[KQ] The Breaking Point

Lucas clever as the devil and twice as pretty Efficiency? Lucas watched as two of their group attempted the puzzle and failed, and for one of their fellow Ascended to take a nasty zap from the snakes. "This is stupid," he muttered to himself, stepping past Maea and shooing the albino woman back. Clearly only an Ascended was meant to solve this, even if it resulted in... well. Death, probably. "If we need to connect all the snakes," and Lucas had no fucking idea if they did, "in the most efficient way possible, then really..." Reaching out, the Ascended traced his fingers around the circle on the bottom left of the pattern, touching his hand to all four heads of the snakes. Lucas traces a circle around all the snek-headed parts of the pattern!

key quest

Blue beneath Lucas' finger, but a static pulse leaps out to bite at his touch. Like Kristopher, he will not feel it as pain, but as a wrongness in his system.

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For this round, you may discuss your actions together OOC and have ONE member of your group post with what you chose to do. You have  24 hours to reply.

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Your initiative order is Roana, Lucas, Maea, Kristopher. Keep in mind that your 'turn' is only about 6 seconds long. If you try to do too much, your latter actions will be ignored or rolled at disadvantage.

Ending HP

Roana: 100
Lucas: 33
Maea: 36
Kristopher: 5

Lucas clever as the devil and twice as pretty Lucas jerked his hand back as the static leapt out to bite him, shaking out his fingers even though it didn't hurt. "Alright, maybe not," he said, as if offended by the door. Taking another glance over it, however, he narrowd his eyes and tentatively reached out again. "If not all four... perhaps just the quickest route." So saying, he pressed his fingers once more to the pattern, picking out just one snake - the shortest - and tracing along the length of it.

key quest

If only it had indeed been the shortest.

Electricity flares brightly, pouring into Lucas in a way which was sure to make his toes tingle uncomfortably.

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For this round, you may discuss your actions together OOC and have ONE member of your group post with what you chose to do. You have  24 hours to reply.

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Your initiative order is Roana, Lucas, Maea, Kristopher. Keep in mind that your 'turn' is only about 6 seconds long. If you try to do too much, your latter actions will be ignored or rolled at disadvantage.

Ending HP

Roana: 100
Lucas: 31
Maea: 36
Kristopher: 5

Lucas clever as the devil and twice as pretty A growl, more animal than man, bubbled up in Lucas's throat as he was shocked again by this stupid fucking door. "What is your problem?" he demanded - and hey, since no one else was stepping forward to give this a go, in for a penny and all that. "If I get killed by a fucking door I'm going to come back and haunt the fucking lot of you," he snapped over his shoulder, his temper crackling just below the surface. Reaching out again, he tried once more, this time tracing his fingers along another contender for 'shortest snake' (lol). Lucas tries again, tracing the yellow snake.

key quest

Blue light blazes beneath Lucas' finger as he traces the shortest distance. It isn't like him to take the shortest route, but good for him for adapting. As his finger raises away, this time without the electric snap of pain, the wall begins to rumble and groan. Still for centuries, rocks moan unhappily against each other as the pillar shifts to the side, revealing that it was not a wall at all, but a pocket-door. Sliding into the stones themselves seemingly, revealed within is a chamber abuzz with moisture and the pregnant weight of something monstrous—both in size and temperament.

The room itself is circular, and shockingly large; an underground cathedral of sorts composed entirely of naturalistic elements and contours. The ground is mostly flooded, but rather than being muddy it is covered in moss. There are what appear to be some strange species of tree growing up the walls with dark blue leaves and vibrant green-yellow spots. They grow towards the centre of the room almost in some sort of pattern, creating a strange checker-board like space between them. All is silent, save for the woooooooooruuush of water, as if there is a waterfall nearby. But this far beneath the surface surely it must be something else. Faint orbs of blue light hover and dance around illuminating the dark tomb in which you find yourselves. But of course circular rooms and watery floors are not what you focus on. Instead, there is a gargantuan creature at the back of the room. Reptilian in nature, it looks like a giant sort of tortoise covered in moss, though it bears long and jagged claws, a beak that appears razor sharp, and eyes that glow blue in the darkness. Behind it there appears to be a door (not another one) that it clearly guards.

With an unhappy rumble that seems to emanate from nowhere in particular, the creature raises a clawed foot and slams it down making the ground heave unsteadily. Both Lucas and Kristopher are knocked unsteadily about, though manage to shake off the sudden ground-tremor with ease.

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Your initiative order is Roana, Lucas, Maea, Kristopher. Keep in mind that your 'turn' is only about 6 seconds long. If you try to do too much, your latter actions will be ignored or rolled at disadvantage.

Ending HP

Roana: 100
Lucas: 32
Maea: 36
Kristopher: 4

Monster: 120

You have 24 hours to reply.

Roana was a patient woman most of the time (she had triplet sons, it was a survival tactic) but damn that door had worked every last nerve. Silently she mirrored Lucas' sentiments towards it before passing through into the next room. Giant tortoise? Can do. She was gambling on the fact that things that large tended to move rather slowly as she charged in towards it, feinting to one side at the last second and slashing at one of the beast's legs with Krosis. Roana charged and slashed the claymore at one of the tortoise's legs. Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

Lucas clever as the devil and twice as pretty "Yeah and stay open," Lucas snapped as the door finally opened, glowering at it before standing aside to graciously allow his companions to go and face whatever insanity lay in store for them next. And insanity was pretty close, he was horrified pleased to discover. The ethereal glow; the moss; the cloying feeling of old damp; another fucking door which lay beyond a... a... "That's a giant tortoise," Lucas remarked as if it was nothing. Just as Roana went and charged at it like an actual raving lunatic. Lol, she was dead. "So are we gonna...?" He arched an eyebrow at his companions before sighing, rolling his eyes and darting after the ex-captain. Something crackled deep and low in his gut, and when Lucas was close enough he let loose the foreign power towards the same leg that Roana had aimed at. It didn't feel right - at all - but there it was. Lucas ran into the fray and used the Mastered fire magic he siphoned from Edrei!

Right. Puzzles were one thing, the kind of thing Maea had been hoping for, but the room beyond the unlocked door was more along the lines of what she had been dreading. Combat was... not her specialty. In fact, the closest thing she had ever come was probably a scuffle with Evie or Amalia over some toy, or perhaps a wrestling match with her brother where be har gone easy on her. No amount of trapping or sheep slaughter could ever prepare her for a situation like this, and the single lesson Jigano had given her in fencing was so woefully inadequate that she might be better off without it.

The room was marvelous. A miracle of verdant growth unlike anything she had seen, alien in its otherworldly beauty. Maea wished to explore it, sturdy the plants and find the source of the water that spilled over the floor, to the delight of moss and lichen. But there was no time. A monster stood in their path, and its mere presence made her tremble in terror, dreading to even get close.

Still, as Roana and Lucas charged ahead Maea followed, slower and more cautious of the treacherous footing but with every intention of pulling her own weight through this. When they circled around the creature - enormous, monstrous, beautiful! - to attack the leg, she chose to duck down and head around to the opposite side while she dug for the nails she had brought. Holding four of them at the ready, when she got close enough Maea picked up the one remaining nail with her telekinesis and sent it flying, aiming for the brilliant blue of the creatures eye.

It pained her to do it, but she could doubt herself and mourn for the sacrifice later; the had already chosen a path and could only follow it now. To whatever end.

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Maea circles around to the opposite side of the tortoise from Roana and Lucas and uses Telekinesis to shoot a Nail at the eye.

4 nails remaining.

MAEA

just a glimpse of truth

Kristopher was far from a fool, and after the jolt he had gotten from touching the snakes, he felt something wrong within him. What it was, he didn’t know, but there was clearly something wrong. Of course that didn’t mean he was about to turn tail and run (regardless of whether or not he should).    He drew his sword from his hip and - hoping the creature was distracted enough by the attacks from the others - would run towards it and try to strike his blade into its fleshy throat. Kristopher would try to stab his sword into the creature’s neck. KRISTOPHER Hell’s Bells ringing, my secret music...

key quest

The creature is large and cumbersome. It does not really make an effort to evade their attacks, instead relying on its thick skin to do the work that dodging would normally do for others. Still their attacks are brutal, and the ancient guardian yields far more than you would have expected a creature of its size and aggressive visage to. But that is the trouble with time and cages. Some things are allowed to evolve while others merely exist in the damp and the dark.

The claymore slashes into the creatures leg, dodging around thick scales and protrusions of what almost seems to be bark. Thick ruby coloured blood gurgles out as the creature moans unhappily, though its cry is cut short by a blast of fire the scalds its lower limbs near the water and disintegrates the moss upon its back—which given its unearthly cries of pain appear to actually be a part of it, rather than just a symptom of its moist environment.

Somehow despite the flailing, Maea's nail sails true and strikes right into the creature's iris. Black swirls in the electric blue and the creature thrashes and moans in agony. Kristopher's blade strikes against it, but is barred by its bark-like hide and only makes a slight gash.

Raising its feet, it stomps against sending a tremor out through the ground. Maea and Kristopher are knocked to the ground. Unable to see Maea, the creature turns its cloudy gaze towards the ascended and snaps its beak with such force that the man's head is severed from its body. With a haphazard swipe towards Roana the creature is unable to find purchase against her.

Nearly dead now, it bellows loud and unhappily, its limbs pulling into its shell protectively.

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All attacks HIT! In response, the guardian stomps the ground sending Maea and Kristopher to their knees. Its attack pulls the spark from Kristopher's eyes, forever darkening the one who had been so bright.

Your initiative order is Roana, Lucas, and Maea. Keep in mind that your 'turn' is only about 6 seconds long. If you try to do too much, your latter actions will be ignored or rolled at disadvantage.

Ending HP

Roana: 100
Lucas: 29
Maea: 27
Kristopher: -26

Monster: 28

You have 24 hours to reply.

Roana swore as Kristopher's head was unceremoniously clipped from his shoulders. His death would not weigh on her like Ronin's, but any death in her company on the battlefield affected her to some extent. Though in this case, it was hard to justify what she could have done differently to prevent it, given she had been busy dodging its claws. Then the tortoise pulled back into its shell and she shouted in frustration. If this fucker thought it could get away that easy it had another thing coming. The former Captain charged...though not directly at the hole the leg had disappeared into. Instead she jumped, a foot finding purchase on the slope of its shell. Two steps and she was over the top of the opening. With a shout she jumped and slammed the blade into the opening of the shell, using her weight to add momentum and power to her strike. Roana jumped up onto the shell of the tortoise, then slammed the sword into the opening one of the legs retracted into. Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter

Lucas clever as the devil and twice as pretty "Get back here, you mossy prick." Lucas's growl came even as he sprinted around the side of the tortoise towards where its back legs had retreated, leaving Roana to stab into the front opening. He felt Edrei's fire flow through him like it belonged to the sharp tongued temptress herself - probably because it did. And even if its power had left him, it made him feel enough like his old self to make him cocky. Kristopher's death was an unfortunate flinch against his psyche that he didn't even realise would have an effect. He put it down to the weird Ascended connection, or whatever. Anyway. "Nothing personal. Bigger they are, and all that." Eyes narrowing, Lucas had darted into a cluster of the blue orbs of light, their luminescence casting his shadow long and high. Shadow? Shadows. With an effort of will more instinctive than anything, he directed his shadows into another opening, where they would rip and claw at anything they might find. Lucas directs his Upgraded tri-tactile shadows into another opening in the shell!

The tortoise screamed under the brutal asssuly and stomped its giant foot again. The ground heaved and Maea fell hard on her back. Air rushed out of her lungs in a painful whoosh that left her reeling, light and shadow swimming around before her as the struggled to draw breath. She saw the blurred shape of a giant head lower down, and her guts turned to ice as she thought it was coming for her. But no. There was a sickening snap and Maea felt something hot splatter over the side of her face, something silvery and ethereal that should have been blood but wasn't. With a sickening thud Kristopher's head landed only inched away and the girl screamed, so sickened by the sudden death of one she had considered stronger than herself by far. She had not known Kristopher, had been afraid of him even... but now he was dead and she found that she regretted it, mourned for the loss of someone who had been old as the Hollow itself.

Trembling, barely able to think at all, Maea got to her feet. She had dropped the nails in the fall, but Kristopher's sword - a rapier - glinted in the luminescent light not far off and Maea scrambled to reach it. It was heavy, unfamiliar in the palm of her hand, too long... but she took it and spun, trusting the blade forth into the nearest hollow. Hoping it would reach. Hoping her knees would not give out.

Hoping she would live long enough to pray for a fallen comrade.

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Maea picks up Kristopher's sword and thrusts into the nearest opening in the shell.

MAEA

just a glimpse of truth