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"Ulrich, you will have to let go of what you loved then to protect the things you love now."
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Post by Ulrich Ambriz on Mar 7, 2023 5:13:20 GMT -5
The giant Iktag lurches forward gripping his stomach! He'd let go of the flail, preferring to grip his stomach rather than swing that around! It lands on the ground with a great boom, throwing ash and dust into the air in it's wake. His vision is blurred because of the sudden crippling sensations that just struck him! All he can see is the cloud of ash in front of him...
When all of a sudden something bursts from the ash cloud in front of his face. The bespectacled human flew up from within it, his fist at the ready, aimed right for Iktag's jaw!
Ulrich burst out of the cloud with a ferocious yell!1 The cloud disappeared quickly; scattered by the sudden outburst of wind magic that propelled Ulrich forth! A vicious uppercut lands on the Giant's chin with a CRRRRAAAAAAACCKKKK; a shockwave shot forth from the impact! The upper half of Iktag's body is sent folding backward to an upright position, his arms flailing around in the air as he starts to lose consciousness.
His vision starts to fade in and out rapidly, and the last thing he sees is the tiny human fly at him through the air. There's a flash of fiery determination in the human's eyes; it could've frozen Iktag with fear if he wasn't losing consciousness already!
Ulrich flips through the air after his uppercut to Iktag's jaw, intending to follow up his attack immediately with another devastating blow! He launches straight for Iktag's face again! He begins to spin rapidly; twirling in midair while keeping his trajectory for the giant's face! Another ferocious yell is heard from the Electromancer; it crescendos as he closes the distance! Ulrich then delivers a devastating spinning kick to the side of the giant's face!
The blow sends out another shockwave stronger than the last; the ash around them is disturbed and flies outwards away from them with the wind!
Iktag's body is sent flying straight into the closing stone door! He impacts the door causing the immediate earth to quake; his body lodges the door open, damaging it in the process, preventing it from closing any further.
The giant is down for the count, propping the door open with his unmoving body. Ulrich floats above the mess of Cultists below; he glares down at them, bands of electricity shooting forth from his eyes. His blue irises are lit up, glowing with the magic bursting from within him.
A few of the cultists look up in fear. Their eyes meeting the death glare of the man above that just took down their leader! That was no easy feat— at least not for a normal human— and they knew it! No, he wasn't human... he was a monster. The few cultists caught in his glare began to turn and run.
Spell Used: 1. Flight
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Noble
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Arrived in the Booba Stratosphere
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Post by Veliky on Mar 15, 2023 1:14:10 GMT -5
Dozens of feet stamp through the ash as they flee into the haze, leaving footprints like a stampede's. They run in either direction, toward the now-propped-open door or toward the fort's exit. They know, well enough, that the battle is over - their retreat is a wise decision.
But not all of them flee. There are those that remain, whose gaits are so strange and clumsy that they might be mistaken for zombies. They extinguish their fires by placing them against their dying brethren. And walking amidst them, approaching Ulrich will that same military bearing, is the woman whose will supplanted theirs: Veliky. She looks Ulrich's crackling form up and down.
"Well done." she puts bluntly, monotonous than strained through her mask.
And it's all she says before turning her attention to the revealed chasm in the mountainside. Its doors are great, carved barriers of ancient stone from a long-forgotten era, whose opening and closing were monumental enough to rattled the earth and rain ash from above. Even now, ash slides over and in front of it; were it closed, it might be as obscured now as it was when Veliky and Ulrich arrived.
"Guess that explains why we didn't find anything on our last excursion." she remarks, turning her attention to the great log of a being that now lies in obstruction of the gate. "Did you mean to do that?"
Ulrich, maintaining that confident aura, shakes his head. "Looks like luck's on our side."
But Veliky's voice takes a sour tone, rebutting "We've got a life on the line. I'd prefer not to rely on luck, no matter whose side it's on."
...The great doors stand open, a veritable abyss beyond which terrible secrets assuredly lie.
"Which is also why we should keep moving forward, though I'd prefer to have more information before going into hostile territory."
As she speaks, there's a disturbance in the ash. Some four yards behind her, one of the bodies of of the cultists is rising - not as if from unconsciousness, but rather as stealthily as he can. He looks frantically around before trying to creep away.
But Veliky isn't so blind. After all, her eyes are everywhere. "Fortunately, it looks like we have a volunteer."
Dread plays across the cultist's face. He makes a break for an alley, but he's quickly pushed to the ash by one of his many brainwashed kith who holds him to the ground with the burning points of a trifurcated spear! His grimacing face seems so agonized in the orange glow, but he grits his teeth against it as Veliky treads toward him.
She looks down upon him with her eyes, but doesn't bother tilting her head, to wilfully emphasize his insignificance.
"Let's keep this simple and clean." The implications of 'clean' are an artful subtlety. "Tell us what you're doing here."
Before the captive even answers, Veliky's myrmidon brings the burning points closer to his chest that's protected only by cloth. He seethes between his teeth.
"We await-... Nghhh... the great calamity! The destruction that shall raze our hubris and melt our forms into the sweet slag of oblivi-"
"I didn't ask for the pitch." Veliky interjects condescendingly. "You're nutjob cultists; that's all I need I need to know about your group. What I want to know is what you're *doing* here, because kidnapping is a hell of a way to 'await' anything. And I recommend that you be as honest as possible. Because, if I'm being honest, we have other ways of getting this information[1] -- this is just the easiest for both you and me."
Her tone is a scathing and absolute. But, even in the face of death, the man only smiles.
"We- We await the end, kindling! I do not fear the death that would already come for me, and I challenge you to find a pain that I do not already know!"
Veliky's myrmidon doesn't need to be told to press the spear's prongs into the man's flesh. It is a flesh-wound, but a burning one that has the man screaming in pain... only for his agony to abate into manic laughter.
Veliky frowns and steps back to Ulrich's side. "Funny time for him to put on a brave face, after all his friends bailed. They must be afraid of something, seeing as the others ran..." She looks up, at Ulrich. "Any ideas?"
1. Smooth Talking.
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The Expedition
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Post by Ulrich Ambriz on Apr 11, 2023 3:54:02 GMT -5
Ulrich stood aside as Veliky did her thing with the cultist. He admired her for intellect and her know how of interrogation, but at the moment, it seemed that the cultist they found themselves with was too stubborn to give her any information. Even after what he'd done to their giant friend not too long ago, the man before them was keeping himself tightlipped. He had to admit that was very honorable, even for a nut job cultist.
But each second they waste here interrogating this man is a second wasted trying to find Veliky's missing researcher, and Ulrich was in no mood to fail the task at hand. Veliky steps back to his side; looking up at him asking for any ideas on how to get the information they need out of this guy.
Now that his mood has shifted into that of seriousness; he only nods his head to her as an answer. He steps towards the Cultist; a warm smile on his face hiding his intentions as the man recites his rebuttal to Ulrich.
"I-I do not fear the death that would co-!" The Cultist yelps as he's pulled by the collar suddenly by the bespectacled man.
He suspended in the air now; held up by the strength of the bespectacled man's arm. Ulrich smiles up at the Cultist as he dangles from his collar.
The tone of his voice is warm and friendly, "Look, my friend here gave you a chance to answer her question," and then it takes a dip into the realm of menacing, "But you didn't." The smile fades and his eyes flash a cold and calculated gaze into the man's soul. "Now I'm only going to ask you this once. Where is the woman that your cult kidnapped?"
Despite Ulrich's overwhelming aura, the Cultist chooses to say nothing except, "We- We await the end, Monster! I-I do not fear the death that would already for me, and I challenge you to find a pain that I do not already know!"
Ulrich takes in a deep breath and huffs it out through his nose. In a series of quickly coordinated movements: the man suddenly drops from his grip, his feet touch the ground, but suddenly the bespectacled man has his fingers pressed into his chest. His limbs went rigid, rendering him immobile as the bespectacled man stared at him.
Ulrich slowly starts to turn his hand on the Cultist's chest; he can feel tingling generating in his limbs, but then he's suddenly assaulted by the shocks of his muscles tensing uncontrollably. He begins to scream in agony as Ulrich makes his muscles tense up with no sign of letting up. The Cultist manages to glance at Ulrich; their gazes meet, but all he sees is darkness behind those bright blue eyes. His screams of agony begin to break down into sobbing.
Ulrich stops the electric pulses to let the man attempt to gather himself. His head droops down as he gasps for whatever air he take into his lungs.
"I'm waiting for the laughter, but it seems to have lost it's way and gotten stuck in your wind pipe."
Ulrich begins to slowly turn his hand again which makes the Cultist shudder; a squeak of fear escaping his mouth.
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