Muttonhawk

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

I think i mentioned it before, but I'll repeat it just to be sure. I'm extrremely busy these days and won't have much free time until around November-December. I spend from 9am to 10 pm out of my house and the rest of that time is spent sleeping or showering. See ya guys in two months, have fun!

@Frettzo

No worries. I doubt there'll be too much IC world-shattering stuff in that time, so...we'll see you when we see you!

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine knew she only had one shot now that Do'Rhajul's shield was turned away. She would attack with her most powerful magic at once. Even a warding shield would not cover it, though casting it took time she previously did not have. She turned up both her palms with identical swirling white spells. They brightened and swelled. Sabine stared at the fighting Do'Rhajul with a mix of fear and determination glinting her eyes. The very air sucked out heat like an open door to the dead of winter. Rimefrost crackled and grew up Sabine's pale arms until the gathering power reached its limits. Sabine pushed her arms with effort in a twist -- one in front of her and one behind her back. The atmosphere broke.

Some stability in the air keeping it still and warm fell away. The air misted and flew at a speed, creating a vortex of freezing cold around Sabine. The water in the air spun into tiny ice shards that cut and stung. The blizzard engulfed Do'Rhajul and the spriggan both. The ground blossomed with bright white snow.

The continual wind current changes did not distract Fendros. Trapping the haft of the Dremora's axe, he twisted the Daedra's guard aside and plunged the tip of his sword into the churl's jugular. One last distorted and defiant scream and the Dremora's body faded back to Oblivion. Then the lightning magic struck.

Fendros jerked and grit his teeth with the pain the spell brought. He had the sense of mind to bring up a ward in the rough direction of its origin, even if he didn't exactly spot where the mage was. The ward stopped his convulsions. The adrenaline deferred his pain, no doubt until after the fight. He refocussed on advancing towards the mage once more.

Step by step, Fendros was more careful this time. He could not afford to point his ward in the wrong direction. At the same time, however, the lightning was doing a better job at draining his magicka than the frost, even with the absorption. He would have to locate the mage fast.

The frustration combined with the worry for his packmates and the last expression he saw on Rhazii's face. Fendros bellowed out in anger. "Why do you not leave us alone!"

Janius could not fully defend himself while so off-balance. While guarding high, his shield blocked his view of the greatsword's guard flying for his knee. He discerned the feint an instant too late. His knee buckled under the blow and he let out a short, pained yell. His next move was out of as much desperation as newly found ferocity.

Rather than let Yerig recover from the attack, Janius swung his axe up under the greatsword and pulled. The beard of the axe caught around the quillons of the sword. If Yerig was used to attacking with his guard, he was unlikely to risk cutting himself, but his grip was sure to be firm. Janius was counting on getting the man closer to grab his collar and wrestle him to the dirt.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine held her breath and raised her hands. Her eyes darted in every direction. The trees, the trees, she repeated in her mind. She knew she had learned something about trees. Something Marcaille taught her. Something about roots. Something about the strange glowing wooden knots she used in alchemy. Where they came from.

Her eyes widened. Her hand wrenched out a glass vial from a belt pouch. She didn't think she would have a use for this until now. She pelted the vial against a tangle of roots half-buried in the soil beneath Do'Rhajul's path. Its muddy brown contents splashed apart without any visual spectacle.

A crackle and a snap beneath Do'Rhajul's feet grew into two rapid sprouts of tough root that whipped securely around Do'Rhajul's wide ankle. Sabine's expression dropped as she saw a shape grow behind him. Made of wood, leaves, and a vivid orange glow, the vaguely feminine figure drew up to full height with a cacophonous buzz of swarming winged insects. The spriggan regarded Do'Rhajul with a cool face, before wildly jabbing a twisting root-like limb at his armoured chest.

Sabine had no idea how strong the creature was. Neither did she know if it was any match for Do'Rhajul. Her thoughts were interrupted by a foreign shout that put a draft into the fog around them.

Janius was perfectly poised to strike his opponent in the neck with the back of his axe. He could not have recognised the words Yerig shouted if they hit him in the stomach. And they did. Though his armour absorbed the brunt of the impact, the near-invisible force was like the kick of a giant. He flew back a short distance and landed with a jarring thud and a slide on his back.

To Janius' credit, he did not waste time doing anything other than attempting to scramble back to his feet while keeping wary of Yerig should he follow his flight path. In his mind, however, he was not sure if he was in reality or a dream. The shout was unlike any magic he had witnessed. The only thing he could think of was what Meesei mentioned several times in the past.

"The Thu'um," Janius breathed behind his helmet. "This cannot be."

The mix of the frost and the shock of the shout in the air made Fendros pay his debt of hubris. His cuts only sliced the air as the mage managed to save his own life.

Fendros had been around Ahnasha long enough to recognise the sound of a daedra being summoned. He passed his sword from his left to right hand to receive the threat. The infernal foot soldier that appeared was less than Fendros has expected. Still, he raised his guard and immediately swung in to put pressure on the churl. He could dispatch it without trouble, but it would allow some moments for the mage to recover and reposition.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Sabine's frost barrier was at least successful in its immediate purpose of slowing the enemies down, even if the frost atronach was near. However, Sabine's panicking mind was too occupied trying to come up with a way of dealing with Do'Rhajul. She needed to do something that wasn't a spell directed at him and wasn't physically fighting him. She couldn't come up with anything. The stuck anxiety ruminated in her head. She couldn't come up with anything.

The frost atronach was threatening enough to deal with in the time Do'Rhajul would take to get around the frost, at least. Sabine could be direct with that. She pushed magical energies together in a bright orange ball between her palms and projected it toward the enemy daedra's leg. The spell caught fire in the air. It hissed in an explosion of steam and boiling water on impact, hopefully hurting the atronach enough to keep it away.

The hiss of the water sounded like leaves. Sabine's thought went to trees as an angle to deal with Do'Rhajul. She just needed to work out how.

Yerig's speed was uncanny. Janius could have been fooled into thinking that his old sword was but hollow wood if the clang against his shield wasn't decidedly metallic in sound and weight. There was no flair or extravagance in Yerig's style, either. He was precise. He didn't waste any measure. Janius was near his limits just trying to keep up tempo.

"We don't want more lycans in Tamriel!" Janius just managed to say while warding off Yerig. "It puts everyone we know and love at risk!"

At first, Janius tried a half-hearted feint to Yerig's side. Even that was wishful thinking. He reacted just as fast as he had been attacking. Janius opted to keep a weapon strike for later, instead bringing a fireball to his hand and tossing it point-blank at Yerig's feet. Its force was greater than Sabine's spell against the atronach, but its heat less intense. He wanted to put Yerig off-balance.

Perhaps it was the relative power of the spells Meesei and Sabine used to train Fendros' ward. Perhaps it was just this moment where he recognised his advantages now put together. Fendros could not have been more surprised. Not only did his ward hold, but the frost coming into it felt like it was doing more to keep his ward up than it was draining him. He took a step, then another. He walked, closing the distance to the mage.

It was absurdly easy. Fendros' open mouth curled into a dumbfounded smile. He shouldered his bow, dropped his arrow, and pulled out his sword with his left hand. The mage was closer now. Fendros almost laughed. Without a greater challenge against his ward, he picked up speed to cut the mage across his arms in two swings.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@BBeast I think you can answer your questions (at least in part) by observing Galbar's temporal consistency in canon.

That being; this universe adheres to a physical rule known as narrative convenience. Don't question it too much.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

It's all parts of Kyre's body in the end, so I would be happy with you waving hands while breathing the word 'allegory.' Any specific retcon can be administered the next time the remains are interacted with.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I'll try to get a post up around this time tomorrow. This assignment is the bane of my existence.

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

Speaking of the Xos debacle, I intend to resume the collabs for that but I have had an assignment due up until today that's been making me feel like I'm shovelling yellow snow into my mouth (but instead of yellow it's convex optimisation).

Mid/High Casual - Divinus: The Deity Roleplay Mk.II

@Lauder I don't think there's much precedent for any of us GMs to prevent you making a new character if that's what you want. As for winding down Keriss' story, I think the only requirement I would put on you is to end her path in a way that doesn't leave characters hanging in the breeze without consulting their players, just as a courtesy. In the end, though, I am of the opinion that Keriss belongs to you and you may do what you wish with her.

BBeast and Termite may have other things to add, as is fair.

If there's anything specific and spoilerish you want to confirm with us, go ahead and herd us GMs into a private message thread :)

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius sprung to his feet as soon as he heard Fendros' order. He did not have the time to regain his bearings in the smoke, so he had his guard up and his axe raised. He did not take more than a few steps upwind before Yerig was there.

"You." Janius confirmed their attackers for the worst case that they could be. He returned Yerig's caution and paced opposite him. Janius knew how to fight against greatswords. But, that Yerig both had only old robes on his back and an old sword in his hands was odd. No armour. He was more akin to an undead from the tombs of Skyrim than a living warrior in his attire. Sometimes those tombs had powerful relics.

Janius spoke up over his shield. "That woman is lying to you. We can prove it!" He turned his axe in his hand to strike with the reverse end. He did not intend to kill Yerig if he could help it.

Fendros' first reflex upon seeing the mage before him was to draw back his arrow. He could not fire before he had to avoid the incoming spells. He dodged to his left and twisted his body to let the spikes fly by at the last moment. He could have shot the mage in the next second. But he didn't. He knew there was a better way to deal with him. Holding his arrow and bow in his left hand, Fendros charged a white light in his empty hand and paced towards the mage. He could ward a spell or two. He had not absorbed them actively in open combat before; he knew that surprise could give him an edge.

The tall silhouette was Do'Rhajul. The small confidence Sabine received with the storm atronach melted like a snowflake in a furnace. She immediately halted the spell making the breeze and double-checked where Leaps and Ahnasha were. She had to stay close by. Her breathing quickened. No amount of growth and training could get rid of the terror of facing down the one that defeated her mentor. That shield could ward any spell thrown at him. He was bigger and stronger. His armour looked impervious. Sabine had to improvise.

"Ahnasha, cover your eyes," Sabine said. She brought her arms up and touched her wrists together. In a blink, Sabine charged a light so bright it dazzled anyone looking directly at it. It only lasted an instant. It only had to give her a moment. With both arms sweeping forward, Sabine blasted the ground in front of them with a crackling white frost that misted the air above it. If Sabine could not get past the shield, she would have to go under it. Anyone walking the frosty ground would feel the cold cloying at their legs and draining them. She hoped it slowed Do'rhajul and the Nord man with the tower shield down, let alone have any effect.