Dark Jack

The Prophecy

I just meant that my schedule at the university hasn't been this full yet, nothing more. Interesting things are going to happen, though, albeit not the coming week, but the one after that, as I will be visiting one of our laboratories for the first time. I've had to procure myself a labcoat just for the occasion, since they are required for safety (couldn't find a really long one, though, and had to settle for one that reached just past the pelvis... but I figure that aesthetics aside, it's more practical like that. Lots of pockets, though. I do find it very funny that when I ordered it from the web-shop, I ordered XL, and the coat I got had a label with L sewn onto it, with a sticker reading XL just slapped on top of it. Curiously it fits well enough despite of this).

These birthdays are all in my immediate family (my father, my uncle, my aunt and me... and now my niece, too), so the main reasoning behind celebrating them at once is that the same guests would show up anyways and that this way we can share the expenses of one party rather than each have to pay for one of our own. Obviously we don't all have the same birthday, they're just grouped in the same month (except my father, whose birthday was September 30th, but close enough). Our actual birthdays are as such pretty normal days in most regards, which suits most of us fine - especially since there is a five out of seven chance every year that it isn't in a weekend - and we just celebrate that day much more relaxedly... A cake, maybe, some mandatory happy-birthdays, presents and usually a meal by that person's choice.
Eh, and I'm still slightly struggling with accepting that I'm turning twenty-five this year... a quarter of a century. It sounds like a lot. Feels like a lot. Logically is still quite young. Sometimes I'm pretty sure that I'm a lot older on the inside than I am on the outside.
And I'm rambling. Maybe a nice change of pace from the shockingly curt OOC posts I notice I have produced pretty consistently since the start of September. But I figure that should improve once I get used to things the way they are now.

The Prophecy

Hmm... Well, it is possible to achieve that effect with magic, but technically only through the significantly more advanced combo-spells, I think. It would require at least two different spells to either be cast consecutively or interwoven with one another during casting, one of which would be the offensive spell (obviously), and the other of which would have to be a protective spell to be placed on those to be spared from the effects of the offensive spell. It would require significantly more magical energy than just casting the offensive spell - nearly twice as much, actually, as one would have to spend energy on the offensive spell, and then an equal amount on the protective one if it was to be able to completely cancel the offensive one - and it would be quite advanced magic, but it would be possible.

Now, what's in the news... Well, for one I have to go to the joint celebration of three or four birthdays tomorrow (one of which is my own) so I probably won't be able to be very active then, and the university has my schedule full to an (to me) unprecedented degree next week, so... yeah, if I have time and energy I'll spend it where it is needed, but otherwise I really can't. The next few weeks after that should be a bit better though, so maybe the RP can pick up a little again by then.
Eh, and I've become an uncle. My little sister has given birth to my first niece, Freja (Danish spelling of Freya). So that's... special. I'm terrified of the baby for some irrational yet primal reason, but she's here.

The Prophecy

Arcane dictionary

Ball: Meethal. Causes various spell-effects to manifest in a spherical shape.
Bloom: Thagir. Actually refers to explosions. Is used to add explosive properties to a spell.
Box: Xarthliir. Causes various spell-effects to manifest in a cuboid shape.
Change: Kohrx. Can either mean the property of being malleable and/or flexible, or can simply refer to something being alterable in nature.
Chaos: Dhnirhilk. More accurately means the lack of order or control over something. Can be used for a multitude of effects depending on the context. Standing by itself, its main effect is that of disrupting flows of energy and spells and potentially even destroying incorporeal creatures, such as ghosts, Minions and planar wraiths.
Copy: Lemesatheli. Simply causes a spell to replicate itself a number of times, increasing its power and energy-consumption exponentially.
Demand: Usth. Is used in some cases to create a connection between the spell being cast and a previously cast spell so that the current spell alters the effect of the previous spell or draws on its energy to fuel itself. Is most frequently used in reciting the mage’s law: power demands sacrifice.
Destruction: Thoujm. Means to disassemble something or otherwise breaking physical or magical bonds.
Earth: Grumert. Refers to the element of earth, including minerals such as crystal or stone and regular soil.
Eternity: Nogith. Causes spell-effects to last longer at the price of vastly increased energy-consumption.
Existence: Purthev. Also "create" and "be". Is used to make energy manifest as an effect without it directly attaching to physical matter.
Extract: Thoph. Also "summon" and "reveal". Is used to draw something before the caster. This word is used in all summoning spells.
Fire: Dregoth. Also includes all other effects relating to flames or increased heat.
Flat: Eren. Simply means a shape made more two-dimensional.
Hardness: Smaiwe. Refers to the quality of being hard and solid. Can also mean the comparative "harder" or superlative "hardest", depending on the spell.
Information: Uthajl. Often used in spells to conjure visions, especially in relation to scrying.
Light: Brijhal. Light in its simplest meaning. Mainly used for illumination-purposes.
Lightning: Atonakuv. Refers to the element of lightning and the principle of electricity in general. When used in connection with Grumert, the combined effect is related to magnetism.
Liquid: Vanedth. Causes spell-effects to manifest as liquid. In combination with Dregoth, it creates acid.
Location: Peigein. A word rarely used except by exceptionally powerful and skilled magi. Is mainly used for travel or to cause spells to manifest at long distances. Often used for teleportation.
Long: Tywrui. Refers to the length of an object, or specifically to the quality of being elongated.
Master: Shnail. Is often used to name a recipient of a magical leash; in other words, names a being to control an effect.
Movement: Raithla. Means any kind of manipulation involving the changing of position.
Negative: Faihgn. Often used to set parameters for a spell with delayed manifestation. Can also work to cancel out parts of a spell.
Owned: Gohn. Refers both to the quality of belonging to something else and simply to be affiliated with it.
Penetrate: Caihl. Can either mean to pass through something, the property of being capable having a sharp, narrow point or simply to create a hole through something.
Positive: Gnaihf. Often used to set parameters for a spell with delayed manifestation.
Power: Cowath. Is occasionally used as a word to amplify the effect of a spell at the expense of more energy, but otherwise has no practical uses. Is most frequently used in reciting the mage’s law: power demands sacrifice.
Projection: Setogar. Is used to create false impressions to someone, deceiving their senses. Can also be used in relation to Brijhal to create light only visible to those of the caster's choosing.
Protection: Bragar. Also shielding and resistance, and practically any kind of avoiding or reducing received impact.
Release: Harteor. More accurately means ‘activate’ or ‘act’. Is used as a means to specify that more abstract or untested spells are complete, to unleash the effects spurred by the arcane words uttered previously. Is also used in relation to tergrim to command whether the magical object should begin or end the release of energy.
Restrain: Dweneth. Is the word with the effect to cancel that of harteor, and can also be translated to ‘seal’ or even ‘lock’. Prevents further expending of energy from a magical object or dispels maintained spells.
Sacrifice: Unim. Rarely used except in self-sacrificing magic, in which it refers to the sacrifice of health or life in order to bolster the power of a spell. Otherwise its most frequent use is in the reciting of the mage’s law: power demands sacrifice.
Seal: Tergrim. Also glyph, rune, symbol and any etchings relating to that, or occasionally even just objects infused with energy or capable of channeling energy. Is most frequently used as a descriptive factor to make spells more reliable.
Self: Jhoon. Refers to the speaker or speakers themselves. Is often used to create a lasting connection between the spell and the caster.
Shadow: Gothor. Is often used to banish light and leave an area in concealing darkness. Has strong connections to illusionary magic. Also has some unique effects in special spells, such as Shadow Image.
Sharpness: Thoulg. The quality of a shape narrowing into either a point or an edge, creating a sharp cutting or piercing surface.
Shrink: Tuagar. Has a diminishing effect on the power and energy-consumption of spells, sometimes altering the nature of the effect altogether to greatly reduce energy-consumption. When used in special contexts, it can also weaken the caster's enemies or shrink them to a more manageable size.
Solid: Sonedth. Causes spell-effects to manifest in solid form.
Sound: Baadas. Simply creates sound. In combination with dweneth, it can mute a person. If this is added Setogar, a deafening effect is causes instead.
Unity: Brega. More accurately refers to the close connection between individual entities. Is most frequently used as a means to affect another individual directly with spells rather than aiming with projectile-type magic.
Vision: Kveil. Is often used in visual illusions, or to allow the caster to see something in a different way or different place.
Water: Maaez. The element of water. Can also be used to conjure ice and steam, depending on the context.
Wind: Menrirl. Refers to the element of air in general and all effects related to it.

If you need a word that isn't on that list, feel free to ask and I'll try to translate it.

EDIT: Oh right, I was addressed before that post, too... You can add me so I can see the collab if it isn't any trouble, and if it is then that's all right, too.

The Prophecy

You'll probably get to it before me (currently have a slightly prohibitive headache) so go ahead...

The Prophecy

My only request in that matter would be for me to at least be told what happens during your collab... since even if I don't influence the events that play out in it directly, those same events can quite possibly affect the world in the long run.

And of course I have no objections to the finished CS... although for some reason I find it somewhat amusing that Echoers are natively known as "Users of the Rawr". Heh... somehow that name sounds so harmless to me.

The Prophecy

"Aliostar." Renold's voice was relatively low - which still put it significantly above speaking-volume of smaller beings - and his gaze averted when he spoke that one word, followed by a hesitant pause. The dragon seemed suddenly sad, and somehow the tone of his voice only served to stress just how heavy a secret he was revealing. "The expert I am taking you to; his name is Aliostar. He is a dragon like me... although saying 'like me' might be more than a little misleading in this case. I've known him from when he was just a hatchling; we were nestmates, once. He is more than three centuries younger than me, but he is a Red and by far the larger of us. Last time I saw him he was also driven completely mad with hatred for you little ones, and tried to kill me. He was smaller than me, back then, yet I would have died if I had been alone."
"What makes you think he won't just devour us immediately if we go to him for help?" Gerald asked, quite confident that Jillian was thinking something similar.
"This was more than a thousand years ago," the Green clarified. "Dragons never forget the past, but our perspective on it may change as we accumulate more of it. Aliostar was defeated back then and was forced to go into hiding, but I have been keeping an eye on him, which is why I know where he is. He hasn't touched any little ones in centuries, and to be frank I don't think he has strength left for evil plots anymore. His wounds from that day never fully healed; even if he proves hostile, I think you would be able to at the very least escape his wrath with your lives intact."
The elder sighed. "But the reason approaching him is worth this risk is that he was - and still is - a master summoner, with immense knowledge of demonkind and the flow of energy between the planes. If anyone can locate the source of a demonic plague, it is him."

---

Is he trying to duck below my kick? Fixer thought curiously when he noticed Ixion's form start to lower itself from his previous stance. Surely he must realize that he can't do that as long as I'm locking his arm in place. Best case scenario for him would be that instead of breaking his ribs I would break his arm, which would definitely not serve to even the odds between us. Besides, he's moving too slowly to get out of the way in time, even if I hadn't been holding him in place; my leg has already started accelerating and is gaining speed and power fast, whereas he only just started and, without anything to anchor his feet on, can at the very most accelerate downward as fast as gravity allows. He fails yet again.
But no, that was not it, the dark agent realized the next instant, when he noticed the gray eyes behind the assassin's mask having locked with his own violet ones. What is he doing? He looked down, almost on a whim, and immediately recognized the way the other's legs were bending, not in an effort to crouch, but storing energy for a jump. He intends to jump over my kick? That is even more ludicrous than ducking below it... or does he intend to attack? Has he not even noticed that I am about to kick him in a way that will seriously injure him, or does he think that he can hit me before it hits? Impossible, this is a kick that takes about a second to execute; he will barely even have time to think before I've already knocked him to the ground. No one moves that fast; even aided by Art of the Warden, no one but me would have a mind able to keep up with that kind of movement.
And then, suddenly, the scene had changed. Even Fixer, who prided himself greatly in his nearly unparalleled speed of thought, took a moment to fully comprehend what had just happened. He teleported us? I didn't think he would bother teleporting, since he couldn't do so without bringing me with him.
Another instant, and his perception caught on to the fact that there was nothing under his right foot anymore. We're in mid-air? This was bad; he could already feel himself being pulled downward by gravity. But he did not worry too much about that, since he figured that Ixion would not risk his own life and health just to win this little show of theirs, so as long as he held on to the man he knew that any fall he suffered, Ixion would suffer as well.

Confident though he had been up to that point, there was no hiding Fixer's surprise when Ixion abruptly extended his legs and actually moved through the air as though he had a foothold. Another instant, and Fixer noticed the wooden beam the other had been sitting on and pushed himself off.
How? he thought with widening eyes, his heart beating for the first time during this entire maneuver, but in a way that suggested that its rate would soon be quickening. How could he teleport us somewhere so specific? Wait... he teleported here before, when he fought Blue. Did he remember the mental image from then accurately enough to recall it perfectly in an instant? And in a way that put me in mid-air, and him with a foothold... what is this man? A long time ago, before he had become the Grim Tool and had still been number three, Fixer had very quickly been pegged as one of the top candidates for training as one of the superior tools, the Kirkinian ones or the ones serving the Rodorian king directly, due to his almost superhumanly fast thought-process and reflexes. The sheer quickness of his mind was his greatest strength, and the reason he had never lost a fight before and had not suffered even a minor injury in years. But this... could Ixion think even faster? Impossible! No mind worked that fast!
Luckily it seemed Ixion, while he definitely proved a lot more capable than Fixer had expected, continued to underestimate his opponent. Rather than staying on the beam and simply letting Fixer fall, which might have broken the violet-eyed man's grip on his wrist and enabled him to move freely again, he jumped off. Judging by the arc he used Fixer to draw, he figured Ixion was planning to kick him in the back...
Which might have worked, if he had not used Fixer himself as the anchor to maneuver around. All it took was for the fighter to lock his right shoulder and arm in place, and Ixion's movement would draw Fixer with him so that he kept facing his opponent, and stayed nearly as parallel with him in the air as he had been on the ground. This meant two things: that they both ended up at an angle that was closer to upside-down than horizontal in the air, and that Fixer's kick from before still hit. The aim had been thrown off by the maneuver, landing the blow in the side of Ixion's midsection instead of his ribcage, and it did not hit as hard as it originally would have, considering that he had no connection to the ground and no way to stop himself from being pushed back by the force of the kick as well - which was why aerial attacks, while flashy, were rarely practical - but it hit, and with any luck would at least stun the other.

As they started falling Fixer then threw his idle right leg and pelvis forward, not in an attempt to kick Ixion but to add to the rotation he had already started by leaping off the beam, hopefully enough so that if they really fell to the ground, Ixion would be the bottommost of the two and absorb the impact.

The Prophecy

Right, got the names mixed up...
Well, that's awkward.
...
Thank goodness I have a few days off this week...

The Prophecy

Hmm... I was just contemplating my reply for the IC, and a couple of things struck me as needing to be brought up before I can actually start writing a post, Merc. Firstly, I can't seem to figure out just what happened to the kick the Fixer aimed at Ixion's side; Ixion sees and acknowledges that the kick is being initiated, but it isn't explained what happened to it after that. Did he just take the hit? Secondly, when you wrote

Mercinus said Without even thinking of a solid random attack, he instantly flicked his wrist forward, clasping the Fixer's left wrist.

, did you mean his right wrist? Since the Fixer was already extending his right arm and grabbing onto Ixion with his right hand, it just seemed more likely to me that Ixion would grab that rather than the left one, which is relatively hard to reach with it being on the side of the Fixer turned away from Ixion and with his left hand still in his pocket.

I'm also sorry that Rhaevnn left... and yeah, Nessa knows how I feel about events on her end.

The Prophecy

I imagined the right one, presuming that Ixion grabbed the Fixer's wrist with that hand; if Ixion actually used his left hand, then the Fixer grabbed his left wrist.

The Prophecy

"If our suspicions are indeed correct, and I would be surprised if they weren't, I don't think the Withering even can be cured," Gerald nodded at Jillian's words, one hand playing with the chain attached to the demon prison, the fingers of the other drumming nervously on the shaft of his staff. "At least not in the traditional sense of the word. We can remove the demonic energy from the infected and thus remove the symptoms, but we have no way to get rid of that essence or stop it from draining whoever it enters. We could seal the instances of Withering away individually, but that would be pointless as long as new people contract the plague every day."
Ironic, he thought with grim amusement, smiling tiredly to himself as he slouched where he sat, weak and discouraged. In theory we already have a way to save people from the Withering, which is the Withering itself; I could use the ability I derived from it to draw the plague from others. That should work for anyone but myself... and for every bit of Withering I cured in others, the Withering in me would grow stronger. I am the cure, but performing that role would definitely kill me.
"Which is why you need to see the expert in Jevog Denûm; to find a way to stop the Withering from spreading," Renold reminded them. "We have already surmised a general group of beings that could be the source of the Withering, but we still don't know exactly who it is or how they are spreading the disease across such a large area with no apparent pattern. The planes have never seen anything like the Withering because such a thing was never possible until now... so we have to learn how this demon is doing it. If we do that, maybe we can block that method from working in the future."
"And if such a thing is not an option," Crone sighed, "our objective must be to discover whichever infernal entity is causing this and defeat it. It would be prudent to conclude that the antagonist must be one not hindered by the barrier of the Divide, which would suggest that it must be a demon already in Reniam. The most likely suspects would appear to be the Grand Master of Evil or one of his generals, all of which were once sealed by the Nomad and can be sealed again..."
"That's not it," Gerald shook his head. "The Crusader's Guild is lead by Hazzergash, and they came after me in my home to get their hands on my research. They're trying to cure the Withering as well, and I doubt even Hazzergash would try to ruin one of his allies plots when it's on this big a scale."
"Which leaves only Himyth," Renold concluded. "The most elusive of the demon lords, but also one that was once banished to the Lower Plane but returned. Defeating her here should return her there, allowing the Divide to inhibit her influence once more."

"In other words we aren't looking for a cure anymore," the necromancer said, turning to the witch once again. "We're looking for a way to stop the Withering from spreading... and if we can't do that, we will have to find the demon responsible and defeat it."

---

Ixion was fast, it turned out, and not just at thinking either; his recovery time from receiving a knee in his midsection like that was actually quite impressive. Fixer had thought that the kick would buy him at least a couple of seconds, but the assassin had been able to counter the following palm-strike within less than a second of it. There was less power behind that kick than I intended, he figured, even as his eyes were already following the hand that was moving to intercept his own. If I had meant to kick him from the start of the movement rather than trying to adapt a step into a kick, it would definitely have incapacitated him for several seconds. And without my handicap - if I had been going all-out - it would have killed him on the spot. This is good news; a fight is more fun when it is even. That was why he was fighting with a handicap in the first place, after all.
Quick though he was, the dark agent could not abort his attack and withdraw fast enough to escape Ixion's counterattack, so Fixer just let the other grab him, Ixion's fingers closing around his wrist. It only took a split-second before Fixer realized what his opponent was trying to do, as he felt the force behind his thrusting hand being redirected and amplified. Come now, do you think I'm all brute force? His smile widened behind the mask even as the mask's own only served to emphasize the madness of its wearer.
Rather than losing his balance and footing and leaving himself open to further manipulation, as was likely the purpose of the move, Fixer immediately stepped into the direction Ixion was trying to guide him, moving his entire body so that his movement was equal to that of his arm. If I was using both hands right now, you'd be dead already, he mentally chided his opponent, even if he was happy to confirm that it had been a good decision to restrain himself from using his left hand. It could be difficult to assess opponents accurately at times, but Fixer had gotten pretty good at it; fighting with one hand was his second-lowest level of challenge, higher only to when he fought with no hands.
Instead of punishing the presumptuous move with his left hand - which he had prohibited himself from doing - Fixer twisted his arm around in Ixion's grip and swiftly grabbed onto Ixion's own wrist. It was a painful angle to have his wrist in, but it was just barely possible thanks to his step forward.

Having possibly locked Ixion into place like this, Fixer immediately swung his left leg forward and outward, to the side, drawing a rapid semi-circle before the kick reaching the point it had been aimed at, which would be just below the other's right armpit, in the side of his ribs.
This kick was intended from the beginning, and furthermore was composed of a much more forceful motion; if it hit, bones would be broken. Fixer was holding back from his full potential, yes, but he was fighting to his fullest within the parameters he had allowed himself. If Ixion made the mistake of thinking this was to be a harmless show or sparring match, Fixer would kill him.