Twitchy, indeed

[Krugor]

((Closed to Cyrus the Virus.))

This is quite unexpected…

The Master Chef stepped through the opened door and smiled friendly at the rather curious looking monk holding it open for him. Krugor could immediately feel the squishy soil beneath his feet when he placed them upon it. The ground wasn’t like the usual Althanas ground, this was all quite yellow looking and felt like it could swallow a person whole if he or she was to heavy. In comparison it felt much like a hot air balloon, not fully inflated. Jumping up and down on the strange soil Krugor moved forward, further into the room, hoping to catch his opponent before it would catch him. The area was brightly lit but there wasn’t a sun to be seen, nor were there any clouds. The sky was just plain old blue, with nothing decorating it. However, there were several trees and bushes to be found when the skeleton came across something that looked much like an oasis in the vast and empty surroundings. The flora was, like the rest of area, brightly colored but didn’t quite match with it because of the totally different colors. Never in his life had Krugor seen such a fiery red bunch of trees, but after further examination they did feel like an ordinary tree. And now that he thought about it, so did the ground felt like its regular counterpart as did the well in the middle of the ring of trees. It was all quite normal, but just totally weird looking.

The skeleton took off his backpack and threw it somewhere near one of the sturdy trees and kicked back, trying to relax some before the battle would commence. Slowly sliding his feet into the cold water made him ease up and for the first time in a very long while could he enjoy being death again. All those journeys to the most exotic of places were quite enjoyable, but amazingly stressful and even though Krugor knew he was in this room to fight somebody he could still enjoy the short period of doing nothing. With his two feet paddling in the water he whistled a calming tune, watching the non-existent clouds pass by. Asking the monks for a place that was ‘mushy’ turned out to be a good idea, as it was something he was used to. The entire place smelled like rotting fish, but it was nothing Krugor couldn’t handle. He used to prepare grosser meals, this world wasn’t really that bad at all. The skeleton just hoped his adversary could withstand the need to throw up, for it wouldn’t make a fair battle if he was puking his intestines out all the time. At least the chef wished it was a ‘he’. Battling a woman was always something he didn’t quite liked, due to the fact that they usually kicked his ass.

But all those thoughts quickly left his mind as the recent events took the better of him and the skeleton slowly fell into a deep sleep. The warm environment, the calming water and the overall serene feeling of this ‘Citadel rendered’ world was just too much for him. Snoring heavily Krugor dreamt of home, of his former wife, his deceased mistress and the mind numbing necromancer that created him. Even the mere thought of that disgusting man could waken a flame deep inside the skeleton’s hearth. The wrongs he had done…

A warm breeze started once the undead had fallen asleep and caused a bit more life in the area. Leaves danced on the air and ripples formed on the small pool in front of Krugor. There was more to this world then it had let on, but the skeleton was too vast asleep to notice. “Blargh, that stinks!” the chef shouted randomly, as he was talking in his sleep. Scratching his chest and drooling a little the undead rolled over on his side, only to snore louder and louder.

“You’ll never catch me, you hear…”

[Cyrus the virus]

It had been at least a year since Luc Kraus last stepped onto the marble floor of the Citadel, but he found, upon entering, that his reputation would not need to be regained all over again. Immediately upon catching the eyes of the monk working the desk - eyes that quickly shot wide open, Luc noted with some amusement - only a moment was allowed to pass before he was met by three others.

The four stood in front of him, shadowed by him as the sun beat on his back from outside. Questions flew haphazardly from their mouths, like ill-aimed arrows from an amateur archer's bow. Naturally, it did not take long for Luc to feel the familiar glow of overconfidence as it took him over.

He had to play the role of the mighty mage, of course, and he did so with an exasperated sigh, pushing past the four gathered monks to stand in the center of the main parlor. The chamber was large and white with marble, with tapestries that fell down from the ceiling.

"I simply crave, once again, the glory that comes from smashing my foes," he said at length, attempting to satisfy each question with that one single thought.

It was a shallow reason, however, and despite how prominent that feeling was at the end of a battle, it was not his true motivation for returning to the Citadel once more. His body had reached the peak of magical ability, at least in terms of his elemental manipulation, and that was something he could deal with. However, with each new spell he learned, Luc had begun to feel more and more ill. He was trying to pack too much power into his tiny frame, and he needed to discipline his mind and body to a point he'd never been at before.

The Citadel was a good place to start taking him a step in that direction.

After some further questions from the monks, and some slight discussion regarding his fight, Luc found himself before a familiar swirling portal, grinning as he recalled the many times he'd stepped through similar doors. "I've been away for a long time, training and learning all the while, and you still insist that I start off small. Fine, then."

The sky was bright and blue, a typical Althanas sky if Luc had ever seen one, and yet... It was strange. It took him a few seconds to realize it, probably because he was so used to seeing it there, but the sun was not hanging up in the blue.

The ground was soft and yellow, almost like sponge or moss. He moved toward a group of flora, strangely colored. Every tree or bush was a bright red, orange, yellow or purple. Luc moved tentatively through the unusual area, coming to an oasis of sorts. A body of water sat in the center, with water as pink as his own skin.

Finally, there lay Krugor, asleep by the water and leaning against the trunk of a tree.

Luc sucked in a breath and cast Stoneskin on himself. The thing was either an animated skeleton or a lich, and if he was the latter, the mage wanted very little to get within reach of his hands. The thing seemed to be laying there in wait, or in reverie, and Luc saw his opportunity.

The Flame Sword of Slykrit was practically ripped from its sheath in one smooth motion, the loud sound of metal escaping leather echoing off the trees. Luc steadied himself and pointed it at the creature, enacting his powers of flame so that the blade not only ignited, but fired a large stream of flames at the prone skeleton.