The sounds, the cacophony brought each and every horsemen to their feet. It was one thing to be assaulted by the dissonance, a sharp, relentless screaming that echoed in their skulls over and over: it was another to hear each and every voice as one familiar.
Family members. Allies. Friends. Opponents. Loved ones, hated ones, rivals, ones seen only in passing, training, sparring, fighting, asking, teaching -
- All gone in that one single moment.
The pain was nothing that could be describe by physical words alone: they were horsemen, they lived in the integrity of battle, they endured over and over, they fought on relentless, battered, pride never defeated-
- And yet who were they fighting for if they couldn't even save what they once believed in?
Feathers shed from the massive form of the fog phoenix, dissolving into fine mist and then an arm, reaching out, forming figures, bodies that walked forward slowly, purposefully. A child, a Conquest child still wearing formal imperial regalia. An elderly famine soldier, leaning against a misty bone spear. More and more formed now, solifidying only in odd places, the other parts still vague, distorted. They spoke in one voice.
"Will you not come home with us?"
They walked closer now, they felt real, and the phoenix hovering above just a taste of longing, a taste of what they could have once more.
"No." A single word, a splash of light, colour, oranges and blues as the distortion tore into the fragments of Insanity and dissipated them entirely. The phoenix above shrieked eyes flaring deep yellow.
Medea stood her ground, more tired than determined. She looked much older, older even than the Famine horsemen apparition that had just appeared, merely a husk with a black cloak, one skeletal hand clinging to its frayed remains. As the phoenix shrieked, it looked like she would at any moment, simply collapse into nothingness.
"No." And yet, her voice was still strong. It still was louder than even the Insanity itself, resolute and full of promise. This was the horsewomen that fought still to move them beyond, to show them what it meant to be of the Lost Clans and yet not truly lost. This was the Head Priestess that listened and fought for them and showed them the hundreds of moments of Trance, let them fight themselves, and grow stronger -
- This was the Head Priestess that had ultimately served the new Lost Clans. They were no longer just Horsemen. They were something else, they had evolved, and they had purpose again.
More feathers shed, molted from the ghastly apparition of the phoenix-like creature. Familiar faces. Family members calling, crying out. One of them reached out towards Medea, tugging at her dress, her cloak, pleading in their native language. She closed her eyes, kneeled down and whispered to the form gently. A second later, it sighed, and dissipated.
"Children, it is not our time yet." Again, her voice was wrong. "We are the Lost Clans, and so, we shall fight for our path, and ours only. Now, bare your weapons against those lost not to fight them but to free them. Only when the nightmare is over can we reflect on the truth of its meaning."
HORSEMEN BOSS
VERSUS INSANITY PHOENIX: HP 150/150
- ALL HORSEMEN CAN ATTACK THE BOSS BUT BE CAREFUL - The Insanity Phoenix does 10% INSANITY auto damage every time you attack it.
IGNORE REGULAR INSANITY EFFECTS IN FAVOUR FOR THE BELOW GAUGES: - When you hit 10% INSANITY: All damage you do and any higher has a recoil effect. The fog makes you confused. You MUST randomly select (up to you) a player and quote them. You do 5 auto damage to them. - When you hit 30% INSANITY: ALL DAMAGE IS DOUBLED. You do not need to use an attack modifier. - When you hit 60% INSANITY, every time you attack, you must roll a 6-sided dice. If you roll 1 OR 6, your character feels the fog drawing towards them, they feel odd, sluggish even, manage one more step forward and turn into stone. THEY ARE PETRIFIED/ DEAD. - A PETRIFIED horsemen CANNOT be saved. THEY ARE SOLID STONE. Feel free to post a DEATH SOLO. - Insanity is CARRIED OVER from your ordeal in the HH - To LOSE insanity, a character instead of attacking can use their fragment or the vial given to them from the start. This is a one time use. Roll 2d12 (for each of the items) to determine how much Insanity % you lose. - Attacks are unlimited at your discretion! - Make sure to post in your OOC your total damage done, and the remaining damage of the boss - Instead of DISSIPATING, if your character hits 0 HP they turn into stone/ are PETRIFIED
He could hear their voices. The voices of his friends and family. The ones who had been lost in the explosion of the islands. The illusion of home had been ripped away and how all that was left was the phoenix once more. Tseng felt a pang. A part of him did not want to leave. But the other knew that this was what had to be done.
Medea's voice cut through and only affirmed this. Calling out his bow, he stared ahead. He could also see them. Their faces within the grey.
"MOMENT OF TRUTH!" he shouted as he let an arrow soar towards the heart of the phoenix.
BOSS HP: 145
Stats:
Name: Tseng Lee HP: 40 FEAR Strength: 90% Insanity Strength: 10% Items: RP Blurb: Horsemen of conquest wearing a teal tunic.
Sorrow, Rage, Hate, Longing, Pride, Vanity, Desire, Power- A torrent of emotions washed into Lan as the illusion faded, as her past was pushed back, reminding her of the bitter loss, the pain of her failures, or her mistakes.
Medea led the way, the Phoenix appeared- the creature spoken of in hushed tones, no one wishing to bring up the thing that had taken their home. That had taken everything... at the hands of the hunters. Gold eyes held hate, and sadness. Such suffering they must be in. Was Zhong in there? Caught in mists, unable to die? Trapped? The thought was too much.
Gold bow summoned, Lan pulled back on the strings. "For you." It would be the only thing she could do, the only thing she could try to do for him, be he apart of that which was not alive, not dead, but lost more than those who remained.
BOSS HP: 145
(( Stats: ))
Name: Lan HP: 40/40 FEAR Strength: 100% Insanity Strength: 10% Items: None RP Blurb:Also Boobs. Also shame per usual
Pales rolled 2 8-sided dice:
1, 3Total: 4 (2-16)
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:47 pm
"NO!" Came a screech of dismay, confusion and sadness. Real or not it was like having home and comfort ripped away from her once more and it left her heart raw and bleeding. She didn't know how to feel or what to think anymore. She heard Medea and saw the form of the insanity phoenix. Threat of tears stung her constricted throat and eyes.
She saw her brother make an attack and that seemed to be her cue to do the same. She had to try, he was trying.
Yuzhi couldn't get a good aim. Her arm shook, her body was trembling. She needed a moment. Her mind felt clouded and strange. No. No. This wasn't supposed to happen...
It pulled to him from the core of his being as he faced the phoenix, finally pulled from his memories. There were figures, so many figures, representing all clans. But his eyes caught on those from Death. Soldiers he had served with. Priestesses that Astridr knew and worked with. People he had grown up with, worked with, for, had worked for him. They all pulled to him with their cries, wanting to go home and he felt as if he could understand. To go home. To go back.
He scanned for her, horrified at the idea of finding her, of seeing her in this state, and yet desperate for any sign of her. He wanted her back.
Medea was what finally pulled him out of it. The disruption, the way that she stood against the creature. She looked...fragile, but still she showed how a priestess should act. How a horseman should act. At her orders to free them he had no choice but to obey. He could not leave these shreds of his clansmen in this state. He would do what needed to be done.
He pulled himself together, steeling himself. There was work to be done. His khopesh summoned and he started toward it, closing his eyes at the last second because he did not want to see what he was doing. His blade sunk into the creature but...something was wrong. His blade kept moving of its own accord and it was all he could do to fight it to keep it away from Lan. From Tseng. He still struck a horsewoman, though he did not know her. No apologies to her, because he had been unable to control it in the first place.
Invictus had found he didn't like memory lane as much as he liked reality. Certainly reality was bitter and made him angry in some ways, but so did holding onto the people he held dearest who could no longer be held onto with physical arms. He wouldn't linger, nor would he allow those who now stood before them to do such a thing either. Medea was calling them together, and while there was a part of him that despised being called on like a child, he knew better than to throw up some sort of fit about it.
He would handle his feelings on such a matter later. For that time being, there was a giant mass of insanity - one that should have been long gone already - to deal with. Even as he summoned his bow, drew it back, pulled it to aim - a steady strike - there was a moment of hesitation. A face that, despite his preferences, still haunted him, causing his draw to falter.
He hissed as it hit, as if disappointed in himself before he drew again to fire, yet as if possessed he took barely a moment to choose his target - SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME.
Boss HP: 135 Auto Recoil Damage to:
istoleyurvamps
Sorry Lan
Stats
Name:Invictus Faction: Horseman HP: 120/120 Fear: 100% Insanity: 10% Visual Reference:No Boobs Inventory: - Nothing Right Now
Zhiqiang didn't want to see or hear any of this, and he had half a mind to simply squeeze his eyes shut, cover his ears, and turn away like a coward. He didn't, though, trying to keep his expression as impassive as he could as he spared a brief look at the phoenix. There was a pause, and then he took a deep breath, looking at it again but longer this time, his dark eyes searching.
There was one of his acquaintances, a pleasant young horsewoman who had always had a kind smile for everyone who passed by her little shop. And there, his father's friend, an older horseman who had been well known for his sharp tongue and snarky humour.
And then Zhiqiang heard a familiar, pleading voice, soft and childish. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he searched for the source of the voice, only to tear his gaze away a split second after he found his little cousin's face among the sea of madness. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, and then sighed, steeling himself as he summoned his bow.
Medea was right--this was what they had to do if they wanted to free them from this horrible nightmare. Gritting his teeth, he took aim and let loose an arrow, and then another. Unfortunately, with the fog, it was a little hard to see just where he was striking.
Damage: 8 BOSS HP: 127 Recoil: Soren
(( Stats: ))
Name: Zhiqiang HP: 40/40 FEAR Strength: 100% Insanity Strength: 10% Items: RP Blurb:
The sound tore through his being like nothing else. Kiwi could feel Mara's hand tear away from his, sink into nothingness, and the voices, everyone, shrieking over and over. They called to him from the brink, his mother and father, people he had bartered with, laughed with, those who had hurt him, those he barely knew. Then left, just as suddenly, and he felt the emptiness cave inside him.
His vision blurred, shifted, forming again slowly.
Colour, he realized. There was colour here. And moreso, a familiar presence hovered in the air before him, no, before them. Everyone, everyone was here. Here to bring the Clan back to it's rightful place.
The Phoenix.
The same phoenix he had witnessed soar into the sky from the burning remains of their beloved home, that was the creature which cried before them. Kiwi realized he had to end this. But his eyes shot out to his hand, the cracked, grey hues. This wouldn't do. He couldn't help in this condition. ... But his other hand ...?? He held it up, staring to the fragment embedded into the bracelet, that was even now resonating a soft light, swirling with distortion. With colour. And not needing to be told, he realized this could save him. Closing his eyes, Kiwi called upon the power sealed in his fragment.
The shame of her miss- it was not shame, it was sadness. She wanted to free them, to end their suffering. Gold eyes filled with sorrow, with hate- Why had it come to this? How could this have happened? Didn't they once plan to rule the worlds, crush humans under their heel? Lan Cursed as something hit her, looking back to see her cousin aiming and firing his own shots. She envied him, his strength, his conviction, his will. He was their heir, their protector, and she? She had been a noble, now no more than a cog in a machine it felt like. Trying to spin in time with the gears of others, to fit into a mold that she did not understand. Trying to rise up and fight her own emotions, her past.
She'd fight. She'd fight until nothing was left, until nothing remained. She'd fight, she'd fight and hope that she'd do more than she could have, should have.
BOSS HP: 127 RECOIL to Kwiwiwiwiwi : ;u; (( Stats: ))
Name: Lan HP: 35/40 FEAR Strength: 100% Insanity Strength: 20% Items: None RP Blurb:Also Boobs. Also shame per usual
Pales rolled 2 8-sided dice:
4, 6Total: 10 (2-16)
Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:24 pm
Someone had hit her. Her body swayed from the hit as pale gold eyes gazed over at the figure as she just stared blankly at him as if trying to discern if he was friend or foe, her expression was neutral, impassive.
The small horsewoman wasn't sure if she should curse him or thank him. It'd knocked her to her senses somewhat. At least enough to clumsily fling her spear, unfortunately the recoil of her attack brought her around to hit Zhiqiang by accident.
Her head jerked to look who she had hit, "Ah! Zh..Grasshopper...? I am...sorry." She seemed a bit out of it, frazzled.
That felt quite a bit better, even the grey patches had begun to vanish now. Kiwi flexed his fingers, summoning his sickle and chain. This was more like it. Time to give his ancestors the peace they deserve.
Mara too, he thought, and chuckled softly, knowing what she would think of that. The tooth of his blade whined out, sinking into molten feathers of forms, of beings, slicing through them, freeing them of their suffering.
All he saw was Mara, smiling and laughing with pride.
[OOC: Okay apparently I forgot to double damage guys ;; Don't hurt me please.]
Fragment Used Boss Damage: 115
Quote:
Name: Kiwi Faction: Horseman HP: 30/40 (Recoil) Kiwi loves you Lan ♥ He really does. Even though you're poking him with pointy arrows :V Fear: 95% Insanity: 39+10=49% Visual Reference: Inventory: Nada
She missed, her rage making her arms shake, hurt fury rise. "I hate you." A low whisper, an admittance. She hated this insanity, hated the loss, hated that her world was gone, her entire life had crumbled in a single day. Her future, so idealistic, ripped from her in one terrible, violent act from hunters. From weak, pathetic humans. "I will free you." It was all she could do. Blind to what was fueling her, what was changing her, altering her. Falling prey to. For all her pride, she was weak. Blind to her own self, to her own fate if she went on.
BOSS HP: 106 RECOIL to KWIWIWI WHY
xoxomenai
(( Stats: ))
Name: Lan HP: 35/40 FEAR Strength: 100% Insanity Strength: 30% Items: None RP Blurb:Also Boobs. Also shame per usual
"Yuzhi! Dear sister! Let us win this for the glory of the clans!" Tseng shouted as a sort of encouragement to his younger sibling. Once that was said, he notched another arrow, ready to fire.
"GLO--"
He was cut off as he stumbled a bit, accidentally firing his arrow at Lan instead.
BOSS: 106 5 Recoil to above poster: LAN Stats:
Name: Tseng Lee HP: 40 FEAR Strength: 90% Insanity Strength: 20% Items: RP Blurb: Horsemen of conquest wearing a teal tunic.
Rage, Sorrow, SHe grit her teeth, wanting to see him again, to know he was at peace, but not even that was possible. The hunters had indeed, taken everything. Her home. Her happiness. Her Love. Her future. Her family. Her friends- Everything was gone. Scraps remained. Tattered cloths, ribbons from the tapestry that would have been her life. She bit back her tears, aiming again. She would restore her honor, free them, lay them to rest. She could do that much...
Couldn't she?
She was blind to the poor famine clansman she hit again and again. Blind to Tseng's arrow. Gold eyes were only focused on the phoenix. She would end it, or die trying.
BOSS HP: 88
(( Stats: ))
Name: Lan HP: 30/40 FEAR Strength: 100% Insanity Strength: 40% Items: None RP Blurb:Also Boobs. Also shame per usual
An arrow struck him, shattering against his abs, and Soren barely winced. It was not fun being attacked by the other horsemen, but he had done it himself. He had been confused by the fog and he could not fault someone else for doing the same thing.
The insanity as he rushed in was beginning affecting him. But it was strengthening him, bolstering his attacks. He stabbed and slashed with his khopesh, tearing into the creature.
