Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:18:54 GMT -6
Darky Stamina: 4 (+3) Strength: 3 Resistance: 3 (+1) Dexterity: 3 (+1) (+1) Mentality: 3
HP: 70/70 Armour: 9 (3+4+2) Integrity: 100%
Special Abilities: Swim Moves: Combat Expertises, Magical Spells, Climb, Holy Shield (1/day)
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| "Hawk Crown" Helmet Resistance: 3 Type: Leather Slot: Head Magical Effect: None | "Dayborn" Armor Resistance: 4 Type: Leather Slot: Torso Magical Effect: None
| "Fleet Wings" Greaves Resistance: 2 Type: Leather Slot: Legs, Feet Magical Effect: +1 Dex
| Gloves of Nimbleness Magical Effect: +1 Dexterity | Topaz Goggles While worn, the wearer has thermal vision. However, the wearer can no longer see normally, and will have a hard time telling the difference between objects. The ability to see color is also completely lost.
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| Greater Wind Node (9 MP) | Kingdom Brace-Blade ( Exotic ) Hands Used: One Distance: Melee Damage: 1d6 Physical damage, 1d4 Earth damage Dice Effect: None Magical Effect: +1 resistance, Takes up Arm(s) Slot, Hands slot cannot be bulky.
| Composite Bow Hands Used: Two Distance: Medium, Long Damage: 1d8 (piercing) Dice Effect: None
| Huntsman Arrows Magical Effect: +1d6 Physical damage for Bows. 50% chance to lower target Dex by 1 upon a hit (Power 2). Carries 20 regular ammo, regenerates to full capacity once per day (Power 1) |
It wasn’t a common sight for the mammalian to go out in what could essentially be called a full-battle regalia - armour, magic, weapons and all - but then again, neither was the Tower. Darky could have sworn to have never seen the Tower stand where it did, but then again, seeing as it was the Archmage’s Tower, the line between probable and impossible could have been very thin indeed. To have a tower suddenly appear over-night as if by some whim of magic? The Labs had seen stranger things.
“So, if I’m understanding you correctly.. There is a creature, a creature that you.. ‘made’? But you want it killed.. because it's loose?” the sphinx addressed the man standing next to her, who was doing a marvelous impression of an autumn leaf.
“That is so,” he nodded, indicating towards a set of doors beyond the entrance, leading downward, “Just follow those stairs and it’ll take you into the dungeon. Careful, mind you.. the dungeon is bigger than you’d think and it can be easy to get lost.”
The sphinx’s mouth twisted to one side, a small frown on her face as she stared the Tower up and down. Width-wise it didn’t seem much, but then, she’d made plenty Mansion runs to know that wasn’t necessarily a basis for truth and fact. A tower that can magically build itself or appear, can just as easily be a pocket dimension on the inside, hiding more than it should. “Right, and this creature.. What can you tell me about it?”
The man fiddled with his hands, gaze turning groundward, “Oh, um.. Well, its big, for sure. Sharp claws, rictus face.. Nothing to be trifled with lightly.” The hands went one over the other, trying and failing to hide scratches and pink lines that clearly showed fresh healing. While somewhat light on the details, the sphinx suspected to get little else out of him in the state that he was, shaken and probably more than a little stirred, previously.
(1)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:27:49 GMT -6
Feeling something of an obligation to say something, Darky tried to put on an easy smile, less to be cocky and more to be assuring, “Well, I’ll see what can be done. If nothing else, perhaps the creature can simply be flushed out of the Tower?” The horrified look on the man’s face was decidedly not the reaction she had been looking for, causing her to quickly add, “To catch or hunt elsewhere, I mean! You know, not in such obvious sight.”
That seemed to have helped, horror receding to the normal nervousness of before, “Yes.. Yes, yes of course. Of course..” Then, as if remembering, he piped up again, tone particularly emphasizing, “Just remember to keep it quiet! The dungeons are far below, but the Lady cannot find out, it would upset her most greatly and surely ruin her mood and concentration. This has to be done quietly.”
Darky firmly nodded, both understanding and then not at all. To keep a potential mistake from his employer’s attention was one thing, but what dangers would have ruining their 'concentration' done? A blink and a turn of the head, she wiped the thought away. After all she was but a novice in magic use, who was she to understand the ways of an Archmage?
“Quiet, quick, efficient, got it,” she repeated with a nod, “How long before she returns?”
The hand fiddling intensified and the answer was less a word than a mumble of different sounds pretending to be words. He had no idea, had he? Turning to him the sphinx briefly raised a brow, then offered in what she hoped would come off as comfort, “How about I just try to be as fast as possible, yeah?”
A frantic nod and clutching of hands, “Thank you.”
Too early to thank me yet, she thought, but she said, “No problem. Now.. Where were the stairs again?”
(2)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:29:42 GMT -6
The dungeons walls echoed slightly as the mammalian made her way down, hand running along the side of the wall. The apprentice had informed her enough that there would be some light to be found, though just as equally there could be completely dark corridors. And some corridors where the creature could have.. knocked the torches out. As to the layout of the place, he simply said, “There is a central circular area, but the rest, well.. It depends on the time of the day.” Right, so, find the central area, start from there, Darky thought, following the vaulted stone hallways that seemed to twist and turn, though a main line of torches seemed to head down a more central path. For now she figured to follow those, rather than risk ducking into side-passages and ending up face to face with the ‘monster’ in question - if one was to be hiding from plain view, one would hardly go to such lit-up areas, after all.
Unless that something was really bold or really powerful. Or thought it was, which often enough made little difference, that is.
It took some finding her way around but minutes later she stepped into a large round room, the vaulted ceiling high above, much higher than she thought she had descended the stairs, but not something she was about to stop and question. If this thing was as much of a beast as the man claimed, hunting it alone would have been suicide.
Which was why she had planned to bring some help.
(3)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:35:36 GMT -6
Standing back as to clear a good enough area, the sphinx raised up her arm, a black charm around the vacant wrist, before whispering into it, “Shadowbane..” A brief flash and a sudden thud caused a form to apparate, long claws clinking into the stone, leathery wings rustling and a sudden but highly annoyed closed-throat hiss like steam emanating between the now-apparent drake’s jaws.
Cèasadh (male) Stamina: 8 (+3) Strength: 7 Resistance: 5 Dexterity: 4 (+1 Gym) Mentality: 3
HP: 110/110
Special Abilities: Fly, (Swim), Water Resistance, Shadow Resistance, Nightvision, Danger Sense, Hardy, Endurance, Empathic Link (Loyalty) Moves: (Climb), (Gash), Ebil Nom, Phase Out, (Horn Strike), Shadow Strike, Screech, Dash, Rend, Vanish, Wing Buff Tricks: Name, Come, No, Stay
Darky quickly stepped close, grabbed the drake’s jaw and gently pressed it shut, only whispering in a soothing “Shhhh… Cèasadh, shhh..” Yellow eyes met hers, at first in defiant annoyance, then in study and finally in some resignation underlined with quiet annoyance at having to behave. Since the times of the tournaments they had managed to bond enough to sense each other and the impression was novelty to both. For Darky she expected more sharp-edged emotions, similar to Cathàn, but instead got subtle bursts of it. For Cèasadh, naturally made to be solitary in his rage, once broken, needed to adjust to working against a nature that had defined him for so long.
Including actually.. emphasizing with another creature other than himself. “We’re on a bit of a hunt,” Darky kept her voice low, letting the empathic connection speak more for her, “There’s prey here. Good prey. We need to find it and defeat it.” Admittedly, emotions didn’t really carry the same clarity of message, but the small spike of adrenaline registered in Cèasadh’s mind as Something Afoot. And in his personal experience, that usually meant other drakes.
His head rose sharply and his nostrils flared, taking in the scents around him. There was moisture, a bit of mold, some dustiness from the torches (but they were Weird, like Fire But Not) and.. something. Too faint to tell, which made him hone in on the direction that much more.
Darky followed his gaze, set down her bag to the side of the wall and prepared her quiver and bow. From the bag she grabbed a small bottle, putting it into a pouch on her side and then motioned forwards, “Alright. Let’s find what we find.”
The drake rumbled low, jaw clenching in almost a sneer and dashed off into the darkness, mammalian jogging in tow.
(4) Cèasadh: 87 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:38:48 GMT -6
It was a delicate thing, having to balance your emotions between reception and projection. While his own style of them was different Céasadh none the less lacked the same filter as Cathàn did, and anything and everything he felt, he projected to her. Which unfortunately didn’t work the same in return - the sphinx had to be careful what she projected lest he take the wrong cue. Wandering the dark corridors of the dungeon, even with her topaz goggles on giving some sense of her surrounds in the darker corners, she had to focus on feeling excited, as if on a hunt. A hunt they were on, but one that would keep Céasadh enticed enough to follow the trail. Spirits on high knew if there was ever use for the heightened sense of scent in Cathàn’s line, this was it.
The purple drake snaked through the corridors with relative ease and a lightness of foot almost beguiling the fact he was born a sarane. The shadows held no sway on him and were about as close to home as it got, gleaming reflections of his eyes peering back from the darkness like a feline whenever he stopped at an intersection of corridors to take stock. The scent was getting closer, or at least, whatever it was that excited him about it was. It was stronger now, but still elusive, like something mixed together. A tanginess, but not blood. A bitterness, but not the mold. Not quite. Stronger than mold..
Cèasadh let out a low hiss as he locked eyes with the darkness of a particular tunnel, frozen in his hunting posture. When Darky caught up with him, she took a breath, noticed, then peered into the darkness. The goggles showed everything largely the same colour.. except bit of a splotch of brighter orange on the ground.
Warmth. A lot of warmth. Fading, so fresh enough to have been left recently, but nothing else in sight. It suddenly occurred to the sphinx that they had assumed themselves to have been the hunters. They hadn’t stopped to think they, too, might be hunted.
“Cèasadh,” Darky stared at the tunnel, then around them quickly, “Time to hide.”
(5) Cèasadh: 87 (2/5)
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Post by Jack on Jul 14, 2019 8:42:53 GMT -6
Faint clicking could be heard in the distance, drawing ever closer, and closer still.
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:50:33 GMT -6
The hiss ended quickly and with a sudden shimmer and contortion of shadow, the drake stepped sideways towards a wall and was gone. Though she couldn’t see him, Darky none the less looked towards where he had been, sending off a sense of challenge, of excitement of hunt and expectation. She could but hope the drake took it as to mean he should find the creature, and that the ever so light click-clack of claws receding from her was indicative of that. Now alone she turned around and began to double back towards the center - if there was one thing the beast could now track, it was likely going to be her and these corridors were far too narrow to properly fight in, much less with a bow. Cèasadh Vanishes.
All the same, her hand went to the quiver on the back and drew an arrow, notching it in place to be ready in case of ambush. The goggles dotted her path back, the only bright dots of orange in her vision that outlined the dark passages with a semblance of shape. There was comfort in that, even though their detail was something left to be desired - they now knew the creature was warm-blooded, and warm-blooded creatures left heat trails. Trails which she could see and avoid if a sudden attack was truly a threat.
It was the secondary thought of realizing the torches weren’t quite how she remember them to be that occurred when she pulled through another doorway. They still lit up like bright dots as if they had been burning there for hours, but she could swear a few had shifted to another part of the corridor, lighting up where before had been complete darkness. It wasn’t quite as surprising when one realized the Tower was most likely very magical.
It was, however, a little concerning to think they might either be changing to aid her.. or hinder her.
(6) Cèasadh: 87 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 14, 2019 8:55:06 GMT -6
The thought had managed to linger in her brain for but a minute before a glimpse of a wall portal shoved the familiar sight of the circular room only a few crossings away, a row of torches leading her right for it. A moment to check her surroundings, the sphinx considered the implications: trap, or no trap.. Somewhere in the darkness was a great big dangerous beast. And Cèasadh. A low rumble prevailed through the air, a rumble that was most certainly not sarane-esque and Darky froze. Instincts kicked the brain into hyper-drive and without a glance back, she bolted for the corridor leading to the center. In the end, the mind had rather quickly realized, it didn’t really matter if it was a trap or not, the outlook was still the same - they either found the beast or it found them.
Something scraped the stones to her left, but she didn’t stop to look, hand coming up to rip the goggles down off her face and around her neck. Footsteps then, as the other had gripped the notched bow while former hand came back up to pull the mask of the helmet down. The world spun up-side-down then and she collided with something heavy, landing and opening her eyes to see the torches on the walls quite the wrong way. Sense of gravity kicked in, the sphinx pushed herself the right side up, shook her head and used the wall she had been slammed into as a crutch to stand up.
Something in the darkness shone back. Not just sickly green eyes, but actual flickers of greenish flames.
And a rictus grin of a bony face, long, half her height claws appearing into the torchlight and a gangling form that sneered as much as it growled hungrily.
Oh, Darky thought, staring at it. So that’s what it looked like.
(7) Cèasadh: 87 (4/5)
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Post by Jack on Jul 14, 2019 16:06:57 GMT -6
Growling echoed through the room as another set of eyes were upon the woman and her Drake, though much higher up toward the ceiling of the room. Better hope it's something smaller up there...
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 22, 2019 14:02:05 GMT -6
The bow raised despite aching, wall-smashed shoulder and let loose an arrow at it.
Darky uses Sniper Shot (19/20 ammo). 5 dexterity dice + 2 hawkeye dice + 3 expertise dice = 10 dice. Halved, 5d10 on attack. 5d10 -10 vs. 5d10 = 17 (9, 4, 7, 2, 5, -10) vs. 30 (10, 9, 2, 5, 4) Sniper Shot misses.
The creature recoiled in reaction, the massive form none the less agile enough to snake itself away from the arrow as a much, much angrier growl emanated from the slack jaw. There was a moment, a state of time standing still as the sphinx stared down the massive beast, where she realized that, perhaps, some mistakes had been made. An outclassing of weapon to tooth and claw.
That moment shattered when the flickering wicked-green eyes suddenly disappeared in a blur, a subdued hiss and a cloud of stone dust around her. Hacking and coughing, she faintly heard the heavy thuds of stone and brick beyond her wall and stood up to find part of it missing as purple and bony-green forms wrestled in the center of the circular room - Cèasadh had hunted, alright, and the beast’s focus on her had lefts its back completely undefended for his strike from the shadows.
Wing and long claw thrashes and roiled, long tail slamming into the pillars while the jaws of the beast snapped at air, each trying to find supremacy in the close-quarters wrestling until finally a long-legged kick from the beast sent Cèasadh back into a pillar with an annoyed hiss, separating the two.
Slowly both drake and creature rose to their feet, low growls and rumblings given to each other as they measured one another up, leaving Darky to stand in the doorway covered in stone dust, but with still plenty of arrows.
The atmosphere held its breath once, twice, and then let battle commence.
(8) Cèasadh: 88 (0/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 22, 2019 14:06:32 GMT -6
As far as her training had gone in the early days the art of arrows had been foreign to her. The warriors picked a style to master and stuck to it, dividing into appropriate divisions, to work together. It didn’t take long after her arrival at the Labs for her to realize this one-sided specialty was a poor defense against the sheer plethora of dangers faced in these particular lands, especially when alone. Hand went to the quiver and deftly pulled a shaft, notching it even as she was already moving, deeper into the corridor to have shadows conceal her location and better to have vantage of. The bowstring grew taught, held and loosed the huntsman arrow in a soft twang.
Darky uses Sniper Shot (18/20 ammo). 5d10 -10 vs. 5d10 = 24 (5, 9, 8, 6, 6, -10) vs. 23 (2, 7, 3, 9, 2) Sniper Shot hits. 1d8 (bow) + 7d4 (expertise) + 1d6 (ammo) = 1 (1) + 16 (1, 4, 1, 3, 3, 3, 1) + 5 (5) = 22 dmg (physical) Critical chance (30%) = 35, no critical 22 dmg - 8 rst = 14 dmg The Beast’s Stone Skin reduced damage by 1. The Beast takes 13 dmg (187 HP left) Huntsman Arrows -1 dexterity chance (50%) = 78, no effect
It sunk into the side flank of the creature, producing a roar of pain more made out of sheer fury than agony. The head immediately swung around, locked onto her location in the corridor and the sphinx’s bow lowered with a sudden sinking gut feeling. This.. didn’t quite go according to plan. “Cèas!” she shouted, ducking into the side alley as the creature tore through the battered doorway with a shriek, “Strike, Cèas! Strike!”
Darkness coalesced in the drake’s eyes, a blackness in place of the normal amber as he swung his claws outwards and down, at the retreating shadow of the beast..
Cèasadh wins coin toss. Céasadh uses Shadow Strike. 5d10 vs. 5d10 = 29 (6, 10, 2, 4, 7) vs. 33 (5, 6, 8, 10, 4) Shadow Strike misses.
..and coming away empty, the flickering torches taking it just barely out of his reach. There was a gurgled hiss of annoyance, head snapping towards the flickering green back of the beast and he bound after. The drake was not about to give up on his prey so easily.
And neither was the beast itself. She was fast, the enchantments of the armour granting her a fleeter foot than normal, but despite all that agility she still saw the flicker-wink of greenish glows grow closer and closer along the walls. Footfalls echoed, a rumbling growl and the click-clack of long claws eager to grab.
When it was finally too much for her senses, breath felt down her neck, she reached the other side of the corridor and dove through the doorway.
The Beast uses Crunch (Darky). Darky uses Roll. 5 dexterity dice + 3 expertise dice = 8 dice. Halved, 4d10 on defend. 5d10 vs. 4d10 = 17 (1, 10, 1, 4, 1) vs. 13 (2, 2, 8, 1) Crunch hits. 7d4 (strength) + 6d4 (crunch) = 17 (2, 4, 1, 1, 2, 4, 3) + 18 (3, 1, 4, 2, 4, 4) = 35 dmg (physical) 35 dmg - 9 armour - 4 rst = 22 dmg (91% integrity) Darky takes 22 dmg (48 HP left)
(9) Cèasadh: 88 (1/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 22, 2019 14:09:47 GMT -6
There was almost a sense of flight, the velocity of the run making one feel effortless in the leap through the air. In another time and moment the sphinx might have stopped to wonder if this is what her creatures felt when flying, that perhaps it wasn’t as bad as she had always imagined. But then the world caught up, something snagged her and yanked her backwards into the corridor, showing her to the ground. Head spinning, there was a sense of sudden, incredible pressure and she couldn’t breathe. When the pressure released and her lungs took a gasp, her entire body flooded with fire, causing her to cough and choke on the sensation as she scrambled backwards. Something ichored out between her armour, her sides felt like they were crushed and stabbed all in one and every motion was filled with a lance of pain. ‘Something is very wrong with us’, the body told her. ‘We’ll deal with that later’, the mind shot back through gritted teeth. Her back found the wall and she used it to prop herself up, glaring at the flickering green in the darkness.
“Not yet,” she pushed through teeth, arrow laboriously drawn and notched, “Not yet.”
Darky uses Sniper Shot (17/20 ammo) 5d10 -10 vs. 5d10 = 14 (4, 9, 1, 4, 6, -10) vs. 31 (9, 6, 2, 4, 10) Sniper Shot misses.
The draw was poor, merely half the strength of before, shock from the attack replacing normal instinct. So poor the creature barely needed to move its head to let it whizz past without threat. The rictus grin seemed to grow, only enhanced by the flickering green flames in the darkness of the corridor. As if the feeble attempt seemed to amuse it, there was a hiss.. a chortle.. then, a repeating, rhythmic noise as the jaw pulled back further and the sound reverberated through the surroundings as it stepped ever closer and closer again.
The Beast wins coin toss. The Beast uses Demoralizing Cackle (Darky). Darky has 3 dexterity for 2 turns.
By the time she realized what was happening it was already too late. Hands came up to press against the helmet, to block the sound, but it was already in her mind, bouncing around inside like a menacing fly caught in a jar, stabbing and stabbing and stabbing.. Have to get it out, have to get it out. Have to move, have to move.
But the sound of her voice only added to the noise and her feet were cold and jelly. Shaking her head, teeth clenched, she finally shouted “Cèas! LOUD!” hoping that would drown the noise.
Céasadh uses Screech. The Beast will skip its next turn.
(10) Cèasadh: 88 (2/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 22, 2019 14:13:11 GMT -6
A shrieking rippled through the hallway, a phantasmal banshee wail that suddenly swept the beast aside, back into the middle of the arena with a heavy thud. The ringing in her ears was replaced by a new kind of painful tingling, but this was familiar, this she could feel and sense and latch onto. Grabbing the throbbing of her head like a life-line, the sphinx pushed herself onto shaky feet, bracing against the wall when it seemed the effects yet persisted. Céasadh’s intervention brought her time, but not alleviation. And the beast was no closer to defeat than before. She purposefully refused to think about the way her armour seemed to be leaking, stumbling forward along the hallway until reaching the archway and peering in. The two were just about to untangle from one another yet again, but this time it seemed the beast was rattled and disoriented, unable to keep Céasadh in its stable sights for more than a few seconds.
..They could use that. It might be the moment they needed. Turning to the drake she shouted, “Cèas! Hunt!” perhaps a bit louder than intended, for her ears were ringing and the world was a muffled piece of fleece interwoven with derisive cackling at the very edges of all her perception. The drake kicked himself off of the creature, eyes dark and blood full of anger. He wished to tear into it, to open it up to the very core, see what sweet warm would siphon out. There was a rumble of protest, a kickback of the empathic line.
“You’ll get your chance! Hunt!” she retorted, trying the amass and project as much assurance as she could in her state. Dark eyes scanned her, seeming to rebel against the sensation for a fraction of a second before the form shimmered and faded from view, slinking into the space between worlds.
Céasadh wins coin toss. Cèasadh uses Vanish.
The Beast skips its turn due to Screech.
Disoriented and clawing at its own face, the creature seemed an easy target. But her arm was weak and her legs weaker, there was no bowman out of her in this state. Instead, she could buy Céasadh more time. Reaching to her side, a soft yellow glow emanated from a pouch tied to the sash. Energies drew forth, dancing around her fingertips as she raised the arm in complex motions, weaving the arcane around the beast before suddenly clenching claws together. The weave pulled taut, tethering the beast to the ground.
And there was, for the first time ever.. resistance.
Darky uses Wind Shackles (6 wind MP) The Beast’s Magically Resistant reduces spell duration to 1 turn. Demoralizing Cackle continues.
(11) Cèasadh: 88 (3/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 22, 2019 14:16:13 GMT -6
There was a sense of relief followed by immediate concern, when she watched the more familiar coils of wind wrap about the creature’s legs, only for half of them to slip off and dissipate on touch, as if corroded away by some force. That.. was new. Highly concerning, and new. The arcane was not likely to save the say this time, as it had in times past. Her gaze searched the surroundings more out of impulse of the moment than reason - the drake was walking the veil, she could no more see him than the creature could. Despite this, his empathic presence was somewhere and she hoped it was still in earshot. The creature struggled, making a move which caused her to flinch back, trying to retain control of the spell while shouting into the empty spaces, “Cèas! Fly!”
Cèasadh wins coin toss. Cèasadh uses Fly. His dexterity is now 10. Vanish continues.
Perhaps somewhere he heard, perhaps he was long gone into the tunnels to circle around. Between the wind whipping about the creature from the spell and a drake beating his wings for lift-off there was no way to tell which source caused more dust to roll up from the atrium’s surfaces. What a time to be the smaller of the litter too - the ceiling was fairly tall and the room itself spacious, but even a smaller drake’s wings were quite broad and long. He would have some elevation advantage, but he could hardly bank and swing around like the Pit.
The Beast uses Crunch. Wind Shackles prevents The Beast from using Crunch. Wind Shackles end.
The thought was cut short by the creature trying and failing to leap at her, jaws parting and snapping closed with a sickening clatter, enough to make her wounds feel phantom pains on top of their very real ones. But what purchase the wind’s tethers had was enough to pull the creature back, keeping it at bay for that barest of a second, finally slipping free when it was thrown back by the impulse. The spell gone, her mind returned to the taunted whispering in her ears, the silence of the dungeon only interrupted by a clattering snap of jaws.
It wasn’t impulse that time, drawing the arrow and notching it. It was instinct telling her to fight or flight, except it couldn’t choose and so her body ended up doing both - blindly firing behind her as she retreated back into the enclosed hallway for cover.
Darky uses Sniper Shot (16/20 ammo) 3 dexterity dice + 2 hawkeye dice + 3 expertise dice = 8 dice. Halved, 4d10 on attack. 4d10 -10 vs. 5d10 = 5 (6, 1, 6, 2, -10) vs. 35 (9, 1, 9, 6, 10) Sniper Shot misses. Demoralizing Cackle ends.
(12) Cèasadh: 88 (4/5)
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jul 22, 2019 14:20:53 GMT -6
When the darkness enveloped her, torches fading at her approach as if to shield her, so did the cackling at last. It became replaced instead by a cold, solitary silence as the creature got back onto its feet, snapping at the last remnant of wind wisps which had held it. Then, the head slowly turned and locked onto her, burning eyes seeming ever hungry, tongue licking across its bony maw what crimson of hers had already gathered there from before. Darky wished her resolve could have been as steady as her legs were again, but truth be told it was a sight to haunt more than a few nights to come. The pain was still present, dulled by the adrenaline, but none the less making it very obvious - she might not survive another crushing blow like that, even with armour to blunt the blow.
“Céas, I don’t know where you are,” or if he could even hear her, “but now would be a great time. Gust!” The creature flinched forwards and she dove into the side corridor, making full use of her agility once more. But agile or no, the beast had a quickness to it beguiling its gangling appearance and already she could hear the click-clack of scythed claws on her heels. Back in, she thought, back into the light. Right across the space, into line of sight.
She turned again into another corridor and bolted for the central room. Come on, follow, you bastard.
And it did. A snarl sounded behind her, claws looking to almost glance the quiver on her back when she jumped into the open atrium and screamed, “Cèas, gust! GUST!”
Then, it was on her, jaws opening and looking to close around her rolling form, to the point she could feel the stench of the noxious breath moments before teeth sunk in. The world turned dark, light from torches flickered and suddenly the stench was gone. Out of thin air there was a sudden shimmer, a roar and the drake re-appeared, broad wings beating down on the beast with a whipped up gale.
Céasadh uses Wing Buff. Vanish ends, granting +4 dexterity for the attack. Cèasadh’s dexterity is 14 on attack. 14d10 vs. 5d10 = 92 (3, 9, 5, 3, 8, 10, 8, 6, 6, 8, 8, 2, 9, 7) vs. 43 (9, 10, 9, 6, 9) Wing Buff hits. 14d4 (dexterity) = 39 (4, 2, 4, 4, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 3, 4, 4, 2, 2) dmg (wind). 39 dmg - 8 rst = 31 dmg. The Beast takes 31 damage (156 HP left)
Now it was the creature’s turn to be sent rolling and clattering into the wall, impact fracturing another doorway supporting pillar, sending stucco crumbling down. It was impossible to tell whether the crack came from the damage to the wall or the snapping of a bone, and at that particular moment the sphinx didn’t even care. Sat up, heart in her throat, she quickly notched and loosed, hardly even aiming, before scrambling to her feet and rushing into another hallway for cover.
Darky uses Sniper Shot (15/20 ammo) 5 dexterity dice + 2 hawkeye dice + 3 expertise dice = 10 dice. Halved, 5d10 on attack. 5d10 -10 vs. 5d10 = 20 (7, 7, 4, 10, 2, -10) vs. 38 (10, 3, 7, 10, 8) Sniper Shot misses.
Too close, she thought. Much too close. The medallion could only save her so much, she needed to remember, and Céasadh alone was a disaster waiting to happen.
The beast’s pained wail was replaced by a new sound - a clacking of a disjointed jaw, half-dangling by a meaty thread. And it looked up. There.. that’s the one. That’s the source of the pain.
It would tear it from the skies and rend its wings and wind to shreds.
The Beast uses Maul (Cèasadh) Cèasadh’s Danger Sense activates. Maul misses.
(13) Cèasadh: 89 (0/5)
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