The Rise of the Fallen (Graded)

[Nox Cross]

The ground gives way, there was no time for anyone to react. But, the way the ground crumbled caused no fatal casualties. Nox could feel the shard in his rear being pushed deeper because of the fall and the impact with the ground. He rallied his men; they are all still in a state of confusion.

Strange, the fog stays above ground. It’s unnatural, but what have been natural with the ecosystem here? Look at that fucking swamp, filled with intelligent faunas capable of organizing and using strategies. This whole place is one fucked up region.

“Äz arms, quäïrrïsk ína’vas ato’ni räsï f’asc’eth äz ädà venäs. Nêräïnï äz ädà räsï. M’ira dyju vu smas ïnêthï hur’tith. Nêuï adarithi isiliski, ennorasa vu ko’sva uirith! (To arms, those not wounded move to the front. Tend to the wounded. Keep a close quarter defense. Two on one, form a half circle!”

“The rest of you, follow the formation!”

Nox shouted the orders. Nox also ordered the people behind the defense line to gather wood and cloths and to make a torch. He used his flint to jumpstart a torch then they spread the fire around until all the torches are on fire. Arriving at the crossroad, he split the group into three. One to go to the left side, one to go to the right side and the third to stay there and set up a perimeter, along with the wounded.

Nox drew a rune of touch on his hands and he held his hands in front of each passageway, feeling the flow of wind, to determine if there are something obstructing along the passageway. Then he took two torches and threw them as far as he could into both passageways. He waited before he gave the orders to move forward as they could not pinpoint the source of the groans and growls because of it echoes. The groans and the growls are enough to make his men scared add to that the child’s screaming.

What on Idalos is a child doing in here? Fuck!

“Lyn, scout ahead for me, but don’t get too occupied if you find a new plaything.”

“Am not at your beck and call.”

“Fuck off then, I’ll have the playthings for myself then.”

“Fine,” Lyn went to scout the right passageway.

Vauni Language

[Cervantez]

☠ Zi'da 10, 718, Afternoon ☠
☠ Mood: Annoyed
☠ Current Thought: My magic has no effect
☠ Current Theme: Bloodstained Philosophy
☠ Attire: Current Outfit

☠ This was not good at all. Njama should have pounced on the beast by now, why wasn't he attacking?! It wasn't looking good the more trills that past.

The beast now had his blade in hand, and it didnt even sink that far into its hand. Just what was this thing made out of? The Lothar snarled, feeling the nails dig into his flesh.

He didnt want to have to tangle with this beast any longer than normal. He filled his free hand with withering essence, and gripped the beast neck, fully expecting the creature to writhe in pain as the flesh corroded from its bones. But nothing........nothing was happening, no reaction, no roars of agony.

The flamming orbs widened as he came to realize a grave fact...............his necromancy didnt work on them. That realization both sent a shiver of fear down his back, as well as a surge of adrenaline through him. His animalistic nature showing as he snarled even louder at the beast.

Luckily for him, another yari attacked the beast's leg causing its balance to wain.

"Attack again!!!! Do it now while it is wide open!!!!"

he shouted to whoever had done the damage. If more than one person were to be attacking, the creature would sure fold under the combined efforts of two yari warriors☠

"Speech"

[Mastemyr]

Mastemyr Kaidonis

》 Son of Aelig 《

The same slumbering lion that lounged in the sun, the one that chased butterflies in its youth, always grew up to be a fearsome beast. It was its nature; the cycle of life. Mastemyr’s blood soaked through his shirt, rolled down his arm to in thick rivets as he fought back the lusus naturae, his shield struggling to stay lifted with his injured shoulder. Someone had come to his aid, slicing at the foe’s leg and propelling it off balance, and he didn’t need the shout of encouragement to enable his instincts. You always lunged when prey was weak.

Mastemyr, skin a dusky black from the partial transformation, leapt in the air and came down upon the figure, burying his claws into its flesh and sinking his teeth into the side of its neck. The taste was sickening, blood bursting onto his tongue as the scent pervaded his senses. It smelled of rot, but it was hard to fight the desire to kill the threat. Life or death. Fight or flight. It tried to reach back but he bit down harder, nostrils flaring as thick liquid rolled down his chin. He reared back, tearing his claws down and then pulled back just enough to shove the monster away from him.

It struggled on the ground for a moment, but otherwise seemed incapacitated. They needed to hurry.

“There was a child,” he tried, his words guttural and clumsy with his sharpened teeth. His eyes darted around, looking to the mage, and then to the woman who had come to his aid, “Follow,” he tried to urge, the heat signatures darting around in the fog. Mastemyr turned, hoping they would stay close enough to keep sight of him and tried to the lead the group further into the madness; towards the one thing they might still be able to save.

[Aegis]

Date

Mastemyr & Cervantez & Rabu

Through their combined efforts, Mastemyr and Cervantez managed to slay the large creature, while Rabu was approaching them in his particularly tiny and hard to see form. Mastemyr decided to go after the child's heat signature, and as such, that took him toward the same hole in the ground that Nox had entered. The ramp was on the opposite side of the hole, so it was a ten foot drop on this side. Gathered around the far side were a bunch of redheads looking down in the hole, only a handful of which were holding weapons, and even less of those looking as if they did so with confidence.

"Our leader went down in there. We ain't seen him since."

The rock slide had covered one tunnel, and there were stones, debris and bodies from the tower collapse all around. The floor was not flat, for it seemed that much of the tower fell deeper than the next level down. Opposite the rockslide were two passage ways, one on the left, one on the right. The floors appeared solid in both passages, though the left slanted downward while the right stayed level. A child's scream rang out again, but it was impossible to tell from where.

"We've heard her screamin' for a hot minute now. But we ain't goin' down in that bullshit. We'll guard the hole though, cuz Nox is down there somewhere, Faldrun bless his dumb ass."

Clearly these people weren't Yari. No Yari leaves children to die. Just doesn't happen. Cowardly foreigners. Despicable. It seemed that the conflict immediately around the hole had abated, though there were still sounds of conflict further off. To an experienced Yari, the shouts and swears in the air were indication that the Yari were winning.

Praetorum

And so, after a few moments of what foreigners might call insanity, though Yari would consider a mildly interesting Tuesday, Praetorum would find himself alone. Thanks to Rabu's efforts, and Praetorum's own, much of the fog around him was clearing. And as his Taithir ability activated, soon several of the flying creatures were heading toward him, leaving poor, precious Yah alone, as well as any other cats in the area. The lizardman would see dozens of them circling, looking for an opening, coordinating with their screeches. They began to dive him, trying to force openings, so others could exploit them. All the while, Yah was chucking stones at creatures and Praetorum alike.

That was when a loud squawk rang out, and the sound of heavy wings could be heard by Praetorum. A shadow quickly covered Praetorum as a much larger version of these creatures crashed down toward the lizard man, claws extended. Mama was here, and she was at least six times Praetorum's size, and hungry. And mad, and she could smell her children's blood on his weapons, and she seemed to not require the fog like her children.

[Praetorum]

10th of Zi'da, Arc 718

Serpent's Hood had worked, very well. Too well, Prae would have said if he were less of an Ithecal. Instead, he didn't waste any time or energy thinking on exactly how well it had or should have worked, instead, focusing entirely on attempting not to get eaten.

Prae didn't need to count the silhouettes in the fog around him to know that he was thoroughly surrounded; if it weren't for the area of clear space around him, he would undoubtedly have been swarmed by now. Which meant his top priority was keeping the fog from closing back in. There were screeches, all around him, so loud that Prae nearly missed it when one of the creatures swooped in towards his back. 



There was a flutter of wind on the back of his neck, and Prae turned just in time to have one of the dogs try and claw at his face. On reflex, Prae's face jerked to the side as he brought his shield up, as if to protect his face from an arrow. But the creatures was too close, and instead, a claw caught him over the cheek as the rim of his shield slammed into the dog's ribs, knocking it out of the air. 



Prae didn't have time to register the pain or surprise as another screech sounded from his right, and another dog burst from the mist to attack. This time, Praetorum sidestepped it as it lunged at him, his scythe catching the creature just under the wings and dragging open a large wound across it's side. 



There was another flurry of screeches, angry sounding, and Prae let out a growl of his own. "Oi, if anyone's still out in the fog—" he shouted, hoping that there were still some yari nearby— "there's a few dozen flying hounds here that need killing again!" No answer. "Dunno how you lot do things in this city but—"


Whatever Prae was about to say, it caught in his throat as a shadow passed over him, his ears filling with the flapping of wings. He whirled around, in time to catch sight of the largest doglike thing he'd ever seen come swooping in towards him. 



Time seemed almost to slow for him as his brain went into overdrive, trying to figure out how he'd survive an attack from something like that. The creature was on the perfect trajectory to score Praetorum with its claws, and then presumably bite his head off, so staying where he was wasn't an option. And the creature was so massive, he didn't think he could get out of reach of its paws before it landed if he simply backpedaled. 



But a dog's range of motion was limited, he knew, and for it to reach something to its side, it would have to turn. It wasn't much, but it would buy him time to get an attack in, and maybe maneuver further out of the way. 



The right side left him with more open space to fight, but the left had a row of buildings, more stone cottages. If he could get it to crash into one...


With the shrieking of the mother hound in his ears, Prae activated Enduring Scales, just in case she did catch him with a claw, then dashed with all the speed his Paltharnum genetics allowed forwards and to the left, trying to get out of range of her claws as quickly as possible, then whirling around, and slicing out at the creature's wing, trying to ground her so she wouldn't be able to swoop at him.

[Cervantez]

☠ Zi'da 10, 718, Afternoon ☠
☠ Mood: Annoyed
☠ Current Thought: Jump in first
☠ Current Theme: Bloodstained Philosophy
☠ Attire: Current Outfit

☠ He heard the thud the creature made as it was finally dead, and Cerv let out a sigh of relief at that fact. Whatever this thing was, if there were more, it would be trouble, well maybe for any other city that is. In any case, he followed the voice that came through the fog, which said there was a child in danger.

Following the man, he came to a giant hole, the one that took out part of the wall. It was massive, and daunting, seeing the chasm that left a vulnerable chunk in Yaralon's defenses. If anyone got word, they could use this as an opportunity to attack us. He didnt like that thought, a growl escaping his lips.

To his surprise, it seemed that someone had already gone into the hole, and their mercenary company was beginning to worry. A sniff of the air and the fear on their faces fettered them out to be foreigners. It figured, a yari would have dove in after their commander, but he couldnt blame them for their cowardice. Well, he could but he wouldn't.

It was human nature to be afraid, but yari were afraid, how could they given the landscape they were born too. With that, Cervantez turned to Njama, petted his companion and dove into the hole. There was no hesitation as he let gravity do its job, hoping not to break anything on the way down. ☠

"Speech"

[Strange]

Praetorum

Praetorum shouted out, but no answer came. Not from a helpful Yari, not from any fellows, not from anything but......

The brood mother of the canine pack flew toward him. In a rush, she swooped to kill, to maim, to rend apart the daring lizard who stood all on his lonesome.

Except he no longer stood in place. The ithecal acted fast. Past buildings, and stone cottages, Praetorum ran to escape the diving attack. The demon howled, and a minor earthquake rippled through the area.

Praetorum would find his balance faltered as the street beneath him shook. The ithecal warrior whirled, and sliced out with his sword, but he lost his footing at the same time.

The demon-hound dodged the attack to her wing.

She spun about. Her skeletal tail crashed through one of the cottages, demolished it into a pile of rubble and stone. A low growl sounded and the demon swiped outward.

For this was not a mere dog, no matter what resemblance she may have had in appearance. She was a demon, and a pack leader and brood mother at that. The caninesque creature reached out and grabbed hold of Praetorum in its clawed paw like a monstrous humanoid might.

The demon’s claws tested the merit of Enduring Scales. A faint crunch, but the fear would be more for Praetorum than any actual pain.

She lifted into the sky, Praetorum firmly stuck in her grip. The litter of lesser demon-dogs followed with yips. The fog rolled along and they headed to where it was thickest, at a large hole that gradually widened as they approached.

Cervantez & Rabu

While Rabu reached the edge of the hole, the Tunawa would’ve seen a large Lothar jump down through the ten foot drop. Fog gradually rose from wherever passageways. Another tremor shook the ground around them, just as Cervantez landed.

Cervantez's feet hit a shaking ground. His balance thrown from one side to the other. Rocks crumbled and slid as the hole widened and deepened.

For a brief moment the Lothar saw the other man who’d felled the beast with him; before rocks crumbled and blocked the passageway and the man from sight.

There was only one path to take now.

The world settled again, the aftershock tremor quieted. Fog hovered around the Lothar’s legs and around his pet companion, leading into the remaining tunnel.

At the edge of the sinkhole, the Tunawa could look down through the rising dense fog.

Both could hear the cries of a child, still.

Njama would recognize what was coming before Cervantez did, and alert the master to danger...

...But Rabu would see it first.


A giant undead canine, of rotted flesh and exposed bone, swooped over the hole.


In its claws, it tightly clutched a large ithecal - Praetorum. She circled the sinkhole, then growled. At her heels, roughly a dozen lesser demon-pups followed.

The smaller demon-dogs started toward the hole, to attack those that hovered around the edges: the redheaded stragglers and the lone Tunawa.

Cervantez could see this, though the fog started to enter his eye sockets and create a tingling sensation in his skull like an icy headache. He could hear the child crying and screaming from the lone passageway that was opposite the caved-in tunnel that the previous dark-haired man had gone.

Time was of the essence.

!

Message from: Strange

Hello everyone, this marks the start of the next phase of this event. By player request, Mastemyr has departed the event and Rabu has passed this round. The current party is: Praetorum, Cervantez, and Rabu. You have until 09:00 AM GST on August 5 to post a reply. Each player may post up to THREE posts of any length (min. 250 words each) for this round. Contact me if you have any questions or otherwise. Do not assume success when it comes to major combat actions. Combat will be responded through either PM or mod notes. If you do not post before the deadline, you will "pass" the round and your character may or may not have things happen to them. If you wish to leave the event, please contact me to do so. Next Mod Post will be on August 7.

[Rabu]

Rabu poofed back to normal from his small existence as an ant as soon as he was far enough away from the lizards man's sight, the rain cloud that followed him dissipated as well. The mortal born's fearful trance still had a hold of him as he shot along the ground at alarming speeds pushing the fog pack in his wake. It wasn't until the cries of a child entered his ears that his eyes widened with recognition and his consciousness was brought back. His ears perched up to figure out where the sound was coming from and it led him to a dark hole in the ground. There was a massive man standing there but he leapt in the hole before Rabu could call out to him. The earth began to shake violently as the tunawa approached throwing him off his balance and sending him to the dirt. When he got up he saw that the hole had grown in size. His heart sunk with worry but he tried his best to calm down, maybe the tall folk hole jumper was okay.
"Is you alive down dere?" Rabu called down with a hushed voice that was barely audible, ether because he couldn't speak loudly or he didn't want to draw attention from something else.

Before he could hear a response though, The largest flying monster dog Rabu had ever seen swooped down from the sky. In its massive clutches was the lizard man from before. The beast circled around the hole calling out for its wicked children to join in the feast. Absolute horror took Rabu's mind again, his heart started to race and his legs followed suit again. He ran with his alarming speed but in circles around the hole, not having the sense to run anywhere else. In the meantime his belly filled with gas and he let out a thunderous belch from his tiny tunawa mouth that could have been heard from the far reaches of emea (okay maybe thats a bit too much but it was really really loud.) He then began to hick up incessantly as he ran around like an aimless chicken without a head.

Meanwhile, Yah breathed a sigh of relief as the piecing burp reached her long purple ears. She hovered thorough the sky to the sound of her tunawa friend with rocks held tightly in the six disembodies hands that encircled her head. "No one hurts my Rabu." She muttered under her breath with a fierce look on her otherwise adorable thee eyed bunny face.

[Cervantez]

☠ Zi'da 10, 718, Afternoon ☠
☠ Mood: Annoyed
☠ Current Thought: Jump in first
☠ Current Theme: Bloodstained Philosophy
☠ Attire: Current Outfit

☠ He wasn't given many options, the cave in closing off all but one path to him. The cries of the little girl could be heard and he knew he couldnt waste any more time. The moment he realized this, he caught the sound of the beast overhead and the swarm of smaller ones coming down into the hole.

He couldnt let that girl stay in such a dangerous place by herself, and so his first priority was to find her and make sure she was safe and sound. He began to run down the path within the cavern toward the sound of her whimpers and cries. It was hard to hear with the incoming growls of the beasts that seemed to enter the cavern from above back there.

He would have to deal with them first, otherwise, he was leading unneeded danger to the girl for no reason. Pivoting he turned to and braced himself for the fight to come. This was a bit better for him a bit, as the space between him and the beast and began to release a thick miasma of sap in order to keep them beasts off.

He couldnt allow whatever these beasts were to get any further than where they were. He'd become a shield for the girl trapped in this hole. Though part of him was unsure of the state she was in. This place was not normal even for emea. ☠

"Speech"

[Strange]

Praetorum, Cervantez, Rabu

When it came to a fog of demons, there weren’t a lot of tactics to be had… mainly because most of Yaralon had never dealt with a fog of demons before. It was unknown territory. But there was one thing that Yaris were fairly adequate at, and that was killing.

While the fog rushed back around the hole, guided by the matriarch dog of the zombie canine pack, in the distance could be heard the march of feet and shouts of companies that’d reached the burho.

The poor little rabbit Tunawa called out to the Lothar, to kindly check if he was alive, but was too quiet to be heard… and then upon the arrival of the dog pack, Rabu started to run again - around the hole - and then he burped so loudly that not only did Yah find her way to the friend, but one of the Yari company men shouted that they should probably go over there and see what that noise was!

Yah’s rocks were at the ready and when one of the canine dogs dived for the little Rabu, they went pounding against it. It yelped, veering off, and going after one of the redheaded caravan men instead. The redheads all went running as well, far away from the hole, no longer bothering to wait for their leader who’d gone in the now-collapsed tunnel.

Cervantez, meanwhile, narrowed his focus on the cries of a child even with the beastly pack that approached from above. The Lothar ran down the singular tunnel that remained open. He turned, in the narrow passage, and prepared to fight.

And fight he would have to.

For the lesser demons, the zombie dogs, the canines of dripping flesh and molded bones, landed at the base of the pit and started into the tunnel.

They padded forward, three to the width of the tunnel, and growled at the necromancer and his companion. Acrid saliva dripped from their fangs. Sap released between him and the lesser dogs, but they padded dully through it with little understanding. For demons were used to slime and wading through the nastiest of substances.

Beyond the tunnel, he could see the great mother beast. As could Rabu.

She’d landed with a thud so powerful that it’d knocked the poor ithecal unconscious. He’d been trying to stab at her paws and valiantly squirm his way out of the grip, but the demon proved to have something of endurance also...

...Though she howled terribly upon landing and the sound echoed through the burho. From the demon bitch’s mouth poured dense fog that plumed out of the hole, as if to hide the spot from the approaching mercenary companies.

Behind Cervantez, deeper into the tunnel, the child’s cries turned to blatant screams.

Screams that he couldn’t ignore, of something happening to the girl, not merely being trapped or stuck, but of torment. Of immediate peril. Screams that Rabu could hear, and would pierce to the core of the empathetic Tunawa’s heart. And screams that could even awaken the unconscious warrior, Praetorum, if the sound of an innocent in danger might make it through to the ithecal.

One of the lesser demon-dogs flew up with a rush of its wings, and it lunged at Njama with a fearsome bite of fatalistic intent......

!

Message from: Strange

Praetorum has passed this round. You have until 09:00 PM GST on August 15 to post a reply. Each player may post up to TWO posts of any length (min. 250 words each) for this round. Contact me if you have any questions or otherwise. Do not assume success when it comes to major combat actions. Combat will be responded through either PM or mod notes. If you do not post before the deadline, you will "pass" the round and your character may or may not have things happen to them. If you wish to leave the event, please contact me to do so. Next Mod Post will be on August 17.