RuneScape Forum Archive | ^+^ The Age of Nhur ^+^

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Lukil and his team had met with no resistance for a while. In fact, they had completely made their way through three entire floors without incident, and that worried him greatly. Something was wrong, but he didn't know what it could be since it was unlike a high profile place such as the Keep to be as deserted as it seemed to be at this point.

Joran echoed the sentiment. *Does anyone get the feeling this is too easy?*

*Actually, yeah,* Rajh replied. *I smell an ambush, personally.*

*Keep an eye out just in case,* Lukil thought. *I highly doubt it, but we might get lucky this day.*

As if on cue, a small fluttering sound echoed through the halls. The group assumed defensive stances, but nothing happened. A voice sounded through the hall. “Hey, who the hell are y-“, but was cut off but a sickening thud.

The trio hurried towards the direction of the voice, and found that it led right to the stairs leading to the eighth level. At the base lay the body of an Ordinator, and the poor soul’s head was twisted at an odd angle. Lukil felt something poke at his back.

*Joran, Rajh, stop messing around with your damn daggers,* he admonished.

*Umm….you might want to turn around* came Joran’s reply.

Lukil did so, and came face to face with a pale man dressed in red. The lower half of his face was covered by a red scarf of sorts, which was also the same kind of red which decorated the hat which cast eerie shadows over the visible part of his face. He held in his hand some kind of crossbow, which was pointed at Lukil’s bulging stomach.

Beyond the man, Lukil saw Rajh doubled over on the ground and obviously in pain, while Joran was held in the man’s free hand by the throat.

“So, the emperor’s servants come to their comrade’s aid,” V said. “Typical idiot behavior.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:10:41 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:21:04 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“Emperor’s servants? What are you, mad?” Lukil asked. Who the hell was this guy, and why did he think that three people who were obviously not Ordinators would serve Nhur?

“Don’t play games with me,” V angrily replied. “I’ve had quite a few Ordinators try that trick on me, and that didn't turn out well for them.”

“Oh, for the love of…”

“Don't care who you pray to, fool. You’ll meet your damned gods soon enough,” V said. His finger hovered over the trigger of the crossbow-like weapon.

Lukil gathered his energy, and unleashed a fully powered mental blast at the man before he could make a move. It caught him off guard, and sent him tumbling to the floor. Amazingly, his hat didn't fall off as he rolled across the floor, but that was the least of his problems.

Joran broke free of the man’s grip, and tried to kick him. The man was faster, however, and caught Joran’s foot before it could connect, and pulled the shade to the ground.

Rajh rolled onto his back, and managed to get back onto his feet and spring up the stairs before anyone could react. “Come on, le’s get to ze general while zese two fight it out,” he said. Lukil took one look at the pair as they grappled with each other, and decided to go with Rajh. Cowardly the Rakshasas might be in some circumstances, but they often had a method to their madness.

Luckily for the pair, the stairs led right to the upper cell blocks. Lukil quickly scanned the row of cells before him, but he didn't really need to, for the only cell which was occupied happened to be the one holding the general.…and some odd creature. Lukil rushed over to the door and took stock of the situation, and it didn't look good.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:11:31 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:22:03 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“Damn, general. What the hell did they do to you?” Lukil asked.

Arial was unconscious, and his face was covered with specks of blood and grime, which seemed to help plaster his brown hair to his face. Even his shadowstuff wasn’t left untouched, as the dark substance which covered all shades to some degree seemed to literally be evaporating off of him.

“It was them damn guards,” the creature rumbled. “I didn't do a damn thing to th’ guy, before you ask.”

“I never said you did. Though I expect the reason they put him in here with you was because they hoped you’d finish him off and save them the trouble.”

“Yeh, like those morons would trust me feedin’ him.” It replied.

“Feeding? What do you mean by that?”

“Some guy came in and fed him somethin’. I dunno what, but he said somethin’ about battle data from what I heard.”

Lukil repeated the creature’s words in his mind. Needless to say, none of them made any sense, but they could explain why there were no Ordinators around. The possibility of a trap was becoming more and more of a reality as he thought about it.

Lukil’s thoughts were interrupted by a snarl. He turned around, and caught a glimpse of Joran’s form flying from the stairwell, with the red cloaked man emerging not far behind him. Rajh immediately began throwing knives at the man, which were subsequently caught and thrown back at him. The Rakshasa evaded the knives, and rushed the man. Lukil turned his attention back to the general, and examined the cell door. From the looks of things, he could probably cause the lock to burst with a psi blast, but he wasn’t sure.

“Fat one, get ze general to safety,” Rajh shouted.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:12:21 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:23:44 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The man’s eyes seemed to flare in anger at the Rakshasa at the statement. “Touch the general and you die,” he said as he furiously batted Rajh’s swinging claws away with an unnatural ease.

“Unfortunately for you,” Lukil replied. “We need our leader alive. So. Back. Off!” He hurled a mental blast at the man, which sent him flying into a wall with a loud crack. He groaned, but didn't rise. Rajh sighed in relief.

“Right...I’ll just be getting a hippogriff ready, then,” Joran said as he got back to his feet. Lukil noticed that the shade was bruised all over, so he didn't argue with him. “Fine. Whatever. Just go and make sure it’s ready for our departure before anything else goes wrong.”

Lukil concentrated, and imagined the door as nothing more than an object made up of psychic energy. He saw in his mind’s eye that various colored strands where woven around the door, which he began to unravel as they appeared. The process took no more than a minute, which was concluded when a clicking sound emerged from the door’s lock. Lukil tested it, and the door swung open effortlessly.

“Hey, tha’s a pretty good trick there,” the creature grumbled.

Lukil hefted Arial onto his shoulder with a huff. “Thanks, but I don’t have time for praise, creature. We need to make our escape quickly.”

“Hey, tha’s alright. Tell ya what, lemme help ya some.”

“Why would you do that?” Lukil asked suspiciously.

“Le’s just say that I think I know why you’re ‘ere. Any enemy of that pile o’ bones who put me in this thing wit’ that guy there is someone I don’ mind helpin’ at all. Now, get runnin’. I’ll guard the rear.”

The creature staggered to its feet, and made its way past Lukil with a surprising ease for something of its size.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:13:55 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:25:13 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

The creature walked steadily towards the stairway, and sat down in front of it. “If anyone comes this way, I’ll take care of ‘em. Now go.”

Lukil nodded at Rajh, and the Rakshasa took Arial’s form from him. The pair took one last look at their unexpected ally, who only nodded at them. They ascended to the stables, and found that Joran already had two hippogriffs secured and saddled up. The creatures, with their bird-like heads, wings, and talons meshed into the body of a horse, looked very agitated at their arrival.

“Alright, everyone ready?” Lukil asked. Rajh and Joran nodded in confirmation, and Arial groaned as he woke up. “Lorkaj?”

“It's Lukil,” the portly shade corrected. “Don’t worry, sir, we’re almost out of here.” Lukil scanned the room. The stables were somewhat cramped since most of the room was devoted to stalls for the hippogriffs, but luckily the square room had two large wooden doors which led to the roof. All they had to do was get them open so they could fly out.

Joran was way ahead of Lukil, and he struggled with the iron bar locking with the door until it finally slid off and landed on the floor with a clang. “Alright, let’s get the hell outta here,” he said. Joran kicked the doors open, and stared in disbelief at the scene before him.
Lukil hurried over to him, and saw the same scene, as did Rajh.

“Oh hell. Zis should be good,” the tiger-man said.

Before the rebels stood what appeared to be the entirety of the Ordinators who were stationed at the Keep. Their golden armor shone in the midday sun, and among the gold stood silver gleams which had belonged to even tougher Ordinators known as the Black Guard.

However, that wasn’t what surprised them that day. At the head of the force stood a dreadlocked shade in a black dragonhide trenchcoat. Erevin smiled. “Miss me, best friends?”

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:14:34 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:27:09 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

V regained consciousness slowly. At first his vision swam, but it quickly cleared. He got up and surveyed the room, which was a decent sized stone room lined with the occasional window among prison cells….one of which was currently open. He ran over to investigate it, and swore in frustration.

“Jeez, you kiss yer mother with that mouth?” a voice asked. V looked over his shoulder, and found an earth elemental sitting near the stairway leading to the hall he came from earlier. “What do you care?” he replied flatly.

“Oh, no reason. Jus’ wonderin’ why the hell yer here is all. I mean, I know why those rebels came, but you? Never seen ya before now, an’ I don’t think yer any rebel from how you attacked them an’ all.”

V thought for a moment and recalled the encounter with the odd trio he ran into. He assumed that they were agents of Nhur sent to the Keep for some reason, but they did*’t seem too eager to fight them as an Ordinator would have been. The fat shade also mentioned that they needed the general alive, which was even odder since the last he heard the guy was sentenced to death.

Even worse was that he did*’t feel in control of his body during the entire encounter. In fact, he had fought against the urge to fight, but for some reason he failed and attacked them anyway. Why was beyond him, but he did*’t like the implications.

He heard the clang of steel against steel ringing from somewhere above him. The elemental looked at him with surprise in its eyes, and rumbled, “That don’t sound good. Wanna go see if we can bash some heads in?”

V shrugged. He guessed that the rebels might have been heading for a higher level to escape, so he might as well see if he could salvage the situation. He hurried up the other set of stairs with the elemental in tow, and the sounds of fighting grew louder. He found himself in what he guessed had to be some sort of stables, and noticed that the sounds were coming from near a set of two large wooden doors which were currently opened

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:16:17

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

He drew the Skarjil crossbow, and ran towards the doors. The scene outside was chaos, and he didn't see any sign of the rebels. That was, at least, he didn't see any sign of them until a group of Ordinators flew into the air as a boom resounded throughout the air. V saw the portly shade in purple robes from before with the shade in fighting leathers beside him dueling a horde of Ordinators which were steadily attacking them.

He heard a loud roar from above, and looked up to see the Rakshasa locked in a duel with a gargoyle. Unfortunately, he seemed to be losing, but there wasn’t much V could do to aid the poor soul.

The elemental cracked its knuckles and shouted excitedly, “Ah hell yeah! Now this is what I like seein'!” The creature roared and charged into the fray, swinging with reckless abandon.

In the meantime, an Ordinator in silver colored armor charged at V. He stepped to the side, and tried shooting at the guard. However, the crossbow sizzled, and nothing happened at all. The guard laughed. “Ah, I suppose you didn't hear, kid. Skyvern Keep is magic proof! There’s nothing that can help you now!"

V pointed a finger at the guard and shouted, “Reple me fortitudo hostium!” A colorless ray shot from his finger, and shrouded the Ordinator with a mystical and dreaded shroud. He felt stronger as the shroud disappeared, and he holstered the crossbow. The guard attempted to slash at V with his sword, but stumbled as he finished the swing, which missed him completely.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:16:53 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:29:49 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“The hell? I can’t lift my sword!” the guard cried. V swung his fist at the man’s head, and it jerked to an awkward position as his neck snapped. With his foe down for the count, V surveyed the chaos in search of immediate danger, and found that the horde near the two shades was somehow thinning rapidly.

~^+^~

The man in blue shook his head in disgust. He watched the battle from his vantage point on the roof of the stables. It was bad enough that his initial contact with the powerful being had ended in a less than favorable fashion, but now it was willingly putting itself in needless danger?

Flying forms darted in front of him. The man watched as the vampire-gargoyle threw the Rakshasa to the ground before darting towards the fat shade and his partner.

This won’t do, he decided. His oaths might prevent him from directly interfering with the fates of others, but that didn't mean that he couldn’t attempt to swing the outcome in his favor. He began working the mystic motions for a spell.

~^+^~

Arial watched helplessly as Erevin slammed Rajh to the ground before darting straight for him. He wasn’t fast enough to react to the flying menace, and found himself being swept into the air in the grasp of the Changed One as his companions gasped in shock.

“So, old friend,” Erevin said. His voice sounded like grating metal in his gargoyle form. “It looks like this is the end for you.”

Arial struggled in Erevins grasp. It seemed hopeless; he was far too weak to confront the spymaster in his current condition, and even if he was, he couldn’t arm himself with his energy blades to even fight back as long as he was near Skyvern Keep. And for that matter, he didn't exactly have any armor to protect himself either.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:17:35 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:31:40 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

All of a sudden, he felt a surge of power. Cerulean energy erupted from his hands and formed his favored blades, which struck Erevin by surprise. The gargoyle’s features seemed to blur, and soon Erevin was in his shade form and falling towards the roof of the Keep. The pair hit the ground hard, but oddly enough, Arial didn't feel the pain he’d expect to feel from such a fall. Instead, he felt...powerful.

The general got to his feet, his blades appearing in his hands as he dusted himself off. Erevin did the same, and charged at Arial with a battlecry dedicated to Hex'ate, the shade pantheon's God of Battle. The general charged to meet the vampire, and slashed at the creature’s left arm. Erevin pulled back at the last second, and kicked himself into the air as black, leathery wings erupted from his back.

Arial somehow managed to keep his balance as he followed through with his attack, and his gaze followed Erevin into the air. A loud roar distracted him, and he looked to his right to see Grim smashing through a group of four Ordinators almost effortlessly. Behind him was a man in red garb, who was making his way towards the general.

The man in red swung a fist at Arial, which he dodged. He followed the man’s punch, and saw that it had connected with an Ordinator’s shoulder, which sent the guard sprawling to the ground in pain. The red man took a look at the general, and said, “We need to leave. Now."

"Not without Lukil and the rest,” he answered.

The man in red shrugged. “Fine. We can talk later, but trust me. We can't stay here any longer.”

Screeches came from the stables. Arial saw ten or twelve hippogriffs running out of the stables and taking to the air. Two of them were saddled up and ready to ride, and Rajh was on one of them laughing like a little kid who just got his favorite toy back.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:18:12 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:34:17 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Rajh steered his mount towards Lukil and Joran’s location, and swooped low enough for the pair to jump onto the flying steed. Another hippogriff headed towards Arial and his companions, but Erevin intercepted the creature and tackled it to the ground. He landed in front of them with a flourish of his wings, and lunged at the shade general with renewed fury.

~^+^~

V reacted quickly. He threw himself into the vampire’s path, and threw a punch. It connected with the monster’s shoulder, but the blow sent a shock through his arm. V cried out, and realized that the strength he had ‘borrowed’ from the guard must have worn off already. The vampire-shade ignored V, and instead focused its attacks on the elemental.

V quickly invoked a curse he was hoping he wouldn’t have to use. “Vim inimici mihi bono inclina.” Lightning danced between his fingertips, and V felt a rush of dark and powerful strength flow through him. He threw himself at his attacker and betrayer, and kicked at the creature’s legs.

The shade hissed in pain as his leg gave out under V’s attack, and turned to strike him. V caught the attack in his hand, and crushed the creature’s arm with his strength. A look of horror crossed the face of the undead shade, and the elemental looked on with a hint macabre glee in its eyes. The general by this point had apparently collapsed for some reason, so V threw the monster to the side and kneeled to inspect the man. He appeared unharmed, luckily, but that would mean little if they didn't get out soon.

~^+^~

Rajh looked around the battlefield and was happy to see that it looked like they were winning. Hippogriffs swarmed the air around the Keep, the Ordinators were either dead or dying, and those still left alive seemed to be tiring and just dropping dead for some reason.

“Rajh, we need to hurry,” Lukil shouted.

The Rakshasa nodded, and leapt onto the back of a different hippogriff as Joran took the reins of his previous creature.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

11-Sep-2010 04:18:45 - Last edited on 20-Jan-2011 01:36:28 by A Mad Hatter

Forums

^+^ The Age of Nhur ^+^