BCTheEntity

Ere' we go! Ere' we go! Ere' we go! - WH40K Ork RP [Lookin' for boyz an grotz]

@Klomster Trust me, we have plenty of Nobz by now, and at least one Dok to boot. There is a distinct dearth of real sneaky-like Kommandoes, however, and I highly encourage you to make that character in particular.

Deify

@Klomster Thanks for the bump. Realistically, what you're asking depends on the magic reserves available to a deity. Having consulted with gammaflux on this, we've established that typical PC deities, at roughly 1.25x the strength of the weakest deities, could exert most or all of their Arcane and Divine power to reduce to energy the mass of a decently-sized mountain range, though deities focused on less offensive disciplines such as healing may have issues with channelling all that as pure destructive force. Standard PC mortals (SPCM), at 0.75x the strength of the weakest deities and therefore possessing around 60% of a standard PC deity's power, can reduce to energy around 60% of the mass that a standard PC deity (SPCD) can.

However, it should be noted at this stage that the power is rather relative between the two groups. Whilst a SPCM would be soundly thrashed in a one-on-one fight against a SPCD, and the deity's mere presence would be considered a huge deal to most mortals whilst the same is not true in reverse, the fact that a SPCM is as strong as they are would be considered a major feat by most of their fellows, and they would likely hold major positions within at least their race, if not the religion as a whole (and I recommend that SPCMs are built around roughly this specification unless there is a good reason to avoid doing so); by comparison, a SPCD is rather small fry amongst the ranks of the divine, and Alithos would likely be able to take on every PC-level deity alone with little more than scratches from them. Not to mention that a good portion of a deity's power, size dependent on the deity themselves, is Divine rather than Arcane, which is a further damper in many cases if they don't want to expend the former.

Since we're on the topic, Divine magic is accumulated rather more slowly than Arcane magic recuperates. Any being acquires more Arcane mana at a rate proportional to their Arcane mana reserves, such that even if they fully expend all of their Arcane magic, it will recover entirely with about a full day's rest, give or take up to an hour. By contrast, Divine magic has no explicit limit on how much can be accumulated, but methods of acquisition are by their nature far slower:

-Active worship of a deity by any mortal will grant them some Divine mana, adding up to a reasonable amount over the worshipper's lifetime, with a minimal gain over time via being a passive part of that deity's worshipper base;

-Temples, churches, statues, and other monuments dedicated to a specific deity will grant that deity Divine mana based on the amount of dedication put into them (based on traits such as size, effort of building, build quality, how well they exemplify the deity's merits, and so on), with relatively minor monuments providing less mana per time unit than even a single active worshipper, whereas large and substantial projects such as a very large cathedral would even grant mana during its construction as though it were a form of mass worship and continue to provide a significant stream of mana even after construction ends, though in any case, the monuments will provide Divine mana until they become decrepit enough to not be significant to the faith of the deity any more, a potentially much greater timescale than any mortal could provide for them;

-Sacrifices to a deity, of any sort, will provide an immediate and comparatively large boost of Divine mana, though this is obviously only a one-time thing per sacrificed being, and varies in significance depending on the sacrifice itself - food and drink sacrificed "in spirit" will only provide small boosts, whilst animals may provide a somewhat greater boost depending on how well they're prepared, and mortals will provide more mana based on the preparations taken, and the devoutness of both sacrificer and sacrificee, with the greatest boosts coming from fanatically-loyal worshippers placed into either role (perhaps both simultaneously, if they commit ritual suicide in their deity's name), though a worshipper of another deity sacrificed by a sufficiently-loyal worshipper can provide almost as much strength.

Deities can also provide other deities with their own Divine power, though this is a relatively uncommon occurrence given that it's a rather precious resource; aside from transfusions via direct contact, the most common way for this to be done is by soaking food or drink with Divine energy for another deity to consume, though this only has any significant effect within about two weeks of the initial energy soaking, since it rapidly drains away over time. Notably, a mass sacrifice is the only way to bring a new deity into existence quickly, as energy obviously cannot be transfused to a being which doesn't yet exist, and the initial requirement to bring a new deity into being is so large that any other method of worship will almost certainly take anywhere from a hundred to a thousand years to achieve, whereas the comparatively large boost from a sacrifice of a large number of people, performed all at once, could well bring a new deity into existence almost immediately, though if the entire worshipper base died as a result, it could be that the deity is immediately put into a situation where they have to start preaching their own word to gather replacement worshippers.

Speaking of sacrifice to bring a new deity into being, expect my character for the game to be created shortly.

Underlake: An Othertale

I am a bad person, and I am very sorry for holding the game up as much as I have. @Guardian Angel Haruki, if you still want to keep going, I've gotten my next post up.

Underlake: An Othertale

♥ - Rodney Colton Smith

Alright, good. She's still alive, at least. As am I, of course, but it half-seems like even after taking similar hits, I'm doing better than Skylar. Odd. Still, I'm a bit irate with this ghost, now, so... ugh. I can't shoot it, I can't make it shut up, so really, I've got one option left to me.

ACT -> Blep

I stick my tongue out at it angrily. That'll show it.

---

♥ - Eeeeeeeeeeee

'blep blep blep wow youre really funny you yellow guy you wait you said i had to stop talking didnt you red human girl oh no i did it again i always do that i have... to stop... okay... okay.'

I stop talking, because that was actually hurting those humans. I stay quiet for a moment, then begin talking again, but slowly.

'sorry about that. i... have problems with my talking. i managed to hurt some people before with it, and... i dont get to talk to a lot of people, now. sorry.'

---

♥ - Rodney Colton Smith

...wow. What a sob story. I'm inclined to remain angry at him, frankly, considering the injuries we've been dealt, but... well, he seems like he's being honest, I guess. I huff a bit, then consider how to respond...

ACT -> Teach

...waaait.

'I mean, you're talking more slowly now, aren't you?' I point out. 'Can you not just... make sure you don't talk faster than this? Maybe pay attention and make sure you don't start spewing words out everywhere? Uh- back me up here, Skylar, I'm not crazy to suggest that, am I?' Surely it's not unfair (and thus unjust) to suggest that he do that, after all. It seems obvious, is what I'm saying.

OOC Footer

I am a bad person, and I am very sorry for holding the game up as much as I have. @Guardian Angel Haruki, if you still want to keep going, here's the next part of that.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

@Jbcool I'm just waiting for @Yennefer to contact me about a collaborative bit in our character sheets. If I don't hear from her in a couple of days, I may just finish off the sheet as though her character isn't involved with mine, since you're so intent on getting us involved ASAP.

Ere' we go! Ere' we go! Ere' we go! - WH40K Ork RP [Lookin' for boyz an grotz]

Gowglakk Bangdakka was only marginally upset about the death of Kaptin Ogmuk Marine-flayer. Ex-Kaptin, rather. Though he to some extent understood why his fellows might be so emotional about it, he deliberately held back on his own emotional outbursts, reasoning that they were best stored up as anger for when he came up against the foe that had killed the beloved Freeboota Kaptin, and also kept in mind that that was simply how it went - strong, clever Orks went up in the hierarchy; weak, stupid Orks got themselves krumped. In this case, Ogmuk had been stupid.

Gowglakk would not make that mistake. As a Big Mek, and a pragmattik one at that, he knew full well that he could easily achieve succession to the status of Kaptin before getting killed. It was just a matter of living long enough to make sure he was bigger than all the other gits trying to take the throne, and krumping any of them who continued to question his legitimacy after that point.

Thus, it was no surprise to him when, whilst working on his latest project, a Grot turned up in his office, flailed a bit of paper around, and screeched "Oi, Big Mek! Youse gots a messij frum Whatzitf-", shortly before receiving a large thrown spanna to the head and getting half-flattened under its weight. Bangdakka did not like being interrupted; however, he figured this had something to do with who would be the next Warboss, and in any case was not foolish enough to dismiss a call from Mugrub Whatzitface himself. He was oddly composed for a Weird, more than enough to hang out with the rest of the boyz, but still capable of anger enough to 'eadbang anybody he didn't like. And it was only pragmattik to want somebody like that allied with you, rather than acting as a potential threat in the future.

Just in case, Gowglakk grabbed one of the shootier Deffguns in his arsenal. He figured a Shokk Attakk Gun wouldn't be that useful without plenty of Snotz around to fire, and a Tellyport Blasta or Mega-Blasta might be too 'splodey for something like a throne room. On the other hand, plenty of dakka never hurt any throne too much... not in his experience, anyway. For appearance's sake, he also slung his Big Choppa and some ser-kit-ree over his shoulder so it all hung across his back, though his Kustom Power Klaw had generally proven to be the more effective weapon in most cases. Maybe it'd come in handy, though. With all that set up, and with a final tightening of a couple of loose bolts on his Iron Gob, Gowglakk made his way to the throne room.

Some twenty minutes and several literally gob-smacked Orks later, he arrived at the doorway into the room, half-expecting it to already be flooded with rioting Nobz. However, it seemed that he was one of the first ones there - other than that one git Oonguh Boonguh. Gowglakk did not like him. Aside from anything else, he had the most un-Orky name the Mek had ever heard; plus he had these weird notions of what the Oddboy disdainfully called "'onna", for instance that any fight ought to be made deliberately fair by giving back the opponent's weapons, or that worthy foes should be krumped quickly for reasons other than getting rid of them as fast as possible. Who had time for stuff like that in a fight? A proper Orky close-range fight, in Gowglakk's eyes, began and ended with a single good hit with something big and heavy, like a Power Klaw.

Speaking of close-range fighting, though, Oonguh was one of the better melee fighters on the ship, and one of the strongest too, as came with being a Goff. Even if his Klaw technically trumped the Choppa, Gowglakk decided it'd be best if he could use his range to his advantage, and so took a position sort-of close to the table, but as far away from Oonguh as he could manage without seeming antsy.

"So where're da uvver Nobz right now, den?" Gowglakk asked Mugrub casually. "Iv it'z just us in 'ere, dere'z not gunna be much ta tork about, iz dere?" He held off on explicitly naming the likely reason for his presence in the room, given that this may set off his two present rivals for leadership. And he did consider Mugrub a possible rival, even if he was small enough to cut into bits vertically with his Klaw; physical strength hardly mattered when you could be vaporised from across the room, and he was probably clever enough to rival Gowglakk in that field too, which made him especially tricky.

The Seven Seals (modern mythological mega-crossover RP) [CLOSED]

Leviathan

Name: Leviathan; the Black Kraken; the Thousand-Faced Stalker; the Demon Prince of Envy.

Species: Demonic shapeshifting kraken

Alignment: Dark

Partner: Harold Nordstrom

Faction: Infernal Legion

Sex: Male(?)

Age: Unknown

Appearance: The first word that comes to mind when describing Leviathan is "squid". Whilst he can apparently take on any humanoid form he likes through his abilities, and tends to adopt a humanoid form based on his current preferences, his true body is very distinctly shaped, appearing as a massive entity seemingly modelled after the colossal squid if it were twenty meters long rather than twelve to fourteen. Many gigantic eyes run round the entire circumference of his head, and a great many hard pointed spines run down his length, including along his tentacles, of which he seems to typically possess at least twice as many as any normal squid, with the capacity to grow even more. Also, like a colossal squid, his tentacles possess both swivelling and three-pointed sharp hooks, in addition to the standard suckers lined with teeth that are more prevalent on the smaller giant squid. All of this is coloured black, in varying tones ranging from glossy to matte depending on the discussed body part, and in spite of what the square-cube law might otherwise suggest, he is in no way weighed down by gravity on land, able to move around through flight or by walking on his tentacles, and capable of striking with his tentacles with terrifying speed for their size if he so chooses.

His currently preferred humanoid form, generally adopted when in council with the other demon princes, is light-skinned, possessing slick blonde hair that seems to have been oiled back, and bright green eyes with a piercing gaze. It is about 170 cm tall, and is typically clad in a spotless white suit with a red shirt, black tie, and black dress shoes. The most notable aspects of the form are the six meter-long tentacles extending from its back, with the capacity to extend even further outward, dispelling the image of an otherwise rather normal human, though the form in question is generally altered alongside his other traits when interacting with human beings, and even other spirits at times.

Aura: Leviathan's normal aura appears as a smooth, inky liquid darkness with a hint of sea green in it, seeming to be capable of flowing and reforming into whatever is desired of it. However, as with his appearance, this can be edited to appear as any number of possible alternatives suiting his current personality.

Personality: Leviathan appears to be quite normal externally, capable of putting on a charming, charismatic personality which can often sway the most stubborn of minds. This, however, is the charm of a psychopath who sees others as tools and nothing more: his capacity to adopt and discard false personalities on a whim is incredible, as though he is directly editing his very mind, but all hide a callous disregard for other forms of life. If he even has a true self beyond this, it is buried beneath his falsehoods beyond any reach less than a very deep mindscan indeed, and he is unwilling to allow anything of the sort to be used on him if he can help it.

Biography: Leviathan reveals as little about his past as he can when asked. Logistically, all that is really known by even his fellow demon princes is that the original Leviathan had been weakened by a curse set upon him by Satan during the coup of the princes, and was therefore forced to hibernate to recover from it. This Leviathan hid himself away from the rest of the demon realm whilst recovering, so well in fact that even the other demon princes could not follow; and yet another demon still managed to find a way to intrude upon and murder him in his hiding spot, and what returned was a very different Leviathan, with a very different mindset. Where the original Leviathan had been recalcitrant and unwilling to interact with his fellows, this one was shockingly charismatic, almost to a fault... when he felt like it, at least.

He was also, it turned out, one of the most active plotters in the Infernal Legion's upper echelons, and has developed a number of ideas regarding how they could advance their cause over the few dozen years he has been active, including significant input into seeing the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse come to fruition. With the fall of the First Seal thirty years ago, and the more recent choosing of a sufficiently powerful partner that he can basically manipulate into doing his bidding at will, his great power and extensive capabilities now extend into the world of humans too.

Skills: Leviathan's full skillset is vast, thanks to his abilities, but its full extent is typically kept under metaphorical lock and key, and not described wholly even to his fellows; attempts to pry it or anything else from his mind by force have been historically unsuccessful thanks to a combination of slippery mindset and substantial psychic ability. What he is well-known to be very good at, however, is manipulation of others into doing his bidding, being capable of putting on often-personalised facades which can play all but the most perceptive of beings, as well as a surprisingly large inventive streak that leaves him rather capable of changing tactics on a dime.

Abilities:
Shift - The base of most of Leviathan's being, this ability lets him, at will, alter not only his physical appearance, but his aura and even his very personality too, to mimic just about any being he's personally encountered before to the point of copying their magical abilities, or to form entirely new personas to adopt as needed. The change in aura and personality is almost complete, requiring a rather deep mind scan just to uncover his true self beneath the image (though this is not to say any mimicry will actually be particularly good without significant knowledge of a copied target), and his physical shapeshifting is of course very useful in combat, letting him form blades, blunt objects, and spikes of all sorts to attack his opponents with.

Telepathy - Leviathan's main form of attack, in which psychic energy is used to penetrate a target's mind, and subsequently read their minds, implant illusions, deal mental damage to them, and many other possible effects, either subtly or not. He prefers this form of attack when not emulating other beings, but it is obviously less effective against beings of greater willpower. He can also use this ability to communicate with others from long distances, as well as on himself and his partner to produce beneficial effects, including amongst other things enhanced and accelerated perceptions, increased deductive capabilities, and both active and passive resistance to an opponent's mental assaults, the latter in particular achieved by increasing willpower in a way that also increases the effectiveness of mental assaults against any given target.
-Mindtheft - By either devouring a target's soul, or performing a deep scan on their mind whilst they are unable to fight back, Leviathan can accurately copy most to all of their mindset, and subsequently acquire knowledge of both the skills they know and the elements and abilities they can use. Additionally, he acquires intimate awareness of the target's aura and mannerisms, allowing him to pull off a nearly perfect imitation of them through use of Shift, though this can be seen through by those who are close to the imitated target with enough skill and perceptiveness.

Deathflood - An ability based around freeform manipulation of heavily Dark-infused water, to produce a corrosive effect akin to very strong magical acid, complete with green boiling colouration. Given his wide skillset, Leviathan is more than capable of producing various attack forms with this ability:
-Death Geyser - Leviathan forms a Deathflood geyser beneath an opponent, striking them from below with a condensed burst. This can also be launched as a normal beam-like attack from Leviathan himself, with similar effect, and/or condensed down even further to form an attack akin to a waterjet cutter more suited for penetrating armour and other defenses.
-Deathwave - Leviathan sends out a Deathflood wave of variable width and height, covering a potentially very large area to hit massed foes as well as foes with the capacity to dodge more effectively than usual.
-Death Abyss - One of the stronger attack forms which combines with Telepathy for greater effect, Leviathan forms a seemingly-shallow Deathflood puddle beneath a target, only for it to rise up and swallow them whole, submerging them in an apparently endless Deathflood ocean with no way out, though they are really only contained in a pit slightly larger than themselves. In addition to Deathflood's usual damaging capacity, this produces the illusion that the target is also drowning and placed under extremely high pressure for water mass, in a way that is likely to knock them unconscious after a while if they have not already died or broken out of the illusion.

Abyssal Ruin - In similar fashion to Asmodeus' version of the ability, Leviathan has learned to utilise to some extent the power of the Abyss that Hell is built around, letting him produce a pitch-black energy that appears to devour light around it whilst emitting its own dark, sea-green light, with effects akin to those of standard Dark magic whilst also being far more damaging and harder to resist per unit of energy. However, it seems Leviathan is no more capable of controlling it than Asmodeus himself, and in fact those in the know have often asked questions about how he managed to acquire it in the first place, given that he is almost certainly not as skilled in the relevant areas as Asmodeus despite his vast repertoire of abilities; when asked, he will tend to deflect the question, change the subject, claim he's "just that good", and otherwise do what he can to avoid revealing how he acquired it.

Dark Rituals - Using his extensive knowledge of Dark magic, Leviathan can perform many Dark-aligned magical rituals with effects that he cannot directly produce with his own magic. As usual, these require preparation, time, and focus, and are weaker than his own abilities.

Soulshards: N/A

Possessions: N/A

Harold Nordstrom

Name: Harold Nordstrom

Species: Human

Alignment: Dark

Partner: Leviathan

Faction: Infernal Legion

Sex: Male

Age: 23

Appearance: Harold nominally possesses an abnormally skinny build with extremely pale skin, to the point that one might think him a victim of forced slavery if the appearance were not seemingly deliberate. He is 180cm tall, with unkempt brown hair and blue, bloodshot eyes surrounded by deep purple bags, and typically wears rather generic grey clothing in the form of a shirt, jeans, socks and hoodie, plus grey shoes.

Aura: Harold's aura is nominally a wavery grey, as though it has no clear direction to it, though mouths and eyes seems to momentarily form within it on a regular basis, as though pressing outward from behind a veil. This changes when he is incited to go berserk - the entire aura goes haywire, expanding into a much larger area that seems to flood the area with deranged faces and static-like interference.

Personality: The most major aspect of Harold's persona is that he is heavily schizophrenic, a trait exacerbated by Leviathan to encompass the vast majority of his being to the point that even the thought of suicide has been wiped from his mind. At a good moment, he will merely exhibit its negative symptoms, such as a lack of expression and emotion, poverty of speech, lack of motivation and desire to form relationships, and an inability to feel pleasure, alongside various deficits in cognitive function; in moments where positive symptoms are in effect, he tends to experience delusions, disordered thought and speech patterns, and various forms of psychotic hallucination. However, Leviathan has further integrated a trigger to set off a state of berserk fury; in this situation, all Harold will perceive is a mess of warped faces screaming hateful things at him, with only Leviathan's intended targets clear through the mess, and the promise in his mind that so long as the targets are destroyed, the state will fade sooner or later.

Biography: Harold is not too sure about his past prior to acquiring schizophrenia, given that part of its effects involve cognitive deficits. He remembers that his life was actually fairly good, and that for the most part, he had a loving family, but nothing more particular than that. After the onset of his mental illness, he knows he was placed into an institution to help try and deal with its effects, and that he seemed to be recovering to some extent, particularly with the help of pills... and then a man in a suit came along. The man told Harold that his potential for power was exactly what he needed to help him, and that with his help, he could make Harold one of the most powerful beings alive.

To this day, Harold remains unsure about why he accepted the offer; the fact remains, though, that with a soul pact forged, Harold was spirited away from the institution to some dark and horrific place, and his mental state rapidly decayed, to the point of becoming a shadow of his former self even by the standards of his prior illness. The suited man had not lied, though, and Harold quickly developed into a powerhouse, more than capable of helping the man perform whatever was needed of him at the time. In fact, he did not want anything more than to do this. Other considerations were always veered around by his brain, and he eventually stopped trying to reach them; the man in a suit was his friend, and so he needed to help him. There was nothing else he needed by then, after all.

Skills: He's not quite sure how, but it seems that Harold acquires whatever skill is needed of him for any given task, to a shockingly high degree; at the same time, once a task is completed, whatever skills he had seem to fade from memory, leaving him incapable of performing the actions needed for his tasks. One thing that remains generally present, however, is an absurd degree of relentlessness, particularly in his berserk state, to the point that he is likely to end up being killed if not reined back by Leviathan against a sufficiently-powerful foe.

Abilities:
Mutation - An ability revolving around the modification of Harold's body toward particular intents, typically as requested by Leviathan. The most common form of this ability, often entered into almost automatically during his berserk state, involves modifying his physique to focus on speed, agility, and strength, though other forms can be readily implemented as needed. This can also act as a form of impromptu regeneration by mutating away physical injuries, though it is somewhat less effective in this than true regeneration, both by being less energy efficient and by needing to be manually instigated to work in this fashion. To wit, Harold will never be as good in any given form as an otherwise physically identical person who has focused on those traits specifically, though that is compensated for by the versatility of this ability.

Static Shock - An ability revolving around the use of heavily Dark-infused monochrome electricity, both to paralyse and damage foes through electric burns and the disintegration common to Dark magic. In spite of his schizophrenic state, Harold seems to be at least moderately skilled in using this ability, being able to form structures such as blades and energy-absorbing barriers as needed, as well as longer-ranged attacks like beams and blasts.

Static Overload - An ability similar to Static Shock, but in the realm of the mind instead; a foe subjected to this ability will typically either have their thought processes paralysed, have pseudo-electrical mental damage dealt to them, or be subjected to a perceptive effect that emulates Harold's mindset in them, leaving their vision and sixth sense flooded with static and disturbing images, and their hearing overloaded with voices informing them of how awful they are in various ways. Of course, this is less effective on those possessed of greater willpower, and in particular those with higher self-esteem will be substantially less affected by the voices than those of lower self-esteem.

Soulshards: N/A

Possessions: N/A

The Grim Crusade [Warhammer 30,000 RP]

<Snipped quote by @Roosan>

Unless you do actually want to drop out for reasons other than technical difficulties, I think you'll be fine just putting him on hiatus and slithering back into action when everyone least expects it. We may not even have finished getting everyone to Ullanor this time next month.

@Culluket

Sounds about right. I'm sure there'll be plenty of time for Sevrah to do his bit.

Ignore.

I've inexplicably acquired some extra time to do stuff in, and so intend to join this game. If there's any inquisitors who desperately need more members for their retinue, talk to me. We can discuss gaps that need filling.

The Grim Crusade [Warhammer 30,000 RP]

To understand how the Imperio Armatus fight, one must first consider the conditions they were brought up in.

The Emperor has had many children in his time, but few of which he has personally deigned to help raise. These Ronin are seemingly cursed with bad luck, in such a way that they are oftentimes unavoidably stillborn or miscarried. Some small proportion of their number survive to actually be born, and it then becomes obvious that they are functional blanks in terms of their effect of the Warp, and more importantly on the minds of those about them, who often fear and wish to execute them even as newborns and infants. Even if they avoid this fate, they in turn tend to be executed by accidents, natural disasters, and sometimes absurd occurrences that one would need to see to believe, as though reality itself strives to end their lives. Few of those born healthy and living survive to the point that they can start actively avoiding these threats, and even these are uncommonly incapable of achieving adulthood in a way that lets them follow the spiritual link that forms at this age, drawing them in to their father, and to a modicum of momentary safety, for even he cannot protect them forever.

This lifestyle works to give any Ronin of significant age an almost preternatural sense of awareness of their surroundings. In combination with their natural physique, benefited as they are in at least this manner by their lineage, a sufficiently-honed Ronin might even sense and duck underneath a bolter round after it has been fired, though it is more common to see one instead weave between multiple potential accidents in a row, or else die trying. Once this curse of bad luck is lifted by the various Custodes surgeries, and training in combat provided to them prior to their initiation into the Zodiac Guard, they become nigh-untouchable, seeming to move fluidly around attacks from all angles even in power armour, to the point that even a Primarch has trouble damaging them significantly despite their similar maneuverability otherwise.

Of course, in the case of a psyker such as Gemini, this near-prescience manifests in a slightly different manner. The very start of the battle is swiftly heralded by a fireworks display of disgorged Warp energy - the immense blast of built-up WAAAGH! energy by fifty Weirdboyz on one hand, clashing against the transparent barrier of Gemini on the other. As his siblings leap into battle against the mass of Nobs, he instead remains comparatively still, only ducking and weaving round those Nobs that try to attack him as he focuses; every so often, a blast of red and blue energy is launched from out of his helmet's visors, cutting through the attacks of the Weirdboyz and vaporising one or two of them. To any of significant psychic sensitivity, it is instantly clear that these are not mere blasts of energy, but beams that seem almost divinely empowered, for they in fact draw upon the Emperor's own soul, via the Soul Binding that the Zodiac Guard has taken upon himself for that purpose and others.

By contrast, to the other four Armatus in the room, combat is mostly based on physical power. Indeed, both Virgo and Libra would make for a fine display of combat skill on their own. The former wields Daemonbane in a single hand, its blades shearing through Orkish armour like paper, deflecting power klaws and rubbishing choppas and shootas of all sizes, whilst using her free hand to perform something like acrobatics over and around her foes and their weapons. The latter, gifted after her surgery with actual precognition, remains more conservative, wielding merely a storm bolter and the power sword Draco, seeming to move such that, rather than dodging blows, it just happens that wherever she is is precisely where an attack is not; her weapons, though not as extravagant as those of some of her fellows, are nevertheless enough to get the job done, her bolt rounds and blade finding weakpoints throughout the morass to cripple and kill each Nob in succession.

Yet both almost seem pale in comparison to Aquarius. If the other Zodiac Guards are fluid in battle, she is water, almost appearing to weave through the melee in ways that should be impossible in power armour. Her power lance, Thricevoid, only emphasises this; though overcomplex, with three blades on both ends that automatically rotate to slice in whatever direction the stave is moved, she remains unhindered by its bulk, leaving triple-slices in whatever the weapon passes through, propelled by strength even beyond most of her siblings to leave Karapaces in shreds, and Mega Armour somewhat wanting.

As unofficial second-in-command of the Imperio Armatus below only the Emperor himself, the centerpiece of the fight is Cancer, bearing an odd combination of a power scythe and a chain glaive, Homestead and Brachyura, against the Overlord himself with a finesse that speaks of many years of experience. Urlakk, by comparison, seems clunky whilst hindered by his mega armour and power klaw, though each blow has enough force behind it to crush plasteel like paper, and the oversized shoota in his other hand is able to put out more than enough firepower to eventually penetrate any form of personal shielding, a fact that the grey-clad Guard is well aware of. His dodges are near-flawless, and though the attacks made with his weapons are not necessarily harmful on their own, they stack up to start carving gashes into the ramshackle defenses.

"'Old still, ya git!" the Warlord screams, frustration starting to show in his voice as he swipes. "Oi can't killz ya if ya keep dodgin'!"

"That's the idea, you oversized freak!" Cancer yells back, landing yet another blow against Urlakk's armour, this time managing to break through entirely and score a wound upon the titanic Ork with Brachyura, sending him stumbling back a couple of feet, and giving the creature a chance to catch his breath.

"Grrruh! Damn you 'umies, yer not ment ta be dis fast! Wotz da game 'ere?" Urlakk asks, clearly exasperated at how incapable he is at striking the Ronin.

"Poor fool," Cancer says with a shake of his helmet and a brandishing of his weapons. "If you really think we're normal humans, then you never stood a chance to begin with." Homestead is swung round to try and finish the Overlord off, but he is unpleasantly surprised when the alien's power klaw is brought up to grab the weapon's blade, locking it in position.

"PAH! Zog dat! Yer bigga an' fasta," the Ork spits with a swing of his free arm, "but'cher 'umies all da same! An' loik any 'umie, yooze gotten ova-con-fiddent, an' fergotten dat oi 'old da taktikal advantage 'ere!"

"Your "surprise attack" has FAILED, you monster!" Cancer yells, swinging his free weapon round in time with his exposition at Urg's shoulder, but failing to cause more than scratches, for poor attack angle and for not having focused its protection down sooner. "And your BODYGUARD is being DISMANTLED as we SPEAK!"

"Yer fink dat's wot oi woz torkin' 'bout?! Mork's gob, YOOZE da one not finkin' straight! Ya see, oi 'old da advantage ov 'avin' control ova da most important fing ov all: da ellyment ov SERPROIZE!"

On cue, a cubic nozzle pops up from just below the Overlord's klaw, from which spews a massive gout of burning promethium - surely not as pure as that produced by the Imperium, but hot enough to boil a man alive inside his armour nonetheless. Cancer is forced to release Homestead and leap away to avoid the worst of the fuel, but its intensity of both heat and light is enough to leave him effectively blind.

Blind enough, in fact, that he fails to predict the power klaw coming at him until it has wrapped itself round his torso and hoisted him in the air, arms pinned to his side and unable to break free. A rare failure of the Ronin's spatial awareness, but a surely fatal one in this position. Nigh-instantly, three of the remaining Zodiac Guard begin to fight their way over to Urlakk and Cancer, Virgo and Aquarius calling to him as if it will help; yet the fray remains thick, and even a Ronin could not hope to reach them in time.

Gemini, silent despite the heavy reduction of psychic power levelled against him, simply holds two fingers to his temple and sends out a psychic signal.

"TOIME TA POP YA, MAGGOT!" the Warlord screams, steadily increasing the pressure the klaw is exerting, compressing Cancer's power armour until it begins to creak with the extertion. Cancer himself groans in sympathy, struggling to break free to no avail, the pressure on his torso becoming greater and greater.

With no warning, the pressure is released, and Cancer drops to the floor, landing in a crouch before Urlakk Urg's severed arm. It takes the Ork a second to realise what has happened, even as the battle around him goes silent.

"...wot?"

That is all he manages to say before a shining golden power claw tears through his chest, heedless of protection, and hoists him far off the ground, screaming and struggling: "AAH! WOT?! WOT DA ZOG?!" Urlakk tries to look behind himself, but his own armour hinders his range of movement, and all he perceives is an impossibly bright golden glow in the corner of his vision.

+YOUR REIGN OF TERROR COMES TO A CLOSE, URLAKK URG. BEHOLD, ORKS OF ULLANOR: THE DEATH OF YOUR MASTER.+

With a psychic shockwave that ripples through the entire Ullanor System, touching the mind of every fighting man, woman, and Ork within, the Emperor of Mankind tears upward, shredding most of Urlakk Urg's body and instantly ending his life. The proximity of the shockwave itself, combined with the sudden death of their leader, is too much for the remaining Weirdboyz in the tower to take, and their heads simultaneously detonate, creating lesser-yet-sympathetic psychic blasts that cause the head of every remaining Nob in the room to perish in the same manner but a moment later.

Like that, the battle in the tower, and so the battle across the Ullanor Sector, ends. On Ullanor Prime proper, and within the Ullanor System itself, the Orkish menace almost instantly begins to rout, the forces of humanity inspired to take on a mantle of absolute boldness, allowing them to sweep through the green tide like a scythe through wheat; this pattern repeats with every planet in the sector as the shockwave expands, until every living being in the area has been made aware of the Overlord's demise. It will take no more than a few weeks to finalise the extermination of Urlakk Urg's empire.

But before then, there are other matters to attend to. Though it is not required of the Imperio Armatus, Cancer remains kneeling in silent supplication to his lord father, well aware that his failure would have cost him his life if not for the Emperor's arrival.

"Peace, my child. You did as well as you could have. Sheathe your weapons, and rest, all of you."

For the next few minutes, all is rather quiet. The Armatus' helmets are removed, revealing features not too far separated from their immortal parent's own in most cases - dark hair and darker eyes abound, though their skin tone is somewhere between a deep tan and a pale grey pallor for their lineage, with only Virgo's softly glowing epidermis, Cancer's inexplicably bone-white hair, and Gemini's empty, burned-out eye sockets proving different from the standard. All but Cancer discuss the battle with one another amongst the corpses, talking tactics and strategies to further improve their prowess for future battles; Cancer remains silent and dour, mulling over his defeat despite his status, but paying close attention to his fellows as they speak nonetheless.

The discussion is broken when Gemini feels the Emperor's mind touch his own, gently, the way one might tap a hammer against a nail before the blow that sends the nail into the wood is struck. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turns to face his father, ready to perform whatever duty is required of him.

"Call to your brethren, Primarch and Armatus alike. We shall hold a Triumph for the glories achieved this day; but before that, we must hold a Council."

Gemini nods, closes his eyelids serenely, and falls to his knees in agony as blood dribbles from his facial orifices. The Emperor's will is done: A council is being held. Gather on Ullanor Prime, at the tower once held by Overlord Urlakk Urg. You have two solar weeks before we start.

OOC Footer

And finally, this post is out. That took far too long, I think we can all agree. Anyway, to those who are in the middle of something important, finish that off in your next post, and then add the reception of Gemini's message to the end of that, either by the Primarch themselves or by their Astropaths as needed, and have them move out toward Ullanor Prime; to those not occupied with anything at the moment, just make a post where the message is received and obeyed.