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

[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.