RuneScape Forum Archive | ^+^ Onslaught ^+^

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The Wise Old Man threw another lightning bolt into the throng below, this time striking a Cockatrice. The reptilian bird creature was unlucky enough to fly a little too close to the bolt as the attack attempted to strike a Manticore, and it screeched an unnatural screech as it fell to the swampy waters of the castle’s moat.

“I’m not seeing any Raven Knights,” Dionysius called out. “Augustus, tell me…just how well prepared are the others if the Knights show up? Or a Hexblade, for that matter?”

Augustus, who held a sturdy oak bow in his hands, loosed an arrow that seemed to bury itself in a Basilisk that had attempted to swim over to the castle. A chorus of shrill hisses sounded in the air more of the creatures attempted to follow their comrade through the water. Many of the defending archers managed to hit their marks and paint the water purple with basilisk blood, though a few still managed to turn around and retreat back up the bank they had come from.

“I can** say,* the Inquisitor called back. “I know Sir Tiffy has the Wolf’s Head Unit over in the park engaged with a few of the Raven Knights. But I haven’t heard back from them in the last hour, which leaves us with maybe a few specially trained knights at most.”

“Where are they?” the elderly adventurer asked as the goblins began attempting to throw grappling ropes onto the castle walls. A few of them actually managed to grasp onto something, though for the most part the hooks missed their marks by miles. Which seemed a relief, considering that the horizon began to grow dark as various human-like figures began to take to the sky and fall into a strange formation that he did*’t recognize.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:36:36

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Sir!” an armored knight to Augustus’ left shouted. “I think I know where we can find the Nightblade Unit. I remember Sir Amik saying something about holding an emergency meeting in the throne room not too long ago.”

“The Nightblades, eh?” Augustus asked. “Well, waste no time then. Go get them out here, now!* The knight saluted, and ran into the tower. Augustus glanced at Dionysius and nodded. Despite the calm the Inquisitor displayed, the old mage knew that the knight was growing worried as the dark figures on the horizon drew closer and closer. And he wasn’t to blame either. If the stories were true, the White Knights of Falador were about to meet an enemy that they were simply unprepared to deal with head on.

~^+^~

Rock’s footsteps echoes through the halls of the castle thanks to his stolen boots. “Nightblades,” he muttered to himself. “I can’t believe he actually believed that excuse.”

The false White Knight stopped at the second floor, and saluted a group of passing knights as they hurried to prepare their defenses in the courtyard. The defenders did*’t pay him any mind, which made the assassin all the more confident that he could pull his ruse off long enough to do what he needed to do. All he had left to deal with was his unwitting ‘donor’.

Rock ran through the halls, making sure to take every chance he could to ‘accidentally’ bump into a passing knight and cause them to drop their weapons and shields. He only mustered a weak ‘sorry’ before turning a corner, and quickly running into an open office that had been refitted into a storage unit.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:37:18

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The assassin closed the door behind him, causing darkness to blanket the room completely. Luckily he did*’t need light to see, for a whimper sounded from a corner, well muffled thanks to a heap of pillows and boxes that had been scattered around the source of the noise.

Rock took off his stolen armor as he strode to the corner, and the black garb of his order had crawled back to its proper place on his body by the time he uncovered a young knight who was bound and gagged. The knight seemed many years younger than normal for a White Knight, with big boyish eyes and a sort of baby-faced edge to his nose and ears. The knight’s eyes widened in horror as he saw the dark shape approaching, but quickly narrowed in anger once he recognized just who he was looking at.

The foreign assassin crouched over the helpless knight. “Such a pity,” he said. “You see, I really did*’t plan on getting the drop on any of you guys like I did. It just happened.”

The knight tried saying something, but his words were lost in a muffled croak as a steel dagger appeared close to his throat. Seeing his surprise made Rock nearly smile.

“Nothing personal, but I can’t afford any loose ends,” he said, drawing his face close enough to smell the panic emanating from the knight. “And lucky for me, I get stronger when I…feed, so to speak.”

The knight, realizing what was implied, tried to work his way out of the rope tied around his torso. But the rope was well made, and well knotted, so his efforts came to naught. Rock sheathed his dagger, and tilted the knight’s head back to expose his neck.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:37:39

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“I’d prefer cheese, truth be told,” he said. “But I guess flesh works just as well. Luckily for me, this also helps kill so many birds with one stone.” The knight only grunted, and tried to headbutt the assassin to no avail. The foreigner was simply too strong despite his wiry frame.

Rock let go of his captive’s head, and settled for slowly making a cut on the knight’s arm instead. The knight screamed a muffled scream as blood leaked down his arm to stain his brown garments. For his part, Rock was finally glad to feast and sate the wretched hunger of his curse.

~^+^~

Myra swam in darkness for what seemed like an eternity. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she vaguely remembered bits and pieces of what led to her current predicament. She knew that she fell under some sort of spell in a yard somewhere. She also remembered that whoever cast it seemed unnatural in too many ways to describe. Maybe it was the same person who was currently dragging her through an arched hallway made from some sort of slime covered stone, or maybe it wasn’t. All she knew came from brief glimpses afforded to her through the grace of strangely placed torches and lamps dotted along the walls, but even then all she could see was the ceiling above her as the ground grated against her back.

She heard the click of a door opening, and a wall of light followed. She felt herself being hoisted over a shoulder, but she couldn’t see much thanks to the sudden brightness.

“Good,” she heard a gruff voice say. “About time you got our…asset*over here.”

“Sorry for taking long,” she heard a hollow voice reply. “But there was…trouble. Marik got called away to handle the Vampyre that the others had trouble containing. Apparently that one was problematic, even when it was knocked out!”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:38:15

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“If it’s that Mooncaster, then I wouldn’t be surprised,” the gruff voice said as Myra’s vision began to clear. “I hear even the weakest of their number is worth at least ten Shades alone.”

Myra saw that the room she was in seemed as if it was carved from pure granite. Light reflected off of nearly every surface save for a few chairs and tables, though she did manage to make out a stone slab situated in the middle of the room. It was that same slab that her captor was heading towards, which made her heart attempt to escape her chest as the possibilities of its purpose filled her head.

“Make no mistake,” the singsong voice replied. “I’ve met one of the more powerful ones a long time ago. That one was way more trouble than she’s worth. Makes me glad that Moki decided to go after a weaker one instead!”

“I thought we agreed not to mention his nickname here!” the gruff voice hissed. Myra saw a stout figure in black robes at her side as her captor, who was some sort of…well, she did*’t know for sure, but she felt unnatural strength in its fur coated arms as it forced her onto the cold slab. She caught a glimpse of amber eyes surrounded by a bone mask, but the rest of the figure was obscured by what had to have been magic. The figure wavered in and out of sight, and each time its shape took on slightly different forms as if it knew she was trying to identify its true nature.

“Nay,” the shimmering figure said. “Your kind decided to not address him by his names. On the other hand, my brothers and I do not fear him. Nor his power. We are above both, and even he knows it.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:38:50

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The stout figure in black nodded as it peered over at Myra. The Alliverion agent saw strands of braided hair peeking out from underneath a featureless black mask, and the dirtiness of the muscled arms clued her in that the person was a dwarf. “Heh. Funny you should mention that,” he replied. “Because word on the street is he has a leg up on y’all.”

“He may have something on Scabbaria. Maybe even Furike. But Kalmatapponi and myself? Make no mistake, good dwarf…we Riders have destroyed Shades who were more powerful than he very easily in the past. We will not hesitate to do so once more should our Lord wish it so.”

“Right, right,” the dwarf replied as he waved the strange figure off. “Look, I get that yer tryin to pull that ‘big billy badass from beyond nightmares’ stuff here, so lemme get one thing straight: I don’t give a damn if you kill him or the rest of those idiots. I’m just here because they payin’ me a king’s ransom to do what I do best. So go do whatever you want, but leave me to my work, will ya?”

“Very well,” the figure said. “But I must warn you…there will come a day where your work will rear up to bite you with a vengeance. For your sake, I pray to the Sleeping Lord that you be careful with this one. I sense…something unnatural about her which may prove to be a boon…or a bane.”

“Great,” the dwarf muttered as the figure left the room. “I leave my job with the Red Axe makin’ Chaos Dwarves to deal with those damn Heikka. I wonder what in the Nine Hells I was thinkin’ back in Keldagrim now.*

*What’s a Heikka?” Myra dared to ask. Now that the strange being was gone, she felt calmer despite her situation. Sure, being bound to a stone slab thanks to some kind of invisible force was bad, but that…thing…made things much worse by simply being in the same room as her somehow.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:39:11

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Hell if I know for sure,” the dwarf growled as he ran his grubby hands over Myra’s body. Despite his stubby fingers and rough manner, his caress seemed like that of a skilled field physician looking for wounds compared to one who was simply looking for a womanly frame to touch. “But I do know that those damned tools are playin’ with fire. You know what you were feelin’ when it was right there?”

“You mean the fear?” she asked. “Or the confusion? Because I honestly don’t know why I’m here. I mean, why kidnap me like this if you guys need help?”

The dwarf chuckled. “Girly, you’re in for a hell of a rude awakening,” he spat. “We need help, but not the kind that can be freely given. You see, I’m a…hypnotist, of sorts. And that feeling you’re probably getting right now? Terror, isn’t it? That ain’t Strife’s fault.”

Myra’s eyes widened at the realization of what the dwarf was getting at. The Red Axe. Chaos Dwarves. She heard varying accounts of such beings from agents within the depths of the Dwarven Kingdom, and they were reportedly stronger than any mere human, no matter how well trained. And if this dwarf in particular was a hypnotist, for lack of a better word…

“Good, good,” the dwarf said. “You know then. That’s a first. Now, hold onto that feeling. You and I both know what’s gonna happen, so just sit still and this will be over in a sec. I dunno what having those damn shadows crawlin’ over ya is like, but I hear most people like it anyway!”

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:39:57

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The Spider found himself getting lost within the strange halls of the base not long enough after setting out from the insane seer’s cell. He did*’t know if it was really a base, a prison, or something else entirely, but at least having something to call it by gave him some comfort at the very least.

“You still don’t believe me, do you?” the voice asked after what seemed like an eternity of an all too blissful silence.

“I have no reason to,” he muttered under his breath. “I mean…seriously? Some demon voice comes out of nowhere after all these years and all of a sudden I’m supposed to believe it’s not some outside force trying to control me? I may be naïve when it comes to the world of Demonology, but I’m far from stupid.”

“But I’ve always been here,” the voice replied as the Spider turned a corner. “It’s just…until now, my power has been weakened. And believe me when I say I’m just as surprised as you are with my awakening.”

“Right,” the Spider growled. “So if all this is true, I take it you’d be willing to surrender your name to me? I mean, it’s not like you have anything to hide if you’re not trying to control me, right?”

“My many names may be too much to bear,” the voice said. “But for now*you may call me…a friend.”

“For now,* the Spider replied. “But I wonder…how long will it be before you begin to turn on me? Or maybe even turn me into a demon as well?”

“I am only Skin,* the voice said. “Power and Soul*they are far from here. I cannot produce such drastic feats without them.”

“Skin, eh?” the Spider asked. “Well in that case, I’ll call you that for now. Is that ok, Skin?”

“I care little for it,” the voice said angrily. “It is in poor taste to mock my prison in such a manner.”

“Yeah, but I figure there’s no way I’m calling you Friend. And Fiend seems too ridiculous for my tastes. So I’m calling you Skin, whether you like it or not.*

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:40:50

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Strife!” Skin cried.

“Hm…that could work too,” the Spider said as he came to a crossroad of sorts. The hall split into two paths, one going left, and the other going straight.

“No! He’s coming!” the voice said. “Quick! Against the wall!”

Before the Spider could respond, his armor began to extend a few tendrils of shadow towards the walls to his right. When one of them connected, he felt himself being pulled against his will until his body was almost flattened against it, and his vision grew dark as he entered the shadows. He was used to the look itself, seeing how the world would always twist and bend once he entered the shadows to teleport, but this time things seemed different somehow. Of course, the architecture was still its twisted self, but he also saw that new shapes had appeared on the walls which defined the base itself.

But the shapes were the least of his worries as the worst sort of abomination he had ever seen crossed his path. The creature walked on two legs like a human, but its body was covered in a skeletal armor which boasted various strange growths and even stranger curves which led into one another. The curves eventually traced down to its hip and formed-or at least he thought they formed- a pair of twin blades the likes of which he had never seen before. The face was covered by a bone helm that housed two amber eyes which seemed to stare into more than just the shadows of the hall, though it seemed to ignore the Spider as it walked the path in front of him.

Once he was sure the creature was gone, or at least further down the left hall, the Spider let out a sigh of relief. “Just…what was that…thing?” he asked.

“Strife,” Skin replied. “A Rider. One of the Four. I’m surprised that he did*’t see us.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:41:46

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

Forum Moderator Posts: 9,861 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

“Why? Can it see through invisibility and planar barriers?*

*That, and much more,” Skin confirmed. “But*this puzzles me. My power is not at its peak. And yet, we were still ignored.*

*I don’t know much about what these ‘Riders’ are capable of,” the Spider said as he approached the opposite wall to inspect the strange shapes hidden in the shadows. “So I’ll take your word for it that we got lucky. Now, these symbols on the other hand…”

The Spider did*’t know what to make of them. Some symbols and shapes seemed to just be random and esoteric signs dedicated to faiths long forgotten. But a few caught his eye, chief among them a pictograph depicting a skeletal figure locked in mortal combat with what appeared to be an elf wielding two blades. The hieroglyphs surrounding it were those of what appeared to be werewolves of a sort, and those seemed as if they were fighting men in the forms of dragons and other beasts.

“The Past,” Skin said. “So…they remember after all.”

“Remember what?” he asked.

“I…can** say,” Skin replied. “I know it…but…I was not there. Or at least, not fully.”

“Ok then,” the Spider said as he looked to the left. He saw another picture, this time depicting some sort of humanoid figure surrounded by the werewolves from the first scene. The figure, despite its human-like body, had what appeared to be a Karambwan for a head, and wore some sort of arcane robes which had more of the strange symbols from the wall on them. The creature was holding some sort of staff at the wolves-or over them, he thought- and the werewolves seemed to be kneeling in submission in front of it.

“The…Future? Or Past? No! It’s the Betrayal! I recall that clearly now!* Skin cried excitedly.

“Betrayed by…what?” the Spider asked.

“The King,” Skin answered. “The Invader. Ixamalesta. The Sleeper’s Ascendant. He who took Her from me…”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

^+^ If the Gods see fit to curse us with the Blood, then we shall raise ourselves above them ^+^

09-Jan-2012 02:43:15

Forums

^+^ Onslaught ^+^