Alduris: The Unveiling

[Twisted1]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

(I'm really quite confused as to what we're supposed to being doing spellwise. I made some basic stuff based off of (Read: copied) what tass was doing so I have something to put there. Also, are you waiting on something from me update wise?)

((Sorry, lots of stuff going on and I lost your reply in the mess, my fault -- in the future, send me a PM if I don't respond. Thanks for notifying me, though. >.>

When it comes to spells, just make your spell do whatever you want, make sure you can input more mana into it to increase its effect and you've got your own spell! A simple formula like the ones you copied and a description of the effects are all I need -- just try to keep it fair. Increase the efficiency slightly for every point you put in the appropriate magic skill.))



0.5 miles Southeast of Endren: Leita
The jester cocked his head slightly, staring at her while idly juggling, remaining silent. "Hoo hoo! Oh dear me, child, you are truly high-spirited!" He paused in his juggling and the daggers froze in the air. "Is it truly my fault that you are freakishly tall?" He giggled and the daggers continued to fly through his fingers.

From behind her, a voice intoned solemnly, "your arrogance will be your downfall, child." Leita turned to find the jester suddenly uncomfortably close behind her, still juggling, and quickly stepped back. His face was suddenly incredibly serious, and Leita realized that his eyes were completely black with no white showing. He suddenly brightened up with another laugh. "But what fun it will be, then, my dear lady! Haha!" The man spread his hands and the daggers continued to circle in the air faster and faster.

"But alas, I have many things to attend to! My lovely lady knight, I must bid you adieu for now!" he giggled. "But I have one last parting gift!"

With these words he began stepped back farther into the shadows of the alley. The daggers, still juggling themselves in front of her began to disappear one by one until a single dagger remained, bobbing gently up and down. Before she could react, however, it blurred past her and flew into the tunnel. Leita heard a hoarse yell from the man she had saved, and the woman suddenly sprinted out, screaming. She flew past Leita, and Leita didn't bother to stop her this time, for she could hear rumbling and see flashes of red light in the cellar.

Readying her weapon, Leita prepared to attack as the cellar doors flew open and a mass of tentacles flew straight for her.

[Agility: 8+14=22; roll failed]
Despite Leita's attempt to dodge, the tentacles' reflexes proved even faster than hers. Two of them impacted roughly against her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, while the rest quickly wrapped around her legs, attempting to drag her into the tunnel.

A faint voice called out, "Shouldn't have made the Jester mad, my dear lady knight!"


0.5 miles Northeast of Endren: Catherine
The path to Endren was pretty straightforward, if a little unnecessarily curvy. Catherine followed the meandering path through the forest, still thinking about the fire when she heard the sharp crack of a couple of twigs breaking behind her and the sounds of someone running. Unable to think of anything better, she quickly threw herself into the nearest bushes, looking for whatever was coming.
[Stealth: 9.5+9=18.5; roll failed]
A man emerged from the forest, running as if his life depended on it. He almost breezed past her, but he suddenly jerked his head toward the bushes and saw her.
"You! Come with me, and hurry!" Grabbing her arm, he half-dragged and half-carried her with him. Despite her additional weight, he doesn't seem to slow down at all. Catherine had no idea what was going, but her struggles appeared completely ineffective against this man. He was a strongly built, broad-chested man with short black hair and a full beard. Trapped in his arms, Catherine noticed he had a gentle, musky smell mixed in with the smell of pine trees. That was all she had a chance to perceive as suddenly the man leapt into a bush. Catherine yelped, certain that she was going to be trapped under the large man, but instead the couple fell through the brush into a small hole hidden on the other side of the bush. He landed roughly, jarring Catherine, and then quickly laid her on the dirt floor and turned around.
Growling quietly, he pulled at a part of the dirt wall and exposed a large, circular metal plate. Grunting and swearing, he slowly rolled it over to cover the entrance.

The man finished his task and fell to the floor panting slightly. Quickly looking around, Catherine realized that she was in an underground tunnel, relatively well lit with torches. The man looked at her for a few seconds and then simply said, "G'morning, miss."

 

[Quartz]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Catherine yelps as the man roughly plucks her out of her less than ingenious hiding spot. Flailing her limbs wildly as he carries her, she yells at him "H-hey! Wh-what are you doing?! Let me go!" She barely has time to think as he suddenly dives through the bush and into the tunnel to a sudden and crashing stop. As he dumps her on the ground, she simply lays there stunned while he seals off the entrance.

Still dazed by the tumbling fall, Catherine picks herself up off the tunnel floor and brushes the dirt from her clothing. She stares at the man angrily for a minute while she regains her composure. She exhales deeply, before replying in a forced calm "You're polite all of a sudden. There's a reason you sealed us down here, mind explaining who you are and what's going on?"

 

[xivvix]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Even though Emilia's plan had been to dive into one of the houses along with the figure running towards her, she is still caught off guard when the man reaches forward and pulls her in himself. She lands in a pile of rags, softening the impact, though still not making her enjoy the landing. With a grunt, she pushes herself up then looks out the window at the veritable swarm of crows circling the house. When one slams against the glass before her she falls back with a slight cry, and pulls her dagger from it's sheath. Her hand wobbles as she studies the crow, but with the bird not seeming to find a way in, she can relax. The red stone draws her attention, and she wonders briefly how a bird could get something like that embedded in its forehead, before jumping when the man speaks.

"What?" she asks. "Y-Yes, I don't think I've ever seen birds attack a person before. Except when one of my brothers tried to steal an egg." She laughs at the memory, but stops when she looks over the man more thoroughly. 'This man is huge,' she thinks to herself, 'Is he some kind of soldier? Or knight?' Emilia's mind begins to race, thinking up all kinds of possibilities of who the green-eyed hulk before her might be when his gasping compliment brings an instinctive grin to her face. Even though the crows were still loudly calling outside the house, the relative safety of the moment and the pure absurdity of the man's attitude towards her in the situation causes her to momentarily forget the strange birds. She stands when he does, lightly placing her fingertips in his offered hand. "Emilia," she replies, "And this pretty girl was on her way to safety when she had to stop to tell a big strong man how to get away from some angry birds."

Upon speaking of the threat, Emilia's mind flashes back to their current predicament. She drops Garen's hand and turns to look out the window once again at the bird attempting to peck it's way in. "I don't think it can get in," she says, letting her hand holding the dagger fall back to her side. "Maybe if we wait here a while they'll leave us alone." Pulling her cloak aside and inadvertently giving Garen a look at her dancing outfit, she sheathes the blade, then turns to him. "Were you headed to Endren to? Or are you helping fight the demons?"

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

0.5 miles Southeast of Endren: Leita
The jester cocked his head slightly, staring at her while idly juggling, remaining silent. "Hoo hoo! Oh dear me, child, you are truly high-spirited!" He paused in his juggling and the daggers froze in the air. "Is it truly my fault that you are freakishly tall?" He giggled and the daggers continued to fly through his fingers.

From behind her, a voice intoned solemnly, "your arrogance will be your downfall, child." Leita turned to find the jester suddenly uncomfortably close behind her, still juggling, and quickly stepped back. His face was suddenly incredibly serious, and Leita realized that his eyes were completely black with no white showing. He suddenly brightened up with another laugh. "But what fun it will be, then, my dear lady! Haha!" The man spread his hands and the daggers continued to circle in the air faster and faster.

"But alas, I have many things to attend to! My lovely lady knight, I must bid you adieu for now!" he giggled. "But I have one last parting gift!"

With these words he began stepped back farther into the shadows of the alley. The daggers, still juggling themselves in front of her began to disappear one by one until a single dagger remained, bobbing gently up and down. Before she could react, however, it blurred past her and flew into the tunnel. Leita heard a hoarse yell from the man she had saved, and the woman suddenly sprinted out, screaming. She flew past Leita, and Leita didn't bother to stop her this time, for she could hear rumbling and see flashes of red light in the cellar.

Readying her weapon, Leita prepared to attack as the cellar doors flew open and a mass of tentacles flew straight for her.

[Agility: 8+14=22; roll failed]
Despite Leita's attempt to dodge, the tentacles' reflexes proved even faster than hers. Two of them impacted roughly against her stomach, knocking the wind out of her, while the rest quickly wrapped around her legs, attempting to drag her into the tunnel.

A faint voice called out, "Shouldn't have made the Jester mad, my dear lady knight!"

Leita's eyes widened when the man - no, it was most certainly a demon - disappeared and rematerialized unnervingly close behind her. With a sharp reflex she twirled to face him, simultaneously creating space between them with a slash of her spear and a skip step backwards, again taking a reactionary stance, her lance pointed at the demon jester's throat.

While one part of Leita stared defiantly into the empty abyss of the creature's gaze, another, more awestruck part of her was noting the surreal experience of trading words with a demon. It was like nothing she had ever expected. All her life, she had grown up with tales of the great warrior-knight, Lugh, and how he had wielded the Holy Lance against the minions of the demon king. In the tales, demons had appeared as powerful dragons, horrible oozing and tentacled monstrosities, ogres, giants, trolls, and even the dread succubi, -but never had she once heard of a demon who appeared as a fool.

Yet the demon stood clearly before her, in his his absurd jester's cap and silly shoes - his voice at once both comical and deadly. His aura was filled with what Leita could only call wrongness.

I must not fear. I am a disciple of Lugh. I will walk in his footsteps. Whether there be dragons or fools in my path, I will slay any spirit of corruption.

She saw the jester step back into the shadows, laughing and promising her a parting gift. When the dagger flew out, she at first thought it was aimed at her - ducking to the side accordingly. But when it zipped by her and into the cellar tunnel, she realized it was a mistake. She heard the man's howl, then the cry of the girl as she ran to get away from the glowing red light.

"What devilry is this?" Leita muttered as she readied herself against the new threat.

The tentacles came at her blindingly fast, slamming into her chest plate. "Ugh!" she moaned as she fell, but kept a deathgrip on the shaft of her lance. A knight without her weapon was a sitting duck.

With a sudden jerk, she realized she was being pulled by her ankles towards the cellar door by two tentacles. As this happened, the final catcall from the demon jester fluttered its melodious way to her ears.

"Shouldn't have made the jester mad, my dear lady knight," the demon called at her mockingly.

No, she thought as she gritted her teeth and reaffirmed her grip on the lance. It was you who shouldn't have made the lady knight angry!

With emphasis and extreme prejudice, Leita brought the point of her polearm straight down onto one of the tentacles dragging her along the ground.

((Attack the tentacle on her right leg.))

 

[Twisted1]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Tunnel: Catherine

Still dazed by the tumbling fall, Catherine picks herself up off the tunnel floor and brushes the dirt from her clothing. She stares at the man angrily for a minute while she regains her composure. She exhales deeply, before replying in a forced calm "You're polite all of a sudden. There's a reason you sealed us down here, mind explaining who you are and what's going on?"

The man smiles broadly. "The name's Sebastian, but yeh can call me Seb. Sorry about the scare, I was kinda in a hurry." Wiping his forehead, the man stood up. He was a giant of a man, really, with his massive chest and large, muscular arms and legs. His head almost seemed too small when compared to the rest of his body. He scratched the back of his head and grinned at her a little oddly. "Well, he began. I don't rightly know how to put this, so, uh... I guess I'll have to show yeh. Hang on a sec here, I'll fetch it." He went down the tunnel a ways and entered a small room on the right.

"If yer a little squeamish at the sight of blood, uh, y'might not wanna inspect the body all that closely," he said, walking out a little bent over. "But all yeh really need to see's the head, anyways." In his arms, Sebastian carried what looked like a motionless, rather underfed dog in a blanket. Guessing by the smell, it was dead. "See? It's right here," he said, pointing at something. In between the dog's eyes was a small, dark black bump that stood out starkly against the dog's lighter coloring.

"That isn't some nasty tick bite, young lass. Matter 'a fact, we don't righ' know what it is, but what it does is pretty obvious." He turned around again, grunting slightly as he shifted the dog's corpse, and placed it back in the room, closing and locking the door. "You find any beast with one 'a those things on its head, yeh best head any way but the way it's goin'. That little thing makes 'em go absolutely feral, completely nutty." He paused, ruminating on the origin of the strange bump. "Feels somethin' like a stone, but that don't make much sense..." he trailed off.

"Oh! I guess I should explain this 'ere tunnel. It leads to Endren! Safest route yeh'll find today. I was headin' back to town before I hit a little snag, so you're welcome to come with me. I, uh, don't think you should go back out the way we came, though -- some nasty-looking critters were following me. Though I suppose if yer confident enough, I could let you back out, or somethin'. Anyways, Endren could sure use another couple 'a sets 'a hands righ' about now, and we can keep yeh safe from the critters!" he beamed, clapping his hands.


Abandoned house, 0.25 miles East of Endren: Emilia
"Emilia, huh?" Garen said slowly, shaking her fingers lightly. "Well, Emilia, you've got a nice barbed tongue. I like you already," he said, grinning. As Emilia sheaths her blade, Garen gives her outfit an appreciative once-over and smiles. "Those big bad birds just appeared out of nowhere, hounding a lonely big strong man who was, indeed, heading to Endren. A big strong man's fists are not much use against birds who won't stay to be hit, you know." He paused. "Anyway, if you're heading to Endren, you're probably going to help fight the demons too, seeing as how that's the nearest fortified town for, oh, a couple of leagues in any direction. Unless you can find one of those hidden pansy magi strongholds, or something, I guess." He clicked his tongue, sighing. "Well, I guess there's not much to do here but wait. The birds are still going at it pretty fierce. If you wouldn't mind, would ya help me make sure there are no holes in this house? I don't think I'd be very keen to find one of those flying peckers crawling through a mouse hole." He shuddered and began to inspect the walls and roof. As he turned, Emilia noticed several rips in his plain brown tunic.

"Say," he began as he searched, "what's your situation? I mean, stumbling upon a fine lady such as yourself seems like a bit of a long-shot given the events of this morning. How'd you survive the attacks?"

((EDIT: Blast. I went afk and forgot to post this. BlueSlime, I'll try to get you in the morning.))

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

After pocketing the gold and gem, Kiriko turned her attention towards the rune. "A magic trap, intriguing.." Her curiousity getting the better of her, Kiriko decides to throw a few stones at it from a good distance away. No innocent needs to risk possible injury from it

 

[Quartz]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Catherine gives the man an awkward smile, returning to her usual awkward cheery demeanor. "So it seems an apology from me is also in order. You'll have to forgive me if I was a bit rude, you just gave me a bit of a scare is all. I can see you clearly had the best of intentions though. I appreciate the thought." She takes off her hood and smiles a bit more. "Also, now I'm out of the rain."

"Well, mister Seb, I think it would be best if we go to Endren together then. I was going there anyways, and if this is a safe path right to it then all the better." She says as she starts walking down the tunnel.

"So, you said beasts, not just dogs. So it's all the animals around here then, and they all have those same stony bumps on their head? I don't know of any sickness that forms something like that, or any sickness that hits a wide swath of different animals. In fact, I think it's safe enough to rule out any natural cause for this. It seems that whatever is driving them mad is probably magical in origin.. Also, the fire at the library doesn't seem like a coincidence.." By this point, any hint of her previous cheeriness is gone as she walks lost in thought, stroking her chin with a serious look on her face. She abruptly turns back to Seb. "Have you seen or heard of any people with these bumps?"

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Natalie barely kept herself from being knocked over as the young girl rushed her, her hand instinctively dropping the dagger it held as the babbling teenager clutched to her midsection. A moment of panic caused by the sudden appearance of the young girl causes her hands to start patting her awkwardly on the back, trying to comfort her. The wheels in her head start turning shortly, however, her mind going over all the possibilities that she might use the girl for. As she continued patting her gently and holding her, a villainous smile teased over Natalies features, quickly replaced by one intended to be sweet in case the girl looked up at her face.

Her first thought was to simply find a place to kill the girl and trap her soul, so she could sell it later, since it seemed likely that the pathetic little girl still retained her innocence. She might also absorb the poor girls soul herself, though she'd never attempted such a thing before, since it would have put her very identity in danger. Another thought was that she might be able to sell the child as a slave, though she quickly discounted that. She might be able to escape mortal slavery, and if she did, it seemed likely that the girl might come after her for revenge, which wasn't anything Natalie wanted to have to deal with. Another problem was that, with the chaos of whatever was happening, it seemed unlikely that she could find an operational slavers guild to buy the girl before some family member of the girl, or perhaps some naive do-gooder, took custody of the girl from her. Besides, she'd get more value from the childs immortal soul than from the work of her body. Still, another part of her, one that recognized that the girl seemed like she was about the age that Natalie herself had started learning to control magic, thought she should help the blond girl find her family, or someone else to take care of her. Another, more rational, and possibly more cowardly voice in the back of her mind suggested that she kill the girl now, since she would certainly be a liability if Natalie got into a fight.

Her mind not yet made up, Natalie spoke softly t the young girl, trying to calm her lest her cries alert whatever had blown through this place; "Calm down child.... I'll help you get to Endren safely, where your parents are surely waiting for you. But first, you must tell me what happened here? I left my home this morning, and returned to find it destroyed. What did all of this?"

 

[xivvix]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Garen's quick comment about her tongue brings a smile to Emilia's face. "A lot of people say good things about my tongue, but barbed is a new one," she says, herself referring to entertaining through song, though aware that her words could be taken another way. "Maybe I'll have a chance to show you sometime," she adds with a wink.

Although the muscular man jokes about his encounter with the birds, Emilia takes it a bit more seriously, especially when he mentions fighting the demons herself. "Hold on, big guy," she replies with a bit of a laugh in her voice, "I'm not really the fighting type. I'm headed to Endren to get away from that." 'Though if he's right, and Endren's the only safe place around here, the demons will be heading there too,' she thinks, 'And I won't have a choice.'

Emilia immediately nods and begins to check the walls around the house when Garen suggests it. Though the mention of mice sends a shiver down her spine, she has no trouble looking for any such holes, her own house had been so rundown that it had been impossible to keep vermin out. Since she is shorter than Garen, Emilia leaves him to check the roof, while she kneels down to check the lower walls and floors, as well as behind the bookshelves. "Ah, well," she begins slowly, searching for how to explain her predicament without giving her life's story, "I was at a party last night. Fine ladies like myself tend to get invited to those, you know." She decides to leave out the part about getting paid to attend, lest he get the wrong idea. "I just got home this morning, and my family left me a note to find them in Endren."

"So, how long were those birds chasing you?" she asks while searching, "Your clothes are pretty torn up. Did they hurt the big strong man?" Though she asks the question with a hint of sarcasm, she is actually worried. There's no telling what those strange birds might do to someone when attacking them.

 

[Twisted1]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

((Whew! I had a test I hadn't prepared for and a sick person to care for, but I'm ready for the next one!))

We'll be using this system that Tassadar created for spells from now on. Everyone applaud Tassadar, because I only provided what you had already seen. Thanks again, Tass!

[highlight]Spell Creation by Tassadar![/highlight]

Wanted to keep it sort of similar to the one you made. I think it might be easier to leave the ranges alone. I dropped skills, because modifying specific skills would add more complication to an already complicated system.

x = amount of damage a spell does.
y = duration of a spell. By default, always 1. Has to be decided upon spell creation, and cannot be changed later on without creating a whole new spell.
z = buff/debuff to a SPECIAL stat. By default, 0, and must be decided upon spell creation, and cannot be changed later without making an entirely new spell.

The mana cost of a spell, based on range:
Touch: y(.5x + .8z) -- one target
Cone: y(x + 1.5z) -- a few targets in an area in front of you
Beam: y(.6x + z) -- one target
Radial: y(x + 2z) -- all targets within a circular area around the caster (low-med range)
Distant Radial: y(2x + 3z) -- all targets within a circular area anywhere you can hit

The whole "cannot be changed later" thing shouldn't be a problem since there isn't a maximum number of spells a character can know at the moment. The numbers are small because magic needs to be an option all on its own, and since high mana at level 1 is around 50, it seems likely that characters won't get anywhere near 100 for a while.

Also, if a spell wants to affect multiple SPECIAL stats, treat it as though their were just another z, but make it so that all z values have to be the same.

For example:
A spell that just does x damage at Touch range would cost .5x mana and would deal x damage.
A spell that did x damage and depleted an enemies Strength by 3 for 3 rounds at Beam range would cost: 3(.6x + 3) = 1.8x + 9.
A spell that depleted all enemies Agility by 2 and did x damage for 4 rounds in a radius around the caster would cost: 4(x + 4) = 4x + 16.
A spell that just did x damage in a radius at a target of the casters choice for 3 rounds would cost: 6x
[highlight]Edited by myself:[/highlight] Spells will do, at max, (Regenerative or Destructive Magic)/2 damage.

((Onward with the story!))

0.5 miles Southeast of Endren: Leita

No, she thought as she gritted her teeth and reaffirmed her grip on the lance. It was you who shouldn't have made the lady knight angry!

With emphasis and extreme prejudice, Leita brought the point of her polearm straight down onto one of the tentacles dragging her along the ground.

((Attack the tentacle on her right leg.))

[Strength: 8 + 13 = 21 > 20; success!]
Managing to stay where she was through sheer strength, Leita brought her polearm down against the tentacle tightly wrapped around her ankle.

Spoiler

[Hit chance: Guaranteed hit due to binding]
[Crit chance: normal hit]
[Rank 2 Melee (40 -- max rank 2): 2d6 + 4.0 = 11.0]

Leita impaled the tentacle holding her right ankle and managed to cleaning sever it in half. A hideous screech erupted from the tunnel, and the other tentacle quickly released her ankle and swiped at her.

Spoiler

[Hit chance: 95%; success]
[Crit chance: normal hit]
[Melee: 1d6 +1 = 6]

It gives her a solid thump in the chest, and she takes a few steps back.

As another long wail erupts from the tunnel, the doors explode outward into splinters.
[Luck: 5; 1d5 = 5; pass]
Luckily, the shards of the door miss Leita entirely.

The beast emerging from the tunnel more closely resembles the tales of Lugh. The figure of the peasant man was only partially kept: the left side of his face is almost normal. However, the right side is bloated and a diseased green. From his right arm emerge four tentacles, one of which is injured and held close to him. He roars in anger and moves closer.

0.5 miles Southwest of Endren: Kiriko

After pocketing the gold and gem, Kiriko turned her attention towards the rune. "A magic trap, intriguing.." Her curiousity getting the better of her, Kiriko decides to throw a few stones at it from a good distance away. No innocent needs to risk possible injury from it.

Moving a few yards away from the rune, Kiriko gathers a few stones and lays herself flat against a small hill, just her head peaking over the top. Readying herself, she begins to throw the stones toward the rune one at a time. The first few come close but miss, but the third impacts directly against it. A sudden blue column of light spikes upward, and Kiriko has to shield her eyes against it. When she looked back, she could saw what looks like a spindly tree standing there, sporting only a single branch that sways gently. She paused for a moment, unsure as to why the trap would involve creating a tree when the thing twitched violently and its highest tip crashed against the ground. A plaintive squeaking echoes from underneath the tree, and the stalk of the creature -- for she now recognized it as one -- quickly slammed the ground again and then rapidly pulled upward. From the distance, Kiriko could make out some sort of small woodland creature impaled on the tip of the branch. What had previously looked like a knot on the tree revealed itself to be a closed eye, which now peered intently at the creature. Shaking itself gently, the being flashed once with a gentle, shimmering pink light, and then threw the corpse away from Kiriko. It stayed still for a moment, apparently attempting to look around, before vanishing into another blue light. The trap, however, still remained, likely ready to spawn the strange eye-tree again.

"So, you said beasts, not just dogs. So it's all the animals around here then, and they all have those same stony bumps on their head? I don't know of any sickness that forms something like that, or any sickness that hits a wide swath of different animals. In fact, I think it's safe enough to rule out any natural cause for this. It seems that whatever is driving them mad is probably magical in origin.. Also, the fire at the library doesn't seem like a coincidence.." By this point, any hint of her previous cheeriness is gone as she walks lost in thought, stroking her chin with a serious look on her face. She abruptly turns back to Seb. "Have you seen or heard of any people with these bumps?"

Sebastian turned and began at an relatively fast pace, and Catherine followed behind him. "Can't say that I have. If you're righ' about this being magical, we're gonna have ta start monitoring our people..." He grunted. "I've seen hordes of the beasties, but not a single human with that bump." He looked back at her, face rather serious. "I'll be honest with yeh, miss. I've never seen or heard about anything like this, and I've been alive a fair amount of time and traveled a fair bit, too. Provided this wave of insanity don't get any worse, we might be able to last the day... But I've got a feelin' this all is gonna get worse later tonight." He paused and then smiled at Catherine. "Y'know, I don't think I caught yer name, miss."

Her mind not yet made up, Natalie spoke softly t the young girl, trying to calm her lest her cries alert whatever had blown through this place; "Calm down child.... I'll help you get to Endren safely, where your parents are surely waiting for you. But first, you must tell me what happened here? I left my home this morning, and returned to find it destroyed. What did all of this?"

The girl slowed in her babbling and then stood quietly for a moment. "I... I'm not s-sure," she said quietly. "Momma came into the house screaming a-about... about demons. She said the beasts of the forests had gone crazy, an-and were killing people left and right... We were scared, so we packed up what little we had -- clothing and stuff, mostly -- and took off... Our horse had run away in the panic, so Momma and Daddy were pulling the cart by themselves while I sat in the back when they both suddenly turned around. I didn't hear anything, and before I could turn around Daddy started throwing these rugs we had grabbed over me. Momma said, 'We've gotta go, honey -- but we'll be back. You just hide in those rugs and wait until someone else comes by -- it'll probably be safer then. You just go with them to Endren, you hear?' She kept looking behind me, but I didn't see anything, just a bunch of trees waving in the rain. 'But until someone safe-looking comes, you have to hide in here!' she said. And then she kissed me g'bye, and they both took off down the road. I've been hidin' here ever since, just like they told me..." the girl shivered. "I heard howling and yelping and a couple of screams from the other way, but no one came this way." She paused and looked up at Natalie, big blue eyes watering. "Y-you'll... You'll help me find my momma and daddy, right, miss? I don't think I could make it there by myself..."

Abandoned House, 0.25 miles East of Endren: Emilia

Emilia immediately nods and begins to check the walls around the house when Garen suggests it. Though the mention of mice sends a shiver down her spine, she has no trouble looking for any such holes, her own house had been so rundown that it had been impossible to keep vermin out. Since she is shorter than Garen, Emilia leaves him to check the roof, while she kneels down to check the lower walls and floors, as well as behind the bookshelves. "Ah, well," she begins slowly, searching for how to explain her predicament without giving her life's story, "I was at a party last night. Fine ladies like myself tend to get invited to those, you know." She decides to leave out the part about getting paid to attend, lest he get the wrong idea. "I just got home this morning, and my family left me a note to find them in Endren."

"So, how long were those birds chasing you?" she asks while searching, "Your clothes are pretty torn up. Did they hurt the big strong man?" Though she asks the question with a hint of sarcasm, she is actually worried. There's no telling what those strange birds might do to someone when attacking them.

Garen smirks at her playful tease. "Well, I'm not sure how to put this, but peckers are peckers -- they're meant to break on through to the tasty insides of even the most forbidden fruit." His smirk grew even wider as he gave her a suggestive look. "And it's not like my skin is made of metal, m'lady, no matter how thick-skinned I may seem." He rubbed his back gingerly. "I'll have to get a healer to look at this, I s'pose. I don't think I could stand to have a fever if there's more girls like you goin' where I'm goin'."

He pauses, looking intently at the roof. "Does that -- does that look like a hole to you?" Emilia turns to stare at where Garen is pointing. "Shit," he says quietly. "They're gonna find that soon enough. I'm not much use against birds, y'see, but I'll try to stand under that hole and take out any that -- ah!" he yelped. A bird rocketed through the hole, enlarging the hole slightly but taking a nasty scrape on the way inside. The bird lands roughly on the floor before spotting Emilia and flapping its wings wildly. But before he can get airborne, Garen's black boot smashes him against the wall with a sickening crunch.

Garen looks up at Emilia's somewhat incredulous glance. "Hey, they're just rats with wings."

Two more ravens dash through the hole in the roof, one after another, and manage to avoid bumping the floor and begin racing toward Emilia.
[Hit chance: success x2]
[Crit chance: normal hit x2]
[Damage: 2d4 = 1+1]
Claws outstretched, the birds shot past her and managed to do little more than rake her skin. Garen moved up next to her, fending off another bird that had entered and was flapping around his face. "The next time they rush you like that, I'll help defend -- just try to take some of these fuckers out!" As he speaks, another bird flies in through the hole in the window, bouncing against the floor and pausing in disorientation.


Elkwood Forest, 2 miles North of Endren: Izumi
Izumi's home, an abandoned temple sequestered away in the Elkwood Forest north of Endren, had had its share of ups and downs. There was that time that a family of bears had tried to take the temple as their lair, that other time a family of bears had tried to take the temple, and -- oh yeah! -- that time when she had woken to find at least a dozen rabbits all around her bed procreating. That... that had been a little weird. But besides the bizarreness of the creatures around her hidden home, the benefits had been severalfold. No angry neighbors complaining about Izumi training too late at night, no loud parties keeping her up, and only the smallest of chances that her marks would be able to find her and take back what she had stolen from them.

That morning had been like many other before it. Waking up to strange animals frolicking near her bed -- though how they kept getting in was a rather worrisome problem, as she had a door that she locked each night and woke up in the morning to find wide open -- a little cleaning up the messes she had made attempting to get them out of her house, and a quick visit to a nearby hidden hot springs. It had really been the discovery of a lifetime, she mused as she quickly discarded her clothing and slowly stepped in. There was no reason to suggest a hot springs would exist here -- and didn't hot springs usually show up near mountains? -- but here it was, tucked away in a little cave, gently bubbling away and soothing her muscles quite nicely. It was when she got out a short time later that she realized there was trouble. Firstly, her clothes were gone from where she had placed them near the entrance. She paused, alert and uncomfortable. While she had been inside, the weather had taken a sharp turn for the worst and a rather unpleasant thunderstorm was raging on outside.

Hadn't it been perfectly sunny when she went in?

Regardless, she was now standing here, naked, without even a towel to dry off with, barely sheltered from the pouring rain. At every gust of wind, a little of the rain got inside and made her yelp with the sudden cold.

Izumi had only stolen a few things, here and there. Surely fate wouldn't be this cruel to her... Would it?

Well, now what was she to do?

 

[Tassadar]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

The girl slowed in her babbling and then stood quietly for a moment. "I... I'm not s-sure," she said quietly. "Momma came into the house screaming a-about... about demons. She said the beasts of the forests had gone crazy, an-and were killing people left and right... We were scared, so we packed up what little we had -- clothing and stuff, mostly -- and took off... Our horse had run away in the panic, so Momma and Daddy were pulling the cart by themselves while I sat in the back when they both suddenly turned around. I didn't hear anything, and before I could turn around Daddy started throwing these rugs we had grabbed over me. Momma said, 'We've gotta go, honey -- but we'll be back. You just hide in those rugs and wait until someone else comes by -- it'll probably be safer then. You just go with them to Endren, you hear?' She kept looking behind me, but I didn't see anything, just a bunch of trees waving in the rain. 'But until someone safe-looking comes, you have to hide in here!' she said. And then she kissed me g'bye, and they both took off down the road. I've been hidin' here ever since, just like they told me..." the girl shivered. "I heard howling and yelping and a couple of screams from the other way, but no one came this way." She paused and looked up at Natalie, big blue eyes watering. "Y-you'll... You'll help me find my momma and daddy, right, miss? I don't think I could make it there by myself..."

Demons!? This might be even more interesting than she thought! Then, she said "Of course dear..... I was heading that way anyway, just stay close to me and I'll take care of you. Try to be quiet, and if something happens just try to stay out of its way. Let me deal with it."

Meanwhile, in her head, the gears were turning once more. If what the girl was saying was accurate, her parents were probably dead. That meant that the poor innocent child was hers to do with as she pleased. And the peasant was so trusting! She must never have heard of her, or at least didn't recognize her. Most of the locals distrusted her as a matter of course. "We need to get moving, the sooner we get to Endren, the sooner I can reunite you with your parents." She continued, her tone still as sweet and comforting as she could manage. If the girl assented, she'd continue on immediately toward Endren.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Leita impaled the tentacle holding her right ankle and managed to cleaning sever it in half. A hideous screech erupted from the tunnel, and the other tentacle quickly released her ankle and swiped at her.

It gives her a solid thump in the chest, and she takes a few steps back.

As another long wail erupts from the tunnel, the doors explode outward into splinters. Luckily, the shards of the door miss Leita entirely.

The beast emerging from the tunnel more closely resembles the tales of Lugh. The figure of the peasant man was only partially kept: the right side of his face is almost normal. However, the right side is bloated and a diseased green. From his right arm emerge four tentacles, one of which is injured and held close to him. He roars in anger and moves closer.

Leita felt a pang of sympathy for the peasant man who had been transformed against his will by dark magics into this horrid abomination. She was no exorcist - and did not know of any way to part the demonic essence from the man's soul without killing him. Regretfully, she forced herself to regard the poor man as already dead - and his soul in danger unless she acted quickly to dispatch the monster inhabiting his body.

The creature's solid strike against her mid-section was absorbed by her armor, and Leita knew that she had strength enough to defeat this creature. Raising her spear, she breathed a prayer to the angels and charged against the monster, yelling a battle cry.

"Hiiiaaayyaaahhh!"

She swung forward in a twirling combination, slashing twice with her heavy lance and then striking straight toward the man's heart with a swift piercing lunge.

((Attack tentacle monster.))

((OOC: Was my armor and physical damage threshold taken into account? How exactly is that being implemented?))

 

[xivvix]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Garen smirks at her playful tease. "Well, I'm not sure how to put this, but peckers are peckers -- they're meant to break on through to the tasty insides of even the most forbidden fruit." His smirk grew even wider as he gave her a suggestive look. "And it's not like my skin is made of metal, m'lady, no matter how thick-skinned I may seem." He rubbed his back gingerly. "I'll have to get a healer to look at this, I s'pose. I don't think I could stand to have a fever if there's more girls like you goin' where I'm goin'."

He pauses, looking intently at the roof. "Does that -- does that look like a hole to you?" Emilia turns to stare at where Garen is pointing. "Shit," he says quietly. "They're gonna find that soon enough. I'm not much use against birds, y'see, but I'll try to stand under that hole and take out any that -- ah!" he yelped. A bird rocketed through the hole, enlarging the hole slightly but taking a nasty scrape on the way inside. The bird lands roughly on the floor before spotting Emilia and flapping its wings wildly. But before he can get airborne, Garen's black boot smashes him against the wall with a sickening crunch.

Garen looks up at Emilia's somewhat incredulous glance. "Hey, they're just rats with wings."

Two more ravens dash through the hole in the roof, one after another, and manage to avoid bumping the floor and begin racing toward Emilia.

Claws outstretched, the birds shot past her and managed to do little more than rake her skin. Garen moved up next to her, fending off another bird that had entered and was flapping around his face. "The next time they rush you like that, I'll help defend -- just try to take some of these fuckers out!" As he speaks, another bird flies in through the hole in the window, bouncing against the floor and pausing in disorientation.

Though she is dutifully searching the walls for hols the birds can enter from, Emilia can't help but grin mischievously and stifle a giggle at Garen's innuendos. "I'm sure my friends will be in Endren too, and we'll all be happy to have the company thick-skinned men who can protect us. Happy, and grateful," she says, returning his smirk. When he points out the hole in the ceiling just before one of their attackers comes crashing through, she jumps to her feet and steps back, surprised both by the sudden intrusion and his quick reaction. Emilia laughs nervously about his 'rats' quip, but sucks in a quick breath when more of the birds enter and fly straight for her, her hands coming up to cover her face.

"Agh!" she cries as their claws scratch her, ducking behind Garen but keeping an eye on the creatures. "I-I'll try," she says, using one hand to pull her cloak out to act as a sort of shield, while she keeps her other hand ready to swat at any of the birds that fly at her. She might not be as strong as Garen, but she isn't going to cower in a corner like babe afraid of the boogy man.

(unarmed attack on crows)

 

[Quartz]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

(Hooray Tassadar.)

Sebastian turned and began at an relatively fast pace, and Catherine followed behind him. "Can't say that I have. If you're righ' about this being magical, we're gonna have ta start monitoring our people..." He grunted. "I've seen hordes of the beasties, but not a single human with that bump." He looked back at her, face rather serious. "I'll be honest with yeh, miss. I've never seen or heard about anything like this, and I've been alive a fair amount of time and traveled a fair bit, too. Provided this wave of insanity don't get any worse, we might be able to last the day... But I've got a feelin' this all is gonna get worse later tonight." He paused and then smiled at Catherine. "Y'know, I don't think I caught yer name, miss."

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Catherine. I look after the academy owned library north of town.. Looked after rather, as somebody bashed the doors down and set it on fire. That's why I was heading into town." Catherine says as she tries her best to keep pace with Seb. "It's also why I wanted to know whether you've seen any humans with those bumps, since even crazed animals don't commit arson. I hope that you not having heard of any means there aren't any.. but I'm still concerned that it might affect people. Keeping close tabs on the people in town seems like a good idea regardless."

 

[Guan Yu]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Moving a few yards away from the rune, Kiriko gathers a few stones and lays herself flat against a small hill, just her head peaking over the top. Readying herself, she begins to throw the stones toward the rune one at a time. The first few come close but miss, but the third impacts directly against it. A sudden blue column of light spikes upward, and Kiriko has to shield her eyes against it. When she looked back, she could saw what looks like a spindly tree standing there, sporting only a single branch that sways gently. She paused for a moment, unsure as to why the trap would involve creating a tree when the thing twitched violently and its highest tip crashed against the ground. A plaintive squeaking echoes from underneath the tree, and the stalk of the creature -- for she now recognized it as one -- quickly slammed the ground again and then rapidly pulled upward. From the distance, Kiriko could make out some sort of small woodland creature impaled on the tip of the branch. What had previously looked like a knot on the tree revealed itself to be a closed eye, which now peered intently at the creature. Shaking itself gently, the being flashed once with a gentle, shimmering pink light, and then threw the corpse away from Kiriko. It stayed still for a moment, apparently attempting to look around, before vanishing into another blue light. The trap, however, still remained, likely ready to spawn the strange eye-tree again

"It's a summoning trap. But that's a tree unlike any I've seen before" thought Kiriko.

Deciding to leave the trap there for now, Kiriko starts to head towards the roads again, paying particular attention to her surroundings. There might be more nasty traps ahead of her

 

[TentanariX]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

"Aaaah! Nothing like a hot soak to make you feel better!" Izumi said as she stretched out after rising out of the hot spring. She began to make her way to the entrance of the cave when she suddenly realized her clothes had been stolen. "MY CLOTHES! W-WHERE ARE THEY!? I DIDN'T THINK ANY WAS AWARE OF THE TEMPLE LET ALONE THIS CAVE!" She cried out in distress and quickly covered tried to cover her self as best as she could with her hands placing one arm over her tits and the other covering her cunt. "Ooooh..... this is so unfair......" She whined when she was suddenly startled by a loud thunderclap. "Oh~ no~..... Now it's raining tooooo......" Suddenly she felt a cold chill running down her spine as the cold wind made contact with body. "Eep! Oooooh~~~~ Well it wouldn't be very smart to go out in the rain naked, I guess I better try to find something to start a fire with." And with that the naked and downcast young woman wen off into the cave to find some timber and other combustible material to start a fire with in order to keep warm.

 

[Twisted1]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

((Endless family get-togethers and an influx of homework and deadlines have prevented me from posting for the past week or so. I apologize. In my defense, I spent almost all of last week at other people’s houses! In the future, I will post notes regarding any problems in my visitor messages on my user page. Thank you for your patience!))

((Please note, I'm continually changing how things work to make everything flow smoother on my end, and this roleplay is my attempt to figure out how I want to run things. In addition, pardon my conflicting tenses, but I only recently decided to start writing the roleplay mostly in the present tense, so there are some unedited parts that will obviously feature the wrong tense.))

((OOC: Was my armor and physical damage threshold taken into account? How exactly is that being implemented?))

((Physical Resistance will affect roleplay effects of certain attacks. Heavy attacks used by enemies will also have a roll against your Resistance. If they win handily, they might just inflict a status debuff on you. If they barely win, you might get some nasty bruises or something -- something you can roleplay with but won't necessarily limit you. However, if you win the roll, you'll shave off some damage by converting the hit to a normal or glancing blow. The same for Mental Resistance, but with spells and other mind-altering effects. Damage Threshold lowers the damage you take from all direct attacks by directly subtracting from the damage you would normally take down to a minimum of one damage -- unless it seems really ridiculous, like a rat trying to nibble on a person in full platemail. It lowers the die roll by one. I realized that I've been really lazy about actually explaining how all the stuff I do works, so I'm working on that now.))

[highlight]All players, the initial post in the thread has been updated with a detailed combat system![/highlight]
Things have been set up and made visible to you all. This is different from how I was originally doing things, but it seems relatively easier on myself. As I’m editing in the system and posting this post at the same time, I’ll choose what you do this round.




0.5 miles Northwest of Endren

Meanwhile, in her head, the gears were turning once more. If what the girl was saying was accurate, her parents were probably dead. That meant that the poor innocent child was hers to do with as she pleased. And the peasant was so trusting! She must never have heard of her, or at least didn't recognize her. Most of the locals distrusted her as a matter of course. "We need to get moving, the sooner we get to Endren, the sooner I can reunite you with your parents." She continued, her tone still as sweet and comforting as she could manage. If the girl assented, she'd continue on immediately toward Endren.

The girl paused for a second but nodded her head in assent. "T-thank you, miss." She followed Natalie quietly as they walked onward.

"M-my name's Stephanie." the girl asked after some time. "What's yours?" Natalie began to reply, but paused. There was Endren! Its walls were lit up with lanterns, standing like a beacon against the storm. Natalie started forward but Stephanie grabbed her hand.

"S-something's not right, miss! What's going on over there?" she said, pointing to the walls.

Natalie paused and peered as best she could where the teenager was pointing, near the town entrance they were approaching. The gate was closed and rocking back and forth. Natalie could just make out small figures against the gate, beating on the wall or throwing themselves against it, but she couldn't really see who they were, especially not in this rain. It was possible they had gotten locked out if the mayor had sealed the gates -- or it was possible they and many others were trying to attack the town. Natalie spotted a small door in the town wall, hidden in an alley between two rows of houses. If she remembered properly, this was a sort of service door that led somewhere into the town. She remembered guards entering and leaving through that door -- maybe it led to the barracks, or a command post? It was entirely possible that this door, too, was blocked or at least guarded -- but maybe some decent soldier would let Natalie and Stephanie in. Peering back at the gate, she could see it had opened, and several figures were rushing inward. Friends or foes, she couldn't really tell, but they were definitely desperate to get in. Getting in through the wide gate didn't seem particularly difficult, though she would have to deal with whomever it was that had entered the town. Eying the teenager next to her, Natalie wondered how to deal with this situation. She could feel a stirring in the air. There was a battle brewing. She could feel it.

The creature's solid strike against her mid-section was absorbed by her armor, and Leita knew that she had strength enough to defeat this creature. Raising her spear, she breathed a prayer to the angels and charged against the monster, yelling a battle cry.

"Hiiiaaayyaaahhh!"

She swung forward in a twirling combination, slashing twice with her heavy lance and then striking straight toward the man's heart with a swift piercing lunge.

((Attack tentacle monster.))

Leita Jormund: 42/48 HP, 12/12 AP, 33/33 Mana, 150/156 Stamina
2 x Light Attack
[Hit Chance: 2d100, higher than 15 = successful attack; 71, 41; success!]
[Crit Chance: 2d100, 90 or higher = crit; 26, 71; failed]
[Damage dealt: 2 * (7 * 35%) = 4.9 damage]
-4.9 HP, -4.9 Stam

1 x Heavy Attack
[Hit Chance: d100, higher than 15 = successful attack; 72; success!]
[Crit Chance: d100, 90 or higher = crit; 38; failed]
[Damage dealt: (7 * 125%) = 8.75 damage] [Damage dealt: (7 * 200%) = 14 fatigue]
-8.75 HP, -14 Stam

Twirling her polearm handily, Leita landed two light strikes against the infested man, but he made no noise. Gathering herself for a stronger strike, she thrust toward the man’s heart. The man, sensing the incoming danger, pulled back as she thrust but took a gash in his chest. The man glared at her, eyes glowing red, and another tentacle exploded outward from the man’s body, this time from his right shoulder. The infection seemed to be spreading.

Roaring in a strange, loud moan, the monster surged forward even faster than before.

Tentacle Man -- 76.35/90 HP, 2 AP, ?? Mana, ?? Stamina
Tentacle Man’s Tentacles (x4) -- 10/10 HP, 4 AP, 0 Mana, 45 Stamina
Jumping forward, the man attempted a flimsy punch.
[Hit Chance: d100, higher than 20 = successful attack; 65; success!]
[Crit Chance: d100, 80 or higher = crit; 23; failed]
[Damage dealt: (1 * 100%) - 3(DT) = 1 damage] [Damage dealt: (5 * 100%) = 5 fatigue]
-1 HP, -5 Stam
His fist connected almost gently against her arm, but the damage was minimal. However, as he pulls back, she feels a strange burst of tiredness radiate from where he touched her... Confused as she was, Leita still prepared herself for the man as he literally threw himself at her, attempting to grapple her to the ground. His tentacles spread wide open around him and then lunged for his opponent.

[Special Move (Physical): Tentacle Tackle]: The infected person leaps forward onto the opponent, utilizing both its human body and its tentacles to attempt to bring the opponent to her knees. Costs 10 AP.

[Tentacle Tackle: -10 AP; 6/16 AP left]
[Hit Chance: d100, higher than 10 = successful attack; 20; success!]
[Crit Chance: d100, 70 or higher = crit; 45; failed]

The weight of the man’s body, already wasting away, merely makes her stumble backward, but his tentacles quickly wrap around her, beating down on her shoulders and knocking out her knees, bringing them both crashing to the ground. Suddenly face-to-face with the man and his mutated body, Leita can do little to resist as the tentacles rush all over her body, attempting to get into her metal armor.

[Strip - 3 x Light Attack against armor; 0/16 AP left]
[Hit Chance: d100, higher than 10 = successful attack; 55; success!]
[Crit Chance: d100, 70 or higher = crit; 12; failed]
[Damage dealt: 3 * (3 * 100%) = 9 damage to Armor Durability] [Damage dealt: 3 * (2[grapple bonus to Unarmed] * 5 * 70%) = 21 fatigue]
-9 Durability, -21 Stam

Leita Jormund: 41/48 HP, 12/12 AP, 33/33 Mana, 124/156 Stamina
The slimy, wriggling tentacles shoved their way under the various straps holding Leita’s armor together and quickly managed to shred most of them. Eventually managing to get the tentacles away, Leita quickly realizes that her armor is being held together by threads, if at all, and her clothing has been badly shredded as well. And, amidst all that bumping around, the tentacles had rubbed themselves against her pussy and breasts, creating a faint tingling feeling and another burst of weariness. Glancing around quickly, Leita saw that her polearm was still within reach -- but she wasn’t sure exactly how she could use it -- and she saw nothing of particular use or interest immediately around her -- though there was a maze of sharp stalagmites a few yards to her left.
The infested man’s breathing was quickening, and Leita had the sinking feeling that he was getting stronger every time he attacked her...

"Agh!" she cries as their claws scratch her, ducking behind Garen but keeping an eye on the creatures. "I-I'll try," she says, using one hand to pull her cloak out to act as a sort of shield, while she keeps her other hand ready to swat at any of the birds that fly at her. She might not be as strong as Garen, but she isn't going to cower in a corner like babe afraid of the boogy man.

(unarmed attack on crows)

((I’ll assume you’ll go for the temporarily immobile crow first.))
Emilia quickly launches herself into the fray, doing her best to crush the birds with her hands and feet. Targeting the one laying, on the floor, dazed, she stomps down hard.

Emilia: 36/36 HP, 13/13 AP, 42/42 Mana, 132/132 Stamina
Normal Attack:
[Hit Chance: guaranteed hit]
[Crit Chance: d100, 94 or higher = crit; 29; failed]
[Damage dealt: (3.1 * 100%) = damage] [Damage dealt: (3.1 * 100%) = fatigue]

Unfortunately, Emilia doesn’t have quite the strength Garen does, and though she manages to heavily injure the crow, it quickly manages to take flight and escape from her grasp. Giving chase, Emilia tracks it down and attempts to smack it out of the air.

Normal Attack:
[Hit Chance: d100, higher than 15 = successful attack; 61; success!]
[Crit Chance: d100, 94 or higher = crit; 30; failed]
[Damage dealt: (3.1 * 100%) = damage] [Damage dealt: (3.1 * 100%) = fatigue]
-3.1 HP, -3.1 Stam
Crow 1 killed, Emilia gains 5 XP (5/20 XP)

Emilia’s fist lands a strong blow, and the bird crashes violently into the wall with a loud crack. It does not move afterward. Inwardly cheering at her success, she turns to face the other crows. They are flying around frenetically in strange patterns, despite the small amount of airspace within the house. Sensing that things were about to get worse, Emilia grits her teeth and, guessing at where the crows will move next, swiftly attacks.

Normal Attack:
[Hit Chance: d100, higher than 10 = successful attack; 78; success!]
[Crit Chance: d100, 94 or higher = crit; 100; Natural 100 -- Powerful crit!]
[Damage dealt: (3.1 * 300%) = 9.3 damage] [Damage dealt: (3.1 * 300%) = 9.3 fatigue]

Emilia manages a spectacular punch, smashing her fist directly against the bird’s head! With a nasty crack, the bird quickly crashes to the ground and lays still, it’s head at an unnatural angle.
Crow 2 killed, Emilia gains 5 XP (10/20 XP)

Cheered by her success, Emilia quickly moves back to Garen’s side, but it seems as though he has managed to take out the other two crows fairly swiftly after her lucky strike.

“Damn... Good work, Emilia. You could use a little training, but you did well!” Garen says, smiling. He moves to the side of one of the windows and peaks out. “Uh, they’re still out there... And they don’t look happy. Look at them, they’re goin’ crazy out there,” he says, uncertainty creeping into his voice. Emilia peeks through the window herself. The crows seem to be swirling around a single point in front of the house, almost as if they were all caught in a tornado. Eying them speculatively, she realizes that the crows are starting to blur together into a whirlpool of darkness.

“This doesn’t look good,” says Garen solemnly. Emilia murmurs her agreement. Wondering aloud, Garen says, “Maybe we should hit the road-” when an intense burst of lightning rockets down to the ground in the midst of all of the crows. Temporarily blinded, Emilia and Garen stumble backward as one, tripping over each other. Quickly springing to their feet, the pair dash back to the window, rubbing their eyes to try to clear their vision. The cacophony of crows is almost deafening, but when their eyes clear they see a strange sight. The crows are gone, and where they had previously swarmed stood a strange skeletal figure, almost like a scarecrow. Its limbs are incredibly spindly, and its torso is oddly flat, almost cylindrical in shape. Its head is covered with a burlap back, into which thin horizontal slices were made. The holes glow an eerie red. A rope wrapped tightly around the figure’s neck flowed down nearly to the floor.

A voice echoes around Garen and Emilia, seeming to come from inside their heads: “Ccccome out and plaaayy, friendsss... I won’t biiiiiteeeee...” it whispers. Feeling oddly compelled, Emilia walks slowly and jerkily to the door. She faintly hears Garen’s footsteps behind her. Opening the door, the two of them slowly walk outside and stand in front of the creature. There are no crows in sight. The creature stalks around them, inspecting them closely.

“Yesss... You shall be perrrrrrfect for my plansssss. You want to help, don’t you?” The last two words were practically shouted into her mind, and Emilia’s strength withers. [-50 Stam]
Emilia: 36/36 HP, 13/13 AP, 42/42 Mana, 82/132 Stamina

Falling onto her back on the grass, Emilia can’t help but gasp for breath for a few seconds. The figure comes in front of her, looking down at her calmly.

“It is alriiiiight, my dear... Death comesssss for us all...” Extending its right hand out to the air, a double-ended scythe appears and falls gently into its grasp. “But I have plansssss for you, my deeeaaarrr.” The scarecrow twirls its strange scythe twice and then gently lowers it to tap her on her breastbone. With a small amount of horror, she notices her clothes melting away, disappearing bit by bit until she is exposed to the world. Garen stands placidly off to the side, helpless against the demon’s magic.

“Such a nice body,” it whispers quietly. “I suppose I will... indulge you, for a moment.” It places one end of the wicked scythe at her entrance, the cold metal flowing against her and forming a sharp point. “There is no need to slice you up, yetttt. Fleshrender is thirssssty... You shall feed him...” it trails off. The scarecrow begins to move slightly to give itself more leverage when a bolt of flame erupts against its back. Screeching an unholy sound, it nearly penetrates Emilia with its scythe as it falls forward, but the being catches itself.

“Unholy demon! The human world is plagued with enough sin as it is, beast!” A sweet voice rings out from down the street. The three turn slowly to face the speaker. Amazingly, the speaker is a pale young woman with flowing blond hair, resplendent in golden armor with red trim and a stylized flame blazoned onto her breastplate. Long, red cloth is wrapped tightly around her hips and flows downward, like a tapestry protecting her modesty and covering the joints between her leggings and her breastplate. Emilia can just make out shimmering gold patterns on it. Held tightly in the woman’s right hand is a long, golden sword that flickers in the rain. Most astonishing of all, however, are the delicate, pure white wings that sprout from her back and spread wide behind her. Gazing at them, Emilia feels that the scarecrow’s spell is broken, and quickly crawls backward.

“Wretched bird! You’ll take the place of my human meal, bitch, and I’ll make you squeal with the delights of the flesh!” The scarecrow twirls its scythe and charges forward. Emilia blinks and the two are clashing, sword against scythe, the red of the scarecrow’s eyes clashing with the brilliant gold of the woman’s armor.

Feeling a hand take her arm, she turns to see Garen, staring at her pointedly. “We need to get outta here, Emi.I don’t think we’ve got much time. I don’t think that angel will be able to last.” He hauls her to her feet.

Hearing a cry, the pair turn to see that the scarecrow has swept the woman off her feet, and though she scrambles to get up, his scythe is pointed directly at her neck.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Garen moans. “Fuckin’ shit!” he swears quietly. He turns to face Emilia. “I... I’m gonna go help her out.” Eying her nude, lithe body, he turns his head away and pulls off his tunic, revealing rippling muscles underneath. “Here,” he says simply, and thrusts it into her hands. “It was nice meetin’ you.” And with that, he turns and sprints into the fray. As Emilia watches, he pours on the speed and then launches himself bodily at the monster, roaring loudly. The scarecrow, startled, jumps out of Garen’s path, giving the angelic woman a chance to get back up.

Emilia, still dazed, idly puts on Garen’s oversized tunic. It fits her like a short dress. Idly, she notices the storm has begun to lose some of its fervor.
[Leather Armor lost, but Street Fighter Clothing gained.]
[Street Fighter Clothing: 1 Damage Threshold, 8 Durability, +5 to Unarmed]

(Hooray Tassadar.)

"Ah, where are my manners? I'm Catherine. I look after the academy owned library north of town.. Looked after rather, as somebody bashed the doors down and set it on fire. That's why I was heading into town." Catherine says as she tries her best to keep pace with Seb. "It's also why I wanted to know whether you've seen any humans with those bumps, since even crazed animals don't commit arson. I hope that you not having heard of any means there aren't any.. but I'm still concerned that it might affect people. Keeping close tabs on the people in town seems like a good idea regardless."

Sebastian waved his hand as he continued through the tunnel. “The people of Endren are good folk, Miss Catherine, but we’ll be keepin’ alert all the same.” They passed several round wooden doors set into the dirt walls. “Righ’, well, we’re almost there. I’d suggest keepin’ your weapon handy.” After traversing a stretch of empty tunnel, they approached a very sturdy-looking metal ladder leading upward to a metal trapdoor.

“Righ’ well, we’re here. I’d normally say ladies first, but, eh... I think I’ll go first. The town was lookin’ rather dangerous ‘fore I left. Mind waitin’ here for me?” He asked rhetorically. As tall as Sebastian was, he could already reach the top rung of the ladder. Reaching up, he slowly opened the trapdoor and clambered out. Catherine could hear what sounded like the clang of metal on metal from a distance. She could also hear Sebastian mutter a few quiet oaths.

“Miss? The fightin’s started, and we’ve got some inside the city walls. I gotta go help ‘em -- you can either try to sneak on by or follow me inta the battle.” He pauses, grunting. “It was nice meetin’ yeh, Miss Catherine. Here’s to seein’ yeh again later.” A potion bottle falls through the open trapdoor, and Catherine catches it. It appears to be a basic health potion. The sound of rapid, thundering footsteps fades quickly.
[Catherine has gained a Minor Health Potion! Regains 25 hp. Costs one AP when used in combat.]

Peeking out quickly, Catherine can make out Sebastian fighting two smaller humanoid figures and a figure even larger than himself. She notices that the rain is beginning to calm down.

"It's a summoning trap. But that's a tree unlike any I've seen before" thought Kiriko.

Deciding to leave the trap there for now, Kiriko starts to head towards the roads again, paying particular attention to her surroundings. There might be more nasty traps ahead of her

Pushing herself up, Kiriko moved onward, returning to the road and making quick progress. Despite her best efforts, she saw no more similar runic traps and made very good time. With a start, she realizes that she has entered the city limits. The houses are all empty, and most look like they have been broken into. A few are on fire. The fires sputter and hiss from the rain, but continue unabated. A few minutes more of traveling and she will arrive at the walls, where everyone would likely have gone in the event of a disaster. Despite the rather crowded looking houses, she sees nary a soul. A few rats scatter as she hurries through the buildings, and there are small pools of blood or other foul-smelling liquids. However, right before she makes the last turn to the gates, Kiriko hears the loud footsteps of someone running behind her. Dashing into a nearby house, she sees what looks like a small band of peasants, all five of whom are female, rushing down the street. They are armed with simple weapons -- pitchforks, small hammers, and a few torches -- and they run as if the devil himself were after them. One of them trips and falls heavily to the ground, and the other women stop, alarmed. They whisper quietly and rush back to try to help the woman who had fallen. Inspecting the woman, Kiriko can see a beautiful tan face with dark, curly brown hair peeking out from under the woman’s hood. Her face is shining with sweat, and sports a prominent bruise on her left cheek. Kiriko notices that the woman’s simple light dress is heavily ripped and barely seems to cover her body at all.

The women flutter around her, trying to help her to her feet and glancing around, as though expecting an attack from any angle. The fallen woman cries plaintively, whimpering and holding her ruined dress tightly against her body. The others continue talking to her, apparently trying to convince her to stand up and get moving again.

Kiriko briefly ponders her options. The women don’t seem likely to be much of a threat, but they are also clearly being pursued by something. If Kiriko were to help them, it would be likely that whatever was attacking them would target her, as well, and she would have trouble defending herself if she decided to carry the woman.

"Eep! Oooooh~~~~ Well it wouldn't be very smart to go out in the rain naked, I guess I better try to find something to start a fire with." And with that the naked and downcast young woman wen off into the cave to find some timber and other combustible material to start a fire with in order to keep warm.

Rummaging around in the part of the cave closest to the entrance, Izumi did her best to find anything that could be used as tinder. There were bits of weeds and a few sticks that she decided might be enough to make a small fire. She spent the next few minutes gathering them up and occasionally jumping at the sound of thunder.

It was the thunder that prevented her from noticing the encroaching beast. Izumi had just gotten down onto her knees to gather a small pile of dead weeds when she felt a wet and freezing cold weight crash into her back. It forced her down onto her hands and knees and knocked the wind out of her. A growling sound coming from above her alerted her to her attacker -- a wolf! She felt something poking her from behind and suddenly paled in realization. The thing was going to try to rape her! She stilled for a moment in shock, and that was when she felt the tip of the wolf’s penis line up with her entrance. Starting to panic, Izumi elbowed the beast in the ribs, and the wolf faltered slightly, yelping and giving her just enough leeway to throw it off of her -- damn, but that thing was heavy!
Getting her first real look at the wolf, she quickly noticed its rather large physique, its powerful muscles, its large teeth, and the strange, red bump on its forehead -- the size and shape of the top half of an egg. The beast glares hungrily at her, eyes flashing slightly. Izumi realizes that she wasn’t likely to escape that easily again. She realizes that the wolf has shreds of cloth in its mouth, which it now spits onto the floor. Her clothing, she realizes with a start.

 

[BlueSlime]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Leita was disappointed that her killing stroke was so easily absorbed, but utterly caught off guard by the strange draining sensation of the creature's otherwise benign punch. Blessed with good health and more stamina that most girls her age, Leita knew that she could weather such attacks, but if all it took was a touch from the creature to ebb her strength, the fight could turn south very quickly.

And then, just as that thought had entered her mind, the fight did take a downward turn - as the creature flung itself and the myriad tentacles directly at her body. There was no place to dodge aside, Leita could only brace herself against the attack. The mass of slimy green appendages fell on her, and a cleverly planned swipe took out Leita's knees, crashing the young knight to the earth. Then the rest of the tentacles began to slither their way between the joints and openings of her armor, violently pulling and tugging at the straps and the martial dress that she wore beneath. She could feel the armor loosening around her and felt the lance be knocked from her grasp.

As the first of the tentacles grazed against her soft flesh and sensitive areas, Leita flashed back to the stories she had heard the knights tell when off duty at the tavern - tales of the tentacle beasts that Lugh and his companions (some of them female) faced on their daring fight against the demon king. She had heard of how creatures would ravish women with several probing limbs all at once, tearing off clothing in several quick swipes and holding the victims inert as they penetrated every hole and left their bodies a thoroughly defiled and covered in demon seed. Most horrible of all was how women who had supposedly gone through the experience recalled that the beasts had secreted an aphrodisiac that made the women thralls to the evil pleasure these creatures bestowed upon them.

Much to her own chagrin, Leita had been fascinated by these tales rather than disgusted. Late at night, when she was alone in her chamber at the keep, Leita would often dream of romantic dalliances with the hero of legend, Saint Lugh. Only every time her dream lover would embrace her with a kiss, she would gasp in surprise as slimy, demonic tentacles writhed up from behind him and sprang at her, holding her helpless and naked before him. Her dream self would always protest, but ultimately give in lustily to the demonic saint. Taking the tentacles into her mouth, her pussy, and her ass, squirming in delight as they would wrap around her breasts and play mischeviously with her nipples. She would blush and try to look away as the dream Lugh observed what a horny little slut this supposed knight really was. She would always wake from such reveries to find her fingers rubbing at her clit and her pussy soaking wet.

Now, as the tentacle creature gazed at her from above, she felt mixed feelings of revulsion and curiosity. Where the tentacles had rubbed against her, she felt her natural lust for them stirring, and a part of her wanted to open herself up to the experience, and despite her yearning she knew such thoughts were wrong. This was indeed a tentacle demon, in the flesh, stooping over her with lust clearly written in its gaze - but it was also a lowly, mindless creature that was possessing what she assumed had been a good man. No, she thought, I must not suffer it to live.

(If Leita is still considered grappled)
Leita pushed and kicked violently at the creature to create some distance, she would not stop struggling to get out of the creatures grasp. When she succeeded in freeing herself, she intended to grab her lance again and assume one of her battle stances - using the Method of the Bloody Talon. She would then strike heavy blows upon the creature until it died or bled out.

((If Leita is not currently grappled, she grabs her lance, assumes the Bloody Talon stance, and attacks with as many heavy attacks as allowed, then follows up with normal attacks and even a light attack if all she has left is 2 AP. Basically as hard an all out attack as she can do.))

 

[Quartz]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Sebastian waved his hand as he continued through the tunnel. “The people of Endren are good folk, Miss Catherine, but we’ll be keepin’ alert all the same.” They passed several round wooden doors set into the dirt walls. “Righ’, well, we’re almost there. I’d suggest keepin’ your weapon handy.” After traversing a stretch of empty tunnel, they approached a very sturdy-looking metal ladder leading upward to a metal trapdoor.

“Righ’ well, we’re here. I’d normally say ladies first, but, eh... I think I’ll go first. The town was lookin’ rather dangerous ‘fore I left. Mind waitin’ here for me?” He asked rhetorically. As tall as Sebastian was, he could already reach the top rung of the ladder. Reaching up, he slowly opened the trapdoor and clambered out. Catherine could hear what sounded like the clang of metal on metal from a distance. She could also hear Sebastian mutter a few quiet oaths.

“Miss? The fightin’s started, and we’ve got some inside the city walls. I gotta go help ‘em -- you can either try to sneak on by or follow me inta the battle.” He pauses, grunting. “It was nice meetin’ yeh, Miss Catherine. Here’s to seein’ yeh again later.” A potion bottle falls through the open trapdoor, and Catherine catches it. It appears to be a basic health potion. The sound of rapid, thundering footsteps fades quickly.
[Catherine has gained a Minor Health Potion! Regains 25 hp. Costs one AP when used in combat.]

Peeking out quickly, Catherine can make out Sebastian fighting two smaller humanoid figures and a figure even larger than himself. She notices that the rain is beginning to calm down.

"I've been in town enough to know that the folks there are a nice enough sort, and I wasn't suggesting that they aren't good people. It's just that if this can spread to humans too, things would get complicated and more dangerous than it already is." Catherine explains calmly as she follows Sebastian towards the end of the tunnel. "Well as long as you're keeping your eyes out, it's fine. We can figure this out when we get back to Endren. Hopefully, they'll know more about what's going on."

Not having been given much of an option otherwise, she waits calmly as Seb climbs out ahead. She starts to climb the ladder as he vanishes outside, but she stops to listen to him as he drops her the potion and takes off. "Wait for me!" She shouts pointlessly at him as his footsteps mix with and vanish into the sound of the rain. She climbs the ladder after him while muttering swearwords under her breath.

As she pokes her head out, Catherine immediately panics upon seeing her new found friend surrounded by enemies. "What's he doing?! That things huge.. it'll kill him!" she thinks to herself as she quickly pulls herself out of the the tunnel entrance and reseals the door. Pulling her bow off its place on her pack, she doesn't waste a second in sprinting directly towards where Sebastian and the things are fighting. Letting him fight those things alone isn't an option to her.

(Not really sure how much AP it's going to take for me to get to the battle, but run towards the fight until I'm in pewpew range is my action if the combat stuff starts here.)

 

[xivvix]

Re: Alduris: The Unveiling

Spoiler

Emilia quickly launches herself into the fray, doing her best to crush the birds with her hands and feet. Targeting the one laying, on the floor, dazed, she stomps down hard.

Unfortunately, Emilia doesn’t have quite the strength Garen does, and though she manages to heavily injure the crow, it quickly manages to take flight and escape from her grasp. Giving chase, Emilia tracks it down and attempts to smack it out of the air.

Emilia’s fist lands a strong blow, and the bird crashes violently into the wall with a loud crack. It does not move afterward. Inwardly cheering at her success, she turns to face the other crows. They are flying around frenetically in strange patterns, despite the small amount of airspace within the house. Sensing that things were about to get worse, Emilia grits her teeth and, guessing at where the crows will move next, swiftly attacks.

Emilia manages a spectacular punch, smashing her fist directly against the bird’s head! With a nasty crack, the bird quickly crashes to the ground and lays still, it’s head at an unnatural angle.

Cheered by her success, Emilia quickly moves back to Garen’s side, but it seems as though he has managed to take out the other two crows fairly swiftly after her lucky strike.

“Damn... Good work, Emilia. You could use a little training, but you did well!” Garen says, smiling. He moves to the side of one of the windows and peaks out. “Uh, they’re still out there... And they don’t look happy. Look at them, they’re goin’ crazy out there,” he says, uncertainty creeping into his voice. Emilia peeks through the window herself. The crows seem to be swirling around a single point in front of the house, almost as if they were all caught in a tornado. Eying them speculatively, she realizes that the crows are starting to blur together into a whirlpool of darkness.

“This doesn’t look good,” says Garen solemnly. Emilia murmurs her agreement. Wondering aloud, Garen says, “Maybe we should hit the road-” when an intense burst of lightning rockets down to the ground in the midst of all of the crows. Temporarily blinded, Emilia and Garen stumble backward as one, tripping over each other. Quickly springing to their feet, the pair dash back to the window, rubbing their eyes to try to clear their vision. The cacophony of crows is almost deafening, but when their eyes clear they see a strange sight. The crows are gone, and where they had previously swarmed stood a strange skeletal figure, almost like a scarecrow. Its limbs are incredibly spindly, and its torso is oddly flat, almost cylindrical in shape. Its head is covered with a burlap back, into which thin horizontal slices were made. The holes glow an eerie red. A rope wrapped tightly around the figure’s neck flowed down nearly to the floor.

A voice echoes around Garen and Emilia, seeming to come from inside their heads: “Ccccome out and plaaayy, friendsss... I won’t biiiiiteeeee...” it whispers. Feeling oddly compelled, Emilia walks slowly and jerkily to the door. She faintly hears Garen’s footsteps behind her. Opening the door, the two of them slowly walk outside and stand in front of the creature. There are no crows in sight. The creature stalks around them, inspecting them closely.

“Yesss... You shall be perrrrrrfect for my plansssss. You want to help, don’t you?” The last two words were practically shouted into her mind, and Emilia’s strength withers. [-50 Stam]

Falling onto her back on the grass, Emilia can’t help but gasp for breath for a few seconds. The figure comes in front of her, looking down at her calmly.

“It is alriiiiight, my dear... Death comesssss for us all...” Extending its right hand out to the air, a double-ended scythe appears and falls gently into its grasp. “But I have plansssss for you, my deeeaaarrr.” The scarecrow twirls its strange scythe twice and then gently lowers it to tap her on her breastbone. With a small amount of horror, she notices her clothes melting away, disappearing bit by bit until she is exposed to the world. Garen stands placidly off to the side, helpless against the demon’s magic.

“Such a nice body,” it whispers quietly. “I suppose I will... indulge you, for a moment.” It places one end of the wicked scythe at her entrance, the cold metal flowing against her and forming a sharp point. “There is no need to slice you up, yetttt. Fleshrender is thirssssty... You shall feed him...” it trails off. The scarecrow begins to move slightly to give itself more leverage when a bolt of flame erupts against its back. Screeching an unholy sound, it nearly penetrates Emilia with its scythe as it falls forward, but the being catches itself.

“Unholy demon! The human world is plagued with enough sin as it is, beast!” A sweet voice rings out from down the street. The three turn slowly to face the speaker. Amazingly, the speaker is a pale young woman with flowing blond hair, resplendent in golden armor with red trim and a stylized flame blazoned onto her breastplate. Long, red cloth is wrapped tightly around her hips and flows downward, like a tapestry protecting her modesty and covering the joints between her leggings and her breastplate. Emilia can just make out shimmering gold patterns on it. Held tightly in the woman’s right hand is a long, golden sword that flickers in the rain. Most astonishing of all, however, are the delicate, pure white wings that sprout from her back and spread wide behind her. Gazing at them, Emilia feels that the scarecrow’s spell is broken, and quickly crawls backward.

“Wretched bird! You’ll take the place of my human meal, bitch, and I’ll make you squeal with the delights of the flesh!” The scarecrow twirls its scythe and charges forward. Emilia blinks and the two are clashing, sword against scythe, the red of the scarecrow’s eyes clashing with the brilliant gold of the woman’s armor.

Feeling a hand take her arm, she turns to see Garen, staring at her pointedly. “We need to get outta here, Emi.I don’t think we’ve got much time. I don’t think that angel will be able to last.” He hauls her to her feet.

Hearing a cry, the pair turn to see that the scarecrow has swept the woman off her feet, and though she scrambles to get up, his scythe is pointed directly at her neck.

“Shit, shit, shit!” Garen moans. “Fuckin’ shit!” he swears quietly. He turns to face Emilia. “I... I’m gonna go help her out.” Eying her nude, lithe body, he turns his head away and pulls off his tunic, revealing rippling muscles underneath. “Here,” he says simply, and thrusts it into her hands. “It was nice meetin’ you.” And with that, he turns and sprints into the fray. As Emilia watches, he pours on the speed and then launches himself bodily at the monster, roaring loudly. The scarecrow, startled, jumps out of Garen’s path, giving the angelic woman a chance to get back up.

Emilia, still dazed, idly puts on Garen’s oversized tunic. It fits her like a short dress. Idly, she notices the storm has begun to lose some of its fervor.
[Leather Armor lost, but Street Fighter Clothing gained.]
[Street Fighter Clothing: 1 Damage Threshold, 8 Durability, +5 to Unarmed]

Pleased at both her own success and Garen's compliments, Emilia sidles up against the large man, her back to his so they can protect each other in case any more crows make it into the hut. "Well, I guess I don't have much choice unless I want my favorite dress to be torn to shreds like your clothes," she says, her breathing somewhat heavy from the fight. When Garen moves to the window, she follows, silently staring out at the strange, and ominous, sight of the storm of crows. The sudden appearance of the scarecrow like figure, however, makes her wish she hadn't.

Although Emilia's friends would sometimes joke that she is a little too gullible, she still can't believe her own actions when the terrifying skeletal creature commands the two to exit the building. 'No!' she screams inside her mind, 'No, don't listen!' Unfortunately, her body responds exactly as the entity commands, leading her out to stand placidly before it. Though it has no eyes inside the slits in the burlap sack, Emilia can feel the red lights traveling across her body, inspecting her, appraising her. When done by normal men, Emilia finds being stared at enjoyable, empowering even, but now it is the predatory look of a vicious beast. Unable to resist, her body shivers under the entities gaze, and even when she falls backwards from it's power, she cannot scream or even gasp as she feels like doing. She lands, not even able to grunt in pain, her arms splayed over her head, her body completely exposed and vulnerable.

Staring up from the ground, body still unable to resist, Emilia's eyes lock on the vicious weapon that blinks into existence. As the blade comes to tap against her chest she feels it first press against the soft silken cloth, then pass through to her soft flesh. Her dress, one of her favorites, and the heavy cloak her mother had packed for her fade away into nothingness, leaving the young woman feeling more helpless than she ever had in her life. Helplessness that only intensifies when the cold metal blade comes to rest against her Nether lips. Silently she begs Garen to do something, anything, even though she knows he is affected by the same spell as she is.

Even when the creature is struck by the flames and leans forward, almost pressing it's weapon inside her, Emilia is still unable to move, either to take cover from the intense heat, or squirm from away from the cool metal. With the entities attention drawn by the voice, however, Emilia finds her own head turning to look upon the beautiful winged woman. Almost as soon as she beholds the woman's wings, though, she feels the evil entity's spell broken and she pushes herself back away from it, her legs coming together immediately as she recoils from the weapon that had been threatening her.

It is only a moment before her legs spring into real action, propelling the girl along behind Garen away from the fight. She says nothing, only thankful to be away, but when the huge man turns to help the angelic woman a quick, "No!" escapes her lips. Her protest does nothing to stop the man, and she can only numbly throw on the offered tunic, even though modesty is the last of her concerns at the moment. She watches as the man gives the angelic woman a fighting chance, another feeling of helplessness welling up inside her, while a voice inside screams at her to run. Along with the helplessness comes another feeling, one of guilt. Both of these people had risked their lives for her, and she simply couldn't leave them to whatever this creature intended.

Though Emilia had never put the amount of effort into learning magic as others she knew, it was a skill the flash and pomp loving girl had looked into. Moving closer to the fray but still out of reach, Emilia stares for a moment, still trying to figure out how she can help. Suddenly she has an idea, something that just might give the angel and Garen an edge. Concentrating on the demonic entity, Emilia calls up what magical power she has, while holding her hand out with her fingers spread. Focusing her mind, she screams at the creature, then releases the magic in a shower of bright sparks aimed directly at it's eyes. The sparks themselves wouldn't hurt much, but the blinding light they give off might give it too much trouble to fight, while the heat should catch his burlap sack covered head alight. Hopefully, with the vile creature preoccupied with the spell, the angel and Garen can either destroy it, or escape with her.

(cast spell: Sparking Shower. Beam, one target, deals 4 damage and reduces agility by 5 for 4 turns. Mana cost: 4([0.6*4]+5) = 29.6)