[center] [img]https://i.imgur.com/C7nwoGY.png[/img] [b]Words:[/b] 765 (+2) [b][color=ea590c]Edward Portsmith: Level 10 (28 cells)[/color] [/b][color=ea590c]/////////////////////////////////[/color]/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (36/100) [b]Location[/b] Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk - Moon Mountain [/center] Edward, frozen solid, slid out of the cave in frozen stasis followed by his troops. Loona, the orchestrator of this, was at the front, which was a good thing too given she had to shadewalk strike the ice cube of a man in order to defrost him (using the man’s own burning weapons enchantment to do so) before he slid off of a cliff [color=ea590c]”I.. What... Where… is the enemy?"[/color] the man asked, stumbling as he came to, but the battle was already over, or, more accurately, had been left behind in the darkness that now loomed just behind them. None had come out of it unscathed, but having had to divine its efforts so much had spread the shadow’s ability to actually harm rather thin, which was the only reason there had been no actual losses to the madness. It was evidently rather upset about this, given the calls coming from the cave of “Coward! Failure! Save us! Doomed us!” and the half seen shapes of umbral demons half seen within. The man began to turn, ripe to be lost to the memories again, but was distracted when there came a dismayed whine from Loona. Her intelligence levels had come crashing back down to their natural state, leaving what had once been normal now feeling slow and foggy when compared to the high she had reached in that endless feeling battle. A moment later, however, she made a more confused sound, before being wrapped in a bright light that chased away the darkness, and practically blinded all around. This light pulsed, and with each pulse grew larger and larger till it burst forth, and revealed her new form. Larger in size and with crimson fur the newly evolved [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/75cd943094fc.gif]Lunarwulf[/url] had fully incorporated the coat of the Red Wolf of Radagon and gained the hue of a perfect specimen of her kind. The little moon stone had grown alongside its owner, its aura stronger now from size or, perhaps, it was that they were closer to the grand one that hung above. Regardless, that glow was a beacon in the dark, and it let Edward fix his eyes on something that was not the shadows demanding he return to face his trial once again. Let him put the pieces together, first of his discombobulated mind, and then of the events that had transpired. He breathed, in and out, with deliberate slowness, and then spoke to his assembled creatures, saying [color=ea590c]”My apologies for letting myself become lost in the past”[/color] before turning it towards the shadows, and telling them in turn [color=ea590c]”I have no time for your foolish flagellation. Begon, spirits. My sins are my own to bare, and only those I have failed may judge me”[/color] At his words the shadows shrank, faded, and became formless. Merely a slightly deeper patch of dark in a land already cloaked in darkness. He nodded to himself, before then surveyed the surroundings for a moment, finding in them no trace of the seekers. [color=ea590c]”Let us hope the others fared better than I did, or that they have as fine a companion as you, Loona, at their side as well”[/color] he said then, nodding to the spectral wolf in approval as he did so, before turning his attention upwards. Ascending was the logical course of action, to find a place that they could send down scouts from, to find the rest of the group, rather than wandering aimlessly around the cave strewn cliffsides. He returned those minions that had pal spheres to them, scooped up Scrumpy, and then ascended alongside Loona and the SomnaDrix. As the man flew, Lunarwulf slipped from shadow to shadow, and an impossible creature climbed with powerful claws, they did not quite manage to leave the madness of the mountain behind them. [hider=Scrumpy level up] New ability [url=https://cdn.imgchest.com/files/4b98ad053ef8.png]Eureka![/url]: for a moderate mana cost, the user gains three tech, a resource that can be used to create better items using other tinkerer abilities. Inflict 10 seconds of madness, causing the wielder to act uncontrollably while unable to distinguish friend from foe. Only usable once per battle. [/hider] Upon reaching the gateway, the man greeted the other two, relived to see others had made it, and especially that Sandalphon had not suffered over greatly from her separation from the group. He then let his troops take a well deserved rest, but the man himself took no such thing. Instead he set to work rebuilding his summoned forces, sending scouts out to find the others, preparing cold-flame atronachs to float down to reinforce them, and finally forging a fresh ironclad to break down the gate if need be.