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 Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:01 pm
With Maximos seemingly disposed, the golem's job was accomplished. Its form faded out of view as it blended into the shadows, waiting for the next person to cross its path. Unfortunately, without a master to direct it otherwise, it was set to kill anyone that crossed its path now - friend or foe.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:19 pm
But what of Rain? He had been dispatching small pockets of zombies since his return (but was missed in plot posts), so basically, taking actions of little consequence. He had seen Owle and Kalis arrive via motorcycle and had been searching for survivors to help, and kept half an eye on them as he went to work. So when a man had originally gone to help Owle lift that car, then turn a gun on her? That... that wouldn't do at all. From an alleyway, his eyes went wide with horror with what he just witnessed. Gritting his teeth in anger, he went for the nearest blunt object he could find, at the surface of an opened garbage can. A damaged Magic 8 Ball. Feeling its weight in his hand, he muttered quietly to himself. "Oh Magic 8 Ball, will you strike true?" Then he reeled back, and fastballed it towards Kchain's head. After which, he would flare his built-up electricity, and charged. Not in a straight line, but zig-zagging back and forth, moving at superhuman speeds as he darted and dashed.
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2007 11:47 pm
Darshendros the Eternal With Maximos seemingly disposed, the golem's job was accomplished. Not quite. Quote: Maximos immediately knelt placing his left hand flat on the rooftop. A small rune resting on the ground. Quote: As the swipe completed his left hand smacked the floor again, another black ground forming where his hand met roof tile. Quote: His boots just barely leading the collapsing roof. A good 10 feet up, his right hand dug into roofing tile cementing his position as the roof moved to a straight vertical position and began to descend into the wreckage. Quote: His left hand smacked against the chunk of roof leaving a third black rune on the tile. The chunk of roof quivered as violet bolts of energy coursed over his boots, and pools of black began forming beneath his feet. Quote: His left hand laying on his chest, and a rather large chunk of rock tightly grasped in his giant hand. No. Not quite at all. Quote: - Planar Lock -This ability has no Arian translation as it is one of the imparted abilities from Maximos' stint as a Reaper Assassin. The ability requires three soul posts to be placed around a battle friend area no smaller than 20 feet around, and no larger than 50ft, and a fourth post to be placed as a center post. The center post can be set as the user, or any other mobile target. As the name states, within the field all planar travel, portals, or teleportations are shut down for the duration of the existence of the center post. Any attempt at teleportation immediately returns the caster to the exact location he attempted to escape from as the spell completely fizzles. Any portals opened within the field immediately shut, and or remain open long enough to return the caster to the exact same location from which they exited. This Lock extends to the spirit world keeping even free floating spirits from exiting the area. The Planar Lock will remain active despite any interruption until such time as the Reapers target or targets has been removed, or is no longer in violation. As the spell is not classified as Magic, any anti-magic or dispelling effects are met with failure. Maximos hadnt placed those runes around the roof, during his fight with the Drow, for no reason at all. He had placed two posts when the roof exploded, and the Shadow had intentionally used his boots to make that small sheet of roof he clung to hover. In doing so as the other runes fell, the range of the lock would be increased. And as he charged the necromancer, his hand over his chest. He had marked himself as the core of the Planar Locked field. For the last few moments, a 40ft radius around Maximos had been Planar Locked, though while no one had tested it. It had never presented itself. In its attempt to fade into the blackness. The Construct was halted, finding itself entirely unable to fade into anything at all. All his exit paths, save for simply attempting to float away, were denied him. Maximos was down, but by no means was he out. He had survived by a hair. Quote: An odd metallic gong barely echoing out, as it was muffled in the collapse of wall. Why would flesh, smacking brick sound metallic? Quote: - Nocturnis Loricatus - This is by far one of the rarest used of Maximos' techniques. The Nocturnis Loricatus takes a short while to prepare and assemble but effectively covers Maximos in a suit of jet black dulled full plate armor. This includes a jet black helm entirely covering the Shadow's face, save for a single white glowing eye, a high necked breastplate, shoulder guards, leggings and full plate boots. Maximos' speed and mobility is greatly reduced, but his ability to withstand and defend against attacks is greatly increased. The armor feels and reacts much like metal to the touch with only a few key differences. As with all shadow metal creations the armor does not conduct an electrical charge and is immune to magnetic force, it feels very cool in the light, and seems to constantly devour light that touches it as opposed to reflecting it. The black armor steals its namesake from the stereotypical garb of the servants of Nocturne. How fitting that it be warn by one of his strongest opposition. Quite simply because the Shadow was just beginning to place the armor over his form. It had started at the back and worked its way forward. Covering his form as he skidded down the hall of the apartment building he had ventilated. Wreckage rolled and loosely fell from the crack in the wall, as a black dulled form began to stir. His right hand reached up, crunching into the drywall, followed by his left, digging into the tile floor. Armored boots and hands carved streaks into the tiles of the hallway. But Maximos... The clanks of metal on stone echoed from the hole in the nearby building, as Maximos made his way to the opening his form had torn. Sparks etched up and down his fists, as streaks of violet filled his plate greaves, a lose shadow gently laid itself across his face, billowing rather dramatically in the wind. His head turned to face the golem, a vicious white glow in his eye. And he was gone, like a streak of burning black his boots shot him Shadesteel Golem, with every intent on finishing this fight once and for all. His speed was intense, like a cannon or rocket freshly fired, the sheer force of his charge tossing rocks and debris to fly off in either direction. He flew low, his right hand scraping through the wreckage sending rocks and metal soaring in either direction before seizing a rather large and twisted chunk of metal. His right and left hands bracing it like a battering ram, fingertips digging deep into the metal for a stern grip. A battering ram with enough force to punch through a Sherman tank. Without warning he immediately shooting up in a sharp 45 degree angle aiming to ram the giant sharp metal shaft clean through the construct's chest and then drag it to the ground, where he would snap off a chunk of the metal length and attempt to continue viciously beating the golem until it stopped moving, or it stopped him.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 4:52 am
The golem's shadow blend ability didn't transport it into some other dimension. It blended into the darkness. In any condition other that full daylight, a shadesteel golem can disappear into the shadows, giving it concealment. Hence the fading effect. Due to Maximos' nature, though, he could probably see or sense anything hiding within the shadows, so it'd probably do the shadesteel no good anyhow. However, Maximos seemed to have learned little during his bout with the construct. If a normal steel pipe barely scratched the thing, what made him think a large piece of twisted metal was going to do any different? It's structure was already weakened due to it being twisted, and it would be turned sharply to the side as it struck the golem's chest, turned away. Maybe if the buildings of Barton were built with adamantine or magically enhanced metal beams, it would have been different, but it's highly unlikely any of the buildings here were made of either. As the metal shaft nearly snapped at a 90-degree angle, the golem's right claw shot up to grab Maximos by the face to slam him into the ground.
A swarm of bats began circling the dark sky over Barton's eastside. Specifically, where Maximos and the shadesteel were fighting.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 10:07 am
There had been two people who came on that motorcycle, if Kchain had ever gotten a view of it. The girl might have looked as if she'd been set to ride alone, helmet and jacket on, but she had called for someone else. That man was not far down the street.
And it seemed Kchain had picked the wrong one to fire at first.
From down that road, toward the gate, but not far, the gunman was going to be treated to a perfect view of a man stepping away from a motorcycle, going headlong into a charge toward him, and roaring like a mad man. Chances of him noticing the dangerous projectile headed from the quiet man down a sidestreet were low, when he had a man plowing in a berserker charge toward him, but he had bigger problems anyway.
Specifically, four feet of sharpened steel clearing the sheath over the man's right shoulder.
There wasn't a great deal of distance between them, but enough that the man had time enough to level the gun at Kalis and take a shot or two before he had to worry about the b*****d with the b*****d sword. The blade fell, in a reckless style seen more often than good swordsmanship, to the near the man's right hip, sloping gently toward the ground, but not enough to skim it. Both hands on the hilt, he twisted his left shoulder foward, obviously going for the full wind up leading to the sort of swing that'd hack limbs off and plow deep into bodies. The heavy armored boots slammed loudly on the street as he came on full tilt, stones and dust from rubble near them flying away from the points of contact.
In fact, if he took the time to look carefully and actually think about what he was seeing, Kchain might notice that the air itself seemed to move around Kalis as it did over hot surfaces steaming in the sun. The air itself was being pushed away from his body by some force, though the effect on his clothes was inpercievable since it was being pulled around from his running anyhow. This of course, could sufficate Kalis if it went on long enough, but there wasn't all that much time.
Seconds before contact. Gunman had better act quick.
"HRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 11:26 am
If the beam would snap, then it would snap. And he would in turn release it. There was no way to help that, Maximos hadnt assumed that it would require such extreme counter measures, but if that was what it would take to fell the beast than that was exactly what he would deliver.
It reached his claw around his face, but he did not budge, not by an inch. His right hand gripping the golem around the wrist. His left, however was reached across his waist to his right, where it revealed a small stone between his index and middle fingers.
A Sword Stone.
What a loud pop, jet black sword flew through a nearby ambient shadow and was placed in the grip of Maximos' left hand. It stood about 4ft in length, and 3inches in width, a standard longsword. With a powerful jerk the tossed the arm to the side. A loud crunch filling the air as a chip of his facial armor was shattered off. His right foot leading as he stepped directly into the golem's reach, and let loose a powerful slash from right to left, across the creatures gut, aiming to cleave the thing in twain.
The technique employed by the sword stones, was an item summon technique, not creation. While it was called through Shadow, the sword was not made of shadow, filled with shadow, or otherwise tainted by the dark. It was one of the five progeny of the Nameless, Maximos once famed sword. The sword had cut through 3ft thick steel doors, and solid stone, with a simple cleft. It had sliced a limb clean off a full scale MechWarrior straight through its armor and the like, without a supernatural strength enhancement. With a fierce slash such as this, and with the supernatural strength added as Maximos right joined his left, the body of a Shadesteel Golem was absolutely nothing. If it could be dented or scarred, as it was by a simple metal beam, then there was simply no way for it to survive. If it required a more legendary piece of weaponry, or a blade of more mythological construction, this was it.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 1:44 pm
"Move out."
The Town Square having assumedly been taken, the Knight sent his units moving outwards in all directions. The undead Spartans arranged themselves in fourteen units of twenty and headed out, the remaining eight organized around the fountain, each facing the eight main directions (north, south, northwest, southeast, etc.).
The Knight sat perched atop the fountain itself, like an eagle waiting for its prey.
OOC @ Undead Attackers: Feel free to recruit up to forty wandering Spartans in any one area.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 1:55 pm
"Hah!"
Arzhael, now having his swords pointed at the ground beneath his feet, what little of it there was, jumped from his position towards the edge of the cliffside. Now, it would have been futile had he not discharged the entirety of the energy he had just built up, which more or less rocketed him a good fifteen feet through the air and allowed him to hit the ground running.
Now, at least one of the groups of spartans would probably have noticed the duelist darting off to the North, swords being moved to his back as he ran.
Why north?
Because he just so happened to see a giant war pig stomping its way from that direction.
Arzhael really had little in terms of regret. He was a good natured guy, kind of upset that he couldn't do much more, but he had his own skin to think about. And he was going to be a lot better off alive than dead, or, perhaps far more likely, undead.
So he'd leave the town square, darting down a side street in an attempt to garner as little attention as possible, and then shoulder his way into the nearest building.
His intent was to get out of Barton. The only things in his way happened to be an army of unknown number and whatever goodies they had in store for survivors.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 2:14 pm
Yep. That would do it. Why hadn't Maximos done that earlier and saved himself all the pain? The upper half of the golem fell away from the lower half, and it fell to the ground with a loud THUNK. That was that.
The bats flew away, heading to the arena.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 4:58 pm
The sword would let out an audible howl as it sliced through the air, sparks soaring from the midsection of the golem as black blade passed through it, Maximos completed the motion pivoting on his left, as the golem fell. His greaves scraped along the rocks, as his form completed a quick 360 and bringing the sword up over his head, allowing him to stomp cementing his position as the golem's top half hit the cement.
With one final swift motion he flipped the blade and jammed it straight down into ground. It was already dead, all of the glow that marked it alive, had faded. His body lurched forward over the sword, exasperated breaths escaping him. The fresh night air blowing against his exposed face. Very slowly the hard edges of the armor dulled and faded, soon the armor itself seemed blurred in form before it simply wafted off back into the shadows from which it came.
Maximos was left nearly gasping, hunched over the sword, a stream of blood dripping from his lips over the blade staining the cement. It had been a very long time since he had a workout this intense. Three drow, one necromancer, and one Shadesteel Golem. That was it? And he was this tired? He was getting old...
With a dry plop Maximos fell to his knees, and then back, resting his back on the flat of the sword. The Shadow let out a long sigh, his right arm immediately unraveling. Four tendrils lifting off the arm unpeeling the black armor before fading into their base ethereal forms, and slipping back into his raggedly bandaged arm. The bandage had become horribly stained with splotches of wet thick black...without the armor to support it the limb fell flat onto the stones below with a wet smack. Black and red blood staining the rocks below with gentle splatter. The shadow immediately wincing, and letting out a small chuckle.
His right had laid flat on the ground, his wrist, elbow and shoulder aligned, and with a loud grunt, and a stifled scream, he shoved his body wieght down onto the ruined limb, popping all three joints back into place. A sharp pain stabbing up and down his arm and across his shoulder and back. He nearly bit off his tongue.
He could feel three broken ribs, and cuts all over most of his form. While clothes remained mostly intact they had taken their fair share of damage. He leaned to his right, letting his left hand slide back into the rear pocket of his pants, pulling out what could only be described as a teabag, which he let slip between his lips and rest on the tip of his tongue. The taste was better an he honestly wished he some boiling water, and maybe a spoon full of sugar, but he took what he could get.
With his head pressed back against the blade, his head scanning the stars above. He let out a long sigh, and let a wide smile seep across his face.
Owle...whats your status?
His voice echoed across the telepathic channel. It had a tinge of wear and tear, but otherwise seemed just as warm as that hotel lobby during HoH, if not a bit more. Inside he sincerely hoped he wasnt too late...
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 5:46 pm
Town Square:
The swarm of bats diverted again when seeing a pair of shadesteel golems floating about idly in the square. No sense putting them to waste. Without orders, they would just attack anyone in sight, and currently there wasn't much of anyone around, and they were supposed to keep as many civilians alive as possible. The bats converged together as the swarmed down to the ground, their forms blurring and merging together into a shadowy humanoid figure, becoming a solid shape which would then form itself into the figure of the High Priest, Alexander Worthington. He wore a black breastplate over black priestly robes, with a morningstar hanging from his right hip, black hair slicked back from a pale, handsome face, set with preternaturally bright, crystal blue eyes. Before the shadesteels could turn their attention to him and attack, he spoke out with a commanding voice.
"Override, Zulu-Six-Betty Page."
The shadesteels went idle again, now under the high priest's control. Fail safes were necessary for this raid, in the inevitability that the necromancers originally controlling them were killed, that they wouldn't then turn mindlessly against those they were supposed to be allied with. In such a large area as a city, they couldn't really be relied upon to act upon their last given orders. Better if it were tight quarters, like a dungeon, or if they were guarding something. The latter was what the High Priest had in mind for these two.
"Come."
Remember the building by the tavern with all the hostages? It was still there, and it still had hostages inside, who feared to venture outside from all the sounds of explosions and fighting they were hearing. Better chances of living they had staying put than trying to run through a warzone, and hope someone would come and rescue them. That hope was dashed when the High Priest entered the building. The shadesteels followed Alexander inside, concealed in the shadows, where he would set one of them up like a guard dog to keep further watch over them, and attack anyone attempting to free them. The other shadesteel would continue following Alexander as his own bodyguard. He began making his way toward the train station.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 7:45 pm
Indeed, what was she to do? Despite high numbers, she wasn't one to go jump into battle. The Death Knight paused, and so did she. After a moment of thought, she sat upon the shoulders of her youngest ghoul. "Get two, a kid if one's near you," she ordered. "And be quiet for a bit."
Both hands of the five ghouls thrust out, taking citizens by the neck as a collective hush fell over the crowd. Then, murmurs... confused whispers. People looked around at the gathering, at themselves, and wondered. They knew what they had been doing, but didn't know why. Well, the din made Descant scream out, at a volume and projection that was able to reach all ears local, "HEY, SHUT UP!"
And they did. Despite now seeing and realizing the carnage and the situation, they were silenced. Pleased with it, Descant went on to explain.
"Run to a building and hope it doesn't explode. If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead. Attack me or my forces and I'll kill you. Attack someone else that looks well enough like us and they'll kill you. You're dismissed."
Nobody moved. Some knew, and were too scared. Some didn't know, and that scared them. She sighed.
"This is where everyone runs in panic, screaming for their lives."
And so they did.
Five with no choice, ten live shields, and Descant. What happened to the fleeing populace was anyone's guess... hopefully they actually listened to her and went into a building before a stray undead got to them. No matter their fates, she crossed open palms before touching index and thumb tips. Time to watch the live news, see what else was going on.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 7:54 pm
Amazingly Joseph didn't say a word after Rain's display of... Well, his display of leaving Joseph outside a town and then taking off. Now, underestimating his combat abilities was one thing, Joseph could deal with that. It had happened many times before. What made him burst out laughing was Rain's underestimation of his resourcefulness.
Seriously, tossing the key's into the bushes? There was about five or six solutions to that problem Joseph could come up with. The gadget route, by using the auto-start function in his PDA. Or the practical route, by activating the noisemaker in his keychain and going looking. Maybe the underhanded solution where Joseph hot-wired his own car.
None of these were good enough. No Rain had dropped him a scant few miles from the industrial and shipping capital of this region. Needless to say Joseph had some sway in those areas.
"Hey." He spoke into his cell phone, "I'm gonna need..."
-------------------------
It would take a little longer, as Joseph had not the power to move at superhuman speeds. Instead the man would have to wait for a delivery, which could move much faster than him alone. Frankly once you floored the wonderful machine he was now driving it could go quite fast. Perhaps it was just all the weight behind the damn thing.
Oh well, such is the nature of the MAC truck. (With a fancy A~E marked trailer and everything.)
But as I said, Joseph couldn't exactly enter right at that moment as he had been delayed by the talented Mr. Yupa. Set a course for the east gate, FULL SPEED AH... Wait, the ******** was that? It looked like a cage of some sort. Joseph slowed the truck and attempted to get a better look at the strange group and their erection.
If it looked too suspicious he'd screech the machine to a halt. But those details have yet to be posted.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 8:27 pm
Wait, what the ******** was that? Grass. Y'know, camoflage and all that, since you can't hide in an open plain; either by a spell of whatever else could be used. Quote: "Fine then, try to stop me. Try to catch me and end my ambition along with my life. I'd like to see you try and stop me with your Karudan Cage." "Five different fighters. Five different styles. Surrounding their opponent and attacking simultaneously. Closing in until their opponent is no different than a caged beast." There was no physical CAGE to be seen. There was only several groups of two surrounding Barton after sabotaging the railway tracks. And even if you note that this cage was made from small groups out in the middle of nowhere out a mile from the city, it was impossible to know anything without being able to spot any of the other groups at the same time and noting their position. The only setting up they would be doing was getting into position and waiting for the signal. Boy must be trippin'.
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Posted: Tue May 29, 2007 8:45 pm
Thanks to the author's misunderstand, Joseph completly miss-saw what he thought he saw. No cage was to be seen, he had just mistaken some debris for one. Because of that he completly missed the units in the CAGE, as caps are important.
Swearing he had to cut back on the drinking, Joseph accelerated.
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