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Interesting Conversationalist
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 Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:12 pm
 Sun Hunter
SHADOW RUN
The Shadow Run is both the simplest and most dangerous training course that can be run without a golem. A flurry of continuous attacks is what the Sun Division holds in highest respect, and the course reflects that. The course itself is a simple tunnel, reached via portal. Within the tunnel await hundreds of weak, hungry shadowlings. Nothing to worry about on their own, but capable of overwhelming a Hunter through sheer numbers at the first moment of weakness. At the other end of the tunnel is another portal, leading back to the course observation booth.
If you fail: your character is KO'd, but there's always a senior hunter in the observation booth with enhanced bandages at the ready. They should reach you in time. Really. Trained and trusty professionals on-hand 24/7.
If you win: peen points and bragging rights to those who take out the greatest number of shadowlings and go the most turns without needing to attempt a recovery maneuver.
Mechanics
You must get through 5 waves of attacks to make it through the tunnel.
Simply roll for attack as you would in battle.
If you miss, your character falters in their attacking and is overwhelmed by shadowlings.
After 3 successful hits, you may use your weapon's charge attack.
Bonus Mechanics
This bonus is consumable.
The bonus in this course is in the form of "recoveries" ~ these are would-be missed attacks that are quickly recovered and turned into a successful hit. Basically, they can miss once and roll again for an extra try. If you keep consecutively missing, though, and run out of recoveries, it's lights out. These do not equal an automatic pass for a round, you still have to land a successful hit to proceed.
Trainees: 0 recovery
Sun Trainees: 1 recovery
Hunters: 1 recovery
Sun Hunters: 2 recoveries
Status Wave: (current wave number)Attack Dmg:Total Shadowlings taken out:Recoveries left: [quote="Status"]
[size=14][color=#00BFFF][b]Wave: (current wave number)[/b][/color][/size]
[b]Attack Dmg:[/b]
[b]Total Shadowlings taken out:[/b]
[b]Recoveries left:[/b]
[/quote]
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:17 am
Petra had been putting it off for a while now. While the others performed the training fanatically, religiously, she had completely avoided the section of Deus dedicated to this type of training, the more refined training dedicated to their divisions. At first, the excuses had been valid enough -- she'd spent a great deal of time in the research divisions, in the outposts and in the laboratories. She was too weak to do that sort of training, not skilled enough yet. A few weeks in the gym, and she'd be ready. But a few weeks turned into a few months, then many months, with no change in her resolve. When Christmas came, the moon trainee told herself she'd take it on after the Gala -- she was very busy with presents, after all, and she had to buy a dress and wrap everything and of course there were regular scheduled missions. Then after the Gala, when she'd ended up in the hospital, she'd said after she'd healed -- she couldn't go into those types of training with any types of injury after all.
There was always something. Lately, it was that she was tired. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. Somewhere, in her subconscious, she knew that even she didn't believe any of these excuses. She wasn't really avoided the training itself, just as she didn't really avoid sparring because she disliked the act in general. She was avoiding people.
That morning, as the misted sun rose through the cell-like window, and the dull white light illuminated Robert's sleeping form beside her, Petra laid in bed well past the point where she normally would have gotten up. When the alarm she had set went off, buzzing angrily on the side table, she turned it off with an offhanded click, not moving to slip out from beneath the covers. Instead, the moon trainee paused there for a second, her fingers resting on her cell phone, letting them slide off only as she turned over again. Something was different. Laying there on her side, she stared idly at the larger form beside her, midnight blue eyes blinking every so often, but never straying from where her fiance slept. The air was cool, and her shoulders all the way down to her fingers had turned cold, the blanket draped only just over her hip. Yet as she laid there, fingertips numb from the chill, a hot anger burned in her muscles. The feeling spread like an oil fire, refusing to go out no matter how much water she tried to throw on it, rationalize the anger away. Caelius' announcement of the intermediate trainee's demotions was as fresh in her mind as it had been the night before, buzzing like a hive of angry bees at the forefront of her memory.
Maybe they'd deserved it. Admittedly, they'd done a pretty shitty job, in general -- the moon trainees had almost been assraped, the common room had been destroyed, and then that bandage fiasco had been icing on the cake. But the hatred would not go away: the resentment of being a constant disappointment was finally just too much.
She'd put it off long enough.
Standing in front of the portal that would take her to Shadow Run, Petra tightened her fingers on the handle of her mace, her eyes hard as she waited for the green light up in the observation tower. In her mind, Cain crooned an approval, his voice only adding to the acid burning through her muscles. Today was the perfect day. She felt angry enough -- the impulse to smash things was almost overwhelming, the thought of crushing a shadowling beneath Cain's silver spikes satisfying in itself. This exercise was going to be different than what she had been doing. Every training she did had a purpose -- observation, strength, agility -- this was going to be an exercise in controlling her anger, using it productively instead of letting it control her.
Exhaling slowly, she flicked her eyes to where a hunter was giving her the thumbs up, taking one methodical step through the portal.
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Interesting Conversationalist
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x_Nata_x rolled 2 8-sided dice:
5, 8
Total: 13 (2-16)
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:19 am
The tunnel was completely dark when she first stepped through the portal. Behind her, the pale blue ring of runic energy cast a faint, eerie glow on the walls, just enough to see the first few feet. Within a few moments, however, the energy was dispelled as the portal vanished, the light dissipating completely, leaving nothing but darkness. Petra stayed where she was, waiting until her eyes adjusted. Fueled by her inability to see, the sounds of the shadowlings moving along the walls, starting to surface just from the smell of her, echoed with resounding clarity, little inhuman whispers ricocheting off any flat surface.
Too bad for them, she was pissed off today.
Closing her eyes, Petra slowly counted to three, holding her breath as she did so. When she opened them, the tunnel was no longer a debilitating pitch black, her eyes adjusting to the limited light. Around her, the silhouettes of the creatures shifted as they grew closer, and down the corridor, almost completely obscured by the creatures, she could see the other portal glowing brightly, waiting for her. So far, the shadowlings were just sizing her up, starting to group in order to swarm her -- she wasn't about to give them the chance. Gritting her teeth, the moon trainee strode forward with purposeful steps, in no particular hurry to get through the tunnel. She wanted to crush a good amount of these ********, and she didn't want it to end quickly. Bringing back her mace, the first horizontal slash took out the whole first row of shadowlings which had crept towards her, the momentum allowing her to cut through them like butter.
Yeah, you better run, bitches.Status Wave: One Attack Dmg: 7 Total Shadowlings taken out: 7 Recoveries left: --
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x_Nata_x rolled 2 8-sided dice:
4, 4
Total: 8 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:39 am
After that first attack, they'd started to get the picture real quick. The original seven strewn in front of her in different states of dead-or-dying, the others crept back a little after seeing what she'd done to their brethren, their stark white eyes staring at her from the dark. Taking another few steps forward, Petra stepped over the broken forms of the shadowlings that had crumpled to the ground, ignoring the hissing and black tendrils of smoke as their FEAR began to dissipate. The creatures hovered in a growing ring, seeming to multiply as they watched, coating the ceiling, the floor, the walls, even on top of each other, until they seemed like a cloud. Still, they did not attack just yet, sizing her up, seeing if maybe, perhaps, the first attack had been a fluke. Seven meant nothing to their numbers -- they could afford to lose a few.
When she drew her weapon back this time, they were ready for what was coming. Her mace was heavy, but slow, taking time to build momentum, time to heft up over her shoulder in order to arc it around towards them. This time, the shadowlings moved at the last second as she swung, twisting to avoid the sharp spikes, most of them evading. A few were not so lucky -- the moon trainee felt the resistance as her mace smashed their frail forms, scowling at the lack of results.
They weren't going to tolerate her juggernauting her way through anymore.
The game had begun.Status Wave: Two Attack Dmg: 2 Total Shadowlings taken out: 9 Recoveries left: --
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Interesting Conversationalist
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x_Nata_x rolled 2 8-sided dice:
3, 6
Total: 9 (2-16)
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:53 am
s**t was about to get real. The second attack had been an unspoken catalyst, both between hunter and hunted. As the silver spikes swept around, the sound of FEAR hissing as two more of their kind was taking out, the rest of the creatures swarmed from the walls and the ceiling, rushing her from all directions. Whether or not they had any sort of intelligence beyond instinct was debatable, but their instinct treated them well, and Petra knew it was time to move. As soon as the momentum of her swing slowed, the moon trainee kicked off the graveled floor, meeting their rush mid-way. More shadowlings had started to show up now, constantly building to their wave of tangible darkness, undulating with her own movement. As she dashed forward, the sea of creatures parted a little, scattering like roaches up onto the walls, coming up behind her.
An irrational part of her, the part that really enjoyed the research and observation she had been participating in, marveled at how they moved. In some instances, it almost seemed as if they were mentally connected, thought transferred instantaneously, so they they all moved as a single unit, like one organism. And yet the moment her mace was out of the way, they began attacking like individuals. One shadowling would dart forward, razor-like claws lashing forward to try to grab for her legs, FEAR shield merely buzzing under the weak assault, only to be replaced half a second later, even before she'd managed to swing at the first. It was curious, and she could not deny that in the back of her mind, her brain was going 'this is interesting.'
Luckily, the 'die ********' part won out. Sending another monster crashing against the wall, she bore her teeth in an angry, determined grimace, fingers tightening on the handle of her weapon.
Right now, every single one of them had Caelius' face.Status Wave: Three Attack Dmg: 3 Total Shadowlings taken out: 12 Recoveries left: --
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x_Nata_x rolled 2 8-sided dice:
2, 5
Total: 7 (2-16)
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:08 am
(Will edit tomorrow, just getting rolls out of the way now) Status Wave: Four Attack Dmg: 1 Total Shadowlings taken out: 13 Recoveries left: --
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Interesting Conversationalist
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x_Nata_x rolled 2 8-sided dice:
8, 7
Total: 15 (2-16)
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Interesting Conversationalist
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Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:10 am
Aaaaand she made it through. Angry b***h is angry. Status Wave: Five Attack Dmg: 9 Total Shadowlings taken out: 22 Recoveries left: --
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