Thunderclouds gathered upon the ruins the downtown district. Months ago, a terrible earthquake had struck, and despite the reconstruction efforts, many of the skyscrapers were still heavily damaged, rubble abound upon this apocalyptic landscape. The Ascendancy had done their work, perhaps, and the exorcism of lingering grudges and regrets meant that there was little for a necromancer to raise from the dead. Some brutes, of course, may just create corpses out of magic and then animate them, while other brutes may go around swinging their oversized swords around, but for herself?
Why, the Endsinger was much too classy to stoop to such measures.
Upon a mountain of crumbling concrete and twisted steel, a woman in obsidian robes landed gently. The snow burst away at her descent and with a flourish, she twirled her halberd, slamming the axehead into the ground. From the cracks and gaps of the ruined building, bright green energy surged out, tendrils of gossamer mana collecting into a ball above her. It pulsated like a heart, before shooting upwards into the sky and exploding into a fiery conflagaration of necromantic energy, a profane declaration seen across the horizon by all those malevolent spirits banished to the outskirts of Penrose. An invitation, not for violence, not for debauchery, but for revelry in this banquet of darkness.
The foul wind howled its approval, as the Endsinger brandished her halberd, the butt end stretching away as the axe end fit itself before her torso. Lightning shot from the thunderclouds above, crashing into the polearm with epic force. Crackling electricity solidified into six brilliant strings, and as she ran her clawed fingers over them, they rattled with a bone-shaking tone. A halberd? No. A motherfucking necromantic guitar.
And as foreign spirits surged through the streets of Penrose, converging upon the ruinous stage, the Endsinger began to hammer away at her demented instrument, wreathed in eldritch radiance and blasphemous sound.
[Appearance Information] Kazuki’s body has yet to decide whether or not it wants to be a boy or a man. For a youth standing at 5’8, a respectable height at his age, Kazuki’s face is still that of a child’s, his cheeks soft and his face round. He colors easily, and there is a prepubescent softness to his whole body, regardless of how many push-ups he does. His voice hasn’t dropped yet, and occasionally cracks at the worst times, and his dark brown eyes are expressive and guileless, a naivety shining through that has yet to be tempered by any less pleasant experiences with the world. But even with the baby fat that lingers, there’s no denying that he’s gradually shaping up. By next year, perhaps Kazuki will be unrecognizable! ...unlikely.
[Personality] Smart people keep their head down, and that’s exactly what Kazuki does. He sticks with the friends he’s had since elementary school, doesn’t raise his hand when a teacher asks for volunteers, and dutifully does everything he can to avoid notice and trouble. The war had taught him enough about that, after all. The Japanese may shittalk all they want, but it’s the Americans that have the big guns, and if the world wasn’t going to intervene when those Westerners begin a Trans-Pacific invasion to secure a foothold in Asia for future conquests…well, he doubted that anyone would intervene if they went full Hitler with their occupation. So Kazuki straddles the line, advising moderation and evasion in all cases. Why fight when you can run? Why argue when you can agree to disagree? To others, Kazuki appears to be a wishy-washy fellow with his head in the clouds.
But for him to avoid difficult situations, he must be constantly vigilant, consistently observant. He watches, he waits, he learns. Kazuki may turn his face away, but his eyes will remain locked on, his mind will remain focused. Smart people keep their head down and their eyes up, to avoid that knock-out punch that others won't see coming.
[Personal Background] Kazuki does things because he needs to, not because he wants to.
His father was paralyzed from waist-down as a consequence of the Japan-America War, so he adjusted accordingly by doing chores, grabbing things from high shelves, and generally making himself useful. When his father wants to show him a video, go through old albums, or simply talk, Kazuki doesn’t refuse, no matter what else he needs to attend to. A son’s gotta respect his father, after all, regardless of appointments with dentists, friends, or teachers.
His mother works till 10PM six days a week, and spends the seventh day sleeping till 3PM. Kazuki preps breakfast, buys prepackaged dinners with the necessary variety to avoid boredom, learned how to make a damn good pot of coffee, and makes all the decisions involving his own life by himself (unless his dad weighs in, in which case he follows whatever his pops wants). He also sends his mom off in the early mornings, as well as give her fashion advice whenever she wants that confidence boost. Not that a high school boy’s opinion is any good, but whatever makes her happy.
He got into soccer, then into literature, then into dance, then into weight-lifting, making a couple of friends each time. Kazuki was never popular, but it wasn’t too hard to get friendly with a couple decent folks simply by being considerate and remembering their names. Shocking, how difficult that is for some people.
That’s how Kazuki lives.
If this goes on as it does, that’s how he will die, bland and obligated.
@Xaltwind It's a pity things turned out this way before we could go on an adventure or anything like that. I'm generally of the belief that there's no point in continuing an RP when the GM's no longer motivated enough to continue, so I suppose we'll just have to let it die. If you ever find it in you to run this again, hit me up, cause I'm always up for a reasonably paced adventure.
Alternatively, if you ever need another player in that Goblin Slayer RP... ;3
The calls had been made, and now all Tetrad had to do was wait. Even she wasn’t entirely sure why she was doing this. As a Cradle agent, she should probably be catching up on what was going on in penrose. But it had been a long vacation, and that Necromancer was well overdue for hunting. It would also be interesting to see what Emily and Amaryllis thought of each other.
Tetrad waited in the back alley, beside a dumpster. The narrow alley didn’t let a lot of snow drift in, but the cold air blowing through did ensure the area smelled okay. It was cold though, and Tetrad’s outfit didn’t offer much in the way of protection from such mundane perils. She had just left a very warm vacation resort in another dimension, so the temperature change was especially unwelcome. She found herself subconsciously rubbing her exposed shoulders to stay warm.
”Brrr!” She grunted through her teeth. ”Good thing this outfit comes with substantial padding. It would be kind of weird to fight with erect nipples.” She chuckled at her joke.
At around the same time she said that, the presence of another individual was made apparent by the sound of footsteps on the asphalt. “Would you like me to warm you up, Tetrad?” the soft voice made it obvious it was Emily, who had just arrived on the scene. Either Emily was nearby, or she hadn’t wasted a second after she received the call, because she was there rather fast.
Tetrad’s smile vanished, and her eyes rolled over towards Emily. ”Eh, Um, Nah! Hahaha! Once I start moving I’ll be fine!”
Emily shrugged. It was her choice, but being a fire spec, Emily had no problems keeping herself and others warm in this weather. But regardless, there were more important matters to attend to.
The beach getaway, while certainly unexpected, had been enjoyable. But as Tetrad made clear, things didn’t just stop happening because they weren’t there to deal with it. It was painful to think of the potential victims that were taken because of their absence, but doing so would not bring them back. For now, Emily wanted to do what she could to prevent more deaths. “I guess we’ve played around long enough.”
From the alley’s entranceway came Amaryllis as well. In the cold of winter, the statue-esque girl finally had reason to wrap herself in heavy, oversized fabrics, and she rendezvoused with the other two magical girls in a puffy greatcoat and a plaid scarf. Hanging off her shoulder and sheathed in canvas was her Sword, making its way into her mind again. It was a welcome presence, after such separation.
The girl herself looked worse for wear that she had even been before the impromptu beach vacation. Her cheeks blushed red from the burning of the wind, and her eyes were bagged and bloodshot, a half-vacant gaze in them. Her hair too, silky and luscious as it was, had not been spared the fatigue of its owner. For once, they weren’t tied up in a neat ponytail, and stray hairs stuck out in every which direction, looking sorely in need of a combing. Amaryllis grimaced for a moment as she stood there, suppressing a yawn, before shaking her head to cast off her lightheadedness.
“Tetrad,” she nodded, then stared at Emily for a couple of moments. “Emily. Necromancer somewhere?”
“Ah, Amaryllis!” Emily’s expression seemed to brighten a bit when the girl appeared, but then she remembered the severity of their mission, and calmed down a bit. “Yes, and they’ve probably done some damage while we were gone, too!” she told Amaryllis.
”You guys know each other? Guess I don’t have to introduce you then!” Tetrad placed her hands on her hips. ”As for the necromancer, that’s kind of a weird deal. We tracked him down to the graveyard, but it seems like our vacation was a little longer in this world. By a few months. It could be anywhere. Fortunately, I’ve got access to a great big network of magical girls that track suspicious activity.” Tetrad pulled out her phone and scrolled through it. ”The lower population in Penrose has limited the number of effective places for ghouls to hunt, which the necromancer commands to collect skins.” She scrolled to a picture of a cemetery. ”It looks like the cemetery we tracked him to last time is still getting strange visits at all hours of the day. It’s possible with all the havoc it’s nothing worth noting, but I think our necromancer friend has grown accustomed to his base of operations.” She slid the phone into one of her pouches and looked to Amaryllis. ”At the very least, it’s worth investigating. If we don’t find the necromancer, we’ll find clues. Even if we just find something that belongs to them, I should be able to lead us directly to him.” Tetrad turned to Emily. ”Hopefully this time our investigation won’t get interrupted by a talking dolphin.”
“The sooner it’s gone the better.” she agreed. This thing was taking innocent lives, and considering where it was operating, there was a decent chance it would try to abduct some of the people on their way to the soup kitchen. An innocent life was an innocent life, but that those people were dear to her. With how long they’d been gone, it may have even happened already. “I’ll go on ahead to the graveyard, catch up as soon as you can!” so saying, Emily took off via thrusts with her specialization.
“Hrmm,” Amaryllis folded her arms against the winter’s chill, “same graveyard as the one Soth’s ritual occurred in? Best to get moving then.” Her eyes followed Emily as the fire girl arced through the sky, before regarding Tetrad again. “You got a ride?”
Tetrad lifted a finger, then after a moment of silence, she frowned. ”Uh… No.” She held her chin. ”However! I do know of a taxi driver!” Tetrad groaned. ”But it’s been a long time. I don’t even know if he works here anymore.” After a moment of thinking longer, Tetrad pointed to the sky and smiled. ”We’ll just have to run there! It isn’t too far!” Tetrad immediately broke into a sprint, one that Amaryllis was pretty sure she could outdo.
“No Uber, huh?” Amaryllis nodded, before following Tetrad with a clipped pace. A Penrose without people really wasn’t the same.
Eventually, the group assembled at the graveyard. It had been some time, but they hadn’t fixed all the damage that had been done to the place. The official story was that a tornado blew through, but everyone present knew what really happened here. Even with snow covering the ground, it didn’t hide the memories of this place. The snow was unable to fill all the empty graves, the craters, or hide the demolished Mausoleum.
”Man, I don’t really envy either of you guys. But I gotta say, part of me really wishes I could have been around for this one.” Tetrad looked around herself. ”We just have to find some evidence he was here. Preferably recently. That’s all I’ll need to start tracking him again.”
Emily sighed, thinking back to the graveyard fight. In hindsight, while everyone else seemed to be saving the world from devastation and uniting people from almost everyone organization, she was more or less just distracting some brainwashed girl. She felt she could've offered more for everyone. "I wasn't too involved myself, really..." Emily glanced around, looking for any signs of life in the place by searching for heat signatures in the surrounding area. "I wish I was though. I think that if I had been, then maybe I could've done more, and maybe then a sister might not have died."
“Best not to dwell on what has been,” Amaryllis replied, her own eyes lost in the half-covered devastation before her, “or we’ll be wondering why we didn’t try to investigate that Beach Dimension further.”
”Maybe.”
There wasn’t much of a lead to go on. There were no tracks in the snow, or anything to suggest that anyone had been here recently. Though the falling snow was to blame for that. The girls split up, but stayed in ear shot of each other. Tetrad hopped in and out of empty graves, and Amaryllis stirred the snow with her sword, seeing if it reacted to any foul energies.
Emily’s search took her to a cabin. It was likely used to house tools and supplies for the graveyard staff. What made it suspicious was the heat signature she could see coming from inside. Stranger still was that it was the only building in the area that was still standing, and the windows were all covered. It wasn’t long before Tetrad noticed Emily cautiously approaching the cabin.
”Did you find something?”
Focusing intently on the cabin, Emily hadn’t noticed Tetrad’s arrival. She let out a cute squeal in surprise as well as her turquoise flame silhouette, before turning to the girl. “O-oh, sorry. It’s just that something is off about this cabin. There may be someone in it.”
“Alright.” Without missing a beat, Amaryllis strode right up towards the door of the cabin and swung it open. They were three magical girls sniffing around a graveyard, practically the most obvious sight in the world. Whoever was in there was either not a threat, or already knew they were there. So, simply put…
“Hello, who’s in here?”
What greeted the girls was darkness. A solid sheet of black that obscured everything inside. The filtered light coming from the overcast skies did little to help the girls look inside. But while they couldn’t see, they could certainly hear something moving around in there. First the floor creaked, then came the sound of heavy boots marching towards their direction. The girls all took a step back, unsure what was coming out to greet them. With one last step, the stranger cleared the threshold of the door and stood up. He was taller than the entrance to the cabin.
Even if one could overlook his height, it was clear this wasn’t a normal human. His skin was as pale as a corpse, with the muscle definition of an Olympian and the scars and bruises of a prize fighter to go with them. His eyes were closed, and his grey, matted hair shot out in all directions. He looked like a double from an 80’s dystopia movie. The man was clad in a series of belt pouches with shoulder pads and a loin cloth. There were also a series of tubes running from his back into his mask. The mask only covered the lower half of his face. They could see that his eyes were shut. Had the man not walked out of the cabin, they might have thought he was dead.
”Now see here, see here girl!” The mask deepened his voice, but it wasn’t enough to mask his southern accent. ”Ya can’t just throw the door open to a man’s abode! Harder to keep this place warm than skeet shootin’ airplanes with a peashooter!” The man “looked” at the magical girls. ”Y’all like huddlin’ around places like this?”
”As for ‘who’s in here,’ everybody calls me Billy Black Cadillac, or Billy Black for short. Billy Cadillac, but I drive a black car.”
Tetrad looked around. ”I don’t see a garage.”
Emily turned towards Tetrad for a moment, then turned back. “U-um… hello, Billy Black. Pleased to meet you…” she tried greeting him politely, but her gut feeling told her that they wouldn’t be sharing a friendly relationship for too long, given the circumstances of the encounter. “So you live here? What it is that you do all the way out here, might I ask?”
Amaryllis was decidedly less roundabout than Emily. Was it the magical fatigue, or was it the fact that she was a very busy magical girl with a lot murder to be done? Regardless, it was a victory of restraint alone that she hadn’t immediately decapitated the monstrous-looking Billy Black. Instead, she went for the simplest question ever, even as her Sword rasped at the chance to finally cut something. “You a lich?”
Emily couldn’t help but give a soft ‘ah’ at Amaryllis’ blunt approach, but awaited Billy’s response.
Billy was about to answer Emily’s question, but then turned to “look” at Amaryllis. ”I say-I say-If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you know a game is afoot.” The giant opened his eyes, revealing two orange eyes. They had no irises, but had jagged black stripes scattered across them like cracks in an old sidewalk. Billy placed a hand on his chest as a giant sword appeared in his other hand. It was pitch black with “Cadillac” etched into the side of it. ”No sir-e I say no sir-e I am not a lich!” He hefted his sword up over his shoulder. It took barely any effort at all, like he was holding nothing more than a twig. ”Though if I’m gunna be perfectly honest with y’all, I could summon a few liches if I wanted to.” He removed his hand from his chest and cast it outward. It was briefly wrapped in a wreath of purple flames before the snow around the girls started to move. All around the graveyard, ghouls were clawing their way out of the ground. They looked like skeletons stuffed with matted fur, and their sunken eyes emitted a crimson glow. They brandished their hands, which had long talons instead of fingers attached to them.
At this point, Tetrad had drawn up a hand full of cards, which hovered around her head. ”I guess we know what you do here now.” She was grinning, but her eyes were moving over all the threats around them.
Emily had immediately lost any sort of innocence or warmth in her demeanor, replaced instead by an expression that was mostly stoic, but betrayed a bit of her anger beneath. Much like Tetrad, she was paying attention to the mob that had appeared.
”I’m a necromancer ya see? I say I’m a bona fide caller of the undead.” The spine of some long dead animal snaked its way out of the ground and few in circles over Billy Black’s palm. ”But my real passion- I say my real passion is collecting skins. And y’all got some mighty fine flesh!”
The ghouls broke into a run, shambling and growling as they approached. When they got near, they started to jump at the girls that they had surrounded. Some even flying over the top of Billy Black’s head.
Emily certainly desired to deal with Billy first, but the fact was that they were being set upon on all sides, so she would have to deal with that for the time being. Thankfully, she particularly excelled at dealing with crowds. The flame mahou, naturally making sure it was safe for Tetrad and Amaryllis to do so, released a concentrated burst of fire that acted more like a mini explosion that launched her above the others, high enough so she could essentially hover while keeping the other two in mind. From there, she began to lob fireballs at the horde. “I’ll do my best to keep you guys covered from these vermin!” she told them.
Amaryllis only raised a brow.
“Pretty sure they’re the same thing, Lichy Billy.”
And, just like she had planned moments before, the Knight of Rose drew her Sword and swung in a single motion. Monster girls were still half girls. Dark magical girls were just partially dark. But monsters were only monsters, and horrors were only horrors. The silvered blade whistled through the air, aiming for the throat.
Tetrad had drawn a lot of green cards, including a reverse. That was all fine and good, but stealth wasn’t going to be too helpful in her current situation. She wasn’t even sure if these monsters needed to see them to know where they were.
”Hell of a time to try new tricks, but I like my chances!”
A new trick Tetrad learned over the beach vacation was how to work better with others. In particular, she could change her uno cards into minor arcana cards from a tarot deck. These were more support orientated than her typical uno cards, and this seemed like a good time to try them.
”Give em’ hell, Emily!” In a flash of light, Both of Tetrad’s green 7s turned into 7s of wands. She threw the first one at Emily. Once she was struck by it, she could feel a surge of magic, sure to increase her magical capabilities. It wouldn’t last long, but Tetrad could only hope things would get a little less hairy. The second card Tetrad threw directly behind herself. It transformed into a giant spinning baton that swat aside any ghoul that got too close. For the moment, the girls didn’t have to worry about attacks from all three-hundred-and-sixty degrees. Tetrad looked at her remaining cards. A green 6 and Reverse, a red 3, blue 9, and a Yellow 6. ”Workable.” She said to herself before drawing more cards.
Billy’s eyes momentarily flicked up to Emily, but returned to Amaryllis once she made her move. Few things were as fast as the rose knight, but it was a simple matter for Billy to rock the sword that was already on his shoulder in front of the incoming blade. To do this properly, Billy had to turn his body sideways so that Amaryllis’s sword was coming at the back of his neck, where his sword was ready to defend. With a snap, the spine floating over his other hand launched itself straight up into the air, heading straight for Emily.
“Ngh!”
Attending to the horde trying to overwhelm them, Emily wasn’t able to notice she was being attacked until almost the last moment. By then, it was too late to simply jet herself out of the way, so the best she was able to do was try to smack the spine out of the air with Purgatory, while doing her best to keep herself afloat.
Amaryllis would barely have time to react as the giant swung its weapon overhead. Billy Black might have been large, but he wasn’t slow.
”As for why I’m not a lich, I’ll explain once yer dead!”
“Guess we’ll never find out then.”
Snippets of hair were scattered in the air as Amaryllis twisted to the side herself, the cleaving blade grazing her temple and smashing into the ground. Before Billy could pull his sword back up, the Knight of Rose stomped upon the blade, her boots protecting her from its edge and driving it deeper into the ground. The necromancer was fast for his size, and strong for his class, but that was simply the prerequisite for fighting any half-decent magical girl.
Streaming through the freezing air, Amaryllis lunged in and aimed for Billy’s rotten heart, intending on slipping her Sword through the gaps between his ribs and popping that lump of torpidity right out of his back.
The spine was not content with just making a single pass. It would return time and time again, trying to pierce Emily’s defense and strike a mortal wound. It was getting so hard to keep up that Emily didn’t have the chance to lay down suppressing fire. The ghouls were walking over their burning comrades to get to Tetrad and Amaryllis. This only served to feed the flames, which were gradually becoming an impassable ring of fire.
”Crap!” Tetrad Tossed her green 6 into the air, and hurled her yellow 6 at a group of distant ghouls. There was no real point to throwing the yellow card except to grant herself the ability to float. It would be necessary for the rest of her gambit to work. With a snap of her fingers, she was instantly teleported to the location of the green card, which happened to be right above where the spine was at the time. She then took hold of it, at which point the spine pulled away from Emily and attempted to shake Tetrad off of itself. She wasn’t especially strong, but it was a lot easier to hold on when she was so light. ”Kick his ass! Kick his ass!” She shouted while the spine thrashed her around.
Meanwhile, this was just enough time to pass for Amaryllis’s sword to find its mark on Billy’s flesh. The sword managed to make its way a few inches into his chest, but his opposing handshot over and enveloped her hand and guard of the blade. It was a stalemate, with Billy unable to to push Amaryllis back, and Amaryllis unable to grant her sword the death of the monster it so craved to partake in. Black blood oozed out of the wound, but Billy remained unflinching. He shoved her hand downwards, slicing himself all the way down to the hip. This didn’t phase him however, and he promptly threw his head forward in an attempt to smash his head against Amaryllis’s.
She hadn’t expected a spine to be this troublesome, especially when she was airborne. It was a lot more tenacious than Emily expected it to be, it moving around too much for her to grab a hold of it or burn it. And each moment she spent trying to get rid of it was another moment the ghouls had to press their advance.
Thanks to Tetrad’s assistance, though, she had just the opening she required. As the spine became occupied with shaking the girl gripping onto it, Emily darted towards the bone and seized it in her grip. “Let go!” she warned Tetrad before her grip ignited the thing, her goal obviously being to incinerate it.
The deadman continued to fight, his sheer brawn putting an end to Amaryllis’s thrust. The knight struggled for a moment, but the spike of pain upon the crown of her skull reminded her once more. Sheer contests of strength were not befitting a fencer such as herself. Nay, the arena she reigned in was that of grace and precision. Her Sword flew off to the side, shredding out of the monster’s body. Amaryllis twisted with that motion as well, one foot secure upon the blade as the other rose up.
It was good that Billy was so inhumanly tall; the distance between his skull and hers was enough that Amaryllis had the time to bend back and kick upwards, jamming the heel of her foot into his eye. At the same time, gleaming silver sheared into the open wounds of the necromancer, sealing in the putrid ichor of his gray-skinned body.
“Extend.”
And from those silver-scored wounds, ivy-esque chains emerged, not bursting outwards, but tunneling inwards, metal tendrils digging through decaying veins to tear away at the monster from within.
Billy was a tough bastard. Even as the chains cut through his innards, he attempted to fight back. But it was no use. His tendons were being severed, and his bones were being ensnared by chains. All the howling in the world wasn’t going to make it stop. All the other girls could see was his skin bulge as the chains grew inside him. His white skin turned black from the internal bleeding, and he soon collapsed. Not even a second later, what remained of the spine fell from the sky as gray ash. It was only a matter of time before it was picked up by the wind and lost among the falling snow. The necromancer had been defeated. Emily and Tetrad landed beside their companion on the ground.
Tetrad stroked her chin. ”I think this is what the death heads call… BrUtAl! ” She proceeded to cross her arms over her chest and shaped her hands like two goats, before sticking her tongue out of her head.
And this was the part where everyone learned the difference between a necromancer and a lich.
There is no doubt that both entities are similar. A necromancer is one who practices necromancy, which is a sort of forbidden magic that deals with animating the dead. Anyone who knows necromancy can be considered a necromancer.
But it takes far more than just knowing necromancy to become a lich. That would be like saying psychopaths and sociopaths were the same thing. What makes a lich different is that they have to become one with their magic. That is to say that they themselves must become undead in order to take that final step into graduating into a lich. You can be the strongest necromancer alive, but you aren’t a lich until you’ve shifted off your mortal coil.
”I say, I say, I am reborn!” With a mighty leap, Billy tore away from all that held him back. The chains, his flesh, his breathing apparatus. It was all a cocoon for the necromancer’s true form. His skeleton was laid bare, with a dark flame burning in his chest. ”Common boys, we’ve got visitors!”
With a loud bang, two other giant undead emerged from the cabin. One was a fairly standard lich with a dark robe and a golden staff. He had massive bony pauldrons fitted with red orbs.
”Welcome to lichood, Billy.”
The other lich was female and wielded a halberd. She wore a robe held together with chains, and wore a circlet with an eerie blue crystal.
”I’m shocked you were finally killed. You were the strongest out of all of us. Well, only if we exclude your brain.” she grinned.
Ribbons of flesh came out of the cabin and coiled around Billy’s exposed bones, and before long he looked like an improved version of his former self. He was still wearing a gas mask, but his new flesh wasn’t pale and bruised. Billy extended his hand, and his sword flew out of the ground and into his grasp. ”I’m gettin’ kind of bored of laying low, aren’t y’all?” They nodded in unison. A giant ball of flesh rose out of the top of the cabin and hovered over Billy’s head. ”Given that they want to dig inta my skin collection so bad, I say we go collect some more! Come on y’all!”
And with that, the three liches flew off in three entirely different directions.
Tetrad groaned. ”Guess we’d better split up too.” Tetrad took to the air. ”Gunna go after the world of warcraft guy. Hopefully you all have a few favors to call in, I don’t think we’ll have much luck fighting them all divided like this.” Before blasting off, tetrad placed her fingers against the side of her head. Tetrad’s most reliable friends could be contacted via telepathic link. ”Hello hello, Tetrad here! I’m following a necromancer. You’re free to help me kill it if you guys aren’t doing anything. Trixy, I’d like you to make a post on Glimmr. I’ll keep feeding you details on the necromancer’s location while I pursue.”
”Gotcha sweet cheeks! Send me a picture with your phone if you have time.”
Amaryllis clicked her tongue. Unfinished business was unfinished business, and her Sword was displeased too at the stolen meal. She too was slightly irritated, not at Billy’s retreat, but at how...it didn’t make sense at all? What was a lich? Between the three examples that were presented, only one of them looked like a skeletal bastard, that was for sure. The Knight of Rose shook her head, before turning to the rest of them.
“I’ll go after Billy then. Good fortune to the rest of you.”
Like a shooting star, she streaked off after the undead barbarian, her own smartphone already ringing. If it came to slaying evil that simply wouldn’t die the first time around, Amaryllis knew exactly who to call.
“Then that leaves only one choice for me. Good luck!” she shouted towards the others, before taking off from the ground and pursuing the last lich.
She was aware of what they were, but Emily hadn’t had the chance to fight a lich before. Billy was certainly not the easiest foe she’d seen, so if he became even stronger by becoming a lich, they were going to need some backup.
I really hope this doesn’t cause too much trouble for them…
As she flew in chase of the monster, she grabbed her phone and hastily sent a message over Glimmr to a few acquaintances. Most of them replied that they were busy with some other task, though some offered to see if anyone they knew would help. She told them to go ahead and try, but wasn’t particularly confident that would turn up results. There was, however, another girl she’d met with she could try. “Umm, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble…” she kept her eye on the lich for any strange movement as she did her best to make a concise message explaining the events to a certain wolf girl she knew, Lupa. Hopefully she avoided too many typos, but given she was in the middle of flying at high speeds, it was rather difficult.
Having exhausted her contacts list as fast as she could, she put her phone away and focused on the task ahead. If she happened across any girls, maybe she’d call out to them, but otherwise she’d not let this monster out of her sight.
Nice and open was Triss's first opinion of the little courtyard. Thank god there wasn't a vegetable garden or a bunch of pots he had to watch out for, huh? Spreading out his toes and enjoying the softness of the grass, the pallum took in a couple deep breaths. He envisioned an aquamarine pool, the waters perfectly clear, the stone beneath a hue of red and orange that gradated into deep emerald. Slowly, his thoughts melted away, leaving only the body that had been drilled so many combinations that he could do them in his sleep. One breath, two breaths, three...
"Jess!" Leaping high kick. "Yeen!" Defensive roll into body hook. "Sark!" Grapple their arm and pivot behind. "Fram!" Outer sweeping throw. "Dart!" Dropping axe kick.
"Ohm!" High jab. "Rel!" Heel stomp. "Ect!" Explosive hip slam. "El!" Lunging spear hand. "Vel!" Headlock into flying knee. "Darsh!" Vertical elbow strike, connecting with knee.
Landing on the final blow, Triss exhaled deeply, before looking at his surroundings once more. He had definitely covered more ground in his katas than he used to, that was for sure. The youth flexed his fingers a couple more times, rotating his wrists and stomping on the ground, a half-ironic grin on his face. Like this, he could totally maybe punch through a stone wall, huh? But for all his effort, there was still something missing.
Momi ACTUALLY punched out fire and kicked out explosions and blasted out lightning when she did her core kata, the same that she drilled into Triss until his head was swollen with adjustments and all, but, well, he didn't do any fire punches, even after receiving his falna. Maybe it wasn't a falna thing though. Maybe it wasn't even a strength thing? Maybe it was just something he should stop thinking about, because a punch was going to hurt, no matter if your fist was on fire or not.
The pallum bounced on the balls of his feet once more, his braided ponytail bouncing against his back. He'll warm up a bit more, push himself a bit more, and see just how far his newfound strength got him when he put in maximum effort!
Sorano looked at Seishiro, her gray eyes neutral, her countenance blank. Five seconds passed before she pointed towards the seatbelt that the punk had neglected to clip on.
"Your seatbelt, Yamamura-chan. You understand how to put it on, yes? Or would you like to be taught how to?"
They may be Hunters, but they were still humans. And getting tagged by traffic cops would certainly be a hell of a way to make an impression on their newest advisor.
[Appearance Information] Kazuki’s body has yet to decide whether or not it wants to be a boy or a man. For a youth standing at 5’8, a respectable height at his age, Kazuki’s face is still that of a child’s, his cheeks soft and his face round. He colors easily, and there is a prepubescent softness to his whole body, regardless of how many push-ups he does. His voice hasn’t dropped yet, and occasionally cracks at the worst times, and his dark brown eyes are expressive and guileless, a naivety shining through that has yet to be tempered by any less pleasant experiences with the world. But even with the baby fat that lingers, there’s no denying that he’s gradually shaping up. By next year, perhaps Kazuki will be unrecognizable! ...unlikely.
[Personality] Smart people keep their head down, and that’s exactly what Kazuki does. He sticks with the friends he’s had since elementary school, doesn’t raise his hand when a teacher asks for volunteers, and dutifully does everything he can to avoid notice and trouble. The war had taught him enough about that, after all. The Japanese may shittalk all they want, but it’s the Americans that have the big guns, and if the world wasn’t going to intervene when those Westerners begin a Trans-Pacific invasion to secure a foothold in Asia for future conquests…well, he doubted that anyone would intervene if they went full Hitler with their occupation. So Kazuki straddles the line, advising moderation and evasion in all cases. Why fight when you can run? Why argue when you can agree to disagree? To others, Kazuki appears to be a wishy-washy fellow with his head in the clouds.
But for him to avoid difficult situations, he must be constantly vigilant, consistently observant. He watches, he waits, he learns. Kazuki may turn his face away, but his eyes will remain locked on, his mind will remain focused. Smart people keep their head down and their eyes up, to avoid that knock-out punch that others won't see coming.
[Personal Background] Kazuki does things because he needs to, not because he wants to.
His father was paralyzed from waist-down as a consequence of the Japan-America War, so he adjusted accordingly by doing chores, grabbing things from high shelves, and generally making himself useful. When his father wants to show him a video, go through old albums, or simply talk, Kazuki doesn’t refuse, no matter what else he needs to attend to. A son’s gotta respect his father, after all, regardless of appointments with dentists, friends, or teachers.
His mother works till 10PM six days a week, and spends the seventh day sleeping till 3PM. Kazuki preps breakfast, buys prepackaged dinners with the necessary variety to avoid boredom, learned how to make a damn good pot of coffee, and makes all the decisions involving his own life by himself (unless his dad weighs in, in which case he follows whatever his pops wants). He also sends his mom off in the early mornings, as well as give her fashion advice whenever she wants that confidence boost. Not that a high school boy’s opinion is any good, but whatever makes her happy.
He got into soccer, then into literature, then into dance, then into weight-lifting, making a couple of friends each time. Kazuki was never popular, but it wasn’t too hard to get friendly with a couple decent folks simply by being considerate and remembering their names. Shocking, how difficult that is for some people.
That’s how Kazuki lives.
If this goes on as it does, that’s how he will die, bland and obligated.
"Morning, Argen, Oscar," Katya waved as the former stoked the flames and the latter waddled around like a half-frozen penguin. As the fire got hotter and hotter, they could go boil water for a warming, if not filling, soup again. Katya skipped off for another bath, more for pleasure than for cleanliness, and gradually, the rest of the party woke up as well. Ettamri nursed a bit of a headache, Renauld's little Renauld was still sore, and Muu's scarf had frozen solid last night, forcing the Blade Dancer to squat by the fire and thaw it out. As usual, nothing was really said between the entire party, but the night hadn't been so miserable and everyone got enough sleep to tide them over for the rest of the day. If fortune smiled upon them and Ettamri's vague map was accurate in its approximations of distance, they would reach Fort Stalwart before nightfall. Would be free of their burden. Would even have a proper bed to sleep on. Maybe the soldiers there would throw them a party for delivering such precious goods in such dangerous times?
One could dream, at least.
When Katya returned to the rest of her party, most of the packing up was done. Snow was kicked over the firepit, blankets were patted clean of snow and folded up, the horses were roused from their own chilly slumber, and the party was off once more. With only two nights of experience, they had certainly grown efficient with their packing, or perhaps just stopped caring so much. Marching up the path towards the springs once more, they noted the absence of the orc champion that had been there last night, but other than perhaps a stray comment or observation, nothing else arose from the knowledge. The horses pulled the wagon up higher, and the adventurers' own breaths labored from the upward climb. The snow became more powdery as they got higher up the mountain, and every step they took caused them to slip backwards as well. At one point, the more physically-gifted members of the party had to push the wagon up from behind, just to make sure it didn't roll down backwards while ascending a particularly treacherous forest path. At another time, Muu and Oscar were both forced to scramble up on all fours, being the only members in the party not to have something that could double as a walking stick.
Yet for all those troubles, it was still rather peaceful. Birds, unseen but easily heard, sang their little songs. Snow melted from high branches and dropped like fat bits of birdshit. It was an unusually warm day, as far as winters went, and soon, even Oscar's soreness disappeared.
The mountain they climbed plateaued and, turning back, they could see all the territory that the Empire had managed to hold onto. Andeave, with its great walls, could be seen in the distance, the rough gem of civilization offset by the sheets of ice stretching out from the shore. The forests of the Ranger's reserve were pristine as always, great pines like white needles standing proud upon the mountain. Plumes of smoke rose up from the western quarters of the city as well, taverns in the process of roasting whatever meat would be the star of the night's dinner. Outside the city, flashes of color occasionally burst outwards, the arcane abilities of soldier-mages blooming upon the wintry fields.
And turning outwards upon the plateau, they could see too, the untamed wilderness of the frontier. Grand trees burst beyond the canopies. Great lakes shimmered like emerald in the sunlight. A bird, or perhaps a dragon, cavorted through wispy clouds in the distance. Magenta fumes exuded from plains of black rock. The wind carried with it screams, but of terror or jubilation, it was uncertain. The unknown called for them, and yet, approaching the edge, they could see that there was naught but a sheer drop ending in jagged, fang-like rocks.
The moment of reprieve ended. Their journey was not yet over.
Oscar ranged ahead and the others followed his footprints. Now that they were on flat trails, they all traveled much faster. It was difficult, of course, to gauge how wide the trails truly were when snow masked everything, but it was simple enough to just stick to the side. They passed behind frozen waterfalls, the sunlight turning turquoise within the icy pathways. They passed over streams of snowmelt, water torpidly gurgling down into oblivion. They passed by a herd of shaggy mountain goats ascending up the sheer face of the mountain with casual grace.
There were no monsters here. No monsters but the ones that lingered within the party.
The wagon party traveled on.
Well, at least they did, until they couldn't.
Oscar was waiting for them around the bend, and it was obvious why the Ranger had chosen to wait. Had there been an earthquake recently? Had there been a great battle? Or had Ettamri's map simply been inaccurately drawn?
Before them, as if carved by the deathblow of a war god, was a chasm where the road should have continued. A chasm that fell all the way down to the forest below. A chasm that separated one side from the other by an insurmountable ten meters.
Yankee
Altered Tundra
Alisdragon911
stone
VitaVitaAR
Animal
LanaStorm
Ohm
Haha
Shovel
