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Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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The young warrior landed on his feet unharmed, and saw that Pwent had already began hacking away at the massive knight’s legs, to no visible effect. The Basilisk’s lifeless corpse lay at Caden’s feet, and Gabby was visibly bloodied and bruised, but still standing and shooting many a bolt at the armored monstrosity. The knight itself bore many bolts sticking out of various parts of its armor, and it seemed completely oblivious to the pain which was inevitably felt whenever crossbow ammo penetrated even the thickest of armors.

Pwent quickly dodged a hammering fist before it smashed the ground for what had to have been the millionth time that day. Many holes already filled the ground and walls of the building, and it was only by a miracle that it was still standing at this point from the looks of things. The dwarf made a cut at the knight’s knees, but it swiveled out of the way with unnatural speed and countered with a kick that sent the little man sailing into a wall.

For her part, Gabby holstered her weapon and produced a pair of silver daggers from her belt, and began edging towards the knight hesitantly. Caden could tell from her body language that she wasn’t much of a melee fighter, though he had no doubt that she could still last longer than most men would against the Bloodbound Guardian anyway.

Caden gripped his weapon, and charged past Gabby and slashed at the knight’s chest. The massive figure stepped back and readied a swing, but at the last minute he stopped and stepped to the side to avoid what would have been a nasty uppercut from the creature Even though its knees weren’t bent low enough to bring it to the ground, Caden feinted a few slashes at them, causing the knight to swat at his weapon. But, Caden was faster than the knight, and instead drew his weapon back far enough so it grazed the creature’s fingers instead, causing some sort of red energy to leak from the joints.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 00:51:52

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The knight reeled at the sudden turn of events, and Gabby took advantage of its distraction to leap onto its back and wedge one of her daggers under its helmet and into where the neck would be on a normal human. More red energy leaked out, and began streaming towards Caden. Shocked, the warrior tried waving it away with his hands, but to no effect.

Instead of going away, the energy seemed to gather into a ball and shot straight at his chest and wormed its way under his armor. The odd heat was somehow both comforting and disturbing at once, but he felt the amulet on his chest grow hot as the energy reached it.

The event lasted only a few seconds, and soon enough the amulet was back to its natural cool feel, causing Caden to wonder just what had happened. But, he did*’t have time to ponder what went on thanks to the knight deciding to lurch forward suddenly. He barely managed to roll out of the way, and felt the guardian’s armor brush against his shoulder as the massive form just fell to the ground and took out a wall in the process. Gabby stood over what he had hoped was the Bloodbound Guardian’s lifeless corpse, and she seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

“I…don’t know….what you did,” she huffed. “But…whatever it…was, it gave…me a good opening. Thanks.”

“Umm…you’re welcome?” Caden replied. He eyed the armored form warily as the white knight retrieved her dagger and a few bolts from the guardian’s corpse. He felt a little glad that it did*’t get up, but his thoughts were interrupted by a fit of coughing from the dwarf.

“So…I miss anythin’?” Pwent asked.

“Yeah,” Gabby said. “You missed that looter help save both of our asses.”

“It was nothing,” Caden said. “I mean, you both seemed to hold your own well enough. I imagine you would’ve found a way to deal with this thing and the basilisk even if I wasn’t here.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 00:53:09

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“An’ I don’t doubt that,” Pwent said as he sheathed his ‘borrowed’ battle axe. “But Gabby ‘ere couldn’t hurt that thing too much with her bolts. An’ she can’t take much of a direct hit like I can.”

“It’s true,” the blonde haired woman said. “I’m an archer, not a brawler. And truth be told, I emptied my entire quarrel into that thing without anything happening to it. I did*’t hold much hope in hurting it with my daggers by that point, but without you charging in to distract it…who knows what could’ve happened!”

“And here I thought white knights were supposed to be good at fighting,” Caden muttered. “Ok, look. You’re welcome for helping out. But all I wanted was a ring from my personal vault. That’s all. I don’t care if you arrest me after the fact, but could you please just let me get it before you do? It’s really important to me.”

“I say we let ‘im,” Pwent said. “The lad’s earned it in my book.”

“The fact that you stayed to fight says more about your character than I first believed,” Gabby added. “So, here’s the deal. You can get your stuff and leave. As far as we’re concerned, no real looter would help out a Temple Knight and risk getting arrested afterwards. We admit we might have acted in haste a bit earlier.”

“Thanks,” Caden smiled. Pointing to the glowing yellow vault, he added, “All I need now is someone to open that damn vault over there, though.”

Pwent took the battleaxe in his hands and eyed the vault eagerly. “I believe I can help wit’ that.”

Gabby nodded in approval, and the dwarf happily trotted over to the vault and began his dirty work. As the clanging of steel against magical ward echoed through the building, Gabby leaned on Caden’s shoulder and whispered in his ear.

“I saw that energy that went to you,” she said. “Just…what was that about?”

“I’m not sure,” Caden said, fearing the consequences of revealing the strange amulet to her. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 00:54:29 - Last edited on 25-Oct-2012 00:55:00 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“I think I have, but I’m no mage,” she replied. “It could be something that looks similar in concept but is different in reality. Tell me, did you take anything from the vaults upstairs?”

“Umm…no,* Caden lied. He did*’t know why, but her tone struck him as…off. He had the feeling she knew something, but wasn’t telling him. “Why do you ask?”

“Hm. No reason, I guess,” she said as she pushed herself away from him. “Just do me a favor and be careful, ok? It’s hell out there, and I don’t think you getting killed is a good proposition for whoever that ring you’re looking for is meant for.”

“Yeah…I guess so,” Caden admitted as Pwent finally breached the vault. The dwarf could only gloat in satisfaction at his deeds, and Caden wandered over to it and looked for his personal storage unit. It was easy enough to find since he knew his number by heart, and soon enough he had in his possession a sapphire ring which was engraved with symbols which the natives of the Kharidian Desert and Fremennik Clans of the North associated with love and beauty.

“Crap,” he heard Gabby say. “Pwent, get your stuff together. Albert says we’re needed in the park right away. Something about a demon and mages.”

“A’right,” Pwent replied. Turning to Caden, he said, “Good fightin’ to ye, lad. I think ye’ll need the luck sooner or later.”

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:02:41

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The shadows seemed to stalk the Spider and Myra as they navigated the twisting passages of the strange sanctuary. The pair had met more than one dead end thanks to getting confused and taking a wrong turn at some of the intersections that had popped up during their journey, and the simple act of turning around to go back to choose another way had proven much more complex than they had first thought, because it seemed as if the labyrinth was alive and attempting to shift its walls to block off previously accessible halls of its own free will.

“I’m starting to think we should’ve gone the other way,” the Spider said as stumbled upon yet *another* sealed off passage. “Maybe that way we wouldn’t just starve to death after getting lost in this thing!”

“I’m not so sure,” Myra replied as she ran her delicate fingers across the surface of the ‘door’ blocking the way in search of a way to open it. “If what you’ve told me is true, that Strife thing was wandering around back there. I wouldn’t want to meet that again, and I did*’t even see it for more than a minute…I think.”

“She speaks true,” the Spider heard Skin whisper in his mind. “The Heikka-Rider is a formidable warrior. To confront it in our current state would be suicide.”

The Spider leaned against a wall as Myra continued her fruitless search. “And you’d rather take our chances with a dwarf mage and...and…whatever the person or thing or whatever was imitating you is? Maybe you did*’t notice, but the damn midget would’ve killed me if I did*’t get close enough to strangle him with his beard.”

“Then you should’ve dealt a killing blow when you had the chance,” Myra retorted as she brought herself up from the ground.

“Funny thing about enchantments,” the Spider replied. “You tend to not notice you’re being influenced by one until after someone or something snaps you out of it. By the way, have you found anything in that slab?”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:04:18

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Myra shook her head. “Other than some weird symbols that look arcane in nature, no,* she said. “Whatever this stuff that’s blocking our way is, it’s definitely something I’ve never seen before. Say what you will about the criminal mastermind wannabe’s in Varrock, but at least when they use similar ideas with stone doors in their evil deathtrap basements, they have a physical component to override if the magic somehow doesn’t work.”

The Spider peered over Myra’s shoulder and saw familiar swirling designs which seemed to be constantly shifting despite his best attempts to focus on any particular section of the slab. He could only vaguely make out the image of an eye amidst the swirling chaos, but that was about it.

“Eye of the storm,” he whispered under his breath. “Brittle bones of the Immortal Joker lie in the eye of the storm.”

Myra looked over her shoulder at him. “What?”

“It’s a sort of poem I was taught by a friend of mine years ago,” he replied as he began pacing behind her. “Three runes there be, three colors you see. Green for the Gia of Mothers, whom wombs bore eternal earth. Red for Vampyre’s Blood, to run through veins of Caine, and stormy blue of the Immortal Joker of Brittle Bones. To each their own, but to own their power is to have the color of three.”

“Ok, so you learned a mage’s riddle. Any neophyte can read a book and repeat what it said,” Myra said.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:06:35

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The Spider sighed. “I know it sounds weird. But the poem refers to three schools of magic commonly seen around the world: Green magic, which the druids and mooncasters use to fuel their daily activities. Red magic, the destructive forces and curses wielded by anyone looking for a fight. And Blue Magic, the magic of…at the expense of sounding idiotic…magic. Just pure, crackling magic. You know, the stuff that lets Dragons use firebreath as a weapon, and supposedly powers some forms of incorporeal undead.”

“Ok, that makes sense,” Myra admitted. “But what’s the Joker the poem refers to? I can understand what the Vampyre’s Blood and Gia bits mean, but I’ve never heard of a Joker in magic before.”

“It’s an inside joke,” the Spider said as he studied the slab once more. “You see, each of the magic schools has an opposing school that counteracts it. For example, Red Magic can destroy most of the spells and wards that are powered by Green Magic, but in some forms Green Magic can reflect or dispel Red Magic as well. The Joker is the ultimate irony among mages who’ve attempted to study Blue Magic in the past: the counterspells against Blue Magic all come from the Blue school.”

“A self defeating school of magic?” Myra asked. “That seems…really odd, given some of the feats I’ve seen mages pull off in the past.”

“Well, it goes along with the logic of ‘the only surefire way to kill a mage is to get another to do it for you’. I admit that it’s weird, but wizards don’t exactly live in the same world as the rest of us,” the Spider explained.

A black-gloved hand reached out to stroke the arcane slab, and it began to glow a fierce blue as the Spider touched it slightly. The arcane colors clashed with his black hand for a few seconds before fizzling out completely, leaving the duo shrouded in utter darkness accompanied by the sound of crumbling stone echoing throughout the corridors.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:08:40

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The Spider’s vision turned a dull gray as his eyes magically adjusted to the darkness, and he grabbed Myra’s hand in his own. “I swear to Saradomin, I had no clue that I could’ve done that before.”

Myra squeezed his hand as hard as she could, letting her nails sink into the black leathers of his armor to no noticeable effect. “You know what? The next time you feel the urge to explain something you learned in the middle of enemy territory, just do us all a favor: skip the academics and go straight to whatever plan’s going through your head.”

~^+^~

The Baron stood at the edge of the pristine bridge leading to Falador Castle, watching his horde of goblins slowly push their way closer and closer to the gates despite the magical and mundane counterattacks coming from the White Knights and their mages. Lightning bolts fell from the air in practiced unison with many an arrow, cutting goblin, basilisk, and cockatrice down in equal measure. Meanwhile, the Raven Knights were amassing overhead for an aerial push, and they had taken the liberty of negating the defending attacks with their own dark magiks and vampyric powers which rivaled Saradomin’s own divine blessings.

The Ogre felt a sharp tug of his arm, and he looked over to see the Scribe pointing towards the battlements. “There be magic man up there,” the elderly goblin said.

Awiti looked at the horizon and tried to follow the goblin’s finger, but to no avail. The magical lights and noise overwhelmed his senses, thus foiling any attempts to identify the threat which worried the goblin so, but yet a somewhat hunched silhouette seemed to haunt the edges of his vision.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:09:55

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“This magic man,” the Ogre replied. “Did you see his weapon? Or at least what he looked like?”

The goblin scribe shook his weathered head. “I saw a gold pointy thing,” he said. “An’ a white hair on his face. That be all of it.”

Awiti’s hand absently reached for his cleaver-like blade as yet another bolt of lightning crashed down to the masses on the bridge. His heart began to flutter in anticipation as he lifted the weapon into the air with a single hand, and pointed it forward as he let a bloodcurdling roar rip through the air. The goblins who were lucky enough to survive and still have working legs tried mimicking his battlecry, and a few of their injured comrades managed to piggyback off of some of the more mobile goblins as the horde surged forward with a renewed fury.

The resulting lightning barrage which cut down a sizable portion of the horde was all the confirmation the Baron needed as to the identity of the mage his own scribe had seen.

*Well, who would’ve thought,” he chuckled to himself as the goblins around him pushed steadily forward. “Dionysius, old friend, it’s about time we’ve gotten around to settling this score.”

~^+^~

Dionysius wiped his sweaty brow as the last traces of Saradomin’s magic faded from the sky. To him it was no surprise that the goblins below were still surging forth endlessly. He had decided that they were fated to commit suicide out of sheer stupidity years ago. But the Raven Knights were another matter entirely.

“Augustus,” he called over the din of battle. “I thought the White Knights had these grounds blessed. Isn’t that true?”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:16:55

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The red haired Inquisitor loosed an arrow into the nearby flock of aerial knights, but the undead did*’t seem to care about the feeble attempt at driving them back. “It is,” he replied. “But something must have gone wrong with the initial enchantment. Or…maybe somebody sabotaged it.”

The Wise Old Man cringed at the thought. If somebody was strong enough to not only infiltrate the castle completely undetected in the middle of this chaos, but undo an enchantment supposedly blessed by Saradomin himself, their defensive efforts would soon end up in vain.

“Alright, so let’s say that somebody managed to undo the enchantment,” Dionysius said as he produced a crude sling from the depths of his old robes. “Would it fail slowly, or immediately?”

Augustus shrugged. “Judging by the fact that these damned things haven’t actually gotten near us yet, I’d venture to say that it stops working gradually. But I wasn’t around when it was created, so I have not the faintest idea if it’s true.”

“Let’s hope Bigby’s Theory of Enchantments hold true then,” Dionysius replied. “Look at the bridge below. Tell me, what do you see?*

Augustus lowered his bow and peered over the battlements. “I see*a lot of goblins,” he said. “And…an Ogre?” The Inquisitor looked at Dionysius with worry on his face. “I’ve read the reports,” he said. “The Temple Knights had thought him dead, or at least missing.”

“And I’ve come across this one a few times myself,” Dionysius replied. “But he’s usually accompanied by what I believe is a human Wererat. Have you seen any humans with him in rougish gear at all?”

“No,* Augustus confirmed. “But I see where you’re going with this.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

25-Oct-2012 01:18:04

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