Legends of Divinity IC
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| Author | Topic: Legends of Divinity IC |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Wednesday, May 16 2007 08:10
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In about twice the time it would take to normally heal a human, James healed Serena's wounds. As Serena returned to consciousness, she shouted, "Where is he?! I'll kill him!" "Not bloody likely," James said to Serena, "Kesh is quite possibly the most powerful and dangerous life creationist in history. Not that you'll get a chance any time soon. He's already left and took my request for a truce with him to Minoko." Serena punched James in the face, stood up, and shouted, "How dare you get between me and my vengeance?! I should kill you for that!" Much to Serena's surprise, she soon found herself being slapped by James. In a very scary booming, demonic voice, James said, "Don't make me laugh. I could easily kill you at my slightest whim, you egotistical fool." As he said this he threw in fiery eyes gimmick and conjured an energy ball for effect. "Now, I want you to stop acting like a spoiled brat and act like you have some damn sense," James continued. Serena just stared at James, unsure of what to say to him, except for "DIE!" as she blasted him with an energy ball. Unlike before, James just stood there and took it. Just before it hit him, the energy ball just fizzled out. "Magic resistance, huh," Serena said, "then how about this!" Serena then conjured a green version of her energy ball and threw it at James. The ball hit and just dissipated. "You know, they have stuff to protect someone from acid," James said with a smile, "pity that that is the only way you have to overcome magic resistance. If it wasn't, then that energy ball would actually hurt some." Serena created another energy ball and threw it at James, this time actually damaging him. "Ow, that bloody hurt," James, "what the hell was that?!" "Oh, I figured out how to overcome magic resistance a long time ago," Serena replied with a smile, "I was just doing that to mess with you and get you to just stand there for that attack. Hurts, don't it." "Well, I'm officially impressed," James said, "But you should seriously get your priorities straight. The world's going to be destroyed and we're the only ones trying to stop it. Kesh Torahn is the least of your concerns." "I suppose you're right," responded Serena, "Besides, it's not like I'm going to die of old age any time ever, so I guess I've got plenty of time to get vengeance on my enemies." ***Meanwhile at the underground lair*** "What do you mean they're repossessing everything," Minoko shouted angrily at a random underling. "I'm sorry ma'am, but Rent-A-Center says that your contract is up and they don't want to renew it," the underling replied in a timid voice. "But those items were 'rent to own'," Minoko shouted angrily, "Go find Joshua, I've got some suing to do." As she said this Minoko felt someone tapping on her shoulder. She turned and saw Kesh, holding what appeared to be a letter. Without a word, he handed it to her and left. Minoko opened the letter and read it over. She then promptly set it on fire with a table lighter as it was being hauled off by some guy in a Rent-A-Center jumpsuit. "Well, now we're getting somewhere," Minoko thought to herself, "this could definitely work to my advantage. Not sure how yet, but I'll come up with something." [ Wednesday, May 16, 2007 08:40: Message edited by: Bandit Keith ] -------------------- "I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand." Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Wednesday, May 16 2007 12:21
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Fourty and Vizoth teleported to the middle of the Forsaken camp. Everything was packed up, but no one was moving to leave. Talsh sighed in relief. "See? I told you he'd be back." "I take it everyone is willing to follow me to the Haunted Forest?" Fourty asked. "I'm not sure reminding them that it's the Haunted Forest is the most inspiring thing to do," Vizoth whispered. Talsh looked around. "Most people are. It was one of the harder decisions we've ever made. Several people are reluctant, especially Bucklar, but we have to stick together." "Right!" Toby said. Bev bleated in agreement. Fourty looked around. "Where is Bucklar?" "Well, he's, um..." Talsh looked around the camp again. "He's gone." Meeka said, pointing to a set of footprints leading away from camp, "I don't know how long he's gone, but it looks like he's headed straight for Mannik. The holy army will know we're headed for the Haunted Forest sooner or later and will try to cut us off." "G... gone? But... but... no! He's gone... he's gone..." Talsh muttered. "What are you all waiting for? Move!" Rab yelled, "Come on, get your packs on!" The Forsaken scurried about, putting on packs and making sure nothing was left behind. Vizoth took Bucklar's abandoned pack wordlessly and stood next to Fourty. Within five minutes, they were on the march. Several hours later, Rab called for a brief rest. He was breathing heavily, having just helped push the cart out of a rut. "Another fifteen minute break, and then we'll move again. Drink some water and eat a little bit. I know it's been a long day already, and that we don't usually travel nearly so hard or fast, but we have no other choice. If all goes well, it's only an hour to an hour and a half to the Haunted Forest." Many people had already thrown off their packs and collapsed with a sigh of relief before Rab had finished speaking. "My feet are killing me!" "My old bones aren't up to this sort of activity any more." "My pack is so heavy." "It could be worse. At least you were on your own two feet, instead of being jostled in the wagon all day." An elderly woman looked over the back of the wagon. "And with her!" She pointed to Noname, who giggled and crawled out of the wagon. Fourty scanned the horizon idly. Being immortal, the march hadn't tired him at all, but he knew that some of the Forsaken were utterly exhausted and the rest tired. Vizoth sat slumped over on his pack with his sandals off. "Tired?" Fourty asked. Vizoth nodded. "I've gone soft. This would have been nothing back during the days when I was a member of the holy army." "You were part of the army?" Fourty asked quietly, "Why did you change your mind?" "I helped put down the rebellion. I have blood on my hands." "So you're helping the Forsaken to redeem yourself?" Fourty asked. Then he stared towards the city and stiffened. "Yes, I... what's wrong?" Vizoth asked. "The army. They're coming. I don't know if we can make it," Fourty said. Rab had been listening in. Now he jumped up. "Break's over. Get up. We're moving again. Now!" "But..." "No buts! Get off the ground and get your pack on!" Rab grabbed a shaft of the wagon to help the others at the wagon out. Fourty secretly examined the wagon and made adjustments. It would run much lighter and smoother now and get caught on things less. The Forsaken were on the move. Fourty walked in the back, constantly checking the army's progress. They were gaining ground quickly. --- Edit: Dikiyoba can't keep names straight. [ Monday, May 21, 2007 17:23: Message edited by: Dikiyoba ] Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 6670
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 06:20
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... And thus the Five did travel to the great mountains; the River, the Throne, the Justicar, the Keeper of Lore, and the Forsaken Lord. They did ascend the Endless Stair, and viewing all of Kalandha there the Five together did call a Godsmoot. And as moths are drawn to a flame, so many of the Gods did travel to Angel’s Pinnacle in one accord. There above Kalandha they did sequester themselves, and did turn away their attention from its affairs for a time. So all of Kalazar and beyond did fall on their knees as one and did beseech the Gods to return, for the Fell Lord and his dark throng were becoming victorious in their war against Kalandha. And so it came to be that just when the fiends did surround mighty Kirwood itself, the supplication of its people did reach the Pinnacle, and the Gods did return to wage battle against the Fell Lord. There within Kirwood itself they did cast him down to whence he came, and together they did weave a great enchantment to ensorcel him there forevermore. And thus the Five did remain thereafter near Kalazar, to watch over the Seal they did create... -------------------- Looking up from the aged book, Ashataro yawned and rubbed his eyes. The tallow candle next to him needed replacing; its faltering light caused the shadows of the cramped study to shift about in a lurid dance. He withdrew a replacement from his overcoat and lit it before returning his gaze to the tome before him. His search at the Citizen’s Library had been unsuccessful; apparently, the book had been on loan to the library at Narrow Creek for quite some time. After discovering this, Ashataro had proceeded to the local monastery of his order. After convincing the seneschal that he was a senior member of the order, he was granted access to the closed studies for the day. Interpreting the books proved to be of little difficulty: the code they used nowadays was barely modified from the Zsarim code used back in the days of the Academy of Thought. He had seen similar accounts before; tales of elder gods and accounts of their exploits, passed down orally for centuries before being recorded in crumbling books. Ashataro didn’t know how much of the histories could be trusted: most were filled with misleading allegory or focussed solely on the feats of one god at the exclusion of others. The volume lying before him appeared to be one of the few he had seen where the contents had been compiled within a century after the events. In any case, it was much more coherent than most other accounts he had perused. Ashataro leaned back and propped his head up with a hand. Godsmoot. Wouldn’t that be convenient? It was hard enough to talk to new gods for his treatise, let alone get a group of them together. It seemed each and every one constantly spent their time attempting to increase their influence in the mortal realm. It was a sorry situation, and a vicious circle if Meletricia’s theory was true. A hue and cry had been raised in Zsarim academic circles those centuries ago when the seneschal of the Academy had proposed that the deities’ powers stemmed directly from their followers, yet now her belief was widespread. It certainly made sense: powerful gods and masses of followers invariably accompanied each other. Ashataro often wondered how much it applied to him. His followers had certainly dwindled over the past two and a half centuries. In the end, though, it didn’t matter. Nothing truly productive ever came from him exercising his divine might. A sudden thump rocked the building, and Ashataro barely caught the candle before it fell atop the book. Blowing it out, he staggered to the main foyer of the monastery and caught the sleeve of the seneschal as he backed away from one of the windows. “What is it?” “The gods,” the man replied; his creased face gone pale. “They fight atop the roofs in Joth.” Ashataro tilted his head for a moment before responding. “They seem to have stopped. Besides, I doubt they have plans to attack this cloister, if they even have the power to do so.” “Of course they have the power,” the seneschal responded, his attention still diverted to the window facing Joth. “I’m not some godless man from the Republic.” If only, Ashataro thought as he made his way to the monastery’s double doors. If only. Posts: 1509 | Registered: Tuesday, January 10 2006 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 09:34
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"You're holiness," the Oracle said, "that associate of yours from earlier, Avin, seems to be under attack near that Silros guy." "Who's doing attacking him," James inquired. "Some crazy woman," the Oracle replied, "I've never seen her before. However, that Silros guy seems to be making a move to protect Avin, so I'm not sure how serious the situation really is." "Where's Yumi," James asked. "I'll check," the Oracle replied. Within moments, the Oracle answered with, "near that area playing with some children." "Tell her to head over that way and help out as needed," James commanded, "even if there's no fighting left and things are under control, I can most likely score some points with Silros by sending him assistance." Suddenly, images of what appeared to be a necromancer entering the gates of Kirkwood at an alarming pace flashed in his mind. James ordered the observer to get in closer and relay what was being said between the guard and the necromancer. Nothing too interesting was said, but it was clear that the necromancer was lying about why he was there. By this point, there had already been countless seedy people who had entered the city that James never bothered to investigate too heavy, but this one seemed to grab his attention for some reason. Upon further observation by the various observers of his, James soon found out why the individual was there. He was looking for James. Since his normal teleportation was entirely too flashy, James cast a teleportation spell to appear behind that individual. James then grabbed the necromancer from behind and dragged him into an ally. "Tell me what you want with James," James demanded in a highly intimidating voice. "I need to give him a message from my master," the man replied. "And who might that be," James inquired. "Why should I tell you anything," the necromancer shouted. "If you want to still be more than a pile of nothingness, then I suggest you co-operate. Besides, it does do much good if you are destroyed before delivering your message," responded James. "Very well, I shall tell you," the man said, "I am to tell him that my master, Seoth, has been hurt badly in a recent attack and requests your assistance. "Seoth, huh. That guy is such a pain." James said, "I suppose it's worth checking out." With that said, James teleported himself and the necromancer to the just outside of Seoth's lair. "What the hell!? Where are we," the necromancer said. "Oh, I took you back to your master's place. I would've taken you inside, but meh, I wanted to see what to threat is first. Good luck getting to safety," James replied as he released the man. He didn't get very far before being completely engulf in flames. James teleported beside the woman and said, "You know, that was a perfectly good messenger you killed. Those are really hard to find. In fact the difficulty of finding a good messenger is surprisingly proportional to how much magic it would take to improve your appearance. I'm told that you have a problem with Seoth. If that's the case, I might be able to help you, if you would like." -------------------- "I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand." Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4248
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 11:12
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"No-one works to create a hell; that's against the nature of all life, biological or not. No, everyone works to create their own little paradises. And we'd be much better off remembering that." - Alwatan the Illusionist, a great thinker and magician of his time. As one might guess, he was executed of heresy. His soul was more than happy to serve in the ranks of Geltor's demon army... --- Seventy-nine years ago: Tuoni stared at the portal with disgust. How long it had been since they found it? One thousand years? Must be closer to two now he pondered grimly and sat on a small rock that handily popped out of nowhere. Being a god did have some benefits, afterall. Of all their inventions, hell was possibly the worst one. Tuoni and his kin had stumbled upon it while seeking new worlds for the first time. It was a barren and hostile place, barely capable of sustaining few, less developed lifeforms, let alone humans. Still, gods had decided to use it as a dumping place for unwanted mortals and backfired creations. There they would lie, suffering horribly, and even after death they couldn't leave, as there was nobody to let their souls out... Well, at least the Gatekeeper is happy, Tuoni pondered and a twisted smile crept on his face. Afterall, he had been Tuoni's own creation 1). He was the essence of hell, focused to a (somewhat) physical form. He watched the other side of the gate, deciding who could leave and who would stay inside according to his whim. Many times, Tuoni had pondered about destroying the gate to hell once and for all, and releasing the souls from their torment. But nowadays, it was impossible; Gatekeeper had gone rogue, and now watched after hell with little concern for gods' opinions. Without his co-operation, the gate could never be closed, let alone destroyed. Of course, Tuoni could simply alter the flow of life in Kalandha and stop sending souls to hell... but to that the Gatekeeper would probably react by releasing the demonkind to pester Tuoni and his world. He had done so in the past, and was probably doing something similar even as Tuoni was pondering about what to do about it... Many of the other gods were greatly concerned about the situation. Heck, many more gods would have been concerned about it, if they just had opened their freakin' eyes for two seconds. But, like always, they were more interested in their own schemes than end of the world. "I might even be happy if this world ended", Tuoni muttered and rose up. White roses on the ground dodged his pale feet as he walked away from the gate. He still had one more thing to do before resuming his hunt... --- A long distance away (238,850 miles to be exact), Tuoni rematerialized infront of bald, yet remarkably handsome, old man. "What the hell are you doing here? I told you to stay away!" the man shouted, after reluctantly turning his eyes off from a huge telescope. "Hello, Louis. Or should I call you the Moon nowadays?" Tuoni replied, smiling sadly. "Still looking for new worlds?" Man-in-the-Moon did not like his words that much... "Looking for? I'm look Straight at them! The damned sky is filled with them! And, as you're a god as well, you should be perfectly aware of that!" Louis raged, stomping the barren ground with his feet. "I do not like it when one of you idiots comes to distrupt my research!" Tuoni was slightly amused by his, eh, friend's words. "Idiot" fit most of Kalandha's gods perfectly; they wasted their powers in petty conflicts about popularity or wealth, despite the fact that those things did little good to them 2). Besides few expections, like the gods of knowledge, few were interested in using their abilities towards any meaningfull goal, such as seeking to understand the multiverse better. Despite their incredible perception, only so many gods were even aware there was a world outside Kalandha. "Calm down!" Tuoni commanded. His booming voice shut Louis up... for a while, at least. "I am not here to mock you, I'm here to help you! Do you hear me? For once, someone's actually interested in your work!" Louis stared at Tuoni for a moment, sighed, and then summoned a chair on which to sit upon. "Sorry", he muttered and buried his face in his palms. "It's just that the younger gods keep getting on my nerves. The new god of alchemy, for example, has turned out to be a complete failure. Damn it, I told him that turning lead to gold will just collapse the market!" "You forgot to remind him that giving immortality to humans is unfeasible as well", Thone replied, smiling. Louis lifted his head and looked back. "Well, it certainly hasn't worked for us!" he said, and then continued with a more serious tone. "I should've never given that position away. Should've realized he can't cope with the responsibility..." Tuoni didn't really hear the last part os Louis's words; his mind was still stuck on the word "immortal". Back on Kalandha, any supernatural creature with even half a brain quickly claimed itself immortal. The whole concept was so majorly screwed up, it made Tuoni want to vomit. He remembered how he and his brethren had announced themselves immortal; most were dead now. Tuoni had personally guided their souls to afterlife. And, deep inside, he knew he would soon step through those gates himself... "...and so that dimwit caused the destruction of the whole city. And now they're even talking that Saluc is coming back. Yeah, like we need a brainless god of senseless destruction. The world is bad enough as is", Louis concluded his speech and took a sip of coffee from a cup he had conjured up just a moment ago. "You are right", Tuoni replied. "If there was some way of limiting the amount of gods in Kalandha, I'd do anything to do it." "But there isn't, and that's the problem!" Louis snarled. "With any other lifeform, once the population gets big enough, famine and internal conflicts begin cutting the excess..." He was cut short by a sudden laughter from Tuoni's part. "Don't worry", he said, after getting his lauhter under control, "The cycle of nature touches us gods as well." "It does?" Louis asked, mildy confused, taking another sip of coffee. "Yes. And I'm afraid you'll have to witness the circle completing itself for the first time", Tuoni answered. His moment of joy had already passed, and now he was more serious than ever. "However, it is not why I am here. So, will you show me your new findings...?" --- "A supernatural tyrant is a tyrant nonetheless." - Mangroankeen the Rebel --- Back in the present day, whatever that means: Inside Geltor, Mangroankeen resumed his old musings. Long he had waited for his second chance to be granted, and now it was here. However, he wasn't satisfied. There was something wrong with Geltor, his old second-in-command. Geltor's soul had been the first to be sent to hell. He had been an example to all other mortals, as of what would happen to those who would disobey the will of gods. Once inside hell, Geltor had changed, mutated; he had attained powers unreachable to other mortals, and in those powers Mangroankeen had seen the potential of saving mankind. Mangroankeen had saved him, and used his changed blood to give those powers to others 3). He had given ordinary man the ablity to fight back, to free the world from the opression of gods... ...and he had failed. Inside Geltor, he could feel a mad desire to rule the world, to turn it to another hell. Over a thousand years, Mangroankeen had waited to see the surface again. He would not tolerate someone spoiling it. He would need to deal with Geltor... but not yet. Gods, being more numerous and dangerous, would be the first concern. Revenge was so close, he could not afford to lose his chance because of petty disagreement... I will return this world into what it was before us, Mangroankeen swore. But would he be able to do that? Thousand years in hell leave a mark. Time distorts memories and perceptions, and although he could not realize it at the time, his goals and Geltors goals, were exactly the same... --- Somewhere, a messenger angel felt the emergence of the evil overlords. This is not good, she pondered and hurried to warn all gods she could think of. Demon's favorite way of fighting is deception and ambush. Only by removing the advantage of surprise from him would the weaker gods of Kalandha stand a change against him. The bigger ones already knew, and they would soon send the demon back to hell where it belonged. Or so the angel hoped... Somewhere, the new god of death was picking souls from jackdaws, completely unaware of the rest of the world... --- On a higher plane of existence, a certain being stirred. It had guarded the world of Kalandha almost since the beginning of time, and it had had the privilege to witness every step life had taken on it. A brief moment ago, something special had happened: the children of the being had, after a long, long wait, ascended from simple humanity and become something more. That occasion had filled it with great pride and joy; however, now it wasn't happy. Instead of seeking out other gods, other worlds, and becoming part of the great pantheon, its children were now quarreling with each other because of petty differences, using their vast powers for their own good instead of the good of the world and the multiverse. Balance, if there had ever been such thing upon Kalandha, had been lost. The being saw this, and decided, despite all of its orders, to act. One month. That much time it would give to its children to find a peacefull solution, or foreign gods willing to help enter the world. After that, it would cut Kalandha off from the rest of existence; only few, close realms and planets would stay in contact with it. The being had tolerated immaturity of its children long enough; either they'd finally establish a balanced cycle of divinity, or die trying. The decision was a hard one, but deep inside, it knew it had to be done... 1) There are still many religions down on Kalandha who believe Tuoni and the Gatekeeper are the same person. No-one knows why, although most likely it's a historical misunderstanding. 2) Even while he pondered about these things, Tuoni knew he was only half right. Those gods who did not incarnate potent forces of nature, such as the Moon and death, were very much dependent on their followers to supply them with strength and longevity. However, many of those dependent deities could still be equal in power to the non-dependent, Tuoni's brother, Sliros, being perhaps the best example. 3) Including himself. However, Mangroankeen had greater strenght and knowledge as a mortal, and thus he was able to exceed Geltor in power as a demon. Whether he's still more powerfull is a good guestion, but also a pretty insignificant one. -------------------- I have nothing more to do in this world, so I can go & pester the inhabitants of the next one with a pure concscience. Posts: 617 | Registered: Tuesday, April 13 2004 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 5360
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 12:10
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Krasonva screamed in fury at James. "DEMON!!!" echoed for miles. She lashed out at him with her flaming soul. Unlike normal fire, her fire was the fire of purity, and it hurt demons the most. Startled, James didn't have time to defend himself and was hit. His skin bubbled where she struck, and he was sent reeling backwards. "No, I used to be a demon. Now I-" James was frantic. Krasonva didn't pay any attention, just screamed and shot fire. She hit him repeatedly, and would have killed anything but a god after the first strike. Yelling, James fled. Krasonva resumed her place upon the apex of the dome and continued screaming and gushing magma. -------------------------------------------------- Seoth stirred in his sleep. He woke with a start, and remembered Krasonva. He immediately summoned his commanders and went to the briefing room. "Alright, mages. The god currently (and vainly) trying to pierce our dome is incredibly powerful, especially against demons. If we can get her to notice them, she could probably take care of them for us. Of course, we would have to deal with her later, as she hates undead almost as much. We can probably enlist the aid of the other gods for that part. Lauraziel might even be able to cure her of her insanity, if we can get it through to her. I would highly prefer that we don't kill her. After that, we can finally begin to focus on Geltor and Makroangkeen. I know that at least some gods will help us there. Now that I'm not weakened anymore, we don't have to hold the pretense of friendship to him. Any questions on the overall plan?" There was an all-around shaking of skulls. "Good. Now, which gods should we first focus on allying with?" Several suggestions went around. Eventually, they narrowed it down to James, Sliros, Marras, and Noric. "Alright. I believe that our best bet here is Sliros. He's probably set up alliances with other gods already, even if we haven't gotten along well. James is for some reason against us, Marras is currently ignorant of the whole situation, and Noric, while he did agree to be my temporary student, isn't very powerful as of yet. He hasn't even met me here yet. Hopefully, we can repair the damage wrought by our hostile dealings before his sleep." "Now, onto the specifics. We are currently understaffed. We haven't raised any servantts yet, and not all of the necromancers that have arrived have been turned into liches. I need all of you to compile all of you knowledge of everything into a library. A magical library. One room, filled with many copies of the same magical book. It will open to whatever page you're looking for. Now, Zeva. . ." The meeting would drag on for hours. [ Thursday, May 17, 2007 12:12: Message edited by: Dr. Allen McGregory, Necromancer ] -------------------- May the fires of Undeath burn in your soul, and consume it. Posts: 1636 | Registered: Wednesday, January 5 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 7298
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 12:21
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Once a god makes his alter in the patheon it cannot be destroyed -exerts from The Lore of the Gods ----------------------------------------------- Geltor had awaited this day a long time. It was time to finsh something that Mangroankeen had tried to do but had failed a long time ago. Geltor teleported to a dusty grim covered block in the center of Patheon. It sat unfinshed and forgotten. Prehaps had it been finished the gods might have know what it was but as it is they did not know any better. Geltor approachs the alter as most of the people in the patheon fled. Geltor exrect a sheild preventing them from leaveing. He wanted them to see and hear, to spread fear among those loyal to the gods and hope to those who hated them. Geltor then starts chanting and a infero engulfs the long forgotten stone block. Geltor starts channting and the stone morphs, twists, and blackens. Into he channeled the essences of what it was to be a demon. Suddenly a huge beam of dark energy shot upwards out of the alter. The beam punchs through the ceiling it announces to the world its formation. The beam dispates. Geltor"To those who wish to fight the gods denouce the gods before this alter and you will be granted to power to fight them, the power of a demon." Geltor teleport away and his sheild at the exit dispated, leaveing a lot of fighten peasents. The alter was a simple black obsidian stone from it radiated a dark energy. It was a simple block on it was written in demon text Denouce the gods and by an offering of blood you will be made into a demon ------------------------------------------------- Geltor was back at the demon base. Geltor"Coutal, I sense Seoth is under attack go to him and see if we can use that to to our advantage." Coutal bows and leaves off. Soradin "Geltor, Surely you don't trust Seoth.Do you?" Geltor "No I don't that is merly a feeler to find out his allegeainces. If he is my enemy I want to know now. If for some unlikey reason he is still my ally we will need to help him if not we will need to crush him." [ Thursday, May 17, 2007 13:29: Message edited by: Lord Safey ] -------------------- A rock has weight whether you admit it or not Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 5814
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 14:14
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Cassius woke up and saw a bleary outline which resembled Kuberr; he was slapping Cassius gently. Barbados was peering over Kuberr's shoulder. Cassius looked around, and saw they were in one of the many residences that had been seized when most of the financial leaders of the city were evicted. But it hurt to turn his head, and he sank back onto the bed he was lying on. "Oh, hell." He groaned. Kuberr laughed. "You're telling me. While you've been napping, the Harath priests have been going wild. Half want you out, half want a meeting, and half think they should summon another golem." Cassius stared at Kuberr with one eye; the other remained closed. "That adds up to one and a half. I would have thought you at least could do basic calculations." With a shrug, Kuberr answered, "Yes, but the groups aren't exclusive. Some, for example, want to meet you while at the same time raising another golem." Cassius shook his head and closed his eyes. --- A huge sort of funnel had been constructed on top of a high tower just for the use of Cassius. It rotated, and at one end had a hole approximately the size of a mouth. He pointed it at a marketplace and shouted, "Loyal and good citizens of Mannik! Followers of Harath! This is my city! Get out!" Heads turned quizzically and squads of guards started trooping toward the tower. Cassius went down to meet them. His own guards refused and prevented entry to all comers unless Cassius deemed them worthy, and he only allowed the highest-ranking ones to enter. --- A temporary council had been set up, and consisted of those Harath priests who had been brave enough to enter the tower. Cassius was now alone with them, but was not worried. Some were watching him with worry, others with curiosity. Some looked on with hate, others fear. He began speaking. "So. I have called into session this conference to determine the future of this city. It is, quite frankly, no longer under your control. It is mine for the taking. However, I am not a greedy man; you will continue to operate the public services, spread your faith, and manage the courts." He sneered. "What will now be under my control are the defenses of the city and political relations with other states. Your militant wings will disband and surrender their arms." A bulky man in pure white robes and silver bracelets stood up. He was bright red. "This is ridiculous. You cannot hope to fight us, and you cannot hope to run this city. The people would rise against you, and I would lead them! The Thermian order has for years safeguarded this city; it is our heritage, and our right. We will not be ousted by some deranged aberration like yourself, and without a war." Cassius raised an eyebrow. "A Thermian? Then I presume you are Cannidos, the senior member of your order in wake of your golem's killing spree? The same Cannidos who ordered its creation, and who is directly responsible for the significant damge it has caused?" He knew for a fact that this was Cannidos, but he liked to be theatrical. "Yes, well, I made a mistake," Cannidos fired back. "You, on the other hand, would willingly plunge this city into darkness and anarchy. We must have order, and law must prevail, to ensure civilization itself does not collapse." He bared his teeth. "If the purpose of this meeting is simply for you to dictate terms to us, I think you will find that you have not yet won the war. I will leave now." He stood, and others followed. In total, about a third. Cassius looked around. "Then I suppose the rest of you either believe that this separation of power could help, or you believe that you no longer hold control over what I ask anyway. But at least I can count on you to not actively work against me." Some murmured quietly, and other remained silent and still. "Good. Then it is settled. Those who wish to see a better Mannik, who wish to see Mannik continue to exist at all, are represented here." Under his breath, Cassius muttered, "And Cannidos shall fall." -------------------- quote: Posts: 1115 | Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 14:37
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The Haunted Forest was in plain sight now, but so was the holy army of Harath. The Forsaken were traveling as fast as they could, dead tired and yet driven on by panic. Rab had shouted himself hoarse, giving encouragement and urging everyone on. He was the only reason people hadn't thrown off their packs and fled, leaving the less able to fend for themselves. "Fourty, we're not going to make it. They've spread out and begun to encircle us. We're going to be trapped. And if they don't intend to capture us, we're almost within arrow range. What do we do?" Vizoth asked. "I am aware of that. And I am prepared." Fourty said, more calmly than he felt. Ready? Yes! The angrier and more reckless spirits had control over the wolves now. Fourty could sense them, eager to charge, to kill. Good. Fourty turned to Vizoth. "I will be back shortly. Don't let the Forsaken falter now." "But..." Vizoth sighed. Fourty was gone again. Fourty reappeared next to the commander and standard bearer, marching in formation. The black banner rippled in the breeze, making the white wolf on it appear to run. "Call the attack off." Fourty said. Only when he spoke did the captain notice him. His reaction was instantaneous. He drew his sword and buried it in Fourty. Fourty winced but stood steady. "Call... the attack... off." He pulled the sword out and placed his hands over the wound. The wound quickly healed. "Harath... is gone. You have no justification for this. Any killing you do today is murder." Fourty was surrounded by angry soliders with their weapons drawn on all sides, but he had only distracted one small section of the army. The rest were still marching. "Who are you?" the commander asked. He raised a hand. The archers aimed their bows at Fourty and the rest of the soldiers backed off. "Last chance. Call the attack off." Fourty said calmly, preparing to teleport away. The sword thrust had been bad enough; he didn't intend to get stuck with arrows. The commander dropped his hand. The archers fired. But the arrows buried themselves in the ground; Fourty was marching next to Vizoth again. Now! Fourty ordered. The wolves charged out of the forest, snarling and baying. The Forsaken's march ground to a halt, and they cried out in terror. "Wolves! Wolves! Harath's symbol! We're doomed!" "Now what?" "We never should have followed him in the first place." The speaker pointed at Fourty accusingly. "They are not coming for us," Fourty said flatly, "Keep moving." "You want us to move towards something that's coming to kill us?" "I said, they're not coming for us!" Fourty bellowed. Suddenly, the standard bearer screamed as she threw down the banner. It had burst into flame. The soldiers had cheered when they saw the wolves. But their elation faded as quickly as it came. The wolves veered away from the Forsaken and tore into the soldiers. The Forsaken stumbled toward the forest again. The soldiers not fending off the wolves wavered, torn between following orders and the portents in front of them. Things might have gone either way when there was a massive explosion. Everyone stopped and looked around. Smoke rose from the direction of Mannik. "Back to the city! Back to the city!" the commander ordered. One of the soldiers stepped forward as the rest marched off and shouted at the Forsaken. "Heretics! Traitors! Rebels! Demons! Whatever you are, this is only a temporary escape! We will be back for you!" Several wolves lunged for him. "Stop! Let them go!" Fourty commanded. The wolves halted and the soldiers fled back towards Mannik. The Forsaken halted at the edge of the forest, unwilling to step into it. Vizoth leaned close to Fourty. "Did you recognize that soldier?" "No. Should've I?" "Never mind. What's happening back in the city?" "Cassius," Fourty hissed, "Get everyone into the forest and settled down. I'm going to have a talk with him." --- In Mannik, Fourty made himself invisible and walked through what was once the marketplace. The carnage was terrible. He shuddered. Whatever had come through here had destroyed everything and everyone it could. Fourty began to doubt that Cassius was responsible for it. But then what was? There were still several people left alive in the wreckage. Fourty could sense their presence, hear their cries of pain. He was so tired, but he didn't have time to rest. He was needed now, not later. Cassius probably wouldn't like it, but Fourty didn't care. He began sorting through the wreckage for survivors, gently removing them from the debris and healing their most critical injuries. The work was incredibly draining but Fourty had to do it. He was the only one in the area who could. That knowledge gave him the strength to keep going. --- Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 7298
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 19:59
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In the flame world the demons were busy constructing seige weapons. Those few that had been smiths as humans were now busy forgeing weapons out of the ore stolen from the mine. Those who use to be crafts men and mages where working on devices for all manner of uses employed in war. The bulk of them were peasents were working seige weapons under the direction of the demon lord and the demon assiasian. Geltor was prepapring all this for the expect betrayal of Seoth. Geltor doubt he could destroy him. However hurting him was another matter all together and he wanted Seoth to t hink twice before crossing him again. Geltor was busy training a group of demons when he was intreputed by some random minion. Minion"My lord, Sentia, Frelorn, and Solork have returned the bring rougly a total of 700 demons." Geltor" Very good have them report to the debreifing room." T his brough Geltor's army to about 1200 demons. However some of his fire shades had contacted those remote jungle tribes, and demon magic praticers. With them Geltor sent them the abilty to set up their own alters and let them know of the existence of his alter at the patheon.These forces wouldn't be at his command for a while though. As powerful as he is he still need as much help as possible. The comming battle though neccary would be a hard one becuase Seoth is well fortifeid and protected no way to ambush him no way to trick him. He peferred to use deception or ambush his oppent. However since his merging with Makroangkeen the extra power made eased his concerns a little about a direct confriation -------------------- A rock has weight whether you admit it or not Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7472
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written Thursday, May 17 2007 21:05
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Avin rolled onto his back and stared up at the strange god. It was a tense moment, broken by the sound of what could only be a child running up to them. Both gods looked in the direction of the sound, and in that split second, Avin was accosted by some sort of... well, she was hard to describe. It was like someone took the personality of a young girl and implanted it into a grown woman. Whomever she was, she roughly helped the weakened god to his feet, chittering away and clearly excited. Avin realized that the other god had vanished, unnoticed by the arrival. "Lucky you." He thought miserably as the woman continued to go on. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just who are you?" "Yumi! Goddess of Butterflies! And..." Once again, she went off on a wild tangent of loosely-related topics in the same shrill voice. "And I though being a God of Languages was ridiculous." Avin decided to see if he could get any useful information out of her. "Who do you work for?" "James! He's my boyfriend, and he's also Serena's boyfriend, and we're all going to get married and get a house with a nice yard..." "Ack! Too much information! I don't want to know what James has going on behind closed doors! Still, I wonder what he wants so desperately with me. I've known him for too long, he has to have some sort of ulterior motive for doing this." Avin tried to ask his next query as carefully as possible, in an attempt to keep from tipping Yumi off. "So," he said in a nonchalant voice. "What has James been up to recently?" "I think he's off arranging our wedding!" Yumi replied cheerfully. "Charming. This goddess is as clueless as... well, I'm not sure what equals her oblivious nature. But either way, I doubt I'd get much out of her." Avin replied in a similar cheery tone. "Well, it was nice meeting you. Goodbye!" "But I don't want you to go! Why don't you stay here, or better yet, we can wait in the temple for James to come back!" Yumi seemed absolutely infatuated with the idea. Avin, however, was less than thrilled. "Now you've done it. Quick, think of a diversion... she said she was the goddess of butterflies, right?" Avin quickly spoke, pointing to a random point behind Yumi, "Hey! That guy just stepped on one of your butterflies! Go get him!" Yumi turned around to see what Avin was pointing at, and in that moment, Avin ran as fast and as hard as he could. Yumi turned back to where Avin once stood, confused. "Where? I don't see... Hey!" =================================================== Avin panted. He was back in Kirwood proper. However, despite the intense desire to rest, he knew he couldn't risk it. Not with that butterfly thing after him. Thus, he decided to take a trip to the library. He was interested to see if it had any books on a certain, generally taboo subject: the theory of pantheon greater than this one. What he had found thusfar was generally sketchy, but it was enough to pique his interest. He walked through town towards the library, trying to decide on what to say. Eventually, he decided on just a simple question, and see where it lead from there. He walked through the open doors of the library and quickly found the librarian, a middle-aged man with a feather duster. "Excuse me, I'm looking for specific books. Namely, ones that have been branded heresy." "Why? Reading them is forbidden for obvious reasons, so without a very good reason, I can't let you access them." Avin thought quickly, and he got an idea. "I'm not here to read them; I'm here to dispose of them." "Oh! It's about time! You know, you guys are always at least a week late, so it's about time someone got here when they said they would. Right this way, sir..." The Librarian lead him to the very back, which had a bin full of discarded books. "Do whatever you do with them; I have other things to deal with." With that, the librarian went back to the shelf he had been attending. Avin quickly grabbed the bin and started dragging it out of the library. He got some startled and amazed looks from passers-by as he dragged them through the streets and back to the slums. There, he found an abandoned hut, which he dragged the banned books into. Then, after closing the door and making sure he had privacy, he started reading through them. -------------------- I tried to think of something witty to put here. Needless to say, I failed. Posts: 2686 | Registered: Friday, September 8 2006 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Friday, May 18 2007 08:42
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"It's a shame she's so irate, otherwise, I could've use her for my own purposes," James thought to himself, "however, she set me on fire with holy fire for no good reason. That makes her yet another threat. I normally don't get caught off guard like that, so I can't help but assume that that's a very powerful goddess. Well, I can't win this fight, so I might as well see what Seoth is up to while I'm here." James cast spell, causing several illusion copies of himself to appear. He then cast another spell, causing additional copies to appear, only these were more solid. Finally, James cast a potent stealth spell on himself. After he did this, one by one, the doubles lunged at the fire woman, providing the distraction he needed to get past her. Shortly into the death citadel, James encounter a handful of undead guards. "Halt," the one who appeared to be the leader of the group said. "Shut the hell up before I set you on fire with my mind lasers," James replied as cast a spell, imprisoning the guards in a cage of force. James then continued on his way, thinking to himself, "I really need to start planning things out better... no, wait. I need to start planning things out period. It's as if being a love god has sucked away all of my thinky score thingy. Some savior I am, huh. Pathetic. I'm too stupid to deserve to be a..." James's ramblings were interrupted by messages from some of his spies. "Hmmmm, the plot thickens," James thought, "that is quite interesting. Though, the more I find out about this Silros guy, the less I like. It's a pity I need all the help I can get, making me incapable of being as selective as I would like. Although, if I could find a way to harness the power of someone's ego and turn it into a beam of pure, destructive energy, Silros would be the perfect power source. Oh well, on to Seoth..." With the monologue concluded, James journeyed closer to where Seoth was. -------------------- "I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand." Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 5360
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written Friday, May 18 2007 10:20
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The meeting was still dragging on. Seoth was carefully considering and modifying all ideas and suggestions from his liches. Nothing profound had been produced since the original plan. It was nightfall when the god sensed a god in his dome. Excusing himself, and telling them to be wary, he left his commanders. Floating silently, he followed the sensation. He drifted around a corner and came face to face with James, his sword drawn. A group of undead were trapped farther down the corridor. James jumped at his presence. Seoth raised his hand. "Wait! I'm not against you! I needed to befriend Geltor to get the cures for demon blood and vampirism from him! I'm cured now, and Geltor know that I'm actively hostile. As for the goddess on the roof, she is completely insane. I would join tou quite willingly. I am the god of Balance, after all, and evil has gained too much of a foothold. Please, hear me out." -------------------- May the fires of Undeath burn in your soul, and consume it. Posts: 1636 | Registered: Wednesday, January 5 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 4248
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written Friday, May 18 2007 10:37
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"Lived I have for ages, and seen much I have. And now to you, who are still young and happy, I tell to enjoy your life, while you still have a chance, 'cause it'll be too late when white roses bloom for you..." - Rumoured to be Carlos Scythe's last words --- Twelve years ago: Once again, Tuoni appeared in front of hell's gate. He was delighted to see that his hideout on world's (more or less) literal edge was still intact. Sixty-seven years had passed, and the world still hadn't ended. And now, for the first time in his life, Tuoni could say with certainty that it wouldn't do so within his lifetime... The Gatekeeper was many things, but he was not stupid. If life would seize upon Kalanda, no more souls would get sent to hell either. It would become lifeless again, a crystallized memory of suffering, as the demons inside would slowly die in lack of sustenance, and their souls would slowly wither to oblivion. Because of this, he only released a couple of demons to the surface at time. Even if the demons would, well, die and not accomplish anything notable, some mortal souls would still be dragged down with them. This Tuoni had known for ages. But now he had finally understood why. In all its madness, the thought still gave some sense of relief to him. Why? Simply because it implied that even hell, in all its lunacy, had emotions that were not completely alien to Tuoni's still vaguely human mind. Behind him was another gate. It had been there only for a few moments, yet it was older than all Kalandha's gods combined. It had been there since life had first developed on Kalandha, and during his time as the god of death Tuoni had watched over and cherished it. It was symbol of his duties, his powers, and now, also his own mortality. The gate wasn't all that impressive, actually. It was just a cloud of darkness between two, runed ivory arcs, which had some rose garlands twining around them. Once, Tuoni had humorously dubbed it the "Veil of Reality", as no-one, not even gods, could look beyond without loosing their sanity. Unless, of course, one was dead, in the true and final sense of the word. It was the gate to afterlife, the origin and destination of all souls in Kalandha, and a cruel reminder of how things should have worked. During his long life, Tuoni had managed to gather some information about its nature, but it hadn't been easy. Hundreds of souls passed through the gate every day, yet only few came back to tell about it, and even they had only vague memories of their time beyond. What Tuoni did know for certain was this: Beyond it was a huge, empty plane, where souls resided before, after and between lives. Tuoni preferred to call that plane "the hall of souls", and those three states "rooms" of afterlife, as he liked the symbolism of the words. Uncountable religions had used the same terms, even before the first ascension had occurred and gods had inhabited Kalandha. The first room was that of unborn souls. There, pure, unstained and lifeless souls waited to be incarnated in living creatures above Kalandha. Perhaps some day, that room would become empty, and then birth would stop in Tuoni's world. However, despite having been there for unimaginable timespans, it was still filled with souls waiting to be born, hoping to one day spin memories and possess bodies of their own. There were still many willing to enter and explore Tuoni's world, and in some small way, that made him happy, even though his world was a wretched and unhappy one. The second room was the room of waiting. Souls which were not ready to move onto the next plane or were damaged by their past lives as animals 1), waited there, hoping to be given new bodies, new lives to experience before leaving the realm of the living. As one might guess, those few who returned were always from this room. And then there was the room of those who were content; souls who were satisfied with their time as humans and would never again walk upon the world of Kalandha. Where would they go, what was their destination? Tuoni did not know, but he knew he would soon find out... So, how did this tell him why Gatekeeper acted the way he did? The answer lie in the nature of hell: as said, it had been barren and lifeless and never been ment to carry life of its own. And thus, there was no hall of souls for hell either. The Gatekeeper had realized this, and understood that if Tuoni stopped sending souls to his realm, hell would die. In some twisted sense of the word, the Gatekeeper loved life, loved hell which he incarnated, and did not want his world to end. In that sense he wasn't so different from Tuoni or his brothers. Sliros would *love* this comparison, Tuoni thought and chuckled. Of course, gods had not always let the life flow as it was meant to. Harath had been especially imaginative in altering its path, devising all sorts of cruel punishments for those who broke his laws 2). Tuoni had tolerated him only because of the bond they shared, but he rarely extended his patience to other gods. For example, the last god of undeath and necromancy had been a horrible pain to him; he had just been about to deal with that dimwit, when he mystically disappeared from the face of earth. The bastard's probably hiding off somewhere 3). It's too bad I won't get to be the one to kick his self-centered ass, Tuoni pondered before finally deciding to finish what had came to do... You see, as strange as it sounds, the gate of afterlife had become useless. There was now a much stronger gate, a much stronger being to take the duty of death on it's white shoulders. It was unsurprising, and ironic, that Tuoni had been partly responsible for it's creation also. Had I been more carefull, this mess would have never happened, he thought and pointed his arm to the gate. "Sorry, old friend", he muttered, "but I don't need you anymore. Fare well." After that, there was a blinding flash of bright light, evaporating the rose garlands and shattering the ivory arcs into thousands of little splinters. The darkness flickered for a moment, reluctant to leave it's intended place, but finally gave up and shrivelled away in the light. Tuoni dropped on his knees, violently coughing and shaking uncontrolably. "It is *cough*... done", he muttered and rose up. His time as the god of death was over, but one thing remained to be done. "Fare well, cruel world. May we meet again", Tuoni said and hint of a smile crept on his face. Then he braced himself for the final fight and phased back to the northern reaches of Kalandha. His garden of white roses withered and disentigrated to dust as their keeper left to the mortal realm for the last time... --- Back in the present day: He's late, Isaac thought. After leaving the temple, he had went to Joth District, in hopes of meeting his contact there. However, he was nowhere to be seen. Isaac survied the streets impatiently; he had concealed his face with a mask, to make sure he wasn't recognized. Members of the Assasins' Guild were supposed to remain a secret, even from other members. Finally, Isaac's contact showed up, emerging from the shadows. "Sorry, wasn't sure it was you. Can never be sure in this job...", he whispered from under his hood. "Nonsense", Isaac replied, with a cold, hissing voice. "You've never been late before. Tell me a better explanation, or I will not accept your offer, whatever it is." This made his contact seemingly nervous; seemingly, as he knew Isaac would not, and could not, turn the offer down under any circumstances. "I suppose it's safe to tell you", he answered slyly. "The Guild has new associates now, you see. And I have the honor... of safeguarding something very special. And that's all you need to know." "Safeguarding what?" Isaac snarled, but then changed his mind. "Nevermind, I don't want to know. Just give me those goddamn orders..." Just then, something happened. The sky above, the earth below, even the buildings around the two assasins, burst to life as Joth District suddenly began rebuilding itself. Isaac had no idea what was causing it, and in any case, didn't want to know. He was already running, not looking back to his old companion. Few moments later, he heard a surprised yelp, a sound of shattering glass and a small explosion... then there was silence. Isaac would later learn that his, hmmm, friend escaped the cataclysm unscrathced, but the thing he had been carrying was hopelesly lost to the reborn alleyways of Joth, and when someone would finally find, all it's power would already be lost... ... and so, the story of Geltor's demon candle came to an end. --- "Are you sure?" Esekijah asked. "Sure? Haven't you felt it?" The messenger angel screamed. "You're the General god of War! Shouldn't you sense these sort of things?" "I just thought it was another dimwit like Saluc", Esekijah replied. "And you should know I long ago left the trouble of dealing with such business to Kyros." "Kyros isn't here", the angel snarled. She was really starting to get angry now. "For pities' sake, the most horrifying demon lord ever to exist is walking on our world right now! You should immediatly call all the lesser war gods into arms and... and..." Frustrated, the angel sat down. She was a messenger, not a warrior, and as it was, she had no idea what the war gods should do next. "But you should do something", she concluded, crossing her arms. "Consider it done", Esekijah replied. For centuries, she had longed for a good fight, and now one was at hand. Oh, what a glorious moment would it be if she, or one of her subordinates, would strike down the great Mangroankeen himself! However, Esekijah was not a stupid woman, and rushing into a battle with a demon was perhaps the stupidest thing one could do. No, she needed a plan. Or someone with a plan. "Go to Trantite", she said to the messenger after a while of thinking. "There was lots of weird things going around there lately... you should be able to find someone important back there." The messenger wasn't very happy with her commander's words, but she accepted them nonetheless. "I hope we'll see again, sister", the angel replied before vanishing in to the dark night skies of Kalandha... --- 1) Tuoni considered humans, and to some extent, even gods to be animals. Despite vast physical and mental differences, all life possessed similar souls, and from that viewpoint it made little sense to divide between them... 2) It probably doesn't come as a big surprise now, that Harath was one of hell's primary supporters. Of course, later even he realized his mistakes, and decided to seek other ways of invoking his view of justice. Hell still remained, though. 3) It never came to Tuoni's knowledge that it was Seoth who got rid of that god. He managed to hide his tracks rather well... [ Sunday, May 20, 2007 02:11: Message edited by: Frozen Feet ] -------------------- I have nothing more to do in this world, so I can go & pester the inhabitants of the next one with a pure concscience. Posts: 617 | Registered: Tuesday, April 13 2004 07:00 |
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Agent
Member # 5814
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written Friday, May 18 2007 20:17
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Cassius and Kuberr were strolling through the streets of the city, inspecting the damage. A familiar figure was visible through the dust and rubble, and it was moving among the bodies still in the street. It bent down at one after the other, and casted healing spells on those still alive. Cassius was now close enough to be reasonably sure of its identity. "Oy, oy! What are you doing?" Cassius shouted. "Save your help for those who will live!" "These people need me!", Fourty shouted back. "And what have you been doing?" "Hey, this isn't my fault. I saved all these people!" Cassius was closer now, and gestured in a broad circle to the civilians in the street. Kuberr snorted. "Oh, well I'm glad we have you... on the job." Fourty had paused to cast a spell on an especially injured person. "So what happened here?" "Murder," Cassius grunted. "The priests of Harath decided to unleash a huge golem to 'purify' the city, and it went on a rampage." "Well, I'll take your totally unbiased word for it." Fourty said easily. He moved to another body, farther away. "Hold it." Cassius said. "I know you're benevolent and noble and all that, but why are you here of all places?" "Well, after you kicked out all of the Forsaken, I was leading some of them through the wilderness when I noticed that someone had destroyed about half of my home. I also noticed that whatever happened here managed to force the entire army which had been chasing us to return to Mannik, and figured I should find out why." Fourty rolled his eyes. "You know, just in case whatever you're going to do might possibly concern others." "Ah, so you're just interested in my movements and those of the Harath followers? You don't care about the poor and downtrodden people here?" "You know, funny you should ask that. Because I happen to need some muscle, and I think you might be interested. I have committed to helping a group of prisoners of Harath, and they helped me and the Forsaken against the priests of Harath." "Really?" Cassius asked. "Sounds like an alliance may be in order. Walk with me, and on the way out we'll skin any Thermites and use them as firewood." -------------------- quote: Posts: 1115 | Registered: Sunday, May 15 2005 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Friday, May 18 2007 20:39
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"So let me get this straight, those guys repossessed everything, including stuff that wasn't their property," Joshua said somewhat surprised, "that's a new one on me. I mean wow... just wow... I'll get one of my aids right on it." "What do you mean you'll get one of your aids on it?! I need the best legal representation I can get," Minoko shouted angrily. "Crissy and Murphy are the best," Joshua replied, "Besides, this should be an open and shut, one session event." "Fine. Send them to conduct the lawsuit," Minoko reluctantly gave in. "Now, for the more pressing issue," spoke Joshua, "what's this I keep hearing about demonic armies? More importantly, what are we going to do about it?" "They aren't the only problems," Minoko said, "James recently sent me a note telling me about all of the problems and what he's going to do about it. There's no rhyme or reason to that plan and it mostly seems to consist of a bunch of crude drawings, involving stick figures and vague captions, no one which ever really explain what it's about. I hate to say it, but I think that guy's completely lost his mind..." "Perhaps he was hoping to make us think he was so incompetent that we would do all the world for him rather than let it be destroyed by his stupidity, so that he wouldn't have to do anything," Joshua said in a joking manor. "Yeah, sounds like that lazy S.o.B. Always taking the easy way out.," Minoko thought to herself, "Makes me wonder why I ever fell for him in the first place..." By this point, it Joshua realized how lost in thought Minoko was. Giving up on trying to get further information out of her, he left. After leaving the immediate area, Joshua teleported to a random field. After teleporting to several random locations, he teleported to a cave near Solaris. He then touched one of the numerous rocks on the cave wall. After several minutes, Kesh and Ryan appeared. "We have a problem," Joshua began, "she's showing signs of being worn down by stress." "Either that or she's trying to pull a James on us," Ryan interrupted as a joke. Somewhat puzzled by this Kesh inquired, "I'm not familiar with that one. Could someone explain it to me." "Don't worry about it," Joshua replied, "it would take too long to explain." "Anyway," spoke Ryan, "She must know what are secret plans are and encourages them. In which case she is using a clever gimmick as a covert way to tell us that we should proceed. Either that or she really has become incompetent over night. In either event, I think we should go ahead and move." "I agree," Kesh chimed in. "As do I," Joshua said. With that said, the secret meeting of the three was concluding. All 3 teleported off to different locations and at different times. ****Meanwhile in the slums of Kirkwood**** "I guess he didn't want to play with me," Yumi said to herself, "It's a pity. He must not know what fun he'll be missing." Yumi then wandered back to the temple. On her way back, she had found herself having to battle with the random thugs, who wanted to rob(and do other things to) her. After striking several of them down with lightning and cleaving a few in half, the others eventually decided to back off and let her go on her merry way. ****Meanwhile in a random bar in Kirkwood**** After several hours, Serena had made quite a bit of money off of the more egotistical men in the bar. She bested them all in drinking contests, darts, gambling, and even tests of strength, all of which she cheated at. Her ego quickly got to her and she soon found herself extensively berating all of those men. When Serena left the bar, she found herself being followed by some of the patrons. They all had less than pleased expressions on their faces. They quickly moved to surround Serena. "Get her," one of the drunks shouted. Serena just smiled and let them get in closer. Just as they were in striking range of their crude weapons, Serena blasted one of the attackers. The blast bounced around among the crow, reducing most of the attackers to ash and severely injuring the rest. By this point, several members of the town guard quickly approached Serena. "Stop, witch. You are under arrest for murder," one of the guards said. "More like self defense," Serena said casually to the guards, "notice the weapons and notice the circle of bodies around where I'm standing. If not self defense, then what could that possibly be. Obviously the real criminals are the dead and critically injured on the ground." "Even if that's the case. You still need to come with us to the guard house for questioning and for paperwork purposed," one of the female guards said. "Yeah, I know how that goes. That Berry or Baratm... whatever that bureaucrat god's name is, guy sure is a pain," Serena said, "I'll go with you, as a professional courtesy, from one guard to another." Without much more conversation, Serena went with the guards to the guard house, explained who she was and what happened in perfect detail, leaving out details they didn't need to know. She then filled out some paperwork, and even helped some of the guards fill out heir paperwork. After all was said and done, Serena found herself sitting in jail cell, despite her having been extremely co-operative. "Well this sucks," Serena said to herself, "I really hate men and their stupid legal system..." "So, what are you in for," asked Serena's cell mate, a woman with pink hair and orange eyes, wearing a pure white dress. "Self-defense mass murder of some gutter-trash men and being 'too co-operative'," Serena replied, "Why do you ask?" "Self defense, huh," the woman said, as she laughed, "yeah, I gave up trying to defend my ego and self respect a long time ago. It's really not a good world for our kind to be in. Then again, few are... Oh, by the way, I'm Lotus, loyal servant of James the Deity, who apparently is surprising popular as a god of love." "Serena," chimed in Serena, "nice to meet a fellow follower of the greatest giver of massages in all of existence and apparent champion of female supremacy." The two continued to make small talk throughout the night, as neither of them apparently needed to sleep. The next day they both were released and headed to the temple. ****In Seoth's Lair**** "I've got absolutely no reason to trust you," James said, "In fact, I've got plenty of reasons to distrust you. You tried to strike me down with lightning and that's not cool. Also, don't give me that 'God of Balance' crap. I've seen too many petty, self serving worms like you throughout the ages. Much like the concepts of good and evil, your idea of balance is little more than a self-reinforcing fallacy, an unreasonable and impractical delusion." "Did you come here to just mock me," Seoth interrupted. "I know it takes for ever for me to say stuff, but would you let me finish," James said with some agitation, "now, while I disagree with the likes of you and Silros, I find myself at the horrible disadvantage of needing your help to defeat Geltor and, now, Mangroankeen too. All because you had to be a complete idiot and to go against me, rather than helping me take him out when we had the chance. And don't give me that 'but I needed to trick them into helping me' bull crap. Noric and I could have helped you, or at least found someone else to. But that's the past and what I'm far more concerned with is the future. I propose that we end the hostilities between us and deal with the major problems at hand, starting with psycho-chick on the roof. What do you say?" -------------------- "I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand." Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |
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Shaper
Member # 7472
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written Friday, May 18 2007 20:46
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"Well," Avin said dryly, "Whether it's rantings about demonic creatures or dirty novels, one thing's for certain: the people of Kirwood hold a morbid fascination for the nether regions." "It's going well, lord?" Gulix asked tentatively. "Let's see. I've got James trying to recruit me into his anti-demon brigade, I have demons that obviously aren't afraid of sending minions into one of the most god-populated areas this side of Kalandha, there's some sort of butterfly goddess who is trying to rope me into some sort of freakish marriage with James and herself, there's a strange god here in Joth I know nothing about, I have a killer woman who's after me and, knowing my luck, probably isn't dead, and here I am, looking through the volumes of sexually deprived individuals hoping to find something that may or may not hold the key to our existence. So no, it is not going well." Avin continued flipping through books while Gulix remained silent. Finally, he spoke. "Perhaps you should meet the strange god." "Perhaps. It'd be better than searching through another one of these," Avin waved another dirty novel in the air, and then threw it aside. Then, on second thought, he retrieved the book and handed it to Gulix. "Tell you what; stop by the temple and drop this off with James. Considering the strange thing he has going on with Yumi and whoever that Serena is, he might need its contents." "You really are at... zit's end, I think you call it?" "Wit's end, Gulix. And yes, I am. Come, now, deliver that to the temple and head back to camp. I'm going to have a talk with that god I saw earlier." Gulix nodded his head and left. A brief moment after his departure, Avin stood up and also exited. The streets of Joth were cold and silent, broken only by the sound of Avin walking towards the spires where he originally spotted the god. He could tell that he was important in some way, but he couldn't help but get the feeling that he was going to regret this. Suddenly, he saw a shadow. It was indistinct at first, but it quickly grew in size and clarity. Gripped by a bit of paranoia, he cast an invisibility spell. Soon, his fears were soon realized as the woman from earlier stalked back towards the better sections of Kirwood. Avin froze in his tracks; he knew that as long as he made no sound, she wouldn't be any the wiser of his presence. She approached within mere feet of where Avin stood. Seconds seemed to drag on to minutes as Avin tensed for action; he wasn't going to get caught off-guard this time. Fortunately, the woman passed Avin without incident or notice. Avin waited until she was a very good way off, then finally breathed a sigh of relief and started moving again. He sped his pace up to a jog, wanting to get to the spires before something else could interfere. However, disappointingly, the god was nowhere to be found. Avin paced amongst the spires as they continued to repair themselves, looking for him. But he was nowhere to be seen. Resigned, Avin leaned up against a nearby house and waited. Sooner or later, that god would come by again. -------------------- I tried to think of something witty to put here. Needless to say, I failed. Posts: 2686 | Registered: Friday, September 8 2006 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 5360
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written Friday, May 18 2007 21:04
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"Fine, James. And as a matter of fact, I did need Geltor's help to stop me from becoming a demon. And your "Save the world" crap is no better than my Balance. No more insults, and we'll call it an alliance." "Fine." James looked sulky. "Right. At any rate, Geltor and his demons will be closing in on this fortress in a matter of days. We need to focus on mustering a defense. I'll raise undead, and try to lure Krasonva to Geltor. You can go and try to recruit other deities. Sound fair?" -------------------------------------------------- A few hours later, and the ground around the dome was scorched and dead. An enormous moat of magical lava had formed around the dome, and Krasonva hadn't even begun to lose steam. Seoth crept quietly towards her, with an entourage of mindless skeletons, with demonic illusions over them. He threw a lightning javelin at the crazed goddess, and she screamed in rage. "UNDEAD FILTH!!!" Shooting fire his way, Seoth sent his disguised skeletons running full-tilt towards where Geltor's army would be approaching from. Krasonva screamed wildly, launching herself through the air in a flaming stream. "There. That should delay them, at least." -------------------- May the fires of Undeath burn in your soul, and consume it. Posts: 1636 | Registered: Wednesday, January 5 2005 08:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 7298
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written Friday, May 18 2007 21:23
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Coutal, like Geltor, didn't trust Seoth and this was more of a scouting mission then to find out if Seoth was still loyal. Coutal had been observering what appeared to be some kind of fire or pureging god. He sent a mental image to Geltor. Fortunaly the presences of Seoth, the apperance of James, and the fact that she was in a blind rage allowed Coutal to slip around her unnoticed. Nearby their used to be a river runing near that was dried up what ever river god or guardian had since abanoded. That could possibly be useful. Coutal also sent another mental image of that and possibly Geltor could make use of that. After makeing note of the flameing goddess reaction to James and her effectiveness against demons. That and seoths attempt to lure her to route Geltor considered takeing. Coutal sent a mental message of all this ot Geltor and then slipped into the fortress to meet with Seoth. [ Friday, May 18, 2007 21:26: Message edited by: Lord Safey ] -------------------- A rock has weight whether you admit it or not Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Saturday, May 19 2007 08:30
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"Not what I would have done, but more power to you if it works," James said, "If you'll excuse me, I've got that recruiting idiots, er, deities, thing to do." With said that, James left Seoth and crew to whatever it was that they needed to do. And returned to the Shrine. He was somewhat surprised to see that neither Serena nor Yumi were there, but didn't think much about it until the next day, when Serena and some other woman came rolling into the Shrine. Eventually James had his Oracle scry for Yumi. After several minutes, the Oracle said, "I've located her, your holiness. She's in an insane asylum." "Well, hell," I could've told you that," Lotus said, "She was being processed about the same time I was. The legal system is surprisingly swift when dealing with women, but for some reason quite slow with men. I find it quite insulting." "Well that's just great," James said, "why does that only happen when I need her for something?!" "We could always break her out," Lotus said casually. "How do you propose we do that," Serena ask. "With fire, and lots of it," Lotus replied with a sadistic smile. "Like your enthusiasm," James said, "but this isn't a time for destruction. It's a time for plan." "Oh. Well, then we're all screwed," Serena said. [ Saturday, May 19, 2007 09:06: Message edited by: Bandit Keith ] -------------------- "I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand." Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |
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Councilor
Member # 6600
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written Saturday, May 19 2007 10:42
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Fourty and Cassius walked toward the city gate. Ordinary travel had stopped and only refugees passed through. Some were leaving, carrying whatever possessions they had. Others were returning, to see if anything of theirs could be salvaged. Fourty looked at the sky. A brisk wind was blowing a solid layer of gray clouds across the sky. "I suppose it doesn't bother you that with all the chaos, trade has been disrupted." "It'll get back to normal soon enough. Kuberr will see to that." Cassius shrugged. "Kuberr? The patron deity of business? What's he doing here?" "He's helping me out. Or I'm supposed to be helping him. Something like that." Cassius stopped to examine the twisted metal remains of the gate. It had been completely smashed by the golem. Several heavily armed guards watched the pair nervously but made no move to stop them. Cassius waved at them as he passed, making them retreat even further. Cassius laughed and murmured, "I'll send my own guards in to replace those timid fools soon. I don't want the entrance to my city guarded by such dimwits." "Anyway, I was mostly referring to food," Fourty said, "Kuberr is unlikely to worry about bringing food into the city when there is more profitable trading to be done. And with winter setting in... well, I suppose you don't care if people starve to death, do you?" "Not really. You and the priests of Harath can figure it out, if you'd like." Fourty and Cassius strode across the plains toward the Haunted Forest far faster than any mortal could. "Then why did you agree to help me so willingly? You don't care about the prisoners, so what's in it for you?" "Two reasons. First, you now owe me a favor. And in times like these, I want as few enemies and as many allies as possible." "What do you mean by 'times like these'?" Fourty asked. "There are far worse threats in the world than me. Sure, I may order an assassination here and cause a famine there, but at least I'm not a horde of demons or some madman with grandiose schemes to save the world." "Demons? Free in Kalandha?" Fourty stopped short. "Yes. I've seen their king, or god, or whatever myself." "But... but... maybe I shouldn't free the ghosts after all. Keep them around to protect... no. Whatever happens, they deserve to find rest. I have no right to..." Fourty trailed off. He sighed. "So. Demons. Right. What's the second reason?" "I was hoping to question these... ghosts, did you say?... and find out why Harath left and whether he intends to come back." Fourty quickly explained to Cassius about the ghosts and the wolves, emphasizing the eleven ghosts that would track Harath down. "...and so, we'll know where Harath is and what he intends to do soon enough." "Hmm. I am a little worried that Harath will try to come back after the ghosts are gone, but by the time he finds out, his following will be broken. With three gods and a clan of vampires, he won't stand a chance." Fourty and Cassius had reached the spot where the army had turned back. The wolves had fed on the fallen soldiers and now the buzzards, crows, and ravens were feasting on what was left. Fourty bit his lip and looked away from the sight. He noticed a patch of grass that seemed longer and greener than the rest. He walked over to it and picked up a sword. The hilt was in perfect condition but the blade was heavily pitted and corroded. "What is that?" Cassius asked. "One of the soldiers thought the best way to get rid of me was to kill me. It didn't work." Fourty tossed the sword aside. Fourty and Cassius stepped into the forest. Instantly, the wolves materialized out of the shadows and the ghosts pressed against their minds. Cassius smiled, not the least bit disturbed. The wolves led them to the obelisk again, which Cassius examined. He also glanced over the contract before turning to Fourty. "Ready?" "I think so. Do you, well, do you know what to do?" Fourty asked. "These runes are holding them in, right? Destroy the runes and they'll be gone." "Yes, that's exactly what I thought. Now, I have one final request for those of you who are controlling the wolves. Take the pack to the mountains, away from people, before you let them go." We... I can do that. The regular voice said. Cassius snorted. "Always the conscientious hero, eh?" "Yes, I... well, I wasn't once. But now I am, and that's all that matters. Now, how do you propose we destroy these runes?" Fourty said. Cassius muttered a spell that sent a bolt of energy at the obelisk. The energy rebounded and scattered, leaving the obelisk unharmed. "Well, that's not going to do it. Maybe..." Cassius laid a hand on the obelisk and muttered a powerful curse. The stone under his hand cracked and crumbled, destroying and warping the runes carved into it. Fourty placed both hands on some runes and hesitantly repeated the curse. Nothing happened. Cassius smiled. "Looks like there are some things an absurdly benevolent god just can't do. Stay back and start giving me energy when I get tired." It took several hours for Cassius to destroy most of the runes, with Fourty loaning him enough energy to keep going. Finally, the oppressive atmosphere of the Haunted Forest was lifted. The wolves howled and raced away. The ghosts were gone, most to whatever awaited them in the afterlife, and eleven to go find Harath. Cassius slumped against the obelisk. "Well?" Fourty collapsed, breathing heavily. He felt as if he had just run a thousand miles without stopping, or whatever the divine equivalent of mileage was. "Thank... you..." For one brief moment, Cassius realized he had the opportunity to make a fellow deity suffer. He had a force for good and right on the ground before him, helpless, hardly even able to beg for mercy. It would be so easy... ...but he was exhausted as well, and he needed to get back to Mannik. With his luck, Cannidos would have released another freaking golem. "Fourty, I've changed my mind about that favor." "Mmm?" "For this, you owe me two." Cassius teleported away. Fourty let his head rest on the ground. He could only lie here a moment or two more, and then he would have to get up. He needed to check on Vizoth, on the Forsaken, make sure they were all right, and prepare for more refugees. The tale of the Forsaken's escape would spread, and people who had lost everything due to the golem would come to the forest, would come to him. He had to get up. Had to. Had... Fourty slept. And while he slept, he dreamt... --- Dikiyoba. Posts: 4346 | Registered: Friday, December 23 2005 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Monday, May 21 2007 07:26
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James teleported off and then promptly returned with Yumi. "So where's the part where a plan comes in at," Serena asked, somewhat confused. "I don't know, it just sounded like a good thing to say at the time," James replied, "now if you'll excuse me, I've got some help wanted posters to stick all over town. With any luck enough people will apply and then I'll be set." Then then teleported off. He started from of end town to the other, placing posters in various locations. Lotus who hadn't been paying much attention to anything, eventually noticed Yumi. She then stared at Yumi for a bit and thought to herself, "Wow. I mean, wow. Those have got to bigger than my head. I have never seen a more beautiful woman in all my life. I so like to get my hands..." "Hey, why are you drooling," Serena asked. "Wait, I'm what," Lotus responded, "What?! I wasn't longingly staring at Yumi's really big rack. But seriously, though, that woman is hot." Serena just stared at Lotus strangely and backed away slowly. ****Meanwhile in Kirkwood**** A generic thug looking guy was down the street with his buddies, when they noticed a poster. "Looking for mercenaries for my private army. Some form of combat experience recommended, but not required, since all recruits will receive the finest training available. The job has a good base pay and medical benefits, as well as a great War-time bonus pay. Women are especially encouraged to join up. Inquire at the Shrine of James the Deity in the Temple," the thug read aloud. "That doesn't sound too bad, if the pay is good enough," one of the thug's friends said. "Maybe we should go check it out," another thug said. And thus they headed to the temple. As did countless other unemployed and broke people. -------------------- "I don't understand a word you just said. Try speaking American. It's the only language I understand." Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |
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Infiltrator
Member # 7298
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written Monday, May 21 2007 19:45
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Coutal snuck back out of Seoth base he learned enough to know Seoth intended on betraying them. Geltor was already mobilizing his army preparing to attack Seoth while still under attack by the purging goddess. Coutal waits till the purging god starts attack Seoth and his undead minions again then he rushes out of sight. ----------------------------------------------------- Back at the Demon Base: Soradin "Geltor the army awaits" Geltor focuses on a small empty space and it burst into flames evntually the flames start to take up a circle shape and it grows bigger until its large enough the whole army can march through it. Geltor "Soradin you are to head to the western nations and undermine any hold the gods may have on them. Start rumors, civil wars, mistrust and the sort. Remember make the people hate the gods. Don't bother with alliances we are just trying to create one more mess the gods have to clean up." Soradin "Just like the old days, a god is much easier to fight when his followers are against them." Soradin hurries off to a portal that takes him to the Western States. Geltor "Army we march." Geltor heads off into the portal being followed by his army and their siege weapons. -------------------------------------------------- At Seoth's lair: At huge fiery portal forms as surprising as that was. Seoth and the purging goddess were not distracted from their fight. "No matter" Geltor thought "It will be that much easier". In a few mintutes Geltor's army was through and setting up siege weapons which would soon be ready to fire. Some of those who had been mages already cast attack spells at the dome but so far they all dissipated off it. Geltor raised his hand in to the air and into it a huge ball of black energy started forming. It grows too about the size of two larges houses and Geltor hurls at the dome. The dome and all inside was incinerated Geltor thinks "I wonder." Geltor teleports to where Seoth and the purging goddess were fighting. He appears right behind Seoth and beaks his neck. Geltor then follows up with a kick to the purging goddess that sends her flying and despite the force she impacted the ground with got up unscathed. She shrieks "Foul demon" and she starts to engage Geltor's army. Geltor thinks "Almost a bit to easy but Seoth was pathetic for a god" -------------------- A rock has weight whether you admit it or not Posts: 479 | Registered: Wednesday, July 12 2006 07:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 5360
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written Tuesday, May 22 2007 11:52
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As Geltor snapped Seoth's neck, all of the undead crumbled into dust.Krasonva screamed in triumph, and then noticed Geltor standing behind the now-lifeless suit of bone armor. She lunged, and charred his foot when he kicked her. Screaming, she got up. "Cowardly demon!!! Fight with honor!!!" Spewing holy death, she watched Geltor teleport away. She was about to chase him when she sensed the demon from before nearby. Stalking off, she began blasting random trees. ---------------------------------------------------- Seoth watched this all with great amusement. He had already transported his lich army, his resources, and the real Bone Dome far, far away. Into the near-space atmosphere, actually. It was more than safe from Geltor now. Seoth would put it back down, eventually. In the forest, this time, not outside it. Less conspicuous that way. Anyway, Seoth dispelled the illusion of a demon he had cast around himself, and proceeded to unleash godly wrath on the army surrounding him. Every demon he killed rose up and began to fight the other, still living demons. Geltor appeared almost immediately. Recreating his illusion, Seoth began to wildly fight the undead demons that had surrounded him. Geltor bellowed, and began hacking the undead to pieces with his giant flame sword. "What happened here?! where did these thing come from?! Speak, worm!" Geltor raged, directly in Seoth's face. "I. . . I don't know, master. A big bony guy came and killed us-" Geltor cut him off. "Seoth! Where are you?!" Geltor began to rampage in a random direction. Gleefully, Seoth made an illusion of a nondescript skeleton darting through the ranks of demons. Geltor saw it, and began to hack down the demons in his way. This went on for a while, with Geltor killing demons by the score, and the skele-lusion always darting back to the fleeing demons. Eventally, one of the demons decided to help it's god, and the skeleton vanished when he touched it. "Seoth! Where did you go!" Geltor, on a hunch, went back to the Bone Dome. Snickering sadistically, Seoth materialized and again began zombifying demons. Running around in confusion, the demons began killing themselves by accidentally running into giant broadswords, flailing whips, and fire. Eventually, a massive brawl started with every demon running from Seoth, and killing anything that moved. Some even began hacking at themselves in confusion. Satisfied with an army decimated, Seoth sent a hellish lightning storm, and went home. -------------------- May the fires of Undeath burn in your soul, and consume it. Posts: 1636 | Registered: Wednesday, January 5 2005 08:00 |
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Guardian
Member # 2080
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written Tuesday, May 22 2007 12:44
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James teleported to just outside of Kirkwood, where he waved his hands around and chanted, conjuring a pile of giant rocks. He then did a similar ritual and the rocks began shaping themselves into average quality stone structures and a wall surrounding them. After the buildings were shaped, James cast another spell to created trenches around the new buildings. Finally, with his last spell, the most simplistic of the bunch, he filled the trenches with water. "That should suffice. Good thing that was good enough, cause I'm about spent for the day. I really wish I could just cast me up some gold so I wouldn't ever have to do this kind of crap again," James thought to himself, "now all I have to do is get some people in it, and I'll be set." James teleported back to the Shrine where a long line of people were waiting. "My apologies for keeping you fine individuals waiting," James said sincerely, "I'm sure the majority of you would prefer to have a place to stay after joining my army, so I had to make the appropriate arrangements. One of my lovely assistants will hand each of you the appropriate paperwork to sign in order to join up. It basically asks you for your name and a summery of your combat experience. It is important that you answer all questions as honestly as possible. Take note the woman who hands you your paper. She will be your commanding officer. If you don't believe in female equality, then you might as well leave now." After a few hours of processing the new troops and establishing a training grounds and the fortress, James was approached by his Oracle. "Your holiness, news from the battle-front," the Oracle said with some degree of excitement. "Very well," James said with a calmness previously unseen for him, "show me." The Oracle sent detailed images of the Seoth and Geltor fight into James's mind. "Not a bad move," James said, "good thing Geltor doesn't have a Yumi or that so wouldn't have worked. Though, I can't help but wonder how someone so childish can easily see through stuff. Oh well, I'm not going to complain. On second thought, I'll complain all I want. I mean seriously, what the hell is wrong with that woman?!!! Yeah, I should stop before she hears me and I lose the best person in the group and whoever she unintentionally kills in her blinding rage... Wait, come to think of it, I've never seen her ever get angry. Ever. Strange. Oh well, I really need to get back to work. Good thing I don't need to" EDIT(you might want a cot and a pillow for this long-winded SoB. Hopefully it will be interesting enough for y'all): ***Some time ago*** Suddenly, Joshua appeared behind Geltor. "You're a hard little monster to track down," Joshua said politely, as a random lightning bolt struck behind him. Geltor quickly turned around and shouted, "Who are you and what do you want?!" "Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I am Joshua Black, attorney at law," Joshua replied, "and it's not what I want, it's what my employer wants. My boss requests that you call off your invasion of this mortal realm. In exchange for that, you and your kind will not be mercilessly hunted down and destroyed by the forces of Minoko, Goddess of Corporate Enterprises." "Why would someone like that even care what I do," Geltor said with some irritation in his voice, indication a certain degree of boredom with this dialog. "It's very hard to make money when the world is destroyed. That and you owe her your Evil Villain Guide fees. You really are behind on your payments. According to our records, your last payment was sometime around never," Joshua said calmly, "For your co-operation, you and your minions will be given a small portion of land on which to live and/or a reasonable sum of money with which to relocate. However, lack of co-operation will result in swift and deadly retribution. Attacking Minoko, myself, James the Deity, or any other employee and/or follower of Minoko will nullify any and all protection you would have otherwise received and could potentially result in a heavy penalty, such as a fine. If there are no questions or complaints, I will begin to draw up the paper work for you to sign." ***Meanwhile*** Kesh appeared before Kuber in a bright green flash. "Who are you," Kuber said with some slyness to his voice, "and what does some pathetic mortal want with me?" "Greetings my good sir, I am Kesh Torahn, loyal servant of Minoko, Godess of Corperate Enterprises," Kesh said in an uncharacteristically friendly tone, "I have come to address my master's concerns about your operations." "What of them," Kuber said with some agitation, "I don't have to answer to the likes of her." "Oh, but you do," Kesh said with a smile, "I'm afraid you're out of you element just a bit. According to our files, you only cover legitimate business, while businesses of more questionable natures, such as racketeering and false religions, fall under Minoko's domain. Additionally, some of your thugs have even gone so far as to assault worshipers of the great and powerful goddess. You have two choices. You can either quit now while your ahead or you can continue working with Minoko's blessing, provided of course that you give her a reasonable cut of the before other expenses profits. Of course she will provide you with some degree assistance as needed," "And if I refuse," Kuber said with some degree of confidence in his voice. "Well, I suppose you will have to discuss that with Minoko," Kesh said without hesitation, "I am only here to offer you the deal, not recognize your acceptance of it. You have about a week to think the matter over, after which I will return to take you to her so that you may tell her your answer." Having said his piece, Kesh teleported off in a green flash of light. ***Meanwhile*** Ryan appeared before Seoth in a flash of blue light. Before Seoth even noticed him, Ryan said, "Hello, Seoth. My name is Ryan Artanis. I have come to relay a request from my master, Minoko, Goddess of Corporate Enterprises. She would like for you to tone the down the whole undead army thing. It's really lame. Almost as lame as a demon army. Additionally, our records show that you have yet to pay back your various debts to James the Deity, who is employeed by Minoko for something. I'm not sure exactly what, since he's basically useless. As best as myself and the others can tell, all James is good for is being a love slave. Anyway, I'm rambling. Payments, as well as a personal visit, are expected to be readied and carried out at the end of the week. Failure to comply will result in some overly generic punishment that in no form or fashion is enough for the infractions, ect. ect. ect. Blah Blah Blah. And some other crap you don't actually care about or really need to know." Having said that, Ryan muttered some words and teleported off in a flash of blue light. ***At roughly the same time*** "Ah, good, they've started," Minoko said to a woman with green hair and green eyes, wearing chainmail with various armor pieces tacked on top of it. "So why didn't you just tell them to go ahead and do it," the woman said, "it would've been much easier." "Yes, well, that's not as fun," Minoko replied, "besides, every now and then you have to let a guy go off and do what he thinks is his own idea. Gives them the illusion that they have some control over their own lives. For some reason men hate it when women boss them around and whenever they do get to do what they want it's almost always something that's really stupid and gets them in a lot of trouble." "So do human women put up with that crap," the woman asked. "Because every now and then, they do the unexpected and get something right," Minoko replied, "of course not all men are equal in their ability do things how they should be done. Anyway, if you'll excuse me, I've got some important things to do." Having concluded the conversation, Minoko walked to her room. As soon as she was in her room, she bolted to door, laid down, and looked at her picture of James. "I'm such a fool," she thought to herself, "I let the best thing that ever happened to me slip out of my hands, twice. When he needed me most, I wasn't there for him. It doesn't matter if he doesn't love me, I should have stood by him. I might as well get used to the idea of never being anything more to him than a tool, even though I deserve so much more from him. He always talks about holding a woman tightly and telling her how much she means to you, but he never once did that for me. I deserved that much at least..." As Minoko thought some more, she got more angry and eventually threw the picture into the wall, shattering the frame. "I hope he dies," Minoko shouted as tears began to form in her eyes. "I deserved so much more than he gave me," Minoko said softly to her self as she started crying, "I'm a lot prettier, smarter, and nicer than those hussies he's been with in the past. Why wasn't I good enough for him?! What is so wrong with me that he didn't even consider being with me?! I did more for him than anyone else and he can't at least pretend to love me?!" Out of anger, Minoko hit the wall next to her, cracking it. "I hope he dies," Minoko cried. She then grabbed her pillow and held it close to her as she cried uncontrollably. ***Much later*** "So, we've got everyone situated in the appropriate barracks and have done the needed psychological evaluations and surveying of the troops. We've got organization and a functional training program," James said with some pride, "And it only took us two days. I wonder what I could do with a whole week..." As James talked to himself, a beautiful young woman in her early 20s came up to him and tapped him on his shoulder. As he turned around to look at her, she said, "Excuse me your holiness, but a half a dozen very irate, well-dressed individuals are at the gate, requesting an audience with you. They kept saying something about you stealing their land or what not." "Well that's just magical," James said to himself, "Bring them here." Upon receiving her instructions, the woman smiled at James, bowed, and left to carry them out. "300 people in this little army of mine, many of which willing to do what I want them to, and most of them are beautiful woman," James said to himself, "I'm definitely living almost every man's dream with this one. I've gotta admit, though, I expected a lot more guys." "I did notice a lot of guys who were going to join left shortly after Serena ripped out that guys heart because he grabbed her," Lotus said, "Yumi striking down all the 'evil people' with lightning didn't help much either." "You're not entirely blameless yourself," James said, "I'm still getting a lot of complaints about you no being able to control yourself around the women under your command. Granted you haven't gotten too crazy with it yet, but you had better stop. Contrary to what you want to believe, most women don't like other women very much, let alone like that. That misconception originates from lies men like to tell themselves when a woman's not interested in them. Or at least that's the case with human women. Honestly, you're old enough to know all this. I shouldn't be explaining it to you." As James was wrapping up his conversation with Lotus, a few very wealthy looking people entered the room James was in. "Greetings, sir," one of the women in the group said, "We represent the Kirkwood Chapter of the Land Owner's Association. It has come to our attention that you have unlawfully taken control of the land on which your fortress stands on now. We demand that you do one of the following; tear down the complex, relocate your keep, or properly compensate the land owners whom you have taken the land from." "Just because it has to be said," James said, "What if I don't feel like complying." "We will take you to court, sue you for everything your worth, and have you thrown in prison for the rest of your life," one of the men replied. "Yeah, I'd love to see you guys try," James said boldly, "That would be quite entertaining. Would be even more entertaining if y'all actually pulled it off. However, I really don't feel like dealing with that kinda crap. Tell ya what, I'll meet with those supposed land owners, as well as any relevant officials, and see if we can't work out a mutually beneficial agreement. Try to get those guys here pretty quick, though, I've got a lot of important things scheduled for the nearish future." With that said, James signaled a guard to escort the representatives off the grounds. [ Sunday, May 27, 2007 18:53: Message edited by: Bandit Keith ] -------------------- Did you know: When asked about his voicing of Unicron, Orson Welles is quoted as saying, "Unicron was the perfect character for me to play. I find it easy to relate to him. We're both the size of a planet and we both can eat said planet." Did you know: After the Holocaust, Germany decided that it takes at least 57 murders before they'll even consider prosecution and guys like Ted Bundy would known as 'Weekend Warriors' Did you know: Most facts on the internet are made up with little or no thought to decency or good sense. And that most of the people who make them die a lonely pathetic death. Posts: 1918 | Registered: Sunday, October 13 2002 07:00 |