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  1. #11
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    A hand clapped Shinsou on the shoulder, interrupting his sleep and scaring him into uttering an involuntary noise. The brown-haired man looked upwards to the dawn’s light, slightly startled, to meet the eyes of his friend Storm Veritas. The sudden rush of adrenaline faded as he relaxed, noting as always the remarkable colouring of the electromancer’s eyes - blue as the tempestuous lightning he controlled.

    "We're nearly at Tylmerande, Shin." Storm’s voice was as harsh as the elements, but it masked a note of genuine warmth towards him. "Thought you might want to get prepared."

    Shinsou, realising for the first time that his friend had secured him to Slepnir for the long journey they had made, sleepily nodded his gratitude in reply. Picking up the reins offered to him by Storm, the Telgradian rolled the leather-bound straps around his forearms. "Sorry, by the way." he spoke with equal warmth in his tone, his voice gentle and quiet, “I should have used something a little more practical to kill him. I let my heart rule my head.”

    “Yeah, no shit.” Came the response as the electromancer savoured his cherry tobacco, lit in his pipe by a simple click of his fingers. “You love a flashy spell. Still, one less asshole to worry about. One to go.”

    A moment's pause ensued for him to inhale deeply of the pipe, before he led the horses in a canter to the fore of a hill for a better view of Tylmerande ahead and the low-slung port beyond. They were both used by now to the sight of ships cleaving through the rollicking waves, the green hills on the horizon, and people marching around town, and that’s what they got.

    "A normal morning in Tylmerande, apparently." Storm murmured as he gazed upon them, thoughtful and pensive. “Can you sense him?”

    "Yeah," Shinsou confirmed as he joined his charge at the hill’s crest. “He’s- wait. He’s not in the town itself. He’s slightly west, I think. Over there…” A finger pointed to the left of the town’s perimeter, towards a large wooded area that had been boxed off with a concrete wall. It was impossible to see what the squared area contained beyond the trees that shrouded the ground, but the Telgradian was certain of what his senses were telling him. “What’s that place? Some sort of public garden?”

    "Not sure, but it’ll be hosting a funeral shortly," was the response, voiced in such a way that it conveyed depths of urgency. The smile masked Storm’s desire for vengeance well, and the humour was evidence of this. “Let’s go kill this son-of-a-bitch before he gets wind of us.”

    Shinsou nodded, indicating forwards with the reins, and the stallion Slepnir obligingly followed the motion into a gallop across the rolling field. Storm and Atilla followed suit, gliding across the grass with comparably more grace than his counterpart ahead. The pair were specks against a broad horizon of green and cloudless azure blue sky, and on any other day, it would be a good day to be riding.

    The Telgradian blinked at this thought as the wind hit his face in a thick sheet, before pulling back alongside his friend and studying him as they rode. Everything they had gone through together recently had built up to this moment, but he wondered what would become of them and the Brotherhood once this was over. For all of his self-depreciating humour, Storm was definitely more perceptive than he let on. He'd managed to piece together a lot of things over the course of the long journey to keep the Brotherhood running in the background, and exactly how he did it was beyond Shinsou’s comprehension. The warrior-mage both admired and respected the electromancer not only for coming to the conclusion that the Brotherhood had been worth building in the first place, but keeping it running tightly until the very last moment. But now that Whitevale was gone, what would happen to their lives? Would Storm stick around and rebuild, or move on and look for pastures new?

    That’s a matter for him to decide, Shinsou resolved, He deserves to do whatever he wants after this. It’s taken its toll, and god knows we paid for it all in blood. No-one deserves to make that choice more than him.

    By the time Shinsou finally turned Slepnir away from the onrushing trees, Storm had long given the silent orders for the horses to be berthed and for them to go on foot into the gated woodland before them. They were a trained and stalwart pair and knew their duties well; the Telgradian responded quietly and immediately to his friend’s every hand gesture, and glided through the gates like a graceful swan down the longest of stone paths that carved this odd forestry in two.

    It was then, as they made progress down the straight path, it became obvious where they were. Facing the older man, Shinsou frowned and quietly mouthed to him.

    "You weren’t wrong about the funeral. Why is he at a cemetery?”

    Shinsou’s eyes swept the pathways and beyond the final row of trees to the tombstones. Across the rows of assorted, jumbled headstones and the thousands of graves, a solitary man could be seen walking about one hundred feet away in a very deliberate manner. Weaving between spent candles, generic floral tributes and portraits of loved ones, the white coated Arius Mephisto seemed utterly and unusually pre-occupied as a thin trickle of sunlight bounced off of his smooth scalp. Whether he was seeking answers, seeking inspiration, seeking something else...It didn’t matter. There would be no answer, and there would be no comfort. There would only be the harsh, unyielding reality that fucking with the Brotherhood and destroying all of those innocent lives in Whitevale would bring him, and that was all the treacherous wizard would ever find here, delivered personally by Shinsou Vaan Osiris and Storm Veritas.

    “I’m going to hit him with everything I’ve got from the offset,” Shinsou’s voice was low, but reverberating with power, “Whilst I’m laying down whatever I can, get in close and do what you do best. He dies today.”

    Shinsou lifted his arm level with his shoulder and muttered a quick incantation, exposing the air to his volatile dark matter once more. A smell of horrible torn flesh, that the breeze nothing to disguise, wafted through the air as deep purple stains spread in widening ovals behind him. His hand began to pulse purple and black, tendrils of his dark magic crackling as they formed a plethora of Enpera Kurohitsugi spears; far more than he would normally conjure. As the scent of ozone filled his lungs, displacing the sickening smell of dark matter, over fifty lances now momentarily hung in the air, accompanied by an unmistakeable ethereal hum.

    Arius, making another pass down a particular area of interest, turned just in time to see the pair, and the wall of sheer darkness behind Shinsou that contained his dark arsenal.

    Without even having to motion, Shinsou commanded all of the projectiles to attack at once. They shot out of the portal and wildly tore towards their intended recipient, forks of black and purple electricity tearing at the stone, dirt and marble around them and scorching the surface of the path as they travelled. Through the hazy trail of his powerful volley, the Telgradian gave the nod to Storm, a signal for his friend to strike. As the electromancer began his nightmare sprint, Shinsou afforded the implacable Arius Mephisto an incredulous stare.

    As soon as Storm gets to you, I’ve got a little surprise for your murdering hide, the Telgradian determined, bringing Enpera to his side.

  2. #12
    Ride The Lightning

    EXP: 166,794, Level: 17
    Level completed: 83%, EXP required for next Level: 3,206
    Level completed: 83%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,206


    Storm Veritas's Avatar

    GP
    25,550

    Name
    Storm Veritas
    Age
    39
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    Storm had just begun to motion back a command of ”hold!” when the volley of black spears went hurdling forward towards the towering arched gateway of the stone ringed cemetery. It didn’t surprise him an iota to see them vanish into the ether, as though swallowed whole by the very air upon which they traveled. Their ringing, tingling sound echoed softly in the distance as they harmlessly vaporized.

    Have we learned nothing, old friend? You thought after he transported us to the ass end of Althanas that he’d sit in a graveyard waiting for the reaper?

    A quick turn and a smirk from the old magician, who pushed an invisible pulse across the little boneyard. He could sense the presence of the portal at the gate, and there was more within the rolling browned grasses, mottled with old, faded stones.

    “Slow treading, stay tight. This son of a bitch didn’t show up unprepared.”

    With grace and deft, Veritas pushed down at the hip-high iron fence with his right hand, hopping nimbly over and landing silently in the cemetery. With some magical assistance, he tore out a tandem of wrought railing spikes from the fence, holding them like daggers. Shinsou had announced their presence, so this was simple doom-portal avoidance. He could hear the similarly quiet arrival of his friend behind him, and just knew his Telgradian brother in arms had a sword at the ready, hoping to slash his way through magic portals.

    Ahead of him, Arius knelt atop the small knoll at the center of the graveyard. He was surrounded by a pair of large statues, one capped by a deer and the second a bear-like creature, immortalized by marble. The rich even died better in Corone.

    The urge to dash ahead or launch a blast of energy tore through Storm like fire in his veins. His jaw clenched, nostrils flaring at the monk-like figure only some hundred feet ahead. They had been this close before, chasing the genocidal traitor only to be duped and sent spiraling across the world. The balance of caution and lethality was untenable; Storm would prefer to lure Mephisto out of the graveyard, to a more level playing field.

    “Not today, Arius. Enough of the parlor tricks. I’m not slipping into one of your wormholes, you fucking coward. Come and settle up your tab.”

    Without a word, Storm began to push forward the first railing, staring as it harmlessly levitated forward away from him. Iron was easy to manipulate with his electromagnetic abilities. It had traveled less than fifteen feet before he felt the pull, a hidden portal beginning to suck the black rail into the ethereal. With a contraction of fields he retracted the iron bar, and before it stood a twelve foot door of white energy – another large portal. The shimmering white, gold, and blue hues bent towards him at the top, with no clear end in sight; it was unlikely a simple flight above the wall was possible.

    Not taking the bait this time, you chickenshit monster. Not today.

    With a confident step forward, the wizard Veritas waved his hand to the side, effortlessly commanding the bar to float out towards the right. A second, third, and fourth door shimmered in rapid succession, forming a wall of electrically humming white energy visibly dividing the Brotherhood Leaders from Arius.

    “He’s not going to wait here for us to figure this little game out.” Shinsou was centered again, logic and control forming a light blanket over the spinning ball of rage that lay beneath his surface. They had come too far.

    “Agreed. Split, step carefully, and let’s map to him. Gods only know what surprises lay behind the doors; let’s not risk the teleportation lottery.” There were no shared glances or nodding approvals necessary; the duo was hell bent on the same end game. Shinsou’s sword brought him to the right, pushing ahead of him and exposing a long channel of portal-walls that buzzed to white life at the touch.

    Opposite him now by some sixty yards, Storm pushed the iron ahead of him on the left side of the field, dragging the second iron out to his left as a second wall was exposed. The bent tops of the two walls merged, consolidating a deeper, yellow tinged white that reeked of ozone, as though Storm’s own powers were manifested to form this unholy trap. This was in fact a corridor of white portals, which became a maze after a few vacant spaces were exposed. The resonant humming grew louder and more deafening with each awakened portal. The voice of Arius boomed overhead.

    “You remain fools, even after your travels. I thought better of you; better for the Brotherhood. It’s grown clear you can’t be educated; your flames must be snuffed out to raise the Castigars from the ashes of your idiocy.”

    Getting scared? Come out and play, you son of a bitch.

    Brave thoughts betrayed a growing sense of dread. Glancing quickly behind him, Storm witnessed one of the large white panels rotate, forming a wall behind him. It forced him forward, into hallways bent by breaks in the walls of white and gold. Shinsou was elsewhere; likely also isolated, also balancing some turbulent brew of fear and fury in his intestines. They’d been outwitted by Arius twice; it was unlikely they’d see a third opportunity to recover.

    He’s won. I’m going to die here. Quietly, anonymously, and without anything to show for this entire ordeal. It -can’t- end like this.

    Remaining externally stoic, the old magician forged ahead. The image of the tiny metal spoon propelled him forward, compelling him to die a warrior today.

  3. #13
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

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    As the pair split, Shinsou had found himself funnelled into a corridor of faceless, white portals and heavy rank air. The channel was oppressively narrow, with no diverging paths and seemingly only one way out. The Telgradian could feel the gravitational pull of the rifts as he walked past each one cautiously, noting that they flickered erratically with intense light upon each pass. But, as Shinsou ambled past the third one, he noted it grew gradually weaker the further he travelled from it. As he entered the dominion of the fourth, the murmurs of the third’s fate-borne whisperings faded away like haunting echoes into the shadows.

    They seem to be reacting to me. Shinsou realised. The meaning of this had yet to become clear to him, but the thought burned like a flame in the back of his mind.

    For the moment, however, there was only one concern and that was to find a way out of this labyrinth of countless opportunities for a long-haul journey across Althanas. As the spellsword moved forward a couple of paces, his feet squashing moist cemetery grass underfoot, Shinsou’s senses suddenly shook him as Arius Mephisto’s energy moved from the very fringes of his range to directly behind him. In an instant Shinsou reacted, spinning and flicking out a hand from which a Kurohitsugi spear manifested immediately. He lashed out furiously, striking the lithe form of his hated enemy.

    Of course, The Telgradian sighed as the dark lance sailed through Arius’s body harmlessly, as if attacking a ghost. The bald wizard was sat with his legs folded beneath him, on the mulchy grass, facing the Telgradian. A blue flame reflected upon the pendant of burnished silver he wore beneath his white coat, playing upon the spectacles nestled on his nose and dancing in the depths of his darkly sensitive eyes.

    “Projection magic. How adorable of you.” Shinsou observed as he snapped the lance out of existence in frustration.

    Beyond the object of his annoyance was a single portal embedded into the air that wasn’t there before. It shone with distinctly different hues than the others.

    “I speak, for a moment, to you directly. I feel distinctly uncomfortable seated in the shadows, but it is what it is, Shinsou.” Arius’s hoarse voice rang out from all directions. “You came here to rain destruction down upon me. It was inevitable. But, let me remind you of something. You stand in the way not merely of an individual, but of an entity. The full extent of which, even with all of your intellect, have been unable to fathom. You must stand clear of the Brotherhood, Shinsou Vaan Osiris, or be trodden underfoot by what awaits in the darkness.”

    Shinsou felt the pull of the portals either side of him, and immediately shifted forward slightly as he disliked the feel of the gravity against his body. It seemed to cling to his clammy skin with every breath he took. In fact, the pull was making him lethargic, sapping his energy.

    Wait.

    “I can tell from the look on your face you’ve now realised what these portals are doing.” The seated menace looked up with a holographic smile. “A commendable deduction. But one made far too late.”

    So, that’s how he could sustain such a large number of portals and use that powerful projection magic. Shinsou felt like an idiot as he turned away from Arius’s apparition. He’d realised all too late that his energy was being pulled from him by these portals, and wagered that it was probably being fed straight to Arius, who was sat outside the maze somewhere reaping all the benefits. Shinsou had no doubt that his companion on the other side of this nightmare maze would soon begin to suffer too; his vast electrical powers drawn to Arius like moths to a flame.

    There was only one thing to do, and that was to make a big hole in Mephisto’s plan. Literally.

    He closed his eyes and clutched gently at the Enpera’s hilt, and allowed his power to flow between it and himself. Four intense, bright walls of light suddenly washed upwards around a cluster of the portals to Shinsou’s right; next to where the Telgradian knew Storm Veritas to be. His friend would be safe, but everything around him would turn to dust.

    “Your portals are gravitational, aren’t they? Time for a stress test.”

    The pillars dazzled before violently crushing together around seven or eight of the blue and gold rifts, fully enveloping them in a throbbing sarcophagus of pure, magnesium white energy. At his unspoken command, the tomb spawned those familiar giant lances that protruded from its outer shell, and with an almighty bang each spear suddenly plunged into the core. The incomprehensible gravitational forces of Shinsou’s most powerful spell pushed down and effortlessly crushed those of Arius’s creation, rending the wormholes apart with ease.

    Arius’s projection got to his feet, spatters of white flame spitting through his ethereal form. He could see that a cluster of his energy sapping portals had been removed from existence, and could clearly see the bemused form of Veritas through the huge gap that Shinsou had created. Worse, the breach in the wall of portals had eaten into the perimeter; Arius’s last line of defence

    “Looks like your magic failed the test.” Shinsou panted as the Mephisto apparition faded from existence. His senses once again placed Arius at his true location, which was beyond the portal wall’s large hole.

    A hole, at which, the electromancer was nearest.

    "Storm, stay away from the remaining portals!" Shinsou shouted across to his friend, stood about forty yards away now, "They're feeding him energy!"

  4. #14
    Ride The Lightning

    EXP: 166,794, Level: 17
    Level completed: 83%, EXP required for next Level: 3,206
    Level completed: 83%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,206


    Storm Veritas's Avatar

    GP
    25,550

    Name
    Storm Veritas
    Age
    39
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    The actions of Shinsou were as clear as the words that Storm could hear so directly. The white buzzing of the portals was all about him, but the fury that motivated the wizard also sharpened him, dampening the shrill white noise to a soft hum. He knew the sharp, shriff sounds of Vaan Osiris’s projectiles, and could easily surmise that the Telgradian had used his own magics to break a few of these abominable portals to gods-knew-where.

    Shinsou’s advice to avoid the portals was an unintentional torment; the electromancer was surrounded in this artificial hallway by the tall portals on all sides, including the vaulted ceilings that prevented any clever flight-borne tricks that might do him well. There was no “avoiding” them, but it was telling that the closer he came to each door, the more he felt what could only be described as a drift. His head felt lightened, and his body more relaxed. The portals were also soothingly warm in the cool, drizzly graveyard, almost enticing.

    He’s smart. He’s got me in a cage; going to slowly drain me. There’s a lot of juice to go around here. Let me give you a taste, Arius

    It was an effortless pulse he pushed from his fingertips, watching his right hand extend like a hand of one of the Old Gods, glowing white emerging pumping forth from his hand like a river, the smooth scent of ozone rich through his lungs. The smooth cylinder of white was speckled with gold, purple, and blue notes; an effortless burst that could easily kill a man, perhaps two or three if they were armored soldiers clustered closely.

    Nothing, absolutely nothing.

    Unlike Shinsou’s magic, Storm Veritas found his wizardry completely ineffective against the portal. His energy just seemed to pass through like air through an open door, with no response or reception to the burst that he unleashed. Discouraged, the dread muddled once more in his intestines, a heavy reminder of how powerless he was, despite how close he had come.

    “Snifft!”

    In a quick, silent attack, Arius had emerged from the portal behind him, slashing a hot blade across his shoulderblades, cutting his back open wide with a careless, almost oafish lack of precision. The wizard tore around in a rage, ready to blast that which no longer remained. In a flash, Mephisto had disappeared again, the his sneering smile seeming to fade into transparency in the midst of the buzzing white.

    Slash!

    Another single step and a swipe, and this time Mephisto had darted across the hallway of portals, exiting from Storm’s right flank and entering just as quickly on his left. In this rapid maneuver, he dragged what Veritas viewed from the corner of his eye as a golden glowing sabre, a savage weapon that cleaved the aging magician behind the knees and dropped him instantly to one knee.

    “I learned much about you, wizard, but you’ve only grown old, slow, and weak. Your days are OVER.” Arius taunted him from outside the hallway of portals; it was an insult that Storm had no retort to this time. His eyes tightened into a furious squint; his hands both aglow now with so much electric energy that the buzzing white magic obscured all the flesh from the wrist down in a cloud of swirling sorcery.

    A crashing sound behind him sent the traveler into a spin, his hands flying forward and bursting white before he identified Shinsou, whom had broken another portal and reappeared. Determined not to take note of the large wounds that had ravaged him, Veritas chose instead to motion in a circle towards the perimeter of portals that enveloped the Brotherhood. Blood was collecting in a pool by his feet; the flow from his wounds a steady sandglass that explained the plunging level of color on his face. He coughed weakly as he spoke.

    “Right on cue, young fella’. About fucking time. Get tight; he’s using the doors to get the jump on me.”
    Last edited by Storm Veritas; 08-20-2021 at 09:30 PM.

  5. #15
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    Shinsou needed no second invitation.

    Checking between the remaining active portals that flanked his friend, the Telgradian quickly contemplated his approach and slid across the grass and gravel to land at Storm’s back, his spine pressing almost against the dirtied finery of the wiry electromancer. He was not blind, and could see the blood pooling at the snarling Veritas’s feet. Anger at Storm's physical plight started to swell amongst the already ample seas of hatred. This man had often been vilified and outed as an outlaw, shunned by those who thought they were wise to him. This man, his friend, had given Shinsou everything. To see him hurt and demoralised? It was like a fuse to the already highly stacked kegs of gunpowder representing the last eight months.

    Swirling Enpera to attention in his right hand, his golden eyes veered cautiously between the hazy contents of the numerous portals surrounding them.

    “I heard what he said to you.” The angry note in Shinsou’s voice was obvious. “Old, slow and weak? He's learned nothing about you. He'll learn soon enough, though, we’ll fucking see about that. I’ve got a plan. I’m going to reduce his avenues of attack; enough to increase our odds, not enough for him to guess what I’m up to. Watch my moves; you’ll know when the time’s right.”

    The combination of sudden proximity to a large number of energy sucking portals and the onset of muscle fatigue was melting their reserves like a spring thaw in Salvar, but the sheer rage and determination in Shinsou’s mortal frame drove him like the most potent of fuel. The Telgradian collected every bit of energy left in him and invested it into opening a new silo of Enpera Kurohitsugi spears, turning the air in the cemetery moist with power as sweat ran in rivulets down the Telgradians milky skin. Setting his spears in place, Shinsou fingered five of his lances forward with a long-practised gesture and, in seconds, five more of Arius’s portals shattered into shards of light that fizzed out of existence.

    "You can’t get them all, Shinsou." Ill words emanated from one of the wormholes. “But please, keep trying. The more you do, the more I feed off of your delectable energy. How can one with such crude power be so sweet, I wonder? I-”

    “You’re boring us all with this shit.” Shinsou cut Arius off roughly, baiting him. “I’m sick and tired of it. You fancied yourself some sort of god, but I’ve not yet seen anything I can’t destroy. You’re no different.”

    "On the contrary. You can’t destroy what you can’t see!”

    Shinsou’s senses picked up immediately on imminent danger, but his senses reacted quicker than his body. A cold agony exploded from just above his hip as Arius’s eyes appeared centimetres from his own, arcane whorls of red and white swirling within his irises. A dagger pressed its hilt covertly against his abdomen, and the Telgradian could only let out a dry, distressed hiss. As Arius continued to hold the dagger into his nemesis, he knocked Storm to the floor with a concussive wave loosed from his free hand.

    “Whatever you were up to, it was never going to work,” The wizard spoke into Shinsou’s ear as he pressed forward on the knife. “The game you’ve played with me has been rigged all along.”

    Shinsou’s eyes paled only slightly as he clapped a hand on Arius’s back, leaning his injured and bleeding body further into him. As he did, the Telgradian returned his blade, still within his grasp, to his right hand side and grabbed Mephisto with his left, anchoring him. With cracked lips, and fading breath, words slipped past his teeth and into his enemy’s ear.

    “Your arrogance has blinded you. No way you would have ever risked me laying a finger on you in the past…” Shinsou grimaced as a fresh wave of pain swept through him, “…Now I know you aren't a projection. I know that feeling anywhere.”

    Shin no Kotei: 4th Grade

    The evil wizard mused as he his eyes looked down to his arm and was left astonished by what he saw. By the time he had realised what was happening, the bindings of shadows had already begun securing too-tightly around Arius’s arm, and before long up his shoulder. Snatching the knife from Shinsou’s body, Arius tried to struggle free of the dark ropes, but with each struggle the impenetrable dark matter chains had begun to anchor into the ground with a series of heavy thunks. The electrified air bit his skin but still he hustled, trying his best to shake off the effects of Shinsou’s sealing magic.

    “Storm, hit...him...now!” Shinsou rasped over the cold and the high-decibel vibrations coming from his nemesis, crumpling to the floor as the stab wound took its toll.

    They had one shot, and it all boiled down to this. One way or the other, everything was coming to an end.

  6. #16
    Ride The Lightning

    EXP: 166,794, Level: 17
    Level completed: 83%, EXP required for next Level: 3,206
    Level completed: 83%,
    EXP required for next Level: 3,206


    Storm Veritas's Avatar

    GP
    25,550

    Name
    Storm Veritas
    Age
    39
    Race
    Human
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone
    At the end of his life, Storm would one day romanticize that this moment moved slowly, as it would be remembered as a touchstone moment upon which life would never be the same. His memory would distort the ensuing actions as a dramatic conclusion to a voyage of months, an epic showdown which would have been better serviced backset to trumpets and violins in concert, illustrating the magnificence as the world changed.

    To those whose worlds have changed, there is never such luxury afforded.

    You motherfucker!

    With a pointed lack of poetry or panache, Storm Veritas manifested an energy from which he had never summoned before upon any landscape in all of Althanas. The brilliant Shinsou Vaan Osiris had anchored Arius Mephisto to the ground once and for all, and stood a foot back from the perspective of the electromancer, who had just scrambled to his feet. Extending both hands forward with hips square to the target, a torrent of electrical energy exploded from everywhere; his hands, chest, and perhaps his very soul.

    The channel of spiraling, white hot energy wasn't artful or elegant, it was simply extreme devastation. In less than a blink, lightning exploded through the mighty villain, leaving barely a trace of humanity in its wake. Blood and flesh sprayed outwardly as if a large water balloon had been popped, indiscriminate of general direction or any sense of elegance. An ear-popping crack mirrored the blast, which knocked both Storm and Shinsou to the ground in spinning heaps.

    Gods! Tell me I didn't fucking kill us all.

    Veritas remained face down on the ground in dusty grasses of the cemetary as he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing to welcome him was the concussion; his head screaming at him from within, worse than any hangover he'd ever experienced. It was a few seconds before he could hear the wind softly whistle over him, a wonderful acquiescence from the droning buzz of white noise that portals had previously had burned his brain with. His back and legs burned as deep cuts screamed at him, and his body felt weak and arms ached as he slowly pressed his chest away from the soil.

    "Your finesse is perfectly terrible, you know this?" A wonderful, welcoming tease came from behind him, as the aging magician slowly spun to a seat in browned soil. A heaping, smoking and thick pool of grisly brown stew smelled of death where Arius stood, with scattered bits of bone and flesh no larger than your thumb drizzled across the land. The pool burned his nostrils with unholy odors of hell-sent horrors, and Storm was satisfied that the problem of Arius Mephisto had been solved with absolute prejudiced.

    "Shit, sorry. You okay?" Storm's ears buzzed with a soft ring as he tried to let his eyes focus on Vaan Osiris. The Telgradian's clothes were mottled with what could only be described as gore; a mix of blood, flesh, earth and singed clothing. A distinct fingertip-sized chunk of bone had nestled into Shinsou's hair, which Veritas would later joke made for the world's manliest barrette.

    "What? Fuck, I don't know. Yes, probably? Not sure; gods-damned ears."

    Surveying the landscape, Storm observed a small channel of burned grass behind the point of impact, like a great ball of fire had rolled over the area. A large statue of stone had been shattered and toppled some fifty feet behind it all. He smiled a bit; that bastard wouldn't need the monument anymore.

    Wounds could be treated. Grass and graves would be restored. A great wrong had been righted; Arius Mephisto was no more.

  7. #17
    Viator Mundi

    EXP: 155,108, Level: 17
    Level completed: 18%, EXP required for next Level: 14,892
    Level completed: 18%,
    EXP required for next Level: 14,892


    Shinsou Vaan Osiris's Avatar

    GP
    7,753

    Name
    Shinsou Vaan Osiris
    Age
    34
    Race
    Telgradian
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

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    After what seemed like an age, Shinsou got up to his feet and winced as the wet folds of slit flesh in his midriff ground against each other. Rivulets of fresh crimson oozed out into the muddied fabric of his clothing. It needed cauterizing as soon as possible.

    This was a task to which the electromancer obliged perhaps too enthusiastically; a small, sustained spark of blue electric searing the puncture closed with crude application.

    “Fucking hell,” The Telgradian muttered through gritted teeth as the smell of ozone mingled with that of seared skin. He moved to rib his friend, but stopped himself. In truth, he was grateful to be alive, and there would be plenty of time for jokes later. So, instead, he buttoned up his coat, and eventually turned back to look at the gore-soaked, churned mud crater. Storm had carved an absolute chasm of destruction into the cemetery, so ferocious was his lightning blast. The scorched earth that remained was littered with bone fragments, charred entrails, black leaves and crumbs of cooked skin that held a distinctive, repulsive odour. Gravestones many yards to either side were cracked or shattered by the force of the attack; their heads now reduced to gravel-like debris that had been strewn across the width of the place.

    It was a few moment before anyone spoke, but Storm stood next to Shinsou with an eerie peace about him. A frigid cold swept over them as the electormancer looked on, apparently thankful for the end of their nemesis, but the Telgradian doubted that he would get any meaningful peace from it. All he knew was that, for once, no-one could take anything else away from them.

    Storm glanced over his shoulder.

    "You don't seem happy."

    “The cunt got nothing less than what he deserved.” The Telgradian suddenly turned to Storm, wiping a sleeve across his bloodied forehead. The electromancer watched in surprise as his friend’s expression changed to a frown. “But, I don’t feel as happy as I should do. There are thousands at Whitevale who aren’t here. His life, no matter how dangerous he was or how much he had to be stopped, is hardly recompense for that.”

    “No,” The electromancer agreed, “But he’ll never do it again, and we gave him the justice he deserved. That much is for sure. Better weather is coming, Shin.”

    There were a few moments of silence as Shinsou nodded slowly, and the pair started to walk together back towards the cemetery’s entrance. Just ahead, the iron wrought gate stood, where on either side the horses were moored to the wall that encircled the area. The gate had become crooked and warped; its jagged iron spikes now curling in the direction of the inner yard, likely bent by the sheer force of Storm Veritas’s electromagnetic powers. The washed limestone walls and finely carved statues that adorned the edges of cemetery had also become cracked and disjointed. As he approached the gate, the Telgradian pressed his hand against the distorted iron latch, and after a bit of a struggle managed to wrench it open to leave. A single glance back toward the wreckage was all that he mustered, a mixture of morbid satisfaction and acceptance sweeping over him.

    "What now?" Storm asked.

    "Being anywhere else other than this." It was the most honest thing that Shinsou had ever given as an answer. With carefully maintained stoicism, he paused and then narrowed his eyes. “We need to do something about Whitevale. It’s still a smouldering wreck, but we have money in Tylmerande. I say we find a good tavern there, and then find an architect. We’ll rebuild from the ground up, bury and honour the dead as best as we can.”

    "Still got to do something about those who followed Durandal and Arius. They had a few men behind them when they burned Whitevale down. What’s the plan?"

    Shinsou’s teeth clenched against his bottom lip, remembering the little hand clinging to the spoon. It was far from the circumstances he wanted, and this conversation should have been a happy one. For a moment, he saw Storm thinking about the same little hand. He was right. Durandal was as much a part of this as Arius, but neither man had acted alone. There were still those who had to answer.

    “Anyone involved in this, at any level, are dead men.” came the sobering reply.

    ***

    Three days later
    ***

    Shinsou and Storm’s men had come for them at eight in the morning. Through the windows of their safe house in Underwood, Durandal’s personal detail watched on helplessly as the Brotherhood skirmishers surrounded their residence and pinned them in. Their leader, another Raieran named Saara, was in a bad mood. Her mouth had the thick sourness of the stale water she had drank the night before from the river, and she was not looking forward to whatever would constitute breakfast in the Brotherhood holding cells. A flitch of undercooked bacon? A piece of mouldy, crusty bread? She could almost taste the rot already. For once, this morning, she didn't feel hungry enough to want to force the 'food' into herself. Instead, Saara was going to continue thinking upon her plan of escape and divert her attention away from the culinary horrors of the Brotherhood's jail wing.

    As the handle on the front door dropped, creaking as rusty metal ground against wood, the young, beaten woman turned her head.

    The man was no skirmisher.

    "Remember the spoon."

    Her expression changed to one of puzzlement, but she said nothing and began to comply with instructions she had not even received, falling into line and kneeling. It seemed bizarre that she be arrested and escorted by Shinsou Vaan Osiris himself. Would the provosts not suffice?

    Suddenly, the world around her went dark as a black lance was dashed through her head, obliterating it instantly.

    Within moments, the house was full of the sounds of cords tightening hoods around necks, their collars just loose enough to let the men breathe whilst securing the cloth about their heads. The Telgradian’s detail, blank faced men in green jackets and black hats, stared with hostility at the headless torso as they led forth the shackled from their hideaway. Across the woodland road, a commotion suddenly burst into life as another house was raided and insurgents were hauled from their slumber. The captured men could just about hear the sickening crackle of lightning against bare skin over cries of pain.

    As the noise faded to black, the traitors of Whitevale realised they were being led into more trouble than they would have dreamed possible. They were not prisoners of war now. They were the enemy, and they were probably being led to a torture chamber, a trial and whatever lay beyond.

    ***

    The loyal men of the Brotherhood had decided they had never seen the Telgradian and the electromancer in such determined moods.

    It was no surprise. The damage that had been done to the Brotherhood and to Whitevale was immense. No Brotherhood soldier or citizen of Whitevale who still remained in the town, so far as Shinsou Vaan Osiris knew, had any love for the cabal that had sided with Arius and Durandal, so there was no danger that outside these walls there would be any martyrs of their ill-fated cause. The religious among the congregation had been quick off the mark as usual, spouting their anti-capital punishment diatribes, but Osiris and Storm had been just as quick. The second and third most senior figurehead in the rebellion had already been violently killed, a mass hanging would take place for the rest, and all that before the sun that had risen on Whitevale’s wreckage.

    The remainder of Arius’s rebellion had found the wind taken from their sails.

    The men loyal to Shinsou and Storm had declared themselves satisfied with their swift retribution. The gallows were approved and constructed from the very timber found within the wreckage of the township, at least the beams that hadn’t failed. A Sergeant, sweating in his provost's uniform, climbed a ladder with the rope that he looped in turn onto each hook. Beyond him, the hillside was thick with Brotherhood men amidst continued rumours that some men fighting for Arius’s rebellion had escaped and would try and spring their comrades from their nooses. It sounded an unlikely threat, but it was taken seriously. The provosts carried their swords and watched the hillsides and valleys below like hawks.

    A murmur came from the throng of soldiers who packed the crest. It rose, became an excited shout, and the noise coincided with the emergence of Shinsou and Storm, riding in tandem towards the gallows pole. Shinsou looked at the assembled men, nodded, then looked up at the wooden contraption with its noose swinging loosely in the wind. His aides crowded close to him as the hooded prisoners behind them were marched through the narrow corridor that carved a company of men in two, right up the hill until they reached the building at the peak.

    An officer read from a prepared statement in a voice that carried itself heavily over the wind and driving rain, "You are condemned to die by hanging. Your requests to die in your uniforms have been denied. Your last requests have been denied. Your bodies will be buried at sea, and will not be memorialised."

    The condemned men stood precariously on their ladders, the ropes about their necks looping downwards. The provost Sergeant looked at his officer and then looked up to the men standing on the ladder, their bodies leaning against the wind. He imagined that underneath those hoods were a pair of dark eyes filled with fear and regret.

    "Drop them." The words came from Shinsou as the gathered crowd gasped and then cheered.

    The provosts pulled the ladder from beneath the doomed men. For a second, their booted feet stayed on the falling rung, then they slipped off, they dropped, and the ropes jerked tight. They bounced, dropped again, and then swayed and turned from the high hook. Bodies seemed to arch as they dangled. Their feet flailed in the air, kicked out, and eventually their bodies twisted so that their hooded faces stared at the packed hillside. Underneath that cloth, eyes bulged, tongues pushed at the lips, necks were grotesquely stretched to their tilted heads. The men watched in fascination. One of them jerked again, fighting upwards as if for air, and then the provost Sergeant jumped up, caught one of the man's ankles, and jerked his weight down.

    The extra weight snapped his neck. The Sergeant let go of the man's ankles and slowly, as the body swung, the legs drew themselves up a few inches.

    Arius’s rebellion was dead.

    Coffins waited on wagon beds; pine boards, rough planed, nailed together. The bodies were cut down.

    Shinsou stared at the whole affair with cold indifference, turning his gold eyes on the assembled officers and then on his friend, who sat atop the ever patient Atilla. The men filed silently and obediently from the hills and back to the task of the re-construction of Whitevale. The blood price had finally been paid. As they rode back towards the buildings, the scaffolds and their crews, Shinsou wondered whether the rumours were true; whether or not there were any more of Arius’s rebellion out there, waiting. If so, would they dare to play the Brotherhood's game, or would they do something completely unpredictable?

    Either way, the Telgradian and the electromancer would be ready, and the Brotherhood would rise from the ashes of Whitevale stronger than ever before.

  8. #18
    Ice Ice Baby

    EXP: 22,697, Level: 6
    Level completed: 39%, EXP required for next Level: 4,303
    Level completed: 39%,
    EXP required for next Level: 4,303


    Rehtul Orlouge's Avatar

    GP
    2,028

    Name
    Rehtul Orlouge
    Location
    Corone
    Alright, I'm new to this whole new Judgment way of doing things, so if y'all have any questions, please make sure to ask me.

    Pros:
    • Let's start with the fact that the both of you kept the setting in mind admirably while writing. There was rarely a time I felt particularly lost when something happened. I always had a sense of where the action was taking place.
    • The dialogue was quite strong. Despite the fact that there were formatting errors caused by the site going haywire, I did enjoy the back and forths Storm and Shinsou had. I'll cover Arius in the Cons section, however.
    • The action was actually quite good, and the creative way in which Shin had to weaken Arius's efforts was a surprise to be sure. I'm sure the old mage didn't know what hit him at the end.


    Cons:
    • Arius was the weakest part of this entire thread. He came off as kind of a tropey villain without much going on behind him. The fact that he went to outside of the city for some mysterious purpose only for that purpose to be "setting up a trap" kinda felt anticlimactic. I expected him to somehow get away and be a recurring villain, after finding something in the cemetery that he'd been looking for, or something like that anyway. Gonna be completely honest, Durandal was more entertaining if only because I understood why he did what he did. Arius is a complete mystery.
    • There were a few minor missing word incidents. Nothing major, just something that spell check wouldn't catch.
    • This one's minor and based on what I thought I knew of the character, but I honestly don't have a clue why Arius would ever face Storm and Shin in a two on one fight. I'd have thought he'd have an assassin or two lurking in the shadows, and maybe a couple of armed guards just to keep the heat off of him. I could be wrong, but if he's as conniving as I believe, it seems odd that he'd do that.


    Additional Notes: Honestly this was a fun read, even given the minor weaknesses it had.

    Score: 8/10 Stars

    Shinsou Van Osiris receives: 2700 EXP and 150 GP
    Storm Veritas receives: 2800 EXP and 150 GP

  9. #19
    Ice Ice Baby

    EXP: 22,697, Level: 6
    Level completed: 39%, EXP required for next Level: 4,303
    Level completed: 39%,
    EXP required for next Level: 4,303


    Rehtul Orlouge's Avatar

    GP
    2,028

    Name
    Rehtul Orlouge
    Location
    Corone
    EXP and GP added. Thread locked and archived.

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