[Plot] [Open] Week 165: Ferocitas

[Valero]

The archmagi’s momentum was disrupted by the hail of bullets that tore through the black fabric and pierced his flesh. He staggered back, snarling as his body was littered with wounds that began to slowly seep blood into his robes. By the time the fog began to surround Aeria, his attack had already been repelled. Breathing heavily, Tharros dropped to one knee, using his mace to balance. The yellow light from Dianette bound his arms to his sides.

A moment later, the lightning bolt roared past Tharros towards the mortally wounded dragon. As it struck the side of the huge daemon, the beast unleashed its energy. A powerful gust was expelled from its body, sweeping across the battlefield on every side. Ferocitas had sworn that everyone would burn, but it was simply too damaged to fulfil its promise. Instead of incinerating with flame, the hot gale whipped daemon and mortal off their feet, from the main skirmish to the archmagi and all of his attackers. Aelflead absorbed a lot of the heat due to her proximity to the blast, turning her skin red as she was flung back into the rest of the soldiers. Now massively overexerted, some of the dragon’s singed flesh was released into the wind before its body collapsed once more.

The Janu struggled to get to his feet after sustaining so many bullet wounds and being hurled across the field. He coughed and groaned as he sat up, using his mace once more to support him until he was at least knelt upright.

“Your campaign is hopeless.” His words cut into their minds. His coppery eyes glanced between the four of them that had managed to somehow defeat Ferocitas. “You would not have survived the ordeals that we were forced to endure, and you will never wield the power that we have obtained from our transgressions!”

From his knees, the bleeding revenant summoned four portals, each with a sizzling pair of lightning bolts in a cross. From his sleeves he produced a powder that clouded the air surrounding him, imbuing each of the portals with a golden glow. Releasing his mace, Tharros consecutively pulled a mercurial ball of lightning from every portal and threw one at each of the mortals that dared to challenge him.

[379/2,965]

Note

Four souped-up Lightning Orbs coming your way. Good luck having the unconscious Laurel avoid hers. Haha. MWAHAHAHAA.

 

[Mystydjinn]

The rushing wind blew the spurii’s cloak around her head like a deflated black balloon writhing in the wind. The pain rushing across the woman’s skin was less than uplifting however. Gritting her teeth were all the redhead could do withstand the gale, and even then only barely managed to stay on her feet.

After the wind passed Aelflead fell to her knee, her skin looked as though it’d been through a microwave and the leather and the touch of cloth on that skin felt like the fire the dragon had intended to spray.

If circumstances had been different, the surly brawler would have loved to just stop moving and lie on the ground forever. But behind her people were still dying, lying on the ground would hurt more than standing, and she’d been struck by lightning already months before. Compared to that...

She planted her foot in the ground.

This was still much much worse.

But she’d be damned if she was going to be electrocuted again.

With a deep breath and a roar, limited-edition bubble-wrap Aelflead rose to her feet again and bared down on the newest focus of her anger with sword drawn.

The achmage's spell screamed murder in her face as it rushed towards her and continued screaming long after it met the edge of her blade and changed course. There was no room for anything else in bubble-wrap’s mind but the mage on his knees in front of her.

She reached toward him with her hand.

Just a few more steps.


[256/2,231]

combat notes

Used Deflection to slap Lightning Orb with Aelf's primary attack [8748-462 = 8286]
Lvl 2 Militis + Bigatium Sword = Tier 4 Deflection
Also activating blood from a stone [8286-200=8086]

Secondary attack is an attempt to crush Tharros' throat. Tier 4 attack - secondary penalty = 3 tier
[8286/9248]

 

[Dysney]

When the mist fell, Ignis began to murmur a prayer to Aquila. “A lonely fortress. It keeps watch throughout the day. Crash and break on it.” A barrier rose between her and the ongoing battle, shielding herself and Laurel from whatever might come their way. The avian could only hope Aeria could manage without her help for a bit. Seeing the other engineer leap up had been heartening and not even the cloaked figure’s voice in her head could take that away from her.

Carefully, Ignis flexed her fingers checked herself over to assess the extent of her injuries. Her leg throbbed, but the avian found that she could balance in a sort of crouched position. Breathing heavily, she took an unsteady step towards the unconscious laicar on the ground. She hissed at the sharp pain searing through her left leg and sank to her knees.

The barrier Ignis had conjured exploded all of a sudden. Ignis squawked, startled as the remains of the electric attack hit her. Back arching, eyes rolling wildly, the avian flopped on the ground for a few moments. When it stopped, the engineer let out a pathetic whine, eyes fluttering closed.

Amicus immediately began to heal her, his twig-like hands becoming much colder. The cool feeling of the healing magic brought the contractor and the familiar both much needed relief.

Laurel’s body twitched and jerked, but the woman didn’t seem to wake. Although Amicus felt a little bad for her, he concentrated on healing Ignis.

Ignis’ eyes fluttered open again. She peered through the thinning mist and ordered Cora to shoot the troublesome mage in the head.

Dianette crouched, panting. She had dove out of the way of the attack without care for her injured arm. Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes at the sensation. She clutched her arm and shook, unable to focus on anything but the burning pain. Even the volley of gunshots that followed the lightning attack seemed distant.

[329/4541]

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Even as the orb of lightning flew through the fog in Aeria’s direction, a lesson from her engineering days sprung into her head. With a heave, she drove the haft of the halberd down into the ground, using the spike on the bottom to secure it and stumbled backwards away from it. The orb of electricity was drawn towards the metal blade of the weapon inexorably. It shot down it and was absorbed by the wood which was a relatively poor conductor of electricity. It charred slightly, but unlike a sap-filled tree, it wasn’t destroyed.

Now the spurii stumbled forward, grabbing the halberd and thrusting it forward, using the entire length of the wooden haft to stay out of Cora’s bullet range while driving the spiked end of the weapon directly into the Janu’s face. The weakened spear haft snapped as she withdrew but the sharpened end stayed embedded in its cheek as she took several faltering steps backwards and went down on one knee in exhaustion.

Aeria was spent. All of her energy was gone. If anything else happened, she was finished.

[3093]

 

[Valero]

The fatigued archmagi tried to climb to his feet after his previous attack, but was met with a volley of gunfire before he had the chance to dodge. He groaned as the metallic pellets ripped through his skin and forced him back to his knees. There was nothing that Tharros could do as Aeria lunged her polearm forward. A sickening crunch signified the success of her strike as the blade pierced the centre of the Janu’s skull. Coppery eyes grew watery as sanguine oozed out of the fatal wound in his forehead.

Tharros loosed a throaty cough. Even with the blade lodged in his head, he was certain that he could defeat such wounded weaklings. He gritted his teeth. Quivering arms pushed against the ground to lift himself into a crouch. The damage was so great, however, that he didn’t even hear the footsteps rapidly approaching. Aelflead, possessed by the savagery of the battle, leapt onto the dying archmagi and knocked him onto his back. She gripped his throat tight. The Janu began to choke at the hands of the red-haired fighter.

“Fe... ro...”

A small fiery ring appeared on the ground next to Tharros’ hand. A larger flaming circle surrounded his whole body.

“...cit...”

The Janu gripped Aelflead’s collar tight with his free hand. The air around the archmagi grew hot, just like when the dragon had unleashed its fury.

[231/3,196]

 

[Dysney]

More prayers tumbled past Ignis’ lips when she saw the ring of fire forming. She had managed to crawl towards Laurel. Her eyes squeezed shut as she clung to the battle hardened woman and words of supplication tumbled past her lips, begging Aquila for help. She rifled through her robes for a bit of terra regia as her prayer finished. Then, she reached out and grabbed, an invisible force taking a hold of Aeria and pulled hard, yanking the spurri back and away from the line of fire.

Amicus, groaned at his partner’s selflessness and began to weave vines and branches out of magic to protect them.

Ignis pulled insistently, panting as she magically dragged Aeria away from Aelflead and the magi. For a split second, her grip faltered and she realized that the poor idiot in their enemy’s grasp was likely defenseless. Dropping Aeria, she reached again and gave Aelflead one good, hard yank.

Unfortunately, just after she pulled the idiotic redhead from the magi’s grasp, the Amicus’ shield coalesced, blocking her view. Helpless to do anything else, she continued to pray in desperation.

Meanwhile, Dianette had turned tail and began to run. Adrenaline forced the pain of her injuries to the background, making them an afterthought as she sprinted away, one arm flapping behind her. She pushed herself harder, shifting so that she ran on the balls of her feet and forcing her knees to lift higher. She didn’t want to be in the way of that attack, the rising heat spurring her forward. The velen only spared a glance behind her to see a familiar leafy platform lifting off into the air and sailing away.

“Castus’ ass!” she cursed, speeding up. There was no way she would be caught in this one.

[295/4836]

Notes. Mwn, Minj this one's for you

Used Telekinesis and minion ability to gtfo. Mwn, Minj, hope you guys can run fast

 

[MoonlitRain014]

Aeria’s eyes went wide and she could see what was about to happen. She screamed in rage and frustration at how weak her legs felt, but she put every last ounce of energy into turning and beginning to compress her legs under her. She drove them into the ground as hard as she could and began to stumble and run away from the Janu. She could feel a wave of heat wash in behind her and she threw herself forward as hard as she could.

The searing heat blistered the flesh on her lower legs, but didn’t burn any deeper. She felt it wash over her back and smelled burnt hair as it rushed over her. After a moment, she felt the heat subside and rolled over on her back, staring up at the smoke-stained sky. Her body felt as though it had been dragged across jagged rocks for miles and the raw pain of her blistered legs seeped into her brain.

Was it over? Had they really reached the end of all of this? The spurii scarcely believed that it was possible.

[3276]

 

[Valero]

Aelflead shoved her boot against the archmagi’s chest. As she pulled away from Tharros, she was grasped by the unexpected telekinetic force from Ignis, flinging her though the air and leaving the dying Janu with a torn piece of fabric where he had held her collar. The pillar of flame exploded skyward, narrowly catching the redhead before her body was sent rolling across the ground.

The inferno lasted for a few moments. When the last embers cleared, all that was left of Tharros was a cremated carcass, the tip of Aeria’s halberd still embedded in his skull. The vile stench of burnt flesh filled the air quickly. The dragon and the archmagi both lay dead.

The ongoing battle involving the majority of Terminus’ forces seemed to be drawing to a close. Some daemons had started to flee after Ferocitas was slain. As the soldiers and spellcasters maintained tightened ranks that worked close together, the plight of evil began to seem hopeless, despite their greater number.

“This is it!” one person shouted.

“Drive them back!” came from another.

The morale of those still fighting soared as they broke through their fear. Bolts and bullets rent winged beasts from the skies, blades of all sizes decapitated the horrors that buried beneath the ground the moment that they surfaced. The remaining foes grew separated and began to scamper when they saw their brethren slain in front of them.

The denizens of Infernalis were promised a bloodbath and they got one.

[247/3,443]

Note

That was likely my last turn. Aelflead's burns are not likely to be life-threatening because of the speed of her retreat. If you guys wanna get any last turns in before this week is over, be my guest.

 

[MoonlitRain014]

With the death of the Janu, the tides of the battle began to surge against the enemy. It was clear that with the elimination of both the dragon and the archmagi, the forces arrayed against the daemon hordes had lost their terror. Aeria was distantly aware of this and it lent some measure of heartening energy to the task of her struggling to her feet, using the snapped haft of her halberd to drag herself upwards. The pain in her legs was searing, but she didn’t want to watch the end of the battle on her ass in the mud.

Now she stood, swaying slightly and watched the daemons being routed. Right now, the only thing that was keeping her from collapsing was all of the adrenalin in her system. The bone-deep exhaustion was still being held at bay, but she knew it would soon catch up with her. Limping, she made her way towards the place where Ignis had flown off with Amicus. It was as far as she could make it for a few minutes.

As the battle wound down, Aeria joined the column of the walking wounded that was starting to form. These were the survivors of a battle that many had likely not expected to escape. There’d be time later to count their wounded and mourn their dead. Right now, they were all just simply thankful to be alive.

[3509] FINAL

 

[Mystydjinn]

"Ugh, I hate dragons."

Aelflead's roll slid to stop not far from the edge of the mage's attack where she lied still while her lungs tried to catch up with the rest of her body. She felt far less than she deserved thanks to pain tolerance life’s hard knocks had given her, but the woman needed a moment to reboot after being toasted and immediately dragged through magical fire. For the sake of all the combatants there it was good news that the battle was drawing to a close.

While the fricasse of a woman gathered herself, her mind replayed the grueling combat that had just transpired and her mind latched onto the image of the archmage’s eyes while he had her collar. She released a groan.

They would have to do it again.

Combat was a given, and the student turned mercenary was no stranger to that and expected it after facing so much. But the redhead was not into fighting losing battles.

Red and green eyes scanned the battlefield's remains dutifully while her thoughts ran around behind them. The enemy they were fighting had more of a cause than greed power on their mind. She remembered reaching for the Janu’s throat driven by a cloud of frustration and anger, a subtle contrast to the look in the Janu’s eyes when the mage decided to try dragging the redhead, enlil, and other spurii into his bonfire with him. “I was just tried getting knocked on my ass all day,” Aelflead turned to face the charred Janu’s remains and began accepting the problem she and the rest of the Areavian forces were now faced with.

The Janu, the burned warrior had reasoned, were made for opening the portal in the first place but their madness had a purpose. The display she had just bared witness to was evidence of that, they had called infernalis to the mortal plane for a specific reason, and if one of them was willing to be the last nail in its own coffin for that reason the same could be expected of the rest of them.


The woman’s mind turned to a lesson in history she had learned as a child as she slowly began to stand. “The Cursus war lasted as long as it did not just due to tactics, strategy, and logistics, but due to the nature of the demvir’s cause. Freedom was a concept that could be passed down even in sacrifice, where soldiers fell more rose up with the same fire as their predecessors.”

The charred woman exhaled a shuddering breath while she rolled onto her knees, her focus one staving off her wounds pain was waning. She would need to find a disciple of Castus before she fainted from exhaustion and pain. With a deep, hissing breath, and a string of hushed curses the philosophizing warrior rose to her feet, sheathed her sword and turned to regard the charred corpse of the arch magus again, prepared to leave it to rot with a grim understanding.

"Your little spiel about this war being a hopeless cause wasn't just lip service was it?" The left corner of the woman's mouth twitched into a sour smile and her body pulsed with pain again. "Just like your pals from ‘Nalis, we kill you and two legions take your place. We win this war," the scholar lifted her hands to gesture to the remains of the battle. "And in a few years another group imps’ll just try again."

Aelflead's hands fell to her thighs with an exasperated and painful slap of finality as she finished her sentence. This war was hopeless because it was cyclical.

The Janu had allied themselves with a force whose very nature demanded sacrifice and obviously valued their cause over their lives. If the demon Ego had told them the truth, there were at least six others with the same conviction, and all of them were backed by a city prepared to fight and die for that same cause. Even if they did close the portal, there was no guarantee that they could subdue the rest of the city. Chances were someone would rise up later with a vendetta for venganceand the whole production would begin again.

Standing now, Aelflead groaned in frustration. She had no satisfying answer to the ultimate problem facing the army licking its wounds and she was out of energy for finding one. She turned away from the remains of the arch magus’ pyre and left to join the parade of wounded soldiers. Perhaps after some relief she could come up with a solution.

[769/3,001]Final

 

[Dysney]

Ignis felt too tired to fight with Amicus. She waited until he deemed it safe to lower their platform and unfurl it. They drifted towards Dianette who was panting, hunched over with her hands on her knees. The velen gratefully climbed aboard with help from Ignis.

The young soldier brushed a hand over her lieutenant’s face. The laicar didn't react, still very much unconscious. The young woman sighed, bright pink cartilage falling around her shoulders as she sat back. Some of it was singed and her outfit was dirty with rips here and there. One arm supported her weight while the other rested in her lap.

“You saved her life,” Dianette murmured, stroking Laurel's hair.

The engineer shrugged. “All in a day's work, yeah?”

Ignis peered through the crowd, shielding her eyes with her hand. Cora circled above them, driving away any hopeful demons hoping for easy prey with short bursts of gunfire. She searched for Aeria's form, catching sight of her friend. A few years of relief and exhaustion leaked from the corners of her eyes and rolled down her dirty, ash-streaked cheeks. Then, looking back towards the janu’s corpse she saw Aelflead. The poor violent woman looked rough.

Amicus sighed, but gave in to his partner's wishes and pity. Their leafy platform floated towards the flash-fried spurii. A cool sensation eased some of the odd-eyed woman's pain as the mons infans used healing magic.

The enlil ruffled her familiar’s leaves absently.

“Want a lift, toasty?”

Without waiting for a response, Ignis reached down and grabbed the spurii's arm and pulled her up, leaving the grumpy woman no choice but to get on.

“Amicus can't fix everything, but he can hold you over until we find some healers.”

The mons infans rustled tiredly and crawled into his partner's lap.

Dianette looked at them questioningly.

“I owe her one,” was all Ignis had to say in response.

[317/5153]