Psyker Landshark

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

The construct wasn't invincible after all. Quite the opposite, actually. Still, it seemed aiming for the head did little good. Best to work downwards, then. If there wasn't some sort of power source in the chest, she'd just have to keep smashing its limbs.

"The only worm I see here is you!" She shouted back, alternating between defending with her shield and evading strikes altogether as the slowed giant tried to hit her, to no avail. Sweat dripped down her brow as the full power of her Ethos continued to tax her. She wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer-

"Upon closer inspection, the Foreteller has its summoner, Gulliver Bronstel, inside the center of its being. Reasons are unknown. Suggestion, destroy the center of the Foreteller and attack the summoner that rests in its 'core.'"

“Knock knock.”

Well. That clarified some things. Something pounded at her skull for a single moment, but disappeared not long after. Someone else's Ethos or magic, most likely. Not important if they didn't persist. Still, it was good to know her suspicion was vindicated. Going for the chest was the best move, then. She still didn't want to unduly kill Bronsteel, but at this point, it wasn't clear whether the one within the golem or the one on the stage was real. Best to hold back and simply rip him from the titan rather than cave its chest in entirely.

The girl with the shadows was still a lingering concern, but she'd shown off enough of her abilitites that whatever authorities were watching this travesty were likely fully aware of her. If she was an Umbralist, they would have known by now. That, and she did just redirect the lightning intended for Iraleth towards herself. The paladin afforded her a brief nod of respect once before taking to the air again.

One last burst of strength was all she had left before Iraleth no longer had the strength to keep her Ethos manifested. Time to make it count.

"BRONSTEEL!" She bellowed, hoping to take his attention off of the boy who had so helpfully revealed a weakness. "Stop hiding behind your father's name and face me, you mongrel!" Once more, Iraleth charged. This time, she feinted a shift to the left before juking right, trying to bait out a retailatory attack in the wrong direction before dispelling her shield as she closed into melee. This time, she would gouge out an opening with her sword before reaching in and outright ripping Bronsteel out with her own two hands.

The Envenomed: Military Science Fiction Deniable Operations

Salvator Rasch

He already knew things wouldn't go quite so smoothly against a power armor trooper, but that didn't make the entire situation any less annoying. At least their help finally found their balls. And it didn't even take having to fully incapcitate the biggest threat on the field first. Points to them for that, he supposed.

Salvator hunkered down behind cover to evade the return fire he was subjected to, occasionally popping back up to take shots at targets of opportunity. Eventually, his magazine of EMP rounds was used up and the veteran voidhanger quickly loaded in AP-EX before swapping to his heavy shotgun. At this rate, they'd need to put the bastard down as quickly as possible. EMP had done its job in putting him off balance, but he'd need better firepower to finish the job. A wave of his hand over the shotgun's tube coated every loaded slug with ethereal jacketing.

"Acknowledged!" Salvator cried in response to the insurgents on their shared tac-net before he scanned over the battlefield once, planning his vector of attack. "You heard them, squad, light that power armor up. Shifting to flank, watch your fire!"

He focused his power, and leapt through the void once more, blinking to a closer position on the power armor trooper's flank. Salvator rose above his newly chosen cover, aimed down the sights, and started firing ethereal-jacketed heavy slug after ethereal-jacketed heavy slug at the human. Pump. Shoot. Pump. Shoot. Pump. Shoot.

Iris Ascendis

I got another post to do first this weekend so I probably won't get to this until tomorrow unless literally everyone else has posted before the end of tonight lmao

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Knight RP

Renar Hagen

As the battle died down at last, Renar sheathed his sword before retrieving his poleaxe from the corpse of the last curse abomination, yanking it out with a grunt of exertion. With that done, he nodded back towards Sirs Lein and Steffen alike while wiping the axe head of his weapon off onto the clothing of another dead Boar. After everything that happened, he felt...disappointed. The inane search at the fort, followed by an, if anything, underwhelming battle? Renar grit his teeth beneath his helmet.

"That was it?" He spat, looking down at the corpse at his feet. "For all of the Golden Boars' oh-so-legendary willingness to win at all costs, they threw precious little of worth at us. A wave of incompetents followed by four abominations that didn't even manage to inflict any significant casualties. The Bandit King's lot felled more men than these ever so vaunted sellswords." Was he tired from the battle? Of course. His lungs burned. His muscles ached. But a hard day's training accomplished much the same. Barely a scratch on his armor. Some of the Boars had managed to land a few glancing blows before he'd run them through, but that was it.

A sneer. Oh, how he cursed this time of peace. He'd never finished his squiring in time to take part in the last conflict that actually mattered. Goddesses help him, how was his star ever to rise if there weren't any real battles to distinguish himself in?

A sigh. Renar forced himself back into a composed state. While his little rant exposed some of what he actually thought, if he screamed everything he actually wanted to, more than a few people would look at him askance. Would that he could voice his true feelings more often. But catharsis was a reward only earned in private.

"What now, then? Shall we report in to the Captain for further orders?" Renar asked of the other two with him, planting the butt of his poleaxe into the dirt. "As I see it, there's precious little we can follow up on at this point without further leads, and we'll not be getting them from these corpses. Not if they were ever even halfway intelligent, at least."

@PigeonOfAstora @Conscripts

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth casts WOTG. All DS1 pvpers begin seething.

Also, the light surrounding her isn't exactly blinding, it's mostly limited to just her, so Ciara does have room for her shadow stuff.

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

Squire?! She'd been an anointed knight for three months now, damn him! Iraleth grit her teeth beneath her helm and soldiered onward, her advance impeded by the tougher dolls she was facing. Still not enough to pose any serious threat, but compared to the ones outside, these were making her work far harder for victory. The Inheritor grumbled to herself as she shook herself free from two mannequins attempting to latch onto her, whirling around to slash them apart.

Whoever this Gulliver Bronsteel boy was invoked his Ethos, and Iraleth couldn't help but be somewhat impressed, despite herself. A construct to rival the size, if not the strength, of one of Rekordia's Gearveins? The knight braced her shield in front of her as she confronted the titan head-on. If she were fresh to the fight, Iraleth would be far more confident about facing it alone. As it stood, even with the aid of Chunji's spell earlier, her chances of victory on her own were slim, and her allies would need time to restrategize in the face of a rapidly shifting situation.

But that didn't stop her. Nothing would. Unlike Bronsteel, something more than selfish egotism drove her: the hopes of others counting on her. Compared to that, what was this boy's bleating and material advantage? A burst of Essence shaped into a concussive blast surrounded Iraleth, blowing away the mannequins surrounding her before a flap of her wings sent her into the air, meeting Foreteller at eye level.

"You call this your justice? Your righteousness? Impeding every other applicant? Attempting to eliminate the rest of the competition when you've already taken first place?" Her words were disdain. Her armor was contempt. Her sword was scorn. "You are no hero. Every word you spew is filth." Iraleth forced every bit of her remaining stamina into fueling her Ethos, radiant light starting to surround the Inheritor's armor as her strength grew. Whatever the result of this fight, it would exhaust her utterly. But at this point, it would be worth it simply to cast down this blithering idiot spewing false virtue.

With a furious roar, Iraleth soared straight towards the opposing Ethos manifestation, her sword braced in front of her in order to run its head through.

Iris Ascendis

So am curious, Psykers. Is her Ethos like, constantly exuding bright light?

@ERode

Kinda. Her wings are just made of light. The mention of light in the last bit was mostly referring to occasional bits of light magic getting thrown around, though.

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

Towards the right, a left afterwards, and then the first door they saw. Simple enough. Iraleth's flight speed was slowed a good amount with two passengers, but she managed regardless. The addition of ranged support made the tradeoff worth the effort in her mind, and she easily glided over the fray, observing below as Chunji spoke once more.

A hundred mannequins, and their controller? Fortunate that whatever the boy on her back was doing was not only replenishing her strength, but enhancing it. As it stood, Iraleth wasn't concerned overmuch with being able to defeat the mannequins as she was with being able to stay on her feet afterward.

She began to make the descent towards the auditorium, and any consideration of tactics coalesced into a single decision.

"Defeating all of them on our own is a waste. We only need to disable their controller, and whatever magic or Ethos he's using will likely fade. Moreover, the objective we received was clear: be seated within by the time the bell rings. So long as we're able to manage that, we've met our goal. I'll distract the dolls' controller and take up his attention by engaging the mannequins. The two of you can disable him however you see fit, although I doubt he's deserving of death." Anything further she would have said stopped as she neared the door leading into the auditorium.

Iraleth slowed and touched down onto the ground, releasing Hildegunde from her grip and allowing Chunji to dismount, before summoning her oversized blade once more and bracing in a shield wall stance.

"On my mark. Three. Two. One. FORWARD!" Iraleth surged forth in a burst of motion, and bulldozed straight through the auditorium doors, not stopping as she slammed straight into the pack of mannequins within the auditorium.

"You, on the stage! In the name of Nero Leuvalt, face me!" She bellowed, the Inheritor's armor a veritable hurricane of steel and light as she began to cut and smash through the horde, allowing for Chunji and Hildegunde to sneak into the auditorium to do as they would.

@AThousandCurses @Sifr

Iris Ascendis

Payday 3 may in fact be adversely affecting my posting speed but I'm hoping to get something up tonight

Iris Ascendis

Iraleth Kyrios

Iraleth's reckless charge halted as the mannequins fell silent and she was met with a crossroads. Two separate walkways, and the building the mannequins had initially emerged from. She knew damned well the auditorium wasn't in there. The two that had initially arrived in the plaza with her hadn't gone that way, wherever they were now. That still left two possible paths to take. The wrong one would likely shatter her chances of making it to the goal in time-

The boy next to her spoke. How convenient. He knew the layout already? It likely had something to do with his Ethos. The chance that this was an attempt at sabotage would be counterproductive. Any attempt to disable her while she was flying with him in tow would risk himself as well. More than that, the offer of a restoration spell was extremely welcome. While Iraleth could heal her own wounds, refreshing her stamina with her own magic was a different story entirely. The effort required to shape Essence to rejuvenate herself would cost her strength as much as it restored, making the entire venture a net zero sum. That alone tilted the offer in his favor. If there were further trials after this, preserving her strength would be more than worthwhile.

Iraleth's helmet nodded, and she turned her back before kneeling down.

"I accept. Mind the wings." She replied, as the other girl with the gun caught up with them. Iraleth tilted her head in thought for a brief moment. As mouthy as she had been, the girl cooperated well enough and hadn't done anything foolish yet. Plus, she'd be weighed down as it was, escorting one. A second might even help, with the aid of a ranged weapon.

"You." Iraleth dismissed the sword in her right hand, using it to point at Hildegunde. "Join as well, if you wish. How is your aim while moving?" Her right arm beckoned, evidently looking to tuck the gunner under her shoulder and carry her that way.

@AThousandCurses @Sifr