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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
It’s like being a bull in a china shop, except all the china keeps fucking moving out of the way. So his blow misses again and Pierce bites his tongue against the curse that threatens to leave his lips, not wanting to let any weakness out in the air, even if it’s just between the two of them.
Turning to avoid the slice of the blade from his calves, it swings and misses, and Pierce keeps that masked grin on his face. “Oh yeah?” He supposes what’s the harm in trying again, given that hopefully the Knight is distracted by the blade swinging wide.
He swings on Ronin again, this time trying to speed himself up so he can at least land one fucking hit.
Pierce rinses and repeats LMAO he throws another concussive blow!
Concussive Blow | A void-charged strike dealing Mastered Magical damage. On hit, enemies are stunned and cannot act the following round.
The hiss of nothing but air between them isn't ideal, and the momentum carries Ronin further than he'd like. Still, with the dark blade in hand and adrenaline spiking high in his veins, he rolls to his feet and rounds on the other man, fully prepared to strike again--
But fuck if the guy isn't fast when he wants to be.
Feeling something - a few somethings - crack along his right side where he's lifted his arm, the blow is enough to knock the Knight backwards and into the sweet meadow grass. With the air driven from his lungs and the concussive force of the attack ringing through him like a bell, Ronin curls in on himself instinctively, coughing a spray of blood and dragging in another breath by force rather than by instinct.
His fingers tighten on the rapier - or at least he thinks they do, but he can't be sure they're sending the signals they should be right now - and he grits his teeth and struggles to recover.
Uhhhhh Ronin does nothing!
Regional Score bonus: +11 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +11 should be included)
“That’s better.” Pierce drawls, stepping forward to both catch himself and follow through with the punch as Ronin basically ragdolls. The spray of blood is ignored, because his bright eyes lay on the prize — stalking toward the Knight in the span of time he’s essentially concussed.
Still standing and relatively unharmed, he reaches down to pluck the rapier from Ronin’s hands, trying to swipe it from his hand quickly while he can get away with it, before Ronin’s sense and feeling comes back so he can continue to latch on. “Don’t mind if I do.”
Already pride sings through his bulk of a chest, heartbeat thrumming in excitement of the fight.
The blade slips from his fingertips and gods it's been a while since that sort of anger erupted in Ronin's chest, a mix of outrage and helplessness that has him shifting before feeling even fully returns to his body. Knowing better than to risk anything remotely celestial, crimson feathers shiver across his flesh instead, his body warping and changing and growing and spreading great, fiery wings.
Perhaps there ought to be a flicker of caution, of wariness at the fact that a blade that might take him out for much longer than a few seconds is now in Pierce's possession. But it's that very realisation that drives him desperately to seize it back, and with a piercing (heh) cry and a beat of his wings, the Knight sends a blast of phoenix fire towards the hulking man.
Ronin shifts into a phoenix and attacks Pierce with fire!
Phoenix Ability | Mastered fire damage
Regional Score bonus: +11 in all shrine visits, drops, PQ+s, KQs, etc. (You must post this at the bottom of any post where a +11 should be included)
The blade is light in his hands, even despite it harboring quite dark abilities. He doesn’t bother with the scabbard, doesn’t bother with anything more than claim the rapier and start to withdraw. It leaves as much space and time between for him to step away, to watch as the fire spreads through Ronin’s being as his shape turns avian and full of flame.
He knows what’s coming next, but it’s with a cocky arrogance as the fire spreads that Pierce hisses a sound, trying to block the fire from spreading further. He grips the blade tight, takes the brunt of burning flesh and pain and it singes against him.
And with the prize in hand, he doesn’t intend to stick around too much longer, activating his teleportation.
Pierce uses his teleportation to gtfo!
Magic: Void Shift | Can void shift to any location.
Type: Dark | Rank: Mastered
Only as that eruption of adrenaline starts to clear does Ronin realise all the things he should have done - could have done - and the consequences of deciding on a different path. Even as the fire engulfs Pierce (not that he expects it to do much), he's already shifting back, already reaching within himself for that thread of magic that will call his husband to the fight--
And then the man is gone.
Just... gone. Nothing to show for his presence but some blood-flecked flowers and a demigod with broken ribs and a broken spirit, and for a second or two the Knight is running after the space he'd just been as if he might catch the thin air he's teleported into.
It's useless, of course, and the screaming pain from his torso soon has his knees threatening to buckle. Spitting more blood to the ground, the guilt that starts to fester in his gut manifests as harsh and radiant light that splinters from his body, visible from far across the Cordillera and beyond.
