Forrals Fortress

[Silence Sei]

The angry tentacle beast’s rampage went on for several minutes, orcs and goblin blood alike quickly staining the dusty ground of the castle’s courtyard. As the beast went to find its rival, it stepped on the pile of rubble Lye happened to be buried under. All thirty tons of the creature crushed everything beneath its large ‘leg’ including Lichensith Ulroke himself.

Amongst the escapers, the beast managed to grab one last victim before they could all get away. Philomel had a tentacle wrapped around her lither form, and was quickly digested into the massive maw of the strange monstrosity. Both herself, Verdian and Lichensith would be able to be revived later, when the chaos died, but for now, hope was lost for those three souls.

As Flint, Talen, Alyssa and Elthas got to the top of the staircase, what they found was an abominable horror.

A giant beating heart seemed to support the top of the castle with its massive girth. The heart was roughly twenty feet winde and at least twenty feet long. Veins and ventracles snuck from the large organ down into the staircase which led the warriors here. Forrals Fortress was –alive-.

In the middle of the heart was half a man, his lower extremities fused into the red blood pumping body part itself. He mouthed the words ‘kill me’, but no words seemed to leave his form. His eyes seemed to be sewn shut by some wretched creator. Every so often when the man opened his mouth, a pool of blood would spill out, only for him to beg for the sweet release of death yet again.

Talen started to take a step towards the creature before the man’s hand came up. Despite being seemingly blind, he knew exactly where the warriors were. He mouthed a single silent word to them.

Traps.

((Phi did not meet the time limit so she is out, Lye is also dead. No harm came to the rest this post, as they all made their way up the staircase. Now you see the true form of Forrals fortress. This monstrosity wants to die, but traps litter floor and wall alike. In this round, you guys try to come up with the best traps you can think of not for your characters, but for your allies. The most creative trap takes out a member of the competition, and makes said competition lose that shot to get their PG a HQ!))

[Elthas_Belthasar]

(Edits to my post ammended as per request.)

Elthas's eyes saw it first.

THE WHOLE THING IS FUCKING ALIVE! Once in his early youth, he recalled the elders of his town teaching him about clockwork beasts. A part of him regretted that he walked away from that life, but the more logical side was also thankful that he HAD paid some attention. The whole fortress ITSELF was the enemy. Elthas came to the realization quickly, and he guessed the necromantic energies were liking originating from that beating heart. As disgusting as it was, Elthas was an Elf. ALL forms of the arcane arts fascinated him deep down, and a certain part of Elthas wanted to COMMAND that power. He was almost certain that Talen would agree. Though Elthas was a good man at heart, he was also a tainted man and had a growing disconnect between light and darkness. Elthas's eyes searched the environs for anything that could be a massive control device. The heart was obvious, but the word TRAP resonated in the air. Someone had BUILT the fucking creature. Elthas was determined to find an exploit and take command of the resources that the clockwork fortress would provide. He would let the others make idiotic mistakes. He was trained at wilderness survival and could see SOME of the traps that lurked about. Those could be disarmed later by someone more skilled than he. He was CERTAIN there were more cleverly hidden traps, but that wasn't the concern.

Elthas didn't know who Warpath was, he was dangerous, but he wouldn't warn Warpath.

Warpath could fend for himself and Elthas knew it too.

There was a woman in the troop that he hadn't seen earlier, but she would suffice. The woman spoke, she also seemed to have a quick head on her shoulder. Elthas listened to her plan for a few moments BEFORE rushing off to face his destiny. She had ONE shot of her weapon.

In a quick full moment, Elthas's sharp mind assessed the situation at hand. There was a fellow who was willingly or NOT controlling the device. They needed a replacement for that. Elthas turned his attention to Talen. "I have business proposition for you all. Consider this." Elthas said. "This fortress represents vast resources that Heroes like ourselves can likely exploit. There are traps here that must be disarmed to fully use the fortress to it's capacity." Elthas had a VERY serious expression and he looked MOSTLY at Talen, but addressed them all. Even the false prophet in the chamber ahead. "I'll need you guys providing cover fire. I think I can make this whole thing work in our favor if you guys give me just a few moments of time." Elthas said. He explained to the Heroes where many of the basic traps were. "I can't see where the advanced traps are that's up to you guys." Elthas continued and then looked at Alyssa, Talen and Warpath. "If you guys can JUST buy me some time I think I can salvage control and take care of the damned thing outside."

"I agree with your plan." He told the woman. "I just need a couple of moments to enact what I am about to do."

***

Regardless of what any of them would say Elthas nodded towards Talen one last time. "Talen. I will meet up with you later. Hold things down until I am back. And I'll provide you the cover you need to get your shot." In the few moments that Elthas saw the way that the prophet was attached to the heart, he decided that it was somehow HIS key to controlling the whole fucking thing. Then, Elthas took off. He ran at FULL speed, fifty miles per hour land speed and had a singular objective in his mind. The heart. And the mad prophet who controlled it. Kill you, I think not. Elthas considered the woman's idea and knew it was likely their only shot if he failed. He was likely going to attempt something that would be an early death sentence. He used his advanced senses to spot the minor traps in his way. Elthas ran and carefully zigged and zagged avoiding the traps that he COULD avoid with his current skill. The cover fire would come from all of the champions present. With a little luck and proper cover fire, he would make it to the prophet and the heart. Once Elthas made it to the prophet he did the first step of the plan. "Your services are no longer required." He skillfully unsheathed BOTH of his masterwork daggers, and proceeded to sever the hands off the prophet, and kick him away from the heart. "I am claiming the fortress as part of The Trading Company." He'd manage to run past the minor traps and by luck get to his destination.

As he approached the blind prophet, Elthas readied his weapons.

He lashed out quickly and forcibly detached the hands from the man's wrist, and he knew the prophet would not put up much of a fight.

"There will be no death for you." He turned towards Alyssa. "NOW!" He yelled. And then he would sacrifice himself, potentially, to attempt to gain control of the fortress for The Trading Company. That moment would define the champion he would become. He jumped TOWARDS the beating heart, was absorbed by it. JUST as Alyssa fired her weapon...Elthas knew he had precious seconds to figure the whole damned thing out.

[Alyssa Snow]

"I see you've learned to channel a new element," Lenona remarked as she sat atop an oaken barrel. Alyssa just barely crossed the exit of the Ace Up The Sleeve Inn and entered the back field of the joint. The clairvoyant acknowledged her even before she was in view. Alyssa still struggled to adjust to her mentor's unique abilities.

"Yes..?" the gunner hesitantly replied. She stepped into the large span of packed earth with a fire pit in the middle. Here, the Inn liked to host banquets, outdoor festivals, and occasionally weddings. In the spring and summer seasons, the open plains at its back were a myriad of color. Wild flowers of every genus spanned endlessly and only halted by the faint silhouette of the Tennaiglini Mountain Range. This day, perfect sky and mid afternoon sun light set the sea of flora ablaze with vibrancy.

"Beautiful day," Leona remarked.

"I live here thanks to you and the Hierarchy. Every day is like this for me." Alyssa stated plainly as she hefted her stolen, Aleran mage weapon over her shoulder. Her back remained to the fields. Leona looked directly at her, and the soft smile faded to a serious glare.

"Never forget the beauty of little things, Alyssa. Any day could be your last." The seer's tone seemed more threatening than advisory, and she held a concerned furrow in her brow. Alyssa flashed a similar expression of worry with a touch of confusion.

"What do you mean? Have you seen something?" the innocent teen asked. Leona rubbed at the bridge of her nose as though frustrated or tired. Alyssa never could really tell with her.

"It's not important." The teen opened her mouth to speak but was shushed with an extended index finger of her mentor. "Just listen to what I say. Your trip to this fortress is going to be perilous. You will not get out unscathed."

"Will I die?"

"I wish that question was less common..." Leona muttered to herself before returning to an audible tone, "That is up to you, really."

"Okay... Didn't you say you wanted to show me something or was this it?" Alyssa motioned to her mentor and the surrounding fauna.

"Only part of it," Leona slid from her barrel and stepped into the dirt courtyard. She walked to the fire pit and took a seat. Her hand gestured for Alyssa to join her. With a pause in her step, the gunner joined the seer.

"That thing on your back..." Leona trailed with a pointed finger. Alyssa hefted and glanced toward it.

"What about?"

"Can you use it?"

"No, not really. The crystals are too big and I can't seem to get them to hold a charge... It's almost like --"

"Would you like to?"

Alyssa's words stuck in her throat and left her in silence. She only offered a scrunched brow.

"What do you mean? You know how it works?" the girl asked.

"No, but you do. At least, the future you does. I've seen you use it," Leona stated.

Alyssa hefted the rifle off her shoulder and held it in both her hands. She reminisced on the trips she's brought it with her but found it more of a burden than an asset.

"I've used the monocular on it... but that's it..." she admitted with a touch of defeat.

"I've seen you fire it," Leona stated. Alyssa looked up in shock.

"Fired it? What does it do?! Is it like the pistols?" Honestly, Alyssa had no idea. In the Aleran Labs, they had only just finished developing the prototype when Alyssa escaped with it. They had never trained her on it nor did she know it could be fired. She had only assumed so because of the crystals she found in its magazine.

"One step at a time," Leona smiled. That pleasant expression did not come often from her. "Let's see if I can help the other you show this you what it does."

***********************

Cheep Chippet!

"Mr. Blue?"

The faint swallow's song echoed down the hall and groggily forced open her cerulean eyes. The pounding echoes of footsteps soon washed away its sweet song and each step shook her further awake.

Literally.

Once again, the mage gunner came to find herself atop someone else's shoulders. This time, the man who held her was double in size, but as he moved, the clank of metal on stone sounded. She noticed he too was injured but even though he struggled to walk, he took the time to scoop her out of danger's way. A hero in the truest sense.

The girl's groan elicited his attention.

"You awake?" he asked in a low bellowing tone.

Alyssa nodded softly, disregarding the fire that seemed to burn everywhere and the pounding in her skull. It took a moment of silence before she realized he couldn't see her nod from his back. She rubbed at her scrapped and bloodied face to dispel enough of the agony for a reply.

"Yeah," came her weak, hoarse response.

"Can you walk?"

"I think so."

"Good."

The beast of a man took pause on the steps and braced himself on the grungy railing. A boom from behind them echoed down the stairwell and knocked idle bits of stone from the ceiling above. Alyssa felt a moment of panic before realizing the bits of dust and rock was the worst of the damage this time. Her juggernaut of a companion knelt with faint signs of struggle and eased her onto her own legs. The ache and trauma caught up as she nearly failed to support her own weight. Alyssa buckled and caught the railing just in time.

"One step at a time," another voice chimed. This one sounded familiar, the voice of her dark hero from yet another near death experience. Alyssa winced, nodded, and forced herself upright with heavy breaths.

"I-I got it," she reassured.

"We can't pause for too long. I have a feeling we're about to get to the good part," Talen added. The young mage found the boy's speech odd in light of the situation, but she too felt whatever it was he did. Something large, something dark, and yet something in... pain? Though that same emotion emanated from the remaining four, this faint existence beating in the distance felt far greater than them combined.

Alyssa wanted to speak, but cracked ribs shot stabbing pain prior to each attempt. She only nodded and shooed the others with a wave of her hand. It meant, "Go on, I'll be right behind you."

Some shared concerned expressions while others continued with little regard. She took the pause from their view as a moment to silently, just... cry.

The pain she felt everywhere was maddening. Standing alone took maximum effort. The worst of which continued to radiate from her side where a deep hole still wept a river of red. She focused on breathing and with each inhale, she bared the brunt of broken bone rubbing against its other half. She just wanted to throw up. No task she had ever faced since escaping Alerar had shook her so aggressively.

Another tremor rumbled and more motes of dust leapt from the ceiling above. The sound of footsteps began to fade and she knew she needed to continue. This final stretch would either be salvation or damnation.

She used her dirty, bloody, and charred sleeve to clean her eyes. While it took away the moisture, it smeared the rest of the filth encrusted on her young, supple skin. Then, with clenched teeth, she gripped one hand on the crude stone railing and the other over the aggravated arrowhead buried deep in the flesh. Each step was a journey in its own. As she followed the group, she took note there were far less than before. Where was that pale skinned bastard? What about the goat lady?

She swallowed a lump of fear, dread, and sorrow.

The deeper they ventured, the heavier the air became. It smelled of must, mold, and... was that wet copper? Her head pounded trying to pin that familiar scent. Oddly, the pounding wasn't just inside her mind, but also a faint undulating rhythm in the stairwell that matched the pace. Weight pressed on her heart in fear it may be another unsurpassable obstacle, yet that uneasy feeling of sorrow and pain from earlier grew the further they ventured. Then, walls began to move. Not like the chips tumbling from the ceiling, but more like worms and webs. Effects of blood loss? The young blonde eyed it and tried to figure out the resemblance. To her, they looked like vines that squirmed in rhythm to the constant drum that filled the air. Like veins...

"Holy f--"

And there it was, the culmination of the journey, a massive beating heart with arteries and veins twisted into some manner of grotesque spiderweb. What she thought to be vines and roots were in fact beating blood vessels, some of which occasionally ruptured and spurted crimson below. Each time a rumble shuddered its way down from the kraken above, another cluster pinched off and spit blood into the shallow pool of the final room. The smell, the sound, and the sight of it all stirred her stomach. Worst of all, a half of man jutted from the beating organ like a tormented tumor. When it moved its lips, blood came out instead of words, but the words were clear enough to see.

"Kill. Me."

This poor soul's pain, agony, and sorrow were palpable upon the dank, humid air. Alyssa clutched her rail tight. Though she did not know why, but she felt paralyzed to continue. Then, he mouthed another word with trails of vitae from his eyes instead of tears.

"Traps..."

The girl mouthed it as she read. Fortunately for her, she didn't vomit crimson molasses like he did. She let her eyes fall on the pool at the edge of their feet. There was no telling what hid under its coagulated mess. If hands jutted from the ground above, anything could emerge from that. With heavy breaths, Alyssa winced at the weight which dug into her shoulder this entire journey - her rifle.

"This has to be the end," she muttered for the others to hear. "Hey shadow pants..." She referred to Talen. "You still have those guns?"

The boy acknowledged her, but she only gathered it as a yes. Alyssa slunk down onto one of the steps and braced her back against the wall. She winced at the pressure the seated position put on the unwelcome inclusion inside her. Still, she managed to sling the dirty, yet amazingly resilient rifle from her back. With some play, she wriggled the magazine free to check its precious cargo. Inside, one large crystal softly pulsated a bluish white light.

Leona's gift.

Alyssa only managed one and quite by accident than anything. Still, Leona assured her it was all she needed. She assured the gunner that the day would come when Alyssa could harness the weapon's true power, but not that day. Just one was enough.

She looked to Talen. Then, to Flint. Finally, to the new stranger with twin daggers elegantly gripped in hand.

"I'm not going anywhere," she commented in response to her physical state. The words even came in sharp, but heavy breaths.

"I have one shot." She inserted the magazine into the rifle with a click, a wince, and a yelp.

"I say you and I take aim. This guy with the rusty saw and this other guy with the knives clear out some of those large veins..." She pointed to the undulating trunks of meat which writhed with every heartbeat. They ran from the pool of blood below to the bleeding ceiling above. Three or four of them were in just the proper syncronage to pulse in and out of a clear path of sight to the man-tumor. Should the others be able to cleave them free, she could take the shot. However, that meant braving whatever lurked in the murky depths of stale life essence.

"The second I have a shot, I'll take it. If anything, that has to be the end of all this. If we don't finish this soon, it's over. You all know that." She took a breath and gulped down the sticky metallic flavor welling in her throat.

"From what I've been told, this should be able to punch a fist sized hole through the whole thing, but I can't risk those trunks pushing it off path. What do you say?"

She wished for compliance, because in all honesty, that was all she could offer them aside from trap fodder. Given the amount of her own blood that had seeped out from the earlier arrow, one pull of the trigger would be her last. She would have been content dying up there with the others, but by some hand of fate, she survived to be here, now, in this very moment. It had to mean something,because... Leona was never wrong...

Her faintly glimmering eyes begged for it to be over. A final command from an unlikely leader.

[Warpath]

...boom...

...doom...

Every time the abomination contracted, it did so in thunderous slow motion. Flint could feel its beat in his legs, through the solid stone of the floor. He could feel it in the walls around him, vibrating the air between. It rattled the deepest, sturdiest depths of that place, sending thin sheets of dislodged pebbles and dust drifting everywhere.

And that wasn't all it rained down on them. The abomination sweated blood, and every contraction sent that blood into the air in a fine, thin crimson mist that coated everything. Alyssa's hair was tinged scarlet with it, and Flint's skin was taking on an increasingly rusty hue. He could taste it in the back of his throat, feel it gradually weighing him down. Every passing second worsened the sensation, like just being in its presence was corrupting him from the inside.

He sneered and spat. "Wizards," he said, dripping disdain from his tongue as only someone with a Salvic accent can.

...boom...

...doom...

There were other survivors, but Flint wasn't paying attention to them, not yet. His eyes roamed over the gory cavern as his allies processed the same sights he was processing, leaning heavily upon the Reclaimer. Now, away from the immediacy of violent death, something nagged at him, a realization he picked at like a scab from a wound he couldn't remember getting in the first place.

...boom...

...doom...

The elf's sudden departure startled him, and as Flint watched him dodge and dance over a variety of traps, he felt his own comparatively insignificant heart sinking in his chest. A bear trap snapped closed, its teeth finding no purchase in meat or bone. A dart trap released its payload, each poisoned projectile launched in clever and deceptive staccato - three times Flint thought it empty when it wasn't, but the elf wouldn't be tricked that easily. A stone platform gave way under his foot, but he danced away from the released debris with expert ease.

And each time, Flint saw a better way to kill, even with the same traps in a different configuration. Between the lighting and the shape of the place, it would have been possible - easy even - to kill any and every intruder, to make escape impossible.

...boom...

"He did not say 'traps,'" Flint muttered, eyes widening as the elf disappeared into the grotesque conjuration.

...doom...

It came together in a mental cascade, too late. The orcs outside hadn't been positioned optimally for defense of the fortress. There had been no hot oil, no shattered glass on the high surfaces, no vanguard in the courtyard. In fact, they'd been perfectly trained and positioned to force any invaders through the courtyard as quickly as possible. And the moat monster...Flint had had his share of rampages, he knew what it was to be lost to rage and fury, and he knew all too well the bounds of the creature's considerable strength. It could have killed them all. It should have killed them all, simply by toppling the walls onto them, burying them in every stone and stomping until they were just red mush beneath. But it hadn't done that. In fact, it had uncovered the stairwell they'd just used, forced them down into it. It had only grown desperate when they'd turned to fight instead of hurried on to escape it...

The stairwell. The stairwell, which had collapsed behind them...trapping them.

"Not 'traps,'" Flint said again, the cold realization sending cold prickles up his spine. "Trap. Singular. This is the trap."

...boom...

The blonde raised her gun, braced the butt against her shoulder, and widened her stance. She had one tear-smudged eye closed, the other clear and focused. Flint lashed out, grabbed the rifle, and pulled just as she squeezed the trigger. The rifle leapt to life with an eerie, otherworldly sound, and Flint was distantly aware of some great blue-white lance of something leaving it at incredible velocity. When he tried to track the projectile, though, he saw only that his interference had been successful.

...doom...

"What the hell are you doing?!" the blonde shrieked at him. "I had one shot! One!"

"The man did not say 'traps,'" Flint insisted by way of explanation.

"What the hell are you talking about. Look at all the traps!"

"Those are not traps. Those are tests. This entire fortress has been a test. This is the trap. This chamber. We are in the trap."

"What are you...why? Why would anyone..."

Flint pointed at where the wretched creature was attached to the heart. "Did that look like a pilot to you? He was a host to a parasite, and his body was failing. The orcs, the monster in the moat, the staircase, the traps...all to test our strength, our stamina, our resolve, all to funnel us here. The way the elf disappeared into it! We are deceived. This was what we were expected to do. We are its new hosts. This is the trap."

"No," Alyssa said, shaking her head with a fresh welling of tears at the corners of her eyes. "I'm not dying down here. You're wrong. He can get control of it."

"Perhaps," Flint said, bending down beside the Reclaimer. "Perhaps that is what the wretch connected to it said, once."

...boom...

"What are you doing?"

The brute held up his right hand, and hesitated. He was too battered to start running, and the walls here were too thick, too sturdy anyway. He couldn't shatter them, and if he was right, to charge the heart was exactly what it wanted. He couldn't cut it, what would be the point? It was tremendous, and its veins were everywhere. He only had one weapon left.

"I am going to poison it," Flint said through clenched teeth.

And then he reached out and grinded his palm down along the serrated length of the Reclaimer, pushing deep. He growled as the sword's teeth ravaged the meat of his hand, but the muscle underneath was like steel, and he had to push harder. Blood gushed, and ran down the wicked blade in rivulets. His mouth was a grim line, his eyes hard.

...doom...

He held out his savaged hand, now trembling, and blinked the tears from his eyes. He couldn't see any sign of it, but he knew it was there: swaysong. It was the magical substance that had so transformed him over the last year or more, had helped him forge himself into the juggernaut he was now. But it had tried to kill him, first. It was a parasite, like the heart, tempting him with power, but acceptance of its offer doomed the host. If not for the vambraces Flint wore to process the stuff out of his blood, he would have died moments after he first drank the stuff down.

He surged to his feet with an agonized grimace and limped across the stones...toward where Alyssa's gun had discharged. Now she saw, partially concealed in the shadows, a vein running along the wall as thick as Flint's arm fully flexed. Her bullet had pierced it exactly as she'd said: a fist-sized hole, now furiously gushing dark, dark blood. Flint held up his own bloodied hand, hesitated for a moment, and then plunged his arm into the vein.

Boom...

...doom...

Something tugged at his arm, dragging it deeper into the colossal vein. And then it pulled, insistently, and then it yanked. Flint growled and steadied himself on the wall with his free hand, but he felt the bones and tendons in his shoulder stretching. He did not, however, attempt to retrieve his limb. He could feel it sucking the blood out of him forcefully, eagerly, drawing him into it itself.

Boom...

Doom...

Flint smiled hardly, and squeezed a fresh gush of blood from his palm. He imagined it traveling through the veins of the thing, spreading, undetectable amidst its own vast quantity of vitae. He imagined the swaysong waking to a new host, spreading, replicating, invading the particles of the thing.

Boom...doom...

Strengthening it, transforming it, teaching it a thousand better ways.

Boom...doom...

Changing it, just as it had changed him. Warping it from a colossal abomination into a demigod. Flint's arm trembled as it struggled to rip the limb free of him with the sheer force of its blood pressure. It felt the swaysong in itself now, felt the changes in every fiber of its being. It was powerful before, but now...now...

Boomdoom.

Now it realized something was wrong. The earth-rumbling heartbeat was coming faster now, ever faster, so fast that rocks began to dislodge from the ceiling and the floor trembled. The unsprung traps began to activate randomly, snapping and clicking and clanking ineffectually.

Boomdoom...boomdoom...

"You must find us a way out!" Flint roared.

He collapsed against the wall as the vein gave him one powerful yank, and he felt his arm threatening to leave its socket in his shoulder. He began to fight its pull, but now he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to pull away. They were both empowered now, and the heart had started out as so much more.

Boomdoom...boomdoom...boomDOOM...

Flint cried out as the vein split in an explosion of blood, and he fell backward to the ground, soaked in it. He clenched his battered arm to his side and hissed. The stuff stung his eyes, and he could feel its weight in his beard.

Boomdoomboomdoomboomdoom

Swaysong transforms those that consume it, but it does so in no specific order. The heart was learning that now. It had learned to pump blood more efficiently, to carry more precious nutrients at once, to produce amino acids it could not produce itself...but the linings of its veins hadn't become more elastic to compensate. Its blood pressure was literally rupturing its own veins. It was beating too hard, too fast for its girth, producing more blood that it didn't have the facilities to move anymore, not fast enough...it was a biological runaway train. Cancerous tumors formed on its extremities as a last-ditch effort to shunt all the extra blood somewhere, and veins bit into the stone, crushing it, grinding it into so many billions of pebbles. It was tearing the chamber, and itself, asunder.

Flint rolled onto his back with a wheeze and smiled, and his teeth were stained red.

[Hysteria]

Talen was fine. His body was dirty, his cloths carried some blood, but all in all he was unharmed. It would be a lie to say that it was without effort. Talen had trained for months learning how to control his energy for more than just physical attacks. He had refined his control, focused and fused it into his body. The result was significant, he was extremely hard to kill. Unlike his fellows lying crushed at the bottom of the stairs, Talen would not be stopped by death's grip.

All this work, all the training seemed in this instance to be for naught. The final goal of this disgusting fortress, the literal heart of the matter, was before them. Unlike his companions he held no pity for the man upon the heart. His interest, as Elthas had guess, was just that, interest. Given the circumstances, given what they were there to do, he cared not.

It was as the elf threw himself into the heart that Talen lifted his rifle to play his part. Before they could act, even as the princess fired to finish the thing, Flint sought otherwise. The juggernaut did something Talen had not expected. He stopped the shot and stole Talen's goal from him.

* * * *

“Ok... so seriously you want to take over this fortress thing?” Remedy tapped her fingernail against the glass as the pair sat under an umbrella near the docks in Scara Brae. The air was sweet, carrying the smells of the cargo as well as a hint of sea air. Talen had just told the red head of his plan.

“You? Mister nothing for no one? Why in Yedda's blue sky would you want something like that?” Remedy lent back and barely contained her laughter.

“Just...” Talen paused. His eyes turned to the ground as he wrestled with the question. He could lie; he was good at lying. “I want to own something... to make something with other people.”

Remedy's smile slid off her face. She realised Talen was actually telling the truth for once. While she didn't always see eye to eye with Talen, she was one of the few people that could empathise with him.

“Well then my pale friend, you should get it!”

* * * *

“Aaarrrh!”

The air was filled with copper taste of blood. Flecks filled the air like some nightmarish snow. Talen's pale face was flecked with the crimson liquid as his face twisted in anger. Talen's pale blue eyes normally carried a hint of youth in them. Now, staring at the fallen juggernaut they were cold with rage. Since the start of the fight Talen had held back. He held back when he agreed to travel by airship. He held back when he stayed with the group at the wall. Now it looked like he was going to be outdone right at the end because of it.

“STUPID MORTALS!” Talen's shouted into the room as stone crumbled around him. He didn't care. He didn't care one bit. “I didn't need you! I didn't need ANY of you!”

Talen's breathing was fast. His face, normally youthful and smiling, was instead plastered with a snarl. His body responded on its own as his desire to kill pulsated through him.

“You FUCKFACE!” Talen dropped his rifle and lifted his hands towards Flint.

Dark veins stretched across Talen's skin. Spreading darkness they swiftly painted his ivory flesh obsidian. The youth's limbs stretched and lengthened as his cloths tore under rapidly expanding muscles. Hair replaced clothes, coating his shoulders and head with their midnight locks. Talen's face stretched forwards. His boyish featured hardened, his jaw cracked and grew longer.

The room would not last much longer. A huge crack came from above and a slab of stone ceiling slammed into the ground near Talen. The youth's now wolven face turned upwards as another came free. Talen bent his long black legs and burst into the air, catching the between the black steel claws adorning his arms he twisted and threw the stone towards the prostate juggernaut.

Talen landed on all fours next to his gun. His next action was set, he wanted to kill everything in the room. His long clawed hands wrapped around the length of his rifled and lifted it up. It looked like a toy weapon in the creature’s hand. Talen lifted it up and started shaking as one finger held down the trigger. Canisters fill with poison rained out of the rifle and bounced across the ground.

“You want poison?!” Talen roared the words as the gas sprayed out in every direction.

Humanity was lost. Talen was expending tremendous amounts of energy creating the toxic gas. The room filled quickly, poison and blood everywhere, filling every breath. The convulsing figure atop the heart was contending with two toxins now. The cancerous gift from the juggernaut and the liquefying gas stolen from a Freebird. The creature would have cried out, but blood was its only voice. Instead the torrent sprayed forth in a silent scream.

Talen turned away. He didn't care if he had killed the juggernaut or not. The gas would do its work soon. A cheep caught his attention though, and Talen's monstrous features turned towards Alyssa. She was alive, but barely. The blue swallow that had accompanied the blonde on her adventure was trying its best to nudge her awake. It flew towards Talen, cheeping with frantic calls for help. Talen held out a hand and the bird landed. If it was exposed to more of toxic gas it would not last much longer.

Talen closed his hand and with a satisfying crunch the bird was silent. The creature turned back to the heart to watch the final moments and ensure an end. Absently it tossed the small mattered ball of blue to the ground.

[Silence Sei]

The body attempted to groan as Elthas severed its arms, struggle against the man as he fused himself into its large organ. It coughed with dozens of pools of blood as the poisons began to fill the room, the crimson liquids creeping closer to the warriors. The body collapsed and fell to the ground almost as though it had been pushed out, the full form of a naked, average sized human quickly became lifeless in the dangerous room.

Then Talen crunched the bird.

As soon as the shadow warrior performed this seemingly small task, the quakes became more furious. Several stones seemed to converge completely upon the boy and crushed him under all the weight. The roof was almost completely caved in my this point, and with the staircase also destroyed, it seemed our heroes had no hope of survival.

A long tentacle slipped in through the roof and grabbed Alyssa, much to Flint’s protest, and lifted her away, though something seemed rather strange. Rather than the forceful nature the odd kraken exhibited earlier, it seemed careful not to hurt the girl, gently dragging her away from the rest. Another tentacle came and grabbed Flint, wrapped a little more firmly around the man who struggled against his former foe.

“Don’t fight it,” the ‘heart’ seemed to talk as half of Elthas’ body began to push through the hole where the former master fell out, “I can’t explain it, but I can control him now….I can control the entire island, what’s left of it. It’s like this thing is immune to poisons…it put on a show to try and appease you. It’s odd now, it’s almost as though it feels…happy.”

As Flint was carried away, Elthas left him with two warnings, “The island is coming down. I’m trying to move it into the ocean, but the landing will be a bit rough. Beware Forral, this is just the beginning.”

The last statement seemed to become a voice that was not Elthas’ own, instead it was deep and almost demon-possessed. The kraken lifted Flint out of the castle as Elthas smiled to his temporary ally.

The strange monster that now seemed to be friendly looked at Flint with its bloodsoaked eye, and the warrior could tell that the beast thought about popping the juggernaut right there. Instead, it ‘turned’ and began to walk back to the edge of the island. When it arrived at the edge of the island, Flint and Alyssa could see the once flying fortress careening towards the ground at incredible seas. Elthaas had kept his word, and all the eye could see was the azure blue of the sea.

Airships overhead held allies who would try to help in any way they could, and even the ocean seemed to hoist a singular ship that the landmass seemed to be going nowhere near…

((Congratulations! Hysteria is dead and Flint and Alyssa have survived the trials of Forrals Fortress. Elthas Warp and Alyssa are all allowed a conclusion post, and Hyst can even have a death post. The significance of this round of posting is that now, those who were waiting in the reserves can get a post in stating how they rescued/healed their allies. Naturally, we need Alyssa and Flint to post before we can do that, but this is Ioder, Fox, and Irate’s times to shine! Way to go people!))

[Alyssa Snow]

"Mr. Blue! NO!"

Alyssa's cries bore with them the depth of her deep rooted affections toward the animal. Even as the walls crumbled, poison filled her lungs, and swathes of blood sprayed like hoses without one to hold them, Alyssa scrambled to the discarded lump of feathers. Her blood loss, the unyielding pain, and burning fire in her poisoned lungs pushed to the back. She was as good as dead, that much was true, but her body continued to move against the odds. Her slender fingers scooped the avian corpse from the growing puddle of congealed vitae. Dark blood matted the once vibrant blue feathers. Only a small tuft of disconfigured blue remained unscathed in her hands. Those hopeful beady eyes, his little beak, his sweet song in the misery of the island. Gone.

A blue fire, hot as the deepest infernos of hell burned in her tear moistened eyes. She directed this seething hatred, this pain, toward her dark hero turned black abomination.

"How dare you..." she growled.

Talen gave her lifeless eyes, devoid of sympathy and filled with something more... primal. He was no better than that pale skinned assassin or the dozens of beasts slain above. He was a monster.

As the poisons crept through her veins, clawed at her heart, and gnashed at her liver, she remained unflinching in her gaze. Stone dislodged from above, their tomb began to close. She bared her fang of fury at this final threat as he raised one of many dark appendages to smite her. The edges of her fading vision crept inward, torches extinguished, black consumed all, but even in her few remaining breaths, she burned his silhouette into her mind.

Then a crash. Then, another.

Her eyes no longer served her failing form, but the rogue fragments of stone and motes of blood pelted against her skin from Talen's direction. His smite of fury did not follow, and the room was that much more silent. Defeated, worn, poisoned, and dying, Alyssa wrapped her grip tight around her feathered companions remains. Her body collapsed against the stairwell and tumbled only to be stopped by a familiar trunk of an arm protruding from stone. And there, as the walls caved in, she lie beside the fallen brute, Flint Skovic. With tattered feathers clutched to her chest, Alyssa took a few more shallow breaths.

It was finally over.

Except, that it would not end like this...

On the precipice of the veil, another crash sounded. The gunner's body lifted, everything limp as cloth save for her firm clutches. Pressure increased around her stomach. The arrow head which would have surely dealt her pain did not. Though its path of carnage continued, Alyssa could no longer feel it. She did feel momentum, she barely heard the clatter and rush of collapsing stone grow more faint, and she felt the familiar bitter bite of Berevar on her marred skin. Was she dead? Was she passing on?

She heard voices. Faint voices.

Were they friends? Were they angels?

They sounded happy, relieved.

The blonde had lost all sense of touch, and a cold numb washed over her. The muffled tones around her turned to silence. Her body failed. Yet, in the few seconds before she set foot into the veil, Alyssa let a weak smile cross bloodied lips. Her arms locked over her chest, and in her hands she clutched the one thing that had saved her numerous times, a true hero.

Upon the airship, surrounded by those which worked fervidly, Alyssa stepped into the veil.

Cheep Chippet!

((Alright! Made it! Survivors and those upon the ship, feel free to bunny whatever you want out of Alyssa. She's unconscious/dead/coma at the moment but I figure there will be some revivals aboard the ship. Huzzah!))

[Elthas_Belthasar]

(Yo Calvin this is my conclusion post feel free to bunny Elthas as you see fit after this point. Good luck to EVERYBODY)

In a singular moment, Elthas learned a lot about the fortress what it was and where it came from, what was it's entire PURPOSE.

Elthas was in a daze and was having a hard time focusing on things as he fused with the huge organ. That was it, it just need an ample sacrifice to gain proper control...it was like a child... The fortress ITSELF was not evil. It was used to evil ends though and Elthas wanted control of it. He was probably the only one thinking along those lines. Once he regained his clarity he looked at the surviving champions and then realized what he needed to do. "You guys go. I am going to figure this thing out and how to properly control it. Talen, I will send you my research later." There was a path of escape, but that was NOT Elthas's concern. He knew he'd been called for a higher purpose. Elthas walked over towards the blind prophet that was controlling the fortress previously. Elthas knelt down towards him. "Your actions have cost us severely. But you have one shot out of this mess." Elthas said. "Teach me how to properly control this thing and you may yet live." In the moment since he'd been sucked into the heart, Elthas had learned a great deal about the fortress. But that was NOT enough. He wanted to be certain he could command it with true skill and at any point he wanted to. He had a serious expression on his face.

"You can't control it's power..." The prophet began saying.

"Yeah I've heard that shit before." Elthas said angrily. He kept his eyes on the prophet as the memories of the fortress swelled in his mind. Teaching him things, showing him secrets but it was NOT enough. The singular moment had awakened a desire for power sleeping within Elthas. "You were doing fine with a minimum understanding of the process. I figured it out in just a few brief moments. So yeah the damned thing CAN be controlled I just need to know how." The prophet was hesitating and that was pissing Elthas off. He was a man of efficiency and keeping a cool head. The Elf adjusted his fedora through it all, he'd manage to keep that one on. "I'm willing to make sacrifices so that everybody we lost as a result of this debacle can be properly put to rest. I am honouring the old alliances." Elthas said to the prophet. "So one more time, shithead, what is the proper control mechanism?"

"I..." The prophet began. "I cannot tell you. I want you to kill me."

Elthas stood up from his knelt down position and looked at the prophet. "So that's it you've given up before the battle has begun?" Elthas hated those who were useless and this "prophet" was completely useless to his cause. Then the voice in his revealed another part of the puzzle. I require a sacrifice to sustain full power. The heart said in his head. Elthas nodded and understood what the heart meant. "No death for you blind one." Elthas suddenly grabbed the prophet's collar and pulled him up. "Like it or not you still have a use and a PURPOSE to fulfill." In the back of his mind, Elthas was already controlling the fortress, but he wanted to have COMPLETE control, which is something that the blind one was denying him. And he WOULD have it. "You will be held accountable to everybody who has died today Champion or not." Elthas said calmly. Then he shifted his body weight and did the unthinkable. He THREW the prophet into the heart so the heart could consume him.

"NO!" The blind prophet yelled as he was thrown forcibly. "NOT THIS!"

"Too late." Elthas said in response. He knew the others got away safely, the heart granted him that peace of knowledge. Then he looked up as the prophet was FULLY consumed by the heart in a final moment of a lot of screaming and blood. Elthas then walked back towards his position in front of the heart. Sat down, and began to commune with the heart in deep meditation as he began to uncover it's secrets. He would ensure that the remaining Champions would have adequate time to get off the island. Elthas held one more key to his puzzle. The body of his friend, Invetisto, had also come in contact with the heart. His friend had begun to stir in his packs, but Elthas was not entirely concerned about that. He was just completely focused on hearing the whispers that ELTHAS'S fortress, NOT Forral's fortress began to cascade into his mind. Elthas smiled. He knew he had out classed a very serious enemy that day...

[Ioder]

This was never so posed to happen. Leona said you would be okay. Ioder panicked as he finally made it to the scene. Carnage and catastrophe as far as the eye could see. The air ships had arrived with Ioder leading the armada. Like a holy beacon of light his aura permeated the sky ushering in the retrieval crew. Ioder with soared around the airships gracefully leading them to the survivors.

“C’mon men!” He cried as before dipping downward and diving into the fray. He had spotted the kraken lifting Alyssa and Flint up removing them from danger. The airships overhead all started their operation with great haste. There was much to clean up and many to find. The angel plummeted quickly, descending with great speed aimed for the enormous tentacle hoisting Alyssa.

-------------------

“Just make sure to bring her home.” Leona said as she leaned against the wall of her sleeping quarters. She was next to an open wind overlooking the great red forest. A cool breeze flowed in and lifted her bangs as it chilled her to the bone. “Whatever you do make sure she is alive.”

Hovering just on the other side of the wall Leona stood; Ioder crossed his arms as he received his orders. He ever since he heard of this event he had been placed second for the task. An insult really but Ioder understood Leona’s methods and that Alyssa was the one she choose. “It shall be done.” He said just before his powerful wings pushed his up into the air. He was not one to disobey direct orders or let a comrade die on the battlefield.

---------------------

“Rrrrraaaaa” Ioder cried as his glowing aura enveloped his entire self and he shot at the kraken like a shooting star. He had no real plan but he just needed to retrieve Alyssa regardless the cost. The tactical moved like an injured snake twisting itself around but being ever so careful not to harm the girl. Ioder noted it was strange almost as if it was trying to protect her, but whatever the case Ioder was to take her home.

He maintained his trajectory and planted his dimascus blade deep into the tenticle around Alyssa. Ioder carefully examined Alyssa’s face seeing if she was alive or dead but with no avail. The tentacle flailed, shaking Ioder off of it and simultaneously releasing Alyssa sending her flying into the air. Quickly he recovered himself before noticing the other Tarot agent plummeting downward. Ioder then tucked his wings, nose diving to catch her. Her fall was quick but Ioder quicker as he caught her buy the ankle only just feet from the ground.

“Don’t worry I have you.” The angel said trying to reach Alyssa. He pulled her up and began carrying her princess style to the closest airship. Ioder wile in flight took this chance to examining her more carefully being relieved to notice that she was still alive but on the brink of death. This was his fault; if only he had come instead of her, she would be okay. Ioder placed the palm of his hand on her heart and it began to glow bright with the power of the sun. He was doing what he could to stop her death even if only long enough to seek true help. The shallow cuts and scrapes covering her body began to heel and she started to breath at a more stable tempo.

The situation was beginning to look better for the Tarot agent as Ioder arrived at the airship delivering Alyssa to the medics. There still was much clean up to be done but for now Alyssa was safe and on the way to a recovery.

[Hysteria]

Darkness slipped up through the rubble like sand through the hourglass. It was an inevitable climb, lifting from the rubble like a bad omen. Shadows, unburdened by simple frailties such as physical form reached the top of the fortress and started a coalescence. Two dimensions became three, and form came from darkness. It was still the spectre of rage, of anger and failure. Talen stood upon the stone top of the fortress like a gargoyle upon a church. The long slender claws opened and closed, wolfen eyes blinked. Talen was alive.

The last ace in his hands, the one that sat a the back of his mind since the beginning had finally been played at the end. There was regret in the creature, regret at sticking to the line and following the pack. It never ended well when Talen played by the rules. But a failure often came with a silver lining.

The fortress was moving, driven by Elthas's will. The conciliation price was the new owner of the fortress. Although Talen wondered idly if the elf would be able to take a normal form again, the fact was that it was won. If The Trading Company did indeed now own this monstrosity of a fortress then there was indeed money to be made.

For now Talen would stay with the fortress and see what happened. The airship will take the weak away... The acidic thought twisted through Talen's mind. He had missed his prize, but for now he would not inflict any more pain.