The Deathlands - Finally, Something New

[Enidox]

It had been a long time. In fact, for Shagrath it had been far too long since his foul presence had been felt on Gaia. Well, that time was officially over. While it had only been maybe two years tops in this world, Shagrath's world had experienced thousands of years in that course of time. The twisting nether was just an interesting place in that respect. Of course, to demons-like dragons- age meant power; Shagrath had ben negleting his training though, he'd gotten rusty. All his political scheming had been foiled while his lawfirm had been overrun with imps and their petty squabbles. Life was just about as boring as it could have ever been until he recalled a little place called Gaia, maybe it might be fun to see if they remebered him.

Did anyone remember Oblivionic, Doji, Draka Alpha, or even him? Was Tactius still around? Or had their time passed. Was he just another old-timer trying to relive his glory days, or was Shagrath still able to make an impact when he needed to?

The 6'3" pale lithe form seemingly glided along in it's black trenchcoat buttoned so that only that black leather boots resembling those worn on a motorcycle could be seen. Hands in the side pockets, head down, this was the figure of one who had been kicked around by life just a little too long. Shagrath had grown tired of it all. Then he stumbled upon the ruins. His head perked up as his jaw length black hair bounced from the movement. A set of three silver rings pierced each eyebrow with another three in the outer edge of his almost elven ears. A chain was wrapped about his throat like some kind of makeshift collar.

Shagrath sniffed the air as his dark magenta eyes seemed to shift to-and-fro, as if looking for some sort of meaning to it all. Sighing deeply, he laid down roughly one-hundred feet from the entrance, putting his hands with their black claws for fingernails behind his head, gazing at the sky above. Closing his eyes, Shagrath performed the equivilant of flexing his magical muscles. Those with any kind of sensitivity to magic within a mile of his position would feel a kind of thick, musty dread creeping upon them.

Then it was gone. In a moment, the feeling dispersed as though a faint memory of a dream. With a yawn, Sharath's near vampiric canines were displayed in an uncarring fashion. He was definately back, but would anyone care.

[Eternal_Slumberer]

A chill ran up the boy's spine, but it was not due to anything of this world. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew that he knew you know? It came from the direction of the ruins which happened to be the same place that he was headed.

When he arrived he spied a body on the ground. Was this the source of his discomfort or was it something deep within the ruins themselves? Well, if he'd learned one thing in his short life it was that simply asking opened more doors than staying quiet. So, after setting down his pack, he approached the body and knelt down five feet from it. After running his hands through his short, cropped hair and releasing a light sigh he opened his lips to speak.

"Are you the one that I came to seek? The one whom I can train under and pledge my life to?" It was a win-win situation. If this was the guy who would take him as an apprentice then he wouldn't have to waste any more time searching. If not then he could possibly learn something from the man or continue on his way and explore the ruins.

[Hellgrim02]

((hope nobody minds me playing for a bit, I'm just thrusting for an RP fight))
*A strange flux in the air stirs the air, matter quickly gathers and reacts violently to the strange phnomenon as it forms a sudden bust of energy and rips open a portal between dimensions. I soon crawl out of the portal, weaken from the strange energy that makes up this portal, until I've completely touch the ground. As soon as my feet touch dirt, the portal quickly collapses onto it's self and disappears into a burst of air and electrical surges in the atomsophere. I lay on the ground for a while, recovering from the effects of traveling through that kind of portal.* uuuuuuuuggggghhhhhh........=_=

[Enidox]

Shagrath sat up rather quickly. Despite his rather advanced age, he appeared to be in his late teens or early twenties by human standards. He actually looked more like a very tall half-elf to be honest, but as all incredibly old and powerful beings went, he was impossibly good looking just like the rest of them.

A low, guttural voice, with a slightly melodic tone to it wafted out of Shagrath's mouth as he stood to face whatever was speaking to him. Those dark magenta eyes of his gleamed with an almost child-like fun as he smiled. To anyone who knew Shagrath, this was the single most disturbing thing he could have done.

"Sorry to dissapoint, but I am not one you need to be pledging anything to. I haven't had a good warm-up in a few thousand years though. Maybe we shall see about your abilities though."

That familiar glint of malice returned to his eyes, as the sky began darkening with the threats of a coming storm. A low chuckle escaped his pale lips as Shagrath felt his old self emerging from the ruins of his life.

He was going to enjoy this.

[Eternal_Slumberer]

The boy stood removed the cloth hood from his head. He was young, seventeen at best, and only stood at 5'11". His clothing was relatively modern and his hair was cut close to his scalp. His skin was a reddish-brown color and his eyes were dark enough to be considered black. He was naturally big in the way of his size, but his body was compact.

The boy rose to his feet as well, a look of dread upon his face. He knew his power was no match for this man. His only weapon was a broken knife and a few basic spells. Out powered, out sized, and out skilled he could tell he was going to have the time of his life if things continued at this rate. Unfortunately his knife was in his pack and his pack was a little ways off. With not much of another choice, seeing as how he asked for the battle and all, he began to focus.

"Alright. I'll show you what I can do," he said as he widened his stance and brought both of his fists to his waist with the palms facing upward. Through gritted teeth he began to chant. "Symbol of life, power, and fear, I call on you now. Lend me your power so that I may vanquish my foe. Let your mighty flames spout forth from my body and consume all in your path."

Yup. Fireball spell. The most basic of basic destruction magic. Why the weird words? Well, they helped him to focus. Eventually he won't need them, but for now they are a necessity.

[Hellgrim02]

*I soon recover and begin to get up, wiping off the burnt layers of skin, if anyone saw this, they would see that my insides aren't human, in fact all they would see is a strange chromo liquid shaping itself to resemble the organs and muscles of a human. Within seconds, the chromo liquid thickens and reforms my skin and a new set of clothes. I dawn onto myself a pair of jeans, black combat boots, a skin tight ornage shirt, and a leather jacket. My skin returns to it's normal appearance, tan color, but it has indentions in it that would resemble metal panels weilded together. My eyes open up and the iris glows a neon green, my hair regrows to it's black color and semi- long length and I pull it back to promote it to give it that slicked back look. I then walk around to see what I can find.* Hmmm..... ninja

[Enidox]

Someone who finally cast a fireball correctly. Strange magical words and all. Anything less was simply disrespectful to the art form. As the flames encompassed his body, Shagrath smirked a little. Fire was one of the things he manipulated rather well, but after all this time he doubted if his skills were a match to what they had been.

Fire was one of the things that didn't have any promise of defeating him. His body was capable of thermosynthesis. Much like what a plant does with sunlight, but with heat in place of light. Anyone who knew this had a very basic idea of what would be effective against him. Fortunately, no one knew. As far as Shagrath was concerned anyways.

As the flames subsided, Shagrath spoke once more.

Not bad, but try this one on for size.

Shagrath turned his arms so that his palms faced outwards from his body, bending his elbows slightly so that each arm was not hanging against his legs. Lowering his head and closing his eyes, a dark lavender glow lined his form, and out came a voice that resembled a dragon roaring more than any kind of speech.

Xaria nigma'tor gru'ku'lio kagala Galanodel!

This loosely translated out to "May the darkness ignite my moonwhisper." As utterly cryptic and confusing as that was, it apparently had some sort of meaning since the glow about his body began flaring out as though it was fire. His signature spell, a dark lavender flame with a deep black core. It felt good to be using it again.

Shagrath didn't throw his flames out, didn't actually move at all. He just stood there as the flames began growing larger and viciously churning counter-clockwise about him. A spire of the flames began forming, bathing the area in an eiree glow; strangely, it didn't get any hotter considering there was now a large pillar of fire turning it's intrests to the heavens above.

Shagrath's toes pointed downwards as his feet had left the ground when all the melodrama with his spell had started. He was floating only two or three inches off the ground, but it looked incredibly badass and he enjoyed showing off.

[Hellgrim02]

*I suddenly see the pillar of strange fire.* Crap, some cheap magic user is here. Oh, well...time to teach him there is an actual science to it, bible thupping finatics... *I then streach out my body, and flex my muscles, the liquid metal inside stiring.Quickly my clothes convert and I form a new light armor body suit, a helmet that would resemble a futuristic biker's helmet. My hands and ankles open panels in the armor, and quickly metal and liquid metal parts shoot out and soon make me two rugged off road tires attached to my hands and ankles. As the tires force me to fall, more panels open up and form into hydralic rods and metal frames. I quickly form them into a suspension system for my body as I use the rest of myself to become a motocycle, only without the engine and gas tank. I rip up the ground as I take off as my own bike/rider hybrid suit and quickly ride through the ground to meet this strange pillar of fire.*

[Eternal_Slumberer]

"Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap!" the boy spouted running in the opposite direction from the fiery pillary of doom and destruction. He had no idea what to do. The fireball did next to nothing and this guy was spewing purple flames! PURPLE FLAMES!!! The next course of action would be to douse the flames, but there wasn't a source of water large enough for him to manipulate and he didn't know any spells or have any equipment that could summon massive amounts of liquid. He only had two more spells and one of them was used for healing.

"Darkness of the human heart, shadow of the soul. Spew forth from within myself and thus devour my foe!"

While running, the boy pointed his left arm toward his opponent. He spun the rest of his body around and grabbed his left wrist with his right hand to reinforce and stabilize the "barrel of the gun" if you will. Darkness traveled from the left side of his chest and down his left arm until it came to a focused point in his palm. Once the spell reached the size of a large jaw breaker it shot forth at the man within the flames. Purple light surrounded the destructive orb as it propelled itself toward Shagrath.

[Enidox]

Shagrath could have cared less about any kind of 'darkness' spell. He was a demon after all, but things could surprise you. This was one of those things. Normally, his flames consumed magic as a fuel source, but this was formed from the darkness of the human heart, one of the few things Shagrath coveted as a piece of fine dining.

The small orb collided with his form and for a few moments nothing happened, then came the LSD influenced mind of Tim Burton to alter things. Shagrath's flame pillar just vanished, a few swirls remained momentarily, but otherwise it had just vanished into thin air. He dropped to the ground, his right knee supporting his body as both hands clutched where one of his eight hearts was located; conveniently this was where a human heart would be.

His normally emotionless face grimaced with pain as Shagrath's body began writhing into a mass of inky blackness, looking very much like a living tattoo now. His left eye was shut and his right one gave the boy who had shot at him a look so vile that it might just cause his heart to freeze, metaphorically speaking of course. Shagrath was still working on devolping a spell that would do that though. He grunted and strained a little and then it all went to hell, quite literally.

The smooth, inky blackness that was Shagrath began melting into the ground below him, much like a scene from "The Wizard of Oz," until there was nothing left-not even his clothes. Why this had happened was debatable, but the reality of it was Shagrath's extended life in the twisting nether had been the cause of his current failure.

Since his body had become re-attuned to the swirling abyss of the various underworlds, Shagrath's body had, upon experiencing an outside source of dark energy, rather painfully converted itself into the inky blackness of the Abyss to "go home" as it were; if the spell had been any stronger or weaker this wouldn't have worked, but it just so happened that The Gods were not smiling on Shagrath that day-or any other for that matter. The delicious irony of it all was not lost on Shagrath, a demon being beaten by a bit of dark magic, not even a particularly powerful one at that was humiliating beyond belief. He wouldn't be coming back here, but Gaia would still know his presence had returned. Right after he got through the legal paperwork to do so.