All Becomes Grey [IN CHARACTER THREAD] [ROLEPLAY] [POSSIBLE MATURE CONTENT]

Someone Else 37

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Calhoun's "pep talk" before the groups split up did little to calm Linessa's fears- rather, if anything, it made her feel even worse about having been thrown into this position. She nonetheless followed Violet and Palavalo into the forest in silence, slightly dreading what was to come.

Linessa heard the orkish encampment well before it came into view. She heard some orks... laughing? Crying? It was difficult to tell at this distance, but it didn't sound like what she thought normal ork chatter would. As they approached the camp, it became clear that the orks were mourning the loss of some of their own- and no sooner did they arrive than the death mage in the group strode out into the middle of the clearing and began bad-mouthing the deceased orks (so Linessa assumed) in some unsettling parody of a funeral proceeding. The mage quickly drew the attention of the orcs (to no surprise), and Linessa instinctively prepared a spell in case things got hairy. She bent her fingers slightly and cocked her hand behind her head, as if winding up to throw an imaginary softball. She then paused so see if the orks would indeed attack.

When one ork shouted at the death mage and another went flying up into the air and the third was suddenly set upon from all sides by a multitude of incendescent tendrils that came from nowhere particularly obvious, Linessa took the opportunity to release her spell. The threw the imaginary softball, hurling a gust of wind in the direction of the ork that hadn't already been attacked powerful enough to knock it right off its feet.

In retrospect, a gust of wind probably is not what was called for here; a shuriken would've been more effective and would have been more in line with the captains' actions. But she had the gust ready, and the shurikens were still in her pouch- No time to think about this now, she interrupted herself; best get out a shuriken and get ready to throw it.


The ork woman fell flat on her face. Scivoloso grinned. "Oh, this will be good." he said. He thrust his hands down at his sides. Water came out of the ground, trees, and even the air, and began circling round and round the helpless ork woman until she was completely trapped in a vortex of water. She screamed uncontrollably as she was whirled round and round, adding to the cacophony of the battle. Three ork men came running out of the forest. Two looked extremely depressed at the sight of the two dead women, while the last one was angry. "Poot mah wyfe dahn naa!" He shouted. Scivoloso laughed. "Ooh, what about... no." The smirk was soon wiped off his face however as the ork's fist was coated in rock and was swung at him, narrowly missing.

Nahiri was hoping to get some Hedron's charged and plan what kind would be the best against the orcs before they would the fight but her plan was ruined as soon as Cait decided to walk up to the orks and insult them.

While the others where busy making the best of Cait's mistake by killing the orks Cait had insulted, Nahiri grabbed a Hedron that would empower the magic abilities of her allies, and released it as soon as it was charged.


The pulse of dark magic that Cait sent into the ground had already located dead flesh and bones festering down below. As her magic writhed around them they began to writh, then crawl, then claw their way from the ground, emerging around her. Three disgusting creatures, two resembling orks and one resembling a human, made it out of the ground. "Oh, and if it isn't the fathers. I can see where they got all their irredeemable qualities from. To be honest, having seen their parents I must say that those three didn't come out too bad, all things considered. I mean, they were still awful, but you all certainly put them to shame." She stepped forwards, her slightly unhinged grin stretching a little wider. "So, considering how much I enjoyed killing your repugnant little brats, this is going to be one hell of a time." She reached out, drawing on dense, choking mist to cloud the battlefield and drain life itself. "I assume you'd like to know how your spawn died. Well, you're in luck! Just breath deeply, and don't forget to scream as it burns."

The ork who had taken a swing at Scivoloso coughed a little as the mist enveloped him, but upon hearing the mention that Cait had killed their children, the other two sprung up. Bright lines covered one of the orks' skin, making it much harder to focus on him, the mist flying past him. The other dived out of the way. The one that dived out of the way growled. "You ded bich."

Dubhan raised his arm, dark energy swirling around his sigil of draining, reaching out to one of the grieving orks to try to pull energy out of them, directly from their very soul.

The ork with the bright lines across his skin was hard to focus on, so easily sidestepped the attack. Screaming in the distance and a sickening crunch confirmed the death of the ork woman who had been flung away.

Violet twisted her hands around each other. Wind buffeted the back two orks. The one who had threatened Cait fell to the ground, but the one with the bright flames on them jumped out of the stream of wind before they were knocked over.

Palavalo ran forwards, drawing a knife from his side. He stabbed at the front ork, but it did not penetrate the armour.

Everything was happening too fast; Linessa could not hope to track it all. More orks came running out from deeper in the encampment. Creatures of a variety Lienssa did not immediately recognize clawed their way out of the ground. But of them all, one stood out in its actions as well as in its appearance: the ork whose skin was adorned with bright, glowing lines, who seemed to sidestep all the attacks her companions had thrown at it. Linessa judged that if any of these orks was going to be a threat, it was this one.

Linessa readied her shuriken, conjured a tightly-focust gust of wind, and let it fly.


The shuriken flew far wide of its intended target.

Scivoloso became slightly more serious after almost being punched by the front ork. He let the ork woman free of the vortex, then just as the front ork looked a little relieved, he brought down a spear of water, straight through the ork woman's chest.
The ork man stood gaping for a few seconds, and in this time the one with burning lines across its skin flicked a finger at Cait, a tiny fire alighting on her clothing.
The ork man screamed abuse at Scivoloso, and charged in.
He slammed his head with such force into Scivoloso's, that a slight cracking noise could be heard. Scivoloso instantly dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Nahiri was shocked to see how Scivoloso suddenly got taken out. She knew that if she didn't do anything Scivoloso would be an easy target for the orks and thus ran towards him to try her best to guard him.

As she ran towards Scivoloso she let out a bolt of lightning towards the hedron, to make it stronger.


The ork got up off of the floor from where he had been knocked down by Violet.

Cait merely laughed at the threat hurled her way. "Funny how things come back to you, isn't it? I seem to recall one of your children telling me the exact same thing. Unfortunately for you, there is no trace of them left on this world, whilst I'm here to finish what I started. So hurl your pathetic threats, your meaningless insults and your desperate cries. They shall soon be lost to the memory of this world, just like yourselves." More mist began to seep from the rocks of the ground, hanging thick and heavy on the battlefield. The front ork was cloaked in mist, but the back two were unaffected. The small flame on Cait burned through her clothes, and burnt her skin. Two sparks jumped out of the flame, one hitting Linessa, and the other missing Palavalo. The flames grew a little stronger.

Dubhan poured dark energy into his arm and his knife, empowering them both with magik, and stabbed straight for the glowing ork, aiming to diminish its magical ability.
The attack sliced harmlessly past him. "To think idiots like this killed our children." the ork commented.

The shambling cluster, acting on Cait's unspoken command, began to lurch towards the nearby village. The only overriding instruction in their decayed brains was to begin butchering any weak and helpless orks they could find.

One of the orks began to turn, but the one with glowing lines stopped him. "The old man can protect the kids." he said.

Violet seemed bored by the whole fight going on around her. She flicked her hand, and the front ork went flying up into the air.
Soon after, Palavalo shouted, "Look away!" and he threw a ball of light into the air. All three orks covered their eyes, but too late, they were temporarily blinded.

Linessa was quite surprised when her shuriken flew wide of the orc. That never happens- does this orc have some kind of countermagic?

Meanwhile, the battle churned on. A dense, dark mist began settling on the camp, obscuring her vision- not that it mattered much, as she could still feel the air moving around the orcs as they moved. A spark shot out of the cloud of mist, landing on her robes and beginning to smolder- Linessa slapped at the spark in an attempt to put it out. One of the orcs bodyslammed one of the captains, only to be shot up into the air a monent later. A flash of light illuminated the battlefield, and Linessa felt the orcs cringe, even though the mist should've absorbed at least some of the flash. Perfect timing, Linessa thought, as she prepared to throw another shuriken. Perhaps the mist and the blinding light would impede that orc's magic. She focused on the location of the orc, and the shuriken whizzed through the air.


The shuriken flew wide of her intended target.
No matter how much she batted at the flames, they just came back. However, they were not intense enough to harm her yet. Two sparks flew off of of her, and, surprisingly, they both hit Cait, extending the life of the flames on her.

Scivoloso remained unconscious, and in the distance, Cait felt all of the zombies' life energy disappear at once.
The orks were still stunned from Palavalo's attack.

Nahiri was getting worried with the flames spreading and seemingly becoming more dangerous. Not to mention the fact that Scivoloso was still unconscious and the fact that it appeared that one orc couldn't be harmed.

Nahiri let another Hedron fly in the air, this one changing the flow of energy a tiny bit making it harder to predict how spells will behave after being cast. She hoped it would make it harder for the fire to spread to others this way, Nahiri would much rather have the flames stop but she wasn't sure if her Hedron's would be able to put them out.

She then knelt down next to Scivoloso trying to wake him up and looking for any serious wounds.

Scivoloso remained unconscious, with signs of a broken skull. Despite this, he seemed to have no trouble breathing, and there was minimal bleeding.

The ork was stunned from Palavalo's attack.

Unfazed by the dull pain from the flames, Cait dug deep beneath the ground with her magic, roaming fingers of power grasping and animating yet more of the dead. Whilst it had slightly surprised her that her minions had all fallen, it did make sense that not all of the fighters were here. It seemed that the slaughter would have to wait for after they had defeated these. Three undead crawled their way out of the ground.
The flames scorched her skin seriously. 2 sparks jumped out, one onto an undead, and one onto Dubhan.

Dubhan raised one hand, aiming for the stone-fisted ork. The one covered in glowing lines was evidently avoiding them all with some strange magik, so continuing to attack him would be frivolous. Instead, he began to pull, hard, on the blood inside the other ork, trying to tear it out from its skin. The veins popped up visibly on his skin, but blood was not successfully drawn. The flames hurt him as his skin was burnt. Two sparks jumped out, one hitting Cait and one landing near Scivoloso.

The zombies converged on the slowest of the stunned orcs, seeking to tear him apart.
One zombie hit the ork, but the ork was barely fazed.
The second zombie screeched as it burned to death, the now charred corpse falling to the ground, lifeless once again.

The ork with the rock fist had hit the ground by this point, and while he was not visibly wounded, he was angered..

Violet hovered over to the rock-fisted ork and punched him in the face, but it had little effect.

Palavalo ran up to the same ork and stabbed at him, but the blade clanged off metal Armour.

Linessa took a monent to think, while the others concentrated most of their attacks on the ork that had knocked out the water-shadow mage earlier, to little effect. She had thought that Violet's fling would have at least incapacitated it, but apparently not.

Two shurikens thrown at the glowing ork, both missing by a wide margin. Best not waste more time or ammunition on him. As for the flung ork, if her captain's knife couldn't pierce its armor, there's no chance her shuriken could.

Which left the third orc, the one hanging back in the cloud of mist. Linessa readied another shuriken, summoned a gust of wind to propel it, focused her senses on the air between her and the ork to guide the projectile's path, and released.
 

Eruantien

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Scivoloso remained unconscious, and in the distance, Cait felt all of the zombies' life energy disappear at once.
The orks were still stunned from Palavalo's attack.

Nahiri was getting worried with the flames spreading and seemingly becoming more dangerous. Not to mention the fact that Scivoloso was still unconscious and the fact that it appeared that one orc couldn't be harmed.

Nahiri let another Hedron fly in the air, this one changing the flow of energy a tiny bit making it harder to predict how spells will behave after being cast. She hoped it would make it harder for the fire to spread to others this way, Nahiri would much rather have the flames stop but she wasn't sure if her Hedron's would be able to put them out.

She then knelt down next to Scivoloso trying to wake him up and looking for any serious wounds. Scivoloso remained unconscious, with signs of a broken skull. Despite this, he seemed to have no trouble breathing, and there was minimal bleeding.

The ork was stunned from Palavalo's attack.

Unfazed by the dull pain from the flames, Cait dug deep beneath the ground with her magic, roaming fingers of power grasping and animating yet more of the dead. Whilst it had slightly surprised her that her minions had all fallen, it did make sense that not all of the fighters were here. It seemed that the slaughter would have to wait for after they had defeated these. Three undead crawled their way out of the ground. The flames scorched her skin seriously. 2 sparks jumped out, one onto an undead, and one onto Dubhan.

Dubhan raised one hand, aiming for the stone-fisted ork. The one covered in glowing lines was evidently avoiding them all with some strange magik, so continuing to attack him would be frivolous. Instead, he began to pull, hard, on the blood inside the other ork, trying to tear it out from its skin. The veins popped up visibly on his skin, but blood was not successfully drawn. The flames hurt him as his skin was burnt. Two sparks jumped out, one hitting Cait and one landing near Scivoloso.

The zombies converged on the slowest of the stunned orcs, seeking to tear him apart.
One zombie hit the ork, but the ork was barely fazed.
The second zombie screeched as it burned to death, the now charred corpse falling to the ground, lifeless once again.

The ork with the rock fist had hit the ground by this point, and while he was not visibly wounded, he was angered..

Violet hovered over to the rock-fisted ork and punched him in the face, but it had little effect.

Palavalo ran up to the same ork and stabbed at him, but the blade clanged off metal Armour.

Linessa took a monent to think, while the others concentrated most of their attacks on the ork that had knocked out the water-shadow mage earlier, to little effect. She had thought that Violet's fling would have at least incapacitated it, but apparently not.

Two shurikens thrown at the glowing ork, both missing by a wide margin. Best not waste more time or ammunition on him. As for the flung ork, if her captain's knife couldn't pierce its armor, there's no chance her shuriken could.

Which left the third orc, the one hanging back in the cloud of mist. Linessa readied another shuriken, summoned a gust of wind to propel it, focused her senses on the air between her and the ork to guide the projectile's path, and released.

The shuriken flew through the air, hitting the ork in the arm.
The flames on Linessa flared, eating away at her skin. Two sparks jumped out, one was blasted away by the wind around Violet, but one landed on Scivoloso. The fire on Linessa burnt out.
Scivoloso slowly woke up, wide-eyed, cradling his head and staring at the flame that had just alighted on him.
The ork with the flaming lines across his skin flung himself at Violet, but she managed to hover out of the way just in time.
Rocky armour grew on the rock fisted ork.

Nahiri was happy to see that Scivoloso got back up, though this was diminished by the fact that he now as well had one of those flames on him but the fact that the one on Linessa burnt out proved that there was some way to stop them from burning, if only she knew how.

Having no Hedron ready yet Nahiri put some more energy in the ones that where already in the air before asking Scivoloso if he was indeed alright.

'No.' he coughed. 'This may be the end of me. But.. I believe there may be one way I can survive.'

'Oo die nah!' The ork who had threatened Cait earlier shouted as he launched himself at Cait, and a brawl between the two of them started, making it impossible to focus enough to use magik.

Cait merely sighed as the ork hurled himself at her. The cold metal of her staff served as decent protection against the angry onslaught, but the presence of the foul creature in her face was the true source of her disgust. "I see how this is. You were far too disgusting for your mother to ever want to be near, hence this sudden desperation to rub yourself over me. Unfortunately for you, I share her opinion." She punctuated the last sentence with a fierce swing of her staff. He rolled to the side, dodging the attack.

Dubhan raised his hand once more, using his sigil of draining to pull at the stone-covered ork's life force.
The ork resisted Dubhan's attack. The fire failed to burn him, and burnt out.

The zombies, sensing the threat to their mistress, swarmed the ork that had tried to grapple with her. The zombies were unable to attack without risking hitting Cait.

Violet waved her hand at the bright, glowing ork, and a burst of wind flew straight past him as he stepped to the side.

"It is time to end this." Palavalo said. His eyes began to glow bright white, and he raised one arm while facing the armored ork. White tendrils rose from the ground, gripping the ork, bending his limbs backwards. The ork began to roar but a few tendrils quickly silenced him, only a look of rage and struggling showing he was still alive.

Good, that seemed to have worked, Linessa remarked to herself upon seeing her shuriken actually connect with its target. She was further relieved to see Scivoloso wake up, and much more relieved when Palavalo's light magic appeared to finally be able to get a hold on the nigh-invulnerable stone-armored ork.

With the stony ork now apparently under control, the glowing orc likely still cloaked in countermagic, Linessa's attention turned to thr third ork once again. But this ork was dancing around the death mage so fast*, if Linessa were to throw a shuriken toward him, Linessa wasn't sure that she could keep it from hitting the mage instead. And that death mage was one person that Linessa really didn't want to have upset with her.

So, instead, Linessa turned back to the glowing ork. She summoned a blast of wind, guiding it in the orc's direction. She didn't know if it would hit, considering that this ork had cast aside her own attacks and dodged the other wind mage's several times in the past, but then again, he had not been immune to the blinding light. So it might work?
The shuriken flew wide. The flames did not burn Linessa's skin, and it flickered out. However, just before it flickered out it shot out two sparks, one hitting Dubhan and re-igniting his clothing, and the other being blasted away by Violet's wind barrier.

Scivoloso, barely conscious, in a final act of desperation cast his own trapping water spell on himself, trapping himself in a tornado of water. Despite the incredible onslaught the flames were under, the water failed to put out the magical fire. The tornado of water dissipated quickly, and Scivoloso's limp, charred corpse fell to the ground. His face looked peaceful. In death he could rid himself of the sins he gave up trying to atone for, the lives he had taken. At last, he found rest.

Having dodged the past series of attacks, the glowing ork now threw himself at the flying hedrons. He fired a blast of energy toward the second one that had appeared, and which seemed to have been causing detrimental effects against himself and his ally.
Nahiri's second hedron, the one that reduced the accuracies of two of the opposing orks, was demolished by the energy blast. She was back down to one hedron, the one that had been created near the beginning of the fight.

Continuing to grapple the human woman who claimed to have killed their children, the brawling ork swung a mighty left toward her face. Such a punch had nearly the strength to rip through wood.
Caitriona recieved the blow full-on, the force of it nearly ripping her head from her body. She somehow managed to twist with the punch and follow-through to remain alive and keep her head, but only just.
However, in the next moment, the mystical flames that were burning on her body suddenly leapt up to consume her entirely. It was as if they were feeding upon something more powerful, more potent than the blood and flesh of a normal being. She had only a few seconds to think or react before she was to be consumed by the flames.

As the flames flickered over her body and her head rang from the impact, Cait's senses were assailed by a sudden rush of memories, rushing through her mind and overpowering all else. The closet, the screams, the blood, the darkness, the rekindling of life and its final extinction. She remembered it all, remembered everything! Her mouth slid open and she let out a dry raspy chuckle. "So...you think you've killed me...jokes on you fucking beasts." She weakly ripped the ribbon from her neck, revealing the horrifying scar. "What is dead can never die! You took him from me, so I took from you. I took everything, old, young, women, men," she looked the ork that punched her in the eye, "your children. I choked them all to death, listened to their screams and I laughed! Laughed because for once in the pestilent shitpile of this world, there was justice! 2 years back I wiped a whole ork village off the map and I hope you fuckers had family there too. They screamed even louder than your brats did.

And if you're hoping I'll scream then you're sadly mistaken. My body all but died 2 years ago, my soul died with him. All that's left is magic and spite, and a big fucking pile of ork corpses."
Her grin stretched to truly deranged proportions even as her skin split, ran and charred. "I'm going out laughing. None of you can say the same. My final little fuck you." With those words, a huge host of shadowy forms burst from Cait, dissipating almost immediately in the sunlight. One lingered a little longer than the rest before fading just the same.

'Shit' Palavalo shouted. 'This was supposed to be an easy mission! Fine, I guess I'll have to ask him to come.' Palavalo lifted his hand upwards and sent three blinding white explosions up into the air.

Nahiri's stomach turned while she saw Scivoloso die and Cait dying didn't make it better. The world rotated around her and Nahiri felt sick from her own failure to protect them and she felt her strength sipping away.

Slowly Nahiri was drowning in her own failure when memories of her past came back. Memories she rather never remembered again. Nahiri looked around, to those that where still alive and realized that she couldn't give up, not while they where in danger.

"I always managed to protect my brother, I will manage to protect them as well". With those thoughts she put another Hedron in the air, the same kind as last time and she walked to the orc that killed Cait.

"You foul beast, ugly piece of shit!" She shouted in anger to the orc, the words tasted like poison but at the same time saying them was so good.

Noticing where the strange floating structures kept coming from, the rocky ork now focused on Nahiri. Summoning even more earth to itself, it swiftly connected its fists to Nahiri's torso in a one-two punch. Nahiri was injured by the attack, but she managed to twist away before more damage could be done.

Dubhan lunged for the stone-covered ork, aiming to stab it with a debilitating strike aided by his dark magik that aimed to decay the ork's strength. The blow was deflected by the ork's armor, but the dark magik began to seep into the chinks between armor plating.

The undead pair slowly watched their mistress burn to ash. Deprived of purpose, they began to mindlessly rage against the ork who'd struck the killing blow, but their lumbering movements were too slow to reach the stony ork.

Violet turned, seeing the brawling ork who'd killed Cait. She whipped a veritable hurricane into existence, a raging wind that whirled around this ork and its stony ally, forcing them to remain in one place. "No more dodging for either of you!" she yelled haughtily.

While Violet took care of the other enemies, Palavolo targeted the remaining ork, the brightly glowing one. He sent a bolt of white light directly at the ork, and it struck hard, shocking the ork and causing it to stagger.

Linessa watched with minor disappointment as her blast of wind all but dissipated before it could reach the glowing orc (maybe he's only vulnerable to light magic?), then with horror as Cait and Scivoloso went up in flames (geez, those flames were on me at one point).

Linessa briefly considered her options. The glowing orc's countermagic was as impenetrable as ever, and the stony orc's armor had only gotten thicker. With little else to do, she readied a shuriken and hurled it in the direction of the orc that had slain Cait. Its characteristic thrum was entirely drowned out in the noise of her ally's whirlwind- hopefully her own wind magic would allow the projectile to slip through. Although Linessa's aim was true, the ork saw the attack coming and deflected the projectile, avoiding any damage from the shuriken.

Dubhan was suddenly struck by a bolt of energy from behind. The glowing ork, taking advantage of Dubhan's momentary distraction from itself, had fired a heavily damaging blast.
The ork who'd killed Cait was still unable to move, held in place by Violet's torrential winds.

A shadow flew across the ground at incredible speeds, and out flew a human. It was the Spider Hunter, one of the two men who ruled the village. As he continued to fly through the air, he pulled three arrows out of his quiver, nocked all three at once, and fired. As they flew through the air, they glowed purple. They arced outwards, and then turned back in, accelerating to incredible speeds. As the Spider Hunter landed and rolled, two arrows hit, the first tearing through the glowing ork's arm, the second going straight through his heart. The third arrow curved away, slowed down, and began to float in the air. 'Damn, seems like this wasn't a newbie mission after all.' The Spider Hunter said, surveying the dead bodies. All of the flames on anyone vanished, as the now not glowing ork's remaining magik power left his body, and his brain stopped functioning. The orks looked on in shock as their friend died.

"This mission was foolishly given." Dubhan said to the hunter, before raising a hand to tear at the blood beneath the stone ork's skin. A vein burst, causing a rush of blood to come spurting out. The ork staggered.

Violet sent magical blades of air serenely toward this same ork, slicing into its flesh and tearing away some muscle.
Devoting all efforts against the brawling ork, Palavolo entered the fray by firing searing light against it. More muscle and some bone was ripped away, and the ork suddenly was deprived of one arm. Grunting, it began to rage.

Linessa was somewhat disappointed when the orc managed to block her shuriken (how could he even see it coming, what with all the debris kicked up by the whirlwind?); but was quite surprised (and not in an unpleasant manner) when the Spider Hunter arrived and took out the glowing orc. Thank him for that.

When captains focused their attacks on that ork, only to visibly enrage it, Linessa began to worry that it would lash out in a devastating manner; especially since the whirlwind had dissipated by this point. So, in the interest of holding it down while her allies finished the job, Linessa gethered some air into her hand, as if it was a ball, and hurled it toward the orc, channeling her magic into a mighty blast of wind.
Violet's winds had dissipated, but Linessa's magic whipped up a new frenzy, tugging this way and that against the ork as it struggled to maintain its posture.

The one-armed ork surveyed its adversaries, and lashed out against Palavolo, raging. It missed, unable to hardly move due to Linessa's rushing winds.

Though Nahiri was in pain from the blow the rocky orc she was also pleased that it attacked her rather then one of the others. After all, she could take the blow with ease.

After recovering from the blow she send another bold of lightning to the Hedron's that where hovering in the air while saying to the orc "If you want to get rid of them you will need to get rid of me first." The hedrons were reinforced by the crackling burst of energy.

After a second of concentration, the Spider Hunter's floating arrow and the arrow currently in his hand began to darken from a purple glow to black. He fired the arrow in his bow, hitting the rock wielding ork in the chest. Simultaneously, the other arrow flew across, hitting the ork who had killed Cait in the side of the head. The hit areas began to swell rapidly, and then dark shadows flew out of their body, tearing them apart. With a final look of shock, the rock wielding ork whispered. No. And then all that was left were their remains. "You're brave to insult the leaders like that, Dubhan Naimh, though it was my partner who submitted the mission. I like your bravery." He turned to Palavalo. "Promote him to the same rank as the others." He turned to walk away.
Dubhan has gained 1 accuracy for being the first player to land an attack!
Linessa has gained 1 accuracy for being the first player to damage!

Palavalo looked weary. "Come on everyone, it's time to head back. I'll cancel our next mission, you have four days until our next one now."
Everyone headed back and was shown to their dorms, which were made of rooms for four people. Dubhan's was empty, and Nahiri and Linessa found themselves together in an otherwise unoccupied room.
 

LivingAngryCheese

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[The Plain of Treachery]

A few days had passed since Acheron had left the Howling Hills. The journey had left him hungry, he had been forced to snack on rabbits the day before as there hadn't been any larger or less cute animals to eat. Some humans had passed him a few days ago on horses, and luckily he had been able to restrain himself, as he had just eaten and the humans passed quickly, not noticing him hidden by the side of the path. If the humans had passed later while he was on this huge field, there was no way he would've been able to hide. Oh no. Acheron's hypersensitive ears picked up the rattling of a carriage and the sound of more horses coming his way. There was nowhere to hide this time. They were going to find him.

[The Dorms]

A bell rang outside their rooms, and everyone still sleeping was woken up. Chuck and Dubhan who hadn't felt the need to talk much to each other had been forced to share a room with the annoyingly eager Siunaus, and as expected he was already ready and out the door. The rest weren't quite sure what was happening until the little boy outside ringing the bell called: "Captain Palavalo wants you downstairs in 5 minutes!"
 

RJS

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His mind raced as he walked down the path, disjointed sounds, smells and sights popping into and out of his head in a disorienting sequence of flashes. Who is he? Why do I know his mind? Realisation came in a sudden burst. Ooohhh. He's me and I'm him! A disjointed chuckle escaped from his lips as he continued, weaving slightly as he did so. The clothes he wore, worn for so so very long, were so bare and tatty now - faded, torn and raggedy. Just like me. The thought prompted another little burst of laughter. A little lost birdie, looking for a nest. What was it called again? What was what was it name name name NAME NAME NAME!...Pert. That was right. Pert. Full of humans. He dimly recalled that he might have been there before - well not before, he definitely remembered before, it was all he could reliably cling to, but before before.

The morning sun was beginning to intensify. Acheron grimaced. Too bright too hot. Not like the serene soothing of the night, oh yes the night was good helped him calm helped him stay more him and less...him. He forced his thoughts back into order, noticing they had begun to fray. Couldn't let the heat get to him, couldn't let it fray his mind. He was going to her place, and they lived in the day there. He would have to learn to do the same. He had done well when they went past last time, all that pumping blood a siren song to his irresistible desires, but he had stuck his fingers in his ears! Well, not literally of course...or had he? He wasn't sure. It had been confusing, the roar in his head drowning out all awareness of his surroundings. Honestly, they might have found him and left him be, and he wouldn't know. Who is he again? Oh right, yeah, me.

He was fortunate to be travelling so light. So many little morsels running around the field. He thought back to a few days ago, when the hunger had taken him. It had reminded him of his first attempt at looking after the morsels, when he had become aware that he was standing in a pile of little fur scraps. He had cried then, something that surprised even himself, before he scraped out a shallow little ditch for the remnants. He had felt that way again during the more recent occurrence, but he hadn't cried. He had thought of the little morsels back in his cave, happily hippity hoppiting and that had kept him from tears. He did hope he had left enough food for them to stay alive long enough to work out to leave. He hadn't been sad about his breakfast that morning - big ugly thing, 4 legs fur sharp teeth..dog...dog...no, wolf. It had found him sleeping and thought it would have an easy meal. It had proved the opposite.

His ears twitched. Clippity cloppity rumble grumble rattly clattery. More of them. People. He had to hide couldn't hide nowhere to hide. What to do what to do what to do! He rubbed his face with his shirt sleeve, finding it came away red tinged. Blood on my mouth from breakfast that's no good no good at all. He rubbed and scrubbed until no more red was on the shirt, then tore off the scrap and scrapity scraped a hole, hiding it underground. While there he saw a couple of hand-sized rocks. A growl resounded through his head, but he pushed it away by thinking of her. Yes this would work, might work, could work maybe? He picked up the rocks, bashing them against each other. It'll do.

He continued to walk down the road, bashing the rocks together rhythmically while humming the first bit of tuneful nonsense to come into his head. He was crazy, couldn't hide the crazy, not if they saw him not if they spoke to him, but he didn't look bad crazy. Not danger crazy. Just...odd crazy. Maybe even nice crazy. Hopefully harmless crazy. Acheron hummed louder as he walked to drown out the pounding of his own heart and more importantly the thumpity thump and gurgly rush of their blood as they drew closer.
 
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LivingAngryCheese

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A place
Chuck noticed that the light mage girl climbed a tree while he was walking, but he decided to not say anything about it as later he could kill some goblins while dumping his anger on them.

Sylvia watched the scene of the goblins as they lamented. A part of her really appreciated them for that. Respecting the dead was always a trait she appreciated. That being said, at the end of the day, one of these two groups would be joining them. Even animals were capable of lamenting, it didn't stop them from being made out of food. She quietly made her way to Seicho and whispered, "What's our plan?"

"Most of them are around the campfire." He whispered back. "We will surround them and kill as many as possible, then we will spread out and try to clean up the rest."

Nodding at Seicho's words, Fiona whispered to her sister, "Be careful." Then, she stole off to circle the campfire clearing, preparing her spells to be ready on their leader's signal. However, it took so long in coming that she decided not to wait any longer, lest their surprise attack be foiled. Fiona cast a raiment of light upon herself, bolstering protection against nonmagical attacks.

The goblins noticed the flash of light and three jumped up and started clicking. They started to hide the younger goblins behind them. One of the three goblins was wearing a cloak, another some strange jewellery, and the last some kind of mini chainmail and was carrying a crossbow that was way too big for its body. 'You fucking idiot!' Calhoun shrieked.

The hooded goblin stared at the ambush taking place, but quickly sprang into action. A shadow seemed to peel off of him, and took the shape and colour of... him. It was extremely hard, if not impossible to tell them apart.

The one with chainmail aimed at Fiona with the crossbow and looked down the sights at her, but didn't fire. Fiona could feel a funnel of wind pointed at her, but it was seemingly harmless.

Finally, the one with strange jewellery did a strange dance, then made some strange noise. Instantly, everyone's head was filled with horrifying images. Fiona and Sylvia saw each other tied up and gagged, twisting and struggling underwater as they drowned. Chuck saw his mother's dead body stand up in the pool of blood and begin screaming. 'You couldn't save me, you couldn't revive me!' All of the other people seemed to be experiencing similarly horrifying experiences, except for Lexia who only experienced a horrible screaming which seemed to belong to her parents, she did not see any images.

Although Fiona was subjected to the cruel imagery of her twin's suffering, she immediately saw through the illusion. Her mental strength far surpassed any simple illusion magic that such ordinary monsters could conjure up, and with a moment's thought, the image of Sylvia's torture vanished. Fiona could only hope that Sylvia herself had not undergone the same illusion. For the present, however, it was necessary to fight back with a will against the goblins' unexpectedly organized resistance.
"Yo, knucklehead," Fiona retorted to Calhoun, twirling her sceptre and taking aim. "Your ineptitude has brought this upon us!" she stated, bracing her feet firmly against the soft earth. She stared down the jewellery-adorned goblin, glowering at him from mere slits of eyes. Fiona pointed her sceptre directly at the goblin, and exclaimed, "You walk in the shadows and nurture afflictions. By my Vindication, I abjure your inflictions!!" An explosion of intense light erupted from Fiona's sceptre and arced toward the goblin in her sights.
The arc of light struck the goblin, but seemed to have little effect.

'What the fuck did you just say, kid? Insulting your captains and messing up our battles, you better watch yourself, bitch.' Calhoun retorted.
He flung a fireball at the goblin with the hood and the one with jewelry, and they both dived out of the way.

Lexia heard the screams and instinctively summoned a bramble all around her. She's grown all too familiar with her parents' screams growing up on that farm. Whenever something would attack, there were screams. They never got hurt too bad, but there were always screaming. Whether it be from initial shock, from a wound, or what have you, Lexia learned to hide whenever her parents screamed.

Though that was just instict. Lexia recovered quickly from it, realizing that her parents weren't there, and they wren't in pain. In fact, if they were here, then these goblins would be the ones who were screaming. Lexia prepared for an attack and readied herself to counterattack.
Brambles surrounded Lexia.

Siunaus ran up to Calhoun, and brought out the sharp instrument he carried around with him. He scratched a symbol into Calhoun's arm, who only winced a little, seemingly used to it. Siunaus touched the symbol and it glowed white.

While Chuck was seeing the images his blood started boiling with anger, however he realised that the image he saw was an illusion as his mother's body should've been chared by the flames that he cast that day. Not like this realization helped, he was already angry. After that he connected the dots and realised that it must'be been the goblin wearing the strange jewelry was the creator of the illusion. "YOU'LL PAY BITCH!" he yelled at that goblin as he channeled his anger around his fist and attacked the monster.

The goblin's grinning face got larger and larger, filling his vision, then laughed, seemingly echoing all around him. The image of his mother burning flashed in his vision, and then it disappeared, Calhoun flying backwards from the punch Chuck had just delivered. 'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!?' screamed Calhoun, spitting out blood. 'WHEN YOU USE MAGIK, KEEP YOUR FUCKING EYES OPEN!'

Sylvia gazed upon the image of her drowning sister in horror. For a short moment, her mind ran circles in a panic, until she finally remembered that goblin's magic. It was probably an illusion...but what if... - no, now wasn't the time to fall victim to these things. With illusions such as these, Sylvia ignored most of her team and focused inwards, imbuing herself a blessing of determination. While doing so, she turned away from the grusome sight, hoping wherever her sister was that she was doing better than that image of her.
Sylvia was imbued with determination.

Seicho sighed and waved his hand, a strange plant coming out of the ground. It sprayed pink mist over Calhoun, and the wound on his face healed.

The first goblin and his strange clone morphed into a dark, shadowy wolf.

The goblin with the oversized crossbow aimed at Fiona again, but this time it wasn't just a funnel of air. The crossbow bolt flew out at hyperaccelerated speeds, far faster than it should've, slamming straight into Fiona's arm, piercing the skin and tearing muscle.

The final goblin with the strange jewelry repeated his dreaded dance. Sylvia saw her sister get shot by the crossbow bolt, but many more followed it, one hitting her through the head , but this illusion was easier to see through. However, everyone else saw similar illusions to before, but slightly improved, Chuck watching himself burn his mother's body again and again, Lexia seeing a significantly more realistic scene of her parents dying. Chuck could feel his already fragile sanity beginning to crack, and Fiona began to become a little hysterical with the combination of rapid blood loss and the bloodied body of her sister.

As the disturbing images flashed in her vision again, Fiona impatiently shook her head to clear her mind. She knew that Sylvia was safe; she'd just been nearby a moment ago. Obviously, these images were being sourced from the jewelry-wearing goblin, but currently the greater threat was the crossbow-wielding goblin. She sent a scattering of chromatic rainbow orbs from her sceptre to attack this second goblin. It was strange that her previous attack hadn't hurt the goblin sorcerer...
Numerous orbs were created, flying at the goblin. It dived and rolled, the orbs slamming into the ground.

Calhoun ran towards the goblin with the jewelry in anger, swinging his fist at it. The goblin ducked underneath, but, to the goblin's surprise, his fist glowed white, and swung back again, the goblin only just dodging the second attack. The white glyph on Calhoun's shoulder faded away.

The illusion that Lexia was under may have been improved, but it was less effective. When you know something's an illusion, and know what's causing it, it tends to not work so well the second time around. Though Lexia was horrified by the images she saw, she immediately relised it was an illusion, and the intense fear quickly boiled into rage. Without thinking, Lexia swung a vine directly towards the goblin responsible for the illusion, screaming all the way.

The vine whipped towards the goblin, but as it was about to make contact, the goblin disappeared from her vision, laughing, and the vine slashed a gash into Seicho's arm. He grunted. 'Careful, kid, that goblin is tricking us into attacking each other.'

Siunaus hurried over to Fiona, and said, 'This will only hurt a little.' Before she could react, Siunaus set to work on her arm. It did not only hurt a little, he slashed at her arm, cutting a shape into it, but to his credit, it was fast. When he was finished, it glowed white. Instantly, Fiona felt as if some of her injuries had left her. She told the strange man, "Thank you for the healing!" Then, she scurried off to ready for her next attack.

Chuck was surprised by Siunaus' action, but he heard Fiona's response and realised that it was just a weird type of healing. Considering what happened earlier because of the goblin with jewelry, Chuck decided that using his flames in a defensive way wouldn't be bad idea, and as such he started creating protective flames around himself.

Try as she might to ignore it, each crossbow bolt caused Sylvia to flinch, almost as if it had hit her instead. Slowly, her focus on the fight was lost. As the disturbing images overwhlemed her, she knelt down and tried to cover her ears with her hands, eyes shut tight.

Seicho charged, sword raised, and swung recklessly for the dancing goblin's neck. The attack connected perfectly, shearing through flesh and bone in one clean swoop, though not without a sound of screeching metal as fragments of the blade flew off from the blow's sheer force. Blood spurted for a moment before the goblin's body fell and its heart ceased beating.
Seeing Sylvia bent over in terror, he hurried over to her, doing his best to comfort her and show her that she was only seeing illusions.

His plant sprayed its pink mist at him, and he was soon healed from all of his injuries, returning to full health as he comforted Sylvia.

The first goblin, now a shadowy wolf, charged at Fiona, aiming to tear at her in some way. She managed to barely avoid the attack, stepping to the side as the wolf leaped at her.

The goblin with a crossbow aimed it at Fiona once more, firing after a moment of aiming. At immense speed it slammed into her once again, causing a spurt of blood to fountain from her shoulder.

Wincing from the pain, Fiona ripped off a piece of her shirt at the torso, and wrapped it around the fresh wound to staunch the flow of blood. Raging, she again fired a volley of rainboom orbs at the goblin who'd just attacked her from a distance, focusing hard and trying to ensure a hit. Whatever the strange man had inscribed upon her before didn't seem to have helped at all.

The goblin rolled to one side, and the orbs flew past where he had once been.

Calhoun made a swing at the very same goblin, but it performed another roll to dodge out of the way.

While everyone seemed to focus on the goblin with the crossbow, Lexia had her eyes on the shadow goblin.The fight would end sooner if one of the enemies were on their side. Lexia reached out with her mind, sending a mental vine towards the goblin, attempting to charm it.

The attack failed as the goblin moved away, sensing what Lexia was trying to do.

Siunaus stood beside Chuck, and scratched another sigil into his arm. Once done, it glowed white, and he stepped away.

Chuck decided to attack the same goblin Calhoun and Fiona had tried to attack as he thought that whatever that glyph did, it could help him attack the goblin, thus he started channeling his anger around his fist, it becoming a fist of anger.
The attack swung past the goblin as it stepped aside, but Chuck's fist glowed white, and he swung again. The attack missed much as the first had.

Seicho managed to calm Sylvia somewhat and as the images began to fade, she began to regain her composure. Moreover, her tome felt a new presence; it's magical energy feeling powerful and new. For the time being though, she ignored it to flip through the book and draw out the healing magic for her real sister.

With Sylvia seeming to have recovered somewhat, Seicho was free to take action. Charging once more at a goblin, this time the one with the crossbow, he swung his sword for its neck again. The attack missed, swinging over the goblin's head as it ducked low.

His plant sprayed its pink mist at Fiona, sensing her need, and she was almost entirely healed.

The shadowy goblin slashed with its lupine claws at the plant, and with a puff of pink it disintegrated into fine ash as it died.

The crossbow goblin fired at Fiona, his focus seeming to be directed at her for this fight. The bolt slammed into her hip, causing severe bleeding and severing several large blood vessels. A spray of blood was thrown behind her by the wind that boosted the bolt's power.

Her eyes widening, the world seemed to slow around Fiona as she fell backward. Searing pain was creeping up her body and dripping down her legs. She collapsed in a heap, with deadly amounts of blood seeping from her waist. Even with the pain, Fiona felt nothing more than a cold flame, eating away inside of her. She thrust her elbow into the dirt and leaned up, just enough to see her tormentor leering from behind the crossbow. "Heaven's justice, Hell's hot flames - let Vindication erase your names!!" An explosion of light burst forth from the sceptre Fiona still clasped, and she began to crawl along the ground toward her twin, crying out in pain as she went. It would be important to be near Sylvi, if this was the end.

The creature sidestepped away from the beam of light, grinning at her failure.

Calhoun tried punching the goblin, but his attack was much as effective as Fiona's.

That moment seemed to last forever. Lexia was frozen in place for what felt like 10 minutes but was in reality only a few seconds. It finally sank in that this wasn't some game. That these weren't the same lowlife scavengers that attacked their farm every once in a while. These were trained killers, and if she didn't do something, Fiona would be dead. Snapping out of her haze, Lexia erected a bramble around Fiona, making sure it knew to let the other party members through unharmed. She hoped beyond hope that it would buy enough time for someone to heal her.

Siunaus scratched another of his glyphs into Seicho's arm, leaving it glowing white.

Chuck was getting more pissed off as every minute of this fight with the goblins passed, thus he threw fire at the goblin to destroy his armor.
Part of the armour melted, sloughing off and falling to the ground.

Sylvia turned to Fiano, wincing a little in horror at the sight of her in the condition she was. Still, in a way, she liked things like this. It was in these kinds of moments where Sylvia was most needed, and it made her feel wanted, if only a little. Channeling the holy energy within her, Sylvia summoned several magical threads that danced in the air, weaving Fiano's broken flesh back together and replacing blood that was lost.

Seicho threw out another seed nearby, which soon generated a new plant. Tendrils of mist escaped from its bulbous gas bladder, but none were sprayed towards anyone.

The shadow-wreathed wolf goblin swirled for a moment, before disappearing in the eyes of Fiona, Calhoun and Lexia.

The goblin wielding his crossbow fired once more at Fiona, determined to end her life. The bolt struck one leg with intense force, causing yet another spurt of blood.

Positively grateful for the healing, Fiona was about to embrace her sister, but suddenly fell over again, her leg collapsing into shreds of blood and torn muscle. Fiona emitted a shriek, and tried to weave together strands of light to cover her body once more, while clutching the gristly remains of her blood-soaked leg.
The light covered Fiona, leaving her glowing with a steady aura of many-hued light.

Calhoun threw yet another punch at the crossbow goblin that was deftly sidestepped, and he roared in frustration.
"I can't hit these fucks! Someone give me a fucking boost or something, before this shithead dies." He shouted to the team, gesturing to Fiona.

All Lexia could do was toss a vine wind goblin-ward. So toss a vine she did.

Siunaus drew another of his sigils, this time upon Seicho's hand instead of his arm, and it was left glowing white.

Chuck decided to attack the goblin with the crossbow again, he channeled his anger in his fist and attacked it again.
The attack flew past the goblin as it leisurely stepped out of its arc.

Sylvia winced as her sister was struck again. Hopefully that misty plant over there help her. Focusing her energy on Calhoun, she begrudgingly imbued him with determination. His insulting her sister disgusted Sylvia to no end, but he could easily make the difference between Fiona's life and death.

Seicho made another wild swing at the crossbow goblin. The attack finally connected, leaving a gaping wound in its shoulder, pieces of the partly broken blade lodged deep within.

The plant squeezed its bulb-like head, spraying its mist towards fiona to heal some of the damage done to her.

The shadowy goblin launched itself at Calhoun, claws aimed at his chest. Their points only bit into Calhoun's skin at the surface level, dealing minor damage.

As had been happening for some time now, the crossbow twanged, loosing its bolt with accelerated speed at Fiona. It only dealt a glancing blow this time, careening straight through her right arm.

With a shattered elbow, Fiona gasped in pain as her arm swung limply. She sent a new bombardment of rainbow orbs against her assailant, trying to keep herself in one piece long enough to stay in the fight.

The attack flew past the goblin, the orbs leaving perfectly circular burn marks in a nearby tree.

"Dodge this, motherfucker!" Calhoun shouted as he flung a great mass of flame at the two goblins. The shadow-wreathed goblin dashed to safe ground quickly, but a gout of flame flew out at the crossbow wielder, propelled by Sylvia's determination as the fire licked and lashed at the goblin's scaly skin. It screamed unintelligibly, obviously undergoing immense agony from the attack, and Calhoun grinned to see it writhe.
Once it had finally doused the flames by rolling on the wet grass, it stood back up, stumbling, weak, holding its deadly weapon with trembling hands as its breathing became ragged. It might have spoken a curse at the party, but its voice had been made ragged and hoarse by the screaming and fire both.

Lexia launched a vine directly towards the crossbow goblin's charred face, hoping to finally finish the bastard off.

The goblin barely avoided the attack, its movements stiff and pained even with its usually nimble movement.

Siunaus scratched a third sigil into Seicho's arm, this one along his wrist. It was close to the bone, making the man wince in pain before it was activated and the pain lessened.

Chuck channeled his anger around his fist and attacked the goblin with the crossbow again.

The attack barely missed the goblin's head as it frantically scrambled sideways, struggling to regain its footing after stumbling out of the way.

Sylvia was relieved when Calhoun's attack finally connected. It wasn't a pretty picture, but it was better than her sister's harm. Them or us. Her mind considered the new presence in her book, but she shrugged the idea off. Now wasn't the time to test such things. Instead, she stepped forward and took a wild swing at the crossbow wielder with her book, hoping if she couldn't hit, she could at least distract it from Fiona.

As expected, the attack swung straight past the scrabbling goblin. It moved momentarily closer to Seicho, and he took the opportunity to make his attack. It only just connected, but the sword slashed open a deep gouge in the goblin's throat, leaving it taking a few moments to cough and splutter as it drowned in its own blood.

The plant sprayed more mist over Fiona, healing her completely.

The shadowy goblin made a sound halfway between a howl and a screech, an ungodly sound of sorrow and anger for its friend. The sound became less like a wolf and more high-pitched and hoarse-sounding as the pitiful creature and its clone both rescinded their shadowy forms to appear as dark, short figures as the goblin they originally were.

Bewildered at the constantly-fluctuating state of her own physical and mental health, Fiona gathered her wits. She saw the crossbow goblin, downed at last, and a wicked grin flickered across her face before disappearing as she focused on its allies. With little time to decide, even though the battle seemed to have been raging for ages, Fiona fired a piercing arc of light against the hooded goblin.
"By my light of Vindication, your soul will not withstand ablation!!"

The goblin didn't even flinch, as the light streamed past its shoulder.
Fiona screamed in increasing desperation.

"I need some more!" Calhoun shouted at Sylvia, referring to the determination that had allowed him to damage the crossbow goblin so effectively. He punctuated the last word with a wild swing at the dark goblin, which shifted its position to dodge the attack.

Relieved that the crisis with the crossbow goblin had been finally resolved, Lexia had some time to think. She decided to put a bramble around Seicho, expecting the remaining goblin to strike in retaliation for its fallen comrade.

Siunaus returned to Seicho's side, readying his sharpened scribe. "This is a disaster - if it weren't for her sister's healing magik, Fiona would be dead by now, and who knows who else may have fallen," Siunaus said, a grave tone to his voice, "but my sigils should let you take this one out faster. Good luck."
The sigil glowed white, illuminating halfway up Seicho's sword arm. They were running out of space at this rate.

Chuck saw the goblin wielding the crossbow die, that made him happy. He then channeled his anger around his fist and attacked the hooded goblin, last of the creatures to die...

The shrouded goblin snarled as it jumped back, easily avoiding the blow.

As the crossbow goblin fell, Sylvia's book once again fed on the wayward soul, unbeknownst to her. Meanwhile, she bestowed a protective blessing on her team, helping them to focus properly on their targets.

Seicho practically threw himself at the goblin, his blade whistling through the air as he slashed. One, two three, four, five swings, yet not a single one of them made even the most fleeting contact with the goblin. As he made each swing past the first, a sigil glowed brightly before blinking out, the scratched flesh returning to normal as Seicho roared in frustration.

The goblin screeched as it dodged every swing, its body nearly a blur. It waited for a chance to strike, leaping forwards once Seicho's wild attack had ended, only for Seicho to bend low and toss the wretched thing to one side. It did gain some impressive air-time as it flew, before landing and rolling to its feet with another snarl.

Fiona flung more and more rainbow orbs at the goblin Seicho was fighting.

As usual, they flew straight past, getting closer to Seicho than her intended target.

Calhoun roared as he charged the goblin again, still unable to land even a single hit.

"Hey, listen!" Lexia shouted at the rest of the party as she prepared to summon a vine, "If we weaken the goblin a little and Sylvia gives me some determination, I could charm that goblin, make it fight for me!" Lexia launched the vine she had summoned towards the remaining goblin.

The rest of the group agreed, and eventually they managed to hold the goblin down. With the determination supplied to her by Sylvia, Lexia charmed the goblin. Immediately the goblin stopped struggling, and Lexia felt the link between her and her pet rat break. Everyone let the goblin down and Lexia felt its emotions flood her brain: mostly confusion and fear. It ran over to Lexia and hung onto her leg, shielding itself from the others.
When they returned to base, the goblin was used to everyone around, and jumped around the beds in their dorms, as if it had become a child again, irritating the weary team.
 

Lumaceon

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Jul 23, 2014
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Not Kansas
Sylvia jabbed her pillow forward towards the newly-charmed goblin, trying to push it off her bed. It promptly evaded and whacked Sylvi on the head with another pillow. It was more Fiano's thing to sleep this late, but she was tired: this goblin liked to get up around 4am and hop on her bed as if she wasn't sleeping in it. Honestly, it was hard to believe these creatures nearly killed her sister when this was one having the time of it's life depriving her of much-needed rest. Couldn't Lexia go back to the rat? He always minded his own business.

This assault was finally broken off by the bell and a summons, as the goblin shot out the door. So eager. Turning to her sister, it didn't surprise her to find Fiano still asleep. With a quick flip of her book, Sylvia flung a blessing into her. Clearly she'd need that determination to stay awake. In truth, her magic was far stronger than it had been earlier. Push it to the limits and it's bound to expand them. The question was, of course, just how powerful magic could become. After all, her blessings at this point enabled terrifying feats of power, and it'd be foolish to think none had magic power beyond her's.

Rubbing her eyes a bit, she exchanged her nightgown for her proper magician's robe and descended the stairs, joining the morning birds and eager beavers at the table. Sylvia gave a cold glare at the goblin, trying to remain composed and mature despite wanting to slap it a few times.
 
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Eruantien

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"̟̱̰͕̺͓ͤ̋ͭͬ͘ͅ.̛̲͒̒̇̇ͮ͂.̟͍̥̱̈́͂̍̈ͬ.̪̫̗̖̣͕̦̋̐ͪ͛̐̈́ ̸̘͚̩̘̹̞̻g̫͎͛͐͋ͧ͐̚r̷̝͓̆͋̉ͅe̖͗ͤ́e̫͕̬̹͈͖̱̅̐͢ṉ͍͚̗̝̃͒ ͎͚͉̜̞̝͎̎̿ͥͣg̊o͓o̗̦̟̤ͧͨͥ͘s̨̬̥̱̓͑̿ͫ͆͛e͍̥̞̩͍̠̿̾͊ͅ,̵͚̤̪̿ͥͪ̑̿ͅ ͖̹̖̰̖͔ͯ͗̌ͧr͚͔͚̠̩ͮͧ͗̓ͦ͡u̺̘͍ḇ̂͋̍b̝͟ͅe̟̮̾̓̊̾̐ͮ̕rͨ͌ ̝̞̍̐̈m͚͔̼̪̀͑̿͛͞ö̥́͊̆̂ͯ͂ơ̩ͭ̈̔̊̚ș͇e̮̗͍͓̱̘͕ͭ́̔ͯ̂͢,̱͂͐͌ ̡͚̪̞̘̩̇̈̊̈̔ͨe̶̲ͯä̖̓ͧr͇̬̬̰ͣ̉ẗ̢́̄ͤh̲͔͕͓͔͋ͫͭ͢q̭̞̘̱͇̎̿̆u̺̭̼͜à̪̦̦̭͉ͥ̓ǩ̩͇ͭ̆̈́̈̕ȩ̬̲̳̜̣͉̱͗̍̏̀̉ͫͥ,͎̉̆̒ͭ ̘̼̮͕̘̑̂̌͛͛̀O̫ͣͭͩ̋͝C͍̥̆͌̋T̗̠͉̿̓̃ͥ̋̌ͪ̕A̪̳̹̝͖͔͆͊ͭ̉N͞E̷͔̘͈ͪ ̟͚̥̠S̪̄ͭ̓ͥ̏̓͝H̤̩̄A͖ͮͫ̑ͩ̚͜K̴͈̲̗̳͌̅ͪ̉ͩE̳̻̣̩̻͑͟!͆"̨̮̪

Fiona launched herself from the bed and landed on all fours, gripping her sceptre between tighly-clenched teeth.

Silence.

She laughed awkwardly through her teeth, stood upright and pushed her hair out of her face, and grabbed the sceptre in her left hand. She tucked this into her nightrobe's pocket, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she said aloud, "That was one of the strangest dreams I've had in a while. I feel really motivated, now, though." Fiona turned to see she was speaking to an empty room; a residual smell of goblin lingered about the place, and she crinkled her nose at it.

Where'd everyone go? Fiona wondered, as she quickly slipped into her daily clothes. Pausing to listen, she heard growing noise from somewhere on the lower floor, and hurriedly made her way downstairs.
 
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LivingAngryCheese

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Aug 22, 2014
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A place
[The Plain of Treachery]

The carriage came to a gradual halt beside Acheron. Inside, he could hear the chatter of the humans.

Is that the thing that made those inscriptions? Is it human? Well, it's not a weather being, and I've never seen a bloodsucker this unsophisticated. Still though, don't you think it's strange that a crazy person would be let all the way out here?

If he was human he wouldn't be able to hear their whispering, but as it was they were being quite rude. They began to come out of the carriage, and they hurried over to him as he was a little ahead now. "Good s-s-s-sir," the first man stuttered, "Did you come from the mountains up there?"
 

RJS

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Acheron cocked his head at the noise from within the carriage, though he continued his humming and bashing as he strolled. It seemed they seemed to think he seemed to be something they seemed to know, seemingly. He spun around at the first stammerings of speech actually directed at himself, greeting the obviously nervous man with a needlessly elaborate bow. "S-s-s-sir? I'm no sir, for sure." He looked at them all - old buffoon in the back, young tenderloin in front, though his nerves would make him tough, one in armour. Even were he not sated, then these morsels would be distinctly unappetising. "Merely a wanderer, I roam with no home save the loam in the gloam. My friends call me nothing, for they are all left behind, I roam alone. But you, you and you can call me Acheron. Acheron Schwarz, the river of night and death." WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYthatsoundsthreateningneedthechewiestothinki'msafewhy. "As for the hills," he looked up, "I see no mountains up there. I must confess I have not looked regularly, but I believe I wouldn't miss a flying mountain." The man in armour slapped his hand to his face in an exaggerated gesture of frustration, before pointing back up the track. Jerking around, Acheron looked down at the hills that he had so recently called home. "Why those mountains! Or are they hills? Wouldn't do to make mountains out of hills now..." Acheron was dimly aware that a word my have slipped out there before ploughing on regardless. "We shall just have to call them moutills, or maybe hitains. What were you saying again? Ah yes. Where did I come from? 'Tis a long tale, much like those on the horses, and like them I'm not entirely sure about all of it. But I originally came from a place called Bert....no no no...Dirt....that's not right either...Pert!" He flourished with a triumphant grin. "I now find myself desirous of my first home, that's home not the home in the loam and I shall stop fore you groan. Regardless, nevertheless and in spite of all that, I am trying to get to...that place I said. I think I'm on the right path, but I find my thinking to not think so well anymore. I think it worked better once, but I may think wrong. Any assistance you can offer would be gratefully, humbly, and gratefully accepted, though I fear I can repay you with nought but song. I apologise if I rambled too long."
 

Someone Else 37

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Linessa woke with a start to the sound of a bell. She was still a bit rattled from yesterday's ordeal, although from the stories last night, it sounded like the others hadn't had it any easier. Downstairs in five minutes? That was doable. She sat up, climbed out of bed, and began slipping on her silken robes and lacing up her leather armguards. She checked that her shurikens were all neatly lined up in their pouch and sorted by quality (alas, some of the points had been blunted against the goblins' armor yeaterday), checked to make sure that Nahiri had not, in fact, slept through the bell, and walked on downstairs to see what kind of mission the captains had planned today.
 

the_j485

King of the Wicked
Dec 19, 2012
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Siunaus... talked a lot. The night before, Dubhan had found him a grating presence. Be it anything from deep, meaningful topics to inane nonsense, Siunaus seemed to love the sound of his own voice. Luckily, the nature mage had to sleep, unlike Dubhan, who lay awake in his bed throughout the night, his thoughts dulling as he slipped into what amounted to meditation while he waited for morning to come.
Siunaus was out the door quickly, and Dubhan followed, not even looking at Chuck as he rolled out of bed and marched through the doorway and downstairs, to receive Palavalo's next briefing.
 

RealKC

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King of the Hill
Chuck found the topics Siunaus talked about interesting at the start, but as he continued Chuck got more bored and more annoyed. Chuck couldn't be more happy when Siunaus went to sleep, as he could go to sleep as well. This time he didn't have any nightmare allowing him to have a sleep better than the ones he had had the last couple weeks.

Chuck didn't really like being woken up by the bell. "What could Palavalo be wanting?"
 

lenscas

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Jul 31, 2013
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Nahiri unsurprisingly slept very poorly. She had nightmares about Cait's death, about the death's of the others because she couldn't protect them and about her brother getting consumed by the shadow and going insane as a result. She didn't know which of the three was the worst, all she knew was that she wished she didn't join. Because if she didn't she at least was able to protect her brother and she didn't have to see someone dieing. After all, her being with the mission didn't change much and right now she felt that if they picked someone else instead of her it would've gone the same if not better, perhaps no one had to die then. But they picked her and she failed and as a result, Cait died.

Nahiri sighed, grabbed her sword and her pouch with Hedrons and went downstairs, hoping for the best but fearing the worst.
 

goreae

Ultimate Murderous Fiend
Nov 27, 2012
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Lexia woke with a start from the most horrible nightmares she had ever had. She didn't remember much, but she knew they were filled with bloodshed and killing at the hands of a goblin. Feeling the warm body of the gobble she now knew as Kick Ruck, she instinctively kicked him off and rolled into a fighting stance before remembering that the gobble was actually her thrall. She rushed towards Kick who didn't seem hurt, just dazed a little. He didn't seem to know what just happened, and probably assumed he just fell out of bed. She told Kick to stay close to her as they left together to meet with Palavalo.
 

LivingAngryCheese

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Aug 22, 2014
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[The Plain of Treachery]

The man in front seemed a little offended by Acheron's apparent mocking of his stammering, and two of the three seemed a little off-put by his slightly intimidating ramblings, however, they all seemed intrigued. The large man at the back simply laughed. "It will be good to have someone so cheerful with us!" he said in a loud voice. Acheron climbed into the tight vehicle with them and two other men, and they headed for Pert. There were many glances his way as they travelled.

[The Dining Hall]

As they all gathered around the table and began to eat, Palavalo began to speak. "Alright, you all know we have a mission today. It's been three days, and this time we're performing a raid along with other groups on a large ork encampment. We move in, and on a flash created by me in the sky, all squadrons will move in and wipe them out. It will be a simple mission. Do we have any questions?"
 

RJS

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Trapped inside the close confines of the carriage, the pounding of hearts was painfully audible to Acheron, both theirs and his. His mouth had very rapidly become wet and he was forced to swallow several times to clear the saliva from his mouth. Every second brought a fresh wave of temptation, the mindless roar growing in his head with every faint gurgle. His fingers began to beat a restless tempo against the wall of the carriage, in a bid to distract himself from the succulent rhythm of life that echoed within the small box, unheard to all but him. He sensed their eyes on him - did they know? Could they hear? Can you hear this torment of mine, this bittersweet cantata, the siren on the rocks by SS Acheron luring those nearby to her doom? Do you hear the siren call of the hunting grounds, the place where the beasts feast and the prey prays do you know the nature of the monster inside do you hear him roar in time with your core, the heart he would tear apart rend to the end heiscomingwhoiscomingI AM COMING IamtheoneIamthebeastandyouaretheprey IamthemonsterIamthemonster "I AM THE MONSTER!"

He had lost all track of time, distance travelled, trapped in a tussle with his mind, a fight he knew he would lose as the roaring grew louder with every passing second. Saliva hung from his mouth, and dampness ran down his cheeks from his eyes. He looked to see the others staring at him in horror. He could see the carotid arteries pulsing faster and faster as their fear increased the rate of the heart and with the rate of the heart came the rate of the roar and with the rate of the roar he would be no more. He briefly saw himself, claws millimetres from the neck of the youngest, having moved blindingly fast such that the others could not react.

"NO!" he cried, hurling himself out through the doorway, smashing the door in the process. The horses, sensing the bloodlust that now oozed from all his pores, bucked and reared, fighting their restraints as the carriage rocked. It would take the occupants some time to calm the horses enough to continue their journey. Acheron was already gone, a streak of black across the plains. His control was all but snapped, a rocket streaking across the world in search of something, anything to satiate the roaring hunger that had swamped his soul. His brain was filled with the harsh cry, escaping his lips and chilling to the bone all those who heard it. What remained of his conscious clung on tightly, trying to nudge the rocket away from any sign of humanity.

"RRAAAAAEEEEEEEEGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
 
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Lumaceon

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Jul 23, 2014
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Not Kansas
Sylvia browsed the table. Meat, meat, meat, slightly-overcooked meat, and....more meat. Or maybe she was exaggerating; there were some options for those, like her, that found meat a little distasteful, but it was pretty darn clear she was the odd-one-out in that respect. She selected an orange and began peeling it with fingernails that were surprisingly smooth, compared to most of the soldiers around this place. In fact, most of Pert was that way: rough....rugged....odorous? Yeah, definitely smelly. Actually, the smell was kinda sickening at times.

With the orange slice halfway in her mouth, an idea came across Sylvia. From what she'd learned in her recent magical studies, this heavy, leather-covered tome in front of her was now a soul siphon, absorbing and holding pieces of those who'd died nearby. Either a sanctuary, or a prison; perhaps both. Perhaps, though, one of them would like to share in the joys of a juicy, succulent orange.

She flipped through the first few pages, each one holding an ornate symbol of many colors. The first 3 had the same symbol: likely a "Sylvia" symbol. Continuing forward: a few adolescent goblins, followed by the couple that nearly killed her sister. She glared at the page. Nope. They did not deserve an orange. Never. She'd let the younger ones enjoy it. Flipping back a few pages, Sylvi placed her palm on the symbol of each page and yanked out the soul, attaching it to her own.

With each one, she found another voice in her head. It wasn't quite another voice though, more like her own thoughts after having been run through a filter. Or, three filters, this case.

Meat. Why don't I like meat? Meat is delicious....and disgusting. But there's an orange; oranges are good....ish. Yes! Delicious orange. Eat the orange. Sylvia looked entirely confused and conflicted as she gobbled up the orange in an unusually eager manner. Her face looked uncharacteristically lively as she grabbed a chicken leg, emotions shifting every few seconds.

No, I REALLY don't like meat, but it's so delicious looking, why is it so delicious looking? HEY, it's one of you isn't it? It wasn't Sylvia's normal behavior, but as much as she tried to separate her own mind from the others', they were all intertwined too tightly. Stop it! Meat is just....well maybe it wouldn't hurt to try. Sylvia took a hearty bite of the chicken leg and promptly wolved down the rest of it in a moment of simple joy. DARN IT this is amazing and horrible and you three REALLY need to get back in the book now....

....but ya know, this confidence and energy is amazing. I feel like I could tackle the world....but I shouldn't....but why not? Live life a little. Life is short. That boy over there....oh gosh no.
Sylvia turned her gaze to Chuck, looking as if she was disgusted with herself. He's totally interested in me, right? Love is in the air no, he's a creep. Seize the day!

Sylvi suddenly stood and launched herself towards Chuck, straight into a full-fledged kiss. It lasted all of two seconds before the other part of her that insisted it was a bad idea curled up a fist and smacked the two of them apart with an uppercut to the both of their jaws. She looked furious, almost like it was him that'd come onto her. "BACK! IN! THE! BOOK!" She shouted, tearing three lights out of her with a flash of magic, tossing them in the book and slamming it. Gosh, those three were annoying!

There was a moment of silence. Sylvi was always the quiet, timid one that never raised her voice or caused a fuss, so to do both was a shock to say the least. Plus, she had shouted LOUDLY. With her normal personality back in place, the reality of the situation hit her like a full-speed train and her face went white. Sitting back down, she looked down at the ground, trying to hide the rest of her face with her long hair.

Luckily for Sylvia, and possibly Chuck, Palavalo was quick to deliver the briefing. She'd never appreciated his promptness more than right now. Still, as much as she wanted to blend into the background at the moment, she'd heard of the death three days ago and wasn't convinced on the "ease" of this mission. "I umm....I was wondering...." do you know how to become invisible, she finished in her mind. If only. "If you don't mind....do you know anything about ork tactics? And if it isn't too much trouble....could I be assigned to fight the magicians?"
 
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Someone Else 37

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More orks? Great... Linessa thought, remembering the raid a few days earlier and how badly that had gone. A simple mission? Linessa quietly doubted that. But hopefully this raid would go more smoothly. It sounded like the entire group here would be going to one place, rather than being split up as they had been the other day. Perhaps the nature mage who had healed her back at the inn would be there this time. Were he present when Linessa's group was previously fighting the orks, he might have been able to heal Cait... she she might not have died.
 

Eruantien

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Padding down the hall to the tune of ever-growing chatter, Fiona rounded a corner and came upon the main gathering chamber, where this morning had been set with a fresh spread of food. Many were already present, even so early in the morning. Silly morning people, Fiona thought, yawning. Her eyes wandered across the room, taking in all the sounds and smells. Suddenly, she froze, fixated upon one pair in particular. "Ooh, that idiot wouldn't have," she muttered venomously, watching as Sylvia's punch knocked the two of them out of their kiss. There could only be one explanation for this behavior.

Although her feet were dragging, Fiona pushed through the crowd, thrusting people aside to reach the table where her twin's would-be devotee sat at. She heard Sylvia yell at Chuck, and then a flash of light. It was uncharacteristic of her twin to do these things, but Fiona was glad she could at least stand up for herself. Coming up behind the bench Sylvia and Chuck were sitting at, Fiona grabbed onto Chuck's hair and vaulted over his head, standing atop the table. Not letting go of his hair, Fiona leaned into his face and scream-shouted, "Don't. Touch. My. Sister!!" Each word was accompanied by a backhanded slap. Seething, Fiona let go of Chuck's hair and upturned his plate of food into his face, then jumped down to sit directly across the table from the boy. She shot an incredulous look toward her twin and began to build her own breakfast, her features morphing back into a solidly hateful stare toward Chuck.

This was bound to be an interesting day, even though Fiona had no idea whatsoever of the generals' foolhardy plans. She sipped a cup of vegetable juice absentmindedly, thinking of more ways to ruin any sort of attachment Chuck was somehow growing, like a weed in mud, toward Sylvia. Her eyes were half-closed, the lack of beauty sleep showing. This place wasn't any sort of place for the twins. What was this all even about? Visions of adventure and excitement, a life away from this awful village, grew in her mind. Maybe they could nick some sort of transportation... gather supplies, start over elsewhere... she'd have to ask Sylvi about it later today. Fiona shook her head and re-focused her spiteful gaze against Chuck.
 
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lenscas

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Nahiri did not at all like the sound of the new mission, mostly because of how the previous went but regardless tried to get the best out of the breakfast.

However, while she was eating she noticed that the twin and Chuck where not exactly liking each other company and started yelling at each other. Nahiri didn't spend much attention to it, it had happened before and didn't result in anything serious thus this time it would most like end like that again and getting involved wouldn't help much if anything at all.

Nahiri however quickly regretted not getting involved as when she looked to those three again she didn't saw Fiona and saw that Chuck was unconscious, most like thanks to Dubhan.


Thanks to the surprise Nahiri had no idea what to do and as a result, just sat there the piece of bread she was about to eat still in her hand.