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 Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 10:35 pm
Mark clicked order anyway and gave Rep a thumbs up on the way out.
Fortunately the way to the lighthouse was quiet, almost too quiet, and like clockwork, the Death lead was there, reading over whatever he had pulled out of the desk.
There was theoretically nothing wrong with Caelius missions, theoretically. The Death lead never needed assistance, the necessary means of information was always distributed, and whatever got done got done, and the success rate was usually phenomenal. There was however a sort of collateral problem, and the fact that he didn't actually care about why someone was there as in more what they could do for him in that very instance.
And unfortunately, quite very often, what he thought was necessary information was just silence. Objects didn't need to be talked to, and time did not need to be wasted.
He turned away and headed into the portal without another word, leaving Rep to fumble with all the given equipment left at the portal. Due to various emergency situations popping up in higher frequency, emergency backpack kits were now available at the portals, though they usually all mysteriously disappeared at sundown, because someone had figured out that the headsets could also double as conductible runic cable, a cheaper alternative to creating and coiling their own cables as electric conduits. Also because the flares made great fireworks, and it was getting close to New Years.
There were about three backpacks, one was missing a headset, the other the flare, and the third any durable, usable rope for those emergency get-out-of-the-Sahara-sandpits situations.
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 10:43 pm
Rep at the very least didn't find himself too upset at being snubbed by Cael. In his life the strong did what they did and the weak followed along in their wake hoping to one day, somehow live long enough to become strong themselves. Anything he didn't know he assumed that he didn't know because his inherent value was low, because he was generally just a person of little to no consequence. But he'd been told to be there, so there he was.
He checked over the kits briefly, decided he needed a headset, because even if nine times out of ten you got nothing but static and snarky Mark comments from them sometimes there was important s**t relayed by them. And he decided too that rope was important. Flares on the other hand, well, Rep had learned a longass time ago that relying on other people to save you was a futile endeavor. Harrison wouldn't be there and that was the only person in the whole world who would come when he needed them, if he got into trouble he'd have to get out of it or die trying. The only guy looking out for Rep in this situation would be Rep himself, he harbored no illusions of Cael saving his a** for any reason other than by accident.
He picked up the pack with the missing flare and slinging it onto his back, hurried after the death lead into the portal, Tracey bracing himself with keen attention as they did so.
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 10:47 pm
The good news was Rep didn't explode upon exiting the portal.
The bad news is he might have wished he had as the moment he arrived it was pure chaos. Chaos, of course, being relevant to everything Rep had already experienced, from horsemen hell to every single legacy nightmare in the universe.
This was something different and something so familiar at the same time. There were no illusions of fighting the fantastical, no affirmations of him being something chosen or special. He plunged face first into a pit of rotting very human corpses-
- And they clawed back, trying to pull him down.
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 10:56 pm
"Oh for <******** sake." Rep managed to grit out, mostly in sheer surprise as he found himself thrown headlong into a nightmare. He knew what he was dealing with the moment the smell hit him, working with dead animals all the time on the island he was familiar with the smell of decay, humans it turned out did not smell so different from animals when it came to decomposition. All it meant was that the urge to retch was lessened but the panic intensified as nails bit into his shield and he found himself being tugged further and further down.
He summoned Tracey, because at this point in his life as a hunter, the first thing he reached for when faced with any kind of danger was his partner the fallen angel having never failed him in the past. He wasn't sure there'd be much room to swing him, but he damn well intended to try, struggling with every bit of strength in his body.
It didn't even cross his mind in the instant of raw animal panic to question where Cael had gone and why he wasn't also in a similar situation. Where Cael had gone was probably wherever the ******** Cael wanted to be and it was up to him if he survived this run in to figure out where that actually was.
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Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 11:06 pm
The obvious answer as to where the Death lead was included the words not and here.
One of the zombies (theoretically the wrong term) had managed to get a good hold of Rep's foot, though the answer as to why he hadn't gotten the bite yet evident now that Rep had a more up close and personal look with what he was dealing it.
Most of them lacked proper teeth, just hollowed, black gums. They were nothing like the generic Resident Evil types, as their eyes, mouths, were all shriveled and rotting from within, their bodies sunken and hollow, more like the starved living than the walking dead.
There was no sign of intelligence in their eyes, of any kind, replaced by the smothering since of becoming absolutely nothing. They were all gathered in a narrow alleyway, the pungent smell of trash indiscernible from the rot of flesh. Just past the wall of pre-emptive zombies was the opening, leading into a street that looked just as chaotic, littered with shattered cars, windows, and no signs of proper civilian life. Lights, still sparkling with electricity, flickered on the main street.
A wet thudding noise and then a loud screech echoed as Tracey hit impact, and several heads swerved to look at the new arrival. It was still a mystery where the Death Lead could have gone, but it was pretty obvious Rep's current location was live bait.
Baneful Go ahead and shatter the wall of zombies! They have 30 HP, and do 5 auto damage. You can attack unlimited times. If you take more than 15 damage, one of the rare teethed ones manages to bite you!
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Baneful rolled 2 12-sided dice:
12, 7
Total: 19 (2-24)
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:12 am
Rep regretted getting a better look at what he was dealing with, the ******** twisted wretches like some apocalypse survivors - barely survivors - trying to grab at him. They seemed quicker somehow, more hungry for something and they weren't half as funny as the shambling shuffling jokes that passed for zombies in many games. These guys meant business, and he quickly realized they could hear him too.
There was only one single option, the way there was so often one option left to him and that was to fight them. The alley was narrow but wide enough that he could use Tracey like a lance. Fighting in close quarters like this was restrictive but not impossible. It did mean he was slower than usual and without Harrison to fend them off the sharp determined nails still bit, uncannily strong against his shield as the wall pressed in on him.
HP: 55
DMG: 13
BOSS HP: 17/30
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Baneful rolled 2 12-sided dice:
7, 9
Total: 16 (2-24)
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:28 am
Tracey sliced through flesh and bone like a guillotine with Rep behind him, the serrated blades wreaking all manner of havoc with the gathered hordes. They were probably beyond help, he found himself thinking, but deep down he didn't care, people were more expendable than objects. He couldn't keep humans, he couldn't add them to his hoard, even their component parts were inferior to animals. It was the kind of thing he didn't voice out loud, because he knew somehow there'd be people who would tell him it was abnormal to feel that way while they obviously felt the same way deep down.
Besides, he was doing these guys a favour, whatever had happened to them, he very much ******** doubted they ever wanted to come back from it.
One of the reaching grabbing hands tore at the hem of his denims and he snarled, kicking out in irritation. "******** HELL." he spat, ignoring the fact that sound seemed only to attract the things, "Kin you no just ALL <******** OFF."
And this time when he brought Tracey down it was vertically, getting the blade jammed in the skull of one of the guys and having to remove it with considerable effort and a lot of fairly awful sounds.
HP: 50
DMG: 10
Charge: 2/3
BOSS HP: 7/30
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Baneful rolled 2 12-sided dice:
2, 5
Total: 7 (2-24)
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:36 am
Drawing in the bystanders was a bad idea he realized very quickly, he found himself subject of a lot of stunted attention and single focus. It became hard to swing, the hands grasping at the same serrated blade that had been cutting a swathe through their peers, uncaring if the edges bit into their hollow withered palms.
Tracey crackled with energy, the static crackling from rune to rune across his obsidian surface. <> he hissed, cold fury written in his every word, they had no place, no place at all spoke the emotions he felt, it was practically sacrilege.
Rep yelled back, aware of the slow raking damage that was being done to their shields. flesh.> Flesh which they could just seize away from him if they could get through to him, a thought which made him struggle all the more frantically.
HP: 50
DMG: 1
Charge: 3/3
BOSS HP: 7/30
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Baneful rolled 2 12-sided dice:
1, 9
Total: 10 (2-24)
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:45 am
The progress through the alleyway was slow yet frantic, every inch he gained was hard won against the seemingly endless stream of rotting bodies that filled his sinuses and every inch of his vision. He was only ******** glad the artifact gave him night vision, the flickering sparking streetlights hardly providing enough light to see by.
Twisting Tracey just right seemed to bring down a good number, but it meant leaving himself open for just a second -
Tracey yelped.
"Ah s**t." he hissed as he felt one of the ******** bastards bite him. Apparently not all of them had no teeth and one of the ones that did had found him. It wouldn't let go, sinking deep into his arm. Not again, not again he found himself thinking as he let the cuffed one no less. There was a second where he let go of the handle with his other hand and punched the ******** thing right between the eyes. It let go but left a few teeth in his arm which he had to pull out, cringing all the ********." he repeated, hoping the cuff would make a difference as he pushed forward into the group again.
HP: 45
DMG: 4
Charge: 3/3
BOSS HP: 3/30
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Baneful rolled 2 12-sided dice:
6, 1
Total: 7 (2-24)
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:00 am
There were still teeth. He couldn't swing well one handed.
Urgency. Panic. He had to sort his s**t out.
He tried to retrieve Tracey from the grasping hands.
HP: 40
DMG: 1
Charge: 3/3
BOSS HP: 2/30
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Baneful rolled 2 12-sided dice:
8, 9
Total: 17 (2-24)
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Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:04 am
Finally the blade broke free, he had the axe back in his full control. Panic focused his attention like a laser, seeming to slow down time around him as he rode the adrenaline to its fullest potential.
Tracey pointed out, and he saw it too, a point in the crowd that was all shoulders and necks, where there was a space to move, where they could cripple as many as possible and hopefully clear a path.
Gripping the handle tightly and ignoring the sting in his arm where he'd been bitten (the crystals had almost killed him, he'd almost killed Harrison) he brought the great blade down on the gathered figures with that satisfying crunch that only flesh bone and sinew gave. It felt like slicing a pillow.
It was enough, enough to push through to the other side, into the street, to try and figure out what the ******** was going on and to try and at the very least get his bearings.
HP: 35
DMG: 11
Charge: 3/3
BOSS HP: 0/30
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 3:04 am
Rep had at least thinned them out, enough to buy himself some time, it always came down to time. A streetlight popped, loudly, just as he pushed into the street-
- And it looked like he was walking through an apocalyptic wasteland of a city. Entire buildings were abandoned, windows smashed, cars turned over, heaped against each other in impossible buildups. There was glass everywhere, glass, metal scraps, bits and pieces of belongings and very obvious bloodstains.
The moment was shattered by one of the zombies moving closer. That alone, wouldn't have been too much of an issue, if they had not all decided to move at the same time, all in eerie unison, approaching from different directions. Puppeteered. Manipulated. Lifeless.
"You-"
It might have taken a while for the sound to be interpreted as language. The body closest spoke, guttural and unnatural. It gurgled blood and bile after each word.
"You-"
Another voice took it's place, a slouching body to the left of the first. "-Do-"
And then a third "-not-"
- "Belong"-
-"Here"-
- "Chosen one."
The words might have been more flattering if this wasn't one of those odd life or death situations, where Rep may or may not have caught some sort of viral zombie infection again if he didn't get torn apart first.
Several bodies shambled closer towards him, closer, closer -
- Until they coalesced, until they grouped on top of each other, bending their joints and legs terribly, heads, spines, and necks snapping, to form one colossus of a tower of flesh that leaned towards Rep. A sloppy arm grew out of the flesh made of tens of bodies and faces, attempting to crush him, in a slow lumbering motion.
There were a few obvious options at this point. One, run for any of the buildings with shelter. The second, run either up or down the street into more undead. And the third, well, one could always choose to do nothing.
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Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:27 am
Rep made his way along the street, unnerved by how devoid of people it actually was. The whole place had been torn apart and part of him wondered if something similar had happened to the towns on the island, just a long time ago. Another thought nagged at him. If it had been Death division who had let the zombies loose on this unfortunate ******** place, they had killed what looked like a lot of people, not that it was his business to go judging the organization and its decisions. He was here to do a job, or well, he was here to maybe die horribly while drawing all the ******** zombies as live bait, but still a job of sorts.
He froze like a deer in the headlights as one zombie started to move closer, simultaneously joined by almost all of its fellows. The way they moved stopped him in his tracks, staying his normal desire to attack, leaving him startled and maybe just a little bit afraid. Something bigger than these guys was pulling the strings, it was co-ordinated, had to be, and that made it so so much ******** worse. The shadowlings weren't very co-ordinated, Deus itself was a ******** shambolic lack of control and order, if they were up against an army of like minded puppets they were in some really pretty deep s**t because they weren't about to win on the brains front or the collaboration front.
The voice was what snapped him out of his anxiety and made him tighten his grip on Tracey, looking from one to the next as the rotten figured spoke. Chosen one? To him it sounded nothing short of having a ******** target painted on him, whatever it ******** meant otherwise.
Any residual thought of fighting vanished entirely as the zombies moved again only to ******** twist together into something a lot nastier and ******** bigger. His shield was already dented from the scrum, if he wanted to make any kind of offense on these ******** guys, he'd need to do it from somewhere that wasn't right here. He ran, but not towards the buildings. Wielding a weapon like Tracey meant that to enter a building was to trap himself without any hope of summoning, and that if even despite that he was forced to do so, he might bring the whole place down on his head as well as the heads of his enemies. Instead he ran along the street towards what was almost inevitably further danger, Tracey in his wake, hoping that the undead thinned out ******** somewhere up ahead.
"I'm NO A CHOSEN ******** ANYTHING." he yelled as he went, trying to reason. They were probably looking for Cael.
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 3:46 pm
It got worse- and that was an understatement.
As Rep ran, as the monstrosity chased, it began to build momentum, it began to lurch forward on fleshy tendrils like some horrific avalanche made entirely out of human meat and rot. The smell grew from stifling to nauseating. The sound of it moving tore through cars, windows, shattered buildings and created craters on the pavement road.
It would be best if Rep didn't turn back to look at it now.
One tendril once again, tried to sloppily form an outstretched hand, an outstretched hand that swatted away an entire bus. A shadow loomed above Rep for a brief second, and then the hand sloppily slammed down on top of him. Bodies, still oddly together moved in unison trapping him in a pit of flesh. Hands grabbed him, at anywhere they could touch. They were trying to pull him into the mass.
"After we consume you," whispered one of the tens, hundreds of faces pressed against Rep, "we will be chosen too." 'Baneful Feel free to try whatever your character can do to get out!
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Baneful rolled 10 12-sided dice:
1, 10, 1, 4, 6, 9, 10, 10, 1, 8
Total: 60 (10-120)
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Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2015 3:57 pm
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