AC 2021 - Round Two: Team One

Round 2 will begin January 5th, 2022 at 12:01am EST.

Round 2 will end January 21st, 2022 at 11:59pm EST

Team 1
- Christoph
- Emi

[--Prompt--]

The country of Alerar has been turned upside down by the emergence of the Demon Gate. While it was first thought as a mere inconvenience to be studied, a thing of cultural significance to the demons of the Tular Plains, now it has become a nightmare. Demons of Haiadia are spilling forth into Alerar, swarming the open countryside and the Khufein plains as they advance towards the isolated cities of the region. Mere shock-troops and scouting parties have advanced so far from the ruins, but surely more is to come as the portal remains.

In response, the Southern Border of Alerar has been encroached upon, and being overrun, by the Tular Plains demon population. These far more humanoid demons, having lived on the surface of Althanas for decades, can feel the calling of their Infernal brethren. They take up whatever arms they can find and march towards the plains, unorganized and fanatic commoners, but en mass number upwards of tens of thousands.

From the North, the dwarven armies emerged as well. They are not only acting in defense of their mountain fortresses, but actively marching into the open flatlands of Alerar. Slowly they advance towards the gate in an organized force.

[--Challenge--]

Your challenge for Round 2 is to find a way to continue your story from the end of round 1 seamlessly into round 2. What has transpired since you ended your last round? How have you, and your new partner, come to end up working together?

Additionally, you should incorporate the factions that you had worked with initially, and how they progress towards the ending - with elaboration on the end goal.

[Bunnies approved in this thread where they appear]

*

It was a cold day in hell and the demons howled for blood. Elijah strode across ashen hills, the bones of ancient dead crunching beneath his feet. The beasts of Hadia harried him. Each flash of lightning cast them in a sickly green glow: scuttling creatures of ink and bloody sinew, bearing jagged claws and gaping maws.

Elijah’s sword glowed a hearthfire orange as he cleaved through their spindly limbs. The demons hissed, their severed arms dissolved into foul smoke, but still they attacked. His fingers traced elaborate constellations to call forth a dragon’s breath. White hot flame roared from his opened palms, washing away the enemy in a burning tide. Still, they came, climbing by the dozen over the charred remains of their brethren. Talons raked across his chest, sparking against his sorcery-hardened skin.

He pushed harder. The magic was stronger here, and he felt like he could pull the stars from the sky. He lost himself in the chaos. Pillars of fire scythed across the battlefield and brimstone rained from the sky. In the end, he stood alone atop a smoldering, fleshy mound. His breaths came in ragged gasps and froze to mist. Tired muscles ached and stiffened in the cold. He wrapped his blue scaly cloak around himself. The cold. He never imagined a winter in hell, with its biting wind and caustic snow that stings the skin.

Each day was the same, as much as the concept of ‘days’ existed in the realm of the damned. Time lost meaning here, with even the lighting that streaked above slowing to a jagged crawl if he looked at it too hard. How long had it been? Weeks, months, since he passed through the portal? He had entered to save a friend, but the reality warping nature of the realm swept them apart. He never found her.

“It’s time,” he said to himself, standing atop the death-strewn hill. It was time to go home.

(note: depictions of Elite and Sorian are pulled from their thread and are not my own making. Mentioned with permission)

It had been a long day. The third such since leaving Etherea, ten since being separated from her companions. As she came to the top of a rise, she stopped to observe the plain stretching out below her. Her eyes, made strong by growing up with the glare of ocean waves, had little trouble with the light of the setting sun. Pinpricks of light flickered across the plains as small groups started making campfires for the coming night. Whether those groups were friend or foe was impossible to tell at this distance. Seeing others making camp reminded her that it was past time she found shelter herself.

Bringing her attention back to the landscape around her, she spied a hole in the side of a nearby hill. The hole was barely a foot taller than her and was quite narrow: she could easily rest both hands on either side with her elbows bent around 45°. She stretched one hand out in front of her to feel for the back end of the crack, but found nothing. Pressing on carefully, she soon found that the crack in the hill led into a small cave that had clearly seen use as a shelter before.

To one side lay a pile of firewood, some of which had started to rot. Beside that, a hole was cut into the side of the cave. She put her head inside the hole and felt the tiniest draft. Nodding approvingly, she dusted her hands off and put her fists on her hips as she surveyed the rest of the cave. There was not much else to see: a few pots and pans, pitted with age, beside the fireplace, a pile of rotting former blankets in a huddled mess, and quite a bit of rubble knocked loose over the years.

Looks like this place has been forgotten. Still better than being in the open.

Grateful that she had found a place for the night, she began settling in. The first matter, of course, was securing the entrance. The small nature of the cave entrance would prevent anything particularly large from getting in, but it would be useless against anything else. While she began the work of filling the entrance with rubble and whatever else she could find in the cave, her mind went back over the events of the last several days.

Dawn had just begun to lighten the sky as she left Wavedancer behind. Her companions were gathering near the far side of town to begin the journey to the gate. Ahead of her she could see the immense form of the giant skeleton, Elite. Suddenly alarm bells began ringing frantically as shrieks filled the air. Citizens began running in every direction. Before she could catch up to her companions, Elite and Sorian had moved to begin defending the town.

Chaos ruled all.

Soon enough she had her hands full as demons began filling the street. Too busy to do more than react to the danger at hand, she soon lost sight of Elite and anyone else. By the time it was over, Etherea burned in many places. Dead bodies, both demonic and human, littered the ground. The gutters ran red with blood.

Lost in thought, she abruptly realized the cave entrance was full. Hopefully, from the outside it looked like the cave had fallen in. She left a small hole at the very top through which she could see that night had fully fallen.

“You have more important things to focus on,” she scolded herself aloud. “Now for a little fire and-”

She cut off as a few clods of dirt and tiny rocks fell from the roof. Footsteps thudded overhead. Emi held perfectly still, praying to whatever gods might be listening that whatever it was would move on without noticing her. She stood there, breathing as shallowly as possible, not daring to move as her heart thudded in her ears. A minute, then two, then three ticked by with agonizing slowness before she could no longer hear the thudding footsteps above her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she built a tiny fire just big enough to warm her rations. Once she’d eaten, she put the fire out, lest what little light it produced be noticed, then tried to get comfortable on the stone floor. Gripping her harpoon in one hand, she soon drifted into a light sleep.

Going home. One does not cross the veil between realms lightly. The gateway found beneath Alerar was once in a generation, perhaps the last functional portal left in the world. Going back through meant contending with the legions of hell and Alerar alike. There was another way, but not one for the weak willed or faint of heart. The magic sealing Hadia was ancient and unfathomable in scale, a cosmic wall built by the bloodied hands of a thousand mages. And I have to rip through it with my bare hands.

After a long search, Elijah had found the spot. From the Hadian side, nothing marked it as more than another swath of ash-swept rock amidst the endless wastelands. Peering into the aether though a sorcerer’s eyes, however, told a different story. The threads of reality, glittering prismatic strands of magic, were tattered and stretched thin. The veil between worlds was weaker here.

Time grew short, as the feral demons would soon resume their hunt. The wind carried their distant howls.

Elijah traced out several constellations. Licks of flame swirled up his arms and around his hands, focusing into glowing, needle-like shapes at the tips of his fingers. He drew them across the stone, charring the surface in the shape of complex runes and glyphs. In a perfect world, he’d have had his library and laboratory and all the time he needed, instead of rushing to prepare a ritual he made up from fragments and memories.

The demons’ shrieks were closer, now. Elijah’s fingers worked furiously, burning sigils and arcane geometry into reddish stone. Mumbled words spilled from his lips, disjointed syllables and sounds that felt wrong from a human’s mouth. They were charged with power.

Thunder cracked! A bolt of lightning streaked down, slowly like a stone sinking through water. It froze inches from the ground, pulsing its sickly green light. The hair on Elijah’s arms stood up. He spoke a word in ancient elven, and then the same word but… wrong, like speech turned inside out. The lightning bolt widened, prying open the veil between worlds. The sound of tearing metal reverberated through the earth.

Elijah jumped to his feet and reached through the wound in reality. He felt the tattered edges of the veil. Warm, damp air from the other side hit his face. He pushed and strained, and… stopped. He couldn’t move further forward.

“No, no, not good.” The fraying threads of the veil tangled him up. He could see the mortal world beyond, a dark, damp cave. Beside a pile of ashes where a fire once burned, a woman stirred. In a panic, he reeled back, the opening between worlds collapsing. He landed on his back, gasping. In the distance, monsters howled.

He hated to admit it, but some things even he couldn't overcome through brute force.

Gentle waves whispered back and forth across golden sand. Overhead gulls wheeled and called in the warm sunshine. A soft breeze rustled the palm branches just a few yards further up the beach. Emi sighed happily as she stood still, wiggling her toes and letting the waves wash over her feet to the ankles. A feeling of peace and happiness filled her entirely as she simply stood. She was home.

“Emi.”

She turned at the sound of her name, wondering who could find her here. The man on the beach had the same copper-toned skin as her. His black hair, also worn in braids, came to his waist. He wore simple, knee-length shorts and a sleeveless shirt that was open at the neck. Emi stared for a moment then rushed to his open arms.

“Poppa!”

Father and daughter embraced in silence for several moments until at last Emi pulled away.

“But how? You’re-”

“Dead?” he supplied, “Yes, I am. Sometimes the Spirit Realm and dreams touch, but only briefly. You seem to have gotten yourself into quite a bit of trouble.”

Emi nodded and began explaining about the last few weeks. Her father nodded, listening intently as he always did when Emi laid out a problem. When she finished he was silent for a moment.

“Do you remember when you were about 10 years old and you wanted to build your first boat by yourself? You were so determined that you could do it yourself. You selected a good tree and got it cut down, but you couldn’t budge it afterward. You tried for hours before you finally gave up and asked for help.”

Emi smiled ruefully, remembering the day clearly. “I was so upset that I couldn’t even do the first task of boat building: get the wood to your work area. It was more than anyone could have done on their own, but I was so sure that I could.”

Poppa chuckled, “Indeed. You are in a similar situation, Duckling. Do you remember what I told you when you were so upset about the whole thing?”

“You said,” she paused, trying to remember, “you said there was no shame in admitting you had taken on more than you can handle. That sometimes it was better to admit you needed to step back and think again than to keep going and risk harming yourself or others.”

He smiled and hugged her tightly, “Remember that always, my Emi. My time grows short.” He held her out at arm’s length and smiled as his form began to fade away. “Your mother sends her love and I am very proud of you.”

The dream shimmered and shattered as ear-splitting shrieks filled the air outside her cave. Emi woke and rolled quickly to her feet. She moved slowly to the rubble pile at the entrance listening intently for any sign of something being close. The hole at the top of the pile was above her head. Muttering to herself about not paying better attention to such things, she braced her hands and feet against either side of the narrow entryway and worked her way up to peek out.

By the light of the full moon she could see demons of all sizes moving across the countryside. She could now see that the shrieks and bellows were the results of some of the demons fighting amongst themselves. Cursing her luck, she dropped back down and moved away from the entrance. Maybe they’d be too intent on reaching the gate and fighting each other to notice her, maybe not. Either way, she had to find a better option than hoping for the best.

She felt around in the pitch black of the cave to see what else remained to shore up her rubble pile “door.” She found the rest of the firewood and began stacking that up in the entryway. Nothing else remained in the cave. The only place to hide was possibly the fireplace. She glanced nervously at the entrance then felt her way to the fireplace.

Crouching, she sidestepped into the fireplace and stretched her arms up, feeling along the walls of the chimney.

So far so good…

She stood slowly as she continued to stretch until she was at her full height, but the chimney hadn’t narrowed yet. She looked up but couldn’t see any evidence that the hole was directly above her. She coughed lightly as dust, dirt and old soot fell in her face. She crawled back out of the fireplace and froze.

Howls echoed around her as the sound of scrabbling reached her ears. She cursed under her breath, grabbed her harpoon and hurried back into the fireplace. Bracing hands and feet against the walls, she worked her way up the chimney. She held herself in place with her feet against one wall and her back against the other. Holding her harpoon ready to stab down at anything that showed its face, she waited and prayed.

The rough stone of the chimney walls dug painfully into her back and feet, but still she waited in silence. The scrabbling outside was growing louder. The demon had caught her scent and seemed intent on getting in to find its prey. She waited, shifting her grip on her harpoon and trying to shift a bit further up. She winced as her arm scraped a small protrusion of rock.

Suddenly, the rubble pile gave way enough to allow the demon entry. It spoke in a guttural language. Its voice was harsh and taunting as it cast around following the human scent. Emi stayed as still as possible as she tried to follow the demon’s movements by the scratch of its clawed feet on the stone floor. For all its seeming hurry to get into the cave, it didn’t seem to be in a hurry to actually find her. That, or it was just too dumb to figure out where she else she could be if she wasn’t in plain sight.

“Hungry!”

The word came clear as day to Emi’s ears. She scowled, realizing what it meant. Apparently, her knack for picking up language even included demon-speak. It also meant that it had already been around five minutes since the demon got in the cave.

Great, just what I wanted, to be able to understand what the demon is saying as it eats me!

Slowly the scratch of talons on stone came closer. A few more words were starting to become more understandable. Emi tried to ignore the mutterings about snapping bones and sucking out the marrow or the ponderings of if it should take the time to build a roasting fire or just eat her raw.

Emi took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, trying to settle her nerves as she shifted her feet slightly. The demon’s head snapped to the fireplace as the telltale sound of trickling dirt reached its ears.

“FOUND!”

The scrabbling grew louder and faster as it hurried to the fireplace and stuck its scaly head inside. Emi stabbed her harpoon between her legs as hard as she could and was rewarded with squeals of pain. She winced as she scraped her arms and back on the rocky passage as she lost her footing and fell.

“This food fights back!”

The harsh words of the demonic language irritated her throat and felt rough on tongue. The demon scrambled away from the fireplace in confusion and pain muttering about human weapons.

“Speak demon?”

“Learn fast. Find other food.”

Moonlight began to filter through the now open cave entrance. The demon sat on its haunches in the moonlight, looking at Emi. Its confusion and curiosity about a human speaking demon had gotten the better of its hunger and now it sat trying to puzzle it out. It didn’t seem much bigger than her and it had a gaping wound on its shoulder dripping blood on the ground. The demon didn’t seem to care about its injury as it tilted its head to one side in puzzlement.

“Humie talk like demon. Humie have sharp claw. Hurts. But hungry now.”

Emi didn’t answer. Using a language solidified the learning of it and this was one language she didn’t care to learn well. While she waited for the demon to make up its mind, the moon lined up with the cave entrance and filled a narrow path, directly on the demon. Her eyes now adjusted to the tiny bit of light, Emi readied her harpoon. Slowly, she wrapped the end of the return rope around her hand.

Only one shot, wait for it.

She slowly moved a bit forward to give herself more space for the throw. She stood and drew her arm back. The demon finally realized she’d moved and started to stand.

“What humie d-”

Its words cut off as the sharp Lhunstone blade pierced through its neck and severed its spine. Emi yanked on the rope, pulling her harpoon free and back to herself, ready to throw again. She shuddered as she watched the demon convulsing in death until at last it moved no more.

She stood in shocked silence for a moment then carefully approached it to make sure it was well and truly dead. A sigh of relief escaped her as she finally allowed herself to relax. She used some rags that may have been bed linens at one time to clean the blade and cover up the grotesque corpse, then settled in to stay awake the rest of the night. When dawn came she would head back to Etherea just as fast as could manage. She had gotten lucky with this demon. It had been both stupid and weak. She might not be so lucky next time.

“I’ll go back and help the wounded in Etherea. That is how I can be of most use. Demon slaying is definitely not my wheelhouse.

Judgement: Round 2; Team 1

Congrats on getting to the second round. I’m looking forward to judging. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like additional commentary. I will keep the feedback brief for the most part. =)

Overall: While I, as the judge, remembered what had happened from the previous round, neither of you really gave up much in the way of the story and what had happened as you transitioned into this story. The opening posts left me wondering how you would interact with each other, or how you were going to tell a story together. As it seems, the answer to that question was not at all… Christoph, you tried to push through the portal into the cave with hints at it being Emi - Emi your next post ignored that entirely, then the thread ended.

I was expecting more, but unfortunately this thread is going to be a DC (not for being unable to finish, but unwilling to). No rewards will be given.