[hider=Pre-post Message]Throwing this up now because I been busy and Vatarr has been waitin on me lol. Post is technically done, but will be editing for formatting and adding the Summary/Grym's might section tomorrow.[/hider] The returning march to 23 was a quiet one. The magi shuffled anxiously behind the horde of uncaring offspring, probably wondering why they had been pledged as tribute to such a sudden stranger. Grym’s warriors flanked in turn, in opposition to their forward placement during the intended invasion. One might get the feeling that they were watching for deserters. Grym spearheaded the march toward the node, with Peninal aboard Akky overhead. Thoughts of his shortcomings and misgivings during node 22’s siege played on the mind; that old man had sated him in a dissatisfactory fashion. He couldn’t let himself be distracted again. He had the Cradle mobilize most of its reserves from 18 to converge at 23, considering his previous inadequate estimates. At about mid-day of the fourth day, Grym finally saw the silhouette of 23’s obelisk over the horizon. It was during this day that reinforcements from the north had caught up as well; considering the roughly equal distance between 18 and 23, and 23 and 22. Another thousand or so offspring seamlessly ordered themselves behind the warriors, nearly doubling their current ranks. All of the warriors had seen the mass of offspring integrated from the north, but Nea was the first to break the silence. “Isn’t this a bit much?” On this rare occasion she sounded genuinely concerned, her gaze shifting between the subdued magi and flanking offspring. “I think…” Duncan spoke up. “I think Master Grym is upset.” Nea wanted to belittle Duncan and his unwarranted opinion, but something stopped her. There was a sensation of genuine understanding that he exuded in his response — one that she instinctively chose to listen to. “Almost like he’s afraid, but.. that’s not it. If I had to guess, he isn’t satisfied with how things turned out — like he can’t accept what’s already done.” “Why not?” Nea heard herself say before she had the time to think. “Because he’s a gluttoun. Without taking the node or killing Lord Brey, it’s like his tail is between his legs right now.” “But [b]he[/b] proposed the treaty.” Dorian pointed out. “Exactly. That decision represents compromise in the face of hardship. It’s a feeling I know too well, and the reason he blames himself — cowardice.” Duncan was right. Grym brooded at the front of a force of thousands. His hunger had been stunted by the whimsy of a quirky old man; in all honesty, he’d been duped. Anger was not an emotion that came naturally to him, but in this moment this perceived inadequacy weighed heavily. He had spent so much time and effort preparing to eat a meal, only to settle for scraps. The only thing he could do was stew in this resentment. The group reached had reached the node, where Grym remained for a second time. 23 must be an unlucky number for him. Barely more than a day went by before one of Grym’s warriors, Talia, reported the approach of someone or something from the West. Talia was tall, at around 6’1”, with broad shoulders and tree trunks for legs. She’d been the one to spot Grym when he first skulked around the village in 18 and felt no hesitation in interacting with him, in contrast to most of the other warriors who were put off by Grym’s appearance and divine authority. It was she who insisted upon her employment as a scout in his service and, truthfully, the main reason his warriors operated cohesively. The mist seemed to be moving toward the node from that direction, but there wasn’t any way to identify what it was or who (if anything) inhabited it. Reports stated that all plant life and animals corroded in the wake of the mist’s touch, dissuading Grym’s warriors from attempting to engage or interact with whatever this was. Whatever it was, Grym reckoned it would head for the node; considering most everything had a reason to seek the nodes. He readied himself and company in anticipation for the arrival of who or whatever dared invade. [hr] To say that everything in Vatarr’s wake was left corroded and dead was untrue. If anyone had cared to look behind the reported ‘mist cloud of death’, they might have noticed that fresh plant and fungal life was sprouting up in the aftermath of the destruction. However, as was the nature of mortals, they seemed to take more interest in destruction than creation. The deer skull headed god had seen some of the ‘monsters’ that the humans had fled from at least two nodes for himself from the recently claimed Volcanic Bulwark that had formerly been called Node 28… and Vatarr had deemed the matter worthy of going on the offensive. Under normal circumstances he would have happily left matters as they were but… the creatures he had witnessed were not life. They were a perversion of life. A sickness that corrupted actual living creatures in order to create an army that was shackled to the will of another entity. It might have been a deity at the center or it might have been akin to one of the chaos beasts that favored the unstable realm around unclaimed nodes or maybe even something else… but whatever it was needed to be stopped. It was a corruption of the Cycle and if left unchecked, it would dominate the world for an untold period of time before it died, likely leaving the planet shattered and broken in the aftermath. It needed to be snuffed out [i]now[/i]. And so he made his way towards the Node, where he could commit to the purging of this region in a fast, timely manner before making plans for the heart of the beast as it were. [hr] “Well, what is it then?” “Couldn’t say, sir. Our best guess is it’s being controlled, considering the direct path it’s taking toward the node. Matter appears to morph and shift unnaturally in the mist, so much so that it’s impossible to pick anyone out that may be using it for cover.” Talia explained. “Alright, alright.” He huffed dejectedly, waving a hand in ascribed direction of the cloud’s approach. “Send.. uuuh-hundred-ish offspring toward it to see what happens. Take Pops on Akky and watch from a safe distance to see what happens.” Talia nods and gave the big guy a good smack on his shoulder guard, curling her lips into a sympathetic smile Some hundred offspring gathered at the beckon of a distinct whistle with Talia trailing behind the bunch; twenty Stalkers; twenty Flyers; the rest a medley of Thralls and Bombardiers. The idea was to breach the mist from the air, ground, and underground to see all possible outcomes of various approach options. In addition, Talia conscripted thirteen of Brey’s magi to accompany her in the flank. They were to employ their illusory magicks to give the impression that the grounded offspring would be mistaken for mortal refugees fleeing from the airborne Flyers while the Stalkers could ambush unnoticed from underground. One of the magi would be reserved to prevent the magi, and Talia, from being seen in the flank. The plan had been organized and executed like a well-oiled machine with Talia at the helm. In no time the operation commenced toward the cloud’s beelining path. The screams of desperate mortals grew closer to the mist as the magi worked their magic, while Pops trailed behind the group of flyers ‘chasing’ said mortals. Grym remained by the node, sparks of excitement beginning to kindle his dampened flame. It was time to see how the mist, or whoever had brought it, would react. [hr] Vatarr’s march towards the node continued, even as the screams and cries of mortals fleeing from the monsters reached his ears and gaze. Their pleas and screams would go unheeded and unanswered as he continued his advance and ignored them. While callous, there were several factors that decided this outcome. The first and most important was that these mortals were already doomed; Vatarr’s plan to purge the region of tainted life would, by its nature, purge untainted life as well. Even if he took the time to assist these humans, there was no way they were going to make it outside of the region before the purge began. While it would provide little comfort, they were at least going to die without having to exist as meat puppets. The second was the suspicious nature of this group of mortals. Even before he began his trip to claim the two nodes and set up the Volcanic Bulwark, the trickle of refugees from the invaded Nodes were already slowing down. For a group of humans to still be alive and untainted after all this time had passed was… highly questionable. More likely that these were actually meat puppets being employed for some kind of theateric ploy. The last and admittingly most selfish reason was simply the fact that he didn’t wish to waste the strength to save a group of humans who, if they still were humans, were going to die soon anyway. The act of purging alone was going to be a taxing one and he didn’t know what other obstructions were going to have to be dealt with in order to get to that point. Better to be conservative then. So if the ‘humans’ ran into the mist alongside their pursuers, they would die just the same as anything else as their organic parts underwent a swift and admittingly painful decay as flesh and muscle effectively melted off bone within seconds of exposure as it liquefied into an organic sludge that soaked into the soil and proved a fertile mixture to spout new life from that grew and decayed in the cycle that the twin mists represented. In comparison to the surface and airborne, those creatures underground had a much easier time of things. While the mist did seep down into the ground, the ground itself diluted the effects of the mist enough that it would take minutes to rot and decay those in contact with it rather than seconds. They would even be able to tell that there was a bipedal pair of feet that was moving at a divine jogging pace around the middle of the cloud… though those that tried to get closer wouldn’t live long enough to find anything else out. The first one that tried to burrow closer would be met with something punching through the surface of the ground to slam it directly, instantly killing it and flooding its tunnel with the same mist that purged life on the surface… alongside threatening any tunnels that connected to that one. [hr] Predictably, a few stray ‘mortals’ were not enough to deter the mist’s path. Talia’s group observed intently from afar as the ground forces entered the mist and, one by one, their silhouettes shifted into the unrecognizable. From above, flyers bombarded the cloud with a payload of over one hundred swarmers. Many came in contact with the cloud, deforming and reshaping, while the remaining majority splattered into bits in the area surrounding the cloud; releasing infectious spores. All twenty Stalkers plunged upward from beneath the stranger not to kill him, but grapple him in place for what little time remained before they decomposed. Peninal’s swordspear cut through the sky with tremendous force toward the immobilized target — growing to a colossal size during its descent. [hr] Truth be told Vatarr almost pitied the creatures digging up through the ground towards him. It brought back memories of the battle for what was now called the Ashen Plains region as its chaotic guardian would manifest tendrils, limbs, teeth and claws from any and all possible directions. By comparison, these creatures were so slow and predictable that he sensed the ambush coming long before any of them had truly gotten close. Instead of playing his hand too quickly through, Vatarr instead focused a small bit of his power in order to alter his own form. When the creatures from below burst out in order to seize him, they latched onto [i]something[/i]. Unfortunately for them, what they had coiled around and tried to lock down wasn’t Vatarr anymore, but rather something more akin to an exoskeleton or shell as the actual Vatarr abandoned it, bursting out of the side at high speed and punching through the Stalker that had been covering that side in a shower of shell and gore. The new form that Vatarr had taken was in a way similar to his old one, though there were differences. He was a lot slender and faster, with a set of fly like wings buzzing from his back and sides as he darted through the air and took flight, hovering above the ground as he watched as a stupidly large weapon came down on his former shell, smashing it and its attempted jailers to bits. No longer limited to moving along the ground, the now flying Vatarr turned and started to fly safely away from the ground as he started to zoom along the shaft of the giant weapon, intent on finding the wielder in order to have… [i]words[/i] as Life and Death easily drifted behind their master while locked in his grip. From the point of view of those outside of the mist, the center/source of the mists seemed to have changed from somewhere on the ground to somewhere in the air, it was now moving a lot faster then it had been before… and while it was still traveling towards the Node, it seemed to be following the divine spear that had attempted to slay it back to its master. [hr] While Talia was finally able to see the being clearly, Grym only just glimpsed the rocketing blur emerging from the mist cloud into the sky; as the mist soon followed in tow. Whoever it was, had taken flight to avoid the ambush and now swept through the air. “Akasha.” Grym called, once the spear had returned to Peninal’s custody. She whinnied in response, nose-diving toward the ground at breakneck speeds her pursuer couldn’t hope to match. Just as she was to collide with the earth, she instead vanished in a flash of black smoke leaving Peninal’s spectre to meet the ground with a spectacular boom. Again, Peninal craned his arm back and again the spear flew through the air toward his pursuer. This time, however, the magi of Talia’s forward squadron dropped their own veil to produce an illusion around the spear itself — to make its trajectory appear completely off target. In reality, though, the spear barreled toward the assailant and split iinto a volley of one hundred identical spears during its flight. Grym watched on in renewed vigor. [i]I wonder which of the Gods was crazy enough to charge in alone. How audacious.[/i] With a twinkle in those empty sockets he relished the theatric battle, motioning with a preoccupied gesture for Nea and Dorian to ready the main force for direct conflict. [hr] The fact that the next spear seemed to be completely off target seemed odd. The first throw had been completely accurate after all. It was as the spear entered the mist that the oddness of the situation clicked in the already questioning mind of Vatarr: The spear didn’t interact with the mist at all. It just kept flying through without the disturbances that a physical object passing through something like mist would cause. What [i]did[/i] cause a disturbance were multiple spear shaped ‘voids’ in the mist that were traveling rather accurately right towards him. There wasn’t enough time to dodge… Well, not all of them at any rate. Too many projectiles, too little distance of forewarning. That didn’t mean that all was lost. It was a matter of an instant. While the result or the process to create it was by no means flashy, those more intune with divine power would easily feel the sheer amount of it that flared to life within the green mist for a moment. The logic was simple: Since dodging wasn’t an option, resisting and enduring the strikes was the only real option. Since Vatarr didn’t want to find out if he could tank dozens, if not hundreds of divinely thrown spears in a matter of seconds by himself, he created armor. A divinely strong living carapace covered his body, inhumanly strong despite its seemingly organic nature, unnaturally light so that he could move and fly around unhindered and capable of changing its form in order to match whatever form he happened to be wearing at the time. It even boosted his speed and reflexes somewhat. Trusting in his creation to protect his body from the worst of the onslaught, Life and Death were spun in their respective circles in order to provide a physical barrier between the attacks and his wings, for while the armor did provide protection to that region it was by nature lighter there and he didn’t want to stress test how much damage they could take. Even as he weathered the storm, thoughts ran through Vatarr’s head as he felt the collisions of spears against Life, Death and his new carapace, but found that it was holding. He had wanted to keep some power in reserve for the fighting and purge ahead, but the requirements of staying alive had forced him to spend it early. Even if he pushed on, killed the god who had made this defilement and even claimed the node… he wouldn’t be able to cleanse the area. Considering his current armements and new armor, there was a quick thought given towards outcomes of this fight. Had it been the army alone or even the deity in one on one combat, Vatarr couldn’t help but feel like victory would have been his to claim. But both at once… and without the divine reserves to deal with the changing situation that would no doubt come from the god currently in charge of the Node… the outcome was unclear. The moment that the barrage of spears ceased, Life and Death were swung and their mists fired off in a path that was heading straight towards where the spears had come from in order to make it appear that he was continue his assault… while in truth Vatarr turned and started to retreat back to his own territory. Considering the speed of the divine combined with flight, any of the abominations that might have a prayer of catching up with him would have had to invest so much in pure speed that they wouldn’t be able to do anything more than keep track of his progress. The rival god might be able to catch up, but unless they could already fly (not to mention the starting distance), they would have to tap into their own reserves of power to do so, alongside having to leave their army behind due to the fact they simply wouldn’t be fast enough to keep up. If they wanted to throw away their advantages to engage in a one on one fight Vatarr wouldn’t mind, but surviving this skirmish meant that the war was only beginning. [hr] It wasn’t accurate to say there was nothing to do about the fleeing juggernaut, though at this point it felt more wasteful to keep playing cat and mouse. From Grym’s angle it was plain to see the mist covering the God’s escape. If Grym were to go by the map, then he could handily surmise that it had been Vatarr. Duncan might be able to corroborate the theory as well, mayhaps, but that determination could be left for later on. Talia was sharp enough to recognize a lost cause, and withdrew to report her experiences. “What a brute, ay T?” Grym whimsied. “What is it with you and the nicknames? Nobody likes the nicknames.” Talia shook her head. “That’s not true. Didn’t you see the smile on Garavarr’s face when I called him ‘G-money’?” “The guy’s a walking catatstrophe, Little G.” Talia continued, consummating her own pet moniker in response and ignoring Grym’s attempts to further derail the conversation. “Could’ve killed him from the beginning if you hadn’t dawdled, but that armor he’s got is gonna make it even harder next time.” “Oof, that’s harsh. I suppose I can’t disagree, though. I think we still have the advantage, assuming they in fact waltzed up here all alone. We’ll still invade the South; leave the rest to me.” With the men readied, Grym spared only minutes before proceeding to march his entire force South toward node 26. The little time he’d taken was to relay two messages; one to Brey via the offspring and a written note to be delivered to Asvarad. For this second task, he sent Dorian and Duncan on horseback to find the elusive serpent. [hider=Note to Brey] Dearest Brey, I recently met with your compatriot and friend, Vatarr. By the time I had returned to my lands, he had been lying in wait to strike against me. I tried reasoning with him and Duncan did his best to deter his aggression, but nothing satisfied him. I am not sure what madness ails your friend since you last saw him, but I was barely able to drive him off. Whatever happened has displaced all reason in him, so please be careful. I have not yet met with your other compatriot, Asvarad, but I will be reaching out to warn him ahead of my arrival as well. Your magi and Duncan remain well, if not a bit shaken over the sudden betrayal. We should speak soon. Be well, Your friendly skeleton [/hider] [hider=Note to Asvarad] Greetings, My name is Grym. You may know of me, though you’ve never met me. I have written this message to you for two reasons. One of which is to alert you of my introduction and alliance with Brey, as Duncan’s willing presence should indicate. In this regard, I’d like to extend my hand to you as well and hopefully arrange a meeting where we might speak plainly to one another. The second matter is of recent development, concerning a god by the name of Vatarr. It seems you, him, and Brey are currently aligned so what I am about to say may be shocking. Just after meeting with Brey, I was returning to my realm when I was ambushed by Vatarr. Duncan attempted to explain the situation and resolve through conversation, but Vatarr had went mad. He heard no reason and did not hesitate in decimating countless mortals within node 23 during his attempt to kill me. An indescribable madness has taken over him and it took most of my might to simply force him to flee. I hope this message finds you well and pray that we might meet face to face soon. Treat my messengers well; I look forward to your response. Regards, Grym the Unfinished[/hider] [hider=Might] Vatarr Start: 5 (due to Quiz) 1 Might to create a new form for Vatarr. 4 Might to create an artifact in the form of carapace armor. Said armor is naturally highly resistant to attack, but is also light and changes shape in order to perfectly match the wearer. It also boosts reaction speed as well. End: 0 [/hider]