Continuing to fight with the large-eyed beast, Sarne fought hard to get his shield fee. Sarne heard Shaa yell something about "boring" or something like that. Sarne knew that Shaa had to think the same way he did. Whatever this monster was, it experienced and learned of the other monsters that met or fought them. This could have gone better for Sarne. Every time Sarne tried to hit the dam thing with his sword, it would throw him around, and the large-eyed monster would not let go of his shield.

Sarne felt mugs of ale fly over his head as the large-eyed monster thrashed him from side to side. It felt like fighting a large dog that would not let go. The mugs broke and splashed ale over the large-eyed monster and Sarne's shield. He had had enough of this large-eyed monster. [1] Sarne plated his feet. Sarne felt Shaa move the opposite way. If the large-eyed monster wanted the shield, Sarne would give it to it. "Eat this one-eyed horse shit," said Sarne in anger. Sarne pulled and then thirsted his shield forward, throwing the large-eyed monster back and doing minor damage to the large-eyed monster.

Sarne heard "move" from Shaa, felt the heat, and saw the fire building. "Oh dam." Sarne jumped back, trading places with Shaa as the large-eyed monster burst into flames.

The large-eyed monster jumped forward, missing Sarne. [2] Sarne dodged to the side, and the large-eyed monster tried to bite Shaa. It was close to Shaa, and the flames just reached Shaa as they ran out the tavern's back door.

Sarne pushed himself off the wall, following the large-eyed monster and Shaa out the back door. All three entered the back courtyard, ready to fight for their lives.

[1] Sarne's Way of the Shield
[2] Dodge

Shaa rushes out into the court yard, the flaming beast and Sarne behind him. Well he had tried his level best to piss it off, at least that worked. He was kind of running by the seat of his pants and they were now out in the open. In a lot of fights that was ideal. Shaa liked to fight head on an open meant nothing to hide behind. Fighting a Beholder however was a different story. Not a lot of creatures could attack you by simply looking at you so cover was preferred but there was a wrinkle. This thing, whatever it was, wasn’t a real Beholder. It was ugly and powerful sure, but a pale imitation of the real thing. What they needed to do is get a peak behind the curtain. Get this thing to show its true colors. Then they would be able to handle it. 

The court yard itself was not anything out of the ordinary. Some tables, chairs, a random cart shut down for the evening. Nothing particularly helpful for the fight that was coming. What they needed was a slight change of scenery. When Shaa confirms that the creature and Sarne are out of the pub. When he does, he stomps hard on the ground and summons a wall, sealing off the pub behind them. The bar patrons were safe for now and the Beholder had no other choice but to deal with them, for good or bad. 

The flames on the Beholder start to die out with a smell of burning garbage in the air. The fiend squints its big eye and hisses at him like a feral cat. Do Beholders even hiss? You don’t exactly get all of the details right do you Mr. Two Left Feet. It looks at Shaa with what he guessed was a big “ Screw You” kind of look. The big Minotaur had been in enough fights to know that look no matter how many eyes they had. So, here we are. No more murdering townspeople for you. You want to do this the easy way, or the hard way?

The flames on the giant eye flickered and then burst into a tower of fire some 20 feet in the air. Swirling and twisting, the heat was intense, like a massive fireball going off. Sarne had to step back as his armor heated. He was looking over his shield. He looked at Shaa. "Now, what the hell is going on?" shouted Sarne in frustration. The flames started to die out. as the head of a Red Dragon appeared. "Dam we have been messing with a dragon the whole time," Sarne shouted in surprise. He knew dragons had tremendous power and could even shapeshift.

[1] Sarne watches the Dragon's head coming for him, its mouth open and large teeth bared. "It wants to eat me! again!" exclaimed Sarne angrily. The rage in Sarne builds. He had had enough of this abuse from this beast. The red Dragon bites down on Sarne, his armor bending and growing under the presser as the Dragon sinks its teeth into Sarne.

Sarne struggled in the mouth of the Dragon. The Dragon shook Sarne violently, and Sarne used all kinds of profanity that was most unbecoming of a noble. The Dragon spat Sarne out, throwing him to the ground. Falling, Sarne bounced off the ground from the fall, sending a small cloud of dust into the air. There was a groan from Sarne, showing he was still alive.




[1] Rage Before the Storm 
Armor chest -2 hit prevention.

Sarne! Shaa calls out to his companion as his body does a forced bounce off of the plaza ground. You black blooded son of a Goblin. I am so sick of you things! You want to see a scary dragon? I will show you a scary dragon! This was going to hurt but it would be worth it. Shaa summons the spirit of Vulcadreaus the great dragon from his very core. The spirit of the dragon fills his massive frame, stirring a change within. Suddenly his hands sprout claws, his teeth spring into sharp fangs, and finally a large pair of midnight black wings spring from his back. Even after violent change Shaa was not done yet.

Forcing earth energy into his altered frame, Drago-Shaa grows to an enormous 40 feet tall. Full of rage and frustration, Shaa stares into the pseudo dragons face and casts a final spell. Normally one that he is loathe to use and mostly unnecessary due to his normally already intimidating nature, he decides to teach this thing a lesson. He starts mumbling to himself and releases the magical essence of a real Incarnation of Fear. The feeling of dread and terror fills the place and the dragon balks in terror. Faker! Fraud! Charlatan! As the dragon reels in terror, Shaa lashes out with his giant claws and attempts tear the dragon’s throat to ribbons.

---

Dragon Visage
Giant Size
Reincarnation of Fear (spell)

Sarne spit out the dirt in his mouth and looked up to see Shaa become a dragon. "Of course, Shaa can turn into a dragon. I am way behind the power curve," Sarne mumbled in sarcasm. He was shaking his head and getting his focus back. [1] Sarne called on the light inside of him. As his light reached around him, touching Shaa and empowering him. Shaa's strength grew his will steadfast.

Sarne stood to his feet slowly. He watches Shaa fight the red Dragon as Sarne's strength returns to him. His Celestial blood awakened. Sarne's celestial features start to show. His blond hair turns silver and shines like metal. His complexion turns tan-colored with a lustrous skin tone. Sarne's eyes change to a piercing gold. A pair of feathery angelic wings grow from his back.

Sarne lifts into the air with one mighty flap of his wings. He was getting the Red Dragon's attention. The RED Dragon hops back with one flap of its wings. It blows dust and dirt into the faces of Shaa and Sarne. The Red Dragon was cornered. It had nowhere to go now. It roared at the two in fear. The Red Dragons eyes are big and show the fear it had. It was confused about what to do at the moment.

[1] Inspiring Presence for three posts
[2] Beacon of Light

As the red dragon reels back in terror, flaps its wrings and tries to blow dirt into Shaa and Sarne. Shaa just laughs with a big throaty laugh at the pitiful assault. Shaa is currently immune to earth based attacks so the dust literally does not deter him at all. This is just pitiful. I would feel sorry for you if you hadn’t do so much to piss me off. Ignoring the assault and empowered by Sarne, Shaa leaps right at the red dragon and uses his claws to tear it to pieces. As a dragon, its hide is pretty tough, making scraping noices as Shaa’s claws rake against it. Over and over again he strikes as the dragon shrieks in pain, fear and confusion. 

Shaa can hear noises coming from the back. Apparently some of the town folk heard the commotion and were watching the fight from some of the adjacent buildings. The dragon whips its tail around and takes out a couple of store fronts. Was it still going after people. What in the world was this things deal? Shaa pivots around to the back of the dragon and puts it in a headlock. He squeezes as tight as he can, forcing the dragon’s head to the ground, minimizing how much it can strike around. This was there chance. Shaa had the thing pinned. It had changed so much, it probably couldn’t change again for awhile. Sarne! I got it down. Kill it! Kill it! 

The fetid beast shreaks under the assault and starts lashing out violently and desperately. Sarne would have to be careful coming in. The wild strikes could be deadly if he didn’t time his attack right. Shaa leans back, attempting to tighten his grip on the dragons massive head. He wasn’t sure if this actually breathed or not but wanted to make sure, at the very least, its moves would be limited.

---

Giant size turn 2
Gift of the Ancient One

Hearing Shaa yell kill it. Standing up to his feet, [1] Srarne rushes forward with his shield at a short distance, hitting the head hard with the shield spikes. His shield impacts the hid first with Sarne's increased strength, Sarne's spikes stabbing into the scales—light lances forward from the strike, piercing the Dragon in the head. The damage caused Head trauma, a significant wound. The Dragon roared in pain and shock from the hit as its head jolted from the impact.

Sarne was sure he had done significant damage to the Dragon, which made him realize it was not a real dragon. This would have been a love tap from what his grandfather had told him about real dragons. And what Sarne watched Shaa do, it would not have gone down so quickly. Shaa is no doubt impressive and a legend. But so are dragons.

[2]Sarne turned to change direction. He made three strikes so fast they could not clearly be seen. The sound of scales being destroyed as Sarne's sword hit the Dragon's neck. Light sliced into the Dragon's neck. With each attack, blood started to course out of the significant wounds done by the sword. The Dragon began to choke on its blood as it tried to cry out in fear. Sarne slid to a stop.

The Dragon slowly stopped struggling as its life drained from it. Breathing heavily, Sarne looked at Shaa with a little grin. "Is that good enough?" Sarne said, half joking. "I need a drink," said Sarne, stretching his back.




[1] Rushing Charge

SPOILER: Click to show

You continue to get comfortable in your armor, and your movements are fluid and quick. If you wear your armor and have a shield attached, you can charge across the battlefield and rush into the fray. You may activate this charge, which lasts for a brief second, sending you dashing forward at incredibly high speeds. Your movement is double for this dash, allowing you to move at inhuman speeds. This dash will enable you to close the gap or use your body as a weapon. It can only be used twice per topic.

Shield Pikes strike

SPOILER: Click to show

Spikes are small metal rods sharpened at the ends and stick out about half an inch from the armor or shield they are built into. These spikes are very sharp and act as a deterrent or potential offensive weapon for the Shield, allowing them to stab opponents within melee range for Minor Wounds using the Piercing typing.

Passive Holy Avenger

SPOILER: Click to show

The pact has been completed, you have fused with the celestial inside you, allowing it control over your body. You may now gain any physical appearance changes, looking like the celestial for as long as you wish. The presence of light will often take over at random times, choosing to remain in control to combat evil. In addition to all of your physical damage dealing Light damage, all of your spells are now effected, allowing any of your damaging spells to deal Light damage in addition to its other damage types. Your Light damage from either spells or attacks also ignore resistance and immunity, preventing anyone from negating your Light damage.

[2] Cyran's Haunting Blade

SPOILER: Click to show

A technique best utilized by fighters who have honed their speed and precision to deliver quick, deep incisions in a target’s vulnerable spots. When a fighter uses this technique, their speed allows them to deliver a whirlwind of attacks that deal double the damage of normal attacks. Within the time it takes to make one attack, you are able to deliver three attacks that all deal double damage. At the end of this strike (regardless if the attacks hit or not) You use your speed and agility to disengage from the enemy, allowing you to retreat without your opponent being able to attack you as you flee. This can be used twice per topic.

Gerhart's Final Strike

SPOILER: Click to show

Skilled fighters know how to use the weight of their weapon to deliver devastating wounds. If a martial weapon (Sword, Axe, Hammer, Staff) would deal damage to its target, the wound will become severe, bleeding out and unable to be healed by Novice or Master level healing effects. This ability can only be used once per topic and must be applied to an attack as it is being used.

Passive Holy Avenger

Shaa stands up covered in the bloody dragon goo from Sarne’s vicious assault on the dragons long neck. Wiping it off the best that he can from his legs, he decides it would be easier to just return to his normal size as there would be less overall area to clean off. Yeah man, I think you got him good. Shaa walks over to Sarne and holds up a hand for a high five. It’s some good work right there. We’ll make a dragon slayer out of you yet. But this guy, if we are being honest, is more just practice. If this was a real red dragon, we would probably be celebrating from the inside of it. Yesshhh.

Seeing that the fight was over, several of the townsfolk came out to examine the aftermath. Most looked releaved and others shocked at the sight. Several whispers could be heard. Shaa whispers to Sarne. Ok I have been in this situation before. Let’s book it before they ask us to be part of the clean up crew. Trust me, this is going to take weeks and by day 4, you do not want to be smelling this thing. We can send them the bill, I don’t think anyone will argue with the results.

Shaa starts to remove the walls he summoned to help a little with clean up but mostly to clear the escape route. As he does, two familiar figures enter the plaza. Shaa recognizes them as the two guards from the gate. The first one is glowering. Just what the hell is going on around here! He rages. Shaa shakes his head and walks over. We told you, we were here to catch the murderer. Done, in less than a day I might add. You’re welcome. The guard looks at him incredulously. You were supposed to catch a sneaky murderer, not a red dragon, wrecking half the place in the process. If the culprit was a dragon, I think we would have noticed! Well he wasn’t always a dragon… what? One of the patrons who was particularly inebriated pipes up from the side. He was a Beholder in the bar! Big eyes! Whoooooo. The guard did not look impressed. So a Beholder wrecked the bar then came out into the plaza, became a red dragon , wrecking the plaza as well. But before that, managed to sneak around all the town with no one noticing. That about it? Well it sounds really dumb when you put it like that but yeah. So many eyes! Shut it you!

The two guards look at each other and start to confir. Shaa gives Sarne a subtle low sign to start moving towards the exit. He didn’t like how this was going and really didn’t feel like going to jail today. 

Sarne turned to look at the interaction between the guards and Shaa. Sarne watched and was ready to step in when, if He had to not that Shaa could not just break the two City Guards in half. Shaa was trying to de-escalate the situation. Thinking Sarne usually would not have to get involved in anything with Shaa. Being the leader of the fighters' guild should strike fear in most people if they have common sense.

Sarne thought he might step forward as noble in this instance. Being a fighter's guild leader is one thing. Taking on a noble house is at a different level. Most do not want to travel that road for a good reason. Sarne was about to step in, but Shaa started moving to exit.

There was a noise that got everyone's attention. The goopy noise was like syrup as black goo started to ooze from the Red Dragon. The goo spread out as the black goo consumed the Dragon's mass. "When you thought this could not get worse," commented Sarne, wrinkling his nose from the stench.

The Black goo started to harden at the edges, then turned ash-like and blew away in the breeze. More and more of the black oozing goo blew away as time passed, and in a minute, all that was left was an ugly beat-up Fea with deep cuts all over it. Sarne looks at the dead Fea. "Why does it have to be a Fea? Who knew," Sarne commented, surprised. Sarne walked by the City Guard and patted his shoulder. "Well, this mystery is solved," said Sarne, walking beside Shaa. Sarne looked back at the two City Guards. "Now it's your problem," Sarne informed the City Guards. "Shaa! I am thirsty, I am buying," said Sarne as he walked.