Jump to content
nomadicdesert

FairyTail RP, open and actively looking for people to join (Please join, we swear not to bite much)

Recommended Posts

Andromeda nodded silently and looked out around the room at the three halls that led out into the unknown.

They all looked identical from where she sat, with tall archways and black corridors leading away. All of them were full of webs and debris left by the spider infestation which meant that the only way to get through would be to burn them as they went. 

Andromeda shrugged after a moment of thought and ate the rest of her rations, resting for a little under an hour with the others. 

 

When everyone was rested Andromeda stood up and made her light go back over her head and gestured to the three tunnels.
"Pick one." She said wryly. 

 

"We should just go clockwise." Midori said instantly. "We go to the doorway to our left whenever we come back here assuming we don't get lucky the first time." She explained, going to the door the group had entered through and using one of her crystal spears to carve a star on the arch. "So we can find our way out." She explained before anyone could ask.

Andromeda looked at Barty and shrugged, then created another light bridge to the first opening. 

 

The archway was as dark and foreboding as it had looked from where the group had rested. Each was covered in webs and had long stone hallways stretching down into inky blackness. As before there was writing and pictures on the walls as well as trophies, but because of the spiders these had either been covered up or destroyed. 
 

"Do we have any fire?" Andromeda asked quietly, staying away from the webs as much as possible. "Maybe we could go make a torch or something? We could just burn the webs that way."

Edited by nomadicdesert

Share this post


Link to post

(Eric?)

 

"I don't really want to waste too much magic using lava make. Do either of you have wood? We could probably soak some cloth in the oil from the way we came through, assuming it didn't all burn up" Barty suggested, glancing into the entryway they'd come through. As he'd suspected the oil here was still visible, it must've been too far for the fire in the pit to reach.

Barty stood up and turned to Midori.

"My, you're maker magic is mainly diamond make, but didn't you say it's more carbon make, just focused on diamond?" Barty asked her.

Midori tilted her head in curiosity and replied, "Yeah... why are you asking".

Barty smiled, "Well if we don't have any wood, something that'll burn is coal, so long as you get it alight. If your maker magic was carbon based, you could probably make coal couldn't you?" Barty suggested.

Midori frowned, "I'd never really thought of that... it isn't as simple as what you do with your earth make, you're just turning the earth to liquid, and the side effect is it turns to lava... diamond into coal would be a big stretch," Midori replied.

Barty nodded. "Well it was just a suggestion, unless we want to grab one of those spears on the walls and use the wooden handles for a torch, but I don't really want to touch anything," Barty said before turning to Andromeda. "No chance you can just light blast your way through the webs Andy?"

Share this post


Link to post

 

(sorry, Eric's from another RP I'm doing.)

 

Andromeda looked at the spiderwebs that crisscrossed in front of the archway and down the hall, then shrugged and made a slashing gesture. 
"Star Light." She said as beams of energy lanced out and began to cut the webs to ribbons.

 

Dealing with the webs like this wasn't the best way of doing it as Andromeda had to cut through multiple areas in order to clear the way, but after a few minutes there was a usable path down the hallway. 

Andromeda gestured and sent her orb of light down the tunnel a ways, but didn't see anything beyond more darkness, so she began to walk down into the tunnel with Midori following along.

 

Just like the halls before the place seemed like a maze, and the group had to be on a constant lookout for traps of both mechanical and magical nature. Now that they were actively searching for them, something that did take time but was much safer then blundering along, the group didn't have any troubles. 
The spiderwebs had disappeared completely after a few minutes of walking, and the dust had returned, deadening the sounds of the group's progress, making it seem as though they were walking inside the belly of a great beast.

 

It was almost ten minutes of walking before the group hit another door, this one round with what looked like flower petals making up it's center. (Looks like this.) 

To either side of the door stood a pair of statues, one with the head of a hawk, the other with the head of a crocodile. Both appeared to be made from bone and stood at about ten feet tall. Both of them grasped an enormous swords hilt, it's point on the ground. Both of the swords were easily as tall as Andromeda, and both looked like they could easily destroy anything they were swung at. 

The two statues remained completely immobile on their raised plinths, their empty eye sockets silently judging the group. Andromeda shivered just seeing the two statues, and could practically feel her skin crawling. It was like a thousand eyes were watching her and the group, all of them silently waiting for the group to make a move. 

"Think those are the guardians?" Andromeda whispered from where she and the group had halted. 


"I bet they are." Midori whispered back. "Odd that someone would make guardian's out of bone though, it's easy to break, doesn't make for a very durable guardian."

 

"No way are those things just bone." Andromeda said immediately. "Can't you feel the energy from them? Those things are seriously protected. I bet they're as hard as steel and strong enough to swing those swords around like they're nothing." She said, looking over the two enormous statues. "I wonder how they're triggered though. Is it just proximity or do you have to try and force the door." 

Share this post


Link to post

(Sorry for late/short reply)

 

Barty frowned, he was unsure how close was safe to get to the statues.

"I can't see any specifics runes anywhere..." He said quietly to the others.

"I really don't want to get too close to them, who knows what'll trigger them," He groaned.

"We could always walk back and hope a different path doesn't have any of them... Do you wanna try approach them with the key? Maybe they'll recognise it and let us pass?" Barty suggested.

Share this post


Link to post

(No problem)

 

Andromeda frowned as she considered the two statues if front of the group, trying to figure out what the best way to deal with them was. She couldn’t see anything written around them, although that didn’t mean anything because a lot of rune enchantments were invisible until triggered.

 

”We could just destroy them now while they’re not moving.” Andromeda suggested. “Maybe get rid of the problem before it gets the chance to even be a problem.”

 

”It could work...” Midori said after a moments thought. “Or it could just piss them off. I mean, if I were to leave guardians in a tomb I would put protection around them to protect from that kind of thing. That’s just me though.” She said before finally looking back at Andromeda and Barty.

“I say we just go for it. We present the key and walk forward. If they activate we can try to destroy them, and if that fails then we run like hell. Maybe drop them in that big pit like the spiders. I doubt they can climb out all that well.” 

 

Andromeda shrugged after a couple seconds thought and pulled out the tombs key before slowly advancing forward. 

 

Andromeda got to within ten feet of the statues before both came to life. Minuscule runes, so tiny that they couldn't be seen without a magnifying glass, flared up in a pale blue color all across each statues body, working from their feet all the way up to theirheads. Blue orbs appeared in the statues eyes and focused on the group as both statues hefted their swords with both hands, and stepped down so that they stood in front of the door.

 

”This is a place for the dead, not the living.” The crocodile headed statue said menacingly, it’s voice sounding like that of death itself. “Leave now or face the judgment of the gods.” 

 

“Only the righteous may enter, and though thou carries the key to this place, thou are not of the same line as the person whom we protect. Tomb robbers I name you, and this warning is all that will be given to thee. Go back to thine shameful lives or have them end here. One more step forward and your bones and flesh will be left to turn to dust and thine souls will be used to fuel our fury.” The eagle headed statue said in the same voice as the crocodile.

 

”But we’re here on orders from one of the family members.” Andromeda said after a moments hesitation. “The family member told us to come and retrieve one of the items from this tomb.” 

 

“We are two of the many guardians of this tomb, and we do not suffer liars and thieves. Leave now and keep thine disgraceful lives. Stay and thou will meet your damnation.” Both statues said at the same time, their voices like thunder as they both spoke.

 

”I’m open to suggestions here guys.” Andromeda muttered as she frantically tried to come up with a way to outsmart the statues. They were both terrifying in their inhuman ways, and just having the pale blue orbs focused on her made Andromeda want to run and hide.

Share this post


Link to post

Barty was both annoyed and relieve. Annoyed that the statues hadn't just stayed still and let them passed, and relieved that they hadn't outright attacked.

"Excuse me but is there anything we can do to verify our identity? This place tends to move so we can't really go and get Sir Perona and bring him back. It'd take too long and the location of this tomb may have changed," Barty said, deciding to approach the situation peacefully.

"We cleared out the tomb of spiders which were infesting it... uhh" Barty started searching for things.

"We have an image of the box we are looking for, it was given to us by the current head of the Perona family.

Barty pointed at Andy.

"He kissed the back of her hand! Do you have any way to test for... spit?" Barty asked, grasping for straws. He turned to Andy and gave her a pained look.

"You haven't washed your hand yet have you? This could be the difference between life and death!" He turned back towards the guardians.

"We have the compass that can find the tomb, also given to us by the family," Barty exhaled quickly, the looks of the statues were really freaking him out.

Oh why couldn't Nathanial have come with us!? He would've crushed these things in seconds! Theres no way I can do that, especially not after I expended so much magic back in the spider room!

Barty exhaled loudly and stood up straight staring back at the statues.

 

(I really can't do much at the moment :P )

Share this post


Link to post

(Sorry I’m trying to leave things open, but I’m failing. Feel free to control where we go and what we do if that makes things easier. The guardians are NPC’s as well so feel free to control them as well.)

 

The two statues stood still as Barty spoke, the merciless blue orbs that were their eyes boring into him. They didn’t speak immediately after Barty, and remained silent for a few moments after he had finished talking as though both were in thought. Faint whispers filled the air as though dozens of tiny voices spoke around the group, each conversation to far away to be made out. The air felt heavy and uncomfortable as this happened, as though the room were suddenly filled with people. Just as quickly as it had started the whispering stopped and the room went back to its gloomy, silent self again.

 

”I cannot scent one of the dead’s family on thine flesh.” The crocodile headed statue said. 

 

“I cannot see any lies seeping from thine lips either.” The hawk headed statue said a moment later.

 

The statues both went silent again and the whispering returned, as did the uncomfortable feelings that came with it.

Though both statues remained completely still, their eyes focused on Barty it was also obvious that they were communicating with each other on a level beyond speech. 

 

The silence lasted for a long time before finally stopping, at which point both statues focused their eyes on Andromeda again.

”Thou will show us the items thine companion described.” Both statues ordered, their voices making Andromeda shiver as she hesitantly reached into her satchel and retrieved both the compass and the drawing. 

 

Neither statue seemed inclined to move anywhere, so Andromeda carefully in bed forward and held both out for the statues to see. 

The moment the statues could see both items the whispering returned, only this time it was overwhelmingly loud. The voices were unintelligible and still sounded like whispers, but the volume had been drastically increased. 

 

The horribly oppressive atmosphere returned, only this time much worse. It was like having a hundred pounds of rocks dropped onto each persons shoulders. Sweat began to form on Andromeda’s face as she struggled to remain upright. It was difficult to breath and every gasp was a huge effort of will. 

 

The two statues remained still for an unbearably long time before the whispers stopped, allowing the group to breath freely again.

 

“The compass is an old magic attuned to this place, one which can only be given freely if the bearer is aware of what it is.” The hawk-headed statue said suddenly.

 

”The fact that thou has it implies that one of the protected’s family has indeed sent you here.” The crocodile-headed statue said. 

 

“We are bound to obey the families will in this, as are all guardians in this tomb.” The hawk statue said a moment later. “However we are still bound to protect that which was placed in this tomb.”

 

“If thou wish to take the box from this place, then thou must submit to bear the rings of truth.” The crocodile statue said.

 

”What are they?” Andromeda asked with interest. 

 

“The rings of truth are magical artifacts from ages long past. If one makes a willing oath and dons the ring, then the ring will make sure that the oath is followed.” The hawk statue explained.

 

”What happens if you break the pact?” Midori asked even though she was pretty sure she knew the answer. 

 

“If thou does not follow the oath that was given, the ring will kill the thou. Over three days thou will experience unbearable pain as thee ages forward to the end of thine life. Diseases, boils and rot will infect thee and all will be powerless to stop it. Thy will beg for death should the oath be broken, but no matter the manner, thou wilt live until the third day has past. On that final day thine magic will be sucked from thee and into the ring, and with the magic will come thine soul as well. In the ring thine soul will endure torments for eternity, unable to find peace or rest.

 Thy bodies will be left as statues in the final moments, unable to be removed or destroyed, a testament to the penalty to oath breakers.” The crocodile statue explained. 

 

“If thou wishes to take the treasure then an oath must be sworn on a ring. An oath to give the treasure to the family member before midnight of the third day. If the oath is fulfilled then the rings will disappear, if it is not then the consequences have been made clear.”

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post

Barty was relieved that the statues were believing them but frowned at the prospect of the rings.

He understood the reasoning, and any hesitation now would lose them the statues graces.

"Okay we'll take the rings, but I'd like to confirm some things first," Barty said, opening his hands in a pleading jesture.

The statues did not move but once again Barty could feel their gaze shifted to him.

"If we put on the rings, and make the vow, can we be assured that we'll meet no more strife on the way? Also will you be willing in assisting us on getting to the box, and back out?" Barty asked.

"If we only have 3 days I don't want to waste any time and this place is quite confusing. We don't even know how long we've been in here," Barty continued.

He looked at the two girls, looking for agreement on either of their faces. Midori looked quite concerned but gave Barty a pained nod.

 

(Fill in the gap with the statues response if you like)

 

"And what should we do once we've succesfully delivered the package? Will the magic dissapate? Will we have to come and return the rings?" Barty asked. He would be a lot less confidant if they had to get the box, return it and come back to return the rings all in 3 days time.

He looked at midori and Andy wondering if either of them had any more to say.

 

(You can control Barty a bit if you need to, just to make things smoother)

Share this post


Link to post

“If thou makes an oath as has been described then we will take thee to the box. Once it is taken thou will be led back to this point. When the oath is completed the rings will turn to sand and return to this place.” The hawk headed statue responded immediately after being questioned by Barty. “If the oath is fulfilled then nothing further will be required, the rings will return here on their own.”

 

Andromeda looked at Barty and Midori as she waited for the statues to continue, but neither seemed inclined to continue speaking. 

 

“It seems fair.” Andromeda said after a few moments pause. “I mean we do our mission and everyone gets what they want. I say we do it.” She said, looking at Midori to see if she agreed. 

 

Midori looked down as she thought things through, her face masked by her hair as she considered the options before finally nodding.

“It’s the only way short of destroying this place.” Midori said. “So yeah let’s do it.”

 

Neither statue said anything in response and instead turned to the door behind them. They both pressed their hands to the surface of the door which suddenly glowed with magic sigils before irising open, revealing another long corridor.

 

Both statues led the way way down the corridor to a set of metal double doors. Both statues lifted their swords and pushed them into slots on the walls to either side of the doors. 

 

Sounds of ancient gears and machinery whirring to life could be heard, followed by loud noises of bolts disengaging. Both of the doors slowly swung wide, revealing a room filled with treasure. Everything imaginable was on display in the room, from jewels and gold to weapons and art. Everything there would make any person rich beyond comprehension and if it weren’t for the statues standing guard Andromeda would have had to fight to keep herself from pocketing at least some of the treasure. 

 

The hawk statue stride forward into the room and retrieved two items from the room while the jackal statue kept the group outside the room proper. 

 

When the hawk hawk statue returned it was carrying two objects; one was the box the group had been ordered to retrieve, the other was a simple wooden box which the hawk statue opened. 

 

Inside the the box were three black stone rings with blue veins running along their surfaces. They all sat neatly on a purple pillow in the wooden box and seemed to chill the air with their presence. 

 

“Swear now upon the rings that thou will take this treasure and return it to the family whose tomb it has rested in. Swear now that by sunset of the third day it will be in the hands of its rightful owner, along with the key and compass that thou was given. Swear these things and put on the ring, understanding that your oath is thy life, and the failure of fulfilling the oath will lead to the failing of thou’s life.” The hawk statue said, offering the rings to the group. 

 

Andromeda hesitated for for a brief moment, then looked the statue square in the eyes and nodded.

”I give my word that this box, the key, and the compass will be given to it’s proper owner by sunset of the third day from now.” She said, grasping one of the rings and putting it on. 

 

It was like Andromeda’s blood turned to ice when the ring settled on her finger. She could feel a deep cold spread down her finger and into her hand, up her arm only to stop at her elbow. It hurt so badly and she cried out when it happened, her other hand immediately trying to remove the ring which was now stuck on her finger. 

 

The pain lasted for what seemed like an eternity as the warmth was sucked from her arm, but in reality it was less then 30 seconds. The experience still left Andromeda panting on the floor clutching her arm to her chest. Her arm still worked fine but it was cold to the touch and didn’t have much feeling in it.

 

”All of thee must take the oath before thou can begin the task. Do so now or be struck down.” The hawk statue said, offering the rings to the group.

Share this post


Link to post

(Short post sorry, I'm in the middle of my exams)

 

Watching Andromeda concerned Barty waited until she looked okay before reaching out for a ring of his own.

"By our guilds honour, I swear that we shall bring this box, the compass and the key shall be given back to their owner within three days," Barty said, taking the ring and putting it on.

 

He felt a wave of cold radiate out from it and up his arm to his elbow. Barty shuddered and anxiously rubbed his arm, it felt as if someone had just smacked his funny bone with a block of ice.

"Ahh thats cold... Midori you next," He said through gritted teeth.

 

Midori looked from Barty to Andy with a concerned look before she two reached out and put on a ring, swearing an oath in a similar manner to the others.

Share this post


Link to post

Andromeda was still on the floor gasping in pain when when the others had finished taking their oaths. Her arm was curled up against her chest protectively and she was visibly shivering. The little light above her head flickered and died a few seconds later, leaving the group illuminated by the statues blue glow and the torch that Barty held.

 

”Are you alright Andromeda?” Midori asked in a concerned tone as she knelt next to her friend. “Does it hurt still or something?” 

 

“Y-yes, but n-no. So cold.” Andromeda shuddered. 

 

“Why is she still hurting?” Midori demanded of the two statues who stood silently before the group. “My arms just numb, why is hers hurting so, much?”

 

”The rings that thou has sworn upon were created using the black void between stars. Magic bound that blackness into physical form, creating the rings. Thine friend uses the stars themselves as fuel for her magic. The ring is the complete opposite of her magic, so both the ring and her normal magic are fighting against one another for dominance.” The hawk statue said calmly.

 

”Then take it off! It’s killing her!” Midori said angrily.

 

”We will not. Thine friend is not dying, she is merely in pain. Her magic energy is drained, and as such the ring, being the opposite of her, causes pain. When her magic is restored she will feel a soreness instead of pain. Take her beneath the stars and she will recover quicker.” The statue advised, it’s voice still devoid of all compassion or empathy. 

 

While the hawk statue had spoken the jackal statue had turned and wandered deeper into the exposed room, picking it’s way through the darkness. The only reason the group could see it at all was because of it’s blue glow, and even then it was faint. After a few minutes the glow began to return to the door, and when it arrived it was carrying the beautiful golden box in its hands. 

 

The box was exactly as it had been described, and in the picture that the group had been given. It was shining gold with constellations etched into the sides, the stars made of jewels. Other g ms decorated it’s surface as well, making it shimmer in the torchlight. 

 

“Thine  oath is your lif, break it and die.” The jackal statue said as it handed the statue to Barty. After that both statues returned to the spots where the group had first met them and planted the point of their swords into the ground. The enormous door closed as the lights on their bodies faded, their eyes fading to nothing until they stood as still and as lifeless as the stone the were made of.

 

”Come on Barty, we have to get Andromeda outside.” Midori said as she pulled Andromeda up and supported part of her weight. “Grab the box and lets go.”

 

(So the box weighs about 100 pounds just so you know.)

 

 

Share this post


Link to post

(Sorry for the delay)

 

"Right, right" Barty said, looking away from Andy and towards the box.

He examined the box briefly, in case there was anything that might suddenly hurt him.

After he was satisfied he reached out and attempted to lift up the box but was surprised at it's weight. He readjusted himself and lifted it up again, grunting in the effort, he moved the box over to his shoulder.

"Wow I did not expect this small thing to be this hefty" He said to the others, both his companions and the statues. He turned and looked at Midori again.

"You help Andy for now, though we might need to swap at some point... should be fine once we get to the buggy though," Barty said reassuringly looking at Andy again.

He looked back up to the statues.

"So will you folk help us out on getting out of here. If there's a shorter route than the one we came through that'd be a big help" He said to them, looking back the way they'd came.

 

(Once we're out of the dungeon I can hopefully write a bit more, sorry I'm leaving it all to you)

Share this post


Link to post

(New guy's going to join us here towards the end of the week. His character sheet is up on the first page right above mine.)

 

The statues didn't respond to Barty's question at all, the runes remaining dark and their bodies completely unmoving. They obviously weren't going to be any help, so Midori did her best to support Andromeda and walk back the way they had come. 
"Come on, we know the way out, best get started." Midori called to Barty.

 

The walk was long, even longer then before due to having to help Andromeda out as well as lug around the heavy box. By the time they got back to the round room where the spiders had been Andromeda was at least moving again, albeit slowly. She looked visibly ill, her skin pale and sweat on her forehead, but when touched her body was extremely cold.

Midori managed to conjure up a bridge to the doorway that the group had entered through, then it was back into the tunnels, their long dusty lengths completely devoid of any light. 


It took almost two hours just to get back out of the tomb, and by the time they did the sun was dipping below the horizon and stars were starting to appear. Andromeda visibly stood taller when they entered the open air, but instead of staying up she sat down in the sand and laid back so that she could look up at the stars. Though pale and sweaty she did look much better then when they had been in the tunnels. It didn't take more then a minute for her to fall asleep, even with Midori trying to keep her awake. 

In the end Midori set up Andromeda's bed and rolled the other girl into it before covering her with a blanket. She made sure that Andromeda's head wasn't covered so that the starlight could reach her still, but beyond that there wasn't much else to be done.

 

They were only outside for 15 minutes or so before a loud grinding sound was heard from the tomb. The entrance doors had begun to swing shut, and after a few moments shut with a loud thud. The ground began to shake slightly and pale blue magic began to swirl around the sand dune where the tomb was buried.
Power continued to coalesce and increase, making the sky light up as more and more magic gathered. 
A searing blast of blue light went off, and then, as suddenly as it had started, stopped. The magic was gone, as was the light. Sand flew as the entire dune collapsed in on itself and soon a flat plane took the place of the immense hill that had been there moments before.

 

"I guess we got out just in time." Midori said in an awed tone, her eyes tracing where the sand dune had been. "I wonder where it went."  

Share this post


Link to post

((Sorry it's not particularly long winded, doing what I can to introduce and provide something for you guys to work off of while not instigating a full scale battle))

 

Jacques sat atop a sand dune in a jacket similar to his classic olive green bomber, but sporting a light brown, sandy color. Clothing matched up, sitting motionless, the young man was nothing more than a pile of sand in a seemingly never-ending stretch of desert. A silent yawn escaped his thin lips as he witnessed the young trio of mismatched wizards exiting the supposed sand temple. The young girl, the one with the power to control heavenly bodies, seemed to collapse almost immediately upon absconding from the temple. Jacques was told she was a celestial wizard... 

 

Piece of cake... Jacques had thought.

I've got a plan for each and every one of her pretty little spirits.

 

After witnessing the power she had displayed during the group's spat with the dune stalkers, however, he recognized the misinformation. She seemed to have the ability to draw power from stars and fire it in the form of beams of light. A celestial wizard of sorts, but not the kind his contractor had told the assassin.

A few hours inside, likely fighting off guardians or monsters of some sort, would likely have drained her powers considerably. The earth-make wizard wouldn't be a problem. Jacques had never met an earth-make wizard powerful enough to stop his lovely ink. The last girl, however, made Jacques wary. He hadn't witnessed her powers yet. Whilst one of his most powerful targets was likely weakened, he would have to strike at a more opportune time, when he would have more information on his prey.

 

An influx of blue light interrupted the assassin known as Blackjack's train of thought. As he glanced back at the dune temple, a blue aura swirled around it, and within a few moments and explosion of blue light struck from the heavens and engulfed the dune. The force of the blast was enough to blow Blackjack's hood off of his head. He quietly sighed and raised it back up. An enchantment he hadn't seen since the Blackjack hall. Ever-moving, safe for wanted criminals and buried treasure alike. The kids were lucky to have gotten out before time ran out, or they would be stranded in a possibly unknown environment and he would be left with an unfinished contract.

 

Blackjack was less than a kilometer away from the group, and despite being remarkably well camouflaged, the sand was getting in places and bothering him to no end. He slowly stood up, taking caution not to disturb the sand he stood upon, lest he notify the group of his presence. A small spider crawled off of his intricate body art and skittered off towards the group, eventually within a few feet. The spider then temporarily grew to the size of a small dog and launched itself at the young lady who's powers he did not recognize, the one with the blue hair.

 

He would find out what her powers were by force.

 

Share this post


Link to post

(Ooh a villain, neat. So your magic relies on tatoo art? I read a comic with a guy who had that once... let me know if I get any of the magic wrong)

 

"That bodes the question, was it waiting for us to leave before it moved? If we'd gotten out after it and our buggy was gone the trek home would've been a lot harder... lucky thing it didn't" Barty said, strolling over to their buggy and finally placing the heft box in the back seat.

 

A startled yelp cause Barty to turn, a large spider about the size of the ones they'd fought earlier was leaping at Midori who, distracted by getting Andy comfortable, didn't have time to react.

Barty's hand extended out, he remembered the spell that had been most effective against the spiders, it had been Midori's own diamond arrow, that and the fire.

His imagination piqued the earth coalesced into Barty's palm shot out towards the spider, in the shape of a glowing arrow. When the head of the arrow peirced the spider it burst, similar to shrapnel the rocks shot out.

 

Barty named it his Earth-make Magma Shrapnel Arrow. He darted over to Midori and Andy.

"Are you two alright!? Did it bite you!?" He asked fretfully.

Midori exhaled, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"I'm alright!" she exclaimed, breathless.

"But look, I don't know what your magic did but the spider turned into liquid!" She said, getting back up and pointing towards a dark patch of liquid a few feet away.

Barty frowned, the arrow shouldn't have done that. He walked over to it and cautiously poked at it with a hastilly made stick. The body of the spider had turned into a thick sticky liquid, which was matting all the sand together.

 

"What the... my arrow didn't do this... there aren't even any legs it's all just... muck" He said, confused.

Midori frowned and walked up next to him.

"That's strange... but look! It didn't come from the tomb, the tracks lead back out into the desert!" Midori exclaimed, looking back trying to gauge where the spider had struck from.

It was hard to see in the low light, but using his torch barty also noted the tracks of the spider, easilly visible from the sand.

He stood in thought, not sure what had happened.

"Let's be on our guard..." Barty said after some time.

"There's no way the spider could've got out from there... so I'm wondering if this is magic" He suggested.

"Some last form of defence you think?" Midori asked.

"I don't know... the guardians seemed pretty sure that the only thing we'd have to concern ourselves with was the timer on the ring... unless that was some part of the rings spell?" He continued.

The two of them stood in silence for some more, looking out at the blackness of the desert, the last light of the sun dipping below the horizon.

"Well I say we get going, the sooner we get this ring off of Andy the better," Midori said, turning and walking back towards the buggy.

Barty followed her, "Those manticores were nocturnal... they'll be a lot harder to deal with in the dark," He said, climbing into the buggy.

 

(If you think the gang should wait till sunrise to leave use Midori (or andy if she's up to it) to say so! Ahh the benefit of maker magic, making up new techniques on the fly. If you're curious Barty's arrow has a very hard head, based off Midoris, but a weak body with magma in the center designed that once it pierces something the heat from the magma will cause it to burst outwards... essentially it's a frag grenade in an arrow)

Share this post


Link to post

Andromeda’s eyes managed to open just a bit when the ruckus started, just in time for her to see the spider launch itself at Midori before exploding into black goop. The young wizard forced herself to sit upright, her entire body screaming at her to rest, to sleep and regain energy. 

 

It was all Andromeda could do to stay upright, but she somehow managed to as Midori and Barty began to talk about whether they should leave or not. 

“I can wait until morning if you guys want to rest.” She said, her voice quiet as she fought to stay awake. 

 

As she spoke, Andromeda put her arm down to support herself only to hiss in pain and recoil, pulling her arm to her chest again. 

From her finger to her elbow about half of the skin was bruised purple. Black veins radiated from the ring on her finger, with the bruises appearing wherever the veins ran. The veins didn’t run too far up her arm, and it didn’t appear to be spreading, but it was an alarming sight all the same. 

 

“Oh god Andy your arm.” Midori said unhappily as she came over and gently began to inspect it. “We have to get the ring off your finger as soon as we can. The statues said that your magic would react badly with the rings and look at what’s happening. We should go now.” Midori said as she dug inside her pack and handed Andromeda what looked like a small chocolate tablet. 

“That’ll help deaden the pain a bit. If you start hurting to much just let me know. Now let’s get loaded up and head out.”

 

”Getting killed by those Manticores won’t help me either.” Andromeda said as she swallowed the tablet. “Barty’s right, they’re nocturnal so we should wait until daylight before heading out.” Andromeda said as she yawned wide, her eyes getting droopy again. “We’ve got three days, I’ll be fine until tomorrow.” Andromeda said as she laid back down and fell asleep once more.

 

“These deaden pain and make you sleepy too.” Midori explained as she put the rest of the tablets into her bag. “Since our fearless leader is out I’ll let you take charge Barty. We can leave now, or wait until morning. I have no idea what was up with that spider so who knows if there are more of them out there. Anyway stay or go, what do we do?”

Share this post


Link to post

A surge of anger shot through Jacques as his beautiful creation was disgorged onto the now-cold sands. When the wizards looked away, the ink dissipated and silently crept back to Jacques.  A sigh of frustration escaped his mouth as he began to walk over the crest of a sand dune, where a magic motorbike sat dormant. Jacques decided It would be most wise of him to ambush the group out in the desert, retrieve the package, and let the desert manticores serve as his personal cleanup crew. He mounted the bike, locked the SE-plug around his wrist, and quietly idled the bike out of earshot of the group.

It would be easier to kill them all now, the notion flashed through Jacques mind

You're giving them an easy out. They are obviously competent wizards, a few manticores won't be the death of them. You're letting them live, letting them come after you and ruin the job. Again.

The incessant voice rang in the back of his head as he crossed the flat dry mesas in the direction of town.

Suddenly, from under the cracked ground, a large manticore erupted. The beast launched itself at Jacques bike, but without hesitation and but a flick of his hand, a flurry of ink spikes exploded out of the ground and impaled the beast , leaving it suspended silently in the night air. As he drifted away, the ink spikes retracted and dropped a limp, twitching mass to the hard, cracked ground. When the lights of the city faintly shone in the distance, the bike screeched to a stop. Jacques stepped off quietly as manticores began to surround him. His lingering smirk shone in the moonlight as a particularly bold manticore pounced towards him.

With a flurry of ink and screeching the manticore was launched several meters back, yelping in pain. The remaining manticores seemed unimpressed by this feat, so in a show of brutality Jacques summoned ink from the ground to spear the weak manticore, finishing it off with a final yowl. 

The other manticores, clearly now intimidated, backed off snarling and growling at Jacques. They fled together into the distance, burrowing under the sand.

Jacques slowly sunk down next to his motorcycle, resting his head on the side. Looking like an injured wizard, baiting the trap and waiting for the young heroes, he closed his eyes.

Share this post


Link to post

Barty clapped his hands and turned back towards the buggy.

"We're going, I can't stand to see Andy like this. If Sol saw her like this she'd kill me!" Barty declared.

"Here give me a hand getting Andy in," Barty said to Midori. The two of them picked up Andy in her bundle of blankets and carefully laid her into the back of the buggy, unfortunately it didn't leave much room.

Barty and Midori squeezed onto the front seat and Barty began to lay out his plan.

"Alright, how much magic you got?"

"I'm alright... I didn't cast as much as you or Andy, I feel a bit bad for that now" Midori said turning her gaze back at their sleeping companion.

Barty smiled and shook his head, "It's fine, we wouldn't have known what was gonna happen. But anyway, the only real problem I can see with us getting home are those manticores" Barty said.

Midori nodded, frowning.

"We certainly showed them not to meddle with us, but that was in the day, they're much more vicious at night and since Andy's out and I'm low on magic power we can't really afford to make another tank again," Barty continued.

"So what are you planning?" Midori asked, curiosity spiking.

"I'm thinking we gun it, these buggies can reach pretty good speeds, especially on flat terrain like the desert. The only problem is it uses a lot of magic energy, but as you said you've still got a fair bit in the tank," Barty said.

Midori was slowly nodding as she began to understand Barty's train of thought.

"We hook you up to the plug and you put out as much magic power as you can, I'll do what I can with my earth-make magic to slow the Manticores from reaching us, then we cruise past them. Obviously once we're past their nest we can slow down... but in the dark I'm not sure I'll be able to identify it properly, we'll only know once we're on it" Barty concluded.

Midori nodded, the plan was sound but there was one issue.

"What if I run out of magic power too quickly? I think you still have more total magic power than me," Midori suggested.

"That maybe true but we both know I'm pretty much spent, I really went overboard with the spiders. I've got enough in me to make it difficult for the Manticores to get at us but no way I could power our trip. You can do this, now let's go finish our job and get these damn rings off!" Barty said, flashing a grin.

Spurred on by his positive attitude Midori attached the SE-plug to her arm and the buggy roared to life, Barty, who was now standing grasping the sides of the buggy due to a lack of seats almost fell back as it rocketed to high speeds.

It didn't take long for them to reach the flat ground where the manticores had been resting, under the starry sky Barty was keeping his eyes but moreso his ears peeled for the sound of any breeching ground. His thoughts were cut as Midori spoke.

"Whats that ahead!?" She called over the sound of the engine.

Barty shifted his gaze in front of them, he could make out a faint obstacle just to the side of their route.

"That one looks like a manticore, the other one I'm not sure. But we'll be on it soon!" Barty responded.

Soon enough they reached the object, revealed to be an exhausted man, a magic-bike and a dead manticore.

"He looks like he's hurt!" Midori called.

"Don't stop! I'm not joking those manticores go crazy at night! If he's still alive after killing only one it's because the pack's waiting for the matriarch!" Barty hastilly called to Midori as he noticed their magic mobile beginning to slow.

However, while the two were distracted they didn't notice the huge crack in the earth in front of the, A huge head broke the surface of the ground, eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

The buggy was headed straight for it's wide open jaws, big enough to bit any one of them in half.

"Watch out!" Barty called, his hands hastilly crafted some earth-make magic and a ramp appeared in front of them, hitting it the buggy was guided to the right of the Manticore matriarch, spinning out of control it came to a halt.

The engine stalled Barty could now hear the growls that surrounded them all, as well as the shifting earth as the Matriarch pulled it's huge body out of the ground.

Midori hastily removed the SE-plug, breathing quickly as her eyes darted around them, the huge pack of manticores, barely visible in the darkness save for their gleaming eyes.

"Ahhhh **** " Barty groaned.

 

(Boom, boss battle time! Peelzies, Jacques isn't out of the woods yet, the manticores aren't only mad at our guys. But yeah for scale... if the manticores are about the size of a lion I'd say the Matriarch is three times the size of an ordinary manticore, with a much stronger hide. Hope this was okay)

Share this post


Link to post

(Don't know if nomad plans on replying but it's been almost a week, so i'm gonna throw in mine. I do love the timing for the boss battle!)

 

The shifting of earth beneath it knocked the motorbike onto its side leaving Jacques splayed out on the cracked dirt. An exasperated sigh escaped his mouth, and despite the imminent danger, he continued to lay for a moment.

It can never be simple.

Jacques pushed himself to a knee before standing up. Art shifted violently across his pale skin as swiftly as the rage flowed through his exposed blue veins.

"Just one ****ING TIME! ONE SIMPLE MISSION IS ALL I ASK!!!" Jacques bellowed in the matriarch's direction.

A loud, unnatural cackle rose from his chest and burst out of his grinning face.

"INKBLOOD PSYCHO!!!"

Ink began to bubble on Jacques skin, his muscles involuntarily twitching as he slowly removed his jacket, revealing a fully ink-covered torso.

"I'm going to rip you to shreds.." he muttered, followed by a chuckle.

One of the lesser manticores lunged for Jacques, who, with a heavy overhand punch, drove the collapsed head of the beast into the dirt, leaving a limp corpse half-buried in the ground. Several other pack members tested their luck, launching themselves in groups at Jacques. After launching away three, one latched on to his arm, dragging him to the ground and snapping furiously at his face. A weak, hastily-created ink shield protected Jacques face, and his right hand struck with a powerful hook, once again crushing the skull of the manticore.

He dragged himself to his feet, panting quietly. The dangerous looking grin still shone on his face, his head cocked in the direction of the matriarch.

"You know what, beastie? I'm not gonna stop at tearing you apart.... I'm going to make dinner out of your corpse!" Jacques shouted as his stomach growled in agreement.

He extended a hand at the Matriarch, launching a volley of ink missiles at the gargantuan beast. The missiles, however, bounced off of the tough hide of the creature fairly harmlessly. The psychotic grin on Jacques face faltered for a moment, but quickly returned. He would handle it with Psycho. The wizards were but an afterthought, the intense rage flowing through him only allowed one target, and that huge creature ruined his plans.

 

 

Edited by Peelzies

Share this post


Link to post

(I'm sorry guys, I've been busy with job searching. I'm here now though so let's get to the boss!)


Andromeda didn't stir when she was manhandled into the back of the magic mobile, nor when the buggy took off, instead just curling up tighter in her blankets. She was looking a little better now that she was outside, although she was obviously still out of commision. 

In truth she likely would have slept the whole way back to town if it weren't for sudden lurch and stop of the magic mobile, which threw her from the back seat and onto the floor. 

"Ow, what happened?" Andromeda asked as she sat up, her eyes only half open. Her stupor didn't last long tough because her eyes almost immediately locked onto the enormous manticore that roared at the buggy. 

The sound was deafening, making Andromeda flattened her hands to her ears and screamed in fear as the noise shook the magic mobile like a tin can.

 

"What is that thing?" She screamed, sitting up and attempting to summon magic to herself.

 

Feeble pulses of light appeared around Andromeda's fingers as she pulled magical energy from what remained of her reserves, only for the light to disappear as Andromeda screamed in pain and clutched her hand to her chest, the black veins in her arm pulsing visibly. 


"I-I can't use my magic." Andromeda groaned, tears in her eyes from the sheer pain that had enveloped her hand. "I can't feel the stars anymore!"
 

 

Midori meanwhile was standing in preparation for the fight when she heard Andromeda scream in pain, and turned to look at her friend. Andromeda's eyes were filled with terror, and not just from being surrounded by the manticores, nor because of the matriarch, but because she couldn't feel her magic anymore. Midori had heard that being cut off from ones magic was like having a limb removed, and while she couldn't possibly imagine what it felt like, she also couldn't have Andromeda freaking out during the battle. 

 

"Sorry Andromeda." Midori said as she turned and punched her friend as hard as she could, knocking the weakened girl out. 


"We can't afford to have her freaking out right now Barty, she's better off like this." Midori explained before Barty could say anything.

 

It was at that instant that the Manticores pounced, running in from different directions. 

"Diamond make arrow!" Midori yelled, pushing her hand forward and launching the glittering projectile at the nearest creature. 

The arrow flew straight into the manticores mouth, passing cleanly through the beast and out the other side, killing it almost instantly. Midori didn't have time to revel in the shot though as another manticore tried to pounce on her from behind. Only the timely use of a diamond shield kept Midori alive, and even after that it wasn't like the thing gave up. It launched itself again at her, but this time Midori was ready.

 

"Diamond make scatter!" Midori cried as the shield in her hand shattered into hundreds of razor sharp slivers, each one of which flew directly at the attacking manticore. The end result was spectacularly bloody as the slivers shredded the creature, leaving it a bleeding mess on the ground. 


The matriarch meanwhile roared in rage at Jacques as it's pack members, and in some cases young, were butchered by the ink covered man. Without a second wasted it pounced forward and attempted to swipe at Jacques with it's long claws, trying to disable him so that it could tear him apart at leisure. The enormous manticore quickly grew frustrated however when the prey proved more elusive then it had thought possible, making it change tactics. Instead of fruitlessly trying to take apart the man on it's own the matriarch called out for more of her pack to help, using them to try and surround the man so that he couldn't get away without being hit.

Share this post


Link to post

((Aye this is merry fun, happy holidays to you both))

 

Barty winced as he watched Midori's fist crash into Andy.

"Damn, Midori... didn't know you had that in you," Barty turned back towards the swarm of manticores and started firing off his earth ran, the rapid fire of rocks crashing into the manticores, knocking many of them back.

Barty felt sweat drip down his brow, he was glad that the matriarch had left, but he knew his magic reserves were low.

"Midori! We should try clear a path, with the matriarch gone we should be able to get away in the buggy so long as it goes full speed!" He called out to her over the sound of their magic and the manticores roars.

Midori grimaced as a manticore in the process of leaping at her was suddenly blasted backwards by her magic.

"But what about the man the matriarch is fighting!? If we leave now he'll die for sure," She called back, another diamond arrow firing off and piercing the rear of a manticore.

Barty groaned in annoyance, something about that man bothered him, the strange spider that had attacked them, the mans apparent use of tattoo based magic, and the shear fact that he was out in the middle of a nowhere desert for some bizarre reason were all points against him.

"Ugh I guess we should give him a hand, but the moment it looks like he'll be alright, we're scarpering!" Barty responded.

With a clap of his hands a large stone bow formed in his hands, as well as a quiver of glowing arrows, resting at his feet.

"This is all I got left in the tank midori," Barty said, reaching down for an arrow and then holding it out to his guildmate.

Midori glanced quickly at Barty, who had a would you mind? face. Smiling for a brief moment in the chaos Midori's raised her hand and crafted a diamond arrowhead on the arrow.

Barty smiled at her and turned towards the Matriarch, drawing the bow back.

"Ahh thank goodness I learned archery as a kid" Barty thought as he angled his forearm so that the bow string wouldn't crack against it.

Setting his sites on the back of the Matriarch Barty exhaled and let loose the glowing arrow.

With a loud crack the arrow shot forward, the diamond head driving it inside the hard plating on it's back. There was a sizzling bang as the shaft of the arrow exploded releasing a puddle of lava and dislodging several plates of armour.

The matriarch let out a menacing howl and it's gaze shifted from Jacques back towards the buggy.

Barty hastilly drew another arrow back, foregoing the diamond help from Midori and changing his aim.

With another loud twang the arrow soared forward, unfortunately Barty missed the eyes of the beast, but the impact still caused the arrow to shatter and a spray of lava landed on the matriarchs face.

An ungodly howl erupted from the beast, its left eye now held tightly shut, venemous saliva was dripping from it's mouth as its lone eye gazed menacingly at Barty.

"Oh good... now it's angry at us again," Midori said to Barty, looking grimly towards the matriarch.

"Okay, now might be a good time to put the SE plug back on," Barty said hesitantly to Midori.

"Hey, I don't know who you are but that first shot of mine should've left an opening in it's back! If you want to take it out, now's your chance!" Barty called out towards the tatoo'd man, hastily climbing back into the buggy, hefting the heavy bow and quiver with him.

 

((Barty is out of magic, the bow and arrows are all he's got left))

Share this post


Link to post

As the seemingly infinite brood of the matriarch marched towards Jacques, snarling and snapping at him, one of the young wizards shouted to him about a weakness on the back of the beast. His power was draining quickly and his muscles were beginning to tear from the strain of the power Psycho bestowed upon him. He would have to end this quickly and release what power he had left into the beast's weak point.

With a grunt and a blast of ink from the ground below him, Jacques launched into the air and onto the matriarch's back, much to the beast's dismay. His hand glowed with what looked like a black fire as he plunged a fist into the unarmored spot on the matriarch, releasing as much ink into the beast's body as possible. All that could be seen from the creatures front side is the creeping of black ink from behind the eyes and down the chin of the beast. It twitched several times and released a guttural howl as it was torn apart from the inside. Suddenly there was silence, and the massive body collapsed with a thud to the ground. As Jacques stepped off the corpse of the monster, he in turn collapsed, coughing.

My own rage will no doubt be the death of me... He thought, as his eyelids drooped.

He fought the alluring draw of oblivion, slowly and painfully rolling himself over and sitting up.

The pack fled, yipping and screeching into the night, their fearless leader and mother lying defeated behind them. 

Jacques coughed, splattering the dirt next to him with a small amount of ink. His head slowly turned, locking eyes with the young male wizard who had proven to be mildly useful. His signature smirk was still plastered across his face, but his eyes looked happy.

"Thanks for the assistance, young wizard. What brings you out to the middle of the desert?" He said in a sweet, friendly voice.

 

((Sorry for the short post, i'm just plain not feeling very inspired this week))

Share this post


Link to post

Midori watched in stunned silence as the matriarch howled and bucked in pain when the mystery wizard pushed his hand against the weak spot on it's back. It didn't take more then a few moments before the enormous beast lay unmoving on the ground, it's great eyes going dark as it's last breath left it's body.

At the same time the rest of the manticores fled at the sight of their pack leader falling dead, leaving the group alone except for the mystery man. 

 

Midori cautiously put the SE plug back on moved their magic mobile over to where the wizard now sat and parked it a couple feet away. 
"Just a second." Midori said to the man as she again removed the plug and got into the back to check on Andromeda. 
The younger wizard was still unconscious and though she would probably have a nasty bruise where she had been sucker punched she would live. 
"Sorry again Andy, it wasn't personal." Midori said quietly as she covered the Andromeda with the blanket again and adjusted her so that she could lay comfortably.

 

Andromeda didn't stir once during the entire thing, nor when Midori exited the vehicle and looked over their new acquaintance.

Now that she had a good look at the man Midori wasn't really all that sure what to make of him. He was older then her, Barty, and Andromeda by a decent number of years, but wasn't all that much taller or bigger then any of them. He had short blonde hair and was extremely pale, which only served to highlight the black tattoos that covered his body everywhere except his face. The tattoo on his face was a weird design that Midori didn't understand. He was also very powerful based on the display that he had just put on, and could probably have beaten the crap out of herself, Andromeda, and Barty all at the same time easily enough at full magic power.


He was smirking up at the group in a way that put Midori on edge, not that she could actually say why. He looked friendly enough though and hadn't actually done anything wrong which made Midori finally lower her guard enough to grab a first aid kit and walk over to check him for injuries.

 

"No problem, although you save our butts too." Midori said as she began to look the man over. "And we're heading back to Taraq from Baysan." She explained, deciding that telling a total stranger in the desert about the mysterious solid gold box they had gotten from an even more mysterious tomb wasn't the greatest of ideas. "What about you? Why are you out here in the middle of nowhere?"

 

 

 

Share this post


Link to post


  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.