A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 65/71

The wall rises up in front of Enigma just as the plant creature is about to pounce at her, and she hears a sticky thud as it slams into her wall of stone. All according to plan so far.

To-hit: 12 + 40 = 52 vs 33 == Hit.

The wall collapses around the creature, sealing it into a coffin of stone and dirt even as it thrashes in an attempt to break free. Enigmas pet demoness only looks on in a mix of awe, surprise, and horror at how casually the necromancer had handled the beast. Her golem eventually completely encompasses the creature, and only dumps in the mixed dirt show that the creature within is still alive and resisting.

(I need to throw better enemies at you. Your attacks have too much win for me to not want them to succeed.)

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

((Hahahaha...thank you. Although much of that "win" comes from how pliable Animate is as a spell, which allows me to be as creative as I want with it. Do agree on the "better" enemies part though, mainly as non-intelligent mooks are too reminscient of "slash and hack" esque dungeon crawlers.))

Enigma seemed stoic for the most part as her plan went swimmingly for the most part, not noticing her pet's awe and astonishment despite making a few comments. Her would be predator had crashed into the wall as expected, due to its stupidity in leaping as a frog at her, and it was now encased in walls of earth due to its foolishness. It was not until she saw that the thing was still resisting that she began to seem somewhat amused, and to more readily recognize the thing's existence.

"Plants are ever so droll, simplistic and everywhere, especially back home. Never had much a green thumb ever- my, its still alive? Hmmm, points for effort then I suppose...too little too late I'm afraid however."

At this point, there was a sudden increase in the amount of power flowing out from the high elf's body, and earth began to be drawn into the air to form large earthen stakes. Then, when five of them had been formed, with four of them possessing a hollow in their middle, they would arrange themselves around the wall encasement. One stake at the west of the encasement, one at the south of it, one at the north east, one at the north west.. and one above it.

"Tell me Lanai pet dear, have you ever seen a street act where magicians would impale a man in a box with swords? No?...Pity, it's quite amusing to watch usually, even though the ones performing are rather inefficient when it comes to the art of impaling. Of course, I'm not one to speak as I've yet to perform the act successfully. Although I've questioned one of the performers once in regards to how they do it. Something about...a trick chamber was it? Oh well."

As if on cue, the stakes would drive forth into the wall encasement upon the words "trick chamber" being spoken, circular patches of the wall softening to allow the stakes to pierce through sequentially. South to North, West to East...and so forth, with a grand finale of the stake above piercing the roof of the encasement, sliding into the the hollow in the middle of the other stakes and taking its place amongst the others. And as if to ensure the thing's death, soon after the impalement had been completed, the remaining walls of the encasement would close in once again with renewed force, until their conjurer saw that the offending plant had been vanquished.

((Action: Taking "Animate" to its limits, although I do suppose it would have been easier if actual swords and spears had been around.))

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 50/71

(Too much win for me to even think of how to roll for it. So I'll just yank some energy and give it to you! Along with a measly 4 exp. I'm thinking of just coming up with a straight out antagonist for you, one you're not just going to outright murder in round one.)

Enigmas pet lets out a shrill shriek as each stake is driven into the now encased plant creature, the magical might behind each thrust easily allowing it to pass the dirt barrier suffocating the plant and tear into the still struggling creature. Wet squelching sounds can be heard along with the sounds of shifting earth as Enigmas grotesque technique destroys its chosen victim, and greenish goo leaks from the animated earthen coffin. A fountain of the stuff erupt form the top of her golem at the finale, the pressure needing some form of release that ended up spraying the walls of the nearby buildings, as well as Enigma and her pet, in the plant creatures thin green blood.

Her foe quite obviously destroyed, Enigma was left with a stunned and horrified pet demoness, both covered in the plant monsters green blood, standing in a narrow alley.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

((Probably for the best, heh. Enigma is likely to kill most mooks who attack her/show hostility towards her off the bat mercilessly, mainly as she detests "ignorant savages". While if the mook can at least speak intelligibly/interest her, they'll probably be able to avoid an immediate confrontation unless they choose to attack her off the bat in hopes of say...enslaving her or the like. In which case, may the gods help their souls unless they take her out early on. Plenty of fun stuff that can be done against "humanoid" enemies, that you can't do to monsters and the like. ))

Unlike her pet, Enigma does appeared to be stunned or horrified at the scene, but rather..."annoyed" if anything, if only because of being sprayed in greenish blood.

"Hrmm...slightly over the top I guess, not that it wasn't asking for it by being such a savage and primitive thing. Dreadful boring things, plants are. Messy too. Think I'll have to wash this thing later to get the blood out, such a waste of time..."

Wiping of what she could of the greenish blood, it was not long before the high elf let her creation return to dust, and moving along her way again. Stopping only momentarily only to sift through the remains of the mess with the base of her staff (perhaps on a whim), and to address her pet.

"Are you coming pet dear? Or are you going to stand there gawking like a daft duck all day? Ducks aren't good for much but being stuffed and roasted you know, uninteresting things that they are."

Based on what the high elf had said before, it would most likely be in Lanai's best interests to not lose Enigma's "interest"...pet or not. Especially with what had just happened in the alleyway earlier, to the other "boring thing"...

((Action: Dismiss animated golem, loot the body...yadayadayada, then head on.))

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 71

As she prods her way through the dirt grave of the plant creature, the green blood having clung to her insistently in numerous places, Enigma finds only dirt and a few heavily crushed pieces of green gore that she has no way of identifying. Her words snap Lanai out of her horrified trance, however, and the demoness responds; "Yes mistress!" And moves to stand next to her, though a bit farther off than before their encounter with the unfortunate animate plant.

Before either of them can leave, however, a loud, high pitched shriek sounds from the alley behind them. Enigma spins, as does her pet, to see another plant, but this one shaped like a human rather than a beast, with a humanoid profile and numerous tentacles sprouting form its back. To Enigmas surprise, it speaks, rather than attacks them outright, in a strange warped voice that grates at both of the womens minds; "What have you done! What have you done to my pet! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!"

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Upon spinning about to see the source of the shriek, Enigma seems to be relatively...pleased at what she saw, or at least less annoyed then when she saw the leaping plant from earlier. As much as the high elf disliked plant lifeforms in general, the intelligent ones were always or relative interest to her. If only for the fact that she had yet to finish learning about the extent of their nature and workings, how they "ticked" so to speak.

My, haven't seen something like in a while~ Horribly interesting things these are. Not as much as my current research of course, but these still do nicely for a side project every now and then. Resilient enough for most experiments, intelligible enough to garner clear responses to stimuli... Say, I never did finish that last experiment did I? Really a pity...I should fix that after I get some earplugs for that awful screeching though... Pet? That frog thing? Hrm, poor taste really. Wonder if all of them have such abysmal pets.

These thoughts in mind, the necromancer soon found herself addressing the plant, speaking in a mostly "impassive" tone of voice while smiling slightly.

"Pet you say dear? That poor imitation of a frog? If you're referring to that thing, I had him made into frog juice in accordance with its desires. You know, with it mindlessly hopping at me like one and all. Too stupid to live I'd say really, even for a plant thingy, and a poor choice of a pet overall. Surely you could have done better? Perhaps find an actual frog if you liked them so much?"

Even while speaking so nonchalantly, and no doubt further infuriating the creature, the necromancer was no fool. Already allowing her aura to seep into the ground directly in front of her, should the plant make any aggressive actions such as an attack with its tentacles or the like, she would cause a tall earthen wall to rise up immediately...then take further actions to either capture or destroy the creature.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 71

The plant creature emits a series of low grunts as Enigma speaks, not quite interrupting her, and the creature is too alien for Enigma to guess at what was going through its mind, though she figured it followed along the lines of anger. As she finishes, the plant has begun to shake, and its tentacles have begun swirling around it in a cloud. It remains that way for a moment, making Enigma wonder for a second if it was even going to respond to what she'd said about the other plant creature she'd murdered, when the creature throws back its head and emits an ear splitting scream. The plants cry last for almost a minute, and paralyzes both women with its sheer volume.

When it ends, Enigma can barely hear her pet over the ringing now filling her ears, as she says; "Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say, mistress. I think you've made the creature angry." Almost as if on queue, as soon as Lanai finishes speaking, a chorus of similar screams sound from various distances and from all directions. The plant didn't approach however, and only shouted; "I will use your bones to feed the replacement for my pet, that I will grow within the womb of your pathetic little demon friend, foul elfling!" Suddenly, the creature jumps into the air, and somehow dives underground as soon as it lands, disappearing in seconds and leaving a small hole in the street. "We should leave, mistress!" Lanai says, urgently, obviously not liking the sounds of the howls that were swiftly growing closer to their position. Where to go, however, was a fair question, as the howls seemed to be coming from all directions.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

The threat of having her bones fed to one of the things she had defeated earlier did not seem to affect Enigma much, as she had found herself recipient to such often enough in her travels that she no longer took them in a serious manner whatsoever. Dragons swearing to roast her to a cinder when she borrowed their eggs or young for experiments, silly pigmen swearing to mount her head on a pike for the desecration of their dead... simply too common for her to care anymore. The plant's screams on the other hand, was becoming extremely annoying, to the extent that she quickly began to lose her more "cheerful" disposition, especially by the time she found herself some what straining to hear her pet.

"Confounded banshee wannabe, are all plants incapable of originality? First a toad and now a...yes pet? Escape? Perhaps, depends on- accursed screeching harpy mole plant! Never should have left both the sulfur and the Firewash potions at home! "

Slightly ticked off, the elf, for the first time since she entered the town, used her ceremonial staff as a direct focus in her "magic". Tracing a small circle of sorts onto the ground directly in front of her, the necromancer quickly began gathering her aura, or perhaps "spirit", into her metallic staff...which began to have a faint dark glow about it. Then, when the energy within the staff was seemingly at its peak, Enigma would raise her staff up... and strike the center of the circle she had drawn, finishing her spell as she shouted out aloud.

"Arise! Be thou cut off from thy brethren and become subservient to my will! Reverse the river of time and return to when earth and sky was one, when the land dwelt amidst the stars! Rise up and be as the ancient ones, fingers extended toward the heavens! "

Should her spell prove successful, a good sized, circular area of ground upon which her and her pet stood would then rise up into the air. With sparse earth gathering up beneath it as needed to "support" the platform. Essentially, if the high elf found her power to be insufficient to simply lift both her and her pet up into the same altitude as the roofs, she would cause the surrounding earth to "build up" beneath the platform continuously, as a temporary support of sorts for it. The final form of her spell either taking the appearance of a "floating landmass", or that of a leafless earthern tree, with a circular piece of ground in the place of branches.

Either way however, once the desired altitude had been reached, Enigma would then descend from it onto one of the rooftops, in preparation for her next tactic, while beckoning her pet to her.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 51/71

Lanai moves closer to Enigma, keeping her eyes focused down the alley while Enigma chants her spell. She gasps and stumbles, though it is too loud around them for Enigma to notice, as the ground they are on slowly begins to rise. Her power keeps the dirt in one piece and strong enough to hold them both up off the ground, and the two quickly ascend up to the level of the nearest roof. Lanai says; "You're amazing mistress!" As she steps off of the floating earthen platform and onto the nearby building.

The cries of the approaching hostiles continue to grow in volume and number as what seems to be a horde of enemies closes in on the two women, who now stand on the roof of one of the buildings lining the street. The roof is only slightly slanted, and is at about the same level as the two other nearby roofs. They could jump to any of the other buildings, if it became necessary, but Enigma didn't doubt that the plant creatures could follow them if necessary.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Wasting no time in releasing her hold over the platform as soon as both her and her pet were safely on the roof, Enigma soon found herself musing over the options available to her, paying only partial attention to her pet as she became lost in her thoughts.

"So now...horde of angry banshee plant moles...on a roof...plenty of things to work with...amazing? Thank you dear...hrmmm....Ah that reminds me."

That is, until her thoughts suddenly drifted to the nature of her pet, and the type of being she was, as well as the legends in regards to them.

"Say, Lanai dear, we've yet to discuss what you can do, have we? Legends tell of demons capable of throwing fireballs, blasting off lightning from their fingertips, all kinds of wondrous sorcery. Can you do any of that pet dear? Or do you only have the strength of a grizzly bear? Do tell now, I won't bite if you do."

Absentmindedly beginning to trace another circle with the base of her staff, it seemed as if the high elf had a plan...one that would depend on the capabilities of her new pet.

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 51/71

Lanai brightens visibly at Enigmas question, and she replies; "I can do many things with both the powers of sorcery, and with my own innate abilities. I can do any of the things you just described, though I would have to feed afterward if I used them too much, and not nearly with the skill with which you use your powers. And, of course, I have the strength of a hellhound. Is that as strong as a... What did you call it? A grizzly bear? What would you have me do, mistress?" She says, eager to do whatever Enigma asked of her.

The scream continued to close in, and Engima thought she could spot flashes of green amongst the streets beyond the alley she now stood above.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Pondering on this new information, while finishing the circle she had been drawing, Enigma deliberated on what her pet had said, trying to find an optimal solution to the present situation now that she had an idea in regards to what Lanai could do.

Wall off...no, that'd require a great extent of precision...wrap fire around each...no, takes too much synchronization...something simple...ah.

A faint smile of sorts crept across Enigma's face as an idea occurred to her, one that was both simple and effective.

"Pet dear~ Two things I need you to do...no, three. First and most importantly, defend me while I'm working on my next concoction, wouldn't do to be attacked by silly plant tentacles while I'm in the middle of my spell really. Secondly, please set fire to the length of the alleyway once the plants arrive. A torrent of flame of flame or the like should do the trick, but if you can't do that, then simply lob fireballs at them. No need to worry about any burrowers. Lastly...once this is over, do help me find some tea. I haven't had a good cup since I came to this place, and I do believe I'll be needed it after this. With such a doozy of a spell and everything."

Should Lanai be perceptive enough of her surroundings, she would find herself able to detect Enigma's aura spreading itself thin across the roof, and attempting to creep to surrounding ones as well. Dormant for now, but ready to be activated as soon as the time was ripe. If one looked into the high elf's eyes at this time, they would find that they were dilated. The usual luster and life in them temporarily absent. Breathing slowed and synchronized with her heartbeat, it would seem as if the Necromancer was devoting her full attention and focus, to the precise control of her spirit. Her consciousness seemingly spread as thin as her aura was. This was, without a doubt, to be a spell of epic proportions...one of extreme power if performed successfully.

((Not actually spending the energy yet, but essentially preparing the "fluff" for an intended attack in the future.))

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 51/71

(Should have made the double ends more clear, in hind sight, so I won't penalize you for it.)

Lanai only nods and says; "Yes mistress!" With a fierce grin on her face. She turns immediately and begins to utter something in a language that Enigma can't understand, and seconds later a wall of flame appears, blocking the alleyway just as the first of the plant creatures begin to arrive. Most of them stop immediately as the first of their number, another of the more human-like plants, is immolated on contact with the wall of fire. Unfortunately, the other end of the alley is not similarly blocked for several more seconds, in which a trio of the plants that Enigma had dubbed "frogs" managed to slip into the alleyway. Lanai immediately responded with a ball of flame directly into the alley center, which destroyed the creatures, but Enigma could see that the continual use of magic without a proper feeding was beginning to its toll. Beads of sweat, obviously not form the heat of the distant magical flames, run down her forehead as she works to maintain her spells, giving the whimsical elven necromancer the time she needed to complete her own magics.

Enigma felt her aura stretch out to its farthest limits, reaching the streets beyond the alley and almost to both ends of the alley itself. She felt sweat running down her own forehead, then, as the amount of concentration necessary to spread her life-draining aura this far were mind-boggling. She just barely kept it together as the plant creatures swarmed around the two walls of fire Lanai had erected, and for a moment, the necromancer thought that that alone might be enough to hold the animate plants at bay. That was about the time the first of them came over the edge of the roofs on all three sides of the buildings that weren't being blocked off by fire. Enigma could even see some of the creatures coming over the peaks of the roofs of the houses on the opposite side of the now empty alley. "Mistress, if you're going to do something, now might be good. Then we can get you your tea." Lanai says, a bit of an edge that Enigma didn't quite like in her voice, though the elf figured it was probably from the fact that they were in the midst of combat. Adrenaline, and all that.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

((Thanks I suppose...Lets see if I can write up a decent quality post despite it being this late at night.))

It was once said that most wizards, in the span of their lifetimes, would cast spells of "epic proportions" only a few times throughout the entirety of their career. Not for a want of power, but rather, due to the incredible risk involved in doing so. The greater the magnitude of the spell, the more dangerous it was to invoke it, for one mistake could have disastrous effects. This held even more true for those who used their very soul as a spell component in their magic. Failure often meant a loss of self, if not the utter shattering of the caster's soul in its entirely.

Such was the case for Enigma, who had streched her aura, the base component of her very soul, to its limits, along with her own consciousness. Wrapping it around every shingle, every slat, every stone she could possibly manipulate...all for the sake of the grandiose spell she was to perform now...
Staff raised and brimming with power, the elf then began to chant.

"Arise...awaken from thy slumber and render thy services to thine new master. Turn thy back on the earth, the earth which has abandoned you, and rise up as a swarm...A pestilence, a swarm of locusts, to hunt the sons and daughters of Gaia until all is rendered to dust and decay...

Then, upon the incantation's completion, the necromancer would bring her staff down upon the small circle she had drawn earlier, causing energy to suddenly surge powerfully through through all that she had wrapping her aura. From there, all of the slats, the loose stones, the shingles, and all else that could be affected would be ripped from their resting places, only to rise up into the air and assemble themselves as had be instructed... Circling around their master as a vertiable and catastrophic storm of objects, the spell itself seemed at first, to be one of shielding... That is, until the elf, whose eyes were vritually "hollow" now, stretched forth her hand in the direction of the plant monsters that had just climbed up...and then swept it to "incorporate" the others not in the immediate direction.

A simple order was given, and perhaps such was the only one that could be given.

"Hunt. Leave none alive.

Upon this being said...the objects in the storm would suddenly "shoot out" towards the plant monsters at high velocity. Seeming to track the creatures based on their very life energies, the "swarm" would pummel, puncture, and cut the plants from every direction, using the life leeching aura's innate trait of "absorption" with each blow to keep themselves afloat to avoid further strain on their master. Had Lanai been more "educated" in legends and mythology, she might have commented that the scene was akin to that of an old legend. Where a "prophet", in an attempt to free his people, brought forth locusts that rendered a plentiful land into a barren wasteland in the matter of seconds...

((Action: "Locust Swarm Bombardment", one of Enigma's most complex manuevers yet...and one that will no doubt force her to retreat or the like, should it fail to finish the fight.))

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 39/71, Animate 4

(Is it wrong that the game mechanics are fluid enough to actually support this?)

The tiles only wriggle for a moment as Enigmas spiritual energy floods into them, leaving the elven necromancer feeling even more drained. At first she thinks that her spell has failed completely, as the tiles only wriggle about harmlessly for a moment. Then she realizes that it hasn't failed, as the tiles tear themselves form the roof and jet up into the air to form a whirling cloud of hardened clay, the reason for the delay evident not only the the backs of the now animated tiles but on the now bare roof as well: For reasons she couldn't begin to fathom at this moment, the builders of the house had had the shingles cemented on with genuine cement. Lanai let out a startled gasp as the roof began to tear itself out from under their feat, her walls of fire disappearing as her concentration wanes. The plant creatures, ignoring the sudden surge of tiles now floating in the air, rush in to what they see as an opening, and the alley below the two besieged women quickly fills with the plant monsters even as those on the roof surge toward the,

The heavy, fast moving, and sharp clay tiles tear into the creatures on the roof first, shredding the first wave of them like a wood chipper and sending the gory remains tumbling onto their comrades as they tried to climb up form the alley. None of the creatures even get close enough to try and take a swing at them as they stand within the swirling whirlwind of hardened clay shards. The first wave of the plants is easily torn apart as they rush blindly toward Enigma, and after a moment Lanai seems to recover form her shock, and, with a jubilant laugh, re-enters the fight by surrounding them with a circle of flames. The fire heats the animated tiles, causing them to cut through the plants all the more effectively and set the gory remains alight as they tumble away.

The shards are too busy tearing apart the monsters close to Enigma, however, for them to go on the offense. If she were to allow any of them to start tearing through the horde, some of the plants might slip through, and enigmas concentration was too greatly taxed by her swarm of shards for her to try and summon up something else to defend herself with. What's more, Enigma spots some of the plant creatures in the alley break their way into the house beneath them, where the deadly shards could not strike at them.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

((Nah, it just allows for epic.))

The clay shingles were, as intended, tearing through the horde like a blender. Shredding plant after plant without mercy, without hesitation, felling them one by one. Yet, at the current rate of things, Enigma would soon find herself in a precarious situation due to a problem that had ended many a great wizard... Running out of energy. While the elf possessed a great reserve from which to draw power, such was by no means, unlimited. Which meant that a war of attrition would be deadly to her; a brief study of military tactics told that much at least. Something would need to change for the scales to tip in her favor...but what could she possibly do? She was already being pushed to her limits with the storm alone...


Visualize.

Create an image of the situation desired one's mind. A veritable storm amongst a horde of enemies.


Imagine

Picture a desired result. The first step in both strategy and magic.

Analyze

Determine the steps that needed to be taken to achieve the desired result...convert them into procedural instructions...could the storm be converted to serve such a purpose though?...

Realize

Apply power to the instructions, and then meld reality to one's wishes...not yet.


There was something missing, something unspeakable that was missing...but what? Knowledge...knowledge had to be gathered first...Speech...knowledge could not be attained without communication...

Thus, it was then, perhaps surprisingly enough, the necromancer managed to speak, if but...strangely, due to the intense concentration required, and the fact that her consciousness was effectively "split" to an extent.

"Pet, can thou fly as some sorcerers can? Or art thou unable to take to the skies, even if thou can produce flame as the immortal birds of flame?..."

Evidently, the part of consciousness that had been concentrated for a second to allow speech, was the part that had spent far too long a time in the fantastical mythical legends section of the library...

((Action: Continue storm for now.))

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 36/71, Animate 4

Lanai watched, hypnotized, as the plant creatures rushed blindly into the storm of clay only to be torn apart, until Enigma spoke, causing her face to twist in confusion, and she waits a few tense seconds trying to process what her mistress had said. As the seconds tic by, Enigma feels the storm draw more of her slowly dwindling energy from her, and feels some of the shards shatter as they tear through the plants, becoming too small to have enough force to penetrate the plant creatures flesh with any lethality. While she likely wouldn't run out of energy too soon, the plants in the house beneath would likely begin to tear through the roof beneath them within a few moments, and the shards were beginning to break and become useless, or get stuck inside dead plants, and become useless. It would take a while and quite a few dead plants, but eventually her vicious storm would become less and less lethal to the plants, until they got through it to reach her and her pet. That was if the creatures beneath them didn't take them from bellow, of course.

Finally, Lanai seems to figure out what it was that Enigma had said, and shouts; "Yes! I can use my energy to fly if I must! But it would cost me greatly, and I don't know how far I could take us, mistress!"

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

As the clay slates began to shatter, and the storm less lethal, Enigma began to narrow the overall field of the storm more and more, moving it closer to her and her pet. That is, without releasing the "useless" shards. Ideally, if such was done correctly, the elf's pet would be forced into closer proximity to her master, while continuing to shred plants (albeit, with slightly less of a "comfort zone"). For such was necessary for the next step of her plan...

"Wrap thine arms around mine waist, and then take to the sky and fly... straight up, as high as you can without completely exhausting yourself. From there...I shall take care of the rest."

Should Lanai do as instructed, Enigma would see to it that the storm persisted around them as a barrier of sorts while they rose, wrapping them in a "cylinder" of sorts of swirling objects. At least, until they were high enough in the air to allow for her idea to put her plan into action.

The idea was simple. Once they took to the sky, the plants would no doubt converge on the space below in an attempt to seize their prey (and be shredded by the part of the "storm barrier" protecting them)... Effectively making themselves a denser, and easier target to strike. From then, it would simply be a matter of using a powerful attack with a wide radius, to wipe out the majority, if not all of the horde of plants, once they had congregated. Something that the necromancer already had covered.

Once she and her pet were at a sufficient altitude, their enemies gathered, and the barrier no longer necessary, the necromancer would cause her storm to disperse, and regather at a central point, to be melded into what she desired. A massive, ballista sized, spear like projectile, akin to those used by castle siege weapons. Normally of course, such a weapon would be extremely difficult to create without the help of many skilled craftsman over a month's period, much less use effectively. However, given the present situation, and the nature of Enigma's magic, neither was an issue. All that had to be done to create such a weapon, was simply to change the instructions she originally gave the slates she had animated from "hunt and kill" to "gather and meld" (a command far less strenuous on the elf, for the components a soul is normally meant to be a single entity, not multiple pieces scattered over a distance). Once this had been done, the necromancer would then cause the spear to move in way that it would seem as if an invisible giant was wielding it, and leaning back to throw...then send it hurling downwards towards the house where all of the plants were most likely gathered, releasing her concentration and control over it at the very same instant to allow for maximum acceleration (for control over the object was no longer needed at this point).

Should Enigma prove successful, her spear would see to it that the house she had taken refuge atop of was destroyed, alongside any creatures in the vicinity, by the sheer force of the impact, if not from the massive size of the weapon....

((Action: Spear of the gods...or Titan, you decide. Although the effectiveness really depends on if Lanai does manage to fly high enough.))

 

[Tassadar]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

Spoiler

Enigmas Status: HP = 38, P = 39, EP = 33/71, Animate 4

As the shard storm closes in around them, Lanai backs toward Enigma, and then grabs her around the waist. She pauses for a second before being lifted into the air, her energy supporting her. She pulled her mistress up with her, going about thirty feet into the air above the house. With perfect timing too, it seemed, as the plant creatures that had entered the house tore their way up seconds later, writhing tentacles and sharp claws making short works of the wooden ceiling and easily pulling the creatures up onto the roof where Enigma and Lanai had been standing only seconds earlier. Predictably, many of the plant creatures converged where she'd been as her barrier of shards rose up with her, though a good many also stopped in place and watched as she rose, likely intent on following after her if she had Lanai fly her away.

The storm of shards, no longer necessary as a defensive barrier, coalesced into a massive clay spear just beneath the floating duo, and then slammed itself down into the house where they'd been standing only moments ago. The plants beneath them were helpless to avoid the sudden attack, and Enigma watched as a half dozen of the creatures were skewered or crushed directly by her attack, and the rest that had been on the house fell within it as the spear slammed directly down through the house until it hit the catacombs beneath it. The entire building collapsed, the spear having damaged the structure around it, and took most of the creatures down with it to be buried by rubble. If anything in that had survived, it would at least take it a while to dig itself out. Unfortunately, a good number of the plant creatures remained on the surrounding buildings, the construct built from the one houses roof tiles having not been large enough to destroy any of the other buildings when it slammed into the ground, and they continued to look up at her and Lanai as the two women floated 30 feet above them. "I can't say up here forever mistress.... What do we do now?" Lanai said quietly into her ear, strain evident in her voice, though she couldn't be sure if it was from the physical strain of holding onto her, or from the spiritual strain of keeping them both flying.

 

[Keylo]

Re: A Greater Mystery (Keylo)

((Backstories and explanation for the Phoenix snipped out of this post and to be typed up in the future. For now, lets hope this is enough.))


The spear having failed to eliminate the remainder of the plants below, the two women would find themselves in a truly precarious situation. Trapped in midair, with an untold number of hostile botanical life below waiting to maim, and possibly kill or rape them, there were two plausible options to take. One would be to fly as far away as possible, to the next "high ground" available, and hope that they would be able to lose their pursuers. The other, would be to descend to the ground, and fight it out from there, praying that they would have enough energy to kill all of the plants. Both options bearing enormous risk, but both being the only sensible options to take...

...Unless one was a certain wandering high elf of course.

"Ascend further, as far as thou can. Quickly now, before thou find thy wings clipped from a lack of strength."

To any sane person, such an action would be lunacy at best, if not outright idiocy, given the current circumstances. Nevertheless, despite being far from a fool, Enigma had decided to have her pet to take such a ridiculous course. A decision which would most likely result in both her and Lanai plummeting into the waiting tendrils of the plant creatures below...

However, when the demon had reached a certain altitude, and her strain had become apparent, it would be then that Enigma chose to speak again...

"And...this would be good bye."

...followed by somehow giving a sharp rap each to the arms holding her aloft, and causing them to loosen their grip, sending the high elf plummeting towards the ground at high speed. Having apparently gone off her rocker, the necromancer appeared to be on a one way trip to becoming a bloodied stain on the cobblestone street below (for such was how it appeared to any onlooker). That is, until a sudden surge of power suddenly burst forth from her, a clear golden flame seeming to wrap around the elf in mid-air as a result. Eyes closed, and rapidly chanting, the necromancer began to shape the flames into that of a enormous bird with herself at its center using the flames the continued to pour forth from her body (or so it appeared). Wings of golden flame, claws of blazing red.... one could only wonder how the high elf was capable of such feats...and how this would stop her from breaking her skull open...

It was then of course, when scarcely a few feet remained between Enigma and the ground or a plant, that the massive golden bird of flame "launched" itself forth from its "creator", so as to allow itself to catch its master upon its back. Then, once this had been done, the bird would swoop upward into via an arc of sorts (razing and setting alight the plants unfortunate enough to be too close to it), and spin about, the "construction" of its body finally have come to a completion at this time.

Now, in the skies above the plants, was without a doubt, the figure of the "immortal bird", the legendary phoenix. How the necromancer had been able to invoke such a beast, was a mystery in itself. However, one thing was for certain. The mighty bird had been called to a field of battle, and its master was upon its back, fully intent on razing it nothing.

"Old friend, do us all a favor and burn all of the animated plant life in this area to a crisp please? They're interrupting my research."

As if used to complying to such orders, the fire bird would let out a mighty screech, before swooping down.. its fires burning stronger than ever before.

((Actual action: Call Spirit: Ancient, (Golden Phoenix Gravis of the Sacred Flame). Explanation for how this works was given in a PM, and will most likely be updated in Enigma's backstory on the character sheet when I get a chance. Also assuming that as the flames aren't exactly normal, they can be "targetted" to burn specific things rather than everything.

Action for Gravis: Scorch as many plants as possible on a second pass by.))