Rebirth Cycle Event 722: The Magma Beast

[Victor Amielle]

“I could attempt to enhance projectiles with Transmutation, or reshape them”, Victor confirmed. He appreciated Lorogh’s interest in his chosen magic and the intelligent questions that he asked. “In my opinion, it would be faster and more efficient if I fired corrosive ether missiles at our targets though, provided that they turn out to be vulnerable to them. I haven’t learned the quality of ice”, he added in a somewhat dry tone of voice. He had learned the quality of the warmth of a flame, but that was something that might strengthen the creatures rather than weakening them.

With that thought in mind, he followed the cadouri over to the ballista and looked it over for a few moments. It would be good to know how exactly these things worked and what exactly they were made of, just in case he needed to use his magic on them after all, he decided.

When Lorogh wanted to know if there was a way to light the Magma Beast up, he inclined his head in conformation. “I could conjure an orb of light”, he replied. “Should it turn out to be necessary, I could in fact make it bright enough to distract or temporarily blind the creature”, he added. He was not bragging, but merely stating a fact. He could already think of numerous ways to use his magic during this mission. He just needed to figure out which one the group would be able to benefit the most from.

“I can’t think of an easy way to enchant the siege weaponry, unless you are thinking of simply making it more resistant to damage, but I could fire corrosive ether missiles at the creatures, as I already mentioned before. If I manage to dissolve or weaken their armor, or even temporarily distract them, you will likely have an easier time dealing with them”, he decided in a calm tone of voice when he heard Sergeant Vairn’s words. That – as well as bolstering their defenses should they be at risk of getting damaged – seemed to be the best and most reasonable use of his magic to him for the time being.

He just needed to be able to get a closer look at one of the creatures and find out if there was anything to corrode somehow.

He did not leave the relative safety of their defenses that were made up of walls of wooden planks and shields in the open spaces though, not even for a moment or move closer to the edge – such would be a foolish course of action in his opinion considering that the creatures were approaching.

He simply took a look at them before he asked his familiar to observe them – but stay inside the range of the crystal. Did the creatures have any part that looked like he might be able to dissolve it with his magic?

No matter if making use of his falcon helped or not, he would eventually ask Shay to watch their backs again – he was still worried about the creatures trying to sneak up on them and ambushing them. His Gleam Sight had already turned out to be exceptionally useful; he couldn’t keep an eye on everything at the same time regardless though.

“I’ve asked my familiar to watch our backs in case some of those creatures appear behind us”, he stated – he considered it prudent to share what he was doing with Sergeant Vairn. Doing something and not letting the others know about it might affect the outcome of the mission negatively. In his opinion, they needed to work as a team, a unit.

The creatures began to swirl around in the magma before the wall, and the Transmuter tensed his body ever so slightly, preparing himself for an attack – except that no attack came. The creatures didn’t retreat either though which caused him to furrow his brow for a moment.

When Vairn exclaimed that they weren’t sure what to make of those walls, he nodded. That made sense, he decided. “I will”, he replied when she told him to be ready to shore up defenses if they got damage. So, he continued to watch the area carefully, making use of his Gleam Sight. If the creatures attacked and threatened to break though, he would attempt to bolster the exact point of attack and feed ether into it in order to try and stabilize it.

[Russel Kandor]

It had been some time since Russel had operated as a part of a larger unit, but his old infantry habits were not so far gone that he could not fall back into the routine. With Raynarde at one flank and Balder at the other, and he leading point, they trio had self-selected into a scouting regiment. He was glad for the foreigner's sword and the calvaryman's shield, their focus on wayward attacks let him focus on the weaving trail these creatures left behind. He was even happier for their positioning when one of the creature's revealed themselves, popping up from the lava like how he imagined his Otter-Cadouri friend would emerge from water.

"T-they, look l-like worms," he half-replied to Reynarde, pointing out the sudden emergence with his free hand. He was only able to spot the creature's head, but it's alien shape and armored exterior was enough to set the hunter on edge. That didn't exactly inspire a feeling a safety in the private. If a predator was smart enough to avoid a fight, they were typically smart enough to direct prey where to go. And if that's what the little ones looked like, he was not exacted to discover the larger ones.

The sound of shields raising and stamping feet was enough to dissuade that creature from testing their defenses, and at Brandon's command began to move again. He saluted at the sergeant's personal command. Now that he had eyes on the trail, they had a much better chance to avoid being ambushed.

As they moved, the youth looked seriously at Balder and Reynarde. "S-stick close. My eyes are on t-t-the t-trail, n-not on the s-surroundings. M-makes me an easy t-target for surprise at-tacks. If I'm-m-m to keep this t-trail, I'll need y-you both g-guarding my flanks."

There process was slow, but steady. If it wasn't for the environment demanding shields be kept up, Russel could have taken Balder and Reynarde ahead to search for the convergence of these trails. But, limited as they were, they were forced to take a more slovenly approach. He called out more trails as they pushed forward, with a worm occasionally peeking out from the magma to monitor the group, and Russel couldn't shake the feeling that they were being funnelled somewhere.

"S-shite, where are y-you g-going?" the young hunter muttered to himself, but not so quietly that his companions could not here. The trails were getting confusing as the moved forward through the narrow sections, oftentimes diving deep enough that he couldn't catch the disturbance. They danced and burrowed around each other[, and if it wasn't for their general pack movement, he might've lost them completely.

After they shuffled through the smaller gap and back into the open lava field, the trails began to clarify and seperate. Still small, but converging in circular motions around a central position. Like so many insects heading back to a hive. There was no sign of anything larger than what they already encountered, but the positioning of these tracks struck him as odd.

"Everyone! S-sergeant! T-trails are c-converging t-there!" He pointed out the larger central space in which the beasts trails appeared to be circling. "N-no sign of the l-larger b-b-beastie! S-same small ones as b-before! They're c-circling s-something! M-might be their n-nest!"

He'd wait for responses and questions, especially from Reynarde and Balder, who were with him at every point of his tracking endeavor, and the Sergeant, whose command had the final word. Following those, he'd offer his own thoughts.

"H-hard to recommend an approach f-for an an-n-nimal we don't know much about. W-we could rally w-with the other units, then p-push forward. Or w-we could try to p-piss it off enough, d-disturp where it r-rests, and c-catch it by s-surprise as it s-surfaces f-from the n-nest. If it is t-the n-nest." Russel shrugged, accepting that there was never going to be enough detail to make the right decision in this moment. The best one, maybe, but not the right one.

"M-might be enough to t-tilt a f-fight in our f-favor, especially since we g-got here b-before the others and with us k-k-keeping pace with the l-little uns."

[Catalina]

Catalina

The military people did what they did and Raynarde had to admit that they did it effectively and efficiently. However, she would also be quick to admit that she was happier being outside that particular group and in the small trio of people who had somehow stumbled together. She listened as Russel spoke, and her gaze fell on him and Balder and she nodded. "Worms are bait," she said quietly. It was true, when one was fishing off the side of a ship, then worms were used as a bait. She wondered if that was the case now, if these worms were the bait and she glanced at the two of them. "We're the fish."

It was how it felt - like they were being pulled in until the worm-things which were magma-things could surround them, cut off their escape and cutting them off from the rest of their numbers. When Russel spoke again, urging them to stay close, Raynarde listened carefully and she nodded. "We have each others back," she said, and she made sure that she followed through on what she said. Russell needed them watching out for him so, she looked at Balder and nodded. "You take his left, I take his right. We keep an eye on each other." There was no question in her voice, no hint of doubt. Raynarde was not someone who doubted and while she would accept that there might be better plans, this was the only plan they had and so, it was best that they committed to it completely.

She didn't like it as they moved through smaller spaces and it was harder, in the darkness, to see the movements of her companions, but she kept her eyes peeled and she was happier as they got back to a position where they could be checking each other again. And then, Russell suggested that it was a nest.

Of course it was a nest, she thought. What else would it be? If there was an immortal here, she'd spit in their eye because life just worked that way that - inevitably - it was a nest. Russell's suggestions were good, and she had only one thing to add.

"If it protects its nest, like other animals, we should have a ranged attack ready to go and a command to attack it." She spoke this to the Sergent, to Russell and to Balder. "If we are getting overwhelmed, it will be easy to defend and focus - but a single attack on the nest might cause the creatures to back off to defend their nest." She looked at Russell and gave a grin. She looked confident, because she felt it. "Of course it's a nest. We're cut off from the others, surrounded by fire and magma worms. So, it's a nest. Because life is like that." Her words were dire, but her expression not. This was the excitement that she understood and enjoyed. This was fun.

Adjusting her hat to ensure that the angle was just-so and that she didn't get any glare from the sun, Raynarde looked out. What else could it be, she wondered, if it wasn't a nest? "If they have tactical brains, they'll attack us while we're separated." Or, of course, they'd attack the other groups. Either way, what happened in the next few moments would tell them a lot about these creatures and as Raynarde freed her sword completely from its scabbard, she wondered if any of them would live to tell anyone else about what they found out.

Except her. She knew that she would survive.

She always did.

equipment

Sword (swish swish)
clothing (mid-thigh leather boots, trousers, blouse, waistcoat)
Hat (worn at a jaunty angle)
Water - lots of water.
A hip flask with rum
A whistle
Crossbow (pistol crossbow thingie ma bob)
Medical bag (no idea what to do with it, but hey, just in case!)

[Lorogh]

"We definitely don't want to expose the wooden bits from stone. SO we'll establish a terrace with the wood if necessary, but lay down the stone and mortar now, and raise the terraces as needed!" Lorogh shouted to the soldiers on hand to help build the walls that would protect the ballistas.

Lorogh's brain turned over the ways to make the building of the wall more advantageous for the ballstae, and decided that the slats through which they'd fire would need more room and more angles from which to fire. But they only needed a slight opening through which to do so. Ballistas should be able to adjust their position just enough to aim one way or the other, perhaps by building side-ways wheels that could scootch them over to pan their firing range.

He didn't appear to have time to relate these ideas to the Sergeant, as it seemed the Magma Beasts were on the move now. Lorogh would have to act quickly and take some executive decisions onto himself. Such as it was in battle.

So he began directing the soldiers to building a section of wall at a time, starting with the wooden frame supports, and then the stone in front of them. There were masoned blocks of stone in all manner of shapes, which were perfectly adequate for the creation of those triangular parapets that could allow for a range of movement by archers and ballistae. These he used for the parapets through which the seige weapons would fire.

He only hoped he had enough time, given the Magma Beasts were attacking!

[Balder]

As he stood with his shield ready Balder was relieved to see the others form a wall of shields. If the beast attacked them they would need as much of a defense as possible to hold it back. While the Lothar was confident in his own strength should it come to it, he wasn't enough to fight off a monster of that scale by himself. Especially with smaller creatures seemingly filling the area. There was no telling how many or how powerful they were, but suddenly the number advantage was on the opposing side.

It wasn't a good situation to be in.

As Raynarde told him to take the left of Russel, Balder nodded in return. She had confidence in her voice, there was no question or consideration, it was a statement of fact. Something about it was reassuring. "Sounds good to me. Nothing gets through us if we work together" he smiled for a moment, mirroring the same confidence. No doubt in his mind, such was the way of Raskalarn and her blessed. Unrelenting ferocity. Even the blessing gave him that aura just by having it, a mark left by the Immortal of Eternal Empress on her blessed.

"Being ready to attack the nest is a good idea. But we'll need a plan B for the rest of us if we get overwhelmed. If it turns out not to be a nest and we just piss it off, we'll have to figure another way away from it. Or a way to push it back" he nodded, though he clearly liked the idea of the nest. It was smart thinking. He'd been right to trust the adventurer. Just because they weren't a part of the empire didn't mean they weren't competent or capable. Time had shown him that much. While he firmly believed the Empire was the best place to go for anyone with military ambition, an army that was capable of taking out any threat it needed to, that didn't mean they were the only soldiers worth respecting.

With his only input being thrown into the conversation, he kept his eyes focused on the potential threats, knowing that Raynarde had his back covered. There was a safety to working in a team and this was no exception. He couldn't help but smirk a little at the adrenaline of it all. "Once this is all over, and we all make it out of this unscathed, you're all welcome to join me for a drink at the local tavern. All this talk of magma beasts and danger has me thirsty" he grinned.

[Basilisk]

The Eternal Empire

The Imperial Codex

GROUP 1


The group made it to their next stopping point and Russel pointed out the big area that the little worms were swirling around. He made some suggestions as to what they might do in terms of dealing with the nest, especially if it was where the big magma beast was waiting. Then Raynarde gave a suggestion on them being ready to attack the nest and Bradon nodded at that, giving the order to make ready for an attack on the nest. The archers in their group got prepared to fire on what they believed was the nest, and there was a pause as they waited to see what the worms would do. It transpired, however, that they were currently not interested in the group.

Instead, they kept circling the empty space in the magma field, and then that space started to crack in a spiral pattern before the crack trail began to move away from the circle. The smaller trails moved out of the way and it quickly became apparent that the bigger trail was identical to the smaller ones except for size. Then, as they watched, the trail cracked open and the Magma Beast crawled out of the lava fields, magma dripping off its body as it showed itself. Then, with what sound like a great snort, it turned to face the group and let out what sound like a retching sound before it spat up a massive ball of magma at the group. "Get out from under it! Move!" Sergeant Brador called out, knowing that while the magma wouldn't burn anyone, they could still be crushed and injured that way.

The area where it was going to land, near their shield crystal, cleared out and no one was injured, but it was clear that the Magma Beast had some way of telling where they were, because it seemed to watch them, as if wondering why magma it had spit at them wasn't having a particularly noticeable effect. "Well, we found the big one." Bradon said, his tone still calm and composed. "It's no good for us to try and run it down in the field, but we're ready for it if it comes to us. In the meantime, archers, fire on smaller beasts!" he called as the little beasts began to emerge around their leader. "See if we can thin their numbers before we move on to the main course." he said, his tone calm. Then the small beasts that were nearby swarmed out of the magma and onto the shore, getting a growl from Brador. "Swords out and shields up! Infantry, time to earn your pay." he called, as the regular infantry got into position to start fighting with the little beasts.

GROUP 2

The second group was still having trouble with the beasts. The one that Straif had smashed against the ground was clearly dead, with some kind of orange blood oozing from its corpse, but she couldn't use her wind magic on the other two. Cad was mostly seeming stunned by the sudden emergence of the beasts, but he did manage to get out a command to crust the worms to Mountain.With Cad's permission. The big thrall got to work, but while was able to crush the one trying to pull Scraid into the magma, as whatever magic he was using managed to calm it enough that it loosed its hold. The one attached to the infantry soldier was still struggling with his worm and Scraid moved over to use his magic on it as well. As they struggled, the Magma Beast emerged from the lava field, much closer to the first group. "Damnit, we were not supposed to get held up." she muttered under her breath. "We improvise then." she said, as the wind started to pick up around her again, though this time it was clear she was preparing for a bigger spell. Despite that, however, there were more of the little ones on their way to the second group.

GROUP 3

The third group was getting its siege engines and defensive wall up, and with each plank of the wall put into place, the less the worms seemed inclined to attack. Victor's Gleam Sight was showing that they were retreating slightly. Lorogh, meanwhile, had commented on the wooden defenses and Vairn nodded. "The wooden defense go up first because they can be built quicker than the stone ones, and we can't leave the stone defenses up on these smaller platforms or they melt from the magma." she said, her voice calm. Still, she let the privates go about the work of building the wall while she observed the rest of the field they would be firing over.

Then the Magma Beast burst out of the field and fired on a distant target, which she could make out as the first group. "So at least the big one has a projectile. Our shields will protect us from harm by fire or magma, but we can still get crushed by it." she said, her voice giving no indication that she was doing anything more stressful than taking a walk through the garden path. Then, as the main beast emerged, the little ones decided that they could take the defenses and began to rush the wall. "Well now. Time to get to work." she said, her tone still relaxed. "Archers, fire on the little ones. Infantry, keep them from getting over the walls. Ballistas, focus your attentions on the big one for now." she said, before glancing at Victor. "Now might be a good time to see how they like your corrosive missiles, Warlock Amielle." she said, her tone calm as she grabbed a heavy crossbow and fired over the wall at the worms.

Map

Magma Beast

!	Message from: Basilisk
	Sorry for the delay in posting, I was sick yesterday. Next post will be on Thursday, the 28th. You can miss two rounds of posting, then you're out of the event. thank you all for you patience.

[Victor Amielle]

Victor was pretty sure that the creatures would eventually try to attack, and he was ready to bolster their defenses with his magic in that case so that they wouldn’t be able to reach the soldiers. No attack came though. With every plank that was put in place, the worms seemed to be less inclined to attack, in fact, which was … well, not underwhelming because not being attacked was ultimately a good thing. It was just surprising.

“They are retreating slightly”, he remarked to Vairn who didn’t possess his Gleam Sight and might thus not notice that and furrowed his brow as he wondered what their next course of action would be.

He looked at Lorogh who was taking care of their defenses and listened to him attentively. The cadouri seemed to know exactly what he was doing, so he nodded at him encouragingly before he let his gaze sweep across the area once more. As he did so, he reconsidered the engineer’s previous request that he enchant the siege weaponry.

“There is one thing that we could try after all. I mentioned being able to conjure corrosive ether bolts before. I could try and task one of the projectiles for the ballistas with corrosion. If it fails, we might end up with a molten and useless projectile rather than something potentially capable of destroying the creature’s armor though”, he pointed out.

He didn’t think that their lives would depend on that single projectile that might be ruined, and he didn’t think there’d be any other negative effects apart from a ruined projectile, but it would be better to mention it, nevertheless.

Provided that Loroth agreed to the little experiment he had proposed, he would focus, for concentration was vital when altering an object, direct ether into one of the projectiles and proceed to do everything that was necessary in order to task it with Corrosion before he went back to scanning the area. He found it strange that the big beast still hadn’t shown itself, and that the smaller ones weren’t more aggressive. Perhaps, he thought …

… perhaps it was simply the calm before the storm though?

When the big Magma Beast finally appeared, close to the first group, and started spitting magma, he found his suspicion confirmed. Like Vairn, he remained calm, to a great extent, even as the smaller beasts changed their mind and began to rush their walls – panicking wouldn’t do him any good right now. Neither did he say anything – there was no time for words anymore.

When he heard Vairn’s command, he simply raised a hand, quickly, and conjured a ball of ether that possessed a curious opalescent quality (a result of one of his mutations), energizing it before he tasked it with Corrosion, aimed carefully and fired over the wall at the small worms.

With any luck, the ether missile would weaken their armor, or have some other sort of negative effect. Even if it didn’t corrode anything, the beasts might still feel something though as his little duel with Balthazar Black who had become his initiate later on had proven – ether missiles were often described as both burning and eerily cold at the same time – which would hopefully distract them for a moment, or briefly make them pause.

[Catalina]

Catalina

Raynarde stood her ground as things progressed, although she wanted to turn tail and run. She turned a brief grin to the Lotharro who was inviting them to drinks and she nodded. "I will be there," she said. Her grin widened. "Perhaps we can make things interesting, play some cards?" Raynarde liked playing cards - she had the devil's own luck after all. That was all she said on that, though, as things moved quickly and they needed to keep their focus.

They prepared for attacking a nest, but it wasn't one. Instead, a large magma beast emerged and Raynarde's eyes widened in surprise - and fear. She was arrogant, she was determined, but she was not a hardened fighter and she had never seen anything like this. She took a step backwards, a stream of Rakahi emerging from her as she swore. The only Common words were suggesting that it was a rather large creature who had inappropriate relationships with its parents.

And it was not only big, but it seemed to have a cold, she thought, until it became obvious that it wasn't coughing so much as retching up magma at them. Raynarde moved with the others, seeking cover and making sure that the big lump of magma didn't land on her. And it was watching. It was definitely watching them. That was something which Raynarde had not expected, not at all. It was watching, it was considering, it was - she suspected - learning, but there were no eyes that she could see.

Maybe it saw cold, like some creatures saw hot, she figured. Living in the conditions it did, sensing heat seemed like a pointless thing for it. Then, also, maybe it heard or sensed vibrations through the floor. There might even be time to test that, but as Bradon called to pick off the smaller beasts, they swarmed forward. That meant that the group had no option now and so, Raynarde readied her sword and got herself ready to kill the creatures. She figured slicing them through would be the best bet, but equally, she needed to make sure that the three of them stayed together, that they defended each other and, of course, that she didn't end up slashing one of her companions because she was slicing. So, rather than slice, she opted for stabbing, since the environment seemed to suggest it.

And that was what she did. Defended herself and the other two with her, and stabbed at the creatures. If she could, she'd try and find if they had areas of particular weakness, but if not, then multiple stabbage was the answer.

equipment

Sword (swish swish)
clothing (mid-thigh leather boots, trousers, blouse, waistcoat)
Hat (worn at a jaunty angle)
Water - lots of water.
A hip flask with rum
A whistle
Crossbow (pistol crossbow thingie ma bob)
Medical bag (no idea what to do with it, but hey, just in case!)

[Lorogh]

WIth the help of the fellow soldiers and infantrymen, Lorogh directed the soldiers on how to set the stones and mortar on the fortiifcation, to make it provide the maximum cover he could while allowing a full range of aiming for the ballistas and crossbows. It took some time, time they didn't really have, but he did his best.

It was around then that Victor offered to task any of Lorogh's projectiles for his ballista with Corrosion. Lorogh quickly accepted, "That sounds like a capital idea! Even if it melts or disintegrates the projectile, there are more where that came from, so there's no sense in not trying it. That said, he waited for Victor to concentrate on the qualities of the bolt, and watched with wonder as he worked his magic, his ether glowing from his hands to the bolt.

Provided the bolt didn't explode or disintegrate or otherwise fail right then and there, he'd load it into the ballista. That done, the ballista was already fully drawn, the torsion springs on either side of the bow limbs fully engaged. He took up position behind the ballista, and readied his aim. "On my mark, Ballistas!" Lorogh shouted to the rest, "Hold!"

Lorogh waited until he had a good shot on the largest center of mass on the Magma Beast's body. It wouldn't do any good at all to fire and miss. He wanted to make every shot count, and he knew his limits. While a shot against its head or other more vulnerable spots on its body might do more damage, he was not confident that he could hit it from this distance. Maybe if it got closer...

He fired at the Magma Beast's carapace, letting the enchanted bolt fly toward its armored hide. He didn't waste any time after that, but shouted at the rest of the ballista teams, "Hold your fire until twenty trills, then Ballista two will signal to fire, then twenty trills, signal the next to fire! This will ensure a steady stream of bolts flying at our Magma Beast!"

This said, Lorogh immediately with the help of his team, began drawing the ballista's cord back and tightening the torsion springs, making sure that they were locked in place so it wouldn't fire prematurely. It would take some time, but by the time the rest of the ballista's fired, he'd likely be ready to launch another bolt at the beast.

[Balder]

"Sounds like a plan to me" Balder smirked at the idea of playing cards, knowing he had already made a good choice of comrades for this adventure. If they were willing to talk casually in the face of danger, while remaining focused on the mission at hand, then he felt comfortable around them. It was how he had always handled missions with the cavalry, maintaining a calm demeanour but never letting his focus slip.

As the group continued to press forward Balder kept his shield held up, maintaining a defensive position, up until the movement begun. He glanced aside and saw the beast before the order to move rang out. Quickly, Balder stepped aside, ensuring that Russel and Raynarde were close to him and that he didn't get separated from them. His back remained close to Russel as soon as they had avoided the blast from the mouth of the giant creature. As soon as he laid his eyes on the creature he felt a tense feeling in his chest, seeing the massive beast in front of him. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. Fighting in the cavalry didn't offer many opportunities to see or fight giant monsters like this one.

Then came the wave of creatures, Balder fighting in formation with Russel and Raynarde to the best of his ability. He swung his flail down on the smaller beasts to try and thin out their numbers, the weapon making a whoosh sound as he wound it up with each strike, the spikes tearing through the beasts with some ease. As he did he held his shield up high, preparing to push back any creatures that got too close if he had to.