-
Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.
"This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.
Inactive [LP CYOA] Overlord
- Thread starter treave
- Start date
I thought it was evident that treave wasn't updating because there was a mess about who was voting for what plan on the basis of whichever bizaare conditions..?
I don't care at this point. I'll put my vote to whatever's leading/the most basic version of it, so long as it makes it less of a jumble for treave. The Hollywood plan in any form is definitely still a retarded mess, but it's no fun if we never slip up and do something stupid for the lulz.
I don't care at this point. I'll put my vote to whatever's leading/the most basic version of it, so long as it makes it less of a jumble for treave. The Hollywood plan in any form is definitely still a retarded mess, but it's no fun if we never slip up and do something stupid for the lulz.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
Nope, I knew the theatrics plan was leading. Was just confirming if you guys had all the details you wanted to put down.
a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
I like/vote for TOME's plan. Nothing Spurs adventurers to rush headlong into a trap quite like cheap theatrics. Though once again, I say we should be killing the prince and capturing the women, but I suppose we could always do that later.
Edit: and once again, tell Rin to try and avoid killing the girls if possible.
Edit: and once again, tell Rin to try and avoid killing the girls if possible.
Last edited by a moderator:
That sounds like FUN! 
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2014
- Messages
- 633
Let's just say that attempting to use teleportation circles for flashy exits has its risks.
Sounds familiar.
Last edited:
a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
oooooh, boy. Welp, lets hope we come out of this remotely human looking. Having one's atoms scrambled tends to lead to a bad look.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
The Dark Lord's Arrival
Paulsen sniffed, sneezed, shivered. Tonight was a cold one, far more than usual. Under the silvery moonlight there was nothing to see but the grassy plains looking far more desolate than they do in daytime. Guard duty was boring.
“Guard duty is boring,” Robsen echoed his thoughts, standing all swaddled in a thick brown cloak.
“Tis what we’re paid to do.” Paulsen shrugged.
“I’d expected more though. I mean, the most exciting that happened since we came here was, what… that peasant girl?”
“Oh yeah, the pretty one. Big balls on that one, marching up to us like that.”
“Yeah, her. Nothing else’s happened since then, and it’s really not what I expected.”
“Whaddya want, to get mobbed by a bunch of dragons and die screaming in fire?” Paulsen let out a short laugh.
“Ah, you and I both know if we see dragons we’d be digging holes to hide in immediately. No, it’s not that. It’s just that… well, this ain’t our first song and dance, right? We’ve been doing guard duty for years, but this has been the easiest assignment so far.”
“I know, I know. I know what you mean. It’s too quiet. Usually you got these dumb goblins trying to scout us out and getting shot from behind safety, or monstrous wildlife attacking the camp. Part of the whole wilderness camping experience and all that. But we’ve seen no saber-fanged tigers, no landwhales, no triple-legged snakes, no nothing.”
“Exactly! I’ve heard how rough this land is supposed to be,” Robsen nodded vigorously, gesticulating with his hands to make his point. “But this silence… it’s almost like they aren’t around at all.”
“Maybe the protective spells all the mages cast is keeping them away?” suggested Paulsen.
“Maybe. Or maybe they all ran away.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. You know, that girl was talking about a castle, right? Could be something powerful moved in, scared everything else away.”
“Well, if anything powerful moved in I’m sure all these strong people in the camp are going to take care of it. What, you scared?”
Robsen flushed. “Course not, man. Why’d I be-“
Paulsen held up a hand, causing him to stop. “Hey,” whispered Paulsen. “You hear that?”
“You smell that?” asked Robsen in return.
In the distance they could see smoke on the plains, and a red line that cut across the land gradually growing in height. Paulsen’s eyes followed the line, watching it circle behind the encampment. Then there was the sound of thumping drums. Glowing embers floated towards the two guards, and as they stared towards the rising fire they could see rows of goblins emerging from the flames. More importantly, behind the goblins, perhaps ten times the height of the largest goblin and far taller than the guards themselves, was the dark silhouette of a bull-headed monster with the limbs of a human, wielding a gigantic double-headed axe that looked like it could easily cut a horse in two.
The guards scrambled to alert the rest of the camp.
This was excitement enough.
***
“Hurry! Archers to the fore! Are the mages awake? What do you mean, they said later? Get them up! Now!” Lieutenant Edair barked out the orders with an air of urgency, trying to rouse the camp. The soldiers were ready, and so were the adventurers, but Elmont’s mages were taking this a bit too lightly. He bit his lip as he oversaw the preparations. It had been too quiet recently, but for the Minotaur Firelord itself to venture out of its lair and lead an attack is not something any of them had expected.
The entire camp was in a state of bustling activity by now, and as Edair readied himself for battle, he saw Mira approaching him. “Mira!” he called out. She waved back and trotted up to him, her leather-bound body swaying in extremely exotic and enticing ways. “Are the Blue Spinels ready?” asked Edair, just for confirmation.
“Of course!” Mira nodded. “We always are. What’s the numbers on the enemy? Anything hard?”
“It just seems to be goblins. Not a particularly large group, nothing we can’t handle, but…”
“Ah, their boss is the problem, isn’t it?”
“Yes. If… no, when we engage in battle, let us soldiers take care of the goblins. The adventurers should go after the Minotaur.”
Mira grinned wickedly and bowed. “That’s our specialty. Leave it to us.”
“Don’t underestimate it, Mira,” warned Edair.
“We’re adventurers. We don’t get into the habit of underestimating our enemy…” She paused, and added, “Well, some of us, anyway. So, chief, what’s the plan?”
“I’m still waiting for Sir Orsten to give the command, but we’ll probably march out to meet them instead of waiting for them to come to us.”
“The princeling,” Mira nodded. “It’d be too risky to fight in here. So-“
An enormous pillar of fire descended from the heavens and struck the center of the camp, causing an explosion that drowned out her words. Within the flames Edair could see a tall shadow, that of a humanoid. It was not the Minotaur, but Edair’s stomach tightened and he gulped, involuntarily. He had the feeling that it was something worse.
***
Eileen Mesthall found herself flat on her back, watching dazedly as the figure walked out of the flames. Wisps of darkness trailed away from its cloak which seemed to be weaved entirely from shadow and smoke. Its head was a black skull, with red points of light twinkling deep within the sockets. The only reason Eileen could make out the contours of the skull at all was because of the endless stream of fire that rose from within the cloak, surrounding and illuminating the creature’s head.
It took one terrible step forward, closer to Eileen, and stared down at her. The points of light glowed and turned into crimson embers. She whimpered. To her utmost shame, Eileen found herself frozen with fear, unable to move from her vulnerable position. What kind of knight was she, to falter in front of a monster?
But she knew, instinctively, that this was no ordinary monster.
It turned its head away from her and spoke. Its voice was powerful and authoritative, deep enough to make her own bones tremble. “GOOD EVENING,” said the monster. “MIGHT I-“
“Turn Undead!” screamed every single priest in the camp. They focused the entirety of their holy might upon the skeletal creature, and it froze in its tracks.
Nothing else happened.
Then the monster began to laugh, a terrible, joyless laughter that wormed its way into Eileen’s head until she thought it would drive her mad. How could this be? An undead with the power to defy divine will? Any other undead creature would have been turned into dust on the spot.
“FOOLS,” it gloated.
“Destroy Undead! Undeath to Death!” As the priests began frantically casting whatever spells they could muster up to banish the undead, the creature raised one robed arm. A ball of fire streaked from its fingers and headed right for the priests. Struck with disbelief, they hurriedly scattered before it hit them.
“YOU COME INTO MY LANDS AND YOU BEHAVE WITH SUCH LITTLE CIVILITY.” It shook its skeletal head disappointedly. “COME NOW, IS THERE NO ROOM FOR TALK?”
“That is no undead!” shouted a man as he strode to put himself in between the priests and their adversary. “I don’t know what it is, but we’ll have to take it down the old fashioned way! Lucius’s Blades, form up! The rest of you, come along if you want a share of the glory and aren’t afraid to die!”
The adventurers roared, and charged.
The creature dodged their weapons with ease, slipping away like a shadow. Blow after blow, spell after spell, none of them found their mark on the elusive enemy. The adventurers’ efforts were not assisted by the way it seemed to position itself in between them, causing them to get in each other’s way. Swiftly, the monster retaliated with a poke of its fingers – those that found themselves touched suddenly hunched over in pain, grasping their chests as blood dribbled from their lips. Eileen did not know what type of horrible spell had been cast, but her lack of desire to fight this thing was further strengthened. “ARE YOU NOT GOING TO ASK MY IDENTITY?” it asked, seemingly bemused.
“Monsters don’t deserve an identity.” The skeleton turned, watching the gruff man with a cold voice hefting a gigantic sword over his head. It was a blade that matched the Minotaur’s axe in size, a hunk of metal with a surface covered in countless glittering scales. Eileen knew this man and the weapon he carried. “Dragontail, crush thine foes!” With a roar, Edward Vast brought his sword down with a swiftness that Eileen could not have thought possible, not with a blade of those dimensions. And to her further surprise, the monster met it head on. Flashes of light sparked all around Dragontail’s descent as it broke through previously unseen magical barriers. They slowed down the sword enough for the creature to make its escape, sliding out of harm’s way before the blade slammed into the earth hard enough to shake the tents free of their moorings.
The trembling of the ground seemed to throw the creature off balance, and it somehow floated in mid-leap for a while. Behind it, from a glowing portal of light, a beautiful woman with long silvery hair emerged. She swung an axe at the creature’s neck. It was again blocked by one of the barriers that now seemed to be countless in number. Suddenly, the axe sparked with electricity before dissipated into glowing orbs along with the barrier that had stopped it. The creature grunted as the lightning coursed through it – temporarily slowed, the woman took advantage of the opportunity and thrusted her empty hand at the monster’s chest. A long, barbed spear manifested from thin air as she did so. Like a streak of gold, it shot towards its target, piercing yet another barrier without stopping, and finally, struck home in the center of the monster’s torso. There was a cheer for “Pucelle!” and Eileen felt a smile form on her lips.
With a sudden cry, Pucelle leapt back from her foe, skidding to a halt a fair distance away. Eileen saw that the front of the Blue Spinel leader’s armor had been torn off, exposing her bare chest.
“HAHAHA. YOU WILL NEED A BIGGER SPEAR,” said the skeleton jovially. In its gauntleted grip it held the piece of metal plate that it had torn off as easily as one would a rag of cloth.
“You are an absolutely disgusting creature,” grinned Pucelle grimly as she summoned new armour to cover herself. Twin swords flashed into existence in both her hands. “But you are not invincible.” She stared hard at the monster’s chest. Though it was still cloaked in shadow, Eileen could almost make out droplets of red swirling in the black smoke. Blood. It was not undead after all. It could be hurt. It could be killed.
“THAT IS SURPRISING, YES,” the creature admitted quietly. “I DID NOT NOTICE.” It raised its hand outwards, as if beseeching for mercy.
“Pin it down and I’ll smash it, Pucelle,” drawled Edward Vast as he walked to her side. Behind him, the adventurers recovered, gathering. The priests had done their work healing the injured.
Pucelle pointed her swords at it. “You have no hope of fighting off all of us. Will you surrender, creature, or will you-“
“FIRESTORM.”
In that instant, the very atmosphere around them ignited. There were screams and roars, immediate cries for spells to invoke protection from flames. Eileen felt herself being pulled away, felt the intense heat on her face. “What are you doing, still sitting there?” She looked up and saw Sir Orsten, growling as he threw her to safety. “Let us handle this!”
Leading the other senior knights, he drew his blade and dived into the conflagration to join the adventurers in their battle against the monster.
***
You had greatly underestimated their ability. That woman with the ability to call out arms and armour – she had somehow bypassed your Battle Premonition and landed a good hit. It was but a mere graze that failed to fully penetrate the cloak of shadow, but it was a hit nonetheless. That massive slab of metal called Dragontail, too, had enough power to wound you had your barriers not slowed down its descent. Since you arrived in this world Rin had been the only one able to put a scratch on your body. Perhaps that had emboldened you a little too much. It was surprising, a reminder that for all of your new powers you were yet mortal, and that there were things in this world that could very well kill you if you took them too lightly.
They, on the other hand, had become confident by the sight of blood. So they rushed into the flames, protected by the spells of the mages and the priests, certain that victory was not an impossibility. As they fell upon the doppleganger that you had conjured by taking advantage of the firestorm to temporarily conceal yourself, you detonated it with Mana Destruction.
Ah, the joy of having a trap go right. The explosion of mana hurled the adventurers away like leaves scattered in a storm, dispersing your magical flames at the same time. It was not sufficient to kill them – at least, not the stronger ones – but it was enough to buy you time.
Time for phase two of the plan.
When that brutish fighter had slammed the earth and shaken the tents loose, you had identified the location of the prince. It might not have gone so smoothly if not for that act. The chaos of the battle had been worsened by your Firestorm and subsequently the prince had been separated from his aides. It was a simple matter to trot over and pick him up before your enemies recovered and located you.
And by the time they did, you were holding a struggling, slightly chubby royal brat under one arm, laughing at them.
“OH, WHAT IS THIS I HAVE HERE?” you say, shaking your bounty.
“You duplicitous snake!” roared one of the knights. “Let the prince go!”
“A PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR TRESPASSING ON MY LANDS,” you state. “THE FLESH OF THIS CHILD SHOULD DO FINE. HE IS OF ROYAL BLOOD, IS HE NOT? I CAN SMELL IT.” You make an act of sniffing the child, and he screams in a high, piercing scream like a girl encountering that rat-dog hybrid you tried to breed and promote as a replacement for test subjects in the academy.
“Let the prince go!” repeated the knight again, more desperately this time. But they did not dare to act. Not yet, anyway.
You raise your arm and fire a bolt of light into the sky. That was the signal. Seconds later, Rin lands behind you in a earth-shuddering leap, wrapped entirely within the fiery shadow that took the shape of a minotaur. She had brought with her a large stone pedestal upon which the symbols for a teleportation circle had been painted beforehand, and let it fall to the ground in front of you with a thud. The minotaur Rin bellowed and snorted flames, making a good show of it to the audience. She stomps the ground, as if daring them to approach.
“Good job,” you whisper. The only acknowledgement you get from her is the pleased swishing of the shadow tail.
Stepping onto the pedestal with the prince still screaming for help, you call out, “LET THIS SERVE AS A WARNING. DO NOT APPROACH MY CASTLE IN THE FUTURE. I AM THE DARK LORD AND MY WRATH WILL BE TERRIBLE.”
They did not seem entirely convinced about your wrath, but their hands remained stayed by the hostage in yours. You cast your gaze around the camp before finally finding Aria, staring back at you. You nod, and begin preparing your teleportation spell.
With a shout, Aria casts her variant of Gigadyne and leaps towards you in a streak of lightning. You can hear a few people shouting her name – it looks like she has made some acquaintances while she is here – and as her hand reaches out for the prince, you intercept her flight, snatching her out of the air like you would a ball. “FOOL,” you say loudly, dangling her in front of you by her collar. “THEN YOU SHALL SHARE HIS FATE.”
You cast the spell, activating the circle. The adventurers and knights surge forward but they have left their intervention too late.
And in the last second, there is a flash of crimson. Instinctively, you move Aria away, and your instincts prove right as a twisted red arrow flies past where she would have been, aiming straight for your chest. It would have pierced you both. It would still have pierced you, had Rin not called upon the shadow cloak that wraps around you – still under her control – to thicken and wrap around the arrow. Its trajectory is bent but its momentum undiminished, and the arrow pierces your thigh clean through, embedding itself into the stone with enough power to send cracks running all through the pedestal. Cracks that disrupt the teleportation circle painted on it.
And you had chosen such a sturdy material to avoid such a thing from happening, too.
Usually, when a teleportation circle fails, the spell merely fizzles. But there are rumours of it malfunctioning in such a way that something different happens. No one, of course, has ever been able to confirm it, as it would require a convergence of phenomenal bad luck.
The circle glows. There is no stopping it now.
You have no idea what happens when a teleportation circle malfunctions, but you are about to find out.
---CHAPTER END---
Paulsen sniffed, sneezed, shivered. Tonight was a cold one, far more than usual. Under the silvery moonlight there was nothing to see but the grassy plains looking far more desolate than they do in daytime. Guard duty was boring.
“Guard duty is boring,” Robsen echoed his thoughts, standing all swaddled in a thick brown cloak.
“Tis what we’re paid to do.” Paulsen shrugged.
“I’d expected more though. I mean, the most exciting that happened since we came here was, what… that peasant girl?”
“Oh yeah, the pretty one. Big balls on that one, marching up to us like that.”
“Yeah, her. Nothing else’s happened since then, and it’s really not what I expected.”
“Whaddya want, to get mobbed by a bunch of dragons and die screaming in fire?” Paulsen let out a short laugh.
“Ah, you and I both know if we see dragons we’d be digging holes to hide in immediately. No, it’s not that. It’s just that… well, this ain’t our first song and dance, right? We’ve been doing guard duty for years, but this has been the easiest assignment so far.”
“I know, I know. I know what you mean. It’s too quiet. Usually you got these dumb goblins trying to scout us out and getting shot from behind safety, or monstrous wildlife attacking the camp. Part of the whole wilderness camping experience and all that. But we’ve seen no saber-fanged tigers, no landwhales, no triple-legged snakes, no nothing.”
“Exactly! I’ve heard how rough this land is supposed to be,” Robsen nodded vigorously, gesticulating with his hands to make his point. “But this silence… it’s almost like they aren’t around at all.”
“Maybe the protective spells all the mages cast is keeping them away?” suggested Paulsen.
“Maybe. Or maybe they all ran away.”
“You think?”
“Yeah. You know, that girl was talking about a castle, right? Could be something powerful moved in, scared everything else away.”
“Well, if anything powerful moved in I’m sure all these strong people in the camp are going to take care of it. What, you scared?”
Robsen flushed. “Course not, man. Why’d I be-“
Paulsen held up a hand, causing him to stop. “Hey,” whispered Paulsen. “You hear that?”
“You smell that?” asked Robsen in return.
In the distance they could see smoke on the plains, and a red line that cut across the land gradually growing in height. Paulsen’s eyes followed the line, watching it circle behind the encampment. Then there was the sound of thumping drums. Glowing embers floated towards the two guards, and as they stared towards the rising fire they could see rows of goblins emerging from the flames. More importantly, behind the goblins, perhaps ten times the height of the largest goblin and far taller than the guards themselves, was the dark silhouette of a bull-headed monster with the limbs of a human, wielding a gigantic double-headed axe that looked like it could easily cut a horse in two.
The guards scrambled to alert the rest of the camp.
This was excitement enough.
***
“Hurry! Archers to the fore! Are the mages awake? What do you mean, they said later? Get them up! Now!” Lieutenant Edair barked out the orders with an air of urgency, trying to rouse the camp. The soldiers were ready, and so were the adventurers, but Elmont’s mages were taking this a bit too lightly. He bit his lip as he oversaw the preparations. It had been too quiet recently, but for the Minotaur Firelord itself to venture out of its lair and lead an attack is not something any of them had expected.
The entire camp was in a state of bustling activity by now, and as Edair readied himself for battle, he saw Mira approaching him. “Mira!” he called out. She waved back and trotted up to him, her leather-bound body swaying in extremely exotic and enticing ways. “Are the Blue Spinels ready?” asked Edair, just for confirmation.
“Of course!” Mira nodded. “We always are. What’s the numbers on the enemy? Anything hard?”
“It just seems to be goblins. Not a particularly large group, nothing we can’t handle, but…”
“Ah, their boss is the problem, isn’t it?”
“Yes. If… no, when we engage in battle, let us soldiers take care of the goblins. The adventurers should go after the Minotaur.”
Mira grinned wickedly and bowed. “That’s our specialty. Leave it to us.”
“Don’t underestimate it, Mira,” warned Edair.
“We’re adventurers. We don’t get into the habit of underestimating our enemy…” She paused, and added, “Well, some of us, anyway. So, chief, what’s the plan?”
“I’m still waiting for Sir Orsten to give the command, but we’ll probably march out to meet them instead of waiting for them to come to us.”
“The princeling,” Mira nodded. “It’d be too risky to fight in here. So-“
An enormous pillar of fire descended from the heavens and struck the center of the camp, causing an explosion that drowned out her words. Within the flames Edair could see a tall shadow, that of a humanoid. It was not the Minotaur, but Edair’s stomach tightened and he gulped, involuntarily. He had the feeling that it was something worse.
***
Eileen Mesthall found herself flat on her back, watching dazedly as the figure walked out of the flames. Wisps of darkness trailed away from its cloak which seemed to be weaved entirely from shadow and smoke. Its head was a black skull, with red points of light twinkling deep within the sockets. The only reason Eileen could make out the contours of the skull at all was because of the endless stream of fire that rose from within the cloak, surrounding and illuminating the creature’s head.
It took one terrible step forward, closer to Eileen, and stared down at her. The points of light glowed and turned into crimson embers. She whimpered. To her utmost shame, Eileen found herself frozen with fear, unable to move from her vulnerable position. What kind of knight was she, to falter in front of a monster?
But she knew, instinctively, that this was no ordinary monster.
It turned its head away from her and spoke. Its voice was powerful and authoritative, deep enough to make her own bones tremble. “GOOD EVENING,” said the monster. “MIGHT I-“
“Turn Undead!” screamed every single priest in the camp. They focused the entirety of their holy might upon the skeletal creature, and it froze in its tracks.
Nothing else happened.
Then the monster began to laugh, a terrible, joyless laughter that wormed its way into Eileen’s head until she thought it would drive her mad. How could this be? An undead with the power to defy divine will? Any other undead creature would have been turned into dust on the spot.
“FOOLS,” it gloated.
“Destroy Undead! Undeath to Death!” As the priests began frantically casting whatever spells they could muster up to banish the undead, the creature raised one robed arm. A ball of fire streaked from its fingers and headed right for the priests. Struck with disbelief, they hurriedly scattered before it hit them.
“YOU COME INTO MY LANDS AND YOU BEHAVE WITH SUCH LITTLE CIVILITY.” It shook its skeletal head disappointedly. “COME NOW, IS THERE NO ROOM FOR TALK?”
“That is no undead!” shouted a man as he strode to put himself in between the priests and their adversary. “I don’t know what it is, but we’ll have to take it down the old fashioned way! Lucius’s Blades, form up! The rest of you, come along if you want a share of the glory and aren’t afraid to die!”
The adventurers roared, and charged.
The creature dodged their weapons with ease, slipping away like a shadow. Blow after blow, spell after spell, none of them found their mark on the elusive enemy. The adventurers’ efforts were not assisted by the way it seemed to position itself in between them, causing them to get in each other’s way. Swiftly, the monster retaliated with a poke of its fingers – those that found themselves touched suddenly hunched over in pain, grasping their chests as blood dribbled from their lips. Eileen did not know what type of horrible spell had been cast, but her lack of desire to fight this thing was further strengthened. “ARE YOU NOT GOING TO ASK MY IDENTITY?” it asked, seemingly bemused.
“Monsters don’t deserve an identity.” The skeleton turned, watching the gruff man with a cold voice hefting a gigantic sword over his head. It was a blade that matched the Minotaur’s axe in size, a hunk of metal with a surface covered in countless glittering scales. Eileen knew this man and the weapon he carried. “Dragontail, crush thine foes!” With a roar, Edward Vast brought his sword down with a swiftness that Eileen could not have thought possible, not with a blade of those dimensions. And to her further surprise, the monster met it head on. Flashes of light sparked all around Dragontail’s descent as it broke through previously unseen magical barriers. They slowed down the sword enough for the creature to make its escape, sliding out of harm’s way before the blade slammed into the earth hard enough to shake the tents free of their moorings.
The trembling of the ground seemed to throw the creature off balance, and it somehow floated in mid-leap for a while. Behind it, from a glowing portal of light, a beautiful woman with long silvery hair emerged. She swung an axe at the creature’s neck. It was again blocked by one of the barriers that now seemed to be countless in number. Suddenly, the axe sparked with electricity before dissipated into glowing orbs along with the barrier that had stopped it. The creature grunted as the lightning coursed through it – temporarily slowed, the woman took advantage of the opportunity and thrusted her empty hand at the monster’s chest. A long, barbed spear manifested from thin air as she did so. Like a streak of gold, it shot towards its target, piercing yet another barrier without stopping, and finally, struck home in the center of the monster’s torso. There was a cheer for “Pucelle!” and Eileen felt a smile form on her lips.
With a sudden cry, Pucelle leapt back from her foe, skidding to a halt a fair distance away. Eileen saw that the front of the Blue Spinel leader’s armor had been torn off, exposing her bare chest.
“HAHAHA. YOU WILL NEED A BIGGER SPEAR,” said the skeleton jovially. In its gauntleted grip it held the piece of metal plate that it had torn off as easily as one would a rag of cloth.
“You are an absolutely disgusting creature,” grinned Pucelle grimly as she summoned new armour to cover herself. Twin swords flashed into existence in both her hands. “But you are not invincible.” She stared hard at the monster’s chest. Though it was still cloaked in shadow, Eileen could almost make out droplets of red swirling in the black smoke. Blood. It was not undead after all. It could be hurt. It could be killed.
“THAT IS SURPRISING, YES,” the creature admitted quietly. “I DID NOT NOTICE.” It raised its hand outwards, as if beseeching for mercy.
“Pin it down and I’ll smash it, Pucelle,” drawled Edward Vast as he walked to her side. Behind him, the adventurers recovered, gathering. The priests had done their work healing the injured.
Pucelle pointed her swords at it. “You have no hope of fighting off all of us. Will you surrender, creature, or will you-“
“FIRESTORM.”
In that instant, the very atmosphere around them ignited. There were screams and roars, immediate cries for spells to invoke protection from flames. Eileen felt herself being pulled away, felt the intense heat on her face. “What are you doing, still sitting there?” She looked up and saw Sir Orsten, growling as he threw her to safety. “Let us handle this!”
Leading the other senior knights, he drew his blade and dived into the conflagration to join the adventurers in their battle against the monster.
***
You had greatly underestimated their ability. That woman with the ability to call out arms and armour – she had somehow bypassed your Battle Premonition and landed a good hit. It was but a mere graze that failed to fully penetrate the cloak of shadow, but it was a hit nonetheless. That massive slab of metal called Dragontail, too, had enough power to wound you had your barriers not slowed down its descent. Since you arrived in this world Rin had been the only one able to put a scratch on your body. Perhaps that had emboldened you a little too much. It was surprising, a reminder that for all of your new powers you were yet mortal, and that there were things in this world that could very well kill you if you took them too lightly.
They, on the other hand, had become confident by the sight of blood. So they rushed into the flames, protected by the spells of the mages and the priests, certain that victory was not an impossibility. As they fell upon the doppleganger that you had conjured by taking advantage of the firestorm to temporarily conceal yourself, you detonated it with Mana Destruction.
Ah, the joy of having a trap go right. The explosion of mana hurled the adventurers away like leaves scattered in a storm, dispersing your magical flames at the same time. It was not sufficient to kill them – at least, not the stronger ones – but it was enough to buy you time.
Time for phase two of the plan.
When that brutish fighter had slammed the earth and shaken the tents loose, you had identified the location of the prince. It might not have gone so smoothly if not for that act. The chaos of the battle had been worsened by your Firestorm and subsequently the prince had been separated from his aides. It was a simple matter to trot over and pick him up before your enemies recovered and located you.
And by the time they did, you were holding a struggling, slightly chubby royal brat under one arm, laughing at them.
“OH, WHAT IS THIS I HAVE HERE?” you say, shaking your bounty.
“You duplicitous snake!” roared one of the knights. “Let the prince go!”
“A PAYMENT IS REQUIRED FOR TRESPASSING ON MY LANDS,” you state. “THE FLESH OF THIS CHILD SHOULD DO FINE. HE IS OF ROYAL BLOOD, IS HE NOT? I CAN SMELL IT.” You make an act of sniffing the child, and he screams in a high, piercing scream like a girl encountering that rat-dog hybrid you tried to breed and promote as a replacement for test subjects in the academy.
“Let the prince go!” repeated the knight again, more desperately this time. But they did not dare to act. Not yet, anyway.
You raise your arm and fire a bolt of light into the sky. That was the signal. Seconds later, Rin lands behind you in a earth-shuddering leap, wrapped entirely within the fiery shadow that took the shape of a minotaur. She had brought with her a large stone pedestal upon which the symbols for a teleportation circle had been painted beforehand, and let it fall to the ground in front of you with a thud. The minotaur Rin bellowed and snorted flames, making a good show of it to the audience. She stomps the ground, as if daring them to approach.
“Good job,” you whisper. The only acknowledgement you get from her is the pleased swishing of the shadow tail.
Stepping onto the pedestal with the prince still screaming for help, you call out, “LET THIS SERVE AS A WARNING. DO NOT APPROACH MY CASTLE IN THE FUTURE. I AM THE DARK LORD AND MY WRATH WILL BE TERRIBLE.”
They did not seem entirely convinced about your wrath, but their hands remained stayed by the hostage in yours. You cast your gaze around the camp before finally finding Aria, staring back at you. You nod, and begin preparing your teleportation spell.
With a shout, Aria casts her variant of Gigadyne and leaps towards you in a streak of lightning. You can hear a few people shouting her name – it looks like she has made some acquaintances while she is here – and as her hand reaches out for the prince, you intercept her flight, snatching her out of the air like you would a ball. “FOOL,” you say loudly, dangling her in front of you by her collar. “THEN YOU SHALL SHARE HIS FATE.”
You cast the spell, activating the circle. The adventurers and knights surge forward but they have left their intervention too late.
And in the last second, there is a flash of crimson. Instinctively, you move Aria away, and your instincts prove right as a twisted red arrow flies past where she would have been, aiming straight for your chest. It would have pierced you both. It would still have pierced you, had Rin not called upon the shadow cloak that wraps around you – still under her control – to thicken and wrap around the arrow. Its trajectory is bent but its momentum undiminished, and the arrow pierces your thigh clean through, embedding itself into the stone with enough power to send cracks running all through the pedestal. Cracks that disrupt the teleportation circle painted on it.
And you had chosen such a sturdy material to avoid such a thing from happening, too.
Usually, when a teleportation circle fails, the spell merely fizzles. But there are rumours of it malfunctioning in such a way that something different happens. No one, of course, has ever been able to confirm it, as it would require a convergence of phenomenal bad luck.
The circle glows. There is no stopping it now.
You have no idea what happens when a teleportation circle malfunctions, but you are about to find out.
---CHAPTER END---
Last edited:
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
You horrible, horrible tease.
Last time I've seen this was the Big Yang battle.
That's no ordinary rabbit.
Hopes dashed by an update cut in short. 
a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
Those freaking jerks. To attack an enemy just as it initiates dialog is so freaking munchkin. I say we fry all the priests with gigadyne as punishment.
lightbane
Arcane
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2008
- Messages
- 10,202
Jesus, the local fauna is even worse than
Awesome entrance. Too bad Erdrick couldn't figure out how to include a choir of gothic music to accompany him.
How dare they to interrupt a Villainous Speech (TM)? Heretical! And such cockblock.
Worse, my "Greetings, mortals. Are you ready to die?" was not even used. Hexen is disappoint.
Good thing we're not an actual undead lord at least.
Last edited:
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
The update! ITZ here!
Well... that was interesting.
A flash of crimson, eh? I wonder who could have cast that. Well, nothing left to do but to discover where the hell we are going to end up. Maybe on a date with the Gods. Maybe back home. Maybe straight with Melete.
The suspense!!
Well... that was interesting.
A flash of crimson, eh? I wonder who could have cast that. Well, nothing left to do but to discover where the hell we are going to end up. Maybe on a date with the Gods. Maybe back home. Maybe straight with Melete.
The suspense!!
As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.