illusions in the mist. [Now open thanks to ninja subthreading.]

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

Characters: Rishfee, Vincent Valentine, General Rughadjeen, Eiko (You are stowing along, right?) Auron (I believe. Lemme know if Ive been informed wrongly.)
Progress: Ongoing.
Summary: Caedarva Mire exploration / Azouph isle staging point discovery / boss fight / aftermath. Luzaf's UNEXPECTED TURNING UP IN FINE FORM AT THE WORST TIME EVER will be included in another log, we already have quite a lot to get through.
Location: Caedarva Mire.
Date: 02/02
Warnings: A few. Epic Quest! Creepiness, lamia, preserved genocide aftermath, soulflayer, (really bad descriptions of) gore / mental defect, NO POSTING ORDER YAY, mindgoboom, tentacles, blue mages gone wild. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD YOU N00B, DON'T MELEE THE SOULFLAYER. Possible/Probable big fluffy sheep murder, Oh, and coffee. Yes, coffee.





The mire was dark, and it was foreboding. The stench of death, already prevailant even in the outskirts of the forsaken wasteland known as Caedarva was unbearable once within the black shroud which made up the territory. It was barely possible to even see 10 feet in front thanks to the heavy, thick, stinking fog-- and barely possible to know what brushed past your leg thanks to a reluctance to turn your nose to what appeared to be the source of the stench.

...Maybe it was a treant, a small, bulb-like creature that with life of its own that often amused itself by stalking unsuspecting passers by. Maybe, more worryingly, it was a chigoe- a filthy ball of an insect with a venomous bite. Or maybe it was a protruding, hard substance entwined with the grasses of the mire... a twig... or the rotting arm of one who had sunk into the swamp - still outstretched. Still begging for assistance, though the owner had long since been forsaken of anything of the sort.

With Rishfee, it was the latter. Silently, he moved his own arm down to brush the skeletal claw aside and continued walking. Light, careful steps. He raised his head quickly as a faint giggle travelled through the air. A Lamia... perhaps two. But they were far. Turning his head, he breathed the smallest amount of guidance to those that travelled with him. "Do not set foot in the tall grass. And follow me. If you hear an Imp.... stop immediately. Kill it immediately. It doesn't matter what kind of invisibility spell you use. They will see you... and they will summon the others..."

His words were interuppted. Voices. Spectral and distant, yet brimming with anger. Malice. The worst kind of rage. deep-sated, voracious, sofilled with hate, they would quite simply burst with their malice. Yet they were pained. So pained...
Yet the pain only added to their anger.

Whereever they were... They wanted to come. They wanted to engulf the group which set foot inside the mire, simply because of two members. Yet they wanted to rip them all asunder.

Imperials...

Those who serve... the accursed emperor... Lapdogs...
That smell...so familiar... Cannot bear this anger...
Vile emperor...
You... You!!

The voices seemed to all join together to create a deafening cry; and then they were gone. Immediately -- replaced with nothing but the sound of the trees as they moved alike the little treants, eyes forever fixed upon the mire. If one listened closely, they could hear more giggles, from more Lamia.. and the distinct sound of the Merrow's harps in the distance.

Comments

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

It was all Rishfee could do to pay the voices little mind. He glanced at the ensemble, and then to Rughadjeen, and merely shrugged his shoulders. More of the Empire's secrets coming to light... but at least they would not attack.

"This was the reason for not doing this when the sun sets. When it does- they rise from their graves and walk among us. "

...And probably a Hell of a lot more, considering. He decided to move on.

"You will see creatures in the swamp. Jnuns, they are called. They are already dead... rotting mounds of flesh, nothing more. But they are capable of attacking. But they sleep during the day. Tread very carefully around any open expanses of water... they are heavy sleepers- yet they have been known to wake... and are awkward to really kill."

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

Rughadjeen on the other hand was listening to the voices, not exactly allowing them to affect him but they did seep in. Something he would remember for a long time, the way they sounded and the anger they held. It wasn't something he was often exposed to so the immunity he could have built up wasn't there. The Mire wasn't exactly his favourite place in the world to visit. Those voices though...part of a shiver worked its way down his spine.

The Elvaan watched where each foot step was placed, not wanting to be caught by anything, step in something he shouldn't. It was made difficult by the mist though, obscuring most of his vision.

[unsentmonk.livejournal.com]

Auron stepped carefully around the water and on the solid surface, unsure if there wold be traps and other demons lurking about the place. The voices were full of anger and spite, yet the guardian attempted to block them out as best he could manage. He held his sword close on his back, ready in case of an attack.

Such a place in existence was not surprising but still worrisome to him.

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

If anyone in this collective seemed out of place, it was the small child tagging along with grown men. Whenever movement allowed for it, she had hold of both Rishfee and Auron's hands... in case they were scared, of course. She on the other hand was one brave little summoner and not the least bit frightened by all the lurking in the murk monsters.

Rubbish. She was scared as any ten year old child had every right to be, but Eiko was so stubborn there was no way on any of the worlds that she would ever admit to it. She had herself quite convinced that she was there to make the guardians feel better and heal up any booboos that came along. And deliver a little white magic holiness on undead monsters. Truly a formidable opponent, holding on for dear life while her green eyes kept getting bigger and rounder the further they went.

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

If the voices from the swamp, or any of the threats present in it, had Vincent concerned, he didn't show it in his expression, or what little was visible of it behind the collar of his cloak. He simply nodded at Rishfee;s advice. That wasn't to say he didn't hear them- he occasionally glanced in the direction he heard one of the voices coming from. He was certainly absorbing the information they presented. But there were other threats present in the mire that drew more of his attention, and other problems that he was more concerned over.

The only visible sign of his apprehension was that he carried his bow in hand. So far, he had not drawn his gun, but he had it with him, occasionally visible beneath his cloak. He followed at the rear of the group, serving as a guard.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

He, on the other hand, was used to this place. Far too used to it. There were other traps, and other demons lurking amongst every shadow- under every stone. Even the trees themselves were enemies in this forsaken, rotting wasteland. Far too many enemies were prominent for comprehension. He had no map, but he hadn't need of it. He'd spent most of his days in places like this, and like the monsters themselves was no stranger to every nook and every cranny of this terrible, terrible mire.

Walking forward tentatively- he resisted the urge to scold Eiko for coming. This was no place for a little girl, healing magic or not. And it wasn't- everything that was animate wanted nothing more than to rip the visitors to shreads. They cared not for involvement, lack of involvement, or age. Nothing.

"The staging point is northwest. Watch your step. Beyond here, the ground is trecherous... "

A far chuckle made him pull his scimitar from it's sheath immediately. An imp -- one of the creatures of the underworld which had made it's way into the mire as of late, obviously displaced along with the mire itself. Caring not for displacement, it pulled a horn from it's side and moved it to it's lips. Thanks to the Immortal's earlier words, it's intention was clear. It intended to sound an alarm.

Rishfee rushed forward and deftly moved his arms, form transforming and growing blurred for the smallest of moments- head moving forward to actually headbutt the thing. He'd managed to wind it for the moment preventing it from using the horn. It started casting in response.

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

Rughadjeen had noticed the small child that had followed him here. He was strongly against children being involved in anything like this but by the time he had noticed it had been a little late. The Elvaan kicked himself over it, for being so blind and forward focussed that he hadn't seen earlier. But there wasn't time for that right now, they were all in a dangerous place and only two of them were aware of how dangerous.

Rughadjeen had made sure that his hand was always close to the handle of the algol, always alert and always on the look out for any movement not made by their party. Rishfee's actions were not comforting at all, despite the fact he was always mesmerised whenever he saw an Immortal at work. His hand gripped the handle of his blade and he freed the sword. Ready to join in on the attack and silence the ever annoying creature.

[unsentmonk.livejournal.com]

Auron, when Eiko held his hand, gripped it tight. He feared that she would run off suddenly and without warning for whatever reason it may be. But at this moment, he had his sword on both hands, ready to rush enemies and slice up foes to protect the child and the rest of those with him. He continued to step deftly and with precision, allowing for sufficient movement and speed to follow up with a quick attack. Auron prepared to cast Guard upon Eiko if anything got too wild.

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

With everyone jumping in to deal with the imp, Eiko pulled out one of her flutes, trilling it as she called up quick casts of Protect followed by Shell. The most elemental of protective magics, but until she knew just what they were dealing with, it was important to keep everyone safe. If it didn't drop quickly, she had every intention of using Eidolons to wipe it out. The sooner they could leave this creepy place the better.

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

Vincent's automatic reaction, when he first spotted the imp, was to reach for his gun. By that point, however, Rishfee was already moving to headbutt it. So, instead of drawing the gun as was still his first reaction, he took the bow, and fired it at the creature, remaining toward the back of the group.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

The imp was quite a mess by the time Auron, himself, and Vincent had finished with it, and it dropped to the ground with the ghost of a cackle. He glanced to Vincent; a silent thanks- and moved his foot deftly to kick the horn that the imp tried to sound away. One might consider the act a little excessive- but if one was to look at the corpse of the imp, they should see the hand still animate, actually scrabbling for it -- even though the body- thanks to Vincent's arrow- was pinned by it to the ground.

Imps were not just monsters. They were servants. They watched the Mire and more specifically the Corsair's Graveyard within- alerting any and all other servants to an intruder's presence. Death ment nothing to them. They were servants, even in death. Even completely and utterly destroyed- they would continue to serve.

He left his scimitar unsheathed, and wordlessly carried on ahead of the group. Probably best he stayed a few paces away from them he thought -- that way he could survey the landscape and see what exactly was out and about. He beckoned the others into a small cave -- a natural tunnel of land that carried on for a while. All was silent, save for his almost unnoticable footsteps and the squishing sound of odd creatures, spherical, and eyeless leeches pottering around the tunnel's damp floor.

Finally, they came out to an enormous body of water with lilypads actually forming a path through it. It was the source of all of the stinking fog so prevailant in the Mire, and the fog rose from it in a heavy, continuous flow. surrounding the lilypads were Jnuns, the creatures the Immortal had spoke of before. Enormous lumps of rotting flesh -- with no eyes, no limbs, merely what passed for a head. (Though more accurately, a lump of flesh upon the bigger lump that formed their bodies) The smell of the creatures and the marsh was almost unbearable, but their lack of movement suggested they were sleeping.

Not waking them was the highest priority.

Finally he spoke, voice little more than a whisper. The look in his eyes suggested to the others, should they choose to respond, to do so in the same manner.

" This is the Deadmist Marsh. We need to cross the lilypads to get to the other side. The staging point should be a short walk from the bank. Do not fear. The pads can easily hold our combined weight. They will not drift, and they will not sink. But.."

Well, they wouldn't drift for a reason. He didn't want Eiko to see that reason.

"Eiko." he asked, moving to one knee and looking at the girl. "...It would feel safer if I carried you.." One reason was behind that. The marsh was full of preserved bodies from two hundred years past. She was doing her best to be brave, but something told him she probably wouldn't be... Not when she saw the corpses of the Empire's soldiers staring up at her - and of course the Ephramadian citizens which the Empire's soldiers had slain as they'd ran from them back then. Some of the bodies in there were of children even younger than her.

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

Rughadjeen had watched the imp as it was impaled to the ground, still keeping his gaze on it as they walked passed and only looked away when it was no longer visible. He never dreamed of the Mire...of anywhere cropping up here in Gaia. Not any place from his own world, not a place he knew well enough to try stay away from.

his hand remained on the algol even as they walked through the tunnel, not quite free, but easy to manoeuvre so it would be should they run into anything else. The Elvaan had to use his other hand to cover over his mouth and nose as they came closer to the water and as the stench grew worse. his stomach churned and threatened to heave any moment but he willed himself to keep it down. Taking deep breaths was out of the question.

The sight of the Jnun didn't exactly help matters but he kept on higher alert in case one should wake. He wouldn't have felt as cautious if they hadn't been a child with them, but since there was he couldn't help but snap his head in the direction of almost every sound.

"You're sure they won't wake if we keep as silent as we can?"

Rughadjeen didn't trust anything out here, even if it was said to be asleep. This was not friendly or altogether familiar land. He shook his head, looking over their small group and frowned.

"Let's just get past this area and to the staging point."

[unsentmonk.livejournal.com]

Auron's collar was high but it did not protect him from that horrid stench that filled the air. What the hell was this place? It was beyond just a mere threat now, it was a persistent and visible danger. He kept close to Eiko, making sure she did not fall behind and followed his footsteps as closely as she could.

"Even silence has its price," he grunted. For in silence they could hear all and grow incessantly paranoid at the slightest of things, overreacting and causing excessive movement. He kept his sword low and his one good eye on high alert. In this place it seemed even the smallest fiend was extremely dangerous.

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

Vincent caught Rishfee's glance, and paused for a moment to examine the still-moving imp himself. The invasion of opponents had been prevented, at least, and if the creature could not attack them, there was little point in continuing to pay attention to it. Still, it was slightly disturbing to see it still moving.

The collar of his cloak served a partial mask to the smell as they moved deeper through the Mire, but it couldn't block it completely. Still, Vincent was determined to ignore the odor, so that he could keep his hand on the bow. It would keep him from once again reaching for his gun in a fight.

"Then we move quickly." he said, in response to both Rughadjeen and Auron.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

Exactly that. Rishfee for one would have felt far more secure paranoid, than torn to little bits and joining what else was down there by the Jnun. He resisted the urge to sigh and collected the little girl into his arms, positioning her just so, making it difficult to for her to see what lurked below. Normally, he would have said something comforting. Something to apologize for not treating her as anything but an adult and normally some means of bribe to make it up to her later. But he was not himself.

Not being himself didn't mean that he treated her as a sack of potatoes, no, nothing like that. He still treated her with the same measure of care and respect in action, just not so with words. And, he was first to step unto the lilies which were the only way across the marsh. He tilted his head back to address the others. "As you can see, the fog is thick. Do not fall behind. If you fall in, you will be left behind. It will be impossible to get you out before the Jnun get you."

...He had to stop himself from looking in the water. As with everything in this horrible place, he wasn't exaggerating at the dangers. But what lay underneath the water, staring up at them was of no danger. They were bodies. Preserved, motionless, and a multitude of them. Some wounded. Some not. Some peaceful. Some contorted beyond all shadow of agony. Some were Imperial soldiers from 200 years ago, entwined with all of the other bodies... and some were the Ephramadian citizens which had attempted to run from the soldiers and genocide. Some were old, some were children. Some were women, clutching bundles of rags that must have once been their children to their chests. But they were all, beyond all shadow of any doubt dead.

They had all fell into the water, and the water had claimed them all. Looking at them was nothing short of upsetting. The waste of life was as sickening as the stench that rose from the pool.

Finally, Rishfee came to the other side and lightly stepped upon the bank. The staging point was within seeing distance now - just a straight walk on..

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

Rughadjeen followed on to the lilies. His stomach churning from the pungent smell the met them all and his awareness high from the fog. He could see Rishfee in front of him, could hear, only just though, those behind. The actual lily pad could be seen but only where the fog was disturbed by their feet. Rughadjeen almost faltered, almost stumbled back and if he had, it was a sure thing he would have fallen in to the water.

His gaze had wandered to the water, peering to see as he walked along side it. A mistake. He saw what lay under the surface and he was shocked, upset and yet oddly fixed upon the site. As if it were something forbidden and he had just been allowed to glimpse it. It was horrible, it was disturbing and he had to force himself to look away after a few moments. His stomach churned with more than just the smell and he felt a great sense of loss at seeing Imperials as well as the others.

The general picked up his pace, reaching the other side and refusing to look back. That was one sight above all he had seen before, that would stay with him for life.

[lastsummoner.livejournal.com]

"It smells here," Eiko grumped. She was trying to be quiet, really she was but it was just so gross here! Fortunately she couldn't see what held the lilies up and was content to ride on Rishfee's shoulders. It made this something more of an adventure than a nasty mire crawl. Mostly. She was thinking it was really not fair that someplace so icky would be the somewhere from Rishfee's world that showed up.

Uncertain and crabby as she was, she hugged his head, as much for herself as for him. Holding on for dear life became vital as he explained the dangers of the water and she glanced over her shoulder just to make sure the rest were okay still.

Azouph Isle staging point / soulflayer fight.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

As the general wind temperature seemed to inform the group that it was nearing twilight and as the voices of the Ephramadian fomors started to grow stonger yet again, finally the dreary, foggy and murky scenery started to dissipate. The fog remained as strong as ever, as did the stench, yet the dim and faint outlines of trees finally gave way into something unseen, something that could even be relished, as it signified an end to the long and slow traversion of the mire.

It was a wall. A solid darksteel one in fact -- one that was easily 70 foot high and very rigid. Ornate, detailed carvings were inlaid upon the solid, impenetrable sheets of various serpents- symbols of the empire upon which it was crafted. A sign in the common tongue was displayed profoundly and almost immediately, informing anyone that cared to read it that the gate signified imperial territory. There were no locks. No key holes. Not even a door, so to speak... It was merely a wall. Scaling it was impossible. Knocking it down was even more so. Yet Rishfee moved directly to it, moving a hand to his arm and unfastening some of the ribbons that held his gold bazubands firmly onto his arm.

All it took was a few seconds, and the sheet of worked gold fell to the stinking, muddy grass with a somewhat sickening squelching sound leaving him bare armed. ...Well, bare wasn't the word. There was something on his forearm which the bazubands had always hid -- cut into the flesh cruelly and actually implanted underneath the skin. It was a mark of a two-headed serpent (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Mark_of_Zahak), magically infused and magical in nature.

...And it was also a key. The door around the blue mage's forearm seemed to glow for the smallest of moments, An un-noticed cage of fireflies at the right of the wall seemed to glow with a new energy, then finally the sound of heavy darksteel bolts clunking individually and the door opening slowly made the ground shake.

"Enter..." The sentiment was soft, though it came from Rishfee.

Pausing, the Immortal picked up his bazuband and walked through the door, eyes widening at what lay before him. The camp... was almost ruined.

Sundries, supplies, medicines, books, documents... piles and piles of items lasy strewn around the camp. Some of the silken, enormous tents had been ripped-- as if something huge and something that didn't quite move right had attacked them in blind rage. The grass was dead in a certain location, an unknown substance darker than night itself still boiling away, burning at the earth, and a scimitar -- exactly alike the one Rishfee himself held -- was lying at the front of the dead patch of earth.

"...No..."

The gate slammed shut instantly behind the group -- and that made something aware of their presence. The sound was almost impossible to even describe, it was a sound--- but it was a feeling. Perhaps of someone scratching their nails down a chalkboard. Perhaps worse. But it was constant -- alike the drone of a wasp, and somewhere inside it was the sound of a woman screaming endlessly, as if lung capacity meant nothing.

It made him recoil, and he was used to dealing with the fallen.

Before he could even lay his eyes back on the gate to open it again, it had moved into view, originally concealed by one of the ruined tents. it was almost nine feet tall. it moved like an old puppet that was operated with strings -- should one of the strings be broken. The arms... limp, pallid, dead things with claws for fingers and nails easily 10 inches long splayed and jerked in unknown patterns. Some kind of broken logic they could never, ever hope to understand.

It's head rolled back. and it's eyes were the same blue as Rishfee's. It spat out putrid, stinking water. And it was coming.

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

The blue of the creature's eyes, as well as Rishfee's reaction to it, set off alarm bells in Vincent's head. It reminded him far too much of Rishfee's reaction to his transformation into Galian Beast, or what little of it he'd seen. They had seen nothing else but this creature after entering the area, certainly not the blue mage they had been looking for. There was only this creature. The signs all pointed to an unpleasant fact.

There was little time to think on it, though. The monster was coming closer. Clearly, there would be no escaping it, not if they wanted to stay to examine this place. Since the bow was already in hand, he got off a shot at it immediately, but he was already watching the creature to see if the weapon had an effect- or rather, how little effect it had. He doubted the bow would be helpful in this situation, and he was more than prepared to set it aside in favor of his gun. Even if it would use ammunition, it would probably be necessary for this fight.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

"Do not look into it's eyes!"

To do such would render anyone under paralysis. Striking one should render one under a terrible curse which sapped the strength from both their mind and their body. They were vile, vile creatures- versed in black magic more accomplished than that of any black mage.

As it approached, the oddest squealing sound filled the air, at first unnoticeable, but continued on and on without end. As it came closer, still tracing odd arcs in the air with it's arms very alike a broken puppet, the sound was to get louder. Loud enough for Rishfee to hold his head in his hands. Loud enough to be extremely painful.

It came to a dead stop, and dark energies swirled around the creature. Tribulation -- an ability meant to curse Vincent with the effect of the most severe Bio, an incantation designed to bring the man to his knees in suffering in a matter of minutes.

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

The noises that were made and the sight of the creature, the stench, everything, it was over powering. His blade was freed as soon as the thing made a move towards them, taking Rishfee's warning and lowering his gaze. He made sure that all he could see was the bottom of the flayers robes. His grip tightened, this wasn't something he had ever fought against before. Not that he could remember, and it was surely something he would never forget if he had.

Rughadjeen made to move against it when the noise got louder, he stilled but brought the Algol higher, closer to the monster as he swung the blade down with as much might as he could muster.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

The Soulflayer hissed, spitting out putrid water as the Algol almost cleaved it's head from it's body. However, even the might of the sword of stars was not enough to even wound it. The soulflayer extended a damp, pale arm and caught the Elvaan around the throat, dark energies swirling about it as it begun to cast, what passed for words causing sprays of putrid, horrible, stinking venom to splash against the Elvaan's face.

"Rughadjeen!"
Rishfee was forced to break from Vincent, and attempted to run towards the creature which still had the Elvaan by the throat, now lifting him up so high, even his feet couldn't touch the ground. Sadly, he didn't get there in time. The soulflayer finished it's incantation. Flare II.

The Elvaan was envoloped and consumed by a series of explosions.

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

The effects of the Soulflayer's spell were nearly immediate, and Vincent gave a pained grunt as Bio began to work on him, draining his strength. He refused to stumble yet, and did his best to remain standing, though with the spell working on him, it might not last for long. He barely paid attention to Rishfee breaking away from him when the Soulflayer grabbed Rughadjeen and held him in the air. The most he noticed was that the effects of the spell likely would not be removed any time soon. He could feel it draining away his strength, and already, his aim was wavering slighly.

He meant to get in as many shots as he could, as quickly as possible. That was why, unlike Rishfee, he remained where he was when the explosions surrounded Rughadjeen, and waited for an opening- then fired, getting three shots at the monster.

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

Rughadjeen was far too slow to pull away from the Soulflayer as it reached out to grab him. The clammy hand around his neck caused him to let go of the Algol with one hand and bring it up to try and free himself. His eyes widened and he tried to turn his head away as it began the spell. He choked as he feet left the ground, kicking his legs hoping to maybe catch the thing and have it either let go or loosen it's grip.

But the first kick was all he managed as his body stilled and his back arched at the pain that erupted around him. Letting out a loud cry he dropped the Algol. He wasn't down, but he was badly hurt and ached everywhere. Pretty sure that he was still smoking. It didn't matter though if the Flare II hadn't finished it, the fact he was being strangled would cause him to pass out if it kept going on.

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

It was all he could do to leap upward against the Soulflayer and raise his wightslayer in an upward cleave against the creature- turning it in the air as he reached the peak of his jump and forcing the thing down to cleave. The Soulflayer spat more venom alongside a few loose tentacles which writhed and contorted upon the floor, dropping the Elvaan and making a strike to bash Rishfee with it's stave.

However, thankfully, Vincent's aim was as true as ever, and the creature gave a piercing scream before getting a face full of lead. It stumbled backward, raising it's staff unto the air. The finishing blow was fatal -- yet it would not... it could not allow those which had fatally wounded it to escape.

Mind Blast. Three lightning strikes came down immediately, striking all three and inflicting a massive amount of damage. The Paralysis effect of the spell was strong, about as strong as the Bio Vincent suffered. Whether it lived or died wasn't important to it. It was rendering the three men absolutely incapable of any sort of movement- while it bludgeoned them to death, one by one, until it's final breath.

[chaos-vessel.livejournal.com]

Vincent saw Rishfee get in a hit to release Rughadjeen, and watched the shots hit in satisfaction, even as he did his best to prepare for the creature's next attack. He had dropped to kneel after firing, feeling the Bio spell still working on him. Still, he did his best to ignore it, and reload to fire again as the creature raised his staff. It had already proven that its attacks could do horrible amounts of damage, and to be unprepared to respond, if not avoid it, would make an already difficult fight nearly impossible.

He had almost completed the action when the Soulflayer cast Mind Blast. He would have jerked in pain, maybe even would have screamed, but the Paralysis was already in effect. He was trapped in no position to defend himself, and no way to break the Paralysis until it wore off.

[rughadjeen.livejournal.com]

Rughadjeen fell to the ground unceremoniously, having the air knocked out of him. Despite the protest of every single part of his body, he still willed himself to move, to get to his feet, get a better distance put between them and prepare. He had just been able to crawl and grab the handle of the Algol when his body and mind were hit by the monsters final and desperate attack. Each time he made to move his body resist, only now and then were his actions carried through. With a lot of struggling he managed to get to his feet, actions stopped more often than not. He had no remedies or Panacea's on him to cure himself of the paralysis so the only thing he could do was fight through everything.

It grew harder and harder as his own body wanted to succumb to exhaustion brought with the pain. His jaw clenched and he heaved the Algol up, each bombardment from the Mind Blast weakening him until he got close enough to the Soulflayer. He still remembered to keep his eyes away from the things own, despite the urge to watch the life slip away from it's eyes. He gripped the blade tighter and used the weight as well as his own to bash into the monster. Shifting his weight to stop himself toppling over, he brought the blade down upon the Flayer and pushed forward around it's abdomen. Closing his eyes and calling up on his magic his eyes opened when he was done and stared at his target as Holy was cast. The Flayer was wrapped in a bright light before the spell seemed to explode outwards.

Azouph Isle aftermath. (Rughadjeen exit stage left?)

[immortal-lion.livejournal.com]

Finally, it was over. The Immortal's breath was weak, his body limp, and as the soulflayer finally fell, he did. Situated directly opposite the creature, they were almost touching. The Immortal was curled up into a foetal position, eyes open and staring at nothing.

He was not hurt. No more than the others. But something was happening. His body was twitching, and his eyes were staring in the bizarro way they should tend to when one was suddenly realizing that somehow, inadvertantly... that soulflayer, Nareema, the Immortal the soulflayer was, was now a part of him.

Physical, as well as mental changes were occurring. The ability he'd learned brought more of the monster, more of the soulflayer he really was out, and it tempered him as a vessel. Repaired past damage, past mutation, past... abnormality in body, soul and mind. It overwrote things. It corrected things.

...But with all things, it was a painful process. He was not himself, right now. He was her. Nareema... as incoherant, and as bizarre as the girl had always been. It didn't stop him from adapting her speech patterns.

"Blue...muddies the purest waters."
Blue...
Is the colour of our blood... and our future...
I was pure... I cannot bear it..."

And he laughed. It was so faint, so delicate-- her laugh. Yet she was gone... long gone. Unto him. Unwitting or not... he'd consumed her very essence. Perhaps this broken pile of words was her last words through him, as the vessel he always was.

Perhaps.