on Sunday November 13th, 2005
Aura simply watched the man in amazement. Is this guy one of those alchemists? Whatever, I need to stop dawdling! She moved to attack, but was suddenly stopped by the sound of an eruption.
"...oh shit..."
--- --- ---
Xenai hears the noise. "What the ****?!" He dashes to the window and looks, eyes widening.
//Are Zion, Tsu, Xenai, or Aura in danger?
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 13th, 2005
(This is what I get for missing a day... Heh...)
Draven lifted a finger and the three officers he was conversing with immediately shut up.
"Someone is playing with fire..."
He strode to the window and gazed to the south once more. That one he felt. Definitely...
----
Vincent took a seat in the airship control room. He was sweating heavily. He removed his glasses and wiped his brow before replacing them. Things finally looked stable. What occurred happened so quickly, and the images flooded his mind as he closed his eyes...
Vincent thought it amusing that Ragnar retreated so suddenly. Amusing, yes, but curious...
After Ragnar left, Vincent boarded one of the airships and assumed command, preparing to pursue his target. Another wave of attacks from Laus came, but these were easily defended by circling the ships close to the fortress and using the combined fortress and airship cannons and shields.
Then it came.
An earth-trembling blast and a wall of black smoke and molten lava. Two of the ships were lost in the rain of fire, and the other three damaged. All efforts were put into defending the fortress, and every single ounce of magical strength was put into the barriers. It was a horrifying twenty minutes as the relentless flow of magma surrounded the fortress. Many mages simply collapsed from exhaustion. Many cannon and shield generator cores exploded from overstress... The lava seeped closer and closer... but Vincent would not allow the airships to retreat, guaranteeing their safety while sacrificing the fortress...
When it was over, all three airships and the fortress were on fire in spots... The city was gone. A wall of smoking rock surrounded the fortress, half as high as the fortress itself...
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 13th, 2005
//Redvik is still there, after all that punishment?\\
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday November 14th, 2005
Allen looked down at the ogre in disgust. He kicked it's club away from it's reach, while hurting his foot in the process, and adjusted his glasses, and looked down on the poor creature, a sneer coming to his face.
// While it wasn't mentioned in his bio, Allen is a very bitter man. All of the research and war slowly turned bitter man. He never liked Retan, actually, he just worked for him. He really didn't have a choice, as, all his family was pro-Dark Empire. But, while he hated Retan, he had liked Draven. So, when he heard Draven remade the Empire, he had joined him. Also, Allen has one of the sphere's that Draven could use to talk to him. It was located in an inner right pocket in his coat. \\
"So. This is what people do now. The simply abandon others, using them mearly as tools," he sneered, looking at the ogre. In turn, the creature seemed to understand him. It roared, and tried to smack him, but Allen stepped out of it's reach. He touched his hand to the ground, and it simply crumbled away, sending the creature to it's doom.
He turned away from the scene, and adjusted his galsses once more, looking off towards the direction of Laus... travels.
---
// If your wondering what Zeros' ment by a sandbox, he means, its now a playground for them to use. Basically, like building something with blocks, then knocking it down, not caring about what happens to anything. \\
"Yes... That IS gas, but, I took care of it with that giant tornado I made," he said calmly.
Zeros' looked at the giant, incoming tsunami. He sighed, and shook his head, causing his silver hair to fly about. He sheathed his sword, and ghosted infront of the wave.
With a few simple motions of his hand, Zeros' created a barrier that was exactly as tall as the tsunami. When the giant wave came nearer, Zeros' braced himself.
When the wave hit, Zeros' was visibly pushed back by the force the wave hit the barrier. Zeros' ground his teeth together, and pushed back agianst the wave. He flapped his wings harder, causing the water under him to buffet out into a wave, as he started to beat his wings harder.
After a few minutes, both Zeros' and the wave were at a standstill. But, after a few, excrusating moments, Zeros' managed to push the wave back, slow, but surely, until, the wave was sent back to it's creator with a gigantic push of ki, growing larger, and larger, as it went, and also faster and faster.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 14th, 2005
//Look what you did Zeros', now you have everyone else swearing!\\
"Oh, I see..." Rink said nodding. He then watched as he stopped the tsunami and sent it back. "Who'd expect that you would do that?" Rink laughed.
-----
Duilin caught up with Valos and the two mages.
"It's about damned time you go here!" Valos yelled, as he spotted Duilin.
"Yeah, I thought I'd just stop by and say hello and see how things were going." Duilin joked
"Very, funny...Listen. Maybe you could help out a bit. Grab onto my sword and transfer your dark magic into it." Valos asked of him
"Well, okay. Not sure what good it will do."
"Listen, I'm going to smash up Laus, just as much as they smashed up Redvik. And I'll personally kill every single man, woman and child in that city!"
"Have fun trying..." Duilin smirked. "But, fine, I guess I'll help you smash up the place. Just remember what Zeros' said about killing innocents."
The mages then lowered the barrier, and Duilin flue in. The mages then reactivated the barrier.
Duilin grabbed onto Valos' sword. The two of them, charged their dark magic into the blade. The glow around the sword was so bright, that the area in the barrier was like a black light...
------
Marshal, spotted Valos and Duilin flying toward the island charging some sort of attack.
He then took out his machinegun and fired, but the barrier stopped the bullets.
Suddenly, three other mages came towards Marshal, and four wyvern riders.
"Oh darn..." Marshal muttered. He then fired his gun at one of the mages, taking it out. "The rest of you guys want to join him?"
A wyvern rider then aims a cross bow at Marshal and fires it, Marshal flies his wyvern to the left dodging the bolt.
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 14th, 2005
//Just for clarity, there was no deliberate "creator" of the wave, it is just what you realisticly would have if you move a huge chunk of land at above the speed of sound in water. This is similar for the gas, you get poisonous gases in eruptions.//
The wave went towards Laus, but could not reach the speed of the chunk of land, which now turned from going South East to going East, while the wave moved in a straight line.
All this time, more tsunamis were constantly and continuously coming in the wake of the moving chunk of the land, with the directions now changing.
Meanwhile, Zeros''s wave smashed into the land of Wahabia, a desert land for the most part, but with some sea ports on the North coast. These were absolutely wiped out by Zeros''s wave, along with a total number of sentients of 30,000. Debris was carried several kilometres into the desert, adding salt water to the dry sand, leaving a sandy salt pan years later, littered with bones long picked clean by vultures.
//All actions have consequences.//
Tesla watched as the new direction of the wake caused waves to go towards the completely barren land of Tristeria, a sad place home only to hermits. A few hundred lives at the most, not worth the loss of speed caused by saving it. The survival of 100,000 was much more important.
Almost the entirity of Tristeria was overrun by water, leaving only a few mountain peaks untouched, and so leaving only the more pious hermits alive. Years later, that evolved into folklore in the hermit communities, that their god had sent a great wave to cleanse Tristeria of the less righteous, and force the hermits to continue on the pious path. As a result, their hostility to infidel outsiders increased with fanatically religious fervour.
//Trent, Xenai is perfectly safe and within the city walls of Laus (obviously not for very long though if he attacks the inhabitants).//
Tesla said to Ein, "You evidently have great intellectual ability for magic. Well done.
"If I get, er..., jerked away and Haraldur does not immediately awake, please make sure he does."
The island continued to move at a steady pace, the engines in the centre making only a little noise.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar and his army on water and air stopped when they saw a giant steaming mass in front of them, making it impossible to see anything. //The heat of the magma is still producing steam.//
Ah, perfect, thought Salazar, Draven has already done the work for me. Better make sure, though...
Franco picked up an orb and sent the following message to his temporary embassy (read: the deputy in the Crimson Palace), which relayed it to Draven:
I have just arrived near Laus with my aerial and ground troops, and am, I think, pleasantly surprised to find that Laus has been eliminated, as it is emphatically not visible. Indeed, the area is saturated with a hot fog as from underwater volcanic activity. Which General of yours was it that devised such a cunning method of eliminating Laus? I would wish to reward him.
Generalisímo Benito Franco Salazar
____________________________________________________________________
//Assuming the Prophet is followed by Hyperion...//
The Prophet finally reached the end of the corridor, and unlocked a door, allowing Hyperion to follow.
The acolytes stared up to see their master back, and then returned to their books.
All around were stacks and stack of bookshelves and books, and desks with hundreds of acolytes scribbling details into.
The Prophet turned, and faced Hyperion. "Hopefully you now know the way here. The password for the outer door is 'Long life and power for the Gaian Empire', hehe... ah the ambition of that first Empire, run by Melkoth when he was very very young, ooh... hundreds of thousands of years ago. He started many other empires later, but this was the first. Good times. Unless you were a slave, of course, but what does that matter? Ahhh... There is a lot of history written here, my young vassal. Our history.
"We are not in fact prophets, although that is the image we prefer to give, although we do have very limited prescience. Our actual activities are in fact concerned with making history go the way we want it, and for hundreds of millienia we have been absolutely successful, until very recently. Our name is this: 'Order of the Poison Ring of Melkoth', you are not to tell this to outsiders. You will find out about the Poison Ring and more, later, if you succeed in your first task.
"I wish you to seek out Lord Draven, and kill him. I want definite proof of the deed as well: I want his head. Do you have any questions?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 14th, 2005
//just as a BTW notice -- that wave isn't too powerful, because i only took one post to charge it\\
Ein turned around facing Tesla.
-"Thank you. Actually, you should be thanking the mage that got me here in the first place... however, i DID practice some crafts of my own."
He then turned around again and leaned on the wall, watching Zeros'.
//damn, had to edit my post... this is what happens when i spend too much time writing\\
--- --- ---
Gerard woke up, again.
-"Huh? What happened to me?"
He felt around his body, feeling rough scaly skin. He however could not get up, apparently he was tied to some sort of bed or table.
-"Hello, servant." The man he's seen earlier was standing left to him, and he had some sort of a purple glow around him //for clearance, he can see all living things surrounded in a purple aura\\. He went over to Gerard.
-"I found your body in a near-death state. Your brain was still active at the time I found you, and I decided to use it as a part of my experiment."
-"What sort of experiment? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!"
-"SHUT UP! Adress me only as master!"
-"Why should I?"
-"Oh dear... seems the memory-altering serum didn't work."
Gerard suddenly felt a surge of deep rage, and let out an inhuman roar. He easily broke out of his bindings, and headed for the scientist.
-"What have you done to my body?!"
The scientist was too scared to talk. Gerard repeated his question, but the scientist failed to answer yet again.
-"Alright then... if you won't speak, I'll make you speak."
He put his right arm on his shoulder, and applied a little bit of force to it.
-"AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The scientist's shoulder made a nasty crack, and Gerard felt his bone being crushed.
-"Speak."
-"Alright, alright! I basically synthesized a body of a hellion, dissolving an organism in a series of compounds, then my assistant casted a spell on it so it will look at least somewhat human but i still needed it to have a mind and i couldn't find a volunteer and then you popped out and then...! then...!" The scientist blurted all that out in a single sentence.
-"And then what?"
-"And then i replaced it's brain with... yours!</i>!"
Gerard took a few steps back, shocked, and then yelled:
-"MINE?!"
-"Yes..."
That was too much for Gerard to handle. He swung his arm around aiming at the scientist's head, blowing it clean off. The head hit the opposite wall, and rolled to the feet of his assistant, who was now wimpering in fear. He came up to her.
-"Do you want <i>that to happen to you as well?"
-"please don't hurt me!"
-"Alright. Show me the exit out of here."
The scientist's assistant also appeared in a slight purplish glow. They headed towards a door in the opposite side of the lab. As they advanced towards the door, they passed a mirror. Gerard looked at it, and gasped.
He had a pair of huge long arms with vicious looking claws on them. His skin, or rather what looked like skin, was now black, and covered in scales. His head resembled that of a lizard, with two ram-like horns. His legs now had hooves on them. Despite all that, his trenchcoat was still on him.
-"What have you done?!"
The girl mage was now crying, covering in fear. He did not expect an answer anyway; he opened the door and saw a long staircase, leading upwards. He headed up towards it, and saw yet another door. He opened that, and went outside, to fresh air...
Posted by: Trent on Monday November 14th, 2005
Noticing that Marshal was gone and the ogre dead, she gave a sigh. She bowed to Allen. "Thank you very much."
She walked back into the camp, seeing that Valos was really, really, really pissed. "Sir... The attacker left..." She didn't exactly feel great that she wasn't able to take the guy out.
--- --- ---
"Aw shit..." Xenai gives a sigh. "Somethin' bad's gonna happen." He heads to leave the house, thanking Bernard on the way out. "Thanks for takin' care of me."
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
(Ein gets 100 coolness points!)
(Trent: Valos isn't anywhere near the camp, which was likely destroyed by the volcano. He's now flying towards Laus, which is on a moving island detached from the mainland.)
----
Draven turned to the deputy and listened to the message. He thought for a moment. Valos likely isn't capable of that sort of magic. Zeros' perhaps... He thought back to Ragnar's hiding his other city in another dimension. Ragnar is also capable of that sort of destruction... Also, Valos would report as soon as the job was done.
"Tell him that I am also pleased at the news and not to worry, for I will reward my general personally. However, I have not received report that the job is done yet, so be on the lookout..."
He took a few steps towards the window and removed the orb from his pocket. It glowed in his palm.
"Valos! Report!"
(It's possible that Valos could have left his orb in the camp.)
----
One of the three damaged airships returned underground. The other two had landed in front of what was left of Redvik. Much of the sun was blocked out by the wall of frozen lava that now surrounded the fortress. It was almost as if they were in a crater.
Vincent evacuated the ships and walked around them, inspecting them. The soldiers and engineers stood around, watching curiously (while also marveling at the wall of magma that almost overtook them).
With some white chalk, Vincent drew some strange symbols in seemingly random spots on the black hulls of the massive ships. It took him several minutes to do this until his was satisfied. He motioned for his men to stand back, and they did, forming a circle around the two airships. The general moved directly in front of the two ships and placed both hands on the dusty ground. Suddenly, a bright blue stream of light flowed from his hands, following the ground and engulfing the ships. The symbols on the hulls glowed as well. The two mammoth airships slowly floated up off of the ground and began to move towards each other, the metal sides passing through each other and merging with a bright flash of light. The light molded the ships and the size shrunk somewhat. When it was over, one airship was there, resting on the ground. It looked different-- a smaller, sleeker design. Furthermore, it was completely repaired.
The onlooking soldiers gasped in awe and began clapping. Vincent ignored them and examined the new vessel, walking around it a few times. Once on each side, he pressed his palm against the black metal and the side of the ship changed shapes, a short wing growing from the side.
He adjusted his glasses and smiled when he decided he was finished. He approached the Colonel, who saluted him.
"I've merged the cores of the ships. It's a little less stable, but according to my calculations, this one should output four times as much power."
"Sir, may I ask what you plan to do?"
Vincent removed his glasses and began wiping them with a white cloth from his pocket.
"Why, follow him, of course."
"But sir, shouldn't we report to the Emperor?"
"We've been attacked, Colonel, which authorizes us to counterstrike. Besides, the fortress remains intact. There's nothing to report."
A few bricks from the semi crumbled southern fortress wall broke off and began to tumble downward.
"Y-yes sir..."
"Remain here, Colonel. If the Emperor makes contact, simply tell him the truth. We've been attacked and I pursued the attacker. I doubt we're that important, though... Evacuate everyone to the underground facilities. The upper levels may be unstable."
The Colonel saluted again.
"Yes, sir. Good luck..."
Vincent waved towards a group of the surrounding soldiers. About fifteen men came forward and boarded the new airship. Vincent entered and the door closed. The ship's engines hummed, and a yellow light emanated from underneath, as the others did. The airship took flight, rising straight up, above the wall of frozen lava and fortress, and blasted forward.
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
// Before Zeros' does his next attack, I need to know if the barrier around Laus is just that. Is it complete, also going underground, or, is it only around the top? \\
Allen looked at Aura, and actually smiled at the girl. He had a sort of soft spot for women. Ones that weren't attacking, or trying to kill him, of course.
"Yes, yes. You don't need to thank me. I'm just doing my job, Lt.," he said casually. He looked towards where Laus was now becoming a spec in the horizion, and sighed. He didn't even know why he came back. He wasn't near as powerful as anyone. Anyone of the people (main people) could defeat him with a wave of their hands. It was only his genius and alchemy that kept him alive.
He sighed once more, and reached into his inner right pocket, pulling out a communications orb.
"Draven, sir, the attacker has left, and Redvik is in ruins. I await your orders," he said into the sphere.
Posted by: Kahn on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
Hyperion looked around the room. He couldn't remember ever being interested in history.
"Just one. Am I to assume that Draven is as easy a target as you make hime out to be? Not that he himself will be a problem, I'm more concerned with his empire getting in my way."
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
"Okay, Duilin. We almost have the attack charged." Valos said. "Keep charging the blade..."
Valos then herd something, from inside his pocket. "Ack, just a sec. I've got a call." Valos then took out the orb from his pocket. "Yes, Lord Draven?". Draven would probabbly be able to sence alot of activity.
--------
Marshal, fired his gun several times at the wyvern rider. Killing him, and the wyvern. The mage he shot earlier came towards him and fired an ice blast at him. Marshal flue his wyvern downwards, and then flue up, flying right under the mage. Marshal's wyvern clawed at the mage sliceing his vital organs. The two other mages and the three other wyvern riders advanced towards Marshal. He then pointed his amulet, it glowed, and then a swarm of bats flue towards his attackers and began to bite and claw their was at them. Marshal then flue off, and landed on Laus...
--------
"Sir! Somebody just went by us!" One of the mages said to Valos.
"We'll deal with that later." Duilin said on Valos' behalf.
---------
Rink thought it was best to go check up ahead with Duilin and Valos. "I'm going, Zeros'." He said, he then surrounded himself in a firery aura, and flue as fast as he could to catch up.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
//wow thanks xorlak! my first cool post, horray!\\
Ein looked down upon the water beneath him. He watched it, noticing slightly irregular wave patterns due to Laus speeding over them. He turned to Tesla.
-"Where's Haraldur now?"
--- --- ---
Gerard looked around, watching the setting around him. It was a forest, and every single tree had a green aura. He turned around, noticing a lot of auras all over a place. Some were green, some were purple, some were red. All of them had different shades. He went back down into the lab. After all, he himself was a scientist, so there should be at least something of interest to him in there.
-"Oh, lookie here: a distillation apparatus. Gee, what are the chances of that?"
He approached the apparatus. However, as he was walking towards it, he tripped over the dead scientist's body, which was now eminating a barely-visible aura.
-"Damn! You there, get rid of this."
The scientist's assistant walked over to the corpse, and dragged it outside, with tears in her eyes. A nasty blood trail could be seen where she dragged him.
-"And don't even think of running."
The assistant quietly and hastily nodded. "Hmm... now, let's see here. I wonder if i still have that stannum?" He felt around in his pocket, finding the small chunk of material. It was a little tough to grab it though, because of the size of his claws. Finally succeeding, he took out the silver rock, and put it on a table near him. The mage girl was now finished with her task.
-"Oh yeah, and don't forget the head", said Gerard, noticing the head still lying in the corner. The scientist's magic assistant burst in tears.
-"I'm sorry, i just can't. Please don't make me do it!"
Gerard sighed.
-"Damnit, fine."
He picked up the head, and walked outside with it, finally throwing it off into the air.
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
Bernard, through a strange quantum mechanical effect, arrived at his house, before that being on the walls firing off charged arcs, looking very bewildered, just when Xenai started speaking. He was too dazed to answer.
// <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /> //
He then returned to the city walls.
____________________________________________________________________
Franco waited to receive confirmation about the situation after Draven's reply.
____________________________________________________________________
//The barrier is spherical, and acts as an extension of Tesla, and so any attack on it counts as an attack on Tesla.//
Tesla saw a familiar person with a familiar aura descend on Laus, and so allowed Marshall to pass through the shield.
Tesla turned to Ein and said, "Er... look down. He is sleeping on the floor by your feet..."
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet said, "As with most of the Empires before the Crimson Empire, Draven is the Empire, the rest is just a bonus. You might face his lackeys, but he seems a very hands-on type of Emporer."
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
//sorry Haraldur, didn't pay attention <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' />\\
-"Oh. Must've drifted away while looking at the sea..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
Marshal hops off his wyvern. He lets it stay, however. He then walks over towards Tesla and Ein, wile strapping his gun over his shoulder. "I suspect the gases Haraldur was talking about, made everyone fall asleep." Marshal said examining everyone. "Sorry, that I wasn't able to take care of the General. I'll see if I can work on that later."
He then took out the dagger he got from Gerard. "Oh, Ein. I don't have much use for this, since I'm not too skilled in melee combat. Do you want it? It seems to have magic properties."
//May as well give the dagger to a person played by the same person. \\
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
Ein looked at the dagger. It was long and pointy, with a wavy blade and a red gem in the middle.
-"I'll take it. What does it do?"
//come on dudeman, use your imagination and come up with something good <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />\\
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
He walks out of the house, and notices something... The city's moving!!! "Good god, am I still wasted?!"
--- --- ---
Unfortunately, she found that the camp was slighly destroyed. She did remember seeing Valos fly off toward Laus during all the commotion... What the crap did she miss? She looked down to make sure her legs weren't molten away, rubbed her head, and proceeded into the wreckage, hearing the voice... She looked around and found the orb. She picked it up, and saw Draven. "E...Emperor!" She performed the appropriate salute while still holding the orb.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 15th, 2005
"I'm not sure." Marshal replied. "I saw it glow, so perhaps it has quite some power to it. Perhaps you can use it to power your spells." He subjests. He then notices Xenia walk outside. "Hey, I reconize him."
He walks over towards Xenia. "Be quite, people are sleeping." Marshal says. "But, I reconize you. I met you during the pirate attack on Rivertown." He then grins. "But don't worry. You can't do us any harm, so we won't cause you any harm." He then lowers his grin. "Yet if you do cause any trouble..." He motions towards his machinegun.
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
//How does Marshall know Ein's name?//
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
Allen's report came to Draven first, and he channeled it so the conversations would be separate, a small hologram of Allen appearing in the air.
"Redvik!? Hmm... actually, I'm not that surprised... Hold your position for now. I will issue additional orders shortly..."
The Allen image disappeared and an image of Valos replaced it, who seemed to be flying with much activity going on.
"Valos! What in blazes is going on down there? I've received report that Laus has been destroyed. Can you confirm this?"
Next to Valos, a separate image appeared of a young female Lieutenant who Draven did not recognize. Must be from Valos' secondary orb at the camp.
"You there! What are you doing at the camp!? Why aren't you attacking!?"
He paused for a second, bringing his hand to his chin.
"Hmmm, actually you may be of use where you are. There is an old alchemist named Allen near your position. Find him. You will serve as his escort for his next mission..."
----
Vincent's airship passed over what was left of the camps. Staring out the window with his hands behind his back, it had become clear what had happened. The peninsula Laus was on was completely gone... The pattern of still smoldering dried magma told him that the volcanic blast was primarily directed northward... meaning there should be at least something left of the peninsula Laus was on...
His eyes chanced upon the southern horizon, and there it was... Far in the distance, there was an island that shouldn't be there... Vincent pointed to it and the airship pilot nodded. They passed high above over a fleet of ships and air units barring the flag of Alterña.
The sleek black airship zoomed ahead, faster than any airship had previously achieved. Vincent paid no mind to this minor accomplishment. The one and only goal lies on the horizon...
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
Allen nodded his consent, and tucked the orb back safely in his jacket, whispering an almost silent, "Yes, sir."
---
Zeros' looked on as Laus started to disappear. Zeros' used his cloaking technique to disappear, erasing his presence, and used it to stealthy follow the moving island.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
-"Ah well, it doesn't matter. Thanks anyway." He took the dagger.
-"Oh yeah, and what's your name?"
--- --- ---
Gerard took the stannum, and put it on the table. Then he took a hammer and hammered the small silver rock into a thin sheet, which he then broke into small pieces. He put the pieces into a pot.
He looked around the shelves.
-"Hey you, do you know whether or not that guy had any sulfur in here?"
The assistant turned to him, and said:
-"Yes, it's over there." She pointed to a shelf on one of the walls.
Gerard came up to the wall and immediately saw a small glass container with a chunk of yellow material. He took that, and chucked it onto the table with the hammer on it. He then hammered the yellow chunk, crushing it to dust. He put that in the pot with pieces of tin in it.
-"What is in the distillation apparatus?"
-"I'm not sure... I think he was distilling water."
-"Ah, yes. Perfect."
Gerard poured the distilled water into the pot, and shook it slightly. The water started bubbling, and smoking a little. After a few minutes he took six empty vials and emptied the liquid into those vials.
-"This is aqua regis, which means 'royal water'. It is an acid so powerful that it can even dissolve gold."
He put the vials on the shelf, and headed outside.
//For clarification, chunks of tin, sulfur powder and pure H2O don't do anything. So don't go around trying to make a bomb or something <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' />\\
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
//Remember Ein's <a href='http://www.mysticsoftware.net/ibforums/index.php?showtopic=472&view=findpost&p=30137' target='_blank'>intro post</a>? He said his name. Marshal was there too.\\
"Marshal Royle." Marshal said, nodding.
----
"It still stands, my lord." Valos replied. "It's been separated from the land and is floating away at great speed. I am currently chasing the island, followed by mages, and I am charging an attack, with the help from the half demon, Duilin." Valos then turns his head and looks down at his sword. "It's almost done. I'll be blasting the attack at the island soon."
----
Rink flies closer and sees he is not too far from Valos and Duilin. But he sees he will have to fly a little bit faster to catch up.
"Damn this war..." Rink groans.
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
Xenai squinted at the guns. "Those things take me? I don't think so. What the hell are you doing here anyways?" An alarm went off in Xenai's head, as he felt Valos near, and him charging up something strong... What the...!?
"I think I left something just outside of Laus... I'ma go see if it's on this island..." He heads out of the town... Of course, that was just an excuse. He hid behind a building on the outskirts of the town and ejected black wings. He flew up toward Valos.
--- --- ---
"Y-yes, your highness!" Attacking? Is that what they went to do? That blasted machine gun guy kept me too busy... She looked to Allen. "Allen is your name, right? It looks like I'm your escort..."
Posted by: Kahn on Wednesday November 16th, 2005
"Well if that's how it is."
Hyperion started walking towards the exit.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 17th, 2005
Draven responded to Valos.
"Hmmm, yes, I should have expected as much. Carry on."
He turned to Salazar's embassy, who hadn't left yet.
"Laus is being relocated... Tell them to look for some sort of moving island... that's their target."
He turned and took a few steps towards the window, speaking into the orb.
"Allen, Laus has detached from the mainland and is moving away. Proceed with your primary mission, but keep your distance at first and execute it only if the military strike fails..."
----
The island was becoming larger in the airship window. It was apparent there were others chasing it as well. Vincent ordered the pilot to increase altitude to make their approach less obvious by flying above the cloud line (though it was only partially cloudy), and to veer off to the right slightly, so as to pass it...
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday November 17th, 2005
Allen heard the command from his communications orb, and nodded slightly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He also nodded to Aura, showing his consent.
"My primary mission... Creating a weapon similar to that of the legendary six. The metal and jewels are easy enough to obtain... Making the aura of the weapon duplicates Haraldur's might be a smidge challanging..." he murmurred.
He clasped his hands behind his back, and began to pace, thinking of how he'd manage this. He's heard of what Haraldur could do... He would stand no chance against a man with that much power. His eyes shifted to the sceneary around him. He defiently wouldn't. Hell, even the imp he'd heard was traveling with the two half-demons had more pure power then he has.
He continued pacing, his thoughts formulating plans faster then most people thought possible. He might not be strong physically, but, his mental capicty was amazing.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 17th, 2005
"Yes, my Lord." Valos finished and he put the orb back into his pocket. "Okay Duilin get ready!" He then put his other hand onto the blade. "Okay, back up people!" He warned.
Duilin and the mages then flue to the side, and Valos pointed the power-pumped blade at the island. Duilin spotted Xenai. "Look out, man. Valos is blasting an attack."
Valos then thrusted the blade foward, and released the power. "EAT SHIT!" He yelled as a huge dark purple arrow blasted down at the island, causeing a dark explotion to make Valos fly back a few meters, yet he still kept his stance. The blade went at an amazeing speed, brakeing the sound barrier as it flue down.
Rink, was startled when Valos fired his attack.
Posted by: Trent on Thursday November 17th, 2005
"HEY!!! What the **** do you think you're doing?!?!" There was no way he could bat that thing back. He phased out of the arrow's path, then into Valos's face. "Have you lost your ****ing mind?!?!"
--- --- ---
Weapons? What's he talking about? Whatever. It's not my business.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 18th, 2005
The airship passed the island at a safe distance. They're attacking the north side. Perfect.
The ship continued on south of the island, and turned so that it was above the moving island's path, perhaps a half mile in front of it.
Vincent looked around the control room, thinking. He proceeded to one of the walls and placed his left palm on it. One of the large sheets of black metal that lined the walls came loose. He took it and proceeded to the door that lead outside.
"Sir! W-what are you--"
Vincent turned.
"Keep your distance. Pick me up when you see my signal."
With that, he opened the door, the resulting wind causing the soldiers to grab something and hang on. Vincent jumped from the open door (this redesigned airship having no deck) and fell towards the water below...
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday November 18th, 2005
Tesla said to Marshall, "The gases can be quite lethal, and are the inevitable result of such a volcanic attack."
He froze, and said, "Someone has just attempted to make themselves untraceable, you can sense it in the air. However, his gravitational effect, though small, is still traceable. It is obvious who is tracking us. Look out for Zeros', Mr. Holier-Than-Thou."
Suddenly there was a large bang as Valos' blade smashed into the shield, and Haraldur awoke. Tesla was tugged violently towards the blade, appearing there within 100th of a second. The blade was moving towards him at terrific speed. What had Haraldur told him to do in such a situation? Be as a planet is to a moon or other satellites, be the star to the planet, use the fundamentals as your defence. He dodged to the right of the blade, as it was ahead of him, and warped the space around him as if he were a body of high mass, like a planet. The sword entered the warp, and Tesla and the sword orbitted eachother, being of roughly equal masses (considering the velocity of the sword). At a critical moment, Tesla judged, using all the skill from his training by Haraldur, when to stop the warp. He did so, and he went flying backwards towards Laus, and the sword flying back to where it came. The shield came back immediately. This had all happened within 1/10th of a second.
Tesla crashed into a patch of farmland just outside the city walls, breaking a leg. He had not been able to concentrate on his fall sufficiently for it to be slowed. He screamed in pain. He then made himself slowly float up, and moved back into the city.
Haraldur looked up and around, and cursed Crimson Empire: "Damn those bastards!" He then increased the power output to the engines far away, and then he saw that they had travelled far enough that they could now, at last, travel North!
With a click of his fingers the city and its inhabitants blinked out of existance, an the island of Laus changed direction, steeply turning from going East to going North, and then the city returned.
Laus was now moving so fast that it would be halfway up the side of the Dark continent within a few minutes, and the wake had increased a huge amount, with 500 metre high waves following them and moving to the east and west. He smiled as he thought about the Imperial navy in ports on the Eastern coast. He then swore when he realised that they would mostly be safe in their ports, or, at least, relatively safe.
Tesla arrived, his leg limply hanging at a painful looking angle. Haraldur winced, and cast a mending spell on it, causing the leg to heal fast. "Be careful with it, comrade, it will remain a bit sore for a while."
____________________________________________________________________
Along the eastern coast of the Crimson Empire, the almost uninhabited area only of note because of its naval importance, having a large number of natural harbours close to other land masses. To the east, somewhere, was where Laus had once been, and, indeed, the Dark Army had departed from several naval bases in this area. Apart from the armed forces though, it was mostly uninhabited.
To the East observers could see a large chunk of land strangely floating on the water, and then massive waves roaring over the top of the water. The huge waves washed onto the harbours, only the most protected surviving, while the smaller naval bases were highly damaged.
In his office, a General frantically contacted Draven through an orb, saying: "Your Majesty! We appear to be under attack from many many massive waves hitting our harbours one after another! I have given orders for the harbour entrances to be shielded, but they will not hold against this bombardment, in fact several in other bases have already been overcome! I thought I should inform you. What does your Majesty command?"
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet watched him go. OK... It appears out time must come. Melkoth told me that this must be done should difficulty arise. Time for the Grey Empire to rise up.
He turned to another door, and entered the balcony area at the front of the dining hall, and watched his acolytes eat breakfast. He cleared his throat, and said:
"My followers, it is now time. It is time for us to establish the Grey Empire that Melkoth so long ago ordered. We have had this standing for hundreds of thousands of years, and it is finally time to honour our friend and leader. For Melkoth!"
The acolytes cheered and shouted, "For Melkoth!" They dispersed, abandoning or quickly finishing their meals. The thousands of them left the room, and started equiping themselves with spellbooks and components and other magic enhancing items, and some went to hollows in the walls where they were odd magical instruments, which they started talking into. There was exitement from the wait of several hundreds of thousands of years in the air: hundreds of thousand years that these apparent youths had all lived through. They all knew Melkoth by sight.
Within a few minutes, all 377 other bases, not quite as magnificent as this one, had been alerted, and there was quick speech through the instruments discussin battle strategy.
After such matters had been settled, and some strange lensed objects had been pointed towards the Prophet, sending images of him to the other bases, the Prophet reached down his shirt. He pulled up a locket, one similar, but less powerful, to the one Haraldur was reborn from, and shouted, "For Melkoth!" The acolytes echoed him.
He placed the locket on the air, and it stood still above the ground, the chain hanging down. "We shall welcome him back, our leader..." From each acolytes and from the Prophet came black smoke, which converged on the locket. The locket started to glow...
//Stay tuned for my next post, where we will finally learn the Prophet's name!//
____________________________________________________________________
Benito Franco Salazar received Draven's message, and cursed. The wake of such a thing would be enormous. He ordered his fleet home, retaining only his airborne soldiers.
He sent this message to Draven: "Which direction did Laus go in? It has evidently moved far enough away not to be visible from where it used to be."
He moved, alone, to the North to survey the damage a little.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 18th, 2005
Duilin, and the mages created a shield and the blade coming back to them smashed into the shield, causing all three of them to fly backwards. (It wasn't the sword that was blasted, it was just energy, the sword was used to shaped the energy and blast it.)
Valos looked at Xenai, with disgust. "Don't you dare talk to me like that, you ungrateful little shit! I know exactly what I'm doing!"
"Um, sir..." One of the mages said
"What!?" Valos snapped back, he was in a terrible mood.
"Um...it didn't work...sorry sir..." The mage flinched after saying that.
Valos' face turned red. "NOOO!!"
Duilin sighed. "Calm down, Valos. It's not the end of the world..."
"It might as ****ing well be!!" Valos shouted. "Nothing we do works!" He then smashes his head down into his hands.
Rink finally catches up with the group. They have stopped moving. "Gee, good job Valos. That worked well."
"Shut the **** up, you stupid imp!" Valos yelled. "I am not in the mood. Listen, I have just had almost my entire forces killed and a huge dark energy blade attack, just pissed back at me...."
"Geez, sorry." Rink snapped back. "Does anyone have any other ideas?"
"No, I am out of ****ing ideas." Valos groans.
"Well, let's ask for Draven's help." Duilin suggested.
"Uhhgg...listen, he's trying all he can. I'll just have to report I have failed...There is no way to beat him. We've lost."
"Ooo, the great General Valos, gives up!" Rink laughed. "What an image for ya."
"Imp, you're pushing my nerves..." Valos then lies back on the air. His voice begins to calm down. "Aw, why don't we just fly into the island, and die fighting, we'll be more respected in death then in life...Unless somebody has a better idea..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 18th, 2005
Marshal then noticed that a ship is not to far away from the island. "What the devil?" He muttered.
He then dashed towards the edge of the island. "Hah, those territorial fools are trying to swim?" He laughs. "Go, my fishies!" His amulet glows as it blasts out 3 a spectre that from into sharks. "It is feeding time..."
Three sharks then swam their way towards Vincent...
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday November 18th, 2005
-"Whoa."
Ein turned around to Tesla.
-"Are you alright?"
--- --- ---
Gerard continued walking, eventually reaching Redvik.
-"What the hell? Was there an eruption or something?"
He proceeded to the fortress, when suddenly he felt a scorching pain in his back.
-"AARRGGHH!!! What is that?!"
He felt his skin rip open, and then he felt two new limbs. He twisted his hand around feeling them. They felt like bones with tiny claws on them, and skin between... Wings!
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday November 18th, 2005
Tesla nodded. "My leg is only little sore." He started to rub it.
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday November 18th, 2005
Allen was still murmurring to himself, before he looked up. The air was still crackling with after-effects of Haraldur's spells... Then, it clicked. He could absorb Haraldur's aura from the air.
Allen grinned grimmly, and looked towards Aura.
"Lt., we need to get back to the capital... fast," he said grimly. While he might not be near as good at tracing and detecting auras, he could sense whe n something big was going down... At it was almost that time.
He snached a special vail out of his coat, and strode forwards, towards a random spot. But, to anyone with aura sense, they could see the crackling aura that Haraldur had left. He swiped, and caught the aura in one of his special vails. It was unbreakable, by normal means, such as being crushed. It was also designed to hold aura in it, meaning Haraldur's.
He strode back towards Aura's location, and took his communications orb out of his pocket. He waited for it to light up, and spoke into it.
"Draven, I have what I need to make the weapon... I need a ride back to the capital. Immediately. I'm sure you've sensed it. Something BIG is happening," he said grimly. "Get someone here as fast as you can," he said into the glass orb.
---
// Well, if Melkoth is coming back, Gaia might have to make a visit, as well... \\
Zeros' narrowed his eyes, obseving as the blade passed through the shield.
He came out of his stealth, figuring Haraldur or Tesla must of sensed it by now, anyways.
"Stupid ****ing pricks. Why can't they just leave this damn dimension... What IS so special about it? It's not as if he doesn't have enough power to transport an island to another dimension..." he murmurred to himself. He pulled his blade from it's scabbard, transforming into it's demonic form.
He dived underwater, and cast an underwater breathing spell on himself. He used his wings to propell himself through the water, his blade charging with pure ki, instead of it's usual demonic energy.
// It's a charge attack. And, with pure ki, it's actual body energy. It doesn't depend on any form of energy or emotion... It's just there. And, magic can't block pure ki, and pure ki can't block magic. Two complete opposites, that can't repel each other. Just like body energy and spirit energy can't block, or counter each other.
So, magical energy can't block PURE body energy. Demonci and angelic ki are different from pure ki, because they depend on that part of a person. Pure ki is drawn directly from the body, from their soul. \\
Posted by: Trent on Saturday November 19th, 2005
Xenai brings a hand to his forehead. "I just want to know why the hell we're trying to destroy an entire island, still with innocents on the damn thing."
--- --- ---
She didn't see it at first, but suddenly, it appeared to her, the energy in the air, just as Allen swiped it out of the air. She wasn't sure what to say, if she were to say anything at all.
// Why are you creating metaphysical rules? O_o That's kinda overstepping your bounds, isn't it? I mean... Zeros' and Haraldur are arch-gods already... And then telling us how the world is supposed to work... <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sleep.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sleep.gif' />
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 19th, 2005
"Hah." Valos snapped back. "Innocents. They don't care about our innocents, so why should we care about there’s. Innocent people die, have to die sometimes to, in order to effect the enemy."
"I don't see why they should however..." Duilin adds. "Xenai does have a point."
"Well, you helped me with the attack." Valos smirked back
"Well yeah...but..." Duilin stuttered
Valos grinned, at Duilin. "Well, yes, I do see your point. But I don't care. It's a dog eat dog world. Do unto others before others do unto you."
"Hmmm...."
"Ack, well. Enough floating here. What should we do?" Rink asks
"I think.... I sence Zeros'..." Duilin said
"Do you?" Valos asks "Hmmm, well your connection to him is stronger then mine. But what about it?"
"Maybe he has an idea...I'll go look for him." Duilin subjests.
"Suit yourself." Valos groans. "But nothing is going to work. That island is as well guarded as a.... umm.... arg, just go and find your demon\god friend."
Duilin then dived down underwater, and then created an air bubble, from energy. (See Chapter 5). He then swam towards Zeros' aura...
"Well, hopefully Duilin has fun. Hope he makes it out alright." Valos said. He then turned to Xenai. "Now, what information did you get, Xenai?"
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 19th, 2005
// Think of it like two opposites... Body and Mind.
Let's say you have a bodybuilder, agianst a nerd, for lack of better term. Well, the bodybuilder is smart, but not as smart as the nerd.
The nerd could overpowered him with his wit, and intelligence, but, he couldn't block him. Just like the bodybuilder could rush at him, and plow him down, but, he couldn't block the assult on his mind.
I don't know how to explain it better... But, just think of it as two things that can hurt each other, but can't block the other. Two buses driving at each other could hurt each other, but, they could never block each other.
I really don't know how to explain it... Plus, Zeros' needs a way to actually do something to the barrier. >_> \\
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 19th, 2005
Duilin spots Zeros'. He speeds up to catch up with him. "Hey Zeros'! What are you doing?" He asks.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 19th, 2005
//I just wish there to be less emphasis on the Aspyes. Maybe I am getting a little too much into character.//
Far away, the large land that was once Vikingagarð started to move, again. Sout moved South East, to go past the North Eastern point of the Dark Continent. It accelerated
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur sent this message out to Marshall: It is advised that you get back within the city walls soon, as we shall soon be going to a relatively safe place, although, safe relative to this does not sound so very encouraging. Nonetheless, we need to get our comrades to safety.
The island, still accelerating, was now going so fast that the water going around it was going so fast it was heating up, and starting to vapourise. The turbulence behind the island was magnificent, a chaotic mess of huge waves and foam. As Vikingagarð got past the North Eastern point of the Dark Continent, it became visible on the horison. It would be a collision course. Laus was now halfway up the Eastern edge of the Dark Continent. The populace looked a little bewildered, and a bit apprehensive of the crash they thought was about to happen, despite the fact they would be protected by the barrier.
____________________________________________________________________
Deep in the cave complex of the base, the glow of the locket was now almost blinding. Around it a dark aura started to form, slowly moulding itself into a humanoid shape. The shape solidified and the glow disappeared. The man was wearing all black, and had blond hair and beard and blue eyes.
Melkoth turned towards the Prophet. "Is it time, Quintus?"
"Yes, my Lord. It is."
"Order all bases to have personnel block all trade and travel routes, whether terrestrial or not, on or above the mainland of this continent. I want the current countries here to be besieged from within. What countries exist on this continent?"
"Only one, my Lord. It is called the Crimson Empire, led by a mage called Draven, who specialises in fire."
"Crimson, eh? OK, then."
Melkoth paced across to the acolytes, who stood silently. "To war then!"
The acolytes finally dispersed and left.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 19th, 2005
Marshal resived Haraldur's message. "Well, my pets can take care of him." He brushes his hair with his hand, and then turns around and walks back into the city. "Calm down my friends." He said calmly to the populace. "The barrier will protect us."
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 19th, 2005
//Quintus is the name of a kid in my latin textbook, heh\\
Gerard flexed his new wings.
-"They seem functional... Hmm. Damn, still, that was my favourite trenchcoat..."
He then attempted to flap them a bit, but nothing happened. "Cases like these are the ones where I should follow nature." He climbed up on top of the smoking fortress, spanned his wings and jumped off. He noticed that the muscles in his wings were exceptionally strong, so it took no effort to keep them open while gliding. However, after a short while he tried to flap his wings again and was not successful. He fell down into the frozen lava.
-"Damn!"
However, when he was still in the air, he noticed a commotion up ahead, in the ocean. Seemed like separate fights...
-"Hell no, i know where this is going. I'm not interrupting any more fights."
He climbed back up on the fortress and attempted flying a few more times.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 19th, 2005
//You probably use the same book as I did, then.//
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 19th, 2005
Draven responded to the report about the waves and flooding.
"Fool! You should close your flood gates and have your defense mages cast barriers! What do you mean what should you do?! I swear, surrounded by sheer... Hmmm..."
At that point, Salazar's messenger gave Draven a second message.
"Hmm, tell your leader that there are reports of tidal waves along the south-eastern cost, so it would be my guess that the island has moved northward from his location... Also tell him General Valos is flying around in that area, and it would be in his best interest, for his goal of course, to work under the guidance of him."
Draven flipped his cape and proceeded out of the war room, down a winding hallway. The elite in black armor, the one he had been conversing with earlier, the one with the dark aura..., appeared from a separate room and strode just behind him. They kept a quick pace.
"My lord, it seems things are heating up, so to speak..."
"There will be one more thing that heats up if you came only to state the obvious."
"My apologies, my lord. The three giant black crystals are in place. You only need give the word..."
"Excellent... Yes, that's very good indeed..."
The two came out at the top of the tower again. Draven folded his arms while gazing towards the clouds below. The city below was bustling with soldiers, and the land the city floated high above was grayed slightly by the distance and mist in the air.
Draven found the small black stone in his pocket and removed it, holding it before him in his right hand. He turned, so that he was facing the empty space in the center of the tower. The elite moved to his left side. A flash of flame emanated from Draven's palm into the small black crystal, and the outline of the stone glowed a very bright red, though the stone itself remained pitch black.
Something began to appear in the center of the tower. It was a shadow-- huge, at least 10 feet high and very bulky. It took form. Massive menacing curved horns appeared, piercing crimson eyes, a spiked tail, huge hoofs for feet. It was covered in a sort of red armor, but where its armor ended and scaly skin began was difficult to tell.
It was translucent, as if it were from another dimension. It was what one would call a Class S Demon...
The elite standing next to Draven took one step back.
The thing, upon seeing Draven, crouched on one knee and bowed it's head deeply. Even in this bowing position, it was still taller than Draven. It spoke with a sort of voice that emanated from everywhere, and unnaturally deeply at that...
"Our Savior... Our King... We serve and revere only you..."
Draven's smirk returned to his face and he placed his left hand to his chin, keeping his right outstretched with the crystal.
"I bring good news. Your freedom is nigh... but I must ask a question. Do you have a small legion ready that I might summon before the rest?"
"Impossible... For so long we have waited... Kill each other we will for the chance to escape before the others..."
"I see. Would it be possible, then, when the gates open, for you to concentrate more of your... efforts... on one smaller target?"
"Impossible... We do not work like your human armies... Enemy is an enemy... Each demon shall enact his vengeance in his own way... It is how the contract states... We will ignore the lands and people that are yours... and destroy all the rest, one no more or no less than the other... and populate them... Once the original wave of vengeance is done, then we will serve you in this new world..."
"Yes, that is what we originally agreed upon... Very well. Your time will come soon..."
Draven clasped his fist over the black crystal and the image of the demon faded away. He brought his right hand behind his back, beneath his cape and turned around.
----
Vincent placed the metal sheet under his feet as he was falling. The metal began to change shape while water vapor from below shot up and hit the sheet from below, slowing his decent. In a few seconds, he was standing atop a floating surf board like thing chasing after the moving island, which had suddenly changed directions.
"Well, that's nice..."
Furthermore, three sharks were rapidly swimming in his direction. He bent down and touched the water with his right hand. The water before him froze, many jagged icicles jutting out towards the sky. One of the sharks was impaled, but the other two swam around and towards him, baring their teeth. Vincent slid up on top of the ice he had created and jumped over to the other side, the surf board skimming the water as it landed.
Drat. Abort. The island changed directions and is moving away too quickly... He waved towards the airship above, which began to lower a rope while descending. The sharks were gaining and he was losing speed... As one of the sharks made a leap out of the water, mouth wide open, he leapt and grabbed the rope with his right hand and was pulled out of harms way. Hanging with one hand while being raised to the airship, he watched as the island grew smaller and smaller on the northern horizon...
----
Two soldiers passed a broken window in an upper level of Redvik. The upper levels were mostly evacuated, and they were almost done moving the important equipment down to the underground levels where it would be safe.
"Yo! Did you see that?!"
"What?"
"There's something climin' on that wall down there."
"Don't see nothin'."
"There it is again! It just jumped down!"
"Nope. Didn't see it."
Posted by: Trent on Saturday November 19th, 2005
"Info? I spent too much time tryin' to sneak in, but there was this one guy... Bernard was his name... refered to all this shit as some 'glorious revolution'. That's it, unfortunately. Oh, and Marshal's there. At least I think that's his name."
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 19th, 2005
Zeros' held up one hand in greeting, as his sword began to glow more.
"Hello Duilin," he said. His sword started to glow a translucent white glow, growing stronger, and stronger.
"Hopefully, this works," he murmurred, as he continued to charge his blade.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 19th, 2005
//assuming Duilin is close enough to hear Ein...\\\
Ein caught sight of Duilin.
-"Oh, lookie here! It's the bird again. Haven't seen you in a while, bird."
He kneeled on the floor, took out a crossbow bolt, and started etching a diagram...
--- --- ---
After a few... falls, Gerard seemed to have gotten the hang of his wings. He could now lift off solid ground, without having to glide first. He then noticed two soliders in one of the windows.
-"Oi! Who's in charge?!"
//Keep in mind that hopefully Gerard looks somewhat intimidating...\\
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 20th, 2005
The General of the East shouted back into the orb, "That is exactly what we have done, but they cannot hold off the bombardment for long! We need assistance! You know yourself that since the attack on Romme our garrisons have been reduced!"
In the background noise that filled the message through the orb, there was a loud crashing sound, indicative of shields and flood-gates being overcome, and some yells were heard.
"Oh, shit!"
There was then just the sound of water crashing around destroying a stone fortess before the orb deactivated. General Rapael Totti was now obviously quite dead.
____________________________________________________________________
Generalisímo Benito Franco Salazar nodded, and his company flews fast to the North East passing right over the destroyed Redvik, some of the soldier with mouths wide at the destruction and the new lava plain. They ascended, and in the distance they saw harbours bombarded by waves, and the red glow of protective shields. They saw one shield be overcome by a particularly large wave.
They looked further North, and they saw a small speck moving accross the water at fantastic speed, leaving a destructive wake of waves behind it, and, further North still, a large mass of land moving at comparable speed, leaving behind it even greater turbulence, adding more to the problems of the Eastern Crimson Empire.
Their flight turned to be closer to North in its direction, and they accelerated.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 20th, 2005
//Sorry Ein. Duilin is underwater right now. So Ein and Duilin would be unable to hear/see each other at the moment. \\
"I wouldn't bother, Zeros'. Nothing seems to be working. The island is to heavily guarded. Both me and Valos tried, but it did nothing!" Duilin said to Zeros'
----
"Hmmm, well that information won't help us..." Valos groaned. "Well, if Duilin and Flyboy are down there doing trying to do something, maybe they can find a way. Zeros' can practically, do ANYTHING, so let's go!"
Rink sighs. "You should give up while you’re ahead..."
"Shut up Imp!" And Valos flue off, followed by the two mages.
"Well, I guess I might as well go down with Zeros' and Duilin. I guess you can come if you want to, Xenai."
Rink sent a message to Duilin and Zeros'. 'I'm coming down guys; Valos is totally unbearable to work with. But he’s staying above the surface.' He then zoomed across the water, towards Duilin and Valos' position.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 20th, 2005
//i have GOT to pay more attention.\\
Realizing Ein was shouting at empty air, he stopped. However, he continued drawing the thing, which was now glowing blue.
<img src='http://img420.imageshack.us/img420/9093/deathgramm6if.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
//sorry, it looks more like a technical plan of some sort than a demonic diagram... but i did the best i could\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 20th, 2005
Draven listened to the general babble and die.
"Hmmm, unfortunate. Guess that weeds out another unqualified man..."
The elite smiled slightly.
"Indeed... So... shall I make preparations for... the arrival?"
"No. Not yet."
"..."
"It will be an event that changes Gaian forever. It is not a decision to be made lightly... Heh... Ironic, isn't it? Given how much I despise demons. But of course, servitude is servitude..."
"Yes, my lord..."
The elite paused, then saluted.
"Then, my lord, please allow us the privilege of dealing with Ragnar..."
"Your time will come... You and your elites will remain here. I am going to stop those waves from doing any additional damage... I shall return shortly."
"Yes, my lord..."
A light crimson aura appeared around Draven. He bent his knees and shot up into the sky like a rocket. In but a few seconds he was gone, blazing eastward... The elite watched from atop the tower...
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday November 20th, 2005
Allen looked at the orb frustrated, and growled, forcing the orb back in his pocket. He stuffed his hands in his pocket, and glared at the sky.
He looked around, and spotted a piece of twisted metal. He smirked, and, slammed his hand into the ground. Three circles appeared on the ground, the outermose red, green, then blue. They spun around Allen, and glowed brightly. After a few moments, they started to move vertically, whilst still spinning.
There was a flash of multicolored light, and, instead of the piece of twisted metal, there was now a circular, five-foot plate, humming slightly, and hovering about a foot off the ground.
He smirked, and staggered, before continuing his giat, and hopping up onto the metal plate. The sagged for a moment, and lifted itself back up.
Allen turned to Aura, and smirked.
"What are you waiting for, Lt., let's get going to the Crimson Empire," he said.
---
Zeros' smiled thinnly.
"Never say never, Duilin," he commented, and pushed his wings harder. A sea of bubbles extended from his wings, as he was rapidly pushed forwards. He also displaced the water around him, making him go faster, and gradually catching up to the island.
Meanwhile, the sword started to glow alittle brighter...
Posted by: Kahn on Sunday November 20th, 2005
Hyperion had been flying for a while in full dragon form when he noticed a traveller on the ground.
"I have an idea but I'll need his help."
He dove down quickly, coming up behind the traveller. The traveller tried to look back but Hyperion grabbed the mans head in his jaws and tore it off. He lifted his own head up and swallowed the travellers head whole. With a swing of his tail the rest of the mans body flew into the distance. Hyperion then procceded to curl up and cover himself with his wings.
"It's been years since I've done anything like this ."
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 20th, 2005
Laus and Vikingagarð were now very very close. Laus turned a little, and then neatly slotted into a notch in the coastline that had obviously been prepared earlier, and fused because of the collision heating up the rock. The city had blinked out of existance during the massive deceleration, so as not to kill the population.
Due to Vikingagarð's larger size, the unified landmass drifted at quite high speed southwards, and rotated quite fast also, for just 7 seconds. After those 7 seconds, the entire unified island disappeared, leaving only massive turbulence, waves and foam.
____________________________________________________________________
The landmass had been transported to a different universe, via universe with no movement, in order to stop the rotation, and was now in the sea of a planet almost identical to the world they had just left, except there were no humans here, nor any other sentients, but plenty of animals and vegetation.
Haraldur set up a doorway in the central square of Laus, which led back to the home universe, and put a shield on it and all other entrances, cutting the universe off from all others and making travel to it impossible without breaking the barrier.
After amplifying his voice, he spoke, "People of Laus, my comrades, fellow revolutionaries, you are now in a seperate universe to the one you know, one in which we have no enemies, one where you will be safe. It is abundant in all that is necessary for survival and more. Take your opportunity to explore the new land this city has been attached to, and then work it to make it perfect.
"This door in the centre of this square, the one with the blood red shield of the Aspyes over it, leads back home. I hope that you, the citizens' militia would keep it under guard to prevent intrusion to this your paradise.
"You may be wondering why I have brought here, as we were defending ourselves so well. I had just felt the tremors of an event, which would have resulted in your safety level falling even lower than already: an ancient tyrant has just returned, one more terrible than you would have experienced for 20,000 years.
"Over the time we will be spending here, I will tell you more about myself, for not even Nikola knows all about who I am. We are joined by an idea, now we can be joined by other things as well.
"Firstly, I must tell you that my father, well, that is the nearest equivalent word I can think of, is Melkoth..."
Stunned silence.
"... and I have just felt his return to our home."
Shocked silence.
"I will stay for a time here, and then I will leave to fight him, while Nikola will be staying here indefinitely to make sure this place is safe from attack, both from within and without this universe. Our recently joined comrades," he motioned to Ein and Marshall //I am assuming that you do not mind having come on this journey?//,"and anyone else can go through the doorway if they inform Nikola or myself. In fact, it would be appreciated if, at a later time, some of you went back to foment revolution in other countries."
He paused as Tesla removed the shield surrounding the city of Laus.
"But first, I would like to teach you of the interdimentional history of our movement. I trust you will find it very interesting, and that some things will make you very angry. It is a long story, one of struggle and of betrayal, and of suppression..."
//Haraldur and Tesla and Laus are effectively inactive when it comes to everyone except Ein and Marshall. They need a rest anyway.//
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar stopped suddenly as they saw the two landmasses join and disappear. They stared for a while at the turbulence left in the sea as it started to subside. What is this? Some new annihilation attack devised by the Crimson Empire?
Salazar sent another communication: "Well done for finally annihilating Laus, or has it just spontaneously ceased to exist?"
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar's embassy received the message and sent it to Draven.
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet, Quintus, left the cave complex to organise some of the acolytes.
The acolytes were now systematically blocking all roads in the area, and throwing transparent floating and moving barriers into the sky, to block those capable of flight.
They would just have to wait until the blocking of supply lines was noticed, and then it would be their moment.
____________________________________________________________________
In the path of Draven's flight, some such barriers had just been put, and they were all around. Below, some acolytes from a different and smaller base (one to the East of the Crimson Capital, not to the West) were throwing up yet more using magic. When they noticed that Draven was flying straight into a cluster of barriers, they grinned. Before he reached the barriers, they shot some balls of shade magic towards him.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth left the complex, and flew upwards to survey the Dark Continent. Oh, the memories, such wonderful memories.
He had not noticed Haraldur's presence, but he suddenly felt the background aura of Haraldur's presence completely leave the universe, and it was quite a shock. Why would my son leave instead of attacking me? Has he failed to sense my presence? Impossible. Oh, well. I should find out soon enough.
He resisted the urge to scream his name out into the world, to inform them all of his return.
He shot a couple of blue spheres towards the ground, and they formed a fast moving swarm of flying rats. He sent them towards the East, to a city on the horison he did not know was the Crimson Capital.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 20th, 2005
//bah... this is somewhat unexpected...\\
Ein finished drawing his diagram and chanted a little. After about 4 minutes of chanting, the etching flashed, and Ein was completely hidden in it's light for a split moment. As he reappeared, there were no changes noticed; only the etching on the wall was gone, and Ein had a slightly irregular patch of skin. He turned to Tesla.
-"I have unfinished buisness with a few people. I will leave Laus, for now."
He walked to the center of Laus and entered the doorway...
//where exactly does it lead? or should I use my imagination?"\\
--- --- ---
The soliders appeared to ignore Gerard. He walked around Redvik, spectating it, and walked back to the lab. As he entered, the mage girl was now gone. "Heh... I didn't expect her to stay with something that killed her master, possibly." He walked to one of the walls that had a shelf on it. The vials he prepared earlier were still there; their contents were intact. He took off his belt, tied the vials to it, the put the belt back on, and headed back out to the exit.
Posted by: Haraldur on Sunday November 20th, 2005
//You arrive anywhere in the main universe you want. It is advisable to arrive where there is atmosphere.//
Wherever Ein went, a communications orb, decorated with revolutionary symbols, arrived in his hand, allowing him to communicate with Laus, as the orb had a particular frequency of emission that allowed the signals to pass through the shields.
Ein will need to ask Nikola or Haraldur how to get back, if and when he wants to.
Posted by: Trent on Sunday November 20th, 2005
"Of course, sir." She hopped on and charged light energy to her finger, just in case anything should try to attack them.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 20th, 2005
"Melkoth..." Marshal repeated. He had heard legends of that man. He then walked into one of the houses, it had storage of bullets, he took some, and then walked back outside. "Well...perhaps I shall aid Ein, with his quest. He may need some help..." He then turned to Haraldur and Tesla, and nodded. "Wish us luck."
----
Valos and the mages stopped as he saw the island disappear.
"Shit..." Valos groaned
"Sir, um...What happened?" One mage asked
"If I know Haraldur, and I don't much. But, my best bet is that he went into one of his freaking alternate universes."
"Um....Sir?"
"Remember last battle? He was hiding in his own personal universe."
"Oh...What do we do now sir?"
Valos just stared in the position the island once was. He shook his head. "We...go home..."
"Yes, sir." The mages then turned and flue back to Redvik.
Valos stood floating in the air, the wind blowing his hair and flapping parts off his robe. He took out the communications orb from his pocket. "Lord Draven, report..."
----
Rink, rubbed his eyes as he witnessed the island disappear. The imp dived down into the water, holding his breath, until he flue into Duilin's air bubble.
"What the...Oh, Rink." Duilin said a little surprised. "What's the news?"
"I think the island is gone." Rink said.
"What?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday November 20th, 2005
//if marshal follows, which i think he does:\\
Ein walked into the portal...
...He and Marshal were now on a large hill, from which surroundings could be seen perfectly. He looked around...
-"Ah, I know where we are. Look -- isn't that Redvik?", Ein said, pointing to a large fortress surrounded by blackish-red lava. Suddenly, his arm that he was pointing with jolted a little; he screamed in pain. The small patch of deformed skin started growing larger, and if that was not enough, his little "friend" awoke:
"Ein... what are you doing? Why did you cast that spell?</i>"
-"Arrgghh! SHUT UP!"
His arm AND his head were hurting like insane now. He fell on the ground. After a few minutes, however, the pain somewhat succumbed. The patch became bigger and continued growing, slowly. To Ein it felt like someone was pouring slightly cold water over the areas where the patch dominated, but before that, it was more like liquid nitrogen. He got up.
-"Alright... I last saw that... bird over there, southeast of Redvik. Let's go."
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 21st, 2005
(The Crimson Capital, located on a detached island floating a mile above the ground, wouldn't be affected much by rats from the ground. Heh...)
Something was up ahead. Draven shouted into his orb.
"I'm busy! Save it!"
What was this? Floating blocks? Ragnar is really pushing it... Trying to invade now? How very unlucky of him...
Draven extended his left hand. The sky flashed orange as a multitude of explosions ripped through the air several thousand feet before him. The barriers within his path disintegrated into nothing in a spectacular display. As he passed over the space that was blocked, he noticed he was being shot at from the ground.
Draven now pointed a glowing right hand downwards, and effectively carpet bombed the mages B-52 style. Hundreds of small explosions ripped the ground apart in a wide strip. He flew several hundred yards past the destruction before stopping and having a look behind him, floating upright. He really should tend to the waves, but troops actually on his land is a more immediate threat, especially if Ragnar is here...
----
(Oops! Totally forgot about Gerard last time! Sorry!)
One of the soldiers ran back into the hallway and looked around.
"Now I swore I heard something this time..."
The other followed.
"Huh?"
"A voice. Kinda deep and weird..."
"Nope, didn't hear nothin'. You okay?"
"You never... Hey, look?"
"What? Don't see nothin'..."
"No! That' airship in the sky! Looks like the generals' back."
The airship hovered over the remains of Redvik. Vincent paced back and forth the whole trip back. Another chance, he would have it soon. He was sure of it...
----
Salazar's messenger found the elite on the tower roof.
"I'm sorry, Lord Draven has left but will return shortly."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 21st, 2005
"Crap..." Valos groaned. "Might as well just go back and tell them the news..." He then holstered his sword onto his back and then flue off back to Redvik.
-----
Marshal nodded. He then noticed Ein was in pain. "Ein, are you okay? You like you are in pain."
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 21st, 2005
//Rats with feathery wings. Pretty much omnivorous locusts. In Nineteen-Eighty-Four, by George Orwell, they will attack a baby in the proletarian areas, and strip it to the bone in minutes. This is a swarm. It will attack adults, and they will get everywhere. As said in mentioned book, they will usually attack the eyes first, or burrow into the soft skin on the side of the mouth, below the cheeckbones.//
//By this time most of the Dark Continent will be covered by these invisible barriers.//
One of the acolytes, who had once been in the intelligence section, shouted, "Brothers, that is the Emporer himself!"
Then the attack hit, and he and a few others were not quick enough to put up shields, and were vapourised.
The others had reacted in time and had saved themselves. They sent forth another bombardment of about 50 balls of shade. One of them did not, however, and fired a small dart, too small to cut skin, at Draven, in order to get it to attach itself to the back of Draven's cloak. It was very small, about the size of a grain of rice. It would act as a homing device.
____________________________________________________________________
Quintus flew North a little way, followed by a group of acolytes. They flew into a forest the order had tended for millenia, with a clearing in the centre, and inhabited by many dangerous animals and evil beasts. They landed in the clearing, and stood in a circle around the edge of the clearing. The clearing was 1000 metres wide, and there were about 6000 acolytes standing around the edge, confident in the knowledge that the inhabitants of the forest would not attack them.
They each stuck either their right or left arms out, more often right than left, pointing towards the centre. Spreading out from the centre, the foundations of a circular building were magically laid, then a system of hypercausts and then the floors, on and on, building up the building layer by molecular layer, at super speed, so that it rose in height by a couple of centimetres a second.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth stood waiting for a while, pondering about how long this would take, this time. He always did that each time he attempted a take-over, at the beginning.
Let us instil a faint sense of foreboding and fear to add to the effect pf hindered travel and transport, he thought.
Above him, the whole sky began to uniformly (not concentrated over himself) fill with a black smog, turning the clouds from puffs of cotton wool over a blue ink to disturbing dark blotches on grey, decaying, necrotic skin.
____________________________________________________________________
In villages around the world, and in cities too, there was a slow panic as people saw the darkening of the sky, when it still was morning. Some of the more religious among the population of each village started talking of the end of the world, while the more educated were making comments about how, in some ways, it might as well be, since they could guess that some of takeover by cruel masters was about to happen. Typically, the names of such cruel masters escaped them, as their education had been scanty, and a long time ago, so they only had a sense of unease.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar saw the darkening of the sky, and some thoughts raced through his head. Is this the work of revolutionaries? No, it is too threatening to be a sign of hope and struggle to the proletariat. It is a take-over that is coming. Worrying, but an opportunity.
He glanced South. He knew that beyond the Southern horison were territories of Wahabia, and the continent beyond it. This would be a perfect cover to take it over, especially because of the wave damage they have sustained. Laus was obviously destroyed, so there was no more reason for him to tarry here.
"Fly South, today we take Wahabia."
The mage-soldiers flew South, singing nationalistic and Fascist-style songs as the landscape and sea passed below them.
____________________________________________________________________
The waves were now only twice the size of normal waves, and so would not cause any more damage to the coast.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur sat down by the door, after performing a time distortion operation to accelerate time in Laus compared to all other universes, to fit a huge amount of time into a second of another universe, to cut it off from interdimensional time, and said, "There is, somewhere, a universe where I have spent a lot of time. It is a universe that has never had magic of any form, and recently some technology. Let me tell you of some of the events of this planet in this universe, called by its inhabitants: Earth..."
Haraldur explains about the features of the solar system, and shows them images of the geography of Earth. He also shows the evolution of languages, cultures and the movements of peoples. This took a few weeks in Laus, but barely a second for the other universes.
He then starts to explain about the early industrial revolution.
In the meantime, cultivation of the surrounding land has started, and dams have been constructed to obtain electricity. Factories powered by the dams have been built, fully automated, producing many things, from clothes to chocolate. A system of distribution has been introduced, based on the energy consumed in producing any particular item.
Outside the city, five large structures are starting to be contructed. The purpose is not immediately obvious as yet, but they are large enough to contain many thousands of people.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 21st, 2005
-"Ugh... I'm fine... i think..."
Ein wandered around the hill for a while. The patch has now grown all around his arm, and was somewhat itching. He started rubbing it.
-"...what?"
Another patch grew on his palm, the one that he rubbed the other hand with. This was not the way this spell should've worked.
"<i>Hehehe... I've made a few... personal modifications to your little dragon transformation spell</i>."
-"Argh, damn, what did you do?!"
"<i>I guess you'll have to wait and see...</i>"
The other patch was spreading like wildfire. His entire hand got consumed by it in a matter of seconds. //If you've seen trigun, it looks sort of like when vash or knives use their angel arms\\ That hand also jolted a bit, and he felt a surge of pain.
-"Damnit, what did you do?!"
Suddenly, the patch stopped growing. Ein stood in silence for a moment... and then both his hands did something really odd. The wierd skin "exploded" in millions and millions of fibres that wrapped him in a sort of a goldish cocoon. The crysalis with Ein in it thrashed a bit, and then it stopped moving.
--- --- ---
Gerard was now armed with <i>aqua fortis. He exited the lab again, and headed back to Redvik for some... tests. He then noticed the airship in the sky.
-"What the crap?! What is that?"
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 21st, 2005
Marshal backed up a few steps, and rubbed his eyes. "What the..."
----
Valos looked up into the sky. "Huh?" The sky was changing colours. "What the heck is going on here?"
He noticed that something was going on in the direction that the Crimson Capital was. "Holy crap...Something weird is going on."
He spotted Vincent's airship. He then scanned and saw the remains of Redvik. "Damn..." He then flue down to one of the buildings that still stood. (Were the two soldiers talking about Gerard are)
He looked at the soldiers, and crossed his arms, to announce his presence.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 21st, 2005
Meanwhile in the pits of hell, a crazed demon was thrashing about. He was locked on the wall with chains, and had large gauntlets on his arms. He had demonic symbols branded on him. He sensed something. He sensed that a good friend has arrived on the Gaian. He also sensed that an old plan, he had almost given up hope for was making progress.
"I...must...go to Gaian..." The demon said weakly. He then gave an inter-dimensional telepathic message to Melkoth.
'Melkoth, even I as a demon am suffering here...I ask of you to release me... He paused. 'We will talk more once I am free...'
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 21st, 2005
Melkoth's face betrayed a look of shock as he heard the familiar voice in his head.
"Unbanish!"
The demon was inter-dimensionally teleported to be in front of Melkoth, on top of an armchair floating in the air.
"It is good to see you again, Abodahon, my old friend. I, too, have just been released." He paused. "Now, let us talk, please, say what you want to say."
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 21st, 2005
"Why thank you, Melkoth." Abodahon said bowing his head. "I would like to tell you something. I have assigned two of my allies to find a young man named Duilin. Their names are Nex and Valos. Nex was with the Dark Empire at one time, yet he suffered a bitter defeat." He then stretched a bit before continuing. "Valos, however, is with the Crimson Empire. He is very loyal, yet he is not important at the moment anymore, since he has done all that is needed. I had him attempt to persuade Duilin into becoming full demon. This has not yet been done; however I sense that he is almost near...I was quite a strong connection with him. But as soon as it is done, I will not be far into gaining control over the demons, as you have wished upon me."
Abodahon, then took a deep breath, he was unused to this atmosphere. "Also...I must find Valos...he is carrying something important. But, first I would like to know what is going on at the moment. So...what have you accomplished so far, Melkoth?"
-----
"Whoa.... I just felt something..." Duilin said
"You did?" Rink asked sounding concerned. "What?"
"I dunno, a few things...It seems like the world is going to hell all the sudden." Duilin said. "Zeros', it looks like Haraldur has left, but I feel a huge jolt of power. It's scary.... We really should find it. Do you want to help me?" He asked.
Posted by: Dippy on Monday November 21st, 2005
A while after the zombie was destroyed Albatrash had returned to the castle on wyvern back. He had returned to his large room inside the castle he had bought with his 20% pay of taxes he collects (plus the little bit he pockets when his crew isn't looking <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ph34r.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ph34r.gif' /> ).
"Honey I’m home!" He yells into the room as he drops his jacket on the floor, and his little monkey jumps up on his shoulder in greeting. "Looks like you found your way back little dude." He smiles at Bongo.
"What's that you got?" He asks as he sees an envelope on the floor. "A letter? Well if it aint daggered to my door it aint important." He tosses it onto a chair but sees the name, To: Captain Jonnathan Halfire Albatrash. From: Albert "Wizzy" Corsanda.
"Wizzy! That’s the jackass wizard I lost an arm wrestle to." Jonny grunts, "He cheated." He murmurs to Bongo. He opens the letter and it reads:
Greetings, my friend. I am currently between jobs at the moment and I would wonder if you would have any more jobs to fill after your ship exploded. If so please meet me at the end of the hall.
"What the hell?" Jonny walks to the door to look at the end of the hall. "He isn't there" He walks out to see for sure, when he feels a hand on his shoulder.
"Other end of the hall Jonny" Wizzy appears seemingly from nowhere.
Posted by: Trent on Monday November 21st, 2005
Zion sat up really fast, panting heavily, sweating... Tsu slowly sat up and looked at him. "What's your problem?"
"Just a dream I had... Demons coming from the underworld onto Gaian..." He got his bearings back and felt around... There WERE two demonic energies on this planet, at least! "Oh no... It feels like I'm right..."
--- --- ---
"Well that was a hoot." He flew off in the direction of Zion's ki signature.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 21st, 2005
The chrysalis started slowly transforming. It was growing larger. Eventually, some fibres popped out of it's sides and attached themselves to the ground, so that the cocoon will stay in place. Ein, although not visible, was still there... And even concious.
His brain stopped revieving messages from the rest of his body. He did not feel pain; he did not feel anyting. However, he could still think. He thought about the things that happened to him recently. Things that happened a while ago. Things that happened before his arrival on the Crimson Continent. He tried recalling these things, but could not recall some of them. He thought, and thought, and thought...
Suddenly, he felt another jolt, but this time it was more of a mental jolt. Something was alive in his mind... Oh, no.
"Hello, Ein.</i>."
"Gah! You again! Okay, hopefully now I can get a few answers out of you. What did you do to my body?"
"<i>Wrong question</i>."
"Damnit, don't leave so soon! I'M NOT DONE!"
The voice was silent again. Ein could no longer feel it's prescence, either. "Stupid thing... What is it, anyway?"
Outside, in the real world, the cocoon was now taking up half of the hill...
Posted by: Kahn on Monday November 21st, 2005
As soon as hyperion digested the human head, his wings formed a complete shell around his body. It only took a few seconds for the shell to start cracking. It broke open to reveal Hyperion in a quite large snake form.
"I wish I had been made with more forms, It's far too energy consuming to construct my own."
He wanted to spend some time getting familiar with his new form, but he had a job to do. Without hesitation he began to burrow under ground and head in Dravens direction.
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
Zeros' growled in frustration, but didn't stop his sword from charging. Unlike everyone else, he was directly connected with the planet. If he was destroyed, so was the planet. Luckily, he had made a fale-safe with the planet, and did not get destroyed if the planet did. That rule, unfortunetly, didn't count out his mother.
"It's Melkoth. That damn bastard is back," he growled. He stopped his forwards motion, as Laus was gone now. He shot straight up, and into the air. He observed the clouds, and the sky. Then, he looked towards where Melkoth and his aquantice are. He headed in that direction.
He'd be damned if he let Melkoth take over the world.
---
Allen wave, and the circular disc started to spin, but he didn't. It started to hum louder, and hover higher off the ground. It bobbed up and down, before shooting forwards, and off towards the Crimson Empire at amazing speeds.
Allen had also felt the power of Melkoth. And he was scared, but, he didn't let it show in his face. He kept his fear hidden beneith a finely honed mask.
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
//what? so does that mean that no one can kill zeros'? or if we will, the planet will blow up?? looks like a god character... then again, i AM the noob of the RP so excuse me if i don't understand something\\
The cocoon began to hatch. First, it was a small crack in the side. Then, the crack widened, letting out a huge fly-like leg. The leg threw off the rest of the cocoon off itself, revealing a giant pitch-black, red-eyed, red-winged... Moth.
The moth was huge. Very huge. It took up nearly 3\4th of the hill, and that's not counting it's limbs. It had two gigantic razor-sharp pincers, that could probably smash solid metal their size in half. It had a glowing red upside-down pentagram on it's forehead (the evil demonic type). It lowered one of it's wings, as if inviting Marshal.
...Ein was still there. However, his mind was no longer working like it does in a normal human. This could be compared to an operating system inside a computer: he did not feel any pain, he did not feel anything from the moth's body, but he could control it's limbs. Also, he could see from it's eyes.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
Floating about twenty feet in the air, Draven eyed the changing sky, still convinced Haraldur was behind it.
"Oh, my. More with the cheap lighting tricks..."
There definitely was something amidst, in the general westerly direction, an aura that was Ragnar-like, but he couldn't place his finger on it, or directly where it was...
He glanced down just in time to see the return barrage of fifty or so blue orbs headed his way. In retort, he thrust his left hand out, creating a wedge shaped crimson barrier. This caused the orbs and anything else sent his way to deflect in two directions.
"You miserable little insects..."
Draven smirked... ah the nostalgia... He couldn't help himself... With a flash, he fell straight down, landing on one foot. His body exploded in flame, an intense crimson aura wrapping around him, and he dashed, buring a straight trail through the ground, at the nearest group of mages.
The nearest was a group of five, standing close together. The one in front immediately put up a barrier. As Draven impended closer, he brought his right hand to his side, a burning blade appearing in the emperor's fist. The mage intensified the barrier as the screaming ball of flame approached with the force of a semi truck. Draven thrust the blade right through the barrier and into the man's heart, sending a wave of crimson energy through it and causing the mage's body to explode. The explosion engulfed the four other mages and they flew skyward as burning corpse.
A spray of orbs from the left. Before the bodies could hit the ground, Draven spun and slashed, deflecting the orbs back towards their owners. Another barrage, from the right. Continuing the spin, Draven performed an upward slash, digging his blade through the ground at the start. A crescent wave of flame rushed from the fire sword, vaporizing the attacks and continuing onward to meet the attackers with explosive results, sending another twenty or so burning bodies skyward.
The battle continued in the same manner. In 27 seconds he had wasted the entire group, killing or maiming all of them, save for one. This one stood among the charred ground and remains of his comrades. Still burning with his crimson aura, Draven rushed the last mage and grabbed him by the neck with his left hand. He continued forward, lifting the man up from the ground. They flew diagonally some thirty feet, until Draven slammed the mage up against a tree and held him there, still by his neck. Draven's crimson blade still burned in his right hand. They were some 10 feet off of the ground. The top of the tree ignited from the proximity of Draven's aura.
"Tell me, where might I find your exalted leader? We have some <i>issues to discuss, you see..."
(Now would be the time to plant the tracker!)
----
(Oops! How could I miss 'flying' rats? Heh...)
The elite with the dark aura noticed something on the horizon, other than the change of sky color, of course. There was an odd cloud headed their way. He opened a pouch strapped to his belt and removed a nautical telescope. Looking into the lens, he could see the strange creatures in detail.
"Hans! Get up here!"
The elite with the yellow trimmed black armor appeared from the window of a separate tower and flew up to his leader.
"Aye, Cap'n!"
Elite Julian lowered the telescope before getting the bad joke and taking a swing at his subodinate's head with the object. Hans ducked out of the way.
"Sorry! Geez..."
"Just shut up, Hans. I don't like the look of those flying things with teeth headed our way. Take care of them."
"Right!"
Hans floated some twenty feet above the tower roof and outstretched his arms. A yellow aura surrounded him.
"Fear my ELECTRIC DEATH!!!"
Julian put his left hand over his face in embarrassment.
Dark clouds formed above and below the swarm, and a barrage of lightning danced through it, electrocuting all the creatures. The swarm fell out of the sky...
Julian leaned over the edge of the tower. Something is up... better sheild the city... Although creatures like that would be a major threat to the smaller villages...
----
At Redvik, Vincent's airship landed in one of the underground docks and the door closed overhead. Vincent emerged from the vessel. The colonel saluted him.
"Status report."
Meanwhile. The two soldiers immediately saluted General Valos.
"Sir! General Valos, sir! General Vincent has just returned and is likely in the lower levels, sir!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
"Excellent..." Valos then walked his way down to the lower levels, to meet Vincent.
He arrived at the underground dock. "General Vincent. It appears that Ragnar has left. I saw his island disappear. I can only suspect he went into, ahem, ‘another universe’..."
----
Marshal backed up, he was a bit scared to the creature. "Ein?" He then looked at it. "You are Ein..."
He then looked at the moth's wing. "Well...okay..." He then walked onto the giant moth.
----
Duilin and Rink flue up and followed Zeros'.
"Melkoth?" Rink asked "But isn't he? Ah, never mind..."
"Yeah...I wonder what he wants." Duilin said
"Well, I can only guess his plans are a lot worse then Haraldur's." Rink replied
"There are two of them.... They are familiar. I know one of the is Melkoth, but the other one..."
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
//How the hell can Zeros' see Melkoth from the other side of the Dark Continent? For a start, Melkoth would be beyond the horison, a few hundred times over. Does Zeros' constantly use x-ray vision?//
"Duilin? You might like to ask Quintus, he might have met him in his travel. He will also be pleased to see you again.
"What have we accomplished so far? We have paralysed internal communication, transport and travel, excepting orbs, within the Crimson Empire, although, of course, they do not realise it yet. Quintus is just now contructing the Grey Palace in that forest over there, in the clearing. I myself have caused a little panic, no doubt, by darkening the sky. Apart from that, we are just beginning.
"I am led to believe there is a port city to the west of here, called Retangrad, which is quite large and significant. We are going to attack it and some villages between it and us, and some more surrounding our position here, to get ourselves a foothold."
____________________________________________________________________
The helpless acolyte placed the barbed dart in a fold in Draven's clothing, the one that would signal Draven's position.
The acolyte then took a deep breath, and there was a loud crack as he cracked open an insertion in one of his teeth containing poison gas. He breathed out as he did so, blowing the gas in Draven's face.
Just before he himself died, he used the last of his magical power to make his still alive body explode, flattening an area of forest 100 metres in radius, with Draven in that area.
____________________________________________________________________
The palace was now about 1/4 finished. Columns were being slowly built up.
Quintus, the Prophet, received a homing device signal, and information from it about the target. It was Draven! At least now they could see what he did, whether he was fighting, and where he was. Good, I can see how effective my slave might be.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar's troops started to fly over the deserts and salt mines of Wahabia, flying towards the capital city of Wahabia, Mellibasra.
From the city walls, arrows came flying up, picking off one or two of Salazar's soldiers.
The soldier-mages sent down a few explosive fireballs, blowing up sections of the mud brick and stone wall. In return, fireballs were thrown at them by defensive mages on the walls, about 40 of the soldiers were killed.
Horns sounded in the city, and out of the central palace flew the king of Wahabia, and his personal bodyguard, consisting of about 400 mages, flying toward the invaders...
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur now starts to explain about Marx and Engels, the Paris Commune and the Anarchists.
He tells them of the First World War, and then of the Russian Revolutions, both of them. He tells them of Lenin's death, and then of Stalin's betrayal of the revolution. He tells them then of the Civil War in Spain, and the Revolution there. He tells them of the differing factions in the Republican government, and how the Stalinists crushed the Revolution, as they had in Russia. He then tells them of George Orwell and his books (and reads them to them, from memory) and of the Second World War, and of nukes.
He then starts talking of a group in North America called the Technical Alliance...
The five structures are still being contructed, and are rising fast, now being very tall.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
"Very interesting." Abodahon replied. "I will join you in the attack on Retangrad. I have no fought for quite some time, and I would like to give the world a preview of my power." He then turned his head, at were Quintus was. "Ah, yes. Quintus. I shall speak with him, now. Inform me on when we attack Retangrad."
Abodahon then flue down to were Quintus was working. "Quintus, how good to see you again." He said greeting him.
Posted by: Kahn on Tuesday November 22nd, 2005
"I can feel your presence nearby Draven."
Hyperion was gaining speed and he was already moving far faster than he could ever fly.
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday November 23rd, 2005
// Ein: No. You can still kill Zeros'. It's just, if you kill him, the planet goes with him. But, if you destroy the planet, he won't die, but his mother would, who is the sentient being, basically the spirit, of Gaian, the planet.
Haraldur: No, Haraldur. He doesn't have X-ray vision. If you remember back to... Chapter 4 or so, your character fought Melkoth, so, Zeros' had a chance to sample his aura, which is quite similiar to Haraldurs, but not exactly. Because of Zeros' extreme connection to the planet, he could feel anyone that came onto the planet. Plus, he was well over a few millennia, so, he had ample time to develop his senses.
As for god characters... Look at Haraldur. Also, if Zeros' dies from natural means, such as working himself to death, or something like that, the planet would still stay. Only if Zeros' is killed by external means, does the planet go with him. \\
"Yes... No doubt Melkoth's plans are worse then Haraldur's... We have to stop him at any cost," he said, and continued to fly faster. He wouldn't reach Melkoth for several more minutes, even if he flew his fastest. He didn't know what Melkoth would do in that time... He knew it wouldn't be good, though.
---
Meanwhile...
Allen's disc hummed across the water, leaving a trail of wave in it's wake. The tip of the Crimson Empire could be see, hovering in the sky, miles away.
Allen, himself, just wanted to reach Draven and get this mission over with.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 23rd, 2005
Draven coughed once, but the foul odor did not affect him. He folded his arms, floating above the resulting crater.
"My my, how rude. Well, I was going to blow him up anyway..."
He rose a bit higher above the ground. Draven's ability to sense the auras of others had improved significantly since his days as a High General, but he still needed to be within a few dozen miles to pinpoint an exact location.
"Hmmm, let's see..."
The Ragnar-like aura was to the west... Zeros'... to the south... maybe a little east... Flyboy's no doubt on it as well. Best to stay separate for the moment. We'll have a better chance of finding him that way...
Another explosion of flame emanated from his body and he shot westward wrapped in a fireball.
(Could you give us more detail on these floating barriers?)
----
Vincent walked towards Valos, a small entourage of troops following him. He spoke calmly.
"It seems this Ragnar is tricky one. A very dangerous foe... I can see why the Emperor is held in such high regards for defeating him five years ago. That is, of course, if the events we are told occured as they say..."
He stopped short, and realized it would be best not to go in that direction...
"But of course, that is none of our business..."
A soldier ran up to the two generals and saluted.
"General Vincent! General Valos!"
"Yes?"
"We are receiving reports of strange magical barriers being placed around Redvik... particularly across trade routes and paths."
"Placed by who?"
"We don't know, Sir. Local officers request permission to attack."
"Only if attacked... Find out what you're up against, first..."
----
Across the land, the barriers and insurgent mages are discovered by the many wyvern rider patrol units.
Barriers are torn down and the insurgents repressed with minimal difficulty near the large fortresses and larger cities, where there are strong military presences.
More rural areas (which actually most of the continent consists of) and small villages are in trouble, however, and smaller military units in these areas find themselves cut off without reinforcements.
Minor skirmishes sweep across the land...
----
"Meh heh heh... Well, well, you're looking well, friend..."
An outline of a figure appeared behind Melkoth. It slowly filled in, and a translucent figure stood there. It was a very old man, hunched over and leaning heavily on a staff with a ruby gem on it. Heavy plates of black armor rested on the frail old man's shoulders...
The specter of Alpha Retan smiled, revealing crooked jagged teeth.
"Reckless as ever, eh? You know, they're not gonna like that..."
He lifted his staff and pointed to the fortress under construction.
"Heh, oh well, you were never one to waste time. A little patience will do you good, though, ya know..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 23rd, 2005
"Barriers?" Valos asked. "Well it can't be the Aspyes, they are gone."
Valos passed back a bit, and then turned back to Vincent. "Perhaps there is another enemy amongst us?"
----
Duilin and Rink sped up more to keep up with Zeros'.
"You know..." Duilin said. "This may sound crazy...but...If Melkoth is back, and if he is to powerful. We may even have to form an alliance with Haraldur."
"You serious?" Rink asked
"Yes, I am. We did so with Draven."
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday November 23rd, 2005
The giant moth began flapping its wings. At first, it did so slowly; then, the wings moved faster and faster, eventually becoming blurred. After a couple of seconds, the giant insect rose and headed to where Duilin was.
Ein manipulated the insect with ease. It was not even his own body per se, but he controlled it as easily as it were. It was like controlling a machine, but even easier, as he did not need to learn how to control it. He already knew. "Hmm... whoever that guy was, this alternation is not so bad!"
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday November 24th, 2005
Zeros' shook his head.
"Melkoth is strong, yes, but, he more then likely, can't access his full powers here. It's only a theory, but, since he was banished from Gaian, I assume a miniscule amount of his power must of also gone with him," he said, while still flying.
---
Allen breathed a sigh of relief, as, he came directly below where the Crimson Empire was floating.
He signed something upwards, and, a thin red beam shot down, and enveloped the disk. The disk and it's two passangers de-materialized, and reappeared in the hanger, that was just above where Vincent had landed his airship.
The disk landed, and he hopped off the disk, his coat flaring behind him. He saluted the guards, and they saluted back.
"Where is Draven?" he asked.
"He left, sir," replied one of the guard. Allen cursed.
"Who else is here, that is in command?" he questioned. The two guards looked between themselves and shrugged.
"Well... General Vincent and Valos are here, sir," said the guard. Allen nodded, and signaled them to take him to them. The guards saluted, and one left his post, and scurried down the hall, taking Allen in Valos and Vincent's direction.
Before he left, he turned and smirked in Aura's direction.
"Are you coming, miss?" he asked, before turning on his heel, and walking out the door.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday November 24th, 2005
(Vincent and Valos are in the (mostly underground) fortress of Redvik, way south of the floating Crimson Captital where Elite Juilian has been left in charge.)
(A note on these shady 'elites'. They're like Draven's personal bodyguards. Not really military officers. They usually aren't in charge of any military functions, unless they are given a task, like in this case they are to defend the Crimson Capital.)
----
Draven continued streaking through the sky westward, visibly passing south of the Crimson Capital, about even in altitude with the floating city.
----
"Another enemy?"
Vincent placed his hands behind his back.
"Hmm, I wouldn't rule that possibility out, considering Ragnar's retreat from the mainland, and it is odd enemy factions would just appear randomly around us... Although I'm not sure whether that supports your theory or not..."
Posted by: Haraldur on Thursday November 24th, 2005
//Zeros', should I assume that Zeros' has this magical way of avoiding invisible barriers in the air?//
//The barriers are 10x10x10 metres of rock. 1000 metres cubed. Big. Hurts a lot if you crash into one by accident at high speed.//
//By the way people, please remember that almost all the Dark Continent has flight hindering barriers of the type mentioned above.//
//Whatever it is that Zeros''s character thinks, Melkoth actually did die in the (almost) conventional sense, but had methods of having himself brought back.//
Melkoth nodded to Abodahon. "I will."
____________________________________________________________________
A little startled, Quintus turned, and said, "Abodahon! This is a pleasant surprise. How did you come to be here?"
He then noticed that Draven was flying very fast towards them.
"It seems we will have guests soon..."
He telepathed to Melkoth, People can detect us by our auras, we should leave this place. We might as well begin the attack.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth replied: Yes. Tell Abodahon that we two shall attack Abodahon, while you guard this place.
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet nodded. "Abodahon, Melkoth wishes you to acompany him now to attack Retangrad. I will stay here to guard."
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth grinned. "Really? I prefer, 'He who hesitates is lost.' Anyway, I see you also had plans for your survival. Is this your final form, or would you like me to help come back in a more solid way?
"Please answer quickly, as Abodahon and I are about to attack Retangrad, your old city, in order to gain a port city. In fact, you might like to attend, my old friend. I have heard it is quite run down now, despite its excellent harbour. Apparantly it is not near enough hostile territory, from the point of view of the Crimson Empire, to be worth maintaining. We will have work to do."
He waited both for Alpha Retan's answer and for Abodahon to arrive.
____________________________________________________________________
The palace is 1/2 finished.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar's troops and the bodyguard of the King of Wahabia fought, until the King was alone.
Salazar flew forward, as did the King. Salazar moved around the king, and the king around him, and then they shot fireballs at eachother. After a few minute of fighting with different spells, the king was dead, and his charred body was dropping to the ground.
Salazar brushed some soot off his fatigues as his soldiers flew into the city to kill all males and children, and rape all females.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur now explained of the Energy Survey of North America that was carried out by the Technical Alliance, and how it was completed in the early '30s. He then talked of how they regrouped to form Technocracy Incorporated, and then he started explaining the plan and the ideology. His comrades were starting to nod with agreement with much more frequency.
The explanation, in detail, took many months. //For a very diluted version (without the calculations etc.) got to www.technocracy.ca and www.technocracy.org and read everything there. I doubt you will though, and it is not important to the story until later, when I will explain it anyway.//
The five large buildings were nearly finished.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday November 24th, 2005
"He wasn't just banished from Gaian." Rink said. "He was killed."
"Well, it has been five years, maybe he has gotten even stronger perhaps?" Duilin replied to Zeros'
----
"Melkoth released me from my entrapment." Abodahon responded. "Oh, attack so soon? Very well, I wish to ask you some questions afterwards, when the two of us are less busy." He then flapped his wings and flew up to Melkoth. "Shall we?"
----
"Well, no it doesn't. Yet, I'm sure the Aspyes wouldn't stay and fight. I'm sure they are all gone in some alternate universe, with their thumbs up their asses!"
He then looked outside. "Yet I do sense a few powerful auras...new ones..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Thursday November 24th, 2005
Ein continued guiding the insect towards Duilin.
"Hehe... Better get ready, bird. I bet you never ate an insect this big!"
He made the insect snap it's pincers a bit.
--- --- ---
Gerard watched the two airships land somewhere around Redvik. He also noticed a small figure fly into the fortress. "Curious..." He started walking to where the airships landed, but then he noticed a small staircase guarded by two soliders. They were intently conversing. He flew up...
The soliders were talking to each other.
-"Hey, you heard? Laus vanished off to another universe again."
-"Damn, that Ragnar keeps pullin' tricks out of i don't want to know where."
-"Heh... yeah, he's always like.... wha? hey, did you hear that?"
-"Hear what?
-"Ah, never mind, probably was the wind..."
Gerard was stealthly gliding over the two soliders. He then glided a little lower... extended one of his arms. Suddenly, a solider turned around.
-"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Gerard swooped his hand, impaling the solider's neck, but not completely ripping it off his body. In fact, he raised the solider's body with him. The other one hastily turned around.
-"Hey, where'd you...? Ahh!"
Gerard, with the other solider's corpse in his hand, whacked the other one over with the corpse. Then he jumped on him and kicked him in the head //this gets a completely new meaning as he has claws on his legs as well\\. He walked onto the staircase.
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday November 24th, 2005
// I never said he was flying straight, did I? \\
// As for his thoughts, Zeros' thinks Melkoth was banished from Gaian, and with it, a small portion of his power. \\
Zeros' growled. He was getting pissed off with these invisible barriers. They were more annoying, then anything.
He kept flying erretically, while making sure Duilin and Rink were still following him.
"Stronger? No... I don't believe so," he said, in response to Duilin's question.
---
The guard led Allen deeper, and stopped and conversed with a guard, and turned back to Allen, saluting him.
"I'm sorry, sir. I hadn't relized iit, but, General Valos and Vincent are gone," he said. Allen sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.
"Great... Just great," he murmurred.
Posted by: Kahn on Thursday November 24th, 2005
Hyperion stalked Draven from underground waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike and he was willing to wait as long as was necessary. He was able to keep his life last time, if he failed again he may not be that lucky.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday November 25th, 2005
(Cool. I'm guessing you're the same Haraldur on that site, huh? Heh, I'll read more later. However, as interested as I am what the people of Laus are doing, I must remind you that this is a medieval themed RP!)
"Where in blazes are these stone blocks coming from?!"
Draven let loose another wave of fireballs, destroying the barriers in his way. Pebbles began to rain down from above. He began to fly a bit lower towards the ground, so as to avoid a set positioned above. Someone was going to pay, for the irritation factor alone...
----
"Meh, you know the rules..."
Alpha Retan shrugged.
"Only 995 years left before my body regenerates, though. Where is that idiot son of yours anyway? I really must thank him again for releasing me. He he he..."
He stood a bit straighter and shook his staff at Melkoth.
"Anyway, the reason I came, other than the void being so boring, of course, is about the one that killed me last. The one who's land you're messing up right now. I really should thank him too. The way he killed me, I should get at least 20% more magical capacity with my next body... so much beautiful hateful power he possesses!
"My point about your hastiness, however, is that right now in trying to take over the first country that you see, you are attacking the only nation that is fighting against your son... You catch my drift?"
The old man looked up and saw the demon approach Melkoth.
"Ah, Abodahon, if I remember correctly..."
Posted by: Trent on Friday November 25th, 2005
"Ugh... How long did we sleep, Xenai?"
"Two days."
"Holy crap... Ven, wake up. I think we've slept enough."
"And what, praytell, do you plan on doing while you're awake, huh?"
"I want to find out what those demonic energies are."
"I might as well go with ya. Tsu, you comin'?"
"Of course."
"Well, let's see what Ven here thinks about it."
--- --- ---
She saluted the guards. "Yes, of course." She quickly follows Allen and the guards. //Bah, I know I'm not supposed to do posts like that, but I don't know what else to do.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 25th, 2005
Abodahon nodded. "Greetings Alpha Retan. With the three of us here, our goals will be much easier to accomplish. Anyways, I expect that we may have some guests drop in on our attack, since our auras are catching attention, yet it will just make it all the more fun. Alpha Retan, shall you be joining us on the attack on Retangrad?" He inquired
----
"Hmmm…" Duilin responded, neutral about Zeros' answer. "Well...it seems like their are...two, no three...three auras...Strong ones." He may be skilled with powers, yet he was still new to them, he has gotten used to them, yet five years wasn't very much compared to Zeros', Haraldur or even Draven.
----
Valos then rubbed his chin. "Yes...I believe these auras that I sense are connected to whoever is making those barriers." He crossed his arms. "It seems that a few people are heading towards them, so I'll let them take care of it."
----
Marshal was a little freaked out from the giant moth that he was riding on, yet now he seems a bit more comfortable. "I wonder were they are going? They seem to be headed somewhere." He then looked up in the sky, examining it more so, he noticed that it changed before yet he didn't pay much attention to it. "Perhaps, something has done this, and they are trying to find out. This is just a theory however." He supposed.
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday November 25th, 2005
//Yes, your guess is correct.
Medieval themed yes, however, our middle ages went through the Renaissance and then the Industrial Revlution, so things will not be static, and need not follow the pattern of history on Earth. Also, there is an important difference: magic! I find it amazing how many fanatasy-themed things there are where magic seems to be amazingly underused, considering its utility. It is like us knowing how electricity works, but not using it. How do societies develop in a magical environment? This is, potentially, a fascinating topic. Ther certainly would be the possibility of authoritarianism, which is very well represented in this RP, adding to the sense of logic and "realism".//
____________________________________________________________________
//I was under the impression that Haraldur killed Alpha Retan with the long charge attack (which I forget the name of) which he inserted into Alpha Retan's body and detonated, blowing him up.//
Melkoth grinned, "Do not forget that is your son as well, Alpha Retan. Do not forget your own involvement.
"Yes, I realise that this "Crimson Empire" is fighting our son, but this is to our advantage. There is a chance that they think we are our son, and so will go after him not us. They will also assume, because of this, that we will act like he acts. Also, they have probably been weakened by fighting our son."
//Dude Man, can Valos sense any familiarity in Abodahon's aura? Does he recognise his master?//
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday November 25th, 2005
//Well, not entirely. He hasn't seen Abodahon for many years, so he wouldn't be able to recognise, since his aura has grown so much since then. He was mostly under Nex's order. \\
"Hmm, yes I sense that Duilin is coming with them." Abodahon said "Once he is here, defend yourself from him if he attacks if you must, but do not kill him."
"So perhaps we should get started on our attack? We should try and finish it before the others get here, perhaps." He suggested.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday November 26th, 2005
Ein was flying the moth straight at Duilin, but then something unexpected happened. The creature suddenly stopped, sending Marshal flying, but not completely knocking him off. Ein got a hugimungous headache. "Ow... What the hell was that?" He got his moth to snap it's pincers at where it crashed. Then a big chunk of rock appeared, being smashed to pieces by the insect's pincers. He then continued flying.
--- --- ---
Gerard continued going down the staircase //the one that leads to the place where the airships are\\.
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday November 26th, 2005
(Haraldur <a href='http://darkagegames.net/dal/viewer.php?mode=1&id=472&page=115' target='_blank'>disabled</a> the dragon form Alpha Retan (very badly) and Draven <a href='http://darkagegames.net/dal/viewer.php?mode=1&id=472&page=116' target='_blank'>finished the job</a> by nuking the entire arctic circle. (Heh...) I'm not sure if AR would have died or not if Draven hadn't done that. On one hand, AR has regenetive abilities, but on the other, his energy was totally spent by that point.)
The translucent old man shrugged.
"Bah, one tenth mine. One tenth... Actually, with a few programming corrections, Number Ten may become useful to our cause once again... Ah, what a blissful sweet angel of unholy destruction he was... he he he... We may still be able to separate him before destroying the rest, considering he is an artificial replacement for your son's true tenth component...
"Hmmm, I see your point. However..."
Alpha Retan held out his staff diagonally, the red gem away from him. A white translucent orb appeared floating above it, about one foot in diameter. Within that sphere an image of Draven appeared, flying close to the ground, wrapped in flame. Rage was building in his eyes as he effortlessly plowed his way through a series of barriers...
"You see, he's headed this way. And he's quite angry... Unless your son happens to show up in his path within a few minutes to distract him... Now him along with the people Abodahon mentioned... well, several hours of needless distraction seem to be headed your way while your son is free to go about his business..."
The image disappeared.
"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter in the end. I'm just here to watch."
He smiled his crooked smile.
----
Ven sat up.
"Oh, god...!"
He held his right hand to the sharp pain in his neck. Note to self: Don't use rocks as pillows...
He stood up, dusting himself off and straightening his cloak. He fealt rejuvenated and refreshed.
"Guessed I used up too much energy. Sorry about that... Oh, hey, Xenai."
He stood up and looked around the forest. He moved his left arm around in a circle while holding his shoulder with his right.
"Demonic energies? Sure, why not? Don't worry about carrying me this time. Think I've recovered enough to handle that myself."
He brought his right hand before his face and clenched it into fist. A yellow aura surrounded it. Then thrusting it to the ground as a palm, a barely visible disc of wind appeared under his feet, which lifted him a foot off of the ground.
"Lead the way."
Posted by: Zeros' on Saturday November 26th, 2005
Zeros' turned at the sound, and sensed Ein's aura, but, kept moving anyways.
He stopped suddenly, and shot straight up, while growling.
He held out the hand that wasn't holding his sword. A condensed beam of energy formed there. It grew bigger, and glowed white.
Zeros' smirked, and fired. There was a crumbling sound, as all the barriers over 1,000 yards back were destroyed, the rock fragments falling into the ground.
He adjusted himself, and flew into the hole he made.
---
Allen ran a hand through his hair, and sighed, frustarted.
"I have no damn idea what to do," he said, towards Aura. "Any ideas?" he inquired.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday November 26th, 2005
"Hmm, I guess that works." Duilin chuckled, as Zeros' blasted down the barriers. He then turned his head, and saw a giant moth with Marshal riding it. "What the hell? I guess Marshal didn't go into the barrier, and it looks like he summoned a giant moth or something. Yet, I can also sense that one caped man with him, yet I don't see him...Odd."
"Well, let's fly faster, maybe we can loose them!" Rink suggested
"Zeros' is doing that so yes, let's." Duilin agreed. He then grabbed onto Rink, since he can't fly as fast and then he blasted off thru the broken barriers...
----
"Arg!" Marshal growled. "They are flying to fast, what do we do?"
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday November 26th, 2005
The palace is now 3/4 complete.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar entered the palace of Wahabia, letting his troops loot and pillage, and wrest control of the rest of the country.
He sat down on the throne, and smiled. He had now multiplied the size of his empire by 8. He laughed a little to himself. And now for the joys of government, and for him to change the society of this conquered land.
He stood up, and went to arrange for a team of secretaries and administrators to be brought back from his home.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur faced the five now completed structures, and spoke to the people.
"Those five large buildings you see before you are called Urbanates. They are massive buildings, as I am sure you can see, and they can each house 20,000 of you. From there you will travel to here to do work, if you choose. You will sleep there, buy goods there, although as you know the concept of ownership, and , indeed, purchase, is redundant. You will hvae all the recreational and educational facilities you could possibly want, and many other things.
"All the buildings are very energy efficient, with excellent insulation. Each "house" within a building is sound proof, fire proof, vibration proof and connected directly to the distribution system. The power needed is provided by the river on the other side of the hills.
"You will be able to live there soon, when the transport system is finished.
"This is a revolutionary new society, equality, freedom, and plenty. If anyone here wishes not to be involved please make this known, you will be allowed to set up a different system on the other side of the island."
There was no response.
"Very well. Let us now dream of the day when all the peoples of Gaian are as free as us..."
There was silence, with, on many of the faces, looks of elation.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth shrugged. "Do not forget your other, less purposeful involvement. You were once the ruler of Vikingagarð, and one of the ten parts was, is, the Prince (well, King now, actually, although there are no longer any people). He is your direct descendent.
"Watch then. Let us go, Abodahon."
He started to fly westwards, towards the coast. Retangrad was just on the horison. The barriers moved aside as he flew, and did the same for Abodahon and Alpha Retan //assuming they both follow//.
____________________________________________________________________
Quintus watched his master fly west. He then wondered when his servant would attempt to fulfil his task. Why is he taking so long? he thought, Surely it is not so hard to find someone who continually sheathes himself with flame?
He glanced down at the rising palace. When we are in control of this continent, he thought, things will be absolutely glorious, like the old days. We will show the world how a real Empire is run.
Posted by: Kahn on Sunday November 27th, 2005
Hyperion could start to feel his new form start to slow down. He knew he had to act now. In a quick move, Hyperion burst out of the ground under Draven, turning into dragon form on the way. He swung his tale in an attemp to knock Draven out of the air.
"I will end this quickly!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 27th, 2005
"Excellent." Abodahon then also flue westward, with Melkoth. As Abodahon flue, he looked at the orange diamond on his right gauntlet, he tilted it, as it made a little shine in the light, and then it changed to a darker more reddish tone, and then back to orange. He then focused back on were he was going.
----
Valos sighed; he was quite bored, with standing around, looking into the distance. He heard footsteps coming down the stairway. "Hmm, Vincent you go see who that is. I sense that I may be needed back at the capital. Take care, Vincent."
He then jumped off the ledge, of the opening in the passage way, and then surrounded himself in a dark purple aura and then flue off...
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday November 27th, 2005
Closer closer... yes... hmm... there's more than one... and they're on the move...
Draven removed the orb from his pocket and broadcast to all the major military establishments and orb holders as he was flying:
"Attention. Your Emperor orders all Generals, Colonels and independent working officers with an even ID number to move your respective forces to the western edge of the continent, near the Retangrad region, specifically. The primary target has been spotted in this area. Eliminate all hostilities on the way. Officers with an odd ID number will remain in place and maximize defenses."
Draven moved orb away from his mouth and it ceased glowing.
"A few hundred thousand troops down his neck should keep him in place while I catch up... OOF--!!"
Draven suddenly felt himself smacked out of the sky. He dropped the orb, and it flew in the opposite direction into several bushes. Draven tumbled in the air, still wrapped in flame, and landed a hundred feet away, regaining his balance just in time to land on his feet.
It was a dragon-- no, that same dragon that approached him this morning.
"So, you turn traitor so soon? Miserable wretch! I shall cook you and serve your roasted body to my slaves!!"
In a fury, Draven slammed his right fist into the ground. The forest floor split with much vibration, and geysers of molten magma burst forth from the ground in rapid succession towards the traitorous beast.
----
A force of over eight thousand was gathering in Retangrad. The city, though large, did not have a fortress, but did have a wall of medium height around it. A patrol unit of wyvern riders saw the approaching menace from the south and informed the city, and a force of 5,000 was lead outside the city to meet the invaders, along with 100 wyvern riders overhead.
----
A force of over 20,000 was slowly moving northwards, lead by three gallant generals and split into three roughly equal legions, traveling in parallel, though separate groups. They were south of the fortress under construction, but slowly approaching it, several wyvern riders flying ahead and back to report to their commanders the odd construction ahead.
----
G-64000726
Vincent smiled at the reporting soldier.
"Looks like we're heading west. I'll take my regular airship staff and twenty-five men."
The colonel staggered.
"That's it? But sir...!"
"We are going to the other side of the continent. In order to arrive in due time, I must take my modified airship, which, as you can see, does not hold many men. The other warships would best be in position here, as this area is already weakened. Besides, Sigmund has been recently equipped with an airship fleet of its own."
Vincent turned and left towards the docks, an entourage of men following him.
The Colonel sighed.
"I hate it when he does that..."
----
Alpha Retan shrugged (again).
"Meh, his blood is too far diluted. He's barely a shell of a true Draken."
He began to levitate and follow Melkoth and Abodahon, his hair remaining still, unaffected by the passing winds...
Posted by: Kahn on Sunday November 27th, 2005
Hyperion launched himself upwards, unable to prevent minor burns.
"If it's any consolation I would have preferred the Crimson Empire, however The Prophet had an offer I couldn't refuse."
He then dived at Draven, trying to stomp on him.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday November 27th, 2005
"Hmm…" Valos was thought as he heard Draven's message. "Yes something is going on. Yet...it seems that I must stay here. Unless..." He then thought of something but then shook his head. "No, that won't do." He then landed on the floating palace.
A messenger approached him, and saluted. "General Valos." He said in greeting.
"Greetings, what do you need?" Valos asked
"Lieutenant Aura and Alchemist Allen were looking for you. They request your assistance." The messenger replied
"Ah, yes. That one young woman." Valos grinned. "And it's been awhile since I've seen Allen."
The two of them went into the palace. The messenger saluted him and when a separate way. He approached Allen and Aura.
"It's nice to see you're still alive, Aura. I feared you might have been taken out by the volcano." Valos said grinning. He then turned to Allen. "And it's good to see you're still alive because...heh, heh, you know." He chuckled. "But, yes you look flustered, is there a problem?"
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday November 28th, 2005
Allen turned, and looked at Valos, and sighed. He had also heard the message, but, decided to stay back.
"Yes... I'm in quite a sticky situation. I have all I need to finish the main project, but, I assume it'd be quite useless now," he said, while fishing through his jacket, and taking out the vial that had Haraldur's aura sample in it. He held it up, and it seemed to glow slightly "This is Haraldur's aura sample," he said, throwing it towards Valos. "And that is what we'll use to draw Haraldur to us," he finished.
---
Zeros' sighed, as he reached the end of his hole. He stopped his swords, charging, and looked down at it.
The demonic version of his sword was now surrounded in a corona of ethernal light, about a foot in diameter. He drew about half back into himself (Since the sword was basically a part of Zeros', and the aura WAS Zeros', he could reabsorb the aura), and rested the sword on his shoulder.
"Here goes nothing..." he murmurred. He reared back, and slashed with his sword, and ethernal aura trail following behind him. The effect was immediately noticed, as, the barriers a couple miles all around were litterly... destroyed. All that was left was rock fragments falling to the ground, making splashes in what water was left on Gaian.
He resheathed his sword, and stuttered almost unnoticabily, but continued the motion, and moved forwards.
Posted by: Trent on Monday November 28th, 2005
Aura scratched her head. "Well, I saw General Valos flying off toward Laus, so..." and the General in question showed up. Aura saluted. "Volcano? Oh yeah... That..." She thinks hard... Was she casting Judgment when that happened? Feh... "Thank you for your concern, General."
--- --- ---
"Ow, there's a sharp one... ow, damn! He feels familliar..." Xenai stuck a pinky in his ear, feeling the famillar energy of Alpha Retan, feeling that it exists, but not knowing what it is.
"I feel it too," said Zion. "But I don't know what it is either."
The three of them ejected their wings. "Think Draven will know anything?" asked Tsu.
"Maybe," said Zion. "I do suppose he owes you a bit, Xenai."
"For what? All I did was go to Laus and get hammered."
"O...kay." Zion locked onto Draven's aura. "It feels like he's fighting. I suppose we should get there quick and find out what he's doing." He pointed off in that direction. "Let's go!" And they took off.
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday November 28th, 2005
//Guys, I won't be posting much anymore -- I have other things going on in my life, so if i don't post for a day or two, that doesn't mean that i'm not there\\
"Flying too fast... Hmm. We'll have to deal with that, now won't we?" He altered a few of the moth's parameters a bit. The pentagram on it's forehead flashed brightly, and it flew much faster, and lower.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday November 28th, 2005
"Tch!"
Draven took a diagonal leap to his left as the mighty dragon's clawed feet came crashing down upon where he stood.
"What was his offer? A spectacular suicide?"
Draven's jump leveled off as he brought both hands outwards to his sides. Still flying backwards, bright orbs of crimson energy appeared in each and he thrust his arms forward, sending to glowing orbs rocketing towards the dragon. They rotated each other, spiraling through the air as they descended upon their target...
----
Ven followed the three now winged warriors, shifting his weight forward so as not to fall off the column of air supporting his weight.
Usually it was a bad idea to expel this much magical energy on transportation, especially when it sounds like there's going to be a battle at the end of the ride... However, Ven noted his previous total magical exhaustions and felt that he could push himself a bit farther each time.
As they cleared the treetops, the black cloaked warrior tried to push Mavas to the back of his mind. These demonic energies, or whatever these guys can sense, are his only lead, anyway. It made more sense than just looking for Mavas in the dark, at least...
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 28th, 2005
The palace is now completed. It is generally in the shape of a huge dome, with a tower in the middle, and columns around the outside.
The mages entered the huge building, walking through corridors to defensive positions on the outside walls. They noticed some wyvyrn riders, and brought a couple of wyvyrns down with fireballs, leaving the beasts of the forest to deal with the riders.
Quintus entered the palace, and entered the main court, and approached the throne, and sat down on the slightly smaller chair to the side of it. He would be in control for now.
Might as well set up the automated systems.
____________________________________________________________________
On the outer walls of the palace, what had looked like gargoyles started to move, and the robotic troll wizards started to fire off spell after spell at the force approaching from the South.
____________________________________________________________________
//Invaders? South? Melkoth is coming from the East, and he is alone apart from Abodahon and Alpha Retan.//
As he approached Retangrad, Melkoth noted the force that had moved to be South of the city. "How curious..."
He noted the 100 wyvyrns flying in the sky, their riders looking intently to the South. He grinned. Who are they looking for? No matter, they are in our way.
He took a deep breath, and exhaled, at high speed, a gas discovered long ago in the Black Empire, one that was instantly fatal only to wyvyrns. I moved towards the city and the skies above, a faint green trace, and the 100 or so wyvyrns directly above the city died and dropped down, crushing buildings in the city below, and causing either great injury or death to their riders.
He then chucked a lump of rock that had materialised in his left hand down and accross into the mass of 5000 soldiers, like an asteroid, smashing in the centre of the group, killing about half of them, most of them in the centre of the group. It injured many others.
He waited for Abodahon, and maybe Alpha Retan, to attack.
____________________________________________________________________
Franco left the palace, leaving standing orders for his subordinates, and left South, in order to look over the border of the next country, soon to be invaded.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur nodded. "Now I must leave. In the meantime, allocate yourselves your respective houses in the Urbanates."
Haraldur walked over to the doorway, and entered, passing through the shield.
____________________________________________________________________
Tesla kept watching the doorway as the people walked towards the Urbanates, and then went onto strange floating trains, which carried them towards them.
The Urbanates were very tall buildings, with a courtyard in the middle. In the courtyard were various service centres, ranging from distribution to health, to libraries (not much use as yet as most could not yet read, although that was changing) and swimming pools.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur arrived on Gaian again, his aura stronger than ever. Even those not magically adept (yet... hehe) could feel his presence all over the universe. For those more sensitive than others, the aura seemed to fill the atmosphere thickly, like a red and black fog, with dashes of grey.
His father would undoubtedly be acting against the Crimson Empire, so I can attack the Crimson Empire beforing turning my attention to my father.
He flew west, towards the Crimson Empire, and the city of Barnsby, in the heart of the Empire, and full only of bueaucrats and those who serve them, the merchants and bankers, and other scum. He would raze it to the ground to announce his quick return.
In the meantime his aura was so thick that some of it got dissolved in clouds, despite being not a very soluble substance, causing red rain.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday November 28th, 2005
Marshal grabbed onto the moth tighter, as it flue faster, he grinded his teeth. "That Zeros' is very powerful...It's frightening..."
----
"No problem my dear." Valos grinned back to Aura as he caught the vial, and held it up looking in it. "Ahh...yes. Excellent, you did it." He said to Allen. He then smirked. "So, yes. I suppose we should get working on this right away then?"
----
"Hey, well looks like they are going faster." Rink groaned.
"Whatever, we can loose them." Duilin replied. He then saw Zeros' blow all the barriers apart, and rolled his eyes.
Rink swung his arm out and grabbed one of the falling rocks, and grabbed it. "Yeah! Caught one! Hoo hah!"
Duilin turned his head at Rink and gave him a blank stare as he continued flying.
Rink shrugged, and looked back. "What? I'm bored. You're doing all the flying." He chuckled back.
Duilin let out a small laugh, and turned his head back. Rink tosses the rock into the water.
----
Abodahon felt the power strike when Zeros' destroyed the barriers. He turned his head back as he continued flying. "Interesting...We've got a live one here." He then turned his head back and view the city.
Abodahon laughed. "What the hell? Guarding the south? Good that will do them!" He then looked at Melkoth. "I like to fight close...so I can smell the fear!" He then dived down into the ground of the remaining soldiers. Creating a burn mark were he lands, a few soldiers back up. He has his hands in fists down on the ground and his head facing down.
He then rises quickly, and swings his gauntlet covered arms, around, smacking a few soldiers around, they fly off about 50 feet into the sky, and plop down to the ground, like fruit flies. He was spinning his arms around like a chainsaw blade. Amazing for carrying something as heavy as that.
He then slammed his hands down on the ground, creating a huge shockwave and waves rippled the ground and soldiers were again tossed in the air. Bricks, dirt and bodies were flying all over the place. He then laughed evilly. He had killed tons of soldiers with just using his demonic strength. "You ain't seen nothing yet mortals!"
Suddenly, his gauntlets glowed blood red, and then he blasted two huge lasers about the diameter of a sewer tunnel, in two directions leaving torched skeletons lying on the ground. Only a small fraction of the soldiers remained.
(Yay! My first crazy insane slaughter!)
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday November 28th, 2005
//What do you mean? Where has the other water gone? The volcano did not get rid of it all, and the steam would condense back to water anyway!//
Posted by: Kahn on Monday November 28th, 2005
"More like a spectacular poison, which by the way I wouldn't have been infected by had you told me the Prophet could....."
Hyperion was blasted out of the air, landing hard on the ground. He slowly pushed himself up, opening his mouth along the way. He began charging a large fire beam.
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
// That is true, but, it also takes awhile for that to happen. It would not happen instantaniously. And, the period between the volcano, and now, would only be about 30 minutes, or so, but, time might of moved faster in Haraldur's other dimension. \\
Allen nodded, and turned, saluting to the guards, and walked out the doorway briskly, motioning for them to follow. He lead them down a series of hallways, and went even deeper into the castle, going down many twisting stairwells, before finally reaching a blank wall.
Allen put his hand on a section of the wall, and a steel door shimmered into view. Allen took a key from his pocket, and unlocked the door.
Inside the room, was like almost what you'd expect from an alchemist. There were many potions vials, pots, pans, bottles, and such, located all over the room, along with many other scientific instruments. Also, lining the walls, we're some of the few suveners he had collected in his travels, between the fall of the Dark Empire, and the rise of the Crimson Empire.
They were made out of many different materials, some were silver, others were gold, and some, were even made out a granite and sandstone.
Allen didn't come here to observe the sights, and strode confidently into the room, returning to his element. He went to his shelves, and pulled down a collection of filled vials and bottles, and walked over to a counter, where, a sword that seemed taken apart, was sitting in the middle of an alchemic transmutation circle.
"Now..." he murmurred, "I just need to figure out how to get done with this project," he said, while spreading out the materials he'd need to actually get this done.
---
Zeros' cursed. Multiple times. Haraldur was back, and he didn't want any tea and crackers.
He ignored Haraldur, for now, and continued to fly in Melkoth's direction. If he was lucky, they would kill each other off, or, one would weaken the other signifigantly enough, they wouldn't be a threat to the once-beatiful Gaian.
He really hoped Melkoth would kill Haraldur off, that was he could kill Melkoth himself. He still needed to kill him for his mother. If he didn't, oh well.
Or... He could make his problem completely worse, by, Melkoth and Haraldur joining forces, as unlikely as that'd seem.
He'd deal with it, when the time came.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
(Doggonit! Sometimes I imagine landmarks to be in particular spots and forget to tell anyone else. (Heh...) You need to play along or compensate instead of assuming the soldiers are idiots. (Heh...))
----
Draven flew a few feet higher. Blast it... don't have time for this! He could sense Ragnar in the other direction now... What in blazes is going on?!
Draven cupped his hands to his right side and they began to glow with a crimson fury.
"Fool! So, you allowed him to poison you and now you're his dog, while he waves the antidote in front of your nose! Ha! Then you deserve your fate, unless... you wish to be cured by the white mages of the Crimson Capital... but of course, you'd have to prove yourself first, and you already failed at that..."
----
There was a deep feeling of dread within Ven. He looked around as he flew. It seemed the dark sky was getting even darker.
"Uh, guys? What do you make of that...?"
----
The airship rocketed through the sky. Vincent leaned close to the airship window as an unfamiliar building came into view.
"A dome? Where are we? I don't recall a domed building around--"
*KABLAM!!*
A blast of energy from the building slammed into the side of the airship, and it turned sideways, ejecting Vincent out of the glass window. He plummeted downwards into a tree and then some thick bushes. He opened his eyes just in time to see his smoking airship curve to the east and fly behind the tall tree line, a column of smoke detailing its flight past...
"Hmmm... carelessness. Note to self: Defenses sub-standard at top speed..."
He stood up, removing a tangled mess of leaves and shrubbery from his black trench coat before dusting himself off and adjusting his glasses. He spotted a soldier that had apparently fallen with him in some bushes a few yards away. He walked to the man and offered his hand, and the soldier nervously took it, standing up and saluting.
"Thank you, sir."
Vincent removed a leafed twig from the man's medal on his chest.
"Captain..."
"Fernandez, sir."
"Excellent. Are you okay?"
"Y-yes, sir..."
"Then let's go."
The general began walking in the direction of the newly erected foreign palace, the guard captain following.
"But sir, the airship sped off in the other direction..."
"I realize that, Captain. I want a closer look at this..."
----
"AH HAH HAH HAH HAH!!!"
The ghostly Alpha Retan laughed hysterically at the destruction Melkoth and the demon caused. Such glorious death! It was an insignificant amount, but it had been so long... With luck, maybe they'll end up destroying the planet anyway... Oh, the energy to be harvested...
Far to the north, three airships appeared. But they were moving slowly, as if following something on the ground...
Posted by: D. Ein on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
//Xorlak, were you referring to me? Also, where is Zeros' right now?\\
The moth was speeding up still. Then... it's wings... stopped. But, it continued flying by inertion.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
(Zeros' is with Duilin and Rink.)
"Hmm… I sense that Haraldur has returned." Rink said
"Yeah, his power is pretty high. But we need to deal with Melkoth right now." Duilin replied.
----
Valos looked at the materials. He wasn't familiar with this sort of thing. He just looked into the vial some more.
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
Aura looked around in awe at the alchemy room, and watched Allen do stuff with interest. She had a feeling about a massive power that was disturbing her.
--- --- ---
"OH GODS! What the **** is that power!?" Xenai's eyes widened as he halted to a stop.
Zion and Tsu halted as well. "Hm..." Zion begins to analyze the various strong energies. "Zeros' that way... Lots of other strong energies... A bunch of demonic energies... And this one... I've felt this one before. I believe this is the one they call Haraldur."
"I've adapted to fighting without our mech demons, but damn! I don't want a run-in with that guy!"
"Me either... We should just stick to finding Draven and learning about these demonic energies."
They continued flight and soon found Draven. Zion shouted down from the sky. "Hey, you look like you're in a pickle! What's going on? Need a hand or anything?"
Posted by: Kahn on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
"White mages? Where!?"
Hyperion heard Zion's shout from above. He expected he was in trouble but chose to remain focused on the task at hand. He stored the attack he had charged and began flying towards Draven.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday November 29th, 2005
Abodahon laughed. "You puny mortals...I haven't had this much fun slaughtering people like this for years."
The soldiers looked at each other. A bunch of them dashed towards Abodahon with their weapons swinging at him. He blocked at the swords, and axes that were swung at him with his gauntlets. He then, swung a punch at one of them, causing him to fly off and hit another soldier and then another. The warrior was of course dead.
Abodahon laughed again. His gauntlets glowed blood red, and swung his hand across the soldiers surrounding him, slicing them in half, making a huge cut in between the top and lower half of their bodies. Both halves of the warriors burnt up into ashes leaving only their damaged bones...
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday November 30th, 2005
(Ein: I was referring to Haraldur and Dude Man's characters' wondering why the soldiers were moving in the wrong direction. Heh...)
----
Draven noted Zion, Tsu, Xenai, and Ven's arrival behind Hyperion. Draven's aura dimmed and the previously charged energy wrapped itself around his right palm. Draven extended his left hand...
"Why my legion of professional miracle workers is located within my heavily guarded, untouchable floating city of course. I suppose I could make an exception to the 'destroy all traitors rule' and order them to cure you, if you can prove your usefulness to me... If not, well, we'll make it quick, seeing how badly outnumbered you are and all..."
He lifted an eyebrow to the four warriors behind the dragon along with his smirk.
Ven was lagging behind slightly, and flew up behind his three traveling companions.
Good lord... him again... Ven recalled the first time he saw the burning emperor fly overhead the small island he was on... Ven still had the same uneasy feeling... He stopped, standing fully upright on the disc of wind beneath him, and folded his arms behind his black cloak to watch the Emperor and the dragon converse...
----
Vincent stood behind a tree, the captain close behind. It was a tree at the very edge of the forest. From here there was a clearing of fifty yards of so until the domed palace's walls. It would be impossible to approach any further without being detected, for they would practically be walking through an open field.
He watched the mechanized gargoyles atop the outer walls fire spell after spell southward. Vincent reached the conclusion that a force was descending upon the fortress. These things would impede them...
"S-sir?"
"Our mission is to disable those automated defenses."
"... How could we..."
Vincent swiftly placed both hands on the ground. A perfect circle of blue appeared around them, about two feet in diameter. The ground in this circle seemed to disappear, creating a long narrow hole straight down.
"From inside."
He jumped in. The captain nervously followed.
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday November 30th, 2005
Allen studied each vial for a moment, before nodding. He turned to his two companions, and clasped his hands behind his back.
"Now... This is VERY dangerous. This is, what we alchemists like to call a... Human transmutation. Very, very forbidden things were working with here... One SLIGHT miscalculation, and all three of us would be gone. No traces left of us. We'd just be... Gone. Just imagine a condensed magic spell that obliterated everything. That, is basically what would happen," he said. Then, he held out his palm. "If you would, Valos, sir, the vial," he said polietly.
"Oh, and, I might possibly need both of your help for this. While it might only be a fragment of that demented mans aura, it is still very powerful, and unpredicatable. I don't have much raw power myself, but, I have trained my mind farther then what most people deem healthy," he added.
---
"Yes... Melkoth. A demented god who is obsessed with Gaian, for some reason. I've met him before he went insane. Quite a nice fellow, actually. Never did figure out why he went crazy... But, that's a topic for a later point," he said.
He flapped his wings harder, and waved his hand. Rock fragments flew through the sky, as more and more barriers were blasted apart, the sharp fragments flying in every direction.
Posted by: Haraldur on Wednesday November 30th, 2005
//Another point of clarification: regardless of the opinion of Zeros''s character, Melkoth never "went crazy", he was always the way he is now (not identical, but roughly the same). All this might show is that Zeros''s character is not clean.//
Two werewolves from the forest had been following Vincent and his companions, and followed them through the hole, and then attacked, poucing from behind in order to bite the throat.
____________________________________________________________________
Quintus cast a spell, causing massive growth of the forest, excluding the clearing, and increasing the number of dangerous animals. He then left the palace to attack the attackiing force. He brought down a few wyvyrns with a fireball.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth now entered the now effectively defenceless Retangrad, and entered the governor's palace. He walked through the corridors unopposed, and entered the office of the governor, who appeared to have killed himself with an ice shard spell, which was melting, sending red tinted water across the room, ruining the carpet.
He strode out onto the balcony, with worried people staring at him.
"My new subjects, welcome to your first day in... THE GREY EMPIRE!"
As he said that, the sky darkened even further, localised over Retangrad, apart from one area, which was in a peculiar shape: giving the image of a grey fist, wearing on the middle finger a grey ring, with an eagle's head sticking out, as if the beak were to scratch. Below it, words, in grey, proclaimed, "Welcome back my subjects, welcome to the new Grey Empire."
Now, column after column after column, 100,000 in all, of grey uniformed magical combat troops entered the city, raping women as they chose, and enforcing martial law.
Melkoth himself now left North, heading for Alphagrad. Two ports, that should be our first aim.
He always enjoyed conquest as the most interesting part of empire building.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar now arrived at the border, and saw that there was a battle between his troops and those of the neighboring Kingdom, Buteria. He moved in...
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur arrived at Barnsby, and then started shooting a few fireballs at the city, setting some of the houses alight. He then started a strong wind. Within minutes, the city was a firestorm.
After a while, when the governor realised that no attack would have any effect, a white flag was flown on top of the palace, one of the few buildings still standing. Haraldur chucked another fireball, blowing that area of the palace to pieces. The palace was now definitely alight.
Haraldur watched, waiting for the fire to have completely destroyed the town. In the meantime, he sent this message to Ein and Marshall: In case you have not noticed, I have returned. The city of Barnsby, that pit of evil, is no more.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday November 30th, 2005
Abodahon, walked threw the soldiers running and fighting. He grabbed a soldier of Retangrad that ran past him wrapping his hand around his torso. (Note, that his gauntlets are gigantic) The warrior struggled, yet it did nothing. With his other hand he flicked the man head breaking his neck, and then tossed the body off to the side, and then jumped into the air, and flapped his wings, and flue next to Melkoth.
"Were are we headed now?" He asked
----
"Hmm. Interesting." Duilin replied. "Well, it seems as the auras are moving again...Yet we are getting closer..."
"Yeah...that other one...It seems familiar." Rink muttered...
----
Valos handed Allen the vial. "Our help? Very well. I suppose I know a bit of this alching stuff..."
----
"Ein, Haraldur has returned." Marshal said. "You think we should join up with him? Or just continue chasing Duilin and Zeros'?" He asked.
Posted by: Kahn on Wednesday November 30th, 2005
Hyperion glanced behind for a moment before turning back to Draven.
"I think you might be overestimating you and your freinds abilities, however if your people have a cure I'm listening."
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday November 30th, 2005
Aura nodded. "I'll be glad to help with whatever it is you need."
--- --- ---
Zion unsheathed Eternity Weapon. Zero Weapon appeared in Xenai's grip. Tsu positioned himself for a battoujutsu attack. They were ready to strike if need be. They and Draven ARE temporary allies, after all.
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday December 1st, 2005
Draven flew close to the dragon's face. Up close he was nearly dwarfed by the creature.
"Overestimating? You needn't fear, lizard, you will be purged of the poison by tomarrow morning. If you follow my every word, that is..."
He floated over the dragon's head, to address the four newly arrived warriors.
"The one up ahead isn't Ragnar, yet the aura feels familiar... There's some more with him as well... Either way, they're making a mess and much be dealt with... This way, quickly. You too, dragon."
Draven's aura of flame brightened and he flew westward, towards the group of auras he was now close enough to pinpoint.
Ven shrugged. Didn't even acknowledge him... He shifted his weight on the disc of wind and flew after the burning emperor.
Suddenly Draven slowed and fell back, flying just to the right of Ven.
"And who might you be?"
Ven froze in terror.
"... Ven... Ven Hyul of--"
Blast! Almost said it! He was in enough trouble as it was, leaving against decree to search for Mavas... There was no way he could get his country involved. The King would not likely approve of an alliance with the Crimson Empire.
"Of what? Tell me warrior. The Crimson Empire rewards it's allies in the most generous of ways..."
"Nothing. I'm a wanderer. Just a friend of the three back there."
"I see. Then you shall be rewarded for your service. If you can prove your worth, that is..."
Draven burst forward with a surge of speed...
----
(Where exactly did Melkoth's huge army come from, anyway? Heh...)
Alpha Retan floated through the captured city like a ghost, smiling but at the same time shaking his head. He passed through a wall and appeared outside the city, and caught up with Melkoth.
"Well, well, looks like you're going to have company in a minute. These ones will recognize me, so as not to blow your cover of not being known, assuming you intend to use that, I shall take my leave for now. Good day!"
He politely nodded to Abodahon. The old man's image faded and he vanished.
A red light appeared on the eastern horizon...
To the north, where the airships were hovering, the entire horizon past the dismal tree line glowed faintly. Soldiers bearing torches...
A lot of 'em...
----
At the bottom of the hole, Vincent placed his hands on the wall in the direction of the palace. The dirt shifted and an empty tunnel lined with brick formed before him. He stepped forward, the captain following.
Suddenly the captain let out a scream as fangs bore down upon his right shoulder. The captain fell, a hulking werewolf beast bearing down upon him. The second werewolf came down the shaft, landing next to the first, and leapt towards Vincent in a single bound.
As if in slow motion, Vincent spun around on one heel, the long flaps of his black trench coat swinging open, revealing a glistening sliver double barreled shotgun under the left jacket flap. With his right hand, he removed the weapon and swung it before him, pointing it down the tunnel like a pistol.
During this time, the second werewolf was in mid air, flying towards him, fangs barred. By the time Vincent fully extended the gun, the beast's mouth was two inches from the tip of the barrel. Vincent pulled the trigger. The wolf exploded, uniformly splattering the captain and the first wolf with blood.
Vincent then began a mad dash towards the fallen captain and the first wolf. A shot from here would kill them both... His foot fell on the beast's neck and it rolled off the captain, exposing it's side. As the beast lunged at Vincent, he thrust the barrel deep into the fur. The second explosion was much more muffled.
The captain awoke, finding his wound bandaged. Vincent was leaning against the tunnel wall, cleaning his glasses.
"How does it feel?"
"It stings a little... but I'm fine."
"Good."
Vincent replaced his glasses and slung the sliver gun on his right shoulder before entering the depths of the tunnel. The captain stumbled to his feet and followed.
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday December 1st, 2005
Zeros' narrowed his eyes, as he felt hundreds of smaller auras grow weaker. He sped up even more, not even waving his hand, as barriers kept exploding into bits in front of him.
---
Allen nodded, and grabbed the vial from Valos. He walked over to the sword, and placed the vial in the middle. The sword, was not made out of the typical steel. It was made of the element "Fe" or Iron. It was known as one of the worst conductors of magic, but, it's ability to hold magic and ki was unsurpassed.
"Now... This is very delicate work, as I started before. The vial will contain Haraldur's aura. We need to fuse the aura into the sword," he said, while sealing the vial in the middle of the sword, and sealing it. "We need to have enough power to make the aura seep into the sword, effectively creating a fake replica of the legendary weapons. Now, place your hands on the circle, and concentrate your power. I'll regulate where the power goes," he said, while taking off his glasses, and closing his eyes, placing his hands on the circle.
The circle, drawn in chalk, started to glow a faint blue, and hum slightly...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday December 1st, 2005
(I'm assuming they came from, the Grey Empire base.)
Valos nodded. He simply placed his hands onto the circle. He was interested in the outcome of this. He has heard much about the legendary weapons, yet he wasn't deeply involved in that mission. He mostly kept his post at the capital during that time. He remembers seeing Duilin using the mace, charging his power into the weapon and using for greater attack, five years ago, before he was a General, serving under Maxwell, who was considered the leader after the fall of the emperor and the High Generals.
----
Duilin and Rink kept flying faster. They were flying just a bit slower then Zeros' was. Rink was still clinging onto Duilin, he defiantly wouldn't be able to fly this fast at all.
Duilin was wondering how that servant girl, Belle, was doing. (Decided to give her name).
Rink was worried that Valos may show up. He didn't like him one bit. The things he did and said. Pushing Valos to become full demon, just because Duilin's father wants him to. Rink barely remembers Duilin's father. He suffered from severe memory loss several years ago; he only remembers a few things of his past. His earliest memory was serving in hell, torturing souls. He never felt like he belonged in hell for some reason…
Posted by: Trent on Thursday December 1st, 2005
Zion looked at Ven with a look that said "It looks like your country has something against Draven, or something to that effect. I'm sorry we dragged you into this." Such detailed looks he gives! The three of them took off after Ven and Draven.
--- --- ---
Aura put her hands on the circle, and put in all the ether and ki that she could afford to.
Posted by: Kahn on Thursday December 1st, 2005
Hyperion turned back into his human form with wings to make group travel easier. He followed behind Draven. He was hoping that this would be last time he switched sides.
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday December 2nd, 2005
"Huh? Oh, no problem at all."
Ven placed his right hand behind his head.
"I owe you guys a favor, anyway."
Blast it! I've got to stop dropping subtle hints... can they read minds, too? Wait-- blast it! I'm doing it again!
Draven cleared a ridge of trees. And there they were... A huge demon-esque... thing... and some other guy... He passed just overhead Retangrad and then took a sharp right.
Draven's flying aura dispersed, leaving a dim flame around him and he began a free fall, flipping once in the air. He landed, his arms folded, on a small hill some fifty feet to the north of Melkoth and Abodahon, his cape floating down around him. Alphagrad was just past the horizon behind him, but before that, a massive dark army was slowly approaching...
He looked at the two curiously, before speaking with a snide tone.
"Oh dear, trespassing and vandalism? It's not going to be pretty for you, I'm afraid..."
His smirk appeared, his teeth appearing, and his eyes narrowed. He unfolded his arms and pulled his right glove tighter with his left hand, his cape flowing around him from his dim aura of flame.
"So tell me, more fools tricked by Ragnar? Some more rejects with a vendetta? Or just the shut-up-and-die type?"
Oh. My. God...
Ven landed on another small knoll, just to the west of the one Draven was standing on. The disc of wind that he was riding disappeared.
Just look at the size of that... thing! From about 75 feet away, Ven barely noticed Melkoth, as he was fixated on the hulking Abodahon...
What was he doing here anyway...? He could see the huge army approaching from the north, spanning the entire breadth of the horizon as he flew in. To the south, there were grey soldiers in the overrun Retangrad. Then there's Draven and some gigantic demon lord or something... It's like two forces of pure evil decided to have their Armageddon death match, and he was caught in the middle... Does it even matter which side wins?
Right. He owed Zion and the others a favor. He'll at least keep them from getting killed...
He removed his silver sword in a flash with both hands, angling it diagonally to the ground.
----
A stone tile lifted up and moved aside. Vincent's head appeared and looked around. Clear...
Vincent emerged from the square hole, setting his shotgun down while helping the captain through it. He held the silver gun with two hands as the captain replaced the floor tile.
They were in the palace now... The hallway seemed empty. Still, neither said a word, and Vincent moved to the wall, the captain following. There were structural pillars lining both walls, which would provide a little cover, at least. The two quietly began to make their way down the hallway...
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday December 2nd, 2005
//Melkoth's army comes from the many Grey Empire bases that have essentially been dormant for thousands of years.//
Melkoth said, "Alphagrad."
He nodded at Alpha Retan as he left.
Melkoth grinned as he saw the multitudes of soldiers. Behind him, column after column of grey clad troops marched North. He sent a couple of life-holes towards the opposing army, hitting it, and sucking the life out of all the soldiers in a 300 metre radius, and then they started to independently move, following groups of soldiers, causing dead and undamaged bodies to drop down to the ground below.
He then glanced at Draven, and messaged to Abodahon: You deal with him while I get Alphagrad. He said to Draven, "Of course, we intend to conquer this continent on Ragnar's behalf, in order to facilitate his Grey Empire." Hehe, he thought, this will confuse them.
He swerved to the west, going past Draven, and accelerating towards the remaining enemy soldiers and Alphagrad, a translucent scythe appearing in his hands as he started chopping off heads.
____________________________________________________________________
All this time Haraldur's aura's intensity, pressure and density had been steadily increasing, it seemed, although the growth was curving up into an exponential curve, at a slow rate. The pressure of the aura outside the vial was now much larger than inside the vial, so the vial was only just resisting from being crushed and shattered.
Suddenly he felt the slight shock of someone interfering with his aura. "What, again? They are trying that again? It was dangerous before, but now the effects are different."
The reaction this caused to the aura was dramatic. The rate of increase accelerated, the curve becoming ever closer to the vertical. Even the magically untalented could visibly that the sky was no longer dark, but vivid red and black, and with bits of grey. Blood red and pitch black liquid dropped from the sky as rain, all over the world, even in the deserts of Wahabia, soaking the sand to make it a bright red and black mix, swirling around as the liquids rained down.
Around the world, all devices designed to contain auras, not allowing them to escape or enter, started to be crushed, releasing many imprisoned spirits to leave, and do as they wished. This means that the sword is in danger of being crushed, unless it has magical assistance, and is also effectively impotent.
Barnsby was now completely destroyed, the fires now being blown out because they reacted explosively with the super-dense aura (an effect caused only by the high concentration of the aura, this would not normally happen)
To the North-West he could see the floating rock that was the Crimson Capital. This time he would have to do it the traditional way.
He flew North-West, the layers of laminar flow being seen in the aura, soon becoming turbulence in the aura as his velocity relative to the Crimson Capital increased. A bloody sword appeared in his hand, blood still fresh and wet from when he had last used it, more than five years ago. Through the translucent blood, the pattern welded blade's beautiful construction could be seen, gleams of different brightnesses visible through the red blood.
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet sensed there were intruders, and that Draven was near Alphagrad, the second target. He has better investigate the intrusion.
He stood up and left the courtroom, and went down a few corridors. He arrived a little behind Vincent and the Captain. At the time, the Captain was not in cover, and quickly succumbed to a poison dart shot from a tiny spring loaded device hidden in Quintus' sleeves, dropping down onto the floor, his armour clanging.
He sensed there was one other, and moves now along the side of the hallway until he will se Vincent. When this happens, he will fire another poison dart. //While at the same time you can do an action, this is a situation where things happening simoultaneously is realistic).
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar had destroyed Buteria's army, and his troops flew forth. He then noticed a massive increase in size of an aura he had noticed before, but did not know the owner of. Well, whatever it is, Draven can surely handle it, besides, I am busy, spreading the word of Dios across these heathen lands, by the sword and magic spell. In the distance he saw some of his troops landing on beached. And spreading it by the spear, too.
Was this one of the fastest conquests ever? He thought. This is spectacular! Why did I not do this before?
____________________________________________________________________
A year has now passed in Laus. The revolutionary attitude has slowly receded, as more attention has been paid to the contruction of buildings and farms, led by Tesla.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 2nd, 2005
Abodahon nodded and messaged back: It will be done...
He then turned around, his hands hanging down, as he flies towards Draven. He slows down and stops about 10 feet away from him. "Ah, it's a pleasure to see you. You must be the, ‘all mighty lord’ of the Crimson Empire...Draven is it? I believe a few friends of mine associated with you before, yet they aren't of any matter to me anymore."
He hovers in the air as he looks upon him. "So...one of your position must strike fear into those of a lower position. So tell me Draven, do you know what it's like to be afraid?"
He then dives toward Draven, ready to drive his enormous gauntlet covered fist into him.
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday December 2nd, 2005
Allen cursed, as he noticed what it was doing.
"Stop. STOP!" he shouted, and redirected the aura the two were spilling in, away from the vial, and the sword.
---
Zeros' sighed. He had finally reached an area near Retangrad, which, was barely visible on the horizion.
He felt Draven and the others near, and turned sharply, blowing more barriers to bits, and he sped towards Draven's location.
Posted by: Trent on Friday December 2nd, 2005
Aura quickly pulled back, wide-eyed. She looked to Allen, wondering what was wrong.
--- --- ---
The three landed and took in everything. "Sweet holy hell, that thing's huge! And it's coming this way!" Xenai looked at the approaching Abodahon with wide eyes.
"Move," said Tsu. He stepped past Xenai and Zion as he placed his left hand upon his sword, pushing it just out of the scabbard with his thumb. "Shin Kuon Yaiba... sharpen." He stepped in front of Draven, waiting for Abodahon to attack as he slipped into a battou-jutsu stance. "Draven's not exactly my best buddy... But we <i>are</i> temporary allies... Come."
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 2nd, 2005
Valos quickly stops as Allen shouts. "What? Oh wait...I sense something...Ragnar..." He said.
----
Duilin and Rink, fly along with Zeros'.
"Hey! There's Draven." Duilin exclaims. "It looks like he's being attack by...holy...that guy's huge!"
"I'll say!" Rink squeaks. Seeing as a large person like that could easily crush his tiny body in a single poke, he’d find a person like Abodahon quite threatening.
---
Abodahon keeps diving towards Tsu, he swings his punch he had prepared right at him. If it hit him, he'd probably fly into Draven and hurt both of them, if Tsu dodged he'd probably have a better chance of just hitting Draven, with Tsu screening him.
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday December 2nd, 2005
//it seems i won't be posting here for a while now. i no longer have access to my computer at home. dudeman has the control of both of my characters, if he wishes to use them. If not, feel free to kill them.\\
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
//sure, I'll probably just deactivate them however. I can't keep up with all the characters. I'll try and keep Ein alive, since we all like him.\\
Gerard walks around the room, and sees that the people are not there anymore. "Dang...well. I suppose I shall have to find something else then."
Gerard, spread opens his wings and then lowers them again, as he turned around and went back up to the surface. "This is very odd. Well...This Empire has become a real pain, they made work for me impossible, and now I've been put into this body. What next?" He asks himself. He then jumps off the ledge of the building spreading his wings; he gives them a good flap and then flies off towards safer grounds...
---
Marshal, and the Ein's moth finally catch up with Duilin.
Rink then jumps off of Duilin and then noticed Marshal and Ein. "Damn, they caught up."
"Yeah, looks like it. I want to help Draven and Zeros' right now. Perhaps you can handle it Rink?" Duilin asks
"Meh, yeah I suppose...I've got some fairly descent fighting skills." Rink replies. Duilin continues on his way, and Rink flies towards the moth and Marshal.
Rink swings his fist back, creating fire around his fist as he flies towards Marshal; he swings a fiery punch right at him, knocking him down, yet he still stays on the Moth.
"Ein!" Marshal says. "It seems the imp wants to die!"
Ein then moves the moth around until he flies a bit further from the imp, he turns around and flies towards him, he then swings one of it's razor sharp wings as it turns right at Rink. The Imp blocks the wing with his arm, drawing a bit of blood on his arms.
Marshal then fires several bullets, yet Rink was able to fly his way threw them flying toward the moth.
Marshal fires his gun again, yet it clicks. "Darn it! It's jammed! Watch out Ein! He's coming!"
Rink blasts a fireball right at Marshal. The man yelps out as he is struck by the fire, and falls down once more. "I'm getting hurt here..."
'Sheesh, I can't believe a little guy like this is causing such trouble.' Ein thinks.
The moth then flies towards Rink, ramming its abdomen at the imp causing him to spin in the air back a few feet.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Tsu tenses up. He turns around... "Riptide!!!" and comes around, slashing out with a fierce battou-jutsu, connecting with Abodahon's fist. He skids back a bit, his heels digging into the ground. "Kyaaahh!!!" A burst of will, and a push of the sword to push Abodahon back, and render the giant's attack generally ineffective.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Abodahon's gauntlet clanged against Tsu’s sword. He noticed the young man was trying to push him back. He simply placed his free hand on top of his fisted hand; he then pushes forward with his mighty strength. If it was enough force, he should push him into Draven, or break his sword, causing the metal of it to fling towards his attacker...
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Even after Allen had stopped his action, the aura around the sword and vial continued to intensify. The vial shattered, releasing the aura within it, and the sword crumpled, releasing anything inside it. Still, aura gathered around the sword and vial specifically, forming an opaque red and black and grey haze around the two objects. Within the haze, there was clattering as shards of the vial, made contact with the crumpled sword, both moving. The sword straightened itself, looking as new, and ejected itself from the opaque haze, sticking in the wall on the other side of the room, skimming past the side of Allen's face.
The sword looked like it was starting to melt in a haze of red, which formed into a human shape. Haraldur looked at Valos, Allen and Aura, and said, "An 11th part? It might have been, were it not for your shoddy workmanship!"
A burst of fire spread from his body, completely destroying the building they were in, and possibly damaging the other occupants.
He flew up, and then shouted, "Gah! Shoddy workmanship!" as his body disintegrated into nothing, with no trace, not even of the sword and the vial.
____________________________________________________________________
Haraldur (the real and permanet one, well, ten) was now nearing the flying Crimson Capital as he saw an explosion in the city, followed by the disintegration of the potential 11th part in a red haze.
He came up to the shield surrounding the city, and struck it with much force with his sword, channeling magical energy through it. The mages who were powering the barrier had no chance against the onslaught, and all spontaneously cauht fire, and the shield broke.
Haraldur now flew in, bursts of fire from his body destroying several buildings at a time. It would be slow progress, but he would enjoy every minute. He passed a few soldiers, and cut off all their heads with a sweep of his sword. He was slowly moving towards the palace.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth continued to fly into Alphagrad. Around him, the soldiers were in disarray as they flew from the life sucking balls.
Below him, his grey clad army entered the city as he landed on the governor's palace, the governor having already been executed by his followers. A grey flag, with the Grey Empire's emblem on it, materialised in his hand, and he stuck it on top of the roof of the tallest tower in the palace. To the south, a shield had just been put over the city of Retangrad, and the same was being done here in Alphagrad. His territory was now triangular, Retangrad in the South, Alphagrad in the North, his palace to the East.
He flew south a little to finish off the rest of the soldiers. From the ground underneath the soldiers, a poisonous black haze rose, wiping them out.
He then flew back towards Draven, to help his demonic friend. Melkoth's shape seemed to become less distinct...
____________________________________________________________________
//Salazar is now semi-inactive (you can still contact him if you wish), partly because he has to organise the bureaucracy of his enlarged Empire, but mostly because I cannot think of what to do with him at the moment.//
Posted by: Trent on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Shin Kuon Yaiba was an excellently forged sword. It wasn't gonna break. He had to think fast, now that there was two times the force. He pushed the blade down suddenly, attempting to push the fists down with it. As he performed that move, he also jumped into the air, performing a front flip, and bringing his heel down toward Abodahon's head.
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
EDIT: Valos creates a sheild around him and his allies.
"Yes, Ragnar is here!" Valos says, as the explosion stops. He then lowers the shield. "Aura, come. Allen if you want to help me, go ahead."
He unsheathes his sword and then jogs out of the damages lab.
A soldier runs towards Valos, and salutes. "General Valos, Ragnar-"
"I know...Were is he?" Valos asks
"He's running though the town, killing people. He's not to far sir. Follow me."
The soldier then runs towards Haraldur's position, followed by Valos, and hopefully Aura and\or Allen.
----
Abodahon allowed his fists to be pushed down, he then saw the young warrior bring his heel down onto his face. He simply looked up, with a normal expression, as his foot was press down upon him. He then ghosts a few feet away from Tsu and Draven.
"That's quite a fine sword." Abodahon commented. "That is one of the few times a sword wasn't broken by my strength. Sadly for you, my strength doesn't just lye within my physical ability."
Abodahon's gauntlets begin to glow blood red, his long white hair flows a little back, he then blast four black fireballs, two from each hand. They had the shape of a skull upon them, and they seemed to produce the same type of lighting as a UV light. They travelled at great speed towards Tsu and Draven, two at the swordsmen and two at the emperor.
Posted by: Haraldur on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
//Dude Man, does Valos not defend himself from the blast of the explosion? Also, how could he detect Haraldur by aura if he is absolutely surrounded by the aura, as a consequence of trying to entrap him?//
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
//Oh, sorry I was kinda in a rush: Post edited.\\
Rink then regains his control, and narrows his eyes as he stares at the moth. He then surrounds himself in fire, and then flies at a great speed towards the moth, smashing it in the thorax, knocking it back causing Marshal to fall off.
The moth quickly swoops down and grabs Marshal, saving his comrade.
Ein then flapped its wings but remained hovered into his position. The moth then starts to create large gusts of wind, causing the small imp to loose control. The moth then flies at Rink, swinging its razor sharp wing at the Imp once more cutting it along the chest.
"Arrg!!" Rink then falls down bleeding, and plops into the water...
"Haha." Marshal laughs. "You did it...the imp is gone..."
Or was he?
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Despite the thousands upon thousands of slain, the dark army of the Crimson Empire kept coming from the north, marching over the bodies of their countrymen. There were huge ogres in the reinforcements, which towered above the rest, wearing plates of armor and brandishing clubs. There were small wingless dragons, which dark knights rode, carrying long spears... There were hundreds more wyvern riders, their beasts of various elements... There were mages that cast spells to contain the life draining orbs (at the cost of many of their own lives), and cast fireballs and Shade spells at the Greys, and cast Fast, Rage, Barrier, and Enchant spells on random warriors of their side...
The Crimson army scaled the walls by the hundreds before the Greys in Alphagrad were able to put up their magical shield. The Greys had the high ground, and fought back well, however, until a flyby by two black airships sprayed the city with shadow magic enchanted cannon fire, destroying several of the buildings, including the one with the Grey flag on top...
The Crimson Empire had no concern for the cities. Only that the enemy needs to be purged...
Draven thrust his fist forward, smashing the energy orbs sent his way, and redirecting the energy into two patches of ground behind him, which promptly exploded.
This one is a distraction... He took flight, letting the others deal with the hulking demon and went after Melkoth.
Ragnar's aura was heavy in the air, everywhere... and the skies began to rain a red and black rain...
This one is a distraction as well. A kinsman of Ragnar, perhaps? Possibly an equal threat. Ragnar's aura is more concentrated to the east... Better take care of this one quickly.
Draven promptly appeared in front of the returning Melkoth, floating several feet off of the ground, burning brightly, his burning crimson blade in his right hand...
"How very impressive, swinging at my little men like that when I'm right here. Tell me, slave of Ragnar, does it make you feel stronger to select the weaker targets over the stronger ones?"
He smirked, bringing his left hand before his face and snapping his fingers. A wall of flame began to form 100 feet to the left and right of him. Looking from above, the flames began to rotate in a counter-clockwise fashion, soon completely encircling the two warriors on the sides. The flame then began to move above and below them. In a few seconds, Draven and Melkoth would be locked in a hollow sphere of flame 100 feet in radius-- similar to the burning death cage he had used while fighting on Romme several years ago...
"I'm curious to see how well you'd fare against a true warrior..."
----
Ven pointed his sword to the black and red sky.
"HAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
It began to glow an intense white. The flaps of his cloak blew in the wind, revealing his bright silver armor. This is it... just a few more seconds...
----
Suddenly, the entirety of the Crimson Captial, palace, city and all, became translucent and wavy...
The floating city disappeared under Haraldur's feet, and Haraldur and Valos were left suspended in the air 1 mile above the ground... The city's image became visible again to the north about a half mile away, some areas smoking lightly. It was the city's mobile teleportation system that it had used before to get out of the way of Haraldur's previous attack.
(Allen and Aura should still be in the city.)
Four dark warriors floated around Haraldur.
"That was close..."
"Hmm, that's the last time we will be able to execute that procedure, I'm afraid."
"Huh? Why?"
"The teleportation cores are overheated and will require replacement..."
Hans smashed his fists together.
"Won't need it, man. I'll tear 'im apart before Valos even lands his hit. Check it!"
Hans blasted toward Haraldur at lightning speed, appearing on the opposite side that Valos was attacking, his arms crackling with electricity.
"Hans!! Wait!"
Hans brought both fists to his sides.
"MORTAL ATTACK!! OMNI DEATH FIST! HAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
He let loose a barrage of high speed electrically charged punches at Haraldur...
----
Vincent brought his back to the wall, listening... A foot step...
He dove toward the middle of the hallway, pointing his weapon in the direction of the sound. At the same time, the dart flew his way, and he changed the gun's trajectory, blasting the impending poison dart instead of the enemy.
He stopped for a second, aiming the shotgun at the prophet. He quickly whipped out a small metallic box like object from the inner pocket of his trench coat and jammed it into a slot the top of the shot gun, above the trigger. The cartridge had a picture of a flame on it.
He now held the weapon with two hands and slowly walked towards the old prophet.
"You are hereby under arrest by order of the Crimson Empire. You are to cease and desist all action and surrender immediately."
Posted by: Kahn on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
"Maybe I should do something."
Hyperion turned into Dragon form, but continued to hover in the air.
"But I don't want to get in the way."
Posted by: Trent on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Aura dashed after Valos, readying her scimitars. She would arrive to get her eyes widened by the Hans guy.
--- --- ---
Tsu assumed a very low stance. The sword was pretty much on the ground. He leapt up, slashing upwards fiercely, sending the skullballs up and away.
Zion watched Draven leave. "Why's he leavin'?" asked Xenai. "Probably to look for the main guy," said Zion. "Let's take care of this guy... With one, two, three, four... five of us here... It shouldn't be a problem at all."
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday December 3rd, 2005
Trent, Valos is floating up in the air, were the city was, but it's back on the ground now, flying would work better then walking to reach him.\\
"Arg, those four fools..." Valos groaned. He never liked them; they were as much of pests as the grunts, yet he couldn't treat them like one. He flies towards Haraldur, knocking past one of the dark warriors. "Out of my way." He then swings his large sword with magic empowered in the blade. "Hiyyaa!"
----
Duilin lands beside Zion and Xenai. "Hey boys, mind if I join in?"
He then glances at Abodahon. "Holy hell...literately, looks like a demon...Maybe from half human blood..."
Abodahon grins. "Hahah! I'm worth about ten of you, so brace yourself mortals!" He then slams down his fists on the ground creating a huge shockwave. Duilin flies up into the air, dodging the wave. He messages to Zeros': 'Maybe you should help Draven with Melkoth, me and the other guys will handle the hulk.' He then says loud enough for everyone to hear. "That dragon dude going to help us out?"
----
Marshal climbs back up on the moth's back. "Well, Ein. Haraldur is back, should we join with him?"
"No…" Ein replies. "It's to far back. Perhaps we should just find that bird."
"Well...it seems that he is fighting...something. But Haraldur's father is here...Melkoth, is truly evil..."
----
Rink swims up to the surface and treads water. "Sheesh...better not try that again."
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday December 4th, 2005
Allen grimaced. He had almost no raw power. His alchemy would do almost nothing agianst Haraldur's pure strength. He put his glasses back on, and briskly walked off, and went to help repair the damaged orbs.
---
Draven is too proud a man. He wouldn't accept help now, even if I offered it. Plus, I have an interest in fighting a demon that's had time to master his powers... No offense to you, Duilin, but you still a flegling, and Nex came into his powers only minutes before I killed him. You should help Rink with Marshal, and the other man, and then help the Crimson Empire troops... They aren't doing too well.
Zeros' suddenly disappears, and reappears down on the battlefield, standing next to Abodahon's gauntlet. His sword was still sheathed, and his arms were crossed across his chest.
"Ah... A demon. How curious," he murmurred. "How is it, your here? Are you under the command of ANOTHER, who's not even a demon? How pathetic. Your not even a true demon. A true demon wouldn't even take orders from a god, even an evil one," he said, trying to get a rise out of the demon.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday December 4th, 2005
"Heheh..." Abodahon grinned at Zeros'. "That's quite some words you use there. I can tell you must have demonic blood in you." He then lowers his face. "Yet I do not 'take orders' from Melkoth, I'm merely assisting him, out of returning a favour and for my own benefit. I was locked up in the underworld because I was too much of a threat to Gaian. Melkoth was the only one who could release me..."
Duilin turned his head around and then saw Rink treading water, he then flue off.
Abodahon, narrowed his eyes as Duilin left, but then focused his eyes on Zeros' again. "That's quite a set of wings you have there, hehe...But yes, It's also blindly clear that your friend there is also half demon and half human, quite an imbalance, one like that could be a danger to travel with, could snap at any minute." He then clenched his fists; he kept a normal expression on. He then smashed the ground, but this time making large cracks into the ground heading towards Zeros'. The cracks in the ground then sprouted flame. Abodahon's gauntlets then glowed blood red, as he kept them on the ground, suddenly spectres of the top halves of red skeletons flue from the fissures and flue towards Zeros', they were bombs, and would simply explode in a dark explosion if destroyed or made contact with the target. They weren't dark spirits of anything; the image was probably for intimidation only.
----
"Rink!" Duilin said picking up his impish friend. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm alright...I just got slashed long the chest, but I'm okay." He then pointed to the healing cut. "Look."
"Hahah." Duilin laughed. "Okay, so what do we do about Marshal and the moth?" He asked.
"Well, I think the moth, is Ein. I don't know how it is, he must have some weird transformation magic."
"A Gepardi?"
"No, I don't think so...Anyways, it looks like those two towns are in trouble. A lot of innocent people are being killed."
"Yeah, we should probably help them out." They both agreed and then flue off to Alphagrad...
Marshal spotted Duilin. "There they are! Ein, go after them!"
The moth then flue a great speed chasing Duilin and Rink...
Posted by: Trent on Sunday December 4th, 2005
//Bah. Sucks that Aura can't fly. So what should I do to get her there? Would a beam jump be efficient?
"Any and all help that we can get is good," says Zion. "It will just widen the margin for victory. And yes, I do believe the dragon is on our side." Then suddenly, Duilin left, being replaced with Zeros'.
"And now you're screwed," says Xenai.
"Get him! NOW!" Zion gave the command, and he and Xenai stood back-to-back. They connected their wrists and pointed their palms at Abodahon, getting them as close as possible. "Twilight Blast!" Beams of light shoot forth from both warriors. Zion's is of light element, Xenai's of dark. The two beams merged, creating raw, unrefined Twilight element. An extremely bright, brightly sparking black beam. Like the beauty of a city at night time.
Why was there no neutral medium required? The neutral medium used in New Forever is to refine the Twilight element, and enhance it... A lot.
Tsu, because of his excellent balance of light and dark, was able to do it himself. But it wasn't as strong as Zion and Xenai's. He sheathes his katana and leaps up into the air, crossing his arms in X formation, and bringing his knees up. He lets the blast burst forth from his entire body as he throws his arms out to the side, and lets his legs drop. "Twilight Blast!"
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday December 4th, 2005
(Ask Allen to make Aura a flying surfboard or something. Heh...)
Ven's blade was finished charging, and resonated bright white. He watched Zero's distract the demon. He watched the spectacular Twilight Blast take shape...
Now! This is it!!
"EAT THIS!!!"
Ven pointed the glowing white blade at the hulking Abodahon. A bright flash of light burst forth, followed by a burning stream of light energy. The Twilight Blast and Ven's attack were coming from almost two opposite sides, and would hit at about the same time...
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday December 4th, 2005
Zeros' simply smirked, and side-stepped away from the fissures, and ghosted from view, the spirits gliding past him harmlessly. He reappeared behind Abodahon's head, his back turned towards the monster, and his arms still crossed.
"Pathetic..." he muttered. His brought his foot up, and slammed it downwards, towards Abodahon's head. A small sonic boom resonatied throughout the area, as Zeros' foot blurred, and aproached Abodahon's head at amazing speeds.
---
Allen stopped, his cape swirling around his once more, before coming to rest. He had found one of the defense orbs. It was a large, reddish orb, which was cracked and fractured in many places. Allen sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose, and rubbed his eyes.
He pulled out some materials that he carried with him in his jacket, and started to work on fixing the orb. The mage, who had worked the orb, was disembowled, and splattered over the walls...
Posted by: Trent on Sunday December 4th, 2005
Seijin stood atop his cloud, looking down upon Gaian. "Such chaos... I fear I may have to make good upon that promise I made to Tsu soon..." He started to charge energy into Transcender.
--- --- ---
Aura looked around for Allen. She didn't see him fly off on his disc, so he still had to be around. She needed to get to where Valos was as soon as possible. ((Assuming he's still there...)) She soon found him, and walked over, grimacing at the sight she saw. She regained her composure and looked at Allen. "Hey, do you think you can make me one of those flying discs? It's embarassing to say, but I can't fly yet..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday December 4th, 2005
Abodahon laughed. He lifted his right hand towards the Twilight Blasts and his left towards Ven's attacks. He empowered his gauntlets (the blood red glow) and the blasts only made slight recoil upon him; a slight pain tingled down his arms. "Ooo...Kinda liked that." He said mockingly. He noticed Zeros' coming in for an attack, his senses were amazing so he could see his foot fly at his face, so he simply titled his head to the side, at an insane speed. "Haha!" Abodahon laughed, and then smirked "Pathetic!"
He then ghosted a few feet back. He placed both his hands together as he empowered his gauntlets, he then blasted out a laser beam, traveling at the speed of light (duh), that was about big enough to hit them all, lucky that they had the gift of magic, the attack would not be as fatal as it was on the soldiers before.
----
"God damnit, will those two ever give up?" Rink groaned seeing Marshal and the Moth following them.
"Just ignore them." Duilin replied.
They then landed upon the city were Grey Empire warriors and Crimson Empire warriors did battle. Duilin took out his mace, and Rink flamed up his fists. Duilin jumped high into the air and pointed his feet down, landing on a Grey Empire soldier, he then smashed his mace into the warriors face, another one came up behind him and swung his sword at his back, yet he shifted his wings, and blocked the blade with the horn on his left wing. He then smacked the warrior with his right wing, and then back flipped and landed behind the solider loosing balance, and swung a punch with his free hand charged with lightning magic, knocking the life out of him.
Rink flue at a Grey Empire soldier and swung his fiery fist at the soldiers face knocking him to the ground, the warrior attempted to recovery yet he slammed his other fist down on him. The warrior then swung his sword slashing the imp taking him to the ground. He then stood up and looked at the fallen imp, and grinned in victory. Rink, had just faked his out coldness, and then phased in front of the warriors face and then swung his two index fingers into the warriors eyes blasted fire right into him. The soldier made a brutal scream as he took his last breath and fell to the ground. "God, I almost feel bad about that one...Well, he killed children and raped women, screw his rights."
----
Marshal flew over the battlefield on the moth. "Perhaps we should stop these grey armoured warriors they seem to be doing a lot of damage. They are followers of Melkoth. Yet, we should take out the Crimson ones as well."
Ein's moth nodded and then flue over two pairs of soldiers fighting, he then swooped up into the air and then tossed the warriors into the air. Marshal fired his gun at the airborne troops, and there bloody bodies landed on the ground.
"Eeeechh...I always get a weird feeling whenever I take a life myself...Perhaps I should summon something." Marshal says. He then lifts his amulet and then it glows, a spectre of large Vile Lizard takes shape. The creature then begins to claw at soldiers every which way.
Posted by: Trent on Monday December 5th, 2005
"Oh, for the love of Gaian..." Zion phases to the front, and demonstrates how powerful he really is. Bullet time engages in his head. He pulls his arm back, and shoves it forward, putting all his soul into it... He smacks the beam off to the side, scalding his hand, but still getting the job done.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday December 5th, 2005
"My god..."
Ven blinked as his attack and the others did nothing to the demon... A blast of light was sent back to him, and he hit the dirt as it traveled overhead.
Ven dug his sword into the ground and sat up, watching the others take their swings at the monster. This is insane... He stood up straight, his black cloak waving behind him, and began to run off of the knoll and at the mad beast, his sword fully extended to his right side. He wasn't charging because he was ignoring the strength of the demon, but rather because of the demon's strength... the others need him down there, right now...
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday December 5th, 2005
Zeros' turned, and watched Zion fling the beam away. He uncrossed his arms, and unsheathed his sword, going into it's demonic form.
He started to fly fowards, but feinted, and ghosted from view, and reppeared inside of Abodahon's guard (Basically, right next to him). His giant sword slashed towards Abodahon with even greater speed then the last attack.
The sword, was also empowered with holy ki, the complete opposite for demonic.
---
Allen stopped his tinkering, and nodded. He took something from his jacket, which appeared to be a small ball of steel, a compound. The small ball fell to the floor, and Allen placed both his hands on the ground.
The transmutation circle appeared, and glowed, before flashing, and a 3-foot flying disc was humming in the air, ready to be mounted.
Allen nodded briskly to Aura once more, and moved onto the next orb.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday December 5th, 2005
Abodahon looked at Zion, "Good work human." He then saw Ven run at him, he then swung his right hand attempting to backhand the knight to the ground. As Zeros' phased towards him and his sword stuck his chest, he tumbled back a few feet a squawked in pain. "Okay, getting better..." He then dashed towards Zeros' breaking the sound barrier and karate chopped at Zeros' at a speed just as great as Zeros' sword slash.
----
The moth then flies down closer to the ground, and flies across the battle field, slicing soldiers with it's wings, and biting away at the ones in front of him, or hacking at them with his claws.
The Vile Lizard dives at the pair of soldiers and begins to claw away at them. Another soldier comes from behind the creature and swings his sword at it's back, causing a deep cut. The monster then turns around and claws the warrior in the face. One of the soldiers that was earlier attacked survived the clawing and thrusting his sword into the creatures back in the same cut that the other solider made, killing the creature. The two soldiers nodded at each other, they realized they were on opposite sides and then clashed sword and began to dual.
Meanwhile Marshal summons two more Vile Lizards, and an Ogre. The monsters then run into the battlefield smashing and clawing away at soldiers...
Posted by: Haraldur on Monday December 5th, 2005
//I apologise for my tardiness, but I have been very busy recently.//
//Why is it that a city can teleport, while a character cannot?//
The Grey army managed to put up the shield in Alphagrad, causing the Crimson Army to be magically expelled, literally thrown out of the city with a large force, devastating them, and destroying both the airships. Assuming Duilin and Rink remain in the city, the Grey Army backs off a bit, and then lets fly with thousands of spells, of various types, all of the damage giving variety. A magical firing squad numbering thousands.
Melkoth grinned at Draven, "Hehehe... The most stupid leader I have ever met..."
Melkoth looked at the firey cage being brough around him and Draven. He held his two poisoned swords in his hands, dripping with black venom. He feinted with the sword in his right hand, hoping to draw Draven's attention to Draven's lower left. With his left hand, he moved his other sword stealthily up (at the same time as the feint) and saw that the poison was being burned off, so he charged the sword up with electrical energy and slashed towards Draven's neck, hoping to cause severe burns if the neck was not severed.
____________________________________________________________________
Hans' punches missed, as did Valos' sword strike, as Haraldur was gone. He had sliced time thinly, and moved quickly back to the Crimson Capital. He worked towards the palace again, this time destroying larger areas at a time. He arrived at the palace, with various soldiers and servants fleeing from the already burning building. He saw a man dressed in the uniform of an Alternan Army Commander, and thought, Alterna is involved as well? Good, it gives me every excuse. He sliced the man in half before starting to bash the outer walls of the palaces into pieces.
____________________________________________________________________
Vincent was aiming at thin air. The Prophet had, during the one second between Vincent aiming the shotgun and loading it, slipped into the shadows of the pillars, and was now creeping along the ceiling. Quintus dropped a glass bottle containing very potent poison (after muttering a breath spell, so he would not breath the poison gas). The bottle shattered, releasing purple fumes that diffused through the corridor almost instantaneously. Shrouded by the poisonous purple fog, Quintus walked along the ceiling, and then passed through the wall to be outside the building.
He then tried to sense if there were any living auras in the palace...
____________________________________________________________________
The Aspyes area of the land they brought with them is now almost completely automated, automated farms, everything.
____________________________________________________________________
Salazar's bureaucrats arrive, and start their work.
Posted by: Trent on Monday December 5th, 2005
"Thanks so much, Allen." She was worried about him... He didn't look so good. She hopped onto the disc and took off in the direction Valos went.
--- --- ---
Seijin continued to charge energy into Transcender.
--- --- ---
Zion let out a loud scream, his body becoming engulfed in a bright white aura. His eyes blanked out and became really bright. All of his attributes had to be at least doubled, and his wings grew a little bit. He phased in front of Ven, unsheathing Eternity Weapon and thrusting forth at the incoming hand with all his might.
Xenai let out another loud scream, his body becoming engulfed in a black aura. His eyes blanked out and turned bright purple. The same effect was caused. "Watch this!" He phased right in front of Abodahon, Zero Weapon in hand. "Tsu taught me this one..."
"Kuon Yaiba Ryu! Kuon Katsu..." (Eternity Blade Style, Eternity Victory...)
"Oh, nice." Tsu grinned as he watched. Xenai let forth a large flurry of high-speed, high-power slashes, and with that monster of a sword. (Zero Weapon is much bigger than a claymore, but smaller than Sagara Sanosuke's Zanbatou.) He then put the blade over his shoulder, putting his left hand under his arm, forcing the gathered kinetic energy into it. He executed a Trunks-style finish... "...Dead Wave!!!" And a beam of energy ripped forth upon the tenderized area.
Posted by: Kahn on Monday December 5th, 2005
Hyperion watched the battle with Abodahon from a safe distance. He was however more concerned with the The Prophets poison. He didn't want to fight if it wasn't necessary.
Posted by: Kahn on Monday December 5th, 2005
//accidentally double posted//
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday December 5th, 2005
"What the ****!?" Valos shouted as Haraldur disappeared and went towards the capital. "Son of a bitch..." The General groaned. "I'm going after him, I don't care what you morons do." He then landed in front of the entrance of the palace. "God, this is going to be annoying..." He then spotted Haraldur smashing the walls of the palace.
"Ragnar! You're starting to piss me off! Fight me you rebellious coward!" He taunted pointing his sword at Haraldur.
----
"Aw crap..." Rink groaned seeing the Crimson Empire troops get tossed out of the city. He then stood back to back (or leg judging by size) with Duilin.
Marshal and the Moth noticed that something fishy was going on, so they flue off.
Suddenly the thousands of magic blasts began flying towards them. "Holy shit!" Duilin shouted. He then began dodging and blocking with dark, flame and lightning element based shields (in case you haven't noticed those are the types magic that he is most skilled with). The occasional blasts hit him, yet he could take it, for the time being. Rink of course being scared shitless grabbed onto Duilin's leg, and began to shake uncontrollably. They didn't seem to stop firing at him, he could last long, but he didn't know how long enough. "Damnit, I'm going to need some help..." He then sent a message to Zeros', Zion, Xenai and Tsu: 'Um, yeah. I'm taking quite a lot of magic fire. You think one of you could help me out?'
Posted by: Trent on Monday December 5th, 2005
//Is Abodahon gonna take his hits, block, dodge, play god, or what? <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />
Tsu looked off in Duilin's direction. "I'll help Duilin. Good luck, guys!" He took off in that direction.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday December 6th, 2005
//Abodahon is going to wait until Zeros' responds to his attack.\\
Duilin continued to block, dodge and takes hits. He then noticed that Tsu was coming to the aid. He then messaged to him: 'They're not giving me enough time to attack back, and if I do, I'll be to open for one of theirs, so I need you to take a lot of them out, as fast as you can, then I'll be able to fight back.'
----
Gerard, lands on a small island. "This looks like a nice place for a rest..."
//I can't keep up with him, I'm going to have him inactive for now.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday December 6th, 2005
(Characters can perform actions. A city cannot. Also, I need the captial city intact for a climactic plot device, so I'm not gonna let you blow it up. Heh...)
----
Draven leaned forwards flew backwards as the blade impended, his feet striking the wall of flame behind him. As he did this, his aura amplified as the flame from the wall surrounded him, and he began to move up, following the inner sphere of flame almost like a skater. He followed the arc until he was at the upper tip of the inner sphere and then promptly fell, flipping around and slashing his burning blade downwards, creating a thin crescent wave of flame that extended the full height of the sphere and sliced the air as it flew towards Melkoth...
----
"Oof--!!"
Ven found himself slammed in the stomach by a huge metal gauntlet and thrown back at least twenty feet. He tumbled and rolled a few times on the rocky ground, kicking up much dust, before steadying and propping himself up on his sword and one knee.
"Aww... nuts..."
----
Vincent blinked as he looked for the prophet. As he heard the bottle break, he knew exactly what was happening. He buried his nose and mouth under a flap of his trench coat and ran at full speed down the corridor, in the direction the prophet came from, while holding his breath.
He kicked open a random wooden door at the end of the hallway, and entered, promptly shutting it behind. He dare not breath yet, and continued into the dark room, stumbling over a wooden chair, before finding the door on the opposite side. He opened this one, more gently this time, and entered, shutting it with loud *clang* that resonated a few times in a fading echo.
He now breathed lightly. This hallway was lined on both sides by glassless windows. It looked like a corridor that passed through a courtyard, connecting two main buildings.
He stood there, catching his breath and listening to the silence... profound silence...
After a good few minutes, he began to walk. Slowly... Though he stepped lightly, his boots still made an audible clap on the stone floor, and he listened for a response...
----
The wall that Haraldur was in the process of smashing suddenly froze, large sheets of ice continuously edged over the large cracks, reinforcing it. Fires were quickly put out and other damaged walls supported in the same manner. The short elite with the blue trimmed armor landed on the frozen wall that Haraldur stood before.
"Hmmm, interesting. So single minded he is in his objective, he has ignored everything else and left himself open to attack..."
"HARRRRRRGH!!!!"
The huge elite with the green trim landed ten feet in front of Haraldur, before the wall. Raising his right fist in to the air.
"I'LL SMASH YOU!!"
"DO NOT use your earthquake attacks in the city, Rufus..." the dark one ordered, as he landed some twenty feet behind Haraldur.
An enraged Hans flew in from where he missed his attack out in the sky, surging with electricity.
"That's right! He's MINE!!"
Julian extended his left hand to the side, which would have caught Hans' head if he had continued flying past.
"I believe General Valos has issued him a challenge. Who are we to interrupt?"
"HUH?!"
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday December 6th, 2005
Zeros' turned quickly, and raised his other arm. He blocked the karate chop, and reinforced his arm with ki, so it wouldn't break. (That would hurt... Alot.)
From the connection of the two forces, a sonic boom reverberated, sending a shockwave out in all directions, and uprooting a few trees in the process. He sheathed his sword, and pulled his arm from the lock, and ghosted backwards, and behind the hulking demon, right at his neck.
A ki blast of holy energy formed in his hand, and grew rapidly in seconds, and he shoved it backwards, towards the demon.
---
Allen cursed, as the city was rocked. He stopped the tinkering of the second orb. Luckily, the second mage managed to escape, alive, but barely. Allen had found him, bleeding to death, and managed to save him, if barely. He would be VERY tired, for a couple months at least.
He paused, and listened. He went back to work, as soon as he could balance correctly.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday December 7th, 2005
Apparently Zion's defence for Ven failed, as he swung himself to the side as Zion's sword clanged on his gauntlet and he swung his hand at Ven knocking him around 20 feet back (he was already hit, I was just reviewing that). He then swung his other hand forth and blasted a black fireball at the hitting the parts of the dead wave that would hit him. As Zeros' phased behind him and trusted the energy at him, he phased away dodging the attack; he appeared behind Zion, he then swung a punch at him, and angled it so he would fly into Zeros’ if he hit him well enough.
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday December 7th, 2005
//Ahem. And Xenai's attack? <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday December 8th, 2005
The small fleet of ships slowly edged through the turbulent waters, their blue etched flags nearly tearing from the masts. The sky was red and black. It rained a strange rain. The compasses were spinning, useless...
"My liege, we must turn back. You are in grave danger. Please, at least go back and we will continue the search for you..."
The stately king stroked his thin peppered beard.
"I will hear no more of that sort of talk. It's my fault he left... and I will correct my own mistake."
----
Ven slowly stood up, dusting himself off. He held his sword to his side as it began to glow with white energy once again... Blast it... think!
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday December 8th, 2005
//Ahem?From what I read the dead wave was his attack.\\
Posted by: Trent on Friday December 9th, 2005
"Kuon Yaiba Ryu! Kuon Katsu..." (Eternity Blade Style, Eternity Victory...)
"Oh, nice." Tsu grinned as he watched. Xenai let forth a large flurry of high-speed, high-power slashes, and with that monster of a sword. (Zero Weapon is much bigger than a claymore, but smaller than Sagara Sanosuke's Zanbatou.) He then put the blade over his shoulder, putting his left hand under his arm, forcing the gathered kinetic energy into it. He executed a Trunks-style finish... "...Dead Wave!!!" And a beam of energy ripped forth upon the tenderized area.
<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />
Posted by: Haraldur on Friday December 9th, 2005
//I have an anouncement: on Sunday I will be leaving my home to go for an interview at Oxford University in the UK. This means that I will be away until Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday too. So, for the next few days, please do not reply to my characters' actions.////
D'oh! You spoil my fun! <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /> Oh, well, I will get it yet...//
Haraldur raised an eyebrow at Valos. "Coward? Haha... I am a coward because I acquire some principles? As for principles, Valos, I am wondering why you have yet to rush to the side of the newly returned Abodahon Talonscar. Yes, I can feel his presence. Is the symbol on your forehead for nothing? As for rebel, I prefer revolutionary."
Haraldur blasted another piece of wall. He had now reached the kitchens.
As the walls then froze. he saw some Crimson Empire soldiers, wearing strangely important uniforms, gather around him. They looked like heavies. He ignored them.
He heard a slight whistling in his ear, audible only to him, and then received a small message of squeaks. So, the Fascists led by Salazar have taken Wahabia and some surroundings...
He decided to leave this area for his father, for now, so he started flying South very fast. He would get Salazar, that is for sure...
//Inactive for a few days.//
____________________________________________________________________
The Grey Mages fired yet more spells at the imp and the half-demon.
____________________________________________________________________
Melkoth became immaterial for a moment as the flame wave passed through him. He punched Draven, but was still immaterial, and he swore. He backed away a little, becoming material yet again. He walked on air, around Draven, then chucked a sand storm at him (a very localised one) threatening to both stop Draven's flame and damage Draven's eyes, armour, and the rest of his body, it was a flesh eating sandstorm.
Melkoth broke out of Draven's flame sphere with only minor burns. Safe in the knowledge (at least from his point of view, he is not necessarily right) that Abodahon would deal with things, he decided to fly back East to see the new palace Quintus had built him.
//Inactive for a few days.//
____________________________________________________________________
The Prophet could sense that he had failed to kill the second infiltrator, so he flew back down to the palace. Quintus turned into a yellow haze, passing through the small slits of the glassless windows, behind Vincent. He reformed himself, and said to Vincent, "Tell me, why are you so keen to defend an Empire with no future? I would have thought that one so skillful as you would be eager to join with a resurrection of one of the great Empires of the past...
"Right now myself and this building are immaterial, I cannot harm you, nor you me. You might as well talk with me."
//Inactive for a few days.//
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday December 9th, 2005
Zeros' moved quick. He reappeared, and stood on the demon's neck, anchoring himself to his back with ki and chakra. He charged his sword with holy energy, and raised it above his head, angling it downwards, while, changing it to it's holy form.
He stabbed down, his sword blurring.
Posted by: Trent on Friday December 9th, 2005
Eternity Weapon did little to stop the gauntlet, and he was blown away by it. Xenai's attack seemed to do some damage, but not nearly as much as it would on warriors of his own caliber. He floated back. "Damn." He floated back. "Come and get me, you hulking bastard..."
Zion got to his feet, and looked at Abodahon. There had to be something he could do... Where's a weak point? Where's he getting his power? Those gauntlets! He had to deactivate them or destroy them somehow...
--- --- ---
Tsu arrived at the scene, looking around at all the mages. He decided to call upon the power of darkness. He started muttering an incantation to himself, gathering ether. "Black flames of hell, rise up in the name of good..."
--- --- ---
//I'll update her next post so that she just misses Valos.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 9th, 2005
//Trent, I don't understand your post, was the sword slash the attack or the dead wave? Well if it was the sword slashes we'll assume he took the hits, and then continued on with the other things he did. Now update Tsu and Zion.\\
Valos lowered his sword, as Haraldur spoke. "He's...here?" Valos asked. "I do sense something like his aura...but stronger..." He then glared at Haraldur and ran at him swinging his sword, yet he flue off before he even moved his blade. "Shit!"
He then looked at him disappear into the distance. "Well he is right. I should go see him." He then walked into the hole Haraldur made in the palace walls, the soldiers and servants that were in the area looked at him. "Well don't just stand there you fools! Fix this place up!" they then quickly got back to work.
He then looked at the four elites. "I'm going off to do some business, I'll be back in a wile."
He then walked down further away from the palace into the main city square, a messenger was standing there who saluted him as he approached. "Inform Allen and Lieutenant Aura that I have left to do some business, and shall return a wile."
"How long is a wile, sir?" The messenger asked
"How ever long I want it to be..." The general then jumped into the air and surrounded himself in a dark aura and flue off towards Abodahon's aura.
'I bet Melkoth has something to do with Abodahon's return. I'm going to get in some big shit, maybe I shouldn't trust him.
He then felt a sharp pain, like a claw was squeezing his hart.
He clenched his chest and stopped flying. "Stop! I'll trust him, damnit..." The pain then stopped and he continued flying.
----
Duilin continued to block as many attacks as possible. He was getting tired, because there was so many and a few were hitting him. "Damnit, hurry up guys..."
Posted by: Trent on Friday December 9th, 2005
//Xenai's attack was a combination of the slashes, and the wave was a follow up. Whatever. Updating now. Tsu has already arrived where Duilin is, and is charging an attack.
Aura arrived in the city where she thought Valos was. She hopped off the disk, and it seemed to transform into a... hairpin? Oh, a cute one too. How convenient. Wow, Allen's good at this. She stuck it in her hair. The messenger approached her. "You just missed General Valos, ma'am."
"What? Crap! Where's he going?"
"He only said that he was going off to do some business, and that he would be back in a while."
"How long's a while?"
"However long he wants it to be."
"Crap! What am I supposed to do now?!"
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 9th, 2005
//What about Zion? Abodahon punched him.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday December 9th, 2005
(Awesome, Haraldur. Good luck!)
Draven closed his eyes and dispersed the sword, so that it would augment his aura. The flame swirled around him, in the opposite direction of the sand, and the two reacted violently for a few moments, before neutralizing each other and dissipating. When he opened his eyes, Melkoth was gone, the diversion a success.
"Typical!"
The enormous hollow sphere of flame around him began to rise skyward, and Draven, remaining in a fixed position in the air, became visible as he pierced the bottom. He brought both hands above his head as the 100 foot diameter ball of flame continued it's upward rise. It was like the sun that the thick red and black clouds above denied, bathing the battlefield below in an orange flame. Soldiers of both sides took notice of the awesome sight...
"Miserable coward! Show yourself!" His voice boomed across the land, his eyes darting back and forth, but his opponent was no where to be found.
The giant globe of flame began to shrink (it being hollow), getting even brighter in magnitude, until it became a solid sphere of burning energy some 20 feet in diameter...
----
Ven could not ignore what looked like a man holding the sun above his head in the sky... He turned his attention back to the demon, still readying energy in his blade, studying Zeros' and the others attack the beast...
----
And now it made sense.
Vincent spun around and took a few steps back until he felt he was a safe enough distance away to appropriately respond to any hostile attack... He then rested his weapon on his shoulder, to give the appearance that his guard was down.
"The Grey Empire... Melkoth..."
He brought his left hand to his chin.
"I see. So the legends have a hint of truth to them. An underground society lying in wait to resurrect their 'God', and return Gaian to a previous state of total unity under his rule... Yet this is the same ideal as the Crimson Empire, except Lord Draven dismisses gods and religion as blasphemy, and therefore we are your direct competition...
"I will admit your ability to organize such an assault underground is impressive, but your claim is still quite bold, old man... There is one thing I'm afraid I do not understand. This Ragnar, is he Melkoth?"
----
"Let him go."
"WHAT?!"
Julian folded his arms as Haraldur flew away from the floating city.
"We will restore the orbs and apply the level 3 barrier. He will find future assaults quite futile."
Posted by: Kahn on Friday December 9th, 2005
Hyperion noticed that Dravens battle had ended and his opponent was gone. He flew over, but stayed a good a distance away from the energy sphere.
"So.. uh.. what now?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday December 9th, 2005
//Looks like no one missed me. At any rate, i'm back. Dudeman, care to get some of that weight (Ein and Gerard) off your chest?\\
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 9th, 2005
//Yes, that would be nice. I already have five characters without those two! But yes, currently Gerard is at some small island, and Ein is with Duilin, observing the battle, near Zeros', Duilin, Draven and co.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday December 10th, 2005
Draven smirked at Hyperion.
"Why, clean up this mess, of course..."
He stretched his arms higher into the sky and clenched his fists, grabbing thin air. The glowing orb of flame above him tensed. He brought his hands downward quickly in a throwing motion, and the twenty foot burning sphere flew ground-ward like a spiked volleyball, straight at Retangrad...
An explosion ensued as the orb smashed into the translucent shield around the city, knocking nearby trees flat and illuminating the battlefield in bright red... As the light dimmed, the shield around the city was gone.
A small nearby force of Crimson soldiers noticed this and charged the city, but a group of Greys popped up from behind the walls and fired off a continuous stream of explosive blue orbs at the attackers, killing many and driving them off.
From high above, Draven pointed at the town as he spoke to Hyperion.
"Now we shall see how you perform, dragon. Infiltrate the city and attack them now before they restore their shield. As for the city itself, it is of minor importance. I've plenty more..."
----
His back is turned... This is it... here we go... now or never...
Ven did a mad leap, some twenty feet in the air, thrusting his sword downward as he began to fall, the blade burning with white energy.
"HAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!"
He dove down at Abodahon, aiming the blade straight for the back of the neck...
Posted by: Dude Man on Saturday December 10th, 2005
Abodahon, then swung his body forward dodging Zeros' blurring sword. He then clenched his fists and empowered his gauntlets, yet he sensed somebody going towards him. He spotted Ven thrusting his white energy empowered sword down at him, he would have phased, yet he was charging an attack and he didn't want to interfere with it, he then moved forward, yet he didn't totally dodge the attack, the blade struck him on the left side of his back, causing a deep cut, his blood splattered on the ground, causing steam to rise as it landed. He growled in pain, him being a demon the cut began to heal. He then flapped his wings and back flipped further landing several yards away from the group. He then fired two giant lasers at Ven and Zeros'.
----
Valos began to fly faster and faster as he moved towards the location of the two cities. He keeps a blank expression on his face. Abodahon must have been brought back from Melkoth, those two have been doing deals with each other for quite some time. If he was with Melkoth and if Melkoth is the one attacking the cities, then he may even have to turn against his former master or his current one.
Posted by: D. Ein on Saturday December 10th, 2005
//DM, could you update Ein and Marshal one last time please? I read the last two pages, and I still do not know where we are at the moment\\
Posted by: Trent on Saturday December 10th, 2005
//We'll assume that Zion stopped right before hitting Zeros'. The way I posted before can still imply that he took the punch.
Zion noticed that his opponent was busy firing lasers. Zion looked to Xenai, who just happenedt to look over to him. Zion nodded toward one of the gauntlets busy firing lasers. //Even if the lasers aren't being fired from the gauntlets, Abodahon is still occupied with his attack.
Zion and Xenai phased away from the lasers, and right up next to one of the gauntlets. They slashed at it in perfect unison, with all the power that they could muster directly after a teleportation. They would connect simultaneously.
--- --- ---
Tsu's aura turned black, flared, and then disappeared. "Damnation!!!" Several rays of darkness shot up from the ground, taking out several mages with each ray. He chose randomly where each ray would rise from, but he made sure not to hit Duilin.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday December 11th, 2005
//Ein and Marshal are nearby the same spot as Duilin and Tsu, but they are just flying and watching everything. \\
Duilin nodded at Tsu. "Thanks friend!" He then shook his leg flinging the scared little imp off. "Come on pipsqueak, we got work to do!" He then flue into the air, flying past a few magic blasts. The imp then followed. Duilin began to create a large fireball; wile Rink blasted smaller ones at the mages.
----
Marshal looked down at Duilin, Tsu and Rink fighting the mages, as he rode on Ein's moth. "Perhaps we should wait until they take out Melkoth's mages, it'll save us the time of killing them ourselves, then we make our strike at the half demon." Marshal suggested. "Or we can help fight the mages and then backstab. What do you say Ein?" He asked.
//I'll wait until Zeros' and Xorlak's reply before I respond to Xenia and Zion's attack. \\
Posted by: Kahn on Sunday December 11th, 2005
"This I can do."
Hyperion swooped down towards Retangrad, shaking the ground as he landed. This caught the attention of nearby soldiers who began to fire. Hyperion began to flap his wings, creating gusts of wind that sent the soldiers blue orbs back towards them.
Posted by: Zeros' on Sunday December 11th, 2005
Zeros' turned, and phased, making the lazer that was heading past him speed past where he was, roaring, and making the ground it hit burn, and trees become cinders.
He reappearing in front of Ven, and backhanded the giant lazer, effectively sending it up, and into the sky. His hand was burned, but, he'd had worse burns. It would be stinging for awhile, but, it was a mear annoyance, more than a serious problem.
He nodded at Ven, and looked back towards Abodahon. He noticed the aura trail the lazer had left, and smirked. He pulled back his hand, and kept himself calm. Then, with a blurring fist, he threw hundreds of corkscrew punches at Abodahan, flying towards him, fast.
The tornadoes fed off the aura in the air, and started from condensed, deadly, screwlike tornadoes, and started to grow, as they sped towards Abodahon.
---
Allen looked up from repairing the fourth, and final orb, as a messanger reached him. He nodded, and took the message from the man. He saluted the messanger, as he scampered off, scared by the gore on the walls of the mage that had once been here.
He sighed. So, Valos was rushing off into battle now, too.
He shook his head, and started to tinker with the orb.
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday December 11th, 2005
-"Let's wait. No need to get our hands dirty if we don't need to."
Ein was becoming more fused to the moth with every second that passed. His mind was slowly being melded with the moth's. He was now simply gliding around.
--- --- ---
Gerard stood up. "Ah, enough rest. Hmm... This looks like a good place for a settlement..." He flew up, glided around the island finally noticing a large rock cliff. He descended towards it and started clawing at it, turning the solid rock into small chunks. Some chunks contained some sort of black metal between them. Gerard extracted the said metal, and put it elsewhere.
//for now, Gerard won't go into contact with other characters.\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Sunday December 11th, 2005
Draven closed his eyes, 'watching' the auras dance around him... It seemed the capital was no longer in danger, at the moment, at least... Still this charade could be part of a distraction...
He floated down slowly, opening his eyes and seeing the soldiers of both sides locked in hand to hand combat. Small explosions ripped around randomly.
So, how to end it? Crimson Death Annihilation? Oh, what fun... but no, that would render a good chunk of his own land uninhabitable... Let the battle play out? Hmmm, might take too long, especially with Ragnar and whoever his weirdo freind is running around...
Release... them...?
Hmmm... Still an option he still wasn't sure he fully accepted...
At this point, he noticed the demon Abodahon was still alive and fairing quite well against the group of attackers around him...
"What? Why is that thing still alive?"
----
Ven returned the nod and darted off to the right side of the beast at a quick pace, trying to charge the white energy back into his blade once more. He would wait for Zeros' tornados to hit and then flank the creature...
----
"Need a hand?"
A voice resonated through the halls behind Allen. It was James, the short blue elite with the watery aura.
"This one is nearly depleted. It will require a jump start..."
He walked up to the orb and placed his right gauntlet on it. His body glowed with a blue aura that surrounded the orb, and soon the large orb resumed its normal crimson glow. The elite clutched his chest as if he felt a sharp pain, but his face played it no mind and he quickly brushed it off.
"It will last perhaps 10 or 15 more hours. A replacement is badly needed."
He turned to the open hallway door as two soldiers passed.
"You there! Clean up this mess! Slovenly rejects..."
Posted by: Trent on Sunday December 11th, 2005
//I'm still interested if Zion and Xenai's attempt to neutralize the gauntlet is effective. It most likely won't be, but don't count them out just yet or anything.
Posted by: Dude Man on Sunday December 11th, 2005
Abodahon spotted the two men swing their swords down upon his gauntlets. The blades hit his massive gauntlets making a clanging sound, yet they only scratched the hard black metal. "Fools!" He then lifted his hands and prepared to slam his fists downwards and crush the two. Yet he saw a series of tornados flying towards him, they swooped him up into the air, and he flue into the air. "Ooof-"
He then regained air control and he then dropped himself to the ground fists first and slammed them onto the ground, standing on his fists, making a huge shockwave and cracks and waves in the ground.
----
Duilin continued to charge his fireball, then added lightning energy into it, as it grew bigger. He flue around a bit dodging magic blasts that flue at him, while he charged his attack. Rink flue near by his half demon friend and fired back at the mages, he then fired a high-speed one taking out one of the mages.
----
Valos continued to fly towards his location. "Yes, it is him...Abodahon has returned. I wonder if Duilin knows it yet..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Sunday December 11th, 2005
-"Marshal... I think we'll let the mages do their best while we relax a bit." Ein flew another circle.
-"Actually... I have a better idea."
Ein landed the moth, and got one of it's claws drawing circles on the ground. They were coming out pretty shabby as a moth's leg isn't too precise, but it had to do. He drew a bit, and then slammed it's massive claw in the middle of the finished "piece". The mages were now more powerful, more resistant to damage, and took less to cast every spell.
--- --- ---
Gerard kept mining the black material.
Posted by: Trent on Sunday December 11th, 2005
Tsu landed. "You're quite welcome. Shin Kuon Yaiba, become flat-edged." He started dashing by mages, starting to take out mages one by one with battou-jutsu attacks aimed at the head.
--- --- ---
Zion and Xenai held their swords so that they took the brunt of the shockwave. Zion thought to himself. What can we do against this guy? It's obvious he values those gauntlets very much, and that most of his power comes from them... But how do we negate them?
--- --- ----
Aura looked around. She saw Lord Draven up in the sky, looking off in another direction. She looked off in the direction he was looking in, and she could hear a lot of activity. She then thought she saw a giant jumping around and firing lasers. She caught a glimpse of that man she saw on the ship fighting against the giant. She figured that the giant was an enemy of the Crimson Empire. She should go help them! She took the hairpin out, and tossed it. It turned into the flying disk, which she promptly jumped on, and flew toward the battle.
Seijin frowned from his cloud. "No, don't go there..." He sent a telepathic message down at Aura.
Do not go there. That beast is far too strong for you.
"Wh- what? Who said that?!"
That isn't important. What is important is that you don't join that battle!
Aura was freaked out now. She floated in place, trying to decide what to do.
Posted by: Kahn on Monday December 12th, 2005
Hyperion flew around the perimeter of Retangrad dropping fire bombs on any soldiers hiding behind walls. Along with the bombs he dropped four claws at four corners of the city. He landed softly and began charging an attack.
Posted by: Xorlak on Monday December 12th, 2005
"Hyaaahh!!"
Ven charged the beast as it landed, leaping over the impending shockwave and spiraling downwards. He brought the white flashing blade to his side as he came down... a weak spot... he must have one!
His side... this time he'd try for his left side, under the arm... Ven reared the blade back as he aimed the slash...
----
Two groups of Greys wielding swords and spears emerged from the center of Retangrad and merged, charging the dragon straight on. Another group of Grey mages appeared behind, casting a shield in front of the charging soldiers and firing some more orbs over their heads in Hyperion's direction...
Posted by: Zeros' on Monday December 12th, 2005
Zeros' simply jumped, avoiding the shockwave. He then thurst his hand up, and all of the tornadoes (Theres hundreds of them, and they're growing slowly every second) followed his hand, and went towards the giant demon, spinning faster, and growing stronger.
---
Allen nodded to the blue elite.
"Yes... This one was damaged the most. The others are still in well-enough shape, that, they still won't need replacements for a few weeks... If nothing this major happens again. I'll start work on the replacement soon... Right now, we need to worry about how much Haraldur will damage the main city," he said.
He had also seen the blue elite clutch his chest in obvious pain, but, he didn't question the man about it.
Posted by: Dude Man on Monday December 12th, 2005
"Ein, it seems that you made the mages stronger, um....Why?" Marshal asked, rather confused.
----
Duilin then finished his lightning\fire ball and then tossed it down on the ground, zapping and burning all the greys within a 30 foot radius. Yet many of them survived.
"Huh?" Duilin noticed this. "What the hell? What's going on?"
"They are mages, give them a break." Rink said
"Yeah, but I charged that attack for like 3 posts!" Duilin complained
"Yes...I suppose it is odd..." Rink rubbed his chin
----
Abodahon then empowered his gauntlets and a firey aura surrounded his gauntlets and he then blasted flame into air making the area very humid, and the tornados then began to die due to the change in air pressure. Abodahon continued to do this, until suddenly somthing struck the side of him. He growled in pain and then looked at the knight that struck him. Adodahon then swung his hand towards Ven's head in an attempt to knock him out or give him a huge headache.
----
Valos finally arrived at the scene. He then landed about 40 feet away from the battle Abodahon was in. "Hmm...Yes, I suppose that does look like him. He has changed past the few years."
He observed the area. Suddenly a Grey Empire soldier ran at him and swung his sword. Valos didn't even draw his weapon he phased behind the warrior and grabbed his neck and then blasted a lightning spell into him, knocking the life out of him. He exaimed the warrior. "Grey armor? Hmm..." He then looked up at the Grey Empire logo in the sky that Melkoth made above Alphagrad. "Grey Empire? What the ****?"
Posted by: D. Ein on Monday December 12th, 2005
-"Don't worry, Marshal, keep your panties on."
Ein rose the moth a little higher. "Hmm. The mages use magic, obviously. That's the whole reason i boosted them a little -- more magic, more damage, more fun."
He then got the moth to pick his speed up a bit, then his wings were engulfed in a reddish glow. He skimmed right over the mages. Suddenly, the mages stopped casting spells... and quite a lot of them literally blowing them up from inside, combusting their magic supplies.
-"Hehe... See, this is fun!"
He got the moth to fly even lower, decapitating some more mages with his wings.
--- --- ---
There was now a large pile of black material next to Gerard. He kept extracting it.
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday December 13th, 2005
"Oof--!"
Ven found himself flying backwards. Not again... He tumbled a few times and caught himself with both hands and knees on the ground.
At least he felt that one... ugh...
He collapsed under his own weight, still clutching his sword.
----
The blue elite nodded to Allen and proceeded to exit the room.
"We shall take care of him, if he decides to return..."
Two soldiers passed him, entering with a mop and bucket, quite distressed at seeing what they had to clean up.
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday December 13th, 2005
That last one hurt. Abodahon was limping a bit from the gash on his side, and on his back, yet they both were healing. He watched the knight fall back again. He grinned and then looked back at the others.
Valos then walked closer to were Abodahon was, he was fighting Zeros', Ven and the other two. It looked like Ven just got a good hit on him, yet the demon punished him for it. He was indeed strong.
Abodahon then spotted Valos and narrowed his eyes and gave him a quick glare. "What are you doing here?!" The demon shouted at the general.
Valos was a bit startled when the demon spoke. He didn't really know what to do, Abodahon didn't seem to be harming any members of the Crimson Empire so he just took a few steps back and then viewed the fight. He brushed his hair back revealing the tattoo on his forehead.
Abodahon gave Valos one last look and then glared at Zeros'. He dashed at him at great speed, the running hurt him due to the cuts yet he kept going ignoring the he then surrounded himself in a black fiery aura and jumped into the air and aimed a kick at his opponent’s head.
----
Marshal then pointed his machine gun at the soldiers that they flue past and fired his weapon rapidly at the warriors, killing quite a few of them.
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday December 13th, 2005
Zion looked to Valos briefly, then back to Abodahon. He shot a lot of his energy to Xenai, who gladly caught it and absorbed it.
"Tsu taught me this one, too--!" He quickly flew up to Abodahon, and with his gigantic sword, commenced another flurry of slashes, this one slower and more deliberate, with each slash charged with energy.
"Mazawereshi inochi ni... Ima motarensaren setsuna no kiseki... Toki wo kete... Koko ni yuugo sesshu mirai hi no taiduu--! GISHOUKEN!!!" And one huge downward slash...!
--- --- ---
Aura looked at the scene from afar... She thought she had seen Valos flying there... She had to go, then!
"I'm going!" No, don't!
She started off toward the battle.
Tsu continued to slay each mage that he could, but then noticed Aura heading toward the battle with Abodahon. "NO!"
With great speed, he flew over, completely exhausting himself to get in front of Aura. "Do NOT enter that battle!"
"Oh no, it's you..."
"So you've joined the Crimson Empire..."
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday December 13th, 2005
Duilin blasted a lightning bolt at a mage knocking it to the ground. "Sheesh, there are a lot of these guys..."
Rink blasted a barrage of fireballs taking out another one. "I'll say."
Suddenly a group of Crimson Empire troops charged in and began to clash at the Grey Empire troops. The Grey Empire turned most of the focus on the Crimson warriors.
Duilin crosses his arms and then walks a few steps around and faces to direction of Abodahon and Zeros'. "That demon is still alive? He must be strong...I sense he is to."
"Indeed." Rink said back, he was also looking in that direction. "Hey, Tsu's over there. But he doesn't seem to be fighting, wait, I see that one woman, um, Aura I believe, she was on the ship with Valos and Xenai. Valos is here to, what is he doing here?"
"Maybe he's protecting the cites, like any general would."
"No, I don't think that's it...he seemed to be focused on the huge demon."
"Well...he is quite a shocking sight. But why isn't he helping Zeros', Zion and Xenai?"
"I don't know, Duilin...or wait...It feels like I should know..."
"Why? Why do you think you should know?"
"Um, that...that I don't know."
"You don't know much at all, do you, Rink."
"Hey! I know more than you! What's the wing span of a fully developed male red dragon?"
"Shut up Rink."
Posted by: Kahn on Tuesday December 13th, 2005
Hyperion noticed the greys approaching, but he wasn't worried. He would have to take the full force of their attack until his own was ready. The ground of Retangrad began to heat up.
"Soon your city will burn."
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday December 14th, 2005
Ven slowly stood up once more. He was a lot more dizzy this time...
"Just one more..."
The sword began to gather energy again while he began to limp his way around the back of the demon in a wide circle, while Xenia unleashed his attack...
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday December 14th, 2005
Ein flew another circle, then suddenly dropped on the ground. His body started changing quickly. His skin was regaining it's colour, his limbs became more human-like; the moth spell wore off. He was now a simple unconcious human.
--- --- ---
Gerard finished mining the material. There was a lot of it now. He took all of it, dumped it in one pile, ripped some trees out of the ground and threw them into that pile. Then he threw a rock in there, whacked his claw on it creating a spark which ignited the trees. They started burning rapidly and producing unbearable light, and heat. Gerard took a few steps back.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday December 14th, 2005
Due to Ein turning back into a human, Marshal fell to the ground. "Ooff!" He then stood up and then picked up his gun. "Ack, what? You're back into a human." He then reloaded his machinegun. "Well, I hope that won't cause problems." The monsters he summoned seemed to have been taken out in the battle. "It looks like my pets have died. Ein, maybe you should do something, like one of your symbol thingies. I'll try and summon something."
Suddenly a group of Crimson soldiers surrounded the two.
"Uh oh..." Marshal gulped. The warriors ran towards the two men, they ready their swords. Marshal shoots down one of them, yet the rest of them still advance.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday December 14th, 2005
Regaining conciousness, Ein got up.
-"Huh...? Oh, alright, fine..."
//i'm still confused at where we are right now :S\\
Ein charted a line with an arc over it, and another line coming from the centre. It started glowing eerily. Ein began to chant...
--- --- ---
The black metal was becoming super-heated due to the trees' rapid combustion. It slowly started melting.
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday December 14th, 2005
//DM, what's the hold-up?
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday December 15th, 2005
// Ack. Internet been screwy... Back now. \\
Zeros' looked at the attack aimed for his head. He brought up his arm, and surrounded it in a holy white aura. He grabbed the kick aimed for his head, and threw the foot up. This gave him enough time to phase away, and reappear at his side, his sword out, and aiming a point-blank shot, his sword fueled with holy aura, directly at the demon's side.
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday December 15th, 2005
//I was waiting for Zeros' to respond, just like last time.\\
Abodahon back fliped into the air as Zeros' tossed up his foot, and then landed upon the ground. He spotted Xenai slashing at him; he swiftly shifted to the side. Zeros' sword then struck his side. Abodahon yelled in pain, he then turned his head at Zeros' and gave him an evil look, fire was burning in his eyes, he then jumped about 10 feet into the air and glided 20 feet back away from the group, he them empowered his gauntlets, a gust of wind surrounded him and chunks of the ground flue into the air, he then surrounded himself in a dark protective aura and continued to charge power.
----
Rink and Duilin then flue closer to the battle, about the same area that Valos was.
Valos turned his head. "Stay out of this one...Well...Duilin this demon may interest you, yet you might not like it."
"Who is he?" Duilin asked
"You'll see." Valos grinned as he turned his head back towards the battle.
"What are those gauntlets he has? Those are huge, they look like they'd be a bitch to remove." Duilin asked
"I think that is some sort of demonic material." Rink replied
"Is it strong?"
"Strong as diamond, maybe tougher or weaker, I'm not sure."
Valos then noticed Aura had arrived. He then walked towards Tsu and Aura. "I would listen to him. That demon would make short work of you, just look how he clobbered the knight."
Duilin then turned and walked towards them, Rink followed. "You know who this demon is. How? Did you personally know him? Or is he from some legend of some sort."
Valos grinned. "You'll see, Talonscar...You'll see."
----
The soldiers got closer to the two. Marshal fired rapidly mowing down about five or so. Two soldiers came towards Marshal, he shot one of them and the other swung his sword at him. He blocked the blade with the metal of his gun; he then kicked the soldier back and shot him in the head.
A warrior then came towards Ein and swung his sword...
Posted by: Trent on Thursday December 15th, 2005
Zion charged up a fire spell...
Xenai created a generic-looking, but moderately large ki ball, and chucked it at Abodahon's head.
--- --- ---
Tsu and Aura glared at each other with cold eyes.
"You seem to forget that you are everything to me."
"You seem to forget that you are nothing to me."
Tsu frowned, closing his eyes. "Riptide..." He spun around, unsheathing the katana in a slashing motion toward Aura's head, intended to knock her unconscious. A scimitar blocked the path. Aura pointed a finger of her free hand at Tsu. "Ray!" Tsu's eyes widened in surprise. He took the hit and flew back a moderate distance. When did she learn magic?
Posted by: Kahn on Thursday December 15th, 2005
A spear flew into Hyperions leg as he was finishing charging his attack.
"I need to finish this...... NOW!"
The ground began to crack beneath him as he put all his strength into the attack. The ground of Retangrad began to rapidly heat up even burning Hyperions feet. He stopped charging and turned back into human forms with wings, but the heat was still increasing. He flew up over the city and looked down below with a smirk. Moments later the ground of Retangrad started on fire.
Posted by: Zeros' on Friday December 16th, 2005
Zeros' looked at the demon, and simply crossed his arms, waiting for the attack. He knew nothing would work against him at the moment, so, all he had to do was wait...
Wait and see...
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday December 16th, 2005
To the west, off of the cost and barely visible on the horizon (especially with the darkened sky) a small fleet of ships appeared, six in all. They bore blue flags, different from any previously seen.
"My liege, there is a battle up ahead. If we stray closer, I fear we may be mistaken for a target..."
"That is our destination..."
"Huh?"
"He's there, caught in the middle of it..."
----
Ven watched Xenia's ball of ki energy fly towards the creature. A perfect opening... he would time his strike so that he would hit a mere second after the energy ball...
Now!
With all his remaining strength, Ven made yet another mad dash at the creature. It was another strike with his glowing blade aimed underneath the arm, this time on the opposite side as the last...
Posted by: D. Ein on Friday December 16th, 2005
The sword hit Ein on his shoulder painfully. It wasn't fatal, but it hurt a lot. He groaned in pain, but continued charging his spell.
--- --- ---
The metal was nearly boiling. Gerard dug out a deep pit, about 1m deep, 1.5m wide and 3m across. The metal poured into the pit, and began cooling off.
Posted by: Dude Man on Friday December 16th, 2005
The warrior prepared to swing again at Ein, yet Marshal shot the soldier in the head. Another one came towards Marshal, yet he smashed him with his gun and then shot him as he fell back.
----
Valos turned his head around and saw Tsu attack Aura. "What the **** do you think you're doing?!" He began to run at Tsu, yet Duilin grabbed his shoulder. "Hey!?" He yelled at the half demon.
"Just let them sort it out." Rink said sternly.
Valos looked at the imp and glared he then looked at Duilin, as he nodded to him. The general then looked at the other battle, and looked at Zeros'. He then backed away and then sat down on the ground, and watched Abodahon.
----
The energy ball then struck his sheild, and took it out. Abodahon then laughed evily and then readied to blast his attack at the three heros. He then pointed both his gauntlets and prepared to fire, yet the knight then struck his sword under his arm. He fell back and blasted a huge dark red blast into the air, it exploded in a huge blood red orb with a large ring around it, as soon as the explotion cleared up then it began to rain blood.
The demon groaned in pain. A mere mortal seemed to be a threat towards him, he should have paid more attiention to him. He grinned at Ven, as he slowly got back up. He then looked at Zeros'.
"You seem preety confident half breed." Abodahon said to him. "Yet, I can see why. You must think very much of yourself with your many wings wings and your 'holier than thou' image going on." He then coughed. This fight wasn't going anywere, he knew that they couldn't kill him, and he knew that with Zeros' there, he wouldn't allow any of his friends to die. "Well, you I guess you just allways have somthing planned, you know exactly what's going to happen next, don't you? Well, this isn't totally over, my friends."
Then a blinding white pentagram appeared on his chest, expanded engulfing him and then just simply dimmed. Abodahon was no longer there.
Posted by: Trent on Saturday December 17th, 2005
Tsu got to his feet, hearing Valos yell at him. He didn't give much of a shit about Valos. He was protecting the one thing he lived for. "Damnit, I'm trying to protect you! You know I love you!"
"And you know I don't care! You know I don't want anything to do with you!" She started to gather light energy... But Abodahon had vanished. There was no longer anything to protect her from.
Zion stored away the fire energy he charged up, then looked over to the commotion going on. Xenai watched as well. Zion soon realized what she was about to cast. What...?! She has...!
Tsu soon realized it too. ...Judgment?! When did she get so much power?! "Aura, I have no more reason to fight you. You don't need to charge that spell anymore."
"Shut up! You annoy me, creep!"
Damnit... Tsu assumed a defensive stance. He charged some lightning energy to his hands...
Posted by: Zeros' on Tuesday December 20th, 2005
Zeros' looked at when the demon had once been, and snorted at the demons description on himself. 'Holier then thou'? Oh sure, that's how he came off to most, but, that was totally wrong... As for knowing what would happen next, his brain processed information so fast, it only seemed like he knew what was going to happen. As for the wings, he only had two now. He merged them all together into two, larger wings.
"Well... That was interesting," he commented idly, as if talking about the weather.
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday December 20th, 2005
//Since I am a bit out of it at the moment, and Christmas is very soon, and assuming that because of this proximity to Christmas that the chapter will soon end, there is little point in me starting to post again this chapter.
Of course, I must ask you this Xorlak: Is this chapter going to end soon?//
Posted by: Xorlak on Tuesday December 20th, 2005
(I was planning on letting it run for another 2-3 weeks or so, but do people feel like stopping? This probably would be a good time, I guess.)
Ven fell backwards from exhaustion. He did it... well not really, but he was part of it. Lying flat on his back he thrust he left fist up in victory... then brought it to the back of his head.
"Ohh, headache now..."
----
The fighting seemed to simmer down a bit, as if both sides were regrouping and preparing for wave two... the Greys within Alphagrad and Retangrad, and the Crimson Empire forces in various groups around the cities, save for a few small skirmishes and Hyperion's still ongoing assault on Retangrad.
Draven was on the ground between the two cities, surrounded by a large force, a caped officer talking to him, and Draven yelling back, pointing in several directions and waving his hands, and the officer nodding in comprehension.
----
(Haraldur, do you want to continue Vincent and the prophet's conversation, or should I just have him high tail it outta there? Or there's no reason why we couldn't have these two pick up at this point at the beginning of the next chapter.)
Posted by: Trent on Tuesday December 20th, 2005
"Aura, knock it off!"
"I'm sick of you! You're creepy, and I hate you!"
"Damnit!" He sheathed his sword quickly performed 3 ninja seals... (And I've memorized them in real life, except for the seals' names... I do believe I've earned the right to use this at least once here. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' />) Ox, Yiang, Hare, then grabbing his left forearm while holding out his left hand, as if holding a ball.
"Judgment!!!" The sky starts to shoot down rays of powerful light at Tsu, who weaves through each one as he heads toward Aura, trying hard to concentrate ki to his hand. "Raikiri! Lightning Edge!" His hand erupts with lightning.
Seijin frowns from his cloud. I don't like that...
Zion doesn't like it either. That technique's made to kill! What are you doing?
He comes in range, thrusting his hand out, formed like a knife, toward Aura's shoulder. She dodges as Tsu starts to cartwheel past, and unsheathes one of her scimitars, slashing at him. He catches it with his feet, and pulls his left hand off the ground, thrusting into one of her legs.
"Ugh!"
Posted by: Haraldur on Tuesday December 20th, 2005
//Let us continue Quintus and Vincent's conversation next chapter.//
Posted by: Dude Man on Tuesday December 20th, 2005
Valos laughed as Aura attacked Tsu.
"How could you laugh, you're such a heartless jerk." Rink snapped at the general.
"This, coming from an imp. Haha, that's extremely amusing. Okay, I laugh at a women giving the harshest rejection possible, and you whip thousands of people for not admitting they didn't go to church, before they died, and that makes you a better person, ahem, 'being' then me." He said mockingly
Rink readied to fly up a smash Valos right in the face, yet Duilin grabbed him as the imp flue upwards.
Valos began to laugh even more. "Oh god, this is the amazing, just classic!"
Duilin narrowed his eyes. "Listen, we already have two of our allies fighting and we don't want more. And, Rink I don't think the Empire would like it if you attacked a commanding officer."
"You're taking his side?" Rink asked in shock.
"Well, it's true and in a way he does have a point." Duilin said, he seemed to regret saying it after he did.
Rink jumped to the ground, and just walked away without looking back.
"Rink! I'm sorry!"
Valos put his hand on Duilin's shoulder. "Let him go, he's just trying to limit you anyway."
"What? Limit me?"
"Your power. He doesn't want you to become to strong or else you'll go fully demonic, yet it wouldn't be dangerous if you did."
"What about bloodrage? Won't I loose control and harm people?"
"No, untrue. Your father, didn't and he became very powerful and had just as much control over himself as he did when he had his human side."
"Did you witness my father...change?"
"I suppose you could say I did." He then stepped back and turned around, he looked up into the sky as the blood rained down.
"God, this is disgusting." Duilin groaned. After a few seconds when he said that, it stopped raining.
Posted by: Xorlak on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
(Chapter 7 ends in 3 days. We won't be doing the classic, "everyone goes to bed" thing, since its not practical in the middle of a battle like this. Heh...)
The sun was setting behind the thick black clouds, though it was barely noticeable.
Ven slowly sat up and dusted himself off (again). It seemed lines have been drawn and the fighting stopped for a while, around him at least. Still, there was the sound of one more scuffle, sounds of spells being cast and raised voices...
Ven limped, following the sounds, moving around an obstructing portion of raised land and small shrubbery to witness the battle himself. It was Tsu and some woman in Crimson Empire uniform. Ven approached behind Valos and Duilin, overhearing the part of the conversation about the 'bloodrage' and such, and decided not to say anything...
Posted by: Trent on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
Tsu sprung to his feet. He looked up at the brief rain of blood, as did Aura. They both said in unison, "Eww!" Their eyes locked onto each other's immediately after that. Aura's wide eyed stare quickly switched to a glare, while Tsu's wide eyes just turned sad.
"Do you really think you can beat me?" asked Tsu. "Let alone with that wound I just gave you?"
She thought back at all the times they had fought as pro swordsmen, at how inferior she had been compared to him. "Grrr... I know I can beat you!" She started to dash toward Tsu, but the wound in her leg was shocking... It hurt, and it tingled. Both pretty badly. She came down on her good knee. "Crap... One day, I WILL beat you!"
"I'm already aware of that."
"..."
"That's what I always used to tell you."
18:32, 6 May 2006 (EDT)~
Aura and Tsu dashed at each other, a crowd of roaring fans surrounding them in the stadium. They passed each other with that flashy effect they always do in animes, followed by suspense. Aura dropped to her knee, then turning to look at Tsu. "Why... Do you always beat me?"
"Don't stop trying. You will beat me someday. That, I am sure of." Tsu looked at Aura, smiling warmly. He walked over and extended his hand to help her up.
"Hmph. Creep." She got up herself and walked off. Tsu just frowned with sad eyes.
18:32, 6 May 2006 (EDT)~
"..."
"Now is not the time for us to fight anyways. We are allies right now." He sheathed his sword and walked over to Zion and Xenai. "I'm ready to go. Is there anything else we need to do today?"
"No, not that I know of," said Zion.
Aura looked to Tsu for a moment, then sheathed her scimitar. She got to her feet and walked over to Valos weakly, though trying not to show it. "Please forgive me for what just happened."
Posted by: Zeros' on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
Zeros' sighed sadly, and shook his head. The rain of blood didn't bother him... That's all his immortal life was. Blood, death, and the will to survive... Once this planet was on the right track, he would leave Gaian... Forever. He would never come back. He'd let the humans deal with their own problems. He floated the the ground, and phased away, appeared next to Rink, and falling instep with him.
He put a hand on the smaller demons shoulder, and just sighed.
"Don't worry about Duilin... He's a good kid. He won't even have what it takes to go fully into his demonic heritage. If he did, he would of never left the Dark Empire five years ago, and help Romme fight," he said.
---
Allen finally sighed, sat down, removing his glasses, and wiping his brow. He had finally finished a new main power orb. He didn't have all he needed to make it as powerful as the other one, but, as long as there wasn't a massive explosion, it would be fine. He had transfered the juice the blue haired elite had put into it into the new orb, and recharged it.
Now, all he had to do was wait.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
Valos smiled at Aura. "It is nothing to worry about, my dear." He said calmly. "He is not a part of the Empire, loosing him would be a small loss, if any." He then put his hand on her shoulder, and spoke softly. "Don't worry, someday you will beat him." He then looked at Duilin. "Well, my friend. You seem to be reliable enough, since you stopped Rink, if anything like what has happened goes on again, try and talk some sense into your friends.
Duilin looked at Aura and Valos and then at Tsu and then back at Valos. "Sure." He said lowly wile nodding his head.
Duilin then turned around and saw Ven. "Hey, I saw you got pretty hurt up by that demon." He said to him. "You okay?"
----
Rink turned his head up and looked at Zeros'. "That's what I'd like to think, Zeros'." He said as he continued walking. He then lowered his head, and looked in front of him. "But...that Valos...he makes me hate this alliance so much, and as soon as Duilin stopped me from hitting him, I know he was just trying to stop a fight, but...it seems like he's on his side." He then walked a bit faster, up ahead of Zeros' and then stopped and clenched his fist. "I just...can't wait until this alliance is over." He then turned around, and looked back at Zeros' and then looks at the group further away and saw Valos talking to Aura, and Tsu all upset. "I know I'm not the only one who's getting sick of him..."
"I can't remember much about Duilin's father." He said, seemingly trying to change the subject. "But I remember talking to him, telling him what he was doing is wrong, and him just yelling back, telling me I don't understand. He was just going mad with power...But...I don't know why I was there...or really how I know it was Duilin's father...but, I know I'm not wrong about it...How many people have the last name Talonscar anyways?" He said making a fake grin.
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
-"Okay, i'm done... but it doesn't seem to do much good..."
Ein stood up. The small picture he drew on the ground dimmed, and eventually completely darkening. Nothing happened.
-"Wang..."
--- --- ---
Gerard continued repeating the cycle. A humungous pile of largelicious black bricks about one ton each continued building up.
Posted by: Dude Man on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
Marshal groaned. Another soldier readies his weapon at Ein, and he fired upon him. One came towards him, and he shot at him, yet one came behind him, and stabed him in the back, cutting through the armour. "Oh...my..." He limped down towards the ground. The soldier then readies to finish him off, yet he fired his gun at him, just pointing his right arm behind him, without turning around. He then stood up, that strike on him really hurt. "I'm in need of medical assistance." He groans. He then lies back on the ground. He then looks around. "Guess...I got them all...Ein...we should leave...we need to find Haraldur..." He says breathing deeply. "I'm hurt...but I should live....not to...worry..."
Posted by: D. Ein on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
Ein came over to marshal, and helped him up. Then, suddenly, a huge lightning struck the earth behind him, right into the picture he drew. The ground there split in half.
-"A little late..."
//end chapter for all characters\\
Posted by: Kahn on Wednesday December 21st, 2005
Hyperion flew back down into Retangrad to put the injured out of their misery. There were still Greys left who managed to get to safe grounds, but he didn't expect they would try anything.
Posted by: Trent on Thursday December 22nd, 2005
"If you would excuse me sir, I would like to return to the Crimson Capital. My leg needs rest." Aura saluted Valos before tossing her hairpin into the air and letting it transform into the flying disc.
Tsu flapped his wings a bit. "Alright, let's go, then." He took off quickly toward the Crimson Capital. Zion and Xenai looked at each other, and then followed.
Aura looked to Tsu with a hateful envy of the wings. "Ugh, he's going that way too?" She hopped onto the disc, and took off toward the Crimson Capital, not as quickly as the winged warriors.
--- --- ---
Zion and Xenai shot forward quickly, catching up to Tsu, who was flying faster than he should be. "Dude, what the hell? You need to slow the hell down!"
"I am grateful that I've not yet experienced this feeling that you are now."
"Seijin, you'd better make her realize..."
"Seijin? What's he have to do with all this?" asked Zion.
"I asked him to protect Aura if her life would ever be threatened, and he accepted, to pay back for way back when, when we helped Gaia save Gaian. But he said, however..."
--- --- ---
Mugen Seijin spun the Transcender around in his hand, tossing it around like a member of high school colorguard. It gathered more and more energy. "Now that Aura's in the Crimson Empire, there is no doubt her life will soon be threatened. I hope you understand, Tsu. I can only do this once. I'm not supposed to meddle with human dealings."
//I hope this energy transfers over to the next chapter.
--- --- ---
"...So when he does save her... He had better knock it into her head, that I am the one."
//End of chapter for all characters.
Posted by: Zeros' on Thursday December 22nd, 2005
Zeros' plopped himself on the ground, next to Rink, and sighed.
"Not many people have the name Talonscar, yes, and it's also possible for Duilin to be his father. I promise you, if, Duilin becomes mad with power, I will kill him. You and I both know he's a good kid. He wouldn't of even known about his heritage, but, Nex had to tell him. Even if Nex hadn't, he would of met with Valos eventually, and then, Valos would of had time to shape him.
"The way I figure it, our influence on him might give him enough to not turn towards Valos, just because he had known his father," he said, ending his train of thought. He leaned back, and cross his arms behind his head, closing his eyes, before opening them, and looking up, towards the tormented sky.
"Maybe... Just maybe... This alliance will be over soon, and Haraldur and Melkoth will be gone. Then, I can finally rest," he looked over towards Rink. "You know, I lied about my age... I'm probably around... 200,000 years or older... I've lost track of my exact age," he said, and chuckled. "Figures," he said amusedly.
Then, he just continued to stare at the sky, and wonder what would happen...
---
Allen leaned back against the stone wall, right outside where his old lab used to be. Everything was destroyed. He slid down, and sighed, closing his eyes. He would just rest...
//End for both. \\
Posted by: Xorlak on Thursday December 22nd, 2005
Ven took a few steps back and leaned on one of the many dismal gray boulders around the area. He responded to Duilin:
"Yeah, I'm fine..."
Except for the headache. Right leg hurts like heck AGAIN as well. Both shoulders kinda sore too... And the back. Ohhh... but that's been sore since he's met these guys. Blasted heavy armor...
He leaned his head back and looked up at the sky. It's a little too quiet...
"The eye of the storm..."
Things were going to heat up again real quick, he could feel it... He rested his eyes for a bit, tying to recover as much stamina as possible before round two...
He could hear a group of soldiers approaching... It was a garrison of the Crimson Empire regrouping and forming ranks nearby, the officers yelling their orders resonating in the background...
Posted by: Dude Man on Thursday December 22nd, 2005
Marshal, then sat back up, and reloaded his gun. "The others, should be looking of us, so we better watch out." Marshal said. He then held his weapon ready to shoot any soldiers that came his way, yet it seemed to be calm at the moment. "Really watch out, Zeros' or Draven could pop up and take us both out, if we don't be careful. But, I'm not sure if we are the main problem to them at the moment." He then rubbed his forehead, and then placed his hand back onto the gun. "We shouldn't be here, we should leave soon..."
----
Rink then laughed. "Yeah, I'm kind of like that to. But the thing is, I don't even have a clue, I could be fifty or five thousand for all I know." He then laid back. "I hope we don't have to kill Duilin...But you're right...we won't. Valos can't convince him."
----
Duilin grinned. "Okay, okay." He then sat down, in front of one of the boulders near by Ven. "You know...You remind me of an old friend, I knew back in the day...He was knight, some army called Romme. He was a good man. I still miss him..."
He then took out a small shard of metal from his pant pocket; it had the symbol of Romme on it. "I kept this, just to remind me not to trust the Empire, and remember what I'm avenging..."
He then looked at Valos, watching the four others leave. The general then approached them. "Duilin, do you wish to head back home? I'm sure there is somebody waiting for you, heh heh."
Duilin narrowed his eyes. "Actually...no, I'm staying here, they need me."
"Very well...I suppose I should stay as well...I still haven't finished everything I needed to do..."
Valos then nodded and walked off into the fields.
----
Valos then looked at the two cities in the distance, and then turned his head towards the Grey Empire castle. "He must have gone there...He couldn't have gone far."
"Oh I didn't go far." Said a recognizable voice from behind Valos.
"Holy..." Valos then turned around, it was Abodahon. "Master...Abodahon...It's good to see you again." He said a little frightened
"It is good to see you two are alright, have you been working well together.
'I've had to remind him a bit, yet we are working fine.' said a ghostly familiar voice that seemed to just enter Abodahon's mind.
"Excellent, just remember your place Valos, or else you'll loose your freedom, just like Nex did." Abodahon said
"Yes...master..." Valos replied with his head down.
"Excellent, now...keep your trust with the Crimson Empire, it may be useful for the next battle."
"What do we need me to do?" Valos asks
"We'll discuss this later, just keep a good eye on my son...Duilin" Abodahon said, ending the conversation and then disappearing just as he did before.
//End Chapter for all characters\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Friday December 23rd, 2005
Ven simply nodded. Romme, yes he knew of it. A bitter enemy of his nation at one time, then a powerful ally. Then an enemy once more... Back and forth. It was a three hundred year history between the two...
And then one day, it was gone.
The King didn't know whether to celebrate or mourn. The two kings had last met on unfriendly terms, but still, no nation deserved a fate such as that... An explosion, an evil spell, rumor circulated that the island had returned after the blast, but it wasn't the same... what was left of the civilization that was once there in ruins...
Posted by: Dippy on Friday December 23rd, 2005
"So, you are a wizard?" Albatrash says to his new companion "You should know I don't like witchcraft." He adds
"Well I only use basic element spells and none of that black magic crap." replies Wizzy.
"Good."
"Well... anyways there is a battle going on out there and I want to be a part of it!
So lets go to the commander."
They head toward the commander's office and see that he is looking busy.
"You Albatrash! Get over here!" The commander says.
"Yes sir!"
"You looking for some action?” The commander offers
"Uhh...Well...I'm not into..."
"No pervert! I mean do you want to go into battle?"
"Ohh! Oh, yes sir."
"Great, I’ve got squad of shock troops ready to send to Alphagrad and the commanding officer died when Ragnar and you have permission to lead the squad.
"Perfect! Wizzy, you can come to. If that’s alright?" Jonny asks
"It is, now lets go inspect the troops!"
//End for all my charaz, I guess...ner...\\
Posted by: Kahn on Saturday December 24th, 2005
"The job is done."
Hyperion looked at the destruction he caused and grinned. In a smooth motion he waved his hand and the fire disappeared. He began flapping his wings, but barely got off the ground before falling back down. He glanced over to his wing where a spear had been lodged.
"Damn"
A group of the remaining Greys surrounded him, they were all armed and ready to strike.
//End Chapter for mine\\
Posted by: Xorlak on Saturday December 24th, 2005
An even greater darkness swept the battlefield as night fell...
To be continued...