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

“Alright, I guess the naïve thing isn’t my style,” he admitted. “So what did you expect from someone who has no clue what he’s getting into? Professionalism?”

“Actually, yes,” Ally said. “And speaking of professionalism, we have a tradition of having our new recruits actually follow through on their end of the deal. So now get your ass out on stage and get the show on the road!”

She gave Marik a shove, which sent him sprawling rather embarrassingly past the curtains and right into the spotlight as the last “act” had ended.

Questioning glances met his gaze as he surveyed the room, though quite a few members of the audience didn't seem to pay him any mind as they became lost in the heat of the moment. Marik muttered a quick invocation under his breath before speaking.

“I must thank you all for coming to the show,” he began. “So far we’ve had agile acrobats, powerful magicians cast mindboggling spells of legendary repute, otherworldly creatures do really cool tricks, and hell, even eagle eyed archers. A rarity these days if I do say so myself, that last one.” The audience chuckled at that, but the Hexblade ignored them. “Don’t get too excited yet,” he continued. “We’ve saved the best for last!”

The curtains flew to the sides to reveal the cloth covered circular form backstage. The crowd quickly grew silent as the shape magically moved itself closer to the front of the stage. Marik quickly walked over to the form, and addressed the crowd.

“This last act is a very special one,” he said. “As you’ve no doubt figured out by now, we draw in talents and acts from the oddest and darkest parts of the planes. This one is no exception, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe for the whole family. So I offer anyone this last chance: leave now if you’re squeamish or easily disturbed.”

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:00:58 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:19:01 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Uthalion couldn’t believe his eyes as nobody in the crowd made any attempt to try and leave. Were people truly this desperate for entertainment? Granted, the past few acts did*’t exactly pose any danger in themselves, but he had a feeling that they were just a front. And the speaker’s warning rang true in his mind: the next one should be very special indeed.

The Gorgonite-clad hunter inched his way into the back of the room, and beheld a covered object on the stage. However, what surprised him more was the identity of the speaker.

“Well I’ll be damned,” he murmured. He quickly invoked the sending magic in his helmet, and Erevin answered.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Listen, there’s no time to explain,” Uthalion replied. “Just send as many reinforcements you can spare. Things are going to get much worse in the next few minutes if my lead ends up being true.”

“I can’t afford many, but I’ll send what I can,” Erevin said. “But how bad is the infestation?”

“There’s no infestation, actually,” he answered. “But there very well may be if Romulus’ agent is involved.”

“Wait, what?”

“It’s someone who was present at the Chantry’s tower while it went down,” Uthalion explained. “I think his name was Marik. A Hexblade, no less.”

“So what’s he doing there?”

“I’m not sure,” Uthalion admitted. “But when we last saw each other we parted under less than pleasant circumstances, so I’m assuming he’s hostile until I have reason to believe otherwise.”

“Then do what you have to do. I’m not sure how long it’ll take my men to get there, so try to hold your ground in the meantime,” came Erevin’s response. The link went dead silent, and Uthalion looked to the stage.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:01:34 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:36:09 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“I’m assuming that anyone who wants to leave has left already then,” Marik said to an anxious audience. “So without further ado, I bring you this fine specimen straight from our very own Bloodgrove Forest!”

The shade ripped the cloth off of the form to reveal a circular cage which had intersecting bars made of various metals. He saw the green hued Adamantite, the blue Mithril, and even the reddish silver known as Quickblood. But even the strongest of metals couldn’t help but shake as the cage’s occupant loudly collided with them in an animalistic fury, which caused the audience to let out a collective gasp.

Marik began pacing around the cage, which seemed to agitate the hound to no end. “This little beauty was quite hard to find,” he said. “It took many of our best hunters to capture, and sadly enough some of them won’t be coming home because of it. But their sacrifice isn’t in vain, because the people deserve to see the savage beauty of this creature. And tonight, they will!”

Uthalion drew his daggers, and stood to full height. “That’s enough of this!” he shouted. As various members of the crowd turned to see who was speaking, he started pushing his way through to Marik. The task was made easier once some of the more coherent people began getting out of his way when they saw the armor of the Black Guard.

Marik blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry officer, but I’ve done nothing wrong,” he replied tactfully.

“You’re trespassing on private property for starters," Uthalion said. “You’ve also probably broken a few decency laws with your acts as well, but above all you’re willingly putting the populace in direct danger by bringing an unauthorized animal into the city.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:02:33 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:37:22 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“I find that hard to believe from the guy who’s armed to the teeth and saying that *I’m* the one posing a threat to the public,” Marik sneered.

"It doesn’t matter one damn bit now. You’re under arrest!" Uthalion lunged at the Hexblade, making mad slashes with his daggers as he did so. Green sparks filled his vision as Marik met his blades with his own weapons conjured of pure power.

The crowd began screaming, some from fright, and others from frustration. Uthalion tried ignoring them as he and Marik parted blades, and he made a sweeping kick. The Hexblade jumped over the kick and landed haphazardly, and almost stumbled a little too close to the cage. A whistling noise caught the Hunter’s attention, and he turned to see a lithe elf woman loose a barrage of ice chunks in his direction. Uthalion rolled out of the way, and the spell struck an off-balance Marik.

Unfortunately, the cage was also caught in the area of effect. The metal began rapidly frosting over, and the Hound, sensing an opportunity, began bashing its horned head against the bars. Marik tried rattling off a spell, but the creature was already out by the time he finished. A wave of purple energy shot forth from his hands, but missed the creature entirely, instead hitting the ceiling and causing some of the support beams to loosen and crash onto the stage rather violently.

The crowd was in full panic mode as the Hound veered into them. The air filled with the screams of innocent bystanders, followed by a bellowing howl as the creature began attacking the unarmed and martially untrained civilians.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:03:41 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:38:10 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Uthalion pulled himself to his feet, and moved to intercept the fleeing elf. Marik could wait as far as he was concerned, because if Romulus had any effect on the Hexblade during their time working together, he felt that the man would do the right thing when push came to shove. Or at least he hoped he would.

The elf ran past the curtains and out the back door, and when Uthalion followed, he was met with a blast of force to the face as soon as he got into the hall. Luckily for him, he managed to shrug it off and regain his balance almost immediately, and when he did he saw the elf’s form begin to waver. Her soft features seemed to harden, and well toned muscles hidden by darkened skin replaced the stick-like figure she had sported mere seconds earlier.

“A Drow?” Uthalion commented to himself. He could safely say that was unexpected considering the race was rather known for being next to impossible to work with, including among their own kind!

“Cute, another really observant moron,” the Drow said dryly. “I swear, it’s like stupidity is a racial trait among the shadow men these days."

Uthalion didn't bother asking any questions, and lunged with his daggers pointed straight at her heart. The Drow stepped to the side, and threw a handful of a powdery substance into the air. The shadowstuff on the walls seemed to undulate as the substance settled down on the walls, and the next thing Uthalion knew was total darkness as the shadowstuff tore itself from the wall and latched onto various parts of his armor.

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:04:10 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:39:49 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Marik threw his hand out and sent a trio of magical darts soaring into the newly infected crowd. It seemed that in the short span of time between the monster’s escape and subsequent feeding, it had managed to turn a good portion of the audience into one of its own kind, thus creating more and more confusion as the number of hostile creatures rapidly grew.

When one of the creatures threw itself at the stage, Marik took a step back and kicked it beneath its slavering jaws, which made a crunching sound as the attack connected. But taking one down was not enough, and soon more had arrived onstage to replace their fallen comrade.

“Ah, to hell with this,” he said aloud to nobody in particular, and began running towards the backstage exit. He looked back as soon as he went through the door, and saw that the Hounds seemed preoccupied with something on the ceiling. He decided not to question his luck, and quickly ran into the connecting halls. He did*’t make it far before he saw a humanoid form covered in shadows, and he stopped when he caught the glimpse of silver beneath the inky blackness.

Marik kneeled over the prone form, and poked it with a conjured dagger. The shadowstuff fell off the form to reveal the Black Guard Ordinator who had attempted to arrest him moments earlier, but the guy seemed to be unconscious. Or at least he was until Marik attempted to move him out of the way.

"K-kill you!” he screamed.

"I doubt it,” Marik retorted. “Those damn hounds might get to me before you do if we don’t move fast.”

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:04:34 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:40:11 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“Yeah…fast,” was all the Ordinator could manage. Marik managed to get the guy to his feet, and he ended up having to support the Ordinator as they began to make their way to the exit.

They had made it no further than the entrance plaza before Marik heard the echoed howls of the monsters coming from behind him. Ahead of him stood a decent sized group of Ordinators, and Vampyres filled the sky immediately above him. One of the guards had broken off from the group and ran towards Marik, screaming.

“Commander Uthalion! What the hell happened to him?!”

Marik chanced a quick glance behind him, and saw the first of the hounds exiting the theatre. He quickly turned to the Ordinator and pointed behind him with his thumb. “Those things started it,” he lied. “I’m just a performer who got caught in the middle of things. Your guy saved me but got attacked by a Drow.”

The Ordinator regarded Marik with suspicion. “Sir, we know that there are no scheduled shows today,” he began. The guard drew his sword and gave the order for the others to engage the hounds before addressing Marik once more. “I don’t care who you are at this point, but there’s obviously bigger problems to take care of first.”

“Gee, ya think?” Uthalion coughed. He pushed himself off of Marik, and held out his hands to the side. Blade appeared from his wrists, which made both Hexblade and Ordinator alike jump back from surprise.

Uthalion chanced a swipe at the nearest hound that was rushing them, and managed to slice its throat cleanly. But one death wasn’t enough to deter the creatures and their pack, and soon enough the immediate vicinity outside the theatre had become little more than a glorified melee.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:05:01 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:40:59 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Marik took the chance to escape from the midst of the chaos, and began running to the nearest darkened alleyway. He barked a short command phrase before he entered the alley, and dove into the shadows. He felt his stomach lurch as he appeared on a rooftop overlooking the scene, and he saw Ally standing near the spot he emerged from.

“Well,” she said in disgust. “That definitely could’ve gone better than it did.”

“I thought the main reason for doing this was to cause chaos and spread that infection my new family covets so much?” Marik asked cautiously.

Ally slapped him. “Fool!” she cried. “They weren’t supposed to leave the damn theatre! We were supposed to lure them into the cages we had stored in back and capture them!”

“Ya know,” Marik said as he stared the Dark Elf in the eyes. "What if we can salvage this?”

“How?” she asked. “At the rate these things are known to spread, we could easily be overwhelmed within the day!”

A flash of green crossed between the two, leaving Ally clutching her throat. Marik held his conjured weapon in his hands, and pressed it to her heart. “Leave that little problem to me,” he spat.

The Hexblade tore the weapon into its target, causing the Drow to writhe in pain as he held it steadfastly. He dismissed the weapon with a thought, and grabbed her by her snow white hair. Marik lifted her face so they were staring at each other eye-to-eye.

“Listen here,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that you’ve had to get eaten by a hound, but it happens. I’m sure the master will understand that all he has is my word now."

Marik dragged the Drow’s body to the edge of the building, and threw her over the side. Looking over, he saw that the Ordinators and their vampiric allies were steadily losing ground to the creatures, and were on the verge of getting overwhelmed.

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:06:03 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:42:02 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

Marik saw a pair of red missiles streak towards the fray, and erupted into flames when they had connected with the hounds. The monsters screeched in pain, and began running around wildly. Some had managed to put out the flames, while others spread them just by running into random passerby and buildings, and even other hounds. Some had died painfully that day while others had managed to climb up the sides of the nearest building frantically, each in search for a desperate sanctuary from whatever magical threats that had decided to intervene that day.

Looking up, Marik spotted a figure on one of the nearby buildings. He didn't know if it was a Shade or any other humanoid, but he saw that it was a man, and the figure had blue robes swirling around him as he threw more arcane missiles of varying colors into the fray below. The man had looked up once his castings were done, and met Marik’s gaze.

He felt the figure’s eyes bore into his soul, but yet felt no threat from the stranger. Instead, he felt…peaceful. At ease, even. The figure seemed to give Marik a knowing nod before vanishing completely, breaking the peaceful feeling at that very instant.

“Huh,” Marik said. “I think it looks like I do have my own little Ally after all.”

The Hexblade rummaged through his pockets, and grabbed a piece of folded parchment he had written on once he had agreed to join the cult at his employer’s behest. Marik whispered a quick word of sending, and willed the parchment to his intended recipient.

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:06:44 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:43:01 by A Mad Hatter

Dec

2005

A Mad Hatter

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

“We’ve got Kaz!”

Uthalion turned to find out who was talking to him, but the carnage around him made such a task almost impossible. It appeared that for every hound an Ordinator or Vampyre had killed, two more would pop up to take their fallen comrade’s place. What’s more, nearly his entire squad was either dead or seriously injured, and Erevin’s reinforcements weren’t faring much better despite the personal training the spymaster had hammered them with for centuries.

“It’s Erevin,” the voice said. “I’ve located and captured Kaz. I’m pulling my men back to the palace. What’s going on at your end?”

“It’s bad,” Uthalion replied. “We’re being overrun. And I think the hounds are spreading their infection!”

“Then use the spell you were taught to get out of there,” Erevin replied. “We need you alive and kicking if we’re going to be able to mount a counter offensive.”

Uthalion felt the ground fall out from under him as Erevin’s link died out suddenly. His vision grew dark, and he thought he felt the breath of one of the hounds on the back of his neck as a pressing weight drove him to the ground.

Funny, he thought. He survived the initial outbreak in that tomb. He survived the fall of the Chantry’s tower. Hell, he even survived the crazy situations his old employers had gotten him into, but yet he never thought he’d die in battle against the very thing one of his best friends had become.

“Sorry, Smithe. It looks like I failed after all,” Was all he could manage before a searing pain in his back drove him into a black oblivion.

~^+^~

^+^ Antediluvian of the Draculesti Bloodline ^+^

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

22-Jan-2011 05:07:14 - Last edited on 31-Jan-2011 18:45:41 by A Mad Hatter

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