Bluefire [IC][R-16]

[Dad]

Well, Brando had been successful in doing something:  royally pissing off "the Bane of Ardrale."  He had barely even chipped the ice, while Stacks and Cass were hard at work.  "Grr.  Damn frost-bitten arsehole.  I'll teach you ta resist my damage."

 

Snatching up his pickaxe, an angered Brando went to climb "the Bane" once more.  He was sure if he planted his explosives in the same spot once more, he could break through and hopefully bring the colossal monster to a knee.  As he dug into its right leg once more, Brando was completely unaware of the events happening in the distance.  Reebus had just been supercharged, and was about to blow his load all over "the Bane's" face.  Unfortunately, Brando was within blast radius of this firey death blossom.  He deserved it, however, as the force of Reebus' attack swept him off of "the Bane's" leg, and tossed him backwards.

 

Brando rolled into the snow, not before hitting his head on a rock.  He groaned, and tried to stand, but found himself dizzied, his health bar flashing red as he suddenly realized just how much damage he had taken.  "Well," he said with a mouth full of blood.  He stared down at his hands, wiping his mouth.  Animated blood.  And yet, it felt so real.  Twenty percent of his maximum health was now remaining.  "That's no good, is it?"

 

He sighed, realizing his pickaxe was still lodged in the titan's leg.  He would have to climb back up and retrieve it. .  .somehow.  There had to be a way for him to impact the big blue bastard that didn't involve climbing.  That is, if it didn't involve Brando-- "Getting stepped on!" he said excitedly, with a cough here and there.  "Heh.  I'm a genius."  Brando drew three more bundles of dynamite, and made a beeline for "the Bane's" right foot.

 

He trudged through the snow, slightly blinded with his already horrid vision, and a flurry of snow being blown about after Reebus' attack.  He stumbled a bit, tripping over the rock he had hit his head on just moments ago.  He climbed right back to his feet, and kept going.  "Eyes on the prize," he said to himself aloud, over the howling wind.  His eyes were settled on "the Bane's" right foot, and the soft ground beneath it.  As Brando neared the monster's foot, he slowed down, as it was still distracted by the flaming barrage Reebus had unleashed.  "Y'know what they say, Bane," Brando said as he neared the underside of "the Bane's" right foot.  "When you put on a show, go out and. . .break a leg."  He chuckled to himself, as he lit a single bundle of dynamite, and kicked it under the giant's foot.  Of course, this one would do nothing.  Not to "Bane" anyway.

 

As it stepped on the dynamite, the bundle exploded, causing the monster to look down at Brando in annoyance.  "Now that I got your attention.  Come n' get meh, ya big frozen blueberry popsicle!"

 

Brando dove for the underside of "the Bane's" foot, and allowed it come down directly above him.

[Saiba Aisu]

BGM

"Take this!" Heljä roared, rising briefly on her hind legs before crashing down with her full weight, like a mighty wave that crests before it explodes onto the shore.

 

THUD! CRACK! CRACKKK!

 

The she-bear unleashed a savage barrage of full-power blows, slamming her claws repeatedly against the giant's massive heel, chipping away slowly but surely at the thick layer of ice. Perched precariously on her back, still clinging to the reins, Chloé threw her weight into each of the attacks, determined to help her partner deal as much damage as possible.

 

If they managed to carve out a deep enough opening, then perhaps Reebus or Brando could exploit it to bring the monster crashing to its knees—

 

The giant shifted its weight suddenly with a resounding crack of ice, raising its heel high into the air as it began to step backwards, leaving Heljä and Chloé dwarfed by its colossal shadow, squarely in the path of its incoming foot.

 

"Hold on, little one—!"

 

Chloé cried out, tightening her grip on the reins as the polar bear wheeled around and began to lurch through the snow, attempting to outrun their impending death. At the last moment, Heljä gathered her strength and lunged forward in a mighty leap, streamlining her body in an attempt to clear the impact zone. Even then, the pair might not have survived if it weren't for Cass. Using her telekinetic powers, the Oracle sent out an invisible line like a fisherman's hook, attempting to reel them to safety. The guild leader's pull was the last bit of momentum that Heljä needed, increasing her movement speed and helping her to avoid being squashed flat.

 

BOOM!!!

 

The Bane of Adrale's heel collided with the ground where they had stood only seconds ago, unleashing another shockwave like the one that had blasted Stacks off her feet earlier, slamming tons of snow into the surrounding air. Thankfully, Heljä was quite a bit heavier and sturdier than the paladin, allowing her to weather the backlash without getting knocked down.

 

"What're you thinking?!" Cass demanded, her eyes flashing angrily, spitting snow from her mouth as she advanced. "You're going to take out this thing by its ankles? It's made out of ice, Princess! Your claws aren't going to work on it. Come on, Clo. You're smarter than that."

 

Shell-shocked, yet still miraculously astride her mount, the Beast Master bowed her head in shame at the tirade, her long hair falling over her face like a pale gold curtain.

 

"Yes, attacking from behind was a risky move," Heljä growled, turning her fierce gaze towards Cass as she replied in her mistress' stead. "Almost as risky as attempting to scale the giant alone with almost no way of damaging it, I'd say."

 

The she-bear paused deliberately for a moment, as if to give the woman an opportunity to process her words. And then...

 

"I was under the impression that all of us are at a disadvantage in this fight. None of our attacks seem to be particularly effective. Still, we have to try, even if it means taking risks. Either this monster dies, or we do. It's as simple as that. Your help is appreciated, but there's no need to criticize Chloé. She's doing her best..."

 

Heljä's dark eyes flickered towards Do'jhera with a disdainful growl, still fretting on the sidelines, evidently unimpressed by the feline warrior's reluctance to get involved.

 

 

"... Which is more than others can say, I'm afraid."

[Dad]

It worked!  The previous bout of dynamite was compressed by "the Bane's" mighty foot, forcing the explosion into the ground, and creating a medium sized crater for Brando to dive in.  The enormous foot of "the Bane" came down with great force, but never sank into the ground beneath it, preventing Brando from being crushed to death.  And during that last little excursion, Brando's passive ability "Hot!  Hot!  Hot!" became active, igniting him with flames and increasing his durability and damage output.  Now, it was time to move on to phase two:  Kunta Kinte.  It would require all of his mana and stamina, as well as expending any and all cooldowns he had, while simultaneously running for his life.  For this to be completely successful, there were a few more conditions that had to be met.

 

The first, was losing aggro.  Brando would have to wait for Stacks to control the Bane's aggression once more, before he could completely act.

 

The second, was getting Girasol's attention.  He would have to use a flare of some kind, that hopefully she would notice.

 

The third, was not being in the pit, when Girasol pulled the trigger.  Preferably, having Cass see Brando running away from "the Bane" would be enough.  As soon as she saw his healthbar, there was a chance that she would <Push> him towards the others, or <Pull> him out of danger.  Either of those results would be satisfactory.

 

There was no way Stacks would be able to hear Brando beneath the ground, and under "the Bane's" foot.  He would have to draw her attention manually.  If she could anger "Bane" momentarily, it would by him enough time to hopefully signal Girasol.  But he had to be very careful that he didn't endanger Stacks anymore than he already had.  Clever engineer that Brando was, he quickly got to work on a plan.  Using his own sticky blood, a bit of snow, and some dirt, he made a bloody snowball.  "Oy.  She's gonna be mad at me for a while," he said with a chuckle to himself.

 

As "Bane" raised his enormous foot to once more attempt to crush Brando alive, Brando hurriedly popped his head and arms out of the crater, and hurled a mighty Dwarven blood-snowball at Stacks' feet, before sinking back into the ground.

 

"Here's hoping that annoyed her enough to wonder where it came from," he said, cowering before "the Bane of Ardrale".

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

Like clockwork, Ithaca was working hard against the Bane. Do'jhera looked away from the fight, feeling even more like a coward than he had before. He clenched his hands...paws...whatever tightly and balled them into fists. Was he really such a weakling?

 

"There's no need to criticize Chloé. She's doing her best...Which is more than others can say, I'm afraid."

 

Do'jhera quickly looked up, seeing his eyes meet Helja's. He quickly looked away, sighing. He knew this was good and damn right. While those in Ithaca were out their fighting, Do'jhera was standing idly on the sidelines with his tail between his legs. Was this really all he was good for?

 

If I was more like Reebus...or even more like Brando... the Khepura thought, his fists clenching tighter now at the thought. M-Maybe...maybe I could...

 

Do'jhera took another look out and watched those in Ithaca handle the Bane. He finally had enough. He stood from his spot and leaped out and began to run towards the battle.

 

Casting Duelist Fighting Spirit on himself, the Khepura quickly unsheathed the Galeforce of Niska and entered the fray. He moved past Stack's side and started immediately used Twin Blade Revolver at the Bane's one leg. With a glance of the HUD and the Bane's health bar...he knew it was doing literally nothing to the beast. Nevertheless, it was keeping it occupied and distracted from the others.

[Ren✧]

Cass was slightly taken aback as Heljä rounded on her. Cass wanted to return fire, but stopped herself. There was no sense in arguing with a string code that believed itself to be real. Instead she just kept her attention on Chloé, showing little sign she had even heard the bear. "Be careful. I don't want to lose you, understand?" Cass felt like she had repeated this sentiment too often, but at some point she had to trust that her guildmates could take care of themselves. She did not like, however, letting go of those reigns. "I won't always be there to pull you away from danger." 

 

Suddenly the sound of a mild explosion rocked Cass out of the sisterly conversation back into the battle at hand. She turned just in time to see Brando slip underneath the crushing heel of the Bane. A horrified scream escaped Cass' mouth at the sight; the sound tore at her throat and heat tugged at her eyes. She grabbed onto something for support, it ended up being the muscled shoulder of Heljä, her fur matted from exertion. Cass' grief quickly gave way to anger and she prepared to hammer away at the Bane with her telekinesis until one of them was in pieces. 

 

However, before she could, the Bane took another step and she saw the quickest flicker of Brando's head pop out of ground as he launched a scarlet snowball at Stacks and, was that Do'jhera? Cass let out a nervous laugh. All of her anger was suddenly replaced with relief and an overwhelming desire to finish this battle. Realizing she had grabbed hold of Heljä, she awkwardly let go of the Glacial Ice Bear and fixed her Beast Master with a determined stare. "Stick close to Stacks, don't do anything too dangerous. I've got to be ready to pull our resident dumbass out of the fire again." Cass turned to leave, but then turned back to Chloé. "Give 'em Hell, Princess."

 

Cass made her way back into the tree line wiping deftly at the tears she hadn't even realized had rolled down her face when she saw Brando "die." She made sure to stay in range, so that when Brando, or another one of her responsibilities needed her to rescue them she would be there. However, she couldn't engage the Bane in her current state, not after taking the fall that she did. Searching through her inventory, she selected a <Health Recovery Potion> and plugged her nose. The potion was no doubt effective, but it had the foulest taste of anything she had encountered in Eden. 

 

Now, all she had to do was sit and wait. 

[VCR_CAT]

Stacks4Daze

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezCzhk0AFxM

 

Stacks got up and immediately got back to fighting the Golem, hacking at its legs with her sword, each hit rebounding off with a loud clang and only small pieces being chipped off as she did so. Stacks got better with counting hits, and knowing when to back off when the Golem went in to make its attack; being careful to keep her DPS up and maintain the Golem's attention while also avoiding as many of its attacks as she could. In the middle of the fight, Stacks witnessed a blur out of the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw their guild's leader, a distinctly poor front-line combat class player, latched onto the giant for dear life. Pretty soon after, Chloe followed suit with her bear.

 

"WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING?!" Stacks yelled angrily, circling around back of the Golem and stabbing her sword into its calf as hard as she could. The blade didn't sink very deep, but a loud sizzling could be heard as its heat melted the ice and boiled the water. "GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, OR SO HELP ME I'LL KILL YOU IF THIS funker DOESN'T!"

 

Melethil cast Respite on Stacks, whose HP had taken a strong dip from the Golem's one attack. Stacks rushed around to get inside of the Pyre she had set up, granting her a boost in her defense. Hopefully this would be enough to keep her alive if the beast hit her again.  

 

"SHOW HIM WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF, STACKS!" Melethil called out to Stacks. Stacks smiled slightly, but if she had a heart in this game it would be going a mile a minute. She was playing a dangerous dance of "Dodge the Golem" while still trying to keep its aggro, and not in a long time had she been as scared as she was now.

 

Speaking of, while Cass, Chloe, and Brando all messed about around on the back of the monster, it began to flail around wildly. While Stacks was pre-occupied with not being stepped on, one of the beast's arms swung around and smacked against Stacks with a weighty crash. Stacks only had barely enough time to get her shield up, but she wasn't able to brace the attack very well and was sent flying through the air, landing in the snow some feet away with a dull thud. There was a loud ping from her HUD, an annoying one, and as she glanced she noticed her health was at critical, and her shield arm was messed up considerably. Stacks coughed blood onto the snow, forcing herself to get up. She used her Cauterize ability, healing back a decent chunk of her health. The defense drop didn't matter; if she took another big hit she was done for anyways, but at least this small chunk of health could keep her going and save her from any smaller hits.

 

There was a loud crash, and Stacks witnessed the three smaller guild members all get thrown off the beast one way or another. Cass moved in and saved Chloe from certain death by the Golem's crashing foot, and Stacks was very thankful to be out of range of the shock wave. Reebus sent down a large ball of magma on the creature in this opening, and it had done a lot of damage, but it was still going strong. Stacks closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths to do her best to calm herself down, however much good that did in a virtual world. They could do this, they had to do this.

 

Then there was a scream.

 

Stacks's eyes snapped open, just in time to see the monster bring it's foot down on Brando.

 

We're gonna die... we're all gonna die... Stacks began to panic, her body frozen in place. Her virtual body wouldn't obey anything she told it to do, her legs subconsciously inching backward. Run away... save yourself... run away...

 

Then she felt something hit her in the stomach. She looked down to see snow packed against her body. Red snow. Bloody snow. But who could have... Stacks looked back the Bane, and back at where it had stomped on Brando. It raised its foot to bring it down again, and in a split second she caught sight of his health bar. He was still alive. Stacks could feel herself relax a bit more, but she stood stock-still, staring down the Bane. That was too close, and who knows if any of them would survive the next hit, they had to run away, they had to-

 

There was a blur that ran past Stacks, and she looked to see Do'jhera running towards the beast in a full-frontal assault, chipping away at the overleveled beast with inconsequential damage. But... he was there... he was out there, doing everything he could. Stacks's grip tightened on her sword and shield and tears streaked down her face.

 

Where are you going, Ash?! We need you up front! We need help, Ash!! HELP US!!

 

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLcc1jcsfZE

"Not... again..." Stacks growled fiercely through gritted teeth. Stacks began to walk forward.

 

"You want a fight, JABRONI?!" Stacks shouted, Running in a full sprint directly at the best. "Then fight me, AND STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!!"

 

Stacks rushed in with a Suncharge, leaping into the air with the attack and crashing into its chest with her shield in a brilliant display of fire. The damage was small, but it took a noticeable dip in its health bar. The Bane stumbled backwards a bit, and Stacks dropped down onto the ground in front of it. Stacks wasn't done, though. She cast Sunstrike next, her sword erupting into flames and glowing very brightly.

 

"TAKE THIS, YOU SONUVA jabroni!" Stacks screamed, dropping her shield and clasping her sword with both hands and swinging it in a wide arc directly at one of its blades. The sword slammed into the ice with a large explosion of fire that whirled around its lower leg. When the smoke, steam, and fire cleared, there was a large chunk of its leg that was entirely gone, while the rest was beginning to melt quite a bit.

 

"BRANDO, YOU BETTER GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL SHOVE MY SWORD SO HARD UP YOUR-" Stacks continued to scream, but her yelling was immediately drowned out by the pained and angered roar of the Bane of Adrale.

[Dad]

It worked.  Stacks had "the Bane's" full attention now, its anger trained on the Sun Warrior.  And just in time.  Thanks to Stacks' bright and burning appearance, and her bright and burning bravery--wait, why was Do'jherra down here?  Was he mad?  Well, thankfully, he was pitching in.  Brando had successfully stockpiled three explosive charges beneath "the Bane's" foot, in the cubbyhole he had dug for himself.  It was time for some fireworks.  Speaking of fireworks, he just needed to reach Girasol somehow.  He had to get her attention.

 

He was secretly hoping she had some additional fire-abilities to stack on top of his own damage, but it was him being hopeful.  He had a single shot in his pistol, but firing it wildly would do him no good.  He needed another way of signaling Girasol.  She had to fire down on the dynamite.  Brando wouldn't have enough time to set them off and escape.  Either he killed himself in the explosion and sacrificed himself for the guild, or he would flee back to Girasol and possibly be crushed in the process.  What was something unique to snipers that would mark a target in their scope?  There was a signal, or some kind of bright source he had to crea--

 

"A flare!" Brando thought, at last. It was time for some more crafty, Dwarven engineering.  Brando packed the end of his pistol with more bloodied snow, and applied just a touch more gunpowder to the snowball itself.  The result?  Well, what should've been an explosive red shower of snow whose glare would draw Girasol's attention.  As long as she saw the "flare", she would see the packed explosives just beneath "the Bane's" foot.  Brando examined his pistol carefully before firing.  "Do or die time," he muttered to himself.

 

As "the Bane" raised his foot once more, Brando angled his pistol to arch just past the monster's colossal foot.  He put a single finger in his ear, and pulled the trigger.  A loud bang inside of the enclosed space temporarily deafened Brando, but to his surprise, the bloody-snow bullet flare was somehow a success.  Shaking his dizzy head, Brando waited until "the Bane's" foot was down over the pit once more, before he attempted to escape.

 

"BRANDO, YOU BETTER GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE OR I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL SHOVE MY SWORD SO HARD UP YOUR-"

 

He chuckled, as "the Bane" raised its foot once more out of rage at Stacks.  "Ya ain't gotta tell me twice!"  Now he simply needed to get behind cover, for fear of killing himself.  Scrambling from beneath the pit beneath "the Bane's" right foot, Brando rolled out from under the monster, and hopped to his tiny feet.  And once he was just outside of getting a foot in his ass, Brando activated his ultimate ability.

 

His body still ignited with flame, he waved his arms, trying to warn Stacks.  "I know we've done this before. . .but I would get down if I were you.  FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

 

If Girasol fired her shot just as "the Bane" was lowering his foot to the ground, the result would--hopefully--be greatly in their favor. 

[Yui]

---

Chaos. Utter chaos. Is everyone else in my guild completely new to MMOs or something? I know I joined because I'm staying in-character, but this is getting ridiculous. Do'jhera was finally heading into battle, the Bane couldn't seem to make up its mind on if it was going for Brando or Stacks before finally settling on Stacks, and Melethil didn't even want to think about what was going on with Helja, Cass, and Chloe. Here at the backline, with Reebus and Lichiethro, meanwhile, things were staying quiet. At least that part of the fight was under control. If not for Haruka's commitment to staying in-character with Melethil, this would likely be the part where she started barking out orders to take down the Bane efficiently.

 

Especially to Brando. If the Bane doesn't kill him, I will.

 

"W-Wow," Melethil exclaimed at the battle before him, his tone belying the venomous thoughts going through "his" head. "This is quite an enemy." As he charged a Heal for Stacks, tossing a Flash Heal in Brando's direction in the meantime, the elf turned his attention to Reebus. "J, Just hit it with all the mana you've got. I-I'm already starting to run a bit low, a-and that is to say, we can't fight this thing forever." Healing Circle was almost off cooldown. He'd have to drop one of those near Stacks. For now, he fired off a Smite onto the Bane once Stacks had been healed.

---

[bury the year]

Girasol

 

The battle unfolded below Girasol like a big messy flower, gasping for sunlight from underneath the ice. At the center of it was the monster that Ithaca only knew as “the Bane.” The towering monster of ice and bone was currently intent on turning any guild member that stepped within a few feet of it to shreds, and by the sniper’s observation it was well along its way on doing that. So far, she counted three primary victims of the assault: Brando, Chloe, and Stacks. While the first two had landed in the situation they were in sheerly due to lack of planning, Stacks had been drawing the beast’s attention the entire time… while simultaneously dealing the most damage? It showed her comparative bevy of experience compared to the newbies. Girasol would have to extend her acknowledgment after this was all said and done… if they weren’t all dead, that is.

 

Right. Back to the fight. She turned her attention back to the scope, and two things caught her attention at the same time. One, the massive ball of lava being pressed into the Bane’s side, as Reebus hooted and hollered like the monkey he was. Damn cat was maybe good for something after all. The second was the flash of a flare gun, coming from the embankment where she had last seen Brando fall. If he had been trying to get her attention…

 

She looked around. There it was. A red gash underneath the Bane’s foot, where the dwarf had apparently stuffed a good number of explosives. Just waiting for her to fire.

 

However, therein laid a quandary. Should she hit the magma ball or the explosives? Aim: Pyrotechnics’ cooldown was such that she’d only be able to hit one. And her decision had to be made split-second.

 

Well, she didn’t forgive the cat yet. Girasol pivoted towards Brando’s trap, muttered a prayer and the activation code for Aim: Pyrotechnics, and squeezed the trigger. A red-tinged bullet spun out of the rifle and flew true, hitting the target right as Brando had gotten out of harm’s way.

 

A lotus, petals of crimson fire, blossomed beneath the Bane. The faun smiled, mentally calculating how much damage that would deal. “100% from Kybele puts it to 200% output, times one and a half...” she muttered to nobody in particular as she reloaded. “That’s three times normal damage augmenting whatever the hell that damn dwarf shat out.”

 

Her grin widened and became toothy, almost feral. “Check, and mate.” The results of her handicraft would become apparent in a few seconds.

[Ren✧]

"I gotchya." Cass muttered to herself, watching the dwarf pummel his small feet into the thick snow. Pulling the dwarf towards herself, Cass noticed a red blur streak through the air, this was most likely Girasol, she suspected. Catching hold of Brando just in time, she turned him away from the incoming explosion, protecting him from any debris that might reach them. They were a decent distance away from the battle, and protected by the trees, but it only took a couple of stray shards of ice to do an unsuspecting player in for good. The concussive force of the blast wasn't strong enough to knock her over, but it caused the trees to bend and moan in protest. Cass' hair and robes whipped about as the heat washed over them like a wave breaking across the shoreline. 

 

"You're a damn fool," Cass said to Brando affectionately, "I'm glad you're okay." She held him tight for just a second longer, but then quickly let go. 

 

Meanwhile, Girasol's bullet had set off a massive explosion; a fireball blossomed up the length of the Bane's leg, its painful red petals scorching the giant. Already suffering from the previously cast <Magma Sphere>, the health of the Bane of Adrale began to take a serious dip. The giant of frozen sapphire took a large shuddering breath; the sound of a thousand broken wind chimes christened the frosty air, as huge cracks spiderwebbed across its icy surface. Those closest to the Bane would need to be careful of the larger pieces that broke off of the golem; it was practically shedding glaciers, each of them either punching their way into the permafrost or shattering against the hardened ground. 

 

Hope rang true as the smoke cleared from the explosion to reveal a hobbled version of the monstrosity that had previously towered over them. No longer quite so imposing, it stood lopsided, missing a large portion of one leg. The left side of the Bane was heavily damaged, chunks of ice missing from where the explosion had blasted it apart. Even the right side of the Bane, furthest from the explosion, sported spiraling cracks. It appeared that Ithaca had gained the upper hand. 

 

The giant let out a tortured scream, it was not the same brutish roar that had shook the trees before. No, this sounded like wind shrieking through the mountaintops, it scraped against the guild's eardrums. Another tortured scream signaled an incoming attack by the giant. Raising its fists, it savagely beat the ground, sending a massive shockwave through snow. The seismic attack knocked down players, threw up a cloud of white, but more apparently allowed the Bane a chance to haphazardly crash into the trees behind it. The Bane was on the run. 

 

"You might be a damn fool." Cass said, dusting the snow off of herself as she got up off the ground from where she had fallen when the shockwave hit her. "But you're a f***ing genius." She threw back her head and laughed, giddy with the prospect of their fight being over. The prospect of leaving the frigid mountain air behind had her so distracted she almost missed the alert that screamed across her HUD.

 

⚠HIDDEN HOSTILE NEARBY⚠

 

Cass wasn't quick enough to dodge the first knife, it flew from the underbrush like a falcon after prey and embedded itself into Cass' shoulder. She winced in pain, but didn't let the burning in her arm slow her down. Three more silver daggers were quick to follow the first, but Cass had already anticipated this and had cast <Telekinetic Barrier>, stopping the projectiles dead in the air before they fell harmlessly to the ground. 

 

"Hey! What the bloody f*** is goin' on?"

 

The air in front of Cass and Brando shimmered for a moment, like light off of water, before the image of two ominous figures appeared in between the trees. One was wreathed in long, trailing, black cloth, almost as though the shadows of the forest were wrapped around them. It was impossible to tell their gender due to the bright white mask they wore. The other was garbed in tight fitting leather armor, the shoulders seemed to be encrusted with some form of jewel that glowed faintly in the lowlight. At his side he deftly twirled a wide bladed dagger, it glowed with a sickening greenish hue that no doubt meant that it was laced with a powerful poison. 

 

"I'll admit. You impressed me." The one with large dagger addressed Cass, "I thought for sure the Bane would finish you and your little...what is this? You call this a guild? Doesn't matter, I'll just finish you myself."

 

He started towards the pair, the movement of his knife becoming more agitated as he dangerously flicked his tongue in anticipation. However, before he could take more than a step, his masked companion stuck out a hand, stopping him. 

 

"Not our objective." The voice escaped the mask almost like air escapes a pressurized container, it sounded more like a hissing whisper than it did a voice, human or otherwise. 

 

There seemed to be a moment of silent debate between the two before a conclusion was reached. The assassin carrying the poisoned knife smirked at Cass, then the two turned and ran off into the forest, their footfalls nearly silent. Brando took a couple steps in their direction, looking as though he was going to follow them, but then stopped himself as Cass collapsed into the snow. She looked down at the knife still in her shoulder, it too carried with it the faintest glimmer of green. 

 

"s***." She said, as she watched the poison status affect start to reek its havoc. If she didn't get the condition cured soon, she wasn't going to make it. 

 

"I'm gonna get you some help, jus' hold on." Brando took off running into the woods, not after the assassins, but towards the other members of Ithaca. "Leader down! Leader down! Melethil! The f*** are you?!" 

---

[spoiler=OoC]

Okay y'all have three options on what you can do. You don't all have to do the same thing, pick and choose. Plan carefully or pick at random, I don't care, but do know that what happens here does affect what'll happen later on in the RP. So your options are:

 

1) Chase after the Bane and take that b**** down. It hasn't gotten far and he's a giant ice cube, how much harder could it be to kill? You put in the hard work, uou might as well get a payday, right? But remember, just because it is on its last leg doesn't mean it isn't formidable, don't get cocky...or do, I don't care if you die. You are free to do some serious damage to him now, but avoid from officially calling time of death until my next GM post please.

 

2) Ummm,,,save my life? But wait you're not a healer? idk get creative. You gotta a potion? A rare herb from the Junglelands? Or, there could be somebody else here that no one has thought to ask for help~~ hmmm ...or just let me die

 

3) Chase after the assassins. Follow their tracks through the forest and avenge me! You can kill them if you want, but they are players so do what your conscious tells you. Also don't you want answers? Well they might have them... But then you gotta constrain them. Figure it out.

 

Pick one. Do it. They all will impact the RP, albeit some are more important than others. Also, you can just assume that pretty much no matter where you are you can hear Brando shouting about Cass being stabbed if you want. We've pretty much established for the time being that sound travels very well in this little clearing :P 

 

---

 

If you decide to chase after the assassins, a little info on them:

 

Eidolon:

Level: 42

Gender: Unknown

Race: Unknown

Class: Assassin

Known Skills:

<Silent Step>: Masks the sound of the user's movements.

<Unseen>: Makes the player invisible for a certain amount of time.

Fighting Style:

Primarily uses Throwing Knives, usually throws multiple small silver knives by the name of Phantasm Blades. They are more likely to score critical hits the higher the stealth level of the wielder. Eidolon is very agile and can perform lots of gymnastic moves to outmaneuver and get behind enemies. His signature move is to jump over an enemy and throw knives into their back. Obviously very adept at moving unseen and unheard. 

 

Harvestman (his friends call him Harvest)

Level: 34

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Class: Assassin

Known Skills:

<Silent Step>: Masks the sound of the user's movements.

<Unseen>: Makes the player invisible for a certain amount of time.

<Flash Stinger>: Imbues a throwing knife with a weaker poison (does not require poison to be in the user's inventory) and can be used while invisible. 

Fighting Style:

Harvest prefers to hit his opponents with a poisoned throwing knife to start the fight if he can and then get in closer with wide bladed dagger (<Widow's Fang>) that has highly toxic properties. He tends to rely on the defensive abilities of his armor because he is not quite as agile as other assassins, but he does make up for it with his crafty use of poisons and having more attack power. Of course, that isn't to say that Harvest isn't a speedy opponent, underestimating his agility could mean death. 

 

 

[Mr. Hyde]

 

As the explosion shook the air around them, Reebus couldn't help but crack a smile.  Pipsqueak on the hill might've been slow, but when it came to raw power and strategy, there was no rival among Girasol in Ithaca....well except him of course.  Calling him a rival might have given the kid a little too much credit, however.  Bane started to hobble over, without one of his giant legs to stand on.  Now he was the perfect target to finish off.

 

 "Leader down! Leader down! Melethil! The f*** are you?!" 

 

Reebus looked over to see Brando running to find the healer of the group.  His smile from before had turned into a sour frown.  

 

"Of course she is..." He groaned.  "I'm surprised she's not dead, seeing as how she went in on that monster."  He had no option to help the Oracle that wasn't ten times more effective than what Melethil could bring to the table.  Reebus' healing spells were minor at best...nothing he stacked much expertise into at least.  In the corner of his eyes, he saw two cloaked figures dash across the snowy plains.  So it was a trap after all?  Just like he had suspected all along.  "I knew something smelled fishy...damn this bleeding heart of a guild."  He turned his head towards the hobbling giant, and flicked his cloak to the side, letting it waver in the wind.  He steadied his mask, and marched off to finish the beast.  

 

"So no one will be deceived again..."  He growled.  As he approached the massive ice giant once more, his mask gave off an incredible glow.  Reebus had activated the active ability of his [Mask of Echoes].  Instantly, another orb of Magma had been created between his palms.  This instance however, costed absolutely no mana, and there was no cast time, nor was there a chant.  "You'll be one of the first monsters to face my unholy combo...'Volcanic Echo'...is what I like to call it!"  Reebus roared, as he pitched the slightly smaller ball of Magma at the Bane, his eyes lighting up with vicious delight as he did so.  

 

"Burn baby burn!"   

[Saiba Aisu]

Chloé bowed her head in shame as Cass berated her for—once again—foolishly endangering herself and making things harder for the others. For once, she was grateful for the curtain of pale blond hair falling over her face, making it hard for the other woman to see the tears forming in her eyes.

 

Why can't I do this? she asked herself in despair, clenching her small hands into fists around the reins. She blinked, feeling the salty sting of her tears, trying to push them away. Virtual or not, they still felt very real.

 

... Almost as real as Heljä's anger. The she-bear was practically trembling with indignation, and from the low growl forming in her throat, it was apparent that she still had one or two choice remarks for Cass. Fortunately, it seemed that the guild leader had more pressing matters at hand—like saving a certain reckless dwarf.

 

"Why did you do that?" the blonde girl murmured quietly, once Cass was safely out of earshot.

 

"What?" Heljä snorted, her nostrils flaring angrily. "Stand up for you? I suppose someone has to, since you won't do it yourself. Why do you let them treat you like that? Like you're not good enough?"

 

Because they're right! I'm not good enough! Chloé thought, wishing she were brave enough to voice her words aloud. She held her tongue, though. She knew all too well that remarks like that would do nothing to improve the bear's mood.

 

Unfortunately, Heljä was surprisingly shrewd when it came to deciphering her mistress' thoughts.

 

"Listen, Chloé. Not every Beast Master is capable of taming a glacial ice bear, especially at such a low level. There is great power in you, buried somewhere deep inside. I feel it. It's one of the reasons I chose to come with you on this journey. I chose you, little one, because I believe in your potential. Now it's your turn to believe, too."

 

"Thank you, Heljä," the girl replied softly, straightening once more and tucking her hair behind one ear. "But, perhaps we should focus on the current situation...?"

 

"You mean the giant ice cube?" the she-bear snorted dismissively, turning back to the Bane of Adrale, looking much worse for the wear after Reebus, Brando, and Girasol's combination attacks. "Very well. But this conversation isn't over. Not yet."

 

Before Heljä could move in for the kill, however, the Bane let loose a tortured scream and pounded the ground savagely, unleashing another series of seismic shockwaves, forcing her to stand still and brace herself so as to not get knocked down. When the chaos cleared, they could make out the giant crashing haphazardly into the trees, trying to retreat but slowed down considerably by its crippled leg.

 

We did it! We're alive. I can't believe it...

 

Chloé breathed a deep sigh of relief, glad that everyone had escaped unscathed. It seemed almost too good to be true... And it was.

 

BGM

 

"Leader down! Leader down!" Brando yelled, hurrying in the direction of the backline casters as fast as his short legs would carry him. "Melethil! The f*** are you?!"

 

Only a few steps away, Cass was down on her knees in the snow, shuddering feverishly as her health bar began to tick rapidly downwards, clutching at her shoulder with one hand. A throwing knife seemed to have sprouted there like some kind of bizarre flower, buried hilt-deep, shrouded in a sickly green aura. Wait, sprouted? What was going on?

 

For a moment, Chloé's childish mind struggled to make sense of the scene. The idea that someone could have purposefully tried to kill her friend was impossible for her to process. It was only when she caught sight of the two assassins, fleeing further into the forest, that she was finally able to put two and two together.

 

The Deceivers. They had walked into a trap.

 

Suddenly, Heljä roared and charged in pursuit of the pair, dodging past Cass and into the shadow of the trees, leaving the others far behind.

 

"Heljä!!" Chloé screamed in horror, pulling on her reins, trying to control her unruly mount. "Stop! Please stop! We have to go back! Cass—!"

 

The girl's pleas were lost as Heljä roared once more, louder this time, giving voice to the full extent of her fury.

 

"Murderers! Cowards! Traitors! You won't escape!"

[Yui]

---

Girasol fired off a bullet, causing an explosion beneath the Bane. It roared in pain, shaking Melethil's body to the core. That was loud, and being an elf didn't make matters any better. He sure hoped the people near it didn't end up going deaf from it. And then...the Bane started running! Had they done it? Had Ithaca beaten the beast? What a relief! Hopefully, that was that and the guild could retrieve the missing player, go back to the city, and Melethil could get a nice hot meal and see about some business opportunities in Adrale.

 

Unfortunately, life is never so easy.

 

Reebus was off to chase the beast. Helja - and thus, Chloe - were chasing a pair of players who had appeared after the fight with the Bane. And Cass...

 

"I'm gonna get you some help, jus' hold on. Leader down! Leader down! Melethil! The f*** are you?!"

 

"O-On my way!" Melethil scurried over to where Cass was. She was injured, no doubt about that, but the wound was poisoned. The cleric could handle this. That didn't mean he thought it was all fine and dandy though. Once he'd given the wound a quick look over, he took a step back, and pointed the end of his staff at Cass. She needed healing, and fast. First, Melethil aimed to deal with the poison, giving Cass a Cleanse. Then, while his skills were on global cooldown, he used a Flash Heal, following it up with a proper Heal once he could use his spells again. "C, Cass, you need to be more careful, please. Climbing up the monster was..." funking stupid, unless you WANT to die. "I-It was very brave, b-but, we're spellcasters. We, well, w-we aren't really suited for frontline combat."

 

I want to chew out Reebus and Helja for running off. But for now, best to stay here probably. That, and chewing people out isn't really in Melethil's nature. He's so cute!

---

[VCR_CAT]

Stacks4Daze

 

Stacks felt the heals from Melethil hit, and breathed a sigh of relief. No longer was she so close to death, but there was still the danger of the Ice Golem standing in front of them. Stacks glanced at the rest of the team, to make sure they were okay, and spotted Brando waving his arms.

 

"I know we've done this before. . .but I would get down if I were you.  FIRE IN THE HOLE!" Brando shouted in Stacks's direction. Stacks gave him a look of angered confusion, but then spotted Girasol and understood completely. Stacks dove for the snow bank, a thunderous explosion in her wake and the sounds of giant blocks of ice breaking through the permafrost around her.

 

"Did we do it?" Stacks asked nobody in particular, getting up and looking at the damage left behind. The golem was heavily damaged, with giant pieces of ice missing. If Stacks didn't know any better, she'd swear that it was on the verge of death. The Golem let out a pained roar, and made to flee. Stacks got ready to chase after the monster, when she heard shouting behind her, with the main group.

 

"Leader down! Leader down! Melethil! The f*** are you?!" 

 

Stacks looked back, and saw Cass on the ground.

 

"sheet..." Stacks muttered, running back to join the main group. "What happened?" Stacks asked, as she got closer.

 

"Two assassins, I think, one o' them got her with a poison," Brando replied. Stacks cursed under her breath. Reebus left to pursue the golem, but for now Cass seemed to be in safety. Melethil came running over, and began to work his magic to help save Cass's life. Stacks took a moment to cast Cauterize on herself once to get her health into a more safe area, while also eating some of her bread to help boost her health regeneration. Her mana was still a little on the low side, but that would regenerate over time. Just so long as the group stayed together, they should be okay.

 

Stacks heard a roar, and spotted Chloe rushing into the woods with her bear, presumably after the assassins.

 

"sheet!" Stacks cursed. She wanted to help Reebus with taking out the golem, but Chloe didn't have much experience... taking on two assassin players that knew what they were doing? "Melethil, I hope you got this under control," Stacks told their small healer. "Because I'm heading into those woods, and I'm not coming back without our beast master."

 

Stacks walked towards the edge of the woods, to see if she could get a look. They were a ways ahead of her, and she had some catching up to do. "I'm not letting anyone die on me today!" Stacks shouted, breaking into a sprint into the darkness of the trees.

[Ren✧]

Cass tried not to panic as her vision started to swim, it seemed that the affect of the poison seemed to be escalating with time. Her chances of survival were becoming exponentially smaller and smaller. The Oracle let out a silent prayer, she wasn't sure who she was praying to but she had collapsed to her knees already so it seemed appropriate. Perhaps the digital gods of the virtual hellscape she had been so unfairly thrust into or maybe to the God beyond Eden, the one that she had grown up praying to every Sunday and whom she had so readily forsaken when He did not protect her from His own people. Or, maybe, it was just a shout into the void, a desperate scream that she hoped someone, somewhere could hear because as she watched her health tick further down, she knew that she was okay with dying, just not here. 

 

The guild leader could barely make out the image of those around her. Whatever poison the assassin had dosed her with was strongly distorting the virtual display. The world was practically spinning. However, she could feel a dull warmth that started in her shoulder and slowly spread throughout her body. It was a welcome sensation, fighting off the icy chill that had settled on her skin. The sight of Melethil slowly swam into focus, the young, she presumed, elf seemed to be at work trying to heal. She felt another brief flash of heat, however, this one felt more like her whole body was waking up after falling asleep than it did a gentle warmth. 

 

"C, Cass, you need to be more careful, please. Climbing up the monster was...I-It was very brave, b-but, we're spellcasters. We, well, w-we aren't really suited for frontline combat." Cass grasped the hilt of the knife still in her shoulder, grit her teeth and pulled it out. Despite trying to remain stoic she couldn't help but gasp in pain. Flinging the knife to the side, she looked at the Cleric. There was something in his eyes that contradicted the stuttering boy before her, something that Cass couldn't quite place. 

 

"Yeah I think I recall someone telling me that before." Cass replied, a subtle groan escaping her lips as she fell back into the snow and cradled her head between her knees. "Thanks, Melethil. You really saved my ass." Cass took a few more seconds to compose herself. She knew that Melethil was still working on healing her, and part of her wanted to tell Melethil to stop, that he had done enough, but she relented to the indistinct feeling of warmth that continued to flow through her body. 

 

 

The ball of magma struck the Bane on its left shoulder, it crashed into the already damaged ice and slowly sunk into the splintering cracks on the construct's arm. The Bane howled in pain, rounding on Reebus in a fury. However, the magma had quickly cooled in the blustery mountain winds and proven to be too heavy for the weakened form of the golem to sustain. As it turned to face the shaman, a fatidic crack split the air, not unlike that of Girasol's rifle, and like a glacier sliding into the ocean, the Bane's left arm fell into the snow. 

 

It bellowed in rage. If it were possible for the giant's sculpted face to have more than one expression, its glare would have been enough to kill any player. Instead, however, it took a shaky breath and rapidly expelled a blast of frozen air at its attacker. The ground between the Bane and Reebus became ravaged by shards of ice as the Bane's breath desecrated the ivory snow. The shaman would not have much time to escape the deadly attack. 

 

 

The sound of a Glacial Ice Bear crashing through the forest was unmistakable and easy to anticipate. Eidolon loosed a volley of silver daggers at the beast's lumbering form. They didn't aim too carefully, the point of the attack wasn't to do any serious damage, but to deter the frail looking Beast Master from pursuing them further into the forest. Another volley escaped the masked assassin's robes as he deftly dropped from the trees, creating a line in front of him as he stood before the mounted player.

 

"Turn back. You don't die." The ominous hiss of Eidolon's voice snaked its way across the disturbed snow, settling uncomfortably on any who heard it. 

 

"We could just kill her now." The air next to Chloé rippled to reveal Harvest, his ghoulish knife held much too close to the blonde's throat. 

 

"Not our objective." Eidolon insisted again.

 

"Would be fun, though." 

[Dad]

Brando

 

As the snow and debris settled, what remained of "the Bane of Ardrale" was a hobbling, wounded beast.  Losing one of its legs in the blast, Brando was proud of his guild's work.  He couldn't have done it without them.  And needless to say, he had gotten them into this mess after all.  It was sort of his responsibility.  Fortunately, the battle was now nearly over.  Brando--Macy--celebrated internally, satisfied with having overcome such a powerful foe.  And it wouldn't have been possible if not for great leadership and a quick rescue from Cass.

 

"Cass?"

 

Brando watched Cass collapse into the snow.  

 

"Cass!"

 

Before he had time to react, two cloaked individuals began to scamper away, leaving Cass with a poisoned dagger in her shoulder.

 

"Stay here!  Don't you move!  I'm gonna get help!" Brando said urgently to Cass.  "Leader down!  Leader down!  Melethil!  The funk are you!?" he called aloud, panicking.

 

"O-On my way!"

 

Fortunately, Melethil was in earshot.  He raced to Cass' side and began a major healing process.  He cleansed the poison, and restored her health pool slowly over time.  Brando was on Melethil's heels, thankful for his work.  "Melethil.  Thank you.  I dunno what we'd do without ya."  Brando patted Melethil on the shoulder.  "Cass.  You hang in there."

 

At Brando's words, Heljä sprinted past him, with Chloe on board.  They were chasing down the mysterious attackers, with great haste.  Stacks was right in tow, giving her everything to defend her leader and her guild.  Brando was going to stay behind, and defend Cass from any possible other threats.  "I'm gonna set up a perimeter.  I won't be long and I won't be far away."

 

Brando was low on mana.  He couldn't do much, and he wasn't going to ask Melethil for mana.  Not while Cass' life was in danger.  He had enough for three charges of dynamite.  If he placed them carefully and with consideration towards potential invading Dzu-teh or worse, he would hopefully be able to catch would be intruders off guard, and blow them away.  He set a bundle South of Cass, just before a clearing in the trees.  The second bundle he placed to Cass' West, between a sturdy rock and an outcrop inside of another large tree.  The third was placed to Cass' Northeast, where he purposefully buried it beneath the snow, as to soften the impact because this bundle was closest to Cass.  At the very least, he could control any potential danger or horde it away.

 

Brando sighed, returning to Cass' side.  He had just missed her conversation with Melethil.  They had come up here to retrieve a potentially lost newbie.  Instead, Brando got them all into a world of trouble, and Cass' had nearly lost her life because of Brando's lack of awareness, and recklessness.  He had to change, and he had to change soon.  There was no telling if there would be a next time.  And that next time, if it should occur, could cost someone dearly.

 

Brando plopped his bottom on a nearby log, trying to give Melethil and Cass space.  He turned away from them, watching the treeline carefully for any signs of danger.  At least this way he pretend to be useful.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

 

 

"Leader down! Leader down! Melethil! The funk are you!?"

 

What happened? One moment the Bane was running away because of them...the next, Do'jhera saw Cass on the ground and in a dire situation. Were they tricked? Was this an ambush? Truth be told, Do'jhera wasn't sure at all.

 

"C, Cass, you need to be more careful, please. Climbing up the monster was...I-It was very brave, b-but, we're spellcasters. We, well, w-we aren't really suited for frontline combat."

 

The Khepura wasn't sure what to do. Chase the Bane or go after the assassins...either way, Do'jhera was sure of one thing: he'd lose miserably either way. There would be another casualty if he ran off and trying to be a hero. He only sighed and slowly sheathed his weapons before rubbing his arm some. I...I finally did something...but now Cass is damaged badly. he thought, watching Melethil doing his best to heal their guild leader.

 

He sighed once more before noticing a certain dwarf sitting on a nearby log, watching the treeline. Do'jhera thought the guy could use some help to look out. After all, a second set of eyes is better than one.

 

Slowly making his way towards the log, Do'jhera moved and sat down nearby Brando and sighed. "S-So...how you feeling, Brando?" he asked, obviously referring to his "heroic" actions against the Bane.

[Mr. Hyde]

 

Reebus smirked as his second attack landed, causing the behemoth to lose an arm, and crash into the powdery snow.  As the Titan descended, Reebus couldn't help but whistle comically, timing it to fall in line with the Titan's own fall.  Bane howled towards the blizzard in pain, but Reebus could only smile.  

 

"Let's finish this why don't we?"  He said, a cast of Spirit Flame being held in his palms.  He didn't have much Mana now, so he would have to cast sparingly...or rely on his active equips to do such things.  Reebus pointed his attention back to Bane in time to notice the Giant blowing a large gust towards him, stalagmites of ice jutting from the ground.  Reebus recoiled in shock, he didn't have much time!  Thinking on his toes, Reebus clutched his staff, [Nature's Roar].  Like his mask before, the staff gave off an intense glow, before he slammed the bottom of it into the snowy ground.  An outward explosion of Fire, Ice, Lightning, and Earth burst forth from the staff's tip, almost like a shield, encompassing Reebus.  The ice that would have hit him would have been instantly squelched by the combination of ferocious element's and force brought forth from [Nature's Roar].  

 

When the attack ceased, Reebus stood there, shaky.  That activation cost him half of his current mana...and half of what he had before was certainly not a lot.  Would he manage to hold up?  Reebus looked over his shoulder...no back up had arrived at this point.  

 

"Useless..." he growled.  With a cast of <Spirit Fire> in each hand, Reebus let forth on onslaught of small fireballs at Bane, making sure to move as he did so.  He wouldn't be caught by the same attack twice!  As individual instances of <Spirit Fire> made their mark, Bane would occasionally be afflicted with the Burn debuff, stacking and ticking away at Bane's health.  This was all Reebus could do for now.  

[Saiba Aisu]

BGM

Chloé clung desperately to Heljä as the pair wove through the snow-covered pines in pursuit of the assassins that had attacked Cass. Her partner's wild charge had carried them deep into the forest, leaving the rest of the guild far behind... and leaving them at the mercy of the sinister duo. A more experienced Beast Master would have long since thought to dismiss their Contract Beast rather than letting it carry them into danger against their will, but Chloé was hardly experienced. And now she would pay the price.

 

The blonde cried out as Heljä veered abruptly to one side, banking hard and changing directions in order to avoid getting skewered by a sudden volley of silver daggers, hissing as they hurtled through the air towards them. Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk! The weapons buried themselves one after another deep within the bark of a nearby tree, only narrowing missing the pair.

 

Heljä slid to a grinding halt as another deadly salvo of daggers rained down from the heavens, forming a perfect horizontal line in the snow in front of them, barring the way forward. The intimation was painfully clear.

 

"Turn back. You don't die."

 

White-masked, shrouded in inky black robes, Eidolon leaped down from the trees with feral grace, daring them to take another step.

 

"We could just kill her now."

 

The nearby air rippled to reveal Harvest, a nasty smile playing on his lips as he raised his knife towards the girl's pale neck.

 

Heljä roared, lashing out savagely with her forepaws and forcing the assassin to leap out of harm's way with a curse.

 

"Tchh!" he spat, his eyes flashing angrily from the depths of his hood. "So you wanna play rough, huh?"

 

"Have it your way then," Eidolon hissed. "Don't say we didn't warn you."

 

Chloé bit her lip as the pair rippled into invisibility once more, leaving her clueless as to what to do next.

 

Think, think! What did Antoine say about fighting Assassins?!

 

Heljä backed up slowly against a tree, her dark eyes flashing warily from side to side, a deep growl forming in her throat as she sniffed the ground in an attempt to pick up the enemy's scent. Chloé kept her eyes on the trees, watching intently for any movement that would betray the duo's location.

 

"What you can't see... can kill you... Close your eyes."

 

Her memory blossomed suddenly, transporting her back several months in time.

 

"How can you fight something you can't see?" Chloé demanded, pouting in her brother's direction, although she kept her eyes closed. "That doesn't make any sense!"

 

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there," Antoine replied, smiling faintly as he playfully tapped her on the nose, eliciting a cry of surprise and protest. "And if it's there, then you can hit it. You just need to find something big enough for the job. AOE, Chloé. AOE."

 

AOE, AOE... Area of effect.

 

"Time for you to chill out!" Chloé yelled, pulling on her reins once more, a magical hum accompanying her movements as she began to channel energy. "Winter's Breath, RIGHT NOW!"

 

Heljä's jaw dropped open as she rapidly swung her head from side to side with a snarl, expelling waves of super-powered ice breath in a wide swathe in front of them, until the very air seemed to shimmer with frigid mist.

 

"ARGH! You b****! Now you've done it!"

 

A human-shaped silhouette appeared suddenly a few feet away to the left, still technically invisible, but clearly evident to the naked eye, thanks to the thick coating of ice spreading across its upper body and legs. From its wide armor-plated shoulders and its tone of voice, Chloé hazarded a guess that it was Harvest. The figure struggled valiantly to leap into the safety of the trees, to no avail—it was stuck in place, courtesy of the "Frozen"¹ status ailment. And when a target was frozen solid, it became...

 

Brittle.²

 

"Now's our chance!! CHARGE!"

 

[spoiler=Note]1. FROZEN: A status ailment applied to any targets caught within Winter's Breath for 5 seconds or more. Renders the target completely immobile for 10 seconds. Also applies "Brittle."

 

2. BRITTLE: A status ailment applied to targets that are completely frozen solid. Doubles any melee damage taken by the target until it is removed.

 

[spoiler=French Translation]As French-Canadians, Chloé and Antoine are fluent in both English and French. However, they prefer to speak French with each other, as it's the language they grew up speaking at home. Here is the translation of their flashback conversation.

 

"Ce que tu ne vois pas... peut te tuer... Ferme les yeux."

 

"Mais comment suis-je censée me battre contre un truc que je ne vois même pas? Ça n'a aucun sens!"

 

"Ce n'est pas parce que tu ne le vois pas, que ce n'est pas là. Et si c'est là, tu peux le frapper. Il te faut juste quelque chose d'assez grand pour le faire."

 

[Dad]

Suddenly there was a flop on the log beside Brando.  He turned around, pistol in hand, ready to fight off his attacker.  "Who goes--!?  Ah, Do'jherra.  Glad you're alright buddy."

 

"S-So...how you feeling, Brando?"

 

Brando shrugged.  "I'm feelin' a lot o' things, bud.  So much so that I ain't sure what I'm feelin'," Brando admitted.  His emotions were all over the place.  He was angry, afraid, nervous, saddened, and anxious, if he could accurately describe those feelings.  If Macy could describe those feelings.  Just how reckless was she--er, Brando?  Every step he took seemed to be leading the guild into danger.  Twice in one day he had threatened the lives of his fellow guild members.  And he nearly succeeded, with Cass being in the condition she was in.  He truly had to reevaluate the measures he took to prevent loss of life.  Loss of life right now, would be permanent.

 

"I guess I'm just sorta pitiful right now, Do'jherra.  Seein' the mess I caused?  I'm feelin' sorry for myself."  Brando stood up, shaking his legs.  "But, I know good n' dern well that Cass' will gimme a right damn scoldin'.  After that, we go down to get a pint, and let this whole thing blow over.  Right after we rescue the uh, lil' lass in the cavern over there."  Brando pointed his stubby fingers behind Do'jherra, directing them at the cavern they were originally aiming for.  Until "the Bane of Ardrale" showed up.  

 

"Do'jherra," he said looking the Khepura in the eyes.  "Ya did good back there.  Ya put in yer share.  You should be proud o' that.  What's say, when we git back, I give them blades o' yours a good sharpenin', and a nice polish, huh?"

 

Truth be told, Brando valued his guild members highly.  He just needed to do a better job of showing it.  And that was a start.  He could repair weapons and clean them up.  It was the first thing he would do once they got down safely from this snow covered behemoth of a mountain.  Thinking about working on weapons made him smile again.  Brando did love his work.

[bury the year]

Girasol

 

The problem with being a sniper was that things often moved too fast before you could react. Marksmen thrived on slowness, when battles could be planned and foreseen from half a mile away. When events changed so quickly, Girasol admittedly wasn’t the quickest to pick things up.

 

Which was why she was slow to react after the Bane’s leg fell off. Her handiwork was effective, but like too many things in this world, the aftermath unfolded in a blur. Ithaca’s team leader suddenly stumbled and fell over. Girasol saw a dagger jutting out from Cass’ shoulder, poison visibly entering her body. The oracle’s complexion turned pallid, and the faun thought she could hear a life bar rapidly ticking away. A pair of previously-hidden assailants, the obvious source of the weapon, emerged from an invisibility cloak(?) and walked to her, one raising a wicked sword menacingly but the other restraining him. Chloe went off chasing the now-retreating pair deeper into the treelike, less willingly than she'd probably have liked. Stacks was soon to follow, to make sure they didn’t do anything foolish. Melethil had turned his attention towards making sure Case didn’t bite it.

 

“sheet.” A curse passed softly through her lips, incredulity dulled by the suddenness of it all.

 

So of course, that left her and Reebus to clean up the mess. Girasol popped up, brushing the snow from the fur of her legs as she traipsed down the snowy slope. If that damn cat wanted to take all the glory, then by hell was she going to let it happen under any other terms than her own.

 

As she ran down, the sniper readied her rifle, not needing as steady an aim since her target was now mostly immobile. Counting off the seconds in her head, Girasol gathered the memories of darkness that powered Shadowbind, and at the count of 10 (when Kybele was at maximum power), fired.

 

At this distance, the bullet wouldn’t have even missed hit the broad side of a barn had she been spinning in a circle. The Bane jerked itself in the same sensation of binding, straining as before. And just in time, too. The icy attack it was about to unleash was disrupted, the bulk of it going off-course.

 

Girasol smirked, sweat breaking out on her forehead, but this time was different. The reaction wasn’t as immediate and all-encompassing. Cracks of weakness were felt in the beast’s psyche, like clefting in a glacier.

 

She reached out into the shadows, through the grip of her Shadowbind, and squeezed. Tore back at the weakening will of the struggling monster. And this time, she was more successful in her assertiveness. Girasol could feel the monster’s mental flailing weaken as her mana bar dropped. She gritted her teeth.

 

“If one of you is going to finish this thing, do it now. I don’t have all day.” Her voice was still a bit hoarse, but Girasol yelled to make herself clear over the crescendoing chaos. If the Bane was still, it would be a piece of cake for Ithaca to take it down. Once and for all, with any luck.

 

50% and dropping...

[👀 REP 👀]

 

---

 

Lich took a deep breath, continuing to fire off his cursed ghosts, summoning more ghosts between curses. Things seemed to be getting chaotic in the front lines, especially with the non-tank classes taking some of the aggro away from the tank. "I'm starting to wonder if I made the right choice..." He muttered under his breath, shaking his head. Luckily, things started turning for the for the best for them - the huge ice monster was starting to take heavy damage from multiple sources. They had even managed to get the Bane to run away. "We're not done yet! Don't let it ge-" He was interrupted by the shouts of those in the front lines. "Leader down! Leader down! Melethil! The f​uck are you?!" Lichiethro stood there, remembering the incident that happened in his old guild. "Not again..." He muttered, before rushing to Cass.
 
Luckily, by the time he had gotten there, the cleric was already at work, casting heals and cleanses on the injured oracle. He let out a sigh of relief, before turning to where the hulking beast had ran off to. "We can't let that thing get away!" It seemed like he wasn't the only one that thought that, as most of the guild seemed to be just as ready to hunt down their assailants as he was. He turned to Brando, nodding his head. Cass would be fine with him and the Do'j protecting them. He close his eyes as he raised his lantern, snapping his finger. He felt a sudden pain in his chest as he did so - the Blood Ritual was ready to start. As he started summoning skeletons and specters, he could feel his chest burning as his HP bar dropped. 
 

 
He rode a hulking mass of bones - about the size of a Dzu-teh - with surprising speed, catching up to the group. A trail of 6 ghosts followed and surrounded him - he had spent a good portion of his heath preparing. Probably not the wisest thing, but at the moment only rage filled his head. He had arrived a bit late, but not too much - the giant was weakened, and was being ensnared by darkness. “If one of you is going to finish this thing, do it now. I don’t have all day.” No, he wasn't late at all - in fact, he had made it right on time. He aimed his lantern at the Bane, firing one of the ghosts at it, cursing it like he had before. "You're a pain in the as​s, ya know that!?". As he shouted, 5 of the ghosts lunged forward, turning into ghastly projectiles. Out of his lantern, a dark stream shot forward and into the Bane, chaining the necromancer with the beast. "Life Drain!" He shouted, before the shadowy chain started to glow, draining the health of the beast. Hopefully, this would be enough to finish the Bane.

[Ren✧]

Harvest struggled against the ice that had crept over his skin, but it was to no avail; he was trapped. He tried to get Heljä and Chloé within his line of sight, his eyes widened as he saw the Glacial Ice Bear charging at him. He was technically still invisible, but if the ice had trapped him he figured it was thick enough to reveal his location. There wasn't much he could do, except hope that he would survive the next few seconds. Heljä crashed into the assassin, her massive strength immediately throwing him to the ground as her claws dug sliced through the leather armor and bit into the skin below. Harvest cried out in pain, watching his HP drop to almost half. 

 

"Eidolon! Dammit! Help me!"

 

On cue, the masked assassin appeared behind Chloé and Heljä throwing three silver daggers at the pair. These weren't so clumsily aimed as the last set, Eidolon had tried to maximize the damage they would deal on this throw. they weren't exactly fond of Harvest or his bravado, but if he died than they would have to deal with getting a new partner. It would be such a hassle. 

 

After throwing the knives, Eidolon was quick to stay on the move, running into the nearby trees and throwing a couple more knives at the Beast Tamer and her charge. They dashed through the shadows that the forest cast, their cloak almost making them one with the approaching darkness of night. 

 

Chloé and Heljä were so distracted by the constant threat of incoming projectiles that Harvest managed to slip out of their grasp, his <Frozen> status affect wearing off. He seemed more hesitant to approach the two now, but a dangerous light gleamed in his eyes. He wanted revenge. Grabbing a throwing knife from his belt, the weapon glowed green as he threw it at the young blonde and her companion. The knife sailed between Heljä's feet and lodged itself in the ground. The sickly green aura quickly spread from the knife to the area around which it had landed.¹

 

"f***ing b****. I can't wait to kill you and your ugly beast." He threatened, readying his knife. 

 

 

The Bane struggled against its invisible bonds, unable to break them in its current state. The specters collided with the giant, one after another, each leaving a small crater from where they hit it. The Bane could foresee its own demise as it desperately struggled against its bindings, feeling them slowly weaken. However, before it even had a chance of escape, a black chain made of magic tore through its icy shell. Cracks spiraled out from where it had been hit, spreading dangerously. There was more of the giant's body that was fractured than there wasn't. 

 

With a final tortured scream, The Bane began to crumble completely. It was slow at first, a piece followed by another would fall from the giant, and then it was all at once. The creature shattered completely, leaving nothing in its wake but a pile of shards, a reminder of where it had once stood and where it had fallen. ²

 

 

Cass thanked Melethil for his service, her health fully restored. The nauseating feeling that had accompanied the assassin's dagger was beginning to dissipate and she was beginning to feel capable once more. Looking around, her heart immediately began to beat faster as she realized that most of Ithaca was missing. Where had they gone? To try and finish off The Bane or to confront her attackers? Neither sounded like a good idea to her, both unnecessarily risky. 

 

"Mel, where are the others?" She asked. As soon as she did she caught sight of the huge tracks in the snow, no doubt left by Heljä. They were leading into the forest. "Oh God, Chloé no." 

---

[spoiler=OOC]

¹<Scorpion Nest>: The user imbues a throwing knife with mana and throws it at the ground. The area within 10 feet of where the knife landed becomes poisoned and any hostile that steps into the area is affected by a weak poison that reduces their health by 3% of their Max HP for 10 seconds and reduces their mana by 1% of their Max Mana for 10 seconds. After 10 seconds, the poisoned area returns to normal. These poison status affects stack at the start of every 3 second interval that the afflicted is in the area. 

² When looting The Bane of Adrale one will find: 

• 15 crafting samples of Immutable Ice (you may also be able to find samples small enough to collect from the trail of shards left in the wake of its last breath attack)
• 
  
• 800 Crescents
• 
  
• Heart of the Bane (a heart made out of ice)  (Ultra Rare)
• 
  

Also each member of Ithaca just leveled up upon killing The Bane. 

 

Some of you may not feel like you can post (those that are left behind with Cass), so if you really can't get enough material together feel free to wait. Or, continue interactions. 

 

 

[VCR_CAT]

Stacks4Daze

 

Stacks slowed down as she entered the forest, having to dodge and weave between too many trees and making sure not to run into anything. The evidence of Herja running through the woods was clear, and she left an obvious trail, but every second that passed that Stacks wasn't able to see anyone made her worry even more. Stacks had to keep reminding herself, that if it's still a trail, then that doesn't mean they got her. She could still be alive.

 

Stacks weaved between a tree, stopping to listen. For the longest 20 seconds of her life, Stacks heard only her breathing, until finally she heard Herja roar. It was loud, and crystal clear. They couldn't be far. Stacks turned and ran in the direction of the noise, stopping and ducking behind a tree once she caught sight of what was going on. Chloe was in trouble; one of the assassins was ducking and weaving through the trees, maintaining a constant stream of knives thrown in Chloe's direction. Meanwhile, it looked like one of them had managed to place a trap directly below Herja. She was in trouble, and Stacks had to act quickly.

 

"f***ing b****. I can't wait to kill you and your ugly beast," the one assassin said aloud, readying his knife.

 

Stacks got closer to where Chloe and the first assassin were, position herself so that she had a direct line of sight at the gap between the two. Neither assassin had noticed that they had a new guest yet, and Stacks thanked the stars for the noise and distraction that a giant polar bear creates. Stacks cast Sunwall, a pillar of flames firing out in front of her, burning a wall between the assassin and Chloe. The latest volley of knives that were thrown got caught in the flames, incinerating as they passed into the heat. The wall wouldn't be up forever, but Stacks only needed enough time while the other one with his knife out was cut off from his friend.

 

Stacks approached the lone assassin, sword blazing and shield in hand, getting close enough by the time that he saw her. In the shade of the forest, Stacks's face was illuminated by the glowing flames of the Dragon's Nail, flickering across a face glaring daggers sharper than any knife the assassin had ever held in his life.

 

"You stay the hell away from my friend," Stacks growled, taking a wide swing at the assassin and forcing him to stumble backwards to avoid Stacks's blade. Stacks's voice was quiet, she wasn't screaming at the assassin. Yet, each word carried a weight and fierceness that made one wish Stacks was screaming instead. Stacks continued to press closer on the assassin, swing after swing of her sword and refusing to give him a chance to recover. "You're not getting away, JABRONI. Not in one piece."

[Mr. Hyde]

 

"It's about God damn time..." Reebus sneered as both Girasol and Lichithero both had joined him, deciding to deal minute amounts of damage to the Bane.  With a couple of howls, the Bane finally crumpled into a massive pile of ice.  The danger that they had faced had now subsided, along with the freezing gale that surrounded the icy behemoth.  Reebus finally walked over to the glorified ice cubes that had made up the hulking beast to claim his right.  After all, he was the one who had done the most damage to it in the first place.  Reebus' act was nothing short of a miracle...but for him it was Tuesday.

 

Reebus rummaged through the loot to find immutable ice, 800 crescents, and an Ultra Rare Item.  Reebus' grinned when he saw the colored text of the item.  

 

"Heart of the Bane..." He purred, grabbing it and placing it into his inventory.  He could care less about the ice, but 800 crescents would surely be spread among the group...him getting his fare share of it.  "What does one do with immutable ice anyway?"  Reebus said, crouched over, inspecting the remainder of the Bane's loot.  "Scrabble for the remains amongst yourselves.  I have claimed what is indeed mine."  With that, Reebus made his way back towards the remainder of his guild.  He scratched the back of his head while passing the caster, and sniper.

 

"It would have taken me longer to take the beast down without your help...I guess I should thank you for that."  Reebus turned his head, with a cheeky smile.  "But I won't.  Nyohohohoho!"