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Post by The Shadow of Death on Mar 8, 2017 5:19:28 GMT 2
[Human Territory, Malagarm: Merona, The Hermit]
The Hermit was passing through the castle gates as Ash's voice connected to him. He nodded to himself as he replied over the connection, which was similar to his connection with the core of the planet, "That is fine. I am on my way to find you as it is. You are the elf that was with Shadow, yes?"
As he finished asking what he needed to of the voice in his head he turned the majority of his attention to reality as he passed the castle gates. He left part of his consciousness on the connection with the elf in order to respond if she said anything more, while still being able to interact with reality. This transition of consciousness was perfectly timed as well it seemed, as he was stopped by a familiar face.
Merona stood before the door in the inner courtyard and waved Frost to stop with The Hermit. "Frost, it has been a few years, how are you? Has Master been good to you or is he still as oblivious as ever?"
Frost halted not far from Merona as The Hermit unmounted her. As she heard Merona's questions she snorted and simply responded, "What do you think?" As she shot a sideways glance at The Hermit.
The Hermit waved as if annoyed with their useless prattle and got to the point. "Merona, take me to the elf. She has vital information about my master."
Merona's eyes went wide in astonishment. She tried to say something but found herself without words. The elf who had saved Malagarm had this sort of connection, and she never had a clue. She was flabbergasted. After a moment of faltering thoughts on Merona's part, The Hermit cleared his throat, which seemed to bring her back to reality. She nodded quickly and turned around to lead him to her room with the elf. She hoped the elf didn't mind, but I'd what The Hermit said was true, most likely she was aquainted with him anyways. He may even know how to help elf for all she knew.
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Post by zearea on Mar 15, 2017 4:42:54 GMT 2
[Niquitonix: Rowan]
Slipping by Blue-Flame, her boot-steps echoing oddly in the vast throne room, Rowan cocked her head and peered up at the elemental she could only assume was whom had spoke into her soul. Her right hand slipped to encompass the side of a hip, lips twisted into light scowl. Even she had to admit Niquitonix was a rather majestic place, well what she had seen of it already.
Saying nothing as of yet, the bright haired human strode down the middle, flinty green gaze sweeping the massive throne room and zeroing in on the displays with mild interest. Technology? Something that she spoke fluently. In truth this perfect... Bubble, was disorientating, and the creatures swimming by appeared giant-sized and frankly monstrous, nothing like the spray of colour that could be found in a coral reef. Briefly Rowan's eyes would widen when a creature resembling an aquatic dinosaur passed by. Shaking herself slightly, she composed herself and lifted her chin to peer up at the elemental occupying a throne. Did it expect her to bow? Not going to happen... "Well I am here... Interesting place you got here, guessing you are the boss... Thing." She drawled, brow perking. "Names Row, and I never caught yours." Her lips twitched lopsidedly into a grin, thumbs tucking into the top of her black shorts as she stood both hands to her hips and stance wide.
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Post by zearea on Mar 15, 2017 5:15:51 GMT 2
[Human Territory, Malagarm: Ashlia, The Hermit]
The connection materialized without difficulty and I sighed in relief as I spindled his energy to me, filling the gaping emptiness within myself. How can something that felt so good, also cause so much pain? For a moment I was distracted by the searing warmth, my cheeks flushing where I still lay oblivious to what was going on in my immediate surroundings. I had followed the old man and the beautiful beast to where they conversed with Merona, yet could not actually hear what was said. It did not work that way.
'Y-yes, you know Shadow? Have you seem him? What do you know?' I couldn't hide the childish tenor of hope and fear that I harbored for my master, even though I knew he was not destroyed. 'I saw one of his Midas plunge their sword into him...' I let that trail off, watching as Merona led them through the castle to eventually reach a door, the cord to my being visible to me through to the seething pool of power which was my sleeping form. Zipping straight through the wall I dived toward the little elf covered to her chin with blankets. There was a brief shock when mind and body synced and I sucked in a audible breath, eyelids unfurling just as the door swung open and the princess ushered the old man in. "Ah... H-hello?" The corners of my lips rose tentatively, the power of whatever magics he wielded depicted in my eyes.
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Post by The Shadow of Death on Apr 6, 2017 6:22:06 GMT 2
[Niquitonix: Rowan]
The frost blue smoke like sphere watched Rowan closely, although she would only be able to tell that by shear intuition due to its lack of real optics. Once she stopped her advance and finished speaking a booming laughter echoed out through her soul in response. "Impertinent I see. Then again, that is a common trait of humans. I am the Elemental Lord, better known as Elemental Lord SoulFire, thus named due to the nature of the magic I am formed from, which is capable of burning a soul to ash, in the most literal of senses... You may call me Elemental Lord.
"I see that you have something engraved upon yours, which is quite interesting, seeing as how Soulgraving is unknown to humans, not only here, but also in your world. Yes, I know your world, quite well actually."
The soul voice was now showing a trace of haughtiness. "You do not have the qualifications to be so arrogant here, even with the Rune Galdur. Hell, especially with the Rune Galdur. One moment would be all it took and I can have you obliterated just for carrying the the Rune Galdur by the creator of this universe..." The soul voice hissed with venom, however, it all changed in the next moment. "However, that would not be very courteous of me as a host, and we so seldom have visitors. I wonder just who it is that sent you here, to a place closed to the world of land dwellers. As we are at the bottom of the sea. I would offer you food, as I know humans are fond of such, but alas, it is not possible, as we elementals do not use such to sustain ourselves. Nevertheless, I would like to welcome you here!" The voice exclaimed happily.
BlueFlame shuddered in the back, feeling that this situation would easily spiral out of control with the personalities these two had.
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Post by The Shadow of Death on Apr 8, 2017 6:37:08 GMT 2
[Human Territory, Malagarm: Ashlia, The Hermit]
The Hermit listened to the elf's answer to his question, as well as her questions to him in return, but seeing as he was so close to her presence, he decided to answer in person, face to face.
As Merona opened the door, The Hermit strode in with a nonchalant manner. "Leave us Merona, I have business here regarding my master, and I cannot allow you to be a part of this conversation at this time. Frost, keep vigil outside the door. Make sure no one approaches. Keep your senses about you for spacial distortions as well."
As soon as Merona and Frost had followed The Hermit's instructions he sighed lightly before speaking directly to the elf. "I apologize. Please do not be alarmed. Due to circumstances I find that no amount of safety measures are too radical right now." As he spoke his magic moved, digging into the earth before a liquid metal devoid of heat seeped into the room to coat the floor, walls and ceiling, isolating the room. A power similar in principle to that of the Shadow Realm seemed to be mixed in as well.
"I am known as The Hermit. I am the only direct subordinate of Shadow that does not get move throughout creation, seeing as my ability is intimately entwined with this planet itself, thus we have not met before. I am sorry to hear that Shadow fell to the Midas that was turned against him, it seems I was too late in tracking you down. I was able to see what causes Midas, or more accurately the Auctoritas to turn it's fangs on Shadow..." He briefly explained what he saw in the time lapse he witnessed at the Alcove of Amassing. "I saw the destruction here in Malagarm, and it seemed to be quite a fight that was had. Can you tell me what happened here. The more information we have between us on this, the closer we are to finding out what to do about Shadow. With the Shadow Realm inaccessible I have no way to contact the others for help. Although I haven't tried it, I doubt the Mirror Realm would be functioning either since the Shadow Realm is down... This could be very bad."
(Also, didn't mention it in convo because it would be inherently blatant that The Hermit is related closely to Shadow because he too has a part of Shadow's soul in him as Ash does. There would be a bit of a resonance between the two parts, which would make such a thing easy to tell.)
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Post by zearea on Apr 20, 2017 5:25:50 GMT 2
[Niquitonix: Rowan]
The wildly swinging attitude this Soulflame portrayed caused the 'impertinent' woman to balk, her fingers curling into the fabric of her shorts and consequently, her hips as she glared, then arched a brow in a decidedly defiant way, yet if Soulflame could so easily resonate inside her soul as he had, then he could definitely note that a wary acknowledgement of the power wielded by the elemental had wriggled into her thoughts.
After Soulflame had swung to an oddly cheerful attitude, one that grated on Rowan's nerves, she paused deciding to choose her words a little more carefully. She was reckless, and temperamental but she was not completely suicidal, yet. Minutely, Rowan lowered her gaze, shoulders which had turned rigid with the desire to throw a probably un-couth quip, relaxing somewhat. "Right, well lets hope whoever sent me here has plans to come back before I starve to death and what not. As for your question, I cannot tell you, I am sort of forbidden to, sorry?" The lopsided smile returned to her features, her apology falling flat. "That being said, if they are visible to you then it means I should still be able to use it's abilities..." Rowan trailed off, her eyes narrowing and brightening together as a growing realization formed within her.
Suddenly Rowan raised a hand as if to gesture for Soulflame to refrain from speaking, forgetting that the gesture was especially 'impertinent', before straightening, shouting forth what she hoped was the correct command to levitate the nearest chair and table from the floor, or at the very least anything that was ontop of it. "Game Command, small, target chair, levitate three feet, hold six seconds." (Probably completely wrong, heh) The clear, precise command was met with not even a wisp of magical energy, the chair remaining stationary, causing Rowan to stand in the comical position of her hand extended to the object a few seconds, before abruptly scowling, cheeks reddening the slightest. "Why the fuck didn't it work..?"
The very moment she said that, anger spiking from the inability and being shown up in front of two powerful entities, Row felt the atmosphere about her ripple, twist and rip. The feeling of her body being ripped apart and altered was no pretty thing, and a gurgled growl of pain slipped by her teeth, becoming deeper and more primal as before the elementals, the once human girl transformed into a monstrous beast. The beast appeared to contain parts of more then one creature, that being the sleek, streamline torso of a hound where the legs appeared thin, dexterous as a feline's, the frontal legs seamlessly flowing into hands that appeared human but for the thick ebony fur that covered the backs of them. A thin, lengthy tail writhed about her form which was a heap on the ground, the barb smacking against the stone floor. Large crimson eyes snapped open from a reptilian structured face, lips parting to reveal a row of a carnivore's teeth and fangs.
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Post by zearea on Apr 22, 2017 17:07:30 GMT 2
[Human Territory, Malagarm: Ashlia, The Hermit]
The connection between the frail appearing old man and myself continued to be sustained as the conversation began, my eyes widening and concern escalating with this revelation. The shadowland was gone, utterly gone and Shadow had been betrayed by likely the very presence I had felt before the mess in Malagarm had formed. "This presence, he is the dwarf yes? I noticed his presence before we left for Malagarm." I admitted, feeling shame wash through me. I should have urged my mentor to be more careful, to not be so reckless. Why did he have to exert so much energy into the fight? Was he so suicidal?
Blinking back tears of frustration and gut wrenching worry, I tried the best I could to explain what it was we had planned, that it was for the most part, my insistence to cause as little damage as possible, that the situation had progressed as it did. "We have to go after him." I said firmly, my hand reaching for the edge of blanket and taking a fistful, before I abruptly realised that it was all that covered my otherwise, starkly naked form. Freezing, my cheeks blooming with colour, I released my hold on the blanket and instead held it to me tighter. "U-umm, do you think the princess would lend me some clothes first?" My earlier determined visage was replaced by a tenative embarrassment as with my other hand I gestured at myself. "...I sort of destroyed the ones I was wearing..."
As I waited for his answer to that, my gaze averting from his, I was struck by what I felt for this man, sure, positive even that we had never met, yet the old man resonated with such familiarity that he made me think, kin. He was my kin. No, that did not seem correct... Forehead creasing, I glanced around me and noted the magic he had set up about us, then my attention returned to him, steadily brightening eyes stripping away the physical plane to see what made up his magical self. What I saw astounded me, we both possessed Shadow's soul. My eyes widened, gaze snapping back to his.
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Post by The Shadow of Death on Apr 25, 2017 5:48:28 GMT 2
[Niquitonix: Rowan] (Just for he hell of it. I will probably start referring to SoulFlame as if it were masculine, not because it actually has a gender, but because personality, emotions, abilities, seem moreso masculine, not to mention that when I imagine it speaking, it seems to be a masculine voice. Anyways, just figured I would say something because prior to this I have tried to make sure no gender was mentioned because Elementals do not have gender, but each one seems to have it's own pull one way or the other when I think of them.)
SoulFlame watched the human before him like he was watching a mouse struggling to fight a cat. Although this gaze most likely wasn't understood due to physical limitations of Elementals.
He found this human fun to toy with, although he has held back to try and make certain not to take things too far, he still can't help himself at least to some degree. He noticed her clenched hands and smiled inwardly as he watched her face distort slightly in irritation. He watched in delight at the gears that he could see turning within her mind as she tried to shy away from impulsiveness.
He watched carefully as she responded to the statement about food, as well as his question about the Rune Galdur. He did not care what her answer was so much as he cared that he knew of it and it's uses, and had a card against it.
He watched a lightbulb flicker to life within her as she tried to use an ability of some sort, only to fail, which nearly made him laugh in ridicule, but he withstood the impulse. The next moment was what he was waiting for. The moment when she changed. He had seen a glimpse of this also etched into her soul, almost as if it were something like a tumor. Something that should not be on a soul, especially a human one, but was nonetheless. Not only was it attached, it was also able to interact and change, as if overwriting her soul while her human side's soul became the tumor in return. He did not exactly know what caused the change, much less exactly what would happen, but he was waiting for it.
He watched patiently as Row shifted into her current form and settled into it before speaking. "So a Chimera that rests within a human... Or is it the other way around... No, maybe it is both, a symbiotic relationship. Anyways, fascinating as this may be, what will you do now? There is little to nothing I can do to help you in all honesty." He said quite frankly. "I cannot help you with food, I cannot control this sunken city of the ancients, and I cannot control you by any means. But if something isn't done, you will die here. That is something I could not stand, especially since there is no enmity between us."
He looked around lightly, although being a sphere, this would be impossible to tell from the outside. He seemed to remember something before speaking once more. "Ah, there may be a solution now that I think about it... You seemed to have a reaction once you noticed the technology here. Honestly speaking, most of the technology here, we Elementals cannot interact with. Maybe you will be different." He said this with a slightly pensive tone, his earlier prankish tones meant to irritate Row completely gone, as if turning to work from pleasure. Almost as if looking down on Row's existence, while also almost praising her ability to potentially do something about the situation.
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Post by zearea on Apr 25, 2017 16:40:29 GMT 2
[Niquitonix: Rowan] (I imagined it being a male, by instinct, same as Blueflame feels masculine too ) Feeling extremely disorientated, what with the extra limbs and twisted shape, Rowan struggled for a short while to rise from her collapsed position before the egotistic, condescending and extremely annoying elemental. She didn't like him. The thought was abruptly decided, and she shook her body, carefully placing paw and hand where balance demanded. Oh geez the angle was all different, the chimera twisting her elongated head left to right, taking in her 'other' form carefully. The transfer was still occurring, her mind being twisted to accommodate the chimera side of the human, like the primal rage and psionic abilities the creature innately possessed. Her reptilian gaze zeroed in on the large feathered wings draped close to her back which would twitch, unfurling slightly before snapping against her back again, useless. A low huff, one that sounded deeper in tone then her human self, or most humans in that manner, sounds, the ebony chimera lifting her head to peer up at Soulflame, surprise ebbing away. "... Now this is more like it!" She growled victoriously, barring teeth in a mockery of a smile. Row snorted at Soulflame's musing, her 'smile' fading at the reality of the situation, but the woman was not so easily effected by the prospect of death, not in the sense that panic began to crawl into her heart, or that she would feel helpless. No, most of her efforts went into the logical half of her brain that said dumping her here, then letting her die was stupid and made no sense. That being said, sitting and waiting for someone to rescue her was quiet abhorrent, the chimera jumping on the elemental lord's mention of the technology here. "Wait, so you elementals didn't create this technology? Who did?" Her barbed tail swept close to the stone floor, brushing it even as she began waddling toward the closest device, head tilting as she inspected the alien technology for any telltale similarities to the technology she had on Earth. If simply looking at it gave little clue, Rowan moved to sit on her hunches and placed her hands on the technology, feeling the device's base for any secret button or grooves. "Well, how did you all come to be on the bottom of an ocean anyway?"
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Post by The Shadow of Death on Apr 27, 2017 6:44:48 GMT 2
[Human Territory, Malagarm: Ashlia, The Hermit]
The Hermit smiled lightly, almost like a grandfather watching the harmless blunder of a grandchild at Ashlia's actions. He contacted Frost mentally after creating a momentary breach in the metallic barrier. 'Have Merona prepare a set of clothing for the elf girl. Something battle friendly is required.' after he received confirmation from Frost that it would be taken care of, he turned his attention back to Ashlia. "Young one, i have sent for a change of battle oriented clothing for you, but while that is on the way, we have other things to discuss."
His face turned rather serious as he finished telling her of the clothing, beginning to once again speak of business in a solemn tone. "It is far too early to try barging in on the affairs that Shadow has been tangled up against right now. Calm down and think about this calmly for a moment. Do you know of the Rune Galdur? Do you know of it's power and it's history? Both of which are as important as saving Shadow right now.
"To paraphase a quote from a famous philosopher of military strategy from another world, 'Know thy enemy and know thyself and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. Know thyself and not thy enemy, and for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. Know neither the enemy nor thyself, and you will succumb in every battle.' If you cannot understand the potential opponent you are to face properly, and you will not be able to face him. I can help you with that, but first, I need to know how much you know of your enemy. I can fill in the rest of the information."
His tone was turning more stern as the conversation followed this path. He was well learned in many things, enough to fill several lifetimes, and one of his favorite past times was strategy, which had never been one of Shadow's strong suits. He felt that this elf before him was being too impulsive, and he saw how Shadow had looked at her when he watched the playback of the Alcove, knowing that her life was more important to him than his own, as if he was trying to use her life and his teaching of her to atone for his own sins. However impossible it may be, he had to step in and stop her before it was too late, lest he never be able to face Shadow again, much less the others.
[? ? ?]
An exquisite woman dressed in a long, flowing white dress stood against a silvery white backdrop, silver hair laying silent down to her waist. Her facial expression was void of feeling right now as she had more important things to ponder. She looked into the distance that was never ending as she did her pondering before suddenly crumpling to the ground like a puppet cut from it's strings.
Her previously expressionless face contorted to one of extreme agony, ruining the peerless beauty of her ageless appearance. She gasped as air finally entered her body once more and tears rolled down her face before hitting the ground. Her mind was in turmoil. 'What just happened to me?' she asked herself in solitude, not understanding where the sudden impact of pain came from.
[? ? ?]
In a place separate from the woman in white, another woman in black was suffering the same fate. She hit the floor of the empty street she was strolling down eerily silently in the middle of the night in the same way with the same suddenness. She was covered in black from head to toe, only her eyes and the surrounding flesh was visible. Just from what was visible of her face one would be able to tell that she was in possession of beauty that was enough to be called divine and worshipped by many the world over. Her black hair was tied into a long pony tail behind her so as not to interfere with her work, which from the looks of her equipment, was something akin to an assassin. An important part of the equipment to notice were the gloves, made of something that appeared to be black leather, but had an ancient and powerful feeling emanating from them
As the woman lay on the ground, her eyes flickered with killing intent. Enough killing intent that the whole metropolis that she was currently situated in could feel it, while several blocks around her became instantly devoid of life, their hearts stopped cold by nothing more than shear terror from experiencing such killing intent in such close proximity.
The woman's face recovered from the agony she felt before her voice leaked out, laced with an aura that would make even Shadow himself feel as if his blood ran cold, even though he would know he didn't have such possibility. "Shadow has been sealed..."
Her face instantly turned to the sky as she began to tell at the top of her lungs in another language. After a few lines of speech in this language, the ground began to crack, the buildings began to tumble, the sky was rent, and the world found itself on the brink of destruction. Matter began to fold in on itself as she continued yelling, the air twisted as space itself seemed to rupture, forming a black mass before her which only grew as she held out her hands, her gloves, which reached up to her elbows, began to glow in an eerie black that seemed to interact with the black mass which began to rotate before her at such speeds that everything around it started to distort. Shear unadulterated rage, wrath, despair, and agony emanated from the woman as the black mass before her became what seemed like an expanding hole that was never ending as gravity seemed to even warp to do it's bidding, attracting everything into the hole.
Buildings vanished in the blink of an eye, people died by the compression of space and gravity long before they reached the black hole that was ever expanding, having been turned into nothing more than atoms by the surrounding space storm. The ground began to peel like the layers of an onion before being pulverised and engulfed into the gaping hole in space which was only becoming more ferocious.
The hole itself began to emit a distinct feeling of its own, a primal feeling, one of insatiable hunger. The fringe of the hole began to change as it started to resemble teeth. Long, pointed, black, ferocious teeth that wanted to tear apart all things and feed on the very source of energy that makes the universe. It was becoming stronger, larger, smarter. It was evolving.
Soon what was being taken into the hole was magma from deep in the earth, and not long after that, an immense solid metal mass was being shred to ribbons before pulverized to nothing and consumed. Not long after that, the whole world was gone. The only thing left was an intelligent black mass of mass destruction, and a lone woman clothed in black. Her whole being emanated her desire to destroy everything. Her yelling ceased, and the black mass beside her began to shift, forming something akin to a cat. It was solid black, so much so that if felt like light was being sucked into it from it's surroundings. It had a form that was 4 feet long and stood nearly 3 feet high. It was slender, with six legs and seven heads. Four wings of darkness were sprouting from it's back while five thick tails nearly six inches in diameter flowed behind it. Two horns that curled back over the top of their heads seemed to be growing out from their foreheads while three feet long claws seemed to hang down from each paw. It was clear to see from any angle that this beast was born from the desire to swallow all creation.
The woman hissed out to the surrounding space, "Vaxinhonarg, your life is forfeit, surrender now and I will only torture you for several hundred years. Make me hunt you down and I will torture you in Pokol myself for the rest of eternity."
Immediately after she finished speaking, she vanished from where she was, as did the strange beast that was beside her.
Not far from where the woman just was, space distorted slightly before a tall entity stepped out into the open. It was a large suit of armor. It had no joints, and looked to be solid, yet moved as if it were alive, because in all actuality, it was. "Dervish... I hope you do not destroy all of his creation just to turn out Shadow himself. He would only frown to see your pain caused by his own faulty personality. But, I suppose I cannot blame you, after all, you are only one half of a whole... One half of his wife..." As the armor finished speaking to itself as if it were talking to the woman from just now, he turned around and focused in the far distance. He felt the pull of someone using the power derived from Shadow's soul. According to the approximate location in space, it seemed to be coming from Zyarc. The armor shook it's head slightly. "Of course it had to be there. I was going to sit this one out, but it appears many of us may wind up congregating there at this rate. If I am not there, there will be no one to keep the others in line. It seems that The Hermit inadvertantly set up a beacon. Old fool probably doesn't even realize that with the Shadow Realm closed, any ability mixed with Shadow's energy will attract to it a calamity. I must reach him before Dervish finds him and devours him in her madness of losing Shadow. Hah... Such troublesome children... Even though I am younger than them I have to take the role of the parent."
Immediately after finishing the soliloquy, the armor vanished into a distortion of space once more.
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