This Topic is for Team Two (Cyran, Leni thunderpaw, Astrid) to reply to the main Sol Stone topic.

Round 1

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Okay, so... they're in space. There's magic on the floor. The cultist might not be the bad guy, and there's a towering god of space ahead of them.

This is exactly the opposite of what Astrid expected upon walking into the temple. There may not be much time to consider what needs to happen, but then again, spacetime is acting out of the norm. Looking around, she spots the other people displaced, all poised to face off against the behemoth man ahead of them. To her surprise, she spots a knight that looks suspiciously like Blue Raspberry. Did they go off on their own adventure to find a cultist temple? This was a worldwide search, she supposes.

Waving to the knight with some hope they might see through the galaxian auras and rifts, Astrid looks back at her companions only to find they aren't exactly who she entered the room with. Leni is there, but she's... surprisingly shorter. A massive tail is coiled around her. As Astrid's eyes trail over to look for the source, her gaze is interrupted by a familiar elf with half a head of glorious long hair.

"Wait, Cyran?" she blurts. "What the heck are ya doin' here?" When he turns his head, she notices the eyepatch over one eye, and the half-dwarf looks puzzled. "What happened ta yer eye? Did one of the kids at the orphanage put it out? I'll kick their rears if ya need me ta!" Despite the serious situation around them, Astrid jokes and shakes her gauntleted fist in front of her. The girl is so distracted by the appearance of the elf that she doesn't immediately realize she doesn't have to crane her neck up to look at him. He must have gotten shorter. She offers a confused wave at the person accompanying him.

It's at this point she notices the huge silver drake looming protectively behind the rabbitaur. Astrid's jaw drops. "WHOAAA! I-Issat Nimbus?! Nimbus, buddy! Yer so big!! So regal! Look at ya!!" Then it dawns on her that nimbus was not this big only minutes ago. "Wait... What the heck is goin' on??"

Displaced in spacetime, Astrid too has experienced some changes she's simply not observant enough to notice. The half-dwarf appears to be a full-grown teenager. Her face still speckled with freckles, it retains young, soft features but is longer. Her horns are twice as long as she's used to, having developed some ridges through the aging process, and her skin is distinctly redder in hue than before. Her eyes flicker golden behind her messy bangs. In all aspects, she looks like her adopted father's daughter. Or... with the age difference, maybe his sister. 

She notices none of this.

The god before them shifts to make another attack against the barrier, and there's a low, bass-toned bark. Astrid startles slightly and looks over to see Spicy Pawsage beside her. The hellhound seems to have gone through some kind of growth spurt. At first, she's excited, but then she realizes that the hound can't possibly fit in the house. "Oh, Avasha, what's goin' on...?"

A voice echoes in her head. "Girl, ye best be movin' before that god there wipes ye from time itself!" It has a low voice, a dwarven accent, and it sounds like it'd be spitting if it could. Astrid's head whips around, but she doesn't see anyone else present. Her war hammer seems to hum, and she holds it aloft, turning it over. It feels normal. It's icy, weightless, and thrumming with electrical energy. But it's a different hammer altogether. Where the heck did this come from?? 

"Break them stone 'n yer bones 'n' move!" the voice roars. Astrid startles, fumbles with the hammer, and looks ahead at the god Ziev before them. 

"Guess we're fightin' a god today!" Astrid shouts. After pulling her goggles over her eyes, she grips her hammer, whips out her familiar battle hammer, and charges ahead with her big flaming dog. There's the whinny of a horse behind her, and suddenly Astrid is scooped up by a winged horse with a stormy grey coat splattered with white speckles. The pegasus shakes its head with intelligent triumph and a hint of amusement. She tumbles into the saddle as naturally as if she's owned this horse for a long time. Wait, she fits in the saddle. On a full-sized horse? WHAT?! 

The dwarvish voice barks in her mind. "It's just Arcus, girl, don't act so confused!" 

"I don't know what's goin' on!" she shouts, gripping the saddle with her knees as if this is something she would know to do otherwise. In some aspects, her body moves on its own. It's a weird sensation.

"Do what ye do best! Strike with all yer might! Protect the ones ye love! Now ride like the warriors of Avasha 'n' smash that god te pieces!" 

If there's one thing Astrid does best, it's smashing! On the back of her flying horse, she charges ahead, hammers poised. But something in the back of her mind reminds her not to forget about her allies. She has to protect them however she can! That's the whole point of making and wearing armor! Something primal sparks within her and, to her surprise, manifests. 

Between the rushing group, a spirit appears. This isn't the spirit Melodia that Astrid recognizes. Its features are hard to make out, but it's humanoid briefly. The spiritual figure seems caught between two forms, shifting between that of a stout man and a tall, muscular, disproportionate creature with long twisting horns. Regardless of the form, it moves to defend her allies. Um....Process that later.

Finally reaching a range she can strike at the torso of Ziev, Astrid grips her war hammer and slings it ahead with both hands. The hefty, electrified, icy, and nearly invisible hammer spins through the air with a shout of its own. "YEEEEAAAAAAH!" It strikes Ziev before the hammer flies back to Astrid's hand as her allies strike in tandem.

---

Actions: 
1. Cast 1 spirit guardian with spirit shroud - Buff action
2. Astrid strikes Ziev with her magic war hammer at range - Attack action

Spirit guardian - 4 hit preventions
Spirit shroud (L3) - 20ft diameter, doubles efficacy of elemental magic by allies, reduces level of enemy magic, cancels enemy movement buffs
Bull's Strength 
Sun Sparked Goggles

Weapons:
War hammer - electrified/returning (spellblade), pale ice, heavy (added a voice for character plot reasons)
battle hammer - silvered, ice rune, weapon tether

Pets: 
Spicy Pawsage - hellhound (dreadsnout, embiggened for flavor for personal plot reasons)
Arcus - pegasus (reindeer, can cast flight)
Dancing Chain - flavored as a living lightning bolt

Cyran’s grip on reality seemed to slip, growing tumultuous as space and time warped around him. One moment, he’d been standing at the door with his companions, and then the next, he’d been plunged into the shadows, tossed and turned every which way until his mind felt fuzzy. He thought he saw others- some faces he vaguely recognized, and others he didn’t, and some he thought ought to look familiar- two elven girls that somehow made his heart leap in fear at the sight of them in this strange place- all gathered around, rapidly shaking off the same confusion he felt. Where we’re Vi’ira and Socket and the other man that had been with them…? He could barely make them out in the crowd, as well as a man in front of them- was he friend or foe? Cyran reached for his daggers, on the defensive, when he shouted something… strange.

Even despite the mind-fog Cyran had found himself in, he recognized the clear note of fear in the man’s voice, pleading for help, and-

Oh. That was a god above them.

Even in his bewildered state, Cyran knew fully better than to trust this Scern- a man who’d been labeled as a heretic- but there was no time to question him as Ziev suddenly brought a palm downwards, large enough to smash everyone in the area, only held back by Scern’s spell. Once more, he frantically offered promises of survival, pleading for their help. What was going on here? His entire body felt off, and something heavy was covering his eye, and the two ladies on either side of him were not the ones he’d been with only seconds ago.

One of them, he vaguely recognized- Astrid? He thought he’d met her at the Black Harvest Ball, but something was whispering at him that his memory wasn’t quite right, that something was wrong. He couldn’t put his finger on what, and he didn’t particularly have time to examine that, not while they were currently staring down a deity intent on murdering them.

“Astrid? What are you doing here… Where’s your father?” She had a father, right? Cyran wasn’t misremembering that fact? What the hell was she doing out here on her own? She looked a little different than he remembered… a little older than he thought she was, but his own mind was proving to be faulty at the moment. Maybe he’d always been able to look Astrid in the eye, and maybe her skin was always that shade of red. But if he thought her appearance was strange, her words were even stranger.

“Orphans… what the- why am I wearing an eyepatch? What about my eye?” He gasped, frantically raising his hand up to his face, only to discover that the strange weight he’d felt earlier was an eyepatch. “What is this-? How did I lose an entire eye?” He desperately scrambled with his free hand to pull it off, surprised to find that he could see… just fine.

Huh.

“What the hell is going on here…” He muttered to himself in Elvish as he tucked the eyepatch in his pocket, just as oblivious as Astrid to the own changes in his body- namely, that his right eye swirled like a pure-black void, and a tattoo sat on his cheek right under it. He could barely think straight, had no idea where he was, and had nothing but a handful of daggers to take on a behemoth of a celestial, the lord of space himself- but they had to do something.

He still wasn’t entirely sure he could trust Scern, but with another attack about to rain down on them, they had to fight for their lives. A ghostly figure formed behind Cyran, putting her hands on his shoulders, unbeknownst to him.

“I’m jealous.” She whispered, completely unheard to Cyran. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to make a god bleed.”

Suddenly his hands itched for one of the daggers hanging from his belt.

“We need to be careful.” He warned, grabbing Nothing, the invisible dagger, from his belt. “We fight for our survival now. The best victory is escaping here with our lives- Astrid!” He was interrupted as the young girl immediately leapt into a pegasus, riding off with gleeful abandon, hammers raised as if she’d charged into battle like this countless times before.

He turned around to face the others that had transported in here, surprised to see a young, masked woman standing behind him, a grim expression painted on her face as she stared up at Ziev’s impending attack. Despite the fact that he’d never seen this woman before, her name somehow came naturally to him.

“Andromeda.”

She nodded at him, the picture of an obedient soldier. “Specter.” She greeted. “I don’t know how I ended up here, but I offer my blades in assistance, Master. Besides,” She plucked one of her daggers from her belt, a blade that crackled with ice-cold energy before throwing it into the air directly at Ziev’s hand, as if she could pierce it all the way from here, “I suppose I’ve got a bone to pick with the gods.”

Cyran nodded at her as the assassin retreated, putting space in between them where she could provide support from behind without getting into danger.

He turned to the last member of their strange group, a young rabbitaur with a serious expression on her face, and- was that a fully grown dragon? Cyran was beginning to wonder if his grip on reality was more tumultuous than he thought. Nevertheless, she was an ally, and Cyran would try his best to protect her just as he would Astrid.

His gaze softened for the briefest moment as he nodded at her.

“My name is Cyran. I do wish we could have met under better circumstances, but it’s a pleasure to fight by your side.” For as long as they could, at least.

The situation seemed hopeless. Cyran’s blades were meant to pierce mortal flesh, not the skin of a celestial. In comparison to the lord of space itself, commander of the cosmos that swirled around them, his knives felt rather small in comparison.

He’d need something bigger.

Cyran dragged Nothing across the palm of his hand, the darkened blood seeping from the cut before congealing into the form of a wicked, curved scimitar. Its heavy weight felt familiar in his palm, singing with the desire to slice and drain.

“Good.” The ghost behind him smiled.

Cyran turned back to the rabbitaur. “I’ll try to support the both of you from behind.”

With those last words spoken, he darted ahead, following after Astrid.

---

Actions
1. Summoning Guardian Spirit (0/2 hit preventions, spirit shroud) - buff action
2. Casting Crimson Armaments (Scimitar, Life Link Enchantment) - buff action

Warlord Minion Action
1. Throwing Dagger at Ziev's hand (Throwing Knives, Ice Rune) - Attack action

Passive Action
1. Insight Rune (trying to determine if Scern is lying)

Weapons
1. Nothing (Dagger, Pale Ice Enchantment)
2. Spell Slicer and Cold Steel (Fighting Knives, Magic Blocker Enchantment, Ice Rune)
3. Mercy's Lament (Dagger of Torment)
4. Blood Blade from Crimson Armaments

Bringing Minion
Andromeda, Warlord II - Novice in Throwing Knives, all knives equipped with Ice Rune

Bringing Pet
Yeux (Vampire Bat)

The world wobbles and sways as the breath re-enters her body; Leni-Aura gasps, clutching at her throat as a strange feeling pulses through her from head to heel. “Astrid? Tsarra?” she chokes into the emptiness; her voice rasps, muted with nothing to bounce off of. Hollow.

The bulk of her weight leans into her spear dug into the… the… there’s no earth?

As her vision warbles, she stares down at an emptiness beneath her paws. She blinks a few times; shaking her head to rid herself of nausea and lightheadedness as she looks for the two companions she had come here with. She thinks nothing of the tail which circles protectively around her at first, despite resting a hand against its scales as if it were a natural reaction.

Astrid is here, but she’s… she’s not quite right, is she? She looks different… is she taller than her now? Her skin is different… She’s not even wearing the same armour that she remembers her wearing when they were in the Arid Mesa! What...

And Tsarra?

Her eyes drift, drowsy but searching, to those she doesn’t even recognize; an elven individual standing tall near Astrid, followed by a young masked woman, and she… doesn’t know who they are. “Who…” she can’t even get the words out. The ground— or lack thereof— beneath her paws rumbles and groans; her attention snaps towards her front; and her eyes widen when she sees Scern, the cultist leader, and… and…. What the hell is that!?

Leni-Aura takes a pace back, grip tightening on her spear.

Oh, this is bad. Very bad.

Over her head, a snarl rumbles out into the empty void; Leni-Aura looks above her, to the shadow cast across herself and the other three, where a massive, armoured drake stands. She didn’t even notice!?

He’s…. way too big, but she can recognize him perfectly.

In the same breadth, she hears Astrid fawning over the drake and calling him by name; and at the sound of his name, the hostility drains from his snarling maw; his head perks, and he looks down at Astrid with a loud and rumbling, clicking sound that Leni-Aura instinctively knows means that he’s fond of her.

She feels a headache coming on.

The displacement in spacetime seems to have made other changes which she does not initially notice; the hand which rises to clutch the side of her head as she braces herself against Nimbus’ tail has been scarred by electric webbing, lighter-skinned fractals which disappear beneath her armour— which is different, lighter, and traditionally similar to what her warren would boast. The scar follows the nape of her neck when it reappears, reaching beneath her jaw to curve across the side of her face, eventually disappearing beneath her hairline.

She takes a heavy breath, looking up sharply when Astrid suddenly charges forth— she has a horse? Where did the horse come from!? It has wings?

“Astrid, be careful!” she finds herself calling after her, an emotional range in her voice that she’s never heard before. She turns to look at Nimbus— but not before the elf addresses her. She looks towards him, ears perking— one which seems to have been clipped slightly shorter at a clean diagonal with a blade— and nods.

“Leni-Aura.” Her voice sounds different; calmer, maybe; more mature— and strangely, in this void, her accent has lessened, as though it has begun to blend with time. “We fight together to survive— may luck be with you; let us meet after battle.”

She springs forwards with an alarming height for a woman of her size, but perhaps not-so-alarming given the other half of her. Nimbus outstretches his wings, screeching restlessly as she lands against the padding of his wingspan, and bounds onto his saddled back. He needs no instruction, and the moment Leni-Aura has taken her stance and grabs hold of the saddle’s horn, he charges forwards.

Nimbus casts a great shadow on the battlefield when he launches into the sky— and from a higher vantage point— she realizes they’re not alone here. Scern is here, yes, but there’s… there’s many. There’s people she internally recognizes, although she doesn’t know how; and others that she does not. There’s people she knows well…

She blinks in surprise, ears lying back, and she turns her eyes up. It’s not the time. No one will be left if they do not…. Follow Scern’s lead, but… she does not know if she can trust him. Regardless, their lives are in danger. Nimbus catches the air, creating a vacuum of wind beneath his wings as he presses upwards and catches the wind.

Like it’s a second instinct, Leni-Aura claps her hands together, pulling a chain of lightning from the static that surrounds her person. As Nimbus gains altitude, static webs around him; through his scales, from his eyes, falling like petals from his open maw. It all comes as though she’s done this before— but she has not.

She whips an arm back, pulling the chain through the air, and cracks forwards towards Ziev’s raised arm in the same instance which electricity crackles, and erupts from Nimbus’ maw, in tandem with herself and her allies.

---

PASSIVE

> Charged Particles (Electromancer L1) — Your spells that deal Lightning damage now charge the enemy, causing them to become static for the next two post. If they are dealt lightning damage again while charged they will take double damage from the effect instead. Taking damage while charged will end the charge and not apply a new one.

(Effective upon damage from Chain Lightning.)

PC ACTIONS TAKEN

> 1. Lightning Armour — Defensive Action (Protects at Melee Range, Shocks anyone to come within range, causing limb to go limp for next post.)

> 2. Chain Lightning — Offensive Action at Medium-Ranged Melee

PET ACTIONS TAKEN

> 1. Lightning Breath — Offensive Action at Medium-Range

PETS TAKEN

> Nimbus, Adult Lightning Drake

WEAPONS
> Lightning Spear — (Polearm, Melee/Ranged, Returns to Hand when Commanded)
> Spear — (Polearm, Melee/Ranged, Lightning Rune Enchantment)
> Javelin — (Polearm, Melee/Ranged)

ARMOUR
> Pauldrons — (Arm/Hand Hit Prevention)
> Faulds — (Legs/Feet Hit Prevention)

Everything Scern said was the truth. Somehow, Cyran knew that to be an absolute fact, even though he wasn’t quite sure why. His body seemed to know himself better than he did at the moment, so he would follow the lead of his own instincts, running behind Astrid and Leni-Aura, and all the others who’d been thrown into this horrible empty space with them- he thought he saw… Zarius with a white-haired girl weaving magic with her hands that he knew he should have been able to remember the name of- Vi’ira, already charging in with reckless abandon, Gerhart, Shaa… it was hopeless to stand up to the will of the divine, but it was all they could do to try.

And then-

Time slowed to a halt.

Perhaps slow wasn’t the right word- it was more an abrupt stop, as if existence had been wrenched away from them, like the very breath from their lungs that Cyran was only just now recovering as he stood atop that great expanse of nothing, two women standing on either side of him, desperately trying to discern what was fiction and reality…

They had done this before.

Cyran gripped Spell Slicer and Cold Steel, as if his daggers alone could tether him back to reality, make sense of the broken fragments that had been rendered of his mind. Where was Ziev? Scern was here, weaving his spell in the air, protecting them from an enemy that had seemingly disappeared from reality.

“Where did he go...?” Was he even here in the first place? Cyran still held tight to his daggers, on guard for the moment the crazed deity made his move- the enemy you couldn’t see was more dangerous than the one in front of you- but much to his surprise, nothing happened. For a long time.

“Hm. I wasn’t aware that fighting one of Charon’s most powerful gods would be so… boring.” Rowan sounded disappointed from behind him, a tone Cyran wouldn’t have been able to pick up on. There was no point in her sticking around for now, not when there was nothing happening. She put a hand on Cyran’s shoulder, a crescent-moon smile on her face as she began to fade, retreating until the moment she would be needed once more. “You know what do to when the time comes."

And still, nothing happened. No matter how long they waited, what they tried, they were simply stuck, like they’d been plucked from reality and thrown into a pocket of the void, one where they were untouched by time, left to wander and simply talk with one another as they tried to make sense of what happened. He found Vi’ira and Zarius, and introduced himself to others he didn’t recognize- with nothing but time in the world, the only thing they had was each other. And as the seconds stretched into eternity, each one as agonizing as the last, they all got to know each other, bonded by this lamentable prison they’d been trapped in, until it had been so long that even Cyran’s own lifespan felt small in comparison.

And gods, Cyran was so tired.

Just at the moment he wanted to give up, the moment when it all felt hopeless, the reality that they'd been doomed to stay here by a - everything snapped back to reality. Cyran stood in the middle of the battlefield, world-weary and familiar exhaustion settled into his bones, but at a caliber he’d never experienced before. Ziev towered above them, as if their attacks meant nothing, as if expending such power to trap them in a prison of his own design meant nothing. His blade was gone- Rowan was gone, even if he didn’t comprehend either her presence or her loss.

It was in that moment that Cyran understood just how hopeless this was.

Tactics- they needed to switch tactics if they were going to carry the day. Survival seemed a faraway concept right now, with his weariness and fatigue reflected in the eyes of his allies- there was no way they’d be able to muster the strength to mount a cohesive attack strong enough to make any difference.

Cyran had lived a long life- far longer than some others here would get to experience. His own death, he could accept easily, and welcome with open arms. But the others here, they still had lives ahead of them, ones that they had yet to experience.

Cyran would not let anyone- not even the gods themselves- rip that chance from their hands.

He had to calm down. Think.

Astrid and Leni-Aura were outright fighters, warriors accustomed to the battlefield. Between the three of them, those two had the best chance of hurting Ziev. Cyran didn’t have that kind of power- all he could do was strike as best he could from the shadows and try to give them the opportunity to do as much damage as they could.

He raised his hand, and the shadows responded to his call, his desire to blind Ziev just as he’d been blinded once before, in a place he could not remember. He didn’t have those memories yet, but his body remembered the bitterness and the anger, all of which he channeled into this spell. A pair of spectral, black wings sprouted from his back, letting them take him up into the air with practiced ease he no longer felt himself surprised at. He launched himself straight at Ziev's face, as close as he could get until he was right between the god's eyes. The shadows responded to his will, plunging both him- and Ziev- into an aura of magical darkness that would hopefully hinder Ziev's sight.

---

Actions
Summoning Bat wings (post 1/3) - Buff Action
Casting Zone of Shadows in front of Ziev's face, attempting to blind him with magical darkness- Debuff action

Minion Actions
Andromeda is hidden in the shadows, throwing another throwing knife with the Ice Rune enchantment- Attack Action

Passive Abilities
All Eye (protection from blinding effects such as blinding clasp)

Suddenly overwhelmed by exhaustion, Astrid slumps forward against Arcus's neck. The pegasus' wings drag along the ground as the horse takes weary steps forward. Spicy Pawsage collapses on the ground, breathing heavily. 

"What's happened te ye, girl?" the voice asks in her head. It's familiar at this point. She feels like she's heard it hundreds of times. 

"I-I don't know," Astrid says through gasping breaths. Her arms feel weak. Did they just live through the same moment over and over? But they're where they left off. Something is off here for sure. Ziev seems to be looking for something. Maybe he doesn't know Scern is responsible for the magic holding him back? Is this Scern guy even telling the truth? Astrid looks around at the rest of the groups, all equally as exhausted in the moment. Is that... Kamille? She's crying? No, no won't do. 

Finding strength, Astrid hefts her hammers again. They've got to try something else. She hears wings flapping and looks back to see Cyran with a pair of wings flying up toward Ziev's face. Maybe he's got an idea! The girl pats Arcus' neck. "Come on, buddy, we've got ta get up there too. Follow his lead! Spicy... Time fer a roast."

Exhausted, both of her animal companions find strength and rise. Arcus' wings start beating as the equine takes off running around Ziev until finally lifting into the air to follow Cyran. Below, Spicy Pawsage gets to his feet and charges forward, taking a deep breath and letting out a gout of flame against Ziev's exposed torso. 

Arcus and Astrid catch up to Cyran in time to see him attempting to blind Ziev with magical darkness. Astrid can do something about that too. She directs Arcus around to put them in Ziev's line of sight, then she pulls her goggles over her eyes, hooks her hammers into a couple of convenient metal hook loops on either side of the saddle, and focuses her magical energy.

The first spell she pulls is from Ziev's own domain: Slow. Releasing purple-tinged magical energy, it strikes Zeiv and spreads across him like magical molasses. Then Astrid turns around in her saddle and gathers up the magic that's even more familiar to her, that of the Sky arcana. "Watch yer eye, Cyran!" Astrid calls before she pulls her arms back and claps them together. A bright light explodes from the meeting of her palms right in front of Ziev, trying to blind him from another angle. Maybe their combined efforts will give the rest of the fighters below a chance to make some headway with stopping this big jerk. 

---

Passive:
Sun Sparked Goggles - Immunity to blinding effects
Diplopia Armor - Creates afterimages of Astrid

Astrid Actions:
Slow (half speed on Ziev for 1 post) - debuff action
Blinding Clasp (blinds anyone looking within range for 1 post) - debuff action

Pet actions:
Reindeer: casts flight - buff action
Dreadsnout: flame breath - attack action

Leni-Aura’s knees tremble, and the rabbitaur wobbles to her knees; she reaches out with one arm to steady herself against the void beneath, but… what happened? “Ugh…” she breathes, brows furrowing and eyes closing as she tries to process the images— hazy, but still present— within the confines of her memories. Her ears tilts back, teeth gritting; but she perks once more when she hears a coo from overhead.

Nimbus grumbles tiredly, electric blue eyes shadowed by a sudden exhaustion, no different than her own. She feels…. Strange. She feels like she knows things which she shouldn’t, has spoken things she can’t recall; has seen too much she can’t quite remember…

The exhaustion feels palpable; a heavy cloud that hangs over her for far too long as she drags her hazel eyes to Ziev’s smirking face and feels the frustration flicker in her chest. Something she can’t recall hurts deep in her chest, and she blinks away clouds of frustrated tears that threaten to spill from the corners of her eyes. She shakes her head, blinking quickly as she gathers herself to her paws. “Nimbus,” she commands, trying to shake the fatigue from her lead-filled paws as she turns to face him. “Warriors do not cry, get it together.”

Nimbus looks at her drearily; her words aren’t meant for him, but his chest expands with a massive breath the drake takes in an attempt to steele itself for what lies ahead— not what it’s already felt it has experienced. She looks to her left, seeing Astrid fallen to the same exhaustion; to her right, and… she knows his name, but she can only vaguely recall it… Urgh.

She turns her head, rubbing at her eyes with the back of one hand, and huffs a breath before she bounds forwards; Nimbus extends his wings to assist her, allowing her some sort of leverage to bound onto his back. “Go!” Shaking his head, Nimbus cries out and storms forth; Leni-Aura flattens her ears as Nimbus takes to the skies.

What can she do?

What can she do against a god?

Not much, but...

Whatever it did… she wishes to not experience that again. She squints her eyes, breathing a heavy shuddering breath as she pulls her spear from the halter on her back. “As high as you can get.” she murmurs, patting Nimbus fondly against the neck. His body vibrates as he calls back to her, and his wings create a vortex as they beat to gain altitude. Leni-Aura furrows her brows, bunching her muscles as Ziev’s face grows closer.

“I'll need you to catch me,” she remarks, just seconds before she bounds abnormally high into the sky. ⁽¹⁾ Pulling back, Leni-Aura shoots her shot: she flings her spear directly towards Ziev’s left eye, seconds before a series of flashes go off around her. ⁽²⁾ She flinches, unable to see, and allows herself to fall— utterly relying on Nimbus to fetch her in those few, free-falling moments.

---

PASSIVE
> Charged Particles (Electromancer L1) — Your spells that deal Lightning damage now charge the enemy, causing them to become static for the next two post. If they are dealt lightning damage again while charged they will take double damage from the effect instead. Taking damage while charged will end the charge and not apply a new one.
(Effective upon damage from Chain Lightning.)

PC ACTIONS TAKEN
> 1. Long Stride — Movement Action (Leaping to gain altitude.)
> 2. Throwing Spear (Lightning Rune Enchantment) — Offensive Action, aimed directly at Ziev's left eye

Round 3

---

Gods, all their efforts don't seem to have much of an effect on Ziev! This must be what it's like to fight a god... Ziev seems to be searching for something though. Or maybe... someone? Astrid's eyes follow Ziev's searching gaze. The red rune on the ground pulses with energy. If that cultist guy is doing something to weaken Ziev, then maybe Ziev's looking for the source of it?

Why are they fighting Ziev anyway? Just cause this cultist said so? She wants to find out, so Astrid grabs the reins and directs Arcus down toward the casting cultist where a few others are questioning him. Ziev isn't who we think he is? What does that mean? This guy's followers were teamed up with devils, should they believe him? Is all this worth trying to fight a god? He seems really convinced, and if he's telling the truth, he turned the whole world against himself because of his conviction.

What if he is telling the truth? What if he's not? Astrid glances over at Kamille. Something about her adopted grandmother's expression tells her this is right. This is true. Just as Astrid turns back to return to the fight, Ziev's arms raise and charge up massive amounts of energy before firing two lasers directly toward the group gathered here. 

PROTECT.

An ethereal voice rings out in Astrid's mind, different from the one coming from her hammer. This time, instead of one spirit, two burst forth from her, both of them caught between forms. Undefined specters with monstrous qualities take up defensive positions around Astrid and Scern to protect the group from the god's onslaught. She raises her own shield, ready to defend herself as if the tiny buckler will do much of anything against two giant beams of pure energy. 

Without another thought, Astrid reaches out and touches Scern's arm. "If yer tellin' the truth, ya better hurry it up or we're all toast!" A pulse of magic rushes over Scern, and the cult leader feels a burst of speed. He's gotta go fast.

At Ziev's torso, Spicy Pawsage lets out another gout of flame, viciously attacking the god without any understanding of the situation around him.

---

Actions:
Defensive/Buff action: Astrid summons two Spirit Guardians (Level 3, each with spirit shrouds)
Buff action: Astrid casts Quicken on Scern

Pets: 
Spicy Pawsage - flame breath on Ziev
Dancing Chain - 1 hit prevention

Spirit guardian - 4 hit preventions each (total 8)
Spirit shroud (L3) - 20ft diameter, doubles efficacy of elemental magic by allies, reduces level of enemy magic, cancels enemy movement buffs
Quicken - Double speed for the target

Cyran wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep this up.

Somehow, their actions seemed to be having an effect - exactly what that effect was, Cyran wasn’t sure. The fragmented pieces of his mind still felt dissonant, and the sheer exhaustion was making it hard to think. Cyran may have been an assassin, but he did not possess the endless stamina or a deity, nor the boundless energy of youth that his current companions held. Despite his attempts to blind the god, he could see the light sparking in Ziev’s eyes, and dove away just before the beams flew out of his eyes. Up this close to his face, Cyran could feel the pure power emanating from the blow, strong enough to cut through the woven fabric of time and space, aimed right for Scern.

It was difficult not to feel hopeless at such a feeling.

But Cyran had enough of feeling hopeless. Everyone here was giving everything they had to fight for their lives, and Cyran would do them the same courtesy - for their sakes.

Including Scern.

It still felt strange to be protecting a cultist, but so far, every word he’d uttered was the truth. Nothing made sense right now, not even Cyran’s own jumbled thoughts and memories. If protecting the criminal was their only option, then Cyran would do so with the last dying embers of his power. Breathing haggard, Cyran raised his hand, calling upon the shadows. Even here, they responded to him, faint as it was. Space might have been Ziev’s domain, but the darkness was his, and right now, he would command them to protect their only chance out of here. The writhing mass of darkness on the ground coalesced, a wall constructed of dust and bone protruding from the not-ground, perhaps flimsy compared to the will of a god, but he would just have to trust that others had risen up in defense of Scern as well.^[1]

He needed to get rid of this fatigue. Still flying in the air, hovering near Scern’s face, Cyran reached out and grabbed wherever he could find purchase. He’d rarely done this, much less to someone that possessed a font of energy as powerful as the lord of space himself, but in that moment, he didn’t care. Ziev’s energy, even a small fraction of it, would flow from the god himself into Cyran, giving him enough power to fly up into the air, far above Ziev where he could have a lay of the land.^[2] He would not be able to fly much longer, another fact he somehow instinctively knew, and if he was going to drop, he may as well rain hell on Ziev while he could.

---

Actions Taken
1. Casting Death Wall - Defensive Action, Protecting Scern
2. Casting Vampiric Touch- Debuff/Buff action, Draining Ziev of energy and boosting Cyran’s energy

Minion Action
Andromeda throws another knife enchanted with Ice Rune - Attack Action against Ziev

As her vision returns, she feels the rush of air as she reaches the peak of her jump; and then gravity plunges her down towards the ground. Like a ragdoll, her body folds with the pressure; Leni-Aura gasps, her heart skipping in her chest as her velocity downwards intensifies. She sucks in a breath, closing her eyes as she maneuvers in the air, tipping herself upright— and suddenly, she stops.

Nimbus swoops beneath her before she can fall too far, wings outstretched and neck lowered to catch her; she lands with a grunt on the saddle of his back. Leni-Aura reaches out and grabs hold of the horn before she can slide off. She curses in halfling, lowering her ears as she pulls herself into an easier sitting position; Nimbus turns his head to look at her, rumbling worriedly. “I am fine,” she answers, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

Adrenaline pulses through her veins; Nimbus turns to face the god of space and time.

She sputters a flurry of curses in her native tongue when she realizes Ziev is reeling back for an attack— nothing she’s done has been effective as far as she can tell, so she switches tactics— realizing his aim is not for her, nor for any of the other adventurers… it’s for Scern.

Detestable as he may be, she… something says he’s telling the truth. A horrible sense of deja vu from a time which has passed and been taken from her in the same moment; it rocks her to her very sense of being in a way that she hates and despises.

She feels ill at the thought of something she thinks she knows, but cannot recall. Regardless, she knows somehow that they can trust Scern; but Ziev… they can’t trust him, can they?

Heathens.

Damn… damn it!

Gods damn it all, no one’s going to get out of here if he can’t finish what he’s doing, right?

Nimbus pulls forwards quickly as Leni-Aura calls forth static from her spear; like a protective web, it surrounds her, giving her some form of protection ^(PC). Nimbus flies towards the ground, dipping until he’s nearly vertical— and as the beam closes in on Scern, Leni-Aura recklessly leaps from the drake’s back ^(PC) and plants herself in the way of the beam.

She hears Nimbus calling worriedly from above as he flaps out of the way; and as the light rushes in quickly, Leni-Aura steels herself for the unknowable and closes her eyes.

---

PASSIVE
> Charged Particles (Electromancer L1) — Your spells that deal Lightning damage now charge the enemy, causing them to become static for the next two post. If they are dealt lightning damage again while charged they will take double damage from the effect instead. Taking damage while charged will end the charge and not apply a new one.
(Effective upon damage from Chain Lightning.)

PC ACTIONS TAKEN
> 1. Static Field — Defensive Action
> 2. Long Stride — Movement Action

Round 4

---

The massive beams go off, striking the barriers and defenses of everyone defending Scern. Then, chains burst from the red glowing floor and hold him still. Whatever they're doing is working! Scern shouts for everyone to rush in, and Astrid hefts her hammer into the air, letting out a cry of encouragement.

"Let's get him, everyone! All together now!" 

Then she swings herself back up onto Arcus and bolts across the battlefield toward Ziev again. The god of space and time thrashes against the glowing red chains attempting to bind him. If this is really what needs to be done, then there's no reason not to go all out. Arcus flies low to the ground, speeding along with the rest of the rushing adventurers, and Astrid hefts her war hammer into the air. One big blow, one massive attack from everyone here. They can do it!

When Arcus draws close, Astrid leaps off the pegasus' back and raises her hammer above her head. Crackling with ice and electricity, she brings the hammer down with all her might. It slams into Ziev, and the force of the blow would crack the ground if it weren't just empty, solid space. The impact is thunderous and rattles her to her core. 

Spicy Pawsage barks in surprise as everyone charges forward, then he joins their fray and slams his tusks into Ziev, empowered by Astrid's Battle Cry. 

Panting, Astrid stumbles back to see the results of the coordinated attack. 

---

Actions: 
1. Buff Action - Astrid uses Battle Cry to x2 physical damage for allies for 2 posts and ignore fear
2. Attack Action - Astrid uses Anvil Smash against Ziev for massive physical damage (doubled by Battle Cry)

Pet Actions:
Spicy Pawsage - Attack action - Gores Ziev with his tusks

Passives:
Bull's Strength 
War hammer - electrified (spell blade), pale ice, heavy enchantment
Spirit Shroud (Level 3) - x2 elemental spell damage for all in range

Ability descriptions below: 

SPOILER: Click to show

Battle Cry
You send forth a cry of war, calling out into the air. You and all of your allies are driven to battle, filled with courage and strength. Any allies affected by this cry will deal double physical damage for the next two posts, making their physical strikes from weapons deal increased damage for the duration. In addition, all allies affected by the cry can not be feared or forced to turn against their allies. They will ignore the effect of any fear-type spell or ability until the end of the cries duration. Can only use this feature twice per topic.
Anvil Smash 
Using the utmost control and expenditure of explosive force, you perform an overhead strike that, if it makes contact with your target, it will bypass all hit preventions and cause massive damage. This also stuns the target for a post, making it difficult to cast any spells or use any skills above Novice level. If you use this technique to strike the ground, you create a twenty-foot diameter hazard around you that makes it difficult to use any movement-based spells or techniques for anyone within it. This also knocks anyone else touching the ground at that moment off their feet. Can only be used once per topic.
Spirit Shroud (Level 3)
When the spirit guardian is summoned it creates a spiritual shroud around it, emanating from its body with the spirit being at its center. The shroud has a 20-foot diameter and will move around with the spirit. Any ally inside of the shroud will have their elemental abilities enhanced, increasing the speed and size of an elemental spell that is either ranged or a noncontrollable summon spell aka a wall. (An elemental spell is a spell that deals Fire/Lightning/Ice/Water/Wind/Earth/Light/Dark, only the caster must be within the shroud itself to benefit from this ability, not the effects of the spell being cast, i.e a wall would be larger if it was outside of the aura as long as the caster of the wall was within the aura.) The spell will move twice as fast as it normally would and be twice as big as any spell cast outside of the shroud. This shroud vanishes when the spirit vanishes.

Suspended up in the air, Cyran had a better view of the battlefield below, the distant clamoring of steel and shouts of the desperate people barely holding their ground, simply looking to keep themselves - and Scern - alive. It all seemed rather… small, in comparison.

If this was a god’s view then it was no surprise that they were nothing but ants to Ziev.

But when even insects banded together, it made a difference, it seemed, as everyone dove to protect Scern, their only way out, from getting hit with the beams of pure magic that Ziev had sent hurtling towards him. There was brief moment of confusion where the cultist-turned-ally suddenly lit up in bright, rainbow light, and Cyran wondered if his spell had worked, but it simply seemed to be the effect of another person’s protective efforts. And was that the young lady he’d met upon entering this strange place, Leni-Aura, throwing herself into the path of the attack, like her body was the only shield she could think to offer to protect their only ticket out of this place from divine will?

So much was happening at once that it was difficult for Cyran to keep track of, even as red chains coalesced from the swirling floor, binding Ziev into place, shackles preventing him from moving so they could all make one final push.

The end was upon them.

So why did Cyran feel as if this had all been too easy?

Rallying cries rose up below him, everyone concentrating their efforts on Ziev once more, motivated by this one small glimmer of hope. He spotted Astrid below, throwing herself at the god with reckless abandon along with the others, all desperate to carve out some kind of damage against the lord of space, make any kind of mark they could. Helpless as he was, Cyran would not let their efforts go to waste.

The spectral wings that had sprouted from his back flickered dangerously in and out of existence - his time in the air had come to an end. Cyran could not afford to wonder about what Scern had seen from the Sol Stone that had scared him so, not when he had to act. In the last seconds he had while airborne, he plucked Mercy’s Lament from his belt, the deadly dagger heavy in his palm. It felt a fitting choice for this attack. If Ziev saw fit to toy with mortal lives for his own games, use them all as pawns, then it was only fit he felt the agony of their deaths, as well.

He was not scared as he dropped once more, aiming to pierce the dagger into Ziev’s skull. Rather, all of the fear and confusion he’d felt before had been replaced with an odd calm, the cold burn of vicious hatred for the being that had threatened him and his own. Unkillable or no, it would feel pain all the same, this he was certain. As he dropped, driving Mercy’s Lament right through Ziev’s skull, Cyran let out an angry yell of his own in tandem with the others that were already circling Ziev.^[1]

“Human lives are not yours to toy with, only to dispose of when we’ve made you upset.” He hissed, twisting the jagged edge of the dagger further into skin to punctuate his words, as if Ziev even heard or cared for his words right now. “It is the duty of the gods to protect what you’ve created, not tear it to the ground. While you and your kin have sealed away and neglected the rest of the world, we’ve struggled for our own survival, carried on just fine without your intervention… and we will continue to thrive far beyond your miserable life is ended. Be ashamed of your failures. This is what you deserve.”

With his free hand, Cyran pulled out Cold Steel, driving the second dagger into godly skin.^[2] With expert precision, he yanked the blades free, jumping off Ziev’s face and finally landing back on solid ground, rejoining the others with blood coating his blades and a nasty glare on his face, directed right at Ziev. He glanced back at Astrid and Leni-Aura, looking the most sure that he had all day. Even now, he could not shake the assassin’s instinct.

There was nothing else he could offer the two fighters - not when both possessed more raw power and fighting spirit than him - but he, at the very least, could issue this small warning. “Stay vigilant. This may be the end, but we should not count Ziev out so easily.”

Then, to Leni-Aura in a tone far more stern, “Do not be so careless with your own life. We all fight for our survival, yours included.” With those last words, he raised Mercy’s Lament and Cold Steel, turning back to the bound god. Good or bad, whatever happened next - he would be ready for it.

Some distance away, Andromeda finally retreated from her hiding place, glancing down at her belt. Two daggers now - less than she thought. And Ziev was sitting pretty right now, a prime target. Without hesitation, she plucked one of them and threw it with nearly the same pinpoint accuracy as her teacher before making her way over to the cultist.^[3] According to Master Specter, Scern was apparently on their side, or some bullshit like that. She didn’t get any of it, or even how she’d ended up here, but there was one thing she knew for certain. Master Specter had been good to her. She didn’t care one bit for favors or kindness, but she at least understood the value of loyalty, even in this hellscape where the gods were evil and madmen were friends.

One dagger left. She had to make it count.

Andromeda darted up to where Scern was still casting his spell, knife held at the ready to strike should the need arise. “You’d better be lucky I’m keeping an eye on your ungrateful ass.” She grumbled. “Any other day of the week, I’d just as soon kill you and be done with it.”

---

Actions Taken
1. Stabbed Ziev with Dagger of Torment - Attack Action
2. Stabbed Ziev with Fighting Knife equipped with Ice Rune - Attack Action

Minion Actions
3. Andromeda throws throwing dagger enchanted with Ice Rune (4/5) - Attack Action

All attack damage doubled because of Astrid's battle cry buff for MAXIMUM STABBING

When the light dims, Leni-Aura is still standing; legs quivering, the rabbitaur looks up as shackles lash out from the floor, binding Ziev. She catches her breath in a gasp, ears tilting back as static lashes out from the field she had cast; she shakes her head, trying to bring herself out of the shock that comes with such reckless action.

It’s unlike her, but there is nothing familiar about this place.

She sees Astrid lashing out at the god; and the elf whom she doesn’t know, wings unfurled, drops towards the great god. She looks up towards Nimbus. The drake calls for her, his voice pitching strangely in his distress; he tries to go to her, but Leni-Aura calls to him. “Ieh! Ieh! Wlon enag di!” In turn, Nimbus slows his pace; he calls to her, his pitch still distressed, but he obeys.

The drake turns, flapping his wings to gain altitude as he rushes towards the chained god.

In the same instance, Leni-Aura vanishes from her position near Scern in the blink of an eye— reappearing just at the edge of Ziev’s arcane prison. She bounds up into the air in one massive leap; and swinging back with her spear, she impales it into the god’s galactic figure. Sparks emit from the wound, and Leni-Aura falls back to the void-stricken earth with a heavy thump.

In preparation for retaliation, she pulls out the other spear on her back from its holster and begins to back up; she glances up towards the sky as Nimbus breathes lightning at the restrained being. She breathes out shakily, her gaze flicking towards Cyran when he speaks to her in a stern voice; for a moment, she’s surprised by his words— and then her brows furrow.

Now is not the time for a fight, though; so with a slight huff, she turns back to Ziev.

…Who is that guy anyways?

---

PASSIVE
> Charged Particles (Electromancer L1) — Your spells that deal Lightning damage now charge the enemy, causing them to become static for the next two post. If they are dealt lightning damage again while charged they will take double damage from the effect instead. Taking damage while charged will end the charge and not apply a new one.

PC ACTIONS TAKEN
> 1. Bullet Dash — Movement Action to Get Closer to Ziev Quickly
> 2. Spear + Lightning Rune — Attack Action at Ziev at Melee Range

PET ACTIONS TAKEN
> 1. Lightning Breath — Offensive Action at Medium-Range

Final Round

---

The final blow, a work of perfect synchronicity between all the adventurers trapped in the realm of spacetime, Ziev falls, attempting to make another strike before he disappears. Scern's spell goes off, and suddenly, things fall silent. The realm around them crumbles, and suddenly they find themselves back in the dusty temple chamber from before. 

Astrid feels different, while also the same. Well, she really feels like she's gone back to normal. Her skin returns to its normal hue and she's no longer taller and in a set of matching armor. The hammer in her hands is familiar and silent. Any trace of the pegasus is gone. It all feels like a dream fallen away. 

And then Scern launches into his explanation. It's too much for her to take in. She's still trying to process what just happened! The group discusses what to do with Scern, and while she doesn't know everything he's guilty of, she knows he's been a problem, so she agrees that he deserves to be put away. But he doesn't leave without a gift: in return for his life, he teaches them all his binding spell - just in case they should ever need it. She hopes she doesn't. 

Scern and his defeated cultists get manacled and carted away, and Astrid wanders the room, feeling quite overwhelmed by what happened. She finds a piece of the shattered Sol Stone on the ground and picks it up. There's some magic to it. Maybe she could make something neat with it. Without another thought, she tucks it away in her pouch. 

After all of this, she wants a meal and a very long sleep. She can't even tell if Leni and Cyran are around. What about Tsarra? Or Ray or Shun? Did she go through this endeavor twice? Things felt so weird inside that other dimension... What were those protective spirits? Why did they feel familiar? Why did they look so strange? 

Best not to think about it too much.