RuneScape Forum Archive | [RP] Into The Fire

Inferi

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The Demon Arrives

“

You’re not making this any better.

” Kat muttered, although not loud enough that Alania could hear. She wanted to trust her old shipmate, but what was being said just made it very, very difficult not to come to the conclusion that this demon truly needed to be destroyed.

That notion only continued to grow when Kat saw what it had done to the wildlife. To someone as in tune with it all as she was, to see this was sickening, and it took every bit of effort she had to keep down what she had eaten earlier. This was repulsive, horrifying, and just plain wrong. It also cemented her decision, which she had been debating slightly up until this point out of respect for Alania. The creature that did this needed to die. It did*’t matter if it had the slight possibility to turn to their side, because she did*’* want something that could do this still in the world.

As the ambush was set up, she kept a watch of her own, only abandoning it for the moment that it took to conceal herself where the Decan wished. It was not a bad location, although she did adjust it a bit so that it looked natural and provided her with a quick way out. It would only have to serve for a short period of time, during which the demon was more likely to see everyone else, but that time would prove crucial.

Giving a single nod to Martha, Kat drew the weapon, silently praying that this would not go as badly as she was fearing. Seeing the passive change wrought by the demon’s blood was enough to give her an indication of how strong their adversary might be, and as far as she could tell they would not have the strength to defeat it. None of them was experienced in such tasks, and none of them were exceptionally strong warriors. In the case of a powerful demon, she couldn’t remember any tale where the heroes were not both. Done in by the dubious doings of destiny.

05-Jul-2016 01:22:33 - Last edited on 06-Jul-2016 12:28:16 by Inferi

Inferi

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She heard Alania’s whisper, her attuned senses hearing what most could not, and she had to suppress a sigh. Someone was most certainly going to die here, and the question wasn’t who, but how many.

Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Kat lay motionless, waiting, eyes and ears alert for anything, and finally something came. It was about as horrifying as everything that had spawned from the trees, and the reaction from what was there was even worse. As it came into view, Kat cursed inwardly, for the creature had no eyes. Those would have been her first target, but it seemed that it could operate without them. It also seemed to be able to operate without skin, which, while explaining where the blood came from, was equally revolting.

Silently raising the weapon as the demon approached Alania and Henry, Kat was halted for a moment by its declaration that it had another self and that other self was leading, of all beings, Soahc the Deceiver. What the hell was this creature up to? What was it planning, and why did it have contact with the being she wanted to put a bullet in above almost all others?

Dammit, she wanted answers, but talking was something that was not going to happen. She was not going to be conversing with this creature; every fiber of her being refused to allow this course of action. It would be wrong, heretical, and suicidal. Deals with demons were something that everyone knew not to make. The only thing to do to a demon was destroy it.

And so, with her weapon aimed directly at the skull of the demon, her aim where the brain on such a creature would be, Kat pulled the trigger. As before, the runes on the sides of the weapon lit up, and there was a deafening report as the projectile exited the barrel and flew towards her target. Maybe it would work, maybe not, but there was no way she was going to lie here and watch this thing ******* nature anymore. Done in by the dubious doings of destiny.

05-Jul-2016 01:22:45

Azi Demonica

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The Hunt

After Spirry arrived, Kat aimed and fired her runed weapon, and despite the repulsiveness of the scenery and the demon, her aim was true, and she shot Spirry across the head. The projectile audibly splat into his skull, the demon's head nudging, and then he slightly looked around, but made no reaction as the gunshot echoed.

Sudden, loud noises and extreme pain were things the Newborn was accustomed to for very many thousands of years. For him, lots of pain was like no pain at all. Although no-one perhaps realized this, Spirry was in fact an undead being, essentially an animate devilish skeleton that wore a living body over itself. As an undead being who essentially recreated himself as a living body, he would not be an easy thing to defeat. The hole in his head bled profusely, but the wound audibly made squishy noises and the flesh was regrowing rapidly.

Regardless if anyone jumped from fright when Kat's gun went off, or whatever reaction Alania or Henry had, Spirry then said, “I think a few of you are missing. Alicia is gone despite her resistance against me, Charles has not answered my question, and those large humanoids are also not here, especially the one who threw me aside. Speaking of which, I did carry one of the ogres up with me in the sky without realizing I had done that, and so dropped him somewhere midair. And now, we meet again, are you ready to continue your quest?”

note: Spirry cannot feel fear or pain, but perhaps if a femur, his spine, pelvis, or tailbone was shattered, he would undoubtedly be disabled regardless of his capabilities

05-Jul-2016 19:59:57

Loaned Shark

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The Necromancer

Ubaid stepped forward to stand by Ethyl's shoulder, gently tapping two fingers to her elbow in a symbolic show of restraint. "Witch-Queen, if I might," he counseled, "The wise would listen to the earth here, not this frippery." With anyone else, a more diplomatic tone might have been advisable; with Ethyl, he suspected it would enrage her more than the presence of other living things. "The quake will be our warning, and then you shall need your choler."

The ghost had kept quiet through all their grandiose nonsense, his attention focused through the eyes of his servants as he went about the work Soahc had dragged him away from. Molloran's corpse still lay undisturbed, to his chagrin, but spells had been daubed on the casket to help Ubaid find the fallen priest the next time he stepped across the Veil. Suitable sacrifices were chosen from amongst his zombies, the sturdiest and most pleasing, and preparations were underway to make something useful of their bones. The flesh was useless, and stripped away by their brethren. Soahc's playful warning, however, changed Ubaid's focus.

Removing his hand from the hag before she removed it from his body, Ubaid glanced behind him to find his Twins, salivating and trailing the Deceiver's lieutenants at a respectful distance. "Dais," he ordered, dismissing them with a wave, and the pair turned and bolted for Ubaid's undead. They knew not the spells to lay into the wood, or the ritual sacrifices required to anoint his platform, but they knew enough to get started, and would task his undead slaves accordingly.

The shambling host had drawn up into serried, stinking ranks, the better to bog down the cavalry charge which would soon come screaming across the plains. For his part, Ubaid would be glad to see some of these disgraces torn apart. Soahc had requested cannon fodder, and Ubaid had given it to him, but that did not mean the shade was pleased with squandering resources in such a manner. All seeing. All knowing. All scumbag.

07-Jul-2016 00:58:20

Loaned Shark

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The centaurs would fall upon his slaves, and many would be cut down, but they were expendable. More importantly, they could be recycled, as long as enough material was left to work with and enough souls were to hand to shatter into new shells. Their temporary destruction would bring him more impressive specimens, servants who might, with more careful ministrations than the wretches serving him today, actually be worthy of bearing the black bolt banner. And, more importantly, they might actually be able to ensure his persistence in the face of his comrades.

His attention flickered to these companions, and their petty disputes, and finally settled on the mechanical drake Ryokin had allegedly given rise to. This new demon, the amalgam, piqued his interest. Not for any intrinsic reason - let it spar with the others all it wanted - but for the idea its appearance engendered. An undead demon. Soahc was said to be the forefather of demons; Ubaid had Soahc's deceased high priest entombed behind layers of ancient stone and spells of concealment. The questions he had for Molloran were beginning to take a more focused shape...

"If there is time enough to prepare, I shall have need of a focus," he told the Witch-Queen, "A mirror, or refractive crystal. May I beg your favour?"

Soahc seemed to think that 'Great Plains' would mean anything to him. It did not. All Ubaid had were suspicions, mounting by the minute, and he would confirm them before the horsemen came to distract him. All seeing. All knowing. All scumbag.

07-Jul-2016 00:58:48

Loaned Shark

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Sir Charles.

"Enough of this."

The knight's mood had not improved by being so summarily dismissed, and after they had already left Og as well. It made sense, that was what grated the most; he didn't trust himself right now, no reason anyone else should be dumb enough to think a spluttering, worn-out old warhorse should be up to the daemonhunt. But this...

He had left, quietly, with only a regretful nod of farewell to Enrael as he took his sword back. The man had seemed like a decent sort, but that damned buzzard haunted Charles' nightmares and roosted on his shoulder. Shame and fury burning his cheeks, the bedragged knight had set a breakneck pace back towards Og, swearing under his breath. He turned to his charge only to extoll him to keep up, or to bemoan his fate and curse everyone he had ever met since Richton's devastation. He would only later realise just how unpleasant a traveling companion this must have made him...

"I told them!" He spun, walking backwards for a few steps as he glared to the chaplain for confirmation. "What was it again," he snapped his fingers, trying to jog his own memory, "Guns, swords, antimagic, something like that? It's demonic, it's psychic, It flew away with an ogre! What sort of half-wit hears that and thinks 'Oh! I know! I'll take me lads and trot along after the skinned, magical dragon, it'll be fine '?!"

He turned back, just in time to avoid tripping on a rock. "I'd better be wrong," he softened a little, remembering that he was talking to someone under that half-wit's command after all, "I want to be wrong. But this wasn't a plan, this was running at a stone wall and hoping it breaks first. We had it all: We had the bait, we had the support - we had a whole city-full of big, strong support - and we had the time to prepare. Zeal's the only way to react to something this damned, but there's a difference between being zealous and being a zealot." All seeing. All knowing. All scumbag.

07-Jul-2016 04:29:46

Loaned Shark

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Calm enough after his rant to think, Charles nodded to himself. "The demon was blind, last time I saw it," he thought aloud, "If your friends can't kill it, they might be able to disengage. We'll need trackers and outriders to link back up, not to mention find the damn thing again. It's strong, don't want to get close, so that means bows or crossbows." He snorted. "Ogres probably just hand out ballistae and tell them to get on with it. Pikes at the worst, if it comes to it. And the magic..."

He trailed off almost long enough for the chaplain to get a word in edgewise. "It... One of it, or them, kept repeating how to kill it. This one. Hell's teeth, I don't bloody know! But we're going to need some way of annulling its demonic powers, so that means wizards and priests." Under normal circumstances, Charles would have had no problem whatsoever with throwing holy fire onto the demon and watching it melt, but that was exactly what the demon had been telling him to do . It wasn't as if he had anything better to work with, but demons were never that helpful.

"I don't know how your Og friends handle their arcane warfare, but they've got to have some way to even the odds, or they wouldn't still be around." If the ogres of Og were anything like their Tyrannian allies, the two roles might be handled by the same ogre. The less he had to browbeat people ten times his muscle mass, the better.

"And even if the Decan does manage to put this monster down," he shook his head, "There's more to this. Demons in the mountains, and something rising..." Whatever was coming, he wanted to face it with as much backup as he could scrounge, beg and steal. Backup that would actually fight, too.

"Or maybe it's just completely insane, and two halves of its own head were gibbering at each other," he offered, but the hope was hollow. "With any luck... What was the name of that ambassador, the one your Empire sent to Og? We'll need all the influence he's got here." All seeing. All knowing. All scumbag.

07-Jul-2016 04:30:01

D F Angel

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Myrkviðr

The first trees of the forest of Myrkviðr were widely spaced, almost inviting. It did not take long to pierce the veil of this illusion however. They were barely a few minutes into the forest when the trees began to pile together, to choke the pathways, to blot out the sun. The forest had been experiencing a perpetual darkness for centuries now, evidenced by the mushrooms, moss and fungi which washed over the ground, leaving no space for flowers of any kind.

The air was moist and warm, humid, as though the very oxygen they breathed had been made slaves to the hags as well. The ground underneath was spongy, and above great, thick strands of sickly white stretched from tree top to tree top, sometimes bunching together, sometimes stretching out for several metres, linking branches together, ensnaring the hundreds of insects which chirped and shrieked, whose noisiness seemed to make up for the fact that there was no bird song to speak of.

The further in they entered, the thicker the air got, the more of that silken substance gathered above and around them. Occasionally large, bulging egg-sacs were found stuck to the tree bark with stinking maggots the size of piglets writhing around beneath, blind to their fate. Creeping mists rolled in, some as inconspicuous as what you could find outside, but others in hues of purple and of gold, a terrible beauty about them. They passed two pit traps, and a tripwire that would have triggered a falling log, both revealed by Annie's air spells.

As Etheldredda had predicted, when they passed a rocky outcrop a red, pulsing blast fired out, though Joric's timely intervention saved them from doom. The noise caused a fox to flee through the underbrush, one as large as a hound, as lithe as a starved wolf. Etheldredda stopped at that, causing the whole procession to come to a halt. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

11-Jul-2016 03:19:17

D F Angel

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"Too easy," the hagspawn commented bitterly, head turning from left to right as though expecting an imminent ambush.

"The docile direfox was your first clue?" Asked Tempora Sage sceptically. The old wizard had kept his mouth shut ever since the scolding he had received from Rovaan du Leon- a scolding that Etheldredda had remarkably found herself agreeing with, (and Etheldredda tended not to agree with many people on any matters whatsoever.)

"Why would they want us to come?" Etheldredda queried aloud. Normally she wouldn't care- these details were unimportant in a mission, so long as the mission was completed. But the hags... Etheldredda did not trust them or their methods, they were manipulators of emotions and of minds, they played people like fiddles, and Etheldredda did not wish to be a pawn in their games any longer. That was the whole reason for coming here.

"Finally, a question worth asking," Tempora said drily. He seemed to have low estimations of Etheldredda, which extended to Rovaan as well. Joric was a harmless asset and Zed showed potential, whilst quiet Conleth was anyone's guess. Still, he had been tasked with guiding Annie, and so it was to Annie that he turned.

"You can call me Tempora," he told the girl, looking her up and down. "A warrior at ten, and half a god as well. What on earth was Arran thinking? Nothing, most like. He was a big fan on not considering the consequences of his actions." He paused to ponder for a moment, moving his aged jaw from side to side as thought, then continued.

"You had magic before you were made an Avatar, that much is clear. You have all the power and none of the control. That's what I'll teach you: control. And with any luck, I might teach you to think, too. After we're done with these hags, your lessons will begin." Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

11-Jul-2016 03:19:34

D F Angel

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"Are you going to help or not?" Etheldredda snapped at the man, and Tempora Sage turned a face of mock-surprise towards her.

"Is my help wanted?" He said, dubious, glancing towards Rovaan who had called him a shrivelled old twig. "Might want to force us to help power the ritual, or use us as a tasty distraction when the beast comes so they can subdue it. Could be a power play, show the younger hags that this so-called Great Mother is fearless. Or else the muscle is in the centre to keep the more treacherous of their brood on-side. Perhaps they're not summoning the Hagfather at all, and it's just a front to lure one of us into a trap."

Tempora Sage rattled off his various theories, but gave no indication as to which he believed to be the most likely. Impatience whittled away Etheldredda's paranoia, and she turned once again and stormed further towards the centre. Tempora rolled his eyes as though having already expected such a response. "I'm getting too old for this," he muttered, turning a thoughtful eye to Zed. "Perhaps its past time I got myself an apprentice."

Onward they pressed, until the old, gnarled and thick trunks, clearly the oldest in the forest, started to become spaced apart once more, more freeing, as they came towards a clearing.

The Hag Coven was buzzing with activity and with magic. A great bonfire had been piled up at the centre, its flames licking upwards into the night. The hags had caught themselves a demon- it had a human body and a long, bestial head reminiscent of a crocodile, though it had the course, shaggy hair of an ox. It was tied to a pole which dangled precariously above the bonfire, the skin on its feet were a scolding red, and into its body a hundred runes had been cut. Blood seeped out into the patterns, burned orange, and floated off into the bonfire smoke, adding magic to the ritual. Hags be hagglin', gods be god damn crazy, it's all happening ogre at Into The Fire

11-Jul-2016 03:19:56

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[RP] Into The Fire