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Wardnan will keep out of being further Involved about the abyssal wound. He has too many bad memories about it all. The reason he got out in the first place was because of it being an akon and to save Radhe.
Clementia is the leader of the soldiers but she is often rather busy.
The soldiers have their own captains and lieutenants.
Small note
Much of the legendaries I post are upscaled a little to be comparable with the champions. Most of these would be weaker if posted in a neutral scenario.
Sir Henric Wardnan is such an example. (he is not as powerful as Griselbrand)
Radhe was sitting on a wooden bench. Oliver had been kind to carry her as Sir Wardnan had been sent on some mission to Astra Vika. She had been embarrassed when she had to ask Oliver to carry her but she had no other choice. As the priest had said some days before. A wound like hers that was caused by an abyssal beast could not be healed by his magic or any magic he knew of at all for that matter. She looked up at the two coffins at the front. They were specially decorated for their respectively. 'Without their sacrifice I would have been dead now'
Leandra sat down to Radhe's left and Tiamat & Beq to her right.
"Hi Radhe. How are you feeling?" said Tiamat with concerned voice.
"I am all right. The priest and that church woman took well care of me."
Tiamat gave Radhe a hug when Bristana appeared at the altar.
Everyone stood up. Oliver moved through the people towards Radhe and helped her up so she could see.
"We have all gathered here today to give our farewell to two heroes. One died as he and his companion rode to warn us of the abyssal monster. Lev'foralt Sigmund Vardeson"
The gathered people repeated "Lev'foralt Sigmund Vardeson"
Bristana continued. "The other died as he lured the beast away from another person. A girl of the contestants in the tournament. Lev'foralt Howard Godfrey."
The gathered people repeated "Lev'foralt Howard Godfrey
Bristana continued a speech about their lives. Amongst other she mentioned Howard's dream of becoming a knight under the gods and then fight for the independence of Legorna. Radhe as well as Beq and Tiamat were confused but not Leandra, she knew.
"Let us take farewell of our heroes." Everyone began to sing. The three girls just stood silent while Leandra and even Oliver was humming to the song. Leandra saw Radhe's confusion. "They are singing for their gods to take care of them. They sing when they need to contact the gods. They sing when they give birth, when someone has died. They sing before battle. They sing so that their gods hear them."
"Just as the gods sing for the people?" Radhe asked.
"The only god I know that sings is Keralda." Radhe noticed something at the other side of the gathered people. It was a young girl that was holding onto Howard's bow. She was singing with tears in her eyes as she held tight onto the bow. Howard's sister.
Mishra was spectating everything from a distance. He was in particular interested in one person that was standing at the back of the crowd. One that did not sing but gave Mishra the same cold feelings that the pale man had given him. The person turned around.
Her skin was completely grey and her eyes where silver colored. She did not walk, she floated. She looked at Mishra which gave him the cold feeling again. Her face expression was still dull. She float past Mishra and towards the Federation building. Mishra saw that there were a huge group of crows flew far above her. A soldier on the street dropped on his knees as the woman passed him. Mishra could barerly hear what the soldier said.
"Thank you lady for arriving at this troublesome time. Please my lady. Destroy those monsters that killed my brother and save our humble town from the abyss"
No Wardnan is not a coward. He would not have been able to become one of Friyena's chosen knights if he was.
Why he chose to keep out of the conflict is because anyone that is not an abyss seeker that slay beasts of the abyss get for each kill stains of the abyss on their soul. This is nothing any ordinary soldier needs to worry about as they would likely die before anything happened. Wardnan however is a chosen knight of a god that have slayed multiple Akon beasts even. If he continues he would risk become infected and start bleeding abyss. Which in turn would make him a source from which the abyss can bleed into the world.
Here is where the abyss seekers are so important. Their souls are manipulated by Terrodus to not contain life essence which in turn would make them seem like living dead. They have very shallow feelings if any feelings at all. The abyss have difficulties to grab onto people without the life essence in their soul without actually killing them.
The monsters though or the "spawns" are not directly infected by the abyss but rather tormented by it. As indicated in Radhe's dream. The monsters are corrupted creatures turned into monsters by the abyss. Not just infected but tormented in the core of the abyss (Which Terrodus is guarding). Here they remain for at least hundreds of years. This is a lot of time to think, to grow hate. Sometimes these beings slip into the world through holes or wounds created by abyssal fragments that have been left unchecked for too long. Larger wound = more dangerous monsters.
The Akon is noted as the most dangerous of these monsters that have ever entered the world but there is one more dangerous which even the gods fear. One that has been trapped within the abyss from the very beginning. Or as they believe. (I will write about this being in dialogue later.)
When the bells tolled and Nathan left, Tiamat got nowhere else to go except her room. She searched her room for food, only to find bread from her bag which she bought earlier that day. Practice with Haide made her hungry, and the visit at Legorna's Heat and Sweet made it worse. Tiamat ate in her room alone, until she was no longer hungry. She remembers how the burning pain returned when she ate that bread. The water from her bottle quenched it, but the pain had drained the last bit of energy from the dragon child, and she fell asleep on her bed.
Tiamat woke up when the Akon beast was slain and Radhe was saved. When Tiamat was told what happened outside the city, she felt ashamed. People died and suffered when she was taking a nap. Even though the burning pain within Tiamat had grown stronger each day, it's nothing compared to the outbreak. That's what she thought at least. She cared about this world, this city, and its people, yet did nothing.
With tears in her eyes, Tiamat started to hit the table multiple times with her fists. "Why am I like this!?" She screamed and kept hitting the table until anger was drowned by sadness. "Why am I not able to do anything... mom?" She watched as her tears fell onto the slightly broken table, then she closed her eyes and started sobbing. After a moment, someone lifted Tiamat's head from her chin.
She opened her eyes. Tiamat was outside her home. A cool wind was blowing and the bright sunlight dazzled her eyes as she tried to take a good look at the person right before her. Even though she couldn't see his face, Tiamat knew him. The man's old scale armor made small noises as he crouched before Tiamat and wiped her tears with his thumbs. Then the man hugged Tiamat for a while before getting up and walking away to the bright distance. She tried to run after him, but a woman behind Tiamat took the dragon child to her arms.
"Dad! Dad!"
Tiamat reached her hand at the man, who kept walking away without looking back until she couldn't see him anymore. Then everything faded away. Tiamat was in her room again, reaching her hand at the open window. The sky was slightly darker and there was even less sunlight than before. "It... it was a memory." Tiamat wiped the last tears from her face, stood up, and noticed something.
She could see trees and fields from her window which she haven't seen before. Then Tiamat looked at herself and her hands until she realized something. She has rapidly grown since the day of her match. "What is this? What's happening to me?" Her heart started to beat faster as she felt the pain returning.
This time she could feel it in every part of her body. Burning pain which made her arms and legs shake. Tiamat started to sweat as she was looking for her leather bottle in the bag. She took the bottle, opened it as fast as she could and tried to take a swig of refreshing water. Nothing came out. The bottle was empty.
"I feel like... I'm in flames..!"
Tiamat dropped the bottle and tried to walk out of her room with her shaking legs. She took a few steps until she collapsed in the middle of her room. She was shaking and sweating on the wooden floor. The pain was growing stronger and she screamed with all the remaining powers she had. Then Tiamat lost consciousness.
We are closing up towards the quarter finals.
First some notes regarding these matches.
*The first quarter match begins on Sunday the 18th at approximately 20:00 (Central European Time).
*You will have until Sunday, 18th 12:00 (Central European Time) to make changes to your champion card. (For example give your card a colored frame, it looks better.)
*I would appreciate if you all gave me some basic information about your champions current powers/weaknesses and such. (Something Like what Swegboss12 did for Beq). It will make it easier for me when evaluating your champions.
* This Time I will put more focus on the card and its design instead of the character influence trough the story. The point system will still be close to 50/50.
Also I want to remind you of one thing I think has been forgotten amongst some, (even myself sometimes.)
The core evaluation is based on card design and the crowd's support.
The crowd is everyone that is not a contestant. Civilians, soldiers, merchants, the hosts etc.
(I will not take my own story segments into consideration for the evaluation of crowd support.) If this was not clear before.
*I will after each match give a short description why I have chosen as I did.
The matches will be as earlier stated:
Match Q1
@Gelectrode VS @Swegboss12
Match Q2
@sanjaya666 VS @Faiths_Guide
Match Q3
@TenebrisNemo VS @Lujikul
Match Q4
@MagicChess VS @KalamMekhar
(I will update this list as you present your updated versions)
Also are any of you interested in the background lore which I have mentioned.
The gods? The abyssal avatar? Lisakdonia, Clementia's conflict with the federation head?
Just so I don't write these only for myself.
The white dragon spread its mighty wings and glided towards Tiamat. She tried to get up but she couldn't move her legs. She was completely helpless. The dragon was getting closer and opened its mouth, which was full of long, sharp teeth. Tiamat closed her eyes. She could hear her heart's rapid beat from within her chest. In the moment when the dragon's mouth was right before Tiamat, she gasped. That was the last sound she heard.
Tiamat didn't feel any pain. She didn't even hear anything. She opened her eyes and only saw darkness. She could move her legs again, but this time there was no ground where to stand. She was quietly floating within darkness. After a few seconds, her body started to glow.
The dragon child stared at her arms and body, which have grown since the day of her match against Jahanacicus. The orange-red glow came from within Tiamat's chest actually. Then, the glowing thing slowly came out of her chest and floated right before her. Tiamat surrounded it with her palms.
It was a tiny, bright thing. Its core was pure white and it had an yellow aura. White particles came from it, and each one of them vanished after seconds. It was burning with a red fire. Even though the bright flames licked Tiamat's fingers, she didn't feel any pain.
"Is this... my soul?"
The flames grew bigger. As the soul burned, it emitted more particles. Tiamat could feel how the soul grew stronger with each passing second.
"So... this is the reason for my pain... and growth."
Tiamat had no idea, why her soul was burning, but a moment later she came to a conclusion that it had something to do with the reason why her mother wanted Tiamat to participate in the tournament in the first place.
"My soul will change its form."
She took a deep breath, then slowly put her burning soul against her chest with her palms. A second later, it went through the blue clothes, the skin, and finally, the rib-cage. Tiamat prepared for an immense pain, but she didn't feel any. Her entire body started to glow brightly. Bright flames surrounded her. She closed her eyes and floated in the bottomless darkness like a star.
Sound of songbirds and a bustling city. Tiamat yawned, stretched her arms and opened her eyes. She was lying on her bed.
"So, you're still alive?"
"I know that voice..."
Tiamat turned her head. A knight was sitting on the chair while leaning to the wooden table.
"Good morning, Haide."
"Good morning? That's all?"
Haide stood up and continued with a concerned voice, even though she tried to hide it.
"Last night a watchman heard a scream in this room and found you lying on the floor. You were shaking and sweating. We even brought Bristana here to see what was wrong with you. She put a sedative spell on you and we put you onto your bed. I have been watching over you for the whole night."
Tiamat was sitting on her bed and noticed how her whole body has changed. Her hair was longer as well.
"Earlier this morning, when the sun hasn't even risen yet, your body started to glow brightly for a few hours. When it stopped, you were no longer the little girl who stepped to the harbor of Legorna for the first time."
"I think I can explain... But I'm hungry. I also need new clothes and armor!"
Radhe lay on her bed, contemplating the events of the days that had just gone by. She was unable to expel the memories. Everytime she closed her eyes, she saw images. The dead plants. The beast. Howard, lying dead, never to meet his sister again. It was too much for her to bear.
She looked down at her leg, or what used to be her leg. A bitter taste coated her tongue. She was crippled.
She had to take her mind off it somehow. She looked out the window. Some vines caught her attention.
Maybe a bit of practice will keep my mind busy.
She closed her eyes and waited for the familiar upwelling of energy to begin. To her surprise, it did not. The image of the beast returned, as if to mock her.
No. This can't be.
She dug harder, shoving with all her might against an invisible barrier that had come between her mind and her inner energy reserve. It didn't give way. Her wounds started pulsating now, especially at the stump of her missing leg. The image of the beast grew stronger and stronger. She desperately raised her palm at the vine and tried to make it grow. The vine wouldn't budge. The pain was unbearable now.
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO, NO, NO, NO!
It was futile. She ceased her efforts, collapsing under the efforts, before bursting into tears. She truly felt crippled now. Her powers were the umbilical cord that linked her to nature, and it was now hanging by the slightest of threads.
I have been corrupted. Defiled.
Trembling with a mixture of fear, horror, grief and rage, she soon drifted into a fitful sleep.
________________________________________________________________________
A faint feeling of warmth tried to tickle her awake. She tried to resist it. The source of the warmth came back, as if knocking on her mind's door.
Radhe, it whispered.
She sat bolt upright, before falling back onto the bed due to the lack of balance on her right side. It was nighttime. She craned her neck to look up, squinting her eyes to see better in the darkness. To her surprise, she saw a small, brightly glowing object floating in midair. Not just any glowing object. The radish she first crafted. Her first creation.
It began to move. Radhe couldn't believe what she was seeing.
What on earth?
It moved towards the door, before hovering there, as though inquisitively.
It wants me to follow.
But how?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the loud arguing of two familiar voices. Radhe sighed. These goblins...
"...no Thibble, you blithering idiot! This won't do, not one bit!"
She tried to tune their yelling out, before remembering something.
She dropped to the floor, wincing at the pain. She had to forget about it. She crawled towards the door on all threes, gritting her teeth all the while. The floating radish now seemed to be satisfied, and began moving ahead.
"No wait! I, I need to make a detour."
The radish paused, although it seemed to bounce up and down impatiently.
Radhe crawled towards a small shed outside her dwelling. She had seen Bibble and Thibble discard various mechanical parts while redesigning the robot thingy (what was its name, R2-D2 or something?). She hoped she'd find something useful there.
Rummaging through the pile of metallic waste (as best as she could with one hand), she finally found what something helpful. A robotic arm, of sorts. Artifice, she thought, shuddering at that word. It took a while, but with the help of some leather straps and pins that had carelessly been strewn around the shed, she was finally able to build a sort of prosthetic leg that she could walk on. She strapped it on, and took a few experimental steps. It was clunky, it hurt, but it worked and that was all she cared about.
It felt good to be on two feet again.
Walking towards where she left the floating radish, she saw that it had gone from glowing a warm gold to glowing a burnished copper.
Okay, okay, I'm here. Whatever you are, that is.
It led her past bushes and trees. The light it cast was barely enough to see by. Her metallic leg caused her to fall a few times, but she got up quickly and carried on each time.
What does it want to tell me?
She looked around her, and to her shock the surrounding plants and trees were bending, as though to look at her. She felt, exposed. Vulnerable.
The radish continued moving ahead until it reached a tree, an aged willow. The radish went up to the tree, and the colours of its light began to change back and forth rapidly.
They're communicating!
To her astonishment, a large golden orb, larger than she was capable of producing, emerged from the tree of its own volition.
Come with me, it resounded in her mind, as it drifted deeper into the forest.
Radhe limped after it, her radish following closely behind.
A flash of golden light blinded her. Radhe closed her eyes, shielding her eyes.
You can't know the way. Sorry.
Reluctantly, Radhe continued ahead blindly, trusting the tree-orb to guide her safely.
After a while, she could feel the radish pushing against her. It was time to open her eyes.
She was absolutely awestruck by what she saw. She was inside an ancient shrine with golden walls that shone like a star. Pillars with strange carvings surrounded her, inscribed with a language she couldn't understand (for all she knew, it might have been the common tongue, considering her inability to read). A huge orb floated above a raised altar, and was orbited by several smaller ones, which were in turn orbited by even smaller ones. She went closer to it, curious. She needed to know. The orb beckoned her closer. She climbed the altar in a laborious manner, and laid her hands upon the orb. Her eyes closed and her mind was transported away. It only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like days to her. The flood of information she was getting was incredible.
The plants were communicating with her. They told her that she couldn't access her powers due to the Akon beast's corrupting influence, but that could be healed later. Even if she couldn't speak to them, they would speak to her, and help her on her path.
In your time of need, we will be there.
She released her grasp on the orb, eyes still shut. She cried tears of confused emotions. She was not a cripple. She had the plants on her side.
She began to open her eyes. Should I tell Sir Wa--
She was sitting upright in her bed. There was no orb in front of her. She spun around in horror. Her radish lay alongside the original one. Where it always was.
This can't be. No, no, NOOOO!!!
She pounded on her bed, biting her tongue in impotent rage. She had such high hopes, and now she realised they were all dreams. Trembling, she punched the bed in front of her, where her leg should have been.
Her fist connected with some of the purest, hardest, finest Mizzium ever crafted. Her knuckles popped and one of her fingers dislocated. She howled with pain. Gritting her teeth, she pulled the bedsheet apart with her now-bloodied fingers.
Amidst the pain, a note of joy emerged. There was her prosthetic leg, attached to her with leather straps and pins.
It did happen!
She looked at her radish, which gave her a fleeting glow as though in affirmation. She looked outside the window. The vines lashed out once, to let her know, before returning to their original conformation.
The door burst open. Her cries had attracted the attention of the medical staff. They were very concerned upon seeing the state of her hand, and were puzzled at the sudden appearance of a metallic leg. When inquired about both, she feigned ignorance. The hand was injured because she thrashed around in a bad dream. She didn't know who placed the leg there. The still-confused attendants decided not to ponder the matter further and tend to her wounds instead.
As she lay there on the bed while being treated, she thought of the events that had just happened. No longer was she a powerless cripple. She had hope. And she would not let mere physical limitations stop her from competing, not just in the tournament, but in life in general. She was not alone.
New powers/strengths:
a. Increased knowledge/intelligence (reflected in the draw ability and gain of blue in colour identity)
b. Plants will help her from time to time (reflected in the temporary token ability)
c. More confident and/or aggressive (reflected in the ping ability and the hasty tokens)
d. Mizzium leg can be useful (it isn't an Izzet card without some Izzet property in it, izzet?)
Weaknesses:
a. Temporarily unable to call upon her nature powers at will (reflected in the loss of green in colour identity; although the plants themselves will help her, this is not 100% reliable)
b. Physical impairment and limited movement
c. Slightly more impulsive (she is excited at her new lease of life, and still feels rage about the beast incident, so can have some impulsive moments)
Edit: slight rewording of abilities
Hans was carrying a basket with fruits and other good stuff which he wanted to give to Radhe as thanks. The streets where strangely empty as he walked. When he approached the residential buildings where the contestants lived he could hear people sing from the lower parts of the city where the bridge is.
Hans decided went inside to see Radhe but she was not there. He left the basket at her door and returned outdoor. There where even more people singing now. Hans could see three large ships in the harbor. He decided to see what was going on, A parade maybe? He got eager so he ran down towards the bridge.
When he came closer he began to see a bunch of people standing on the bridge, watching something. "There must be parade!" Hans thought as he tried to move past the tight crowd. When he came through he realized that it was no parade. He could only see singing soldiers marching towards the harbor. Probably a thousand of them, all carrying heavy bags. He looked around and found Leandra standing behind some families that where taking farewell of their fathers and sons.
Hans got through to Leandra. "Ehm. Hi! I don't know if you recognize me but I was in the tournament. As a contestants.. I lost to Radhe." Leandra looked on him with her arms still crossed. "So ehm what is happening here, why these soldiers and the singing?" Hans asked a little nervous.
Leandra gave a short sigh. "They are soldiers ordered by the Generals in Crastine." She said. She answered the next question before Hans could even open his mouth.
"They are going to war. It seems like this world is not as peaceful as all of Legorna
made it seem. This city was once famous around the world for its peaceful living standards, their masterful theaters performances and very fertile soil. Then sixteen years ago the Lisakdonians came here and took over. Legorna did not have much of a military then either so it was easily conquered without bloodshed. This is why we don't see much of Clementia anymore. She is trying to please the Lisakdonians so that Legorna can remain... free."
Hans nodded and then pointed at the marching soldiers. "So this is the price they pay for having this freedom?" Leandra shook her head. "No, this is a new demand. The actual price was to use their town as the host location for the tournament, our tournament. The tournament would use the earlier theater locations, something which the theater performers did not approve as the theaters would be made impure with blood. Negotiations would be made in Sirkonda or as we know it, The abandoned town.
The general of the Lisakdonian invasion called it a rebellion and sent armed forces to Sirkonda to take them out. Among the causalities were Nathan's dad, Anthony von Moxartine. After his and the other performers' death there were no one that dared to continue the theater performances anymore and it died out. The only performances left are the tournament."
Hans looked surprised and a little angry at her. "Why did they have to choose Legorna of all places?" Leandra remained silent for a little moment. "Legorna was and still is considered the nicest city in this world where tournament games can be held. It was chosen so that the contestants would grow connections to the nice people and feel pride to be supported by them. A support false in bathed by blood and fear. A support that is supposed to lift up our courage before we leave for the Lisakdonian capital of Crastine. The legornians lost their faith and pride when the theater performers was killed. Now they seek new faith in the tournament performers to watch and love. Within them they still wish that someday they will be a city of theaters and not bloody tournament matches anymore."
"How do you know?" Hans asked.
"I found a book of the theater performances of Legorna some time ago.
The last paragraph of the play "The homeless beauty and the wizard" was writte.
"My hero don't die, for I still have faith in you."
They are not talking about us, they are talking about the theater and their dream."
This was incredibly beneficial. With the arrival of the monstrous Akons, it seemed that any trepidation the Lagornians had had with regard to constructs had vanished. They began to think of them as additional guards of the city. Not only had the general public changed their view, but the lust for ownership had been redoubled among the merchants. Clearly these metal marvels, who so readily obeyed the order to follow another into battle, would make magnificent bodyguards. That, of course, was only further reason to want the workers as they were already proven assets in commercial pursuits.
And this leads us to the present circumstance. A line of merchants, trying to look as sure of themselves as the Izzet mages they'd seen before. Though not as prominently arrayed, they were bedecked in all of their costliest niceties; silk robes, gold chains, reflective high-polish knee-high boots, among other such things, were all displayed in as gaudy a manner they could manage. In this way, they approached the living quarters of Mishra... who'd been expecting them. As the same spokes-merchant previously elected by his fellows reached for the door it swung towards him followed immediately by two Assembly-Workers who stood at either side of its opening admitting them. Most of the merchants felt more royal than they'd dressed as they processed between the tall and static machines. Any nervousness they had (which they tried ever so hard not to show) vanished with such a ready admittance. They came to the inner workshop door of the artificer and didn't wait more than an instant before it too swung towards them revealing the chair-bound genius, arms crossed on his lap and looking straight at them without expression. So captivating was the supposed cripple that the merchants had fully entered and clustered in the available space before him well in advance of recognizing what towered behind him.
As the eyes of the merchants became accustomed to the indoor light, two abnormal Assembly-Workers materialized in the gloom behind Mishra, the room was only partially lit by a handful of candles in their respective sconces. Besides the size discrepancy they had to the workers the merchants had seen before, these massive constructs had many more "arms." Most of these appendages appeared to be revolving belts or to end in "hands" with a vast number of very long and slender phalanges. The previously bold merchants became slightly nervous again.
Bristana walked towards the third of the large ships in the harbor. Behind her the soldiers were either taking farewell to their loved ones or prepared their long journey by stepping onto the first ship. A bunch of people, mostly lisakdonian knights stepped from walked down the ramp of the third ramp. One of them in particular walked towards Bristana. He had a scarred face with a huge tattoo that covered almost all of it. "You have finally arrived, we began to worry that neither the federation nor the church would take our last letter seriously" Bristana said to the man which appeared to be the sought after clergyman.
"Oh dear, you were correct. Neither the federation nor the church did care about your problem with this rogue mage." The clergyman responded.
"Then who sent you? The clergyman just smiled at her question. "So where is this problematic subject of yours?" The man said as another man approached them behind him with a robe covering him totally. "He is in the custody cell in the chapel. We don't believe we can heal him of this... sickness he have. Do you think you can help him? " The clergyman now began to laugh a sick. "That would be best for him. In case my little surgery would not work and he, what did you write in the letter? oh yeah, lose control again. Then my, ehm I mean our friend here will stop him with a simple cut.
Bristana looked strangely at him. "A simple cut? Our friend? what do you mean, our friend?" She said as the man behind the clergyman revealed himself. "Hello Bristana." He said as Bristana dropped froze up. "YOU!? Why would they send you!?... who did send you?" Bristana's feelings were bubbling within her as her body was shaking. The man chuckled as he spoke "Oh dear oh dear Bristana. Friyena got so worried when she heard that you have already gotten problems here. I heard that you let Vincent, haha Vincent of everyone take care of one problematic contestant, Pity really. I would have loved to slice that man's throat open. But you let Vincent take care of it. Such shame."
Bristana stood straight and with an angry but determined voice she spoke. "We don't need. We are thankful that you took down Vincent last year but we can handle thi..."
She got interrupted by the man's loud laugh "HAHAHA oh really!? oh really? Because that is not what I heard. This man of yours took three mexotum arrows. Dask Vortel's all three arrows. The damage he did to the forest made a wound which the abyss could bleed through, and an akon came through. An akon that killed a soldier and watchman and almost killed a contestant. You could not stop it before you let the coward and traitor Wardnan step in."
"Sir Wardnan is not a traitor!!" Bristana lashed out at the man. "Friyena herself accepted his request to become a silent knight of hers."
"Well it does not matter what he is. Your contestants are becoming too strong for your pitiful watchmen to keep in control. On the talk of watchmen, I heard that the Oliver became one. I am astonished that it was not he who got killed by the Akon."
The man began to walk with the clergyman in towards the city but before he could reach very far he said one last thing "Greet Marianne from me!" Before he continued to laugh.
Bristana screamed in rage as she began to ran towards the man. Some soldiers ran from the march to stop her in her anger. The soldiers held her as they pleaded her to calm down which she did. She fell onto her knees shaking and with both anger and sadness within her. "Go, someone go an tell Clementia and the others hosts, Not Sir Wardnan! that Zaralim is back." She took a pause as two of the soldiers ran away.
"Sir Wardnan needs to hear from me or the other hosts that his wife's killer is back."
That means that he is last year's champion.
Difference between Vincent and Zaralim.
Vincent is an abyss seeker under Terrodus given life of duty from death.
Zaralim is a champion under Friyena given honor by championship.
Marianne was Sir Wardnan's wife.
I'm glad you wrote about Lisakdonia. )
The dense mechanized constructs had courier components and similarities to the other Assembly-Workers (which they, too, were), but that was all that was recognizable. These were vastly different and clearly for a different purpose.
Mishra prompted the closest merchant to begin with an impolite cough.
"Of course" he began shakily. "ahem We've come to tell you that between us" some gathered shuffled, apparently disgruntled at this "there has been set aside ample room for your factories. We are prepared to assist you and pay you however you direct." more shuffling. "It has become clear to us that your constructs are not an asset, but a necessity. How quickly can we establish your production facilities that they might be operational. As far as we're concerned, the sooner the better."
"We're ready now." Mishra's response was only delayed for emphasis. "Payment is a discussion for another time. First I need to make sure that each of you is satisfied, and, for this, your facilities are all that I require." This set the merchants more prone to shuffling at ease.
The more familiar Assembly-Workers opened a new gear ridden door in the back of Mishra's current abode. It was large enough to allow the wider and taller constructs to exit.
"We'd best get started." Mishra continued "Where are these new 'rooms.'"
It didn't take long for the two new Assembly-Workers to get installed in their respective workhouses. They immediately began producing metal components from materials the merchants happily supplied. Mishra oversaw each step and phase.
The first thing the efficient machines produced were pieces to assemble another one of themselves, which they did in two halves. Mishra combined these in the third--currently last--warehouse the merchants had provided. Now the three identical constructs began the process of enhancing themselves, enlarging each their own components to make the best use of their respective spaces. They were mobile factory Assembly-Workers, and production could now get underway.
Neerayne intently observed the scene that was happened before her. After the arrival of Sir Henric Wardnan along with some of his soldiers and five strangely pale people clad in a dark robe, those strange individuals then quickly went down from their horses. In a uniform motion, they went to encircle the portal and proceeded to chant some sort of unknown incantations after they got a confirmation from Sir Wardnan himself. The said person also went down from his steed and started to question the captain of the current hunting party.
"Welcome back, sir." Saluted the captain.
"Captain." Answered
"Five people, sir?"
"Lady Erdalia was currently... not available. Besides that, she's also a rather elusive individual." Sighed the veteran knight.
"I see..."
"So, who dealt the killing blow?" He asked while glanced at the corpse of the slayed beast that lied in front of the dark elf.
"It was also me, sir." Said the captain.
"Have you been feeling anything weird after you slayed it?"
"Nothing, sir. Only slight fatigue after the fight and the whole day walking and running."
"Alright, but report immediately if you feel something out of ordinary with you. Now we shall wait until the ritual finished."
Captain Falke just nodded and proceeded to observe the process of the ritual along with the others.
Neerayne leaned her head towards Garrett slightly.
"Hey Garrett, what does he mean by that?" She asked with a hushed voice.
Garrett decided to answer it by mimicking her tone of voice.
"Oh that, there is this curse if anyone that is not an abyss seeker would slay the beasts-"
"Abyss seeker?"
"Those creepy people." He pointed towards the group of black robed individuals.
"Ah, I see."
"So, in short, if you're not one of those people, a stain of the abyss will latch on your soul. Technically, this is nothing any ordinary soldier needs to worry about as they would likely die before anything happened."
"Nothing? But the captain is an ordinary person right?"
"Then that thing is not the beast of the abyss. I believe that that is just some infected animal that got a stain from the abyss, therefore it can't pass its dark influence towards the other living beings."
"Do you have any idea how it could be corrupted?"
Garrett just shrugged.
"Wait, what about the other beast that... just get slayed before? Who did slay it?"
"Oh that was Sir Wardnan. And that beast was the real deal. A real spawn of the abyss." Garrett just folded his hands.
"But..."
Garrett only pointed his finger, signaling the dark elf to stop commenting.
"Sir Wardnan, however is a chosen knight of a god that have slayed multiple of those beasts. So he has a sort of divine protection, or something like that. Don't ask about it because I have no idea how he could obtain it in the first place."
"... How could anyone tell the difference between the one who came from the abyss and the corrupted animals?"
"The real beasts have no resemblance to any known animal because they aren't from this world."
Neerayne raised her eyebrow.
"... And you said you don't know about such phenomenon?"
"Er, what I meant before is about how the portal, thing, could appear in our world. For that, I have no idea, for now at least."
Sighing, Neerayne then continued to focus towards the otherworldly ritual that happened around the portal. At the moment, a sort of dark auras were coming out from the abyss seekers that were connected with the dark portal. In a slow motion, the portal were somehow shrunk in size, and after some moment passed, the portal imploded after it was down the size where an ordinary human eye couldn't see, leaving only dark particles that floated in the air for a moment. Then the abyss seekers returned to ride their steeds along with Sir Wardnan.
"Alright men, it's slowly getting dark so I and my cavalry will go looking for the other parties. Now I order all of you to return and set a camp at the border of the forest to keep watch over the perimeter." Announced Sir Wardnan.
"Oh and don't forget to bring along the dead bodies.''
"But sir, about the risk of infection..." Interrupted Captain Falke.
"Someone have to do this, and there's currently only I who can cleanse the abyssal spawns. It is my duty, captain." Answered the mounted knight with a stern tone.
"I... understand, sir." The bearded captain could only nod in that response.
Sir Wardnan then commanded his steed to turn.
"And stay vigilant, captain." After that, he proceeded to continue his ride along with his cavalry to the deeper parts of the forest.
The captain turned towards the current searching party.
"You all heard it, now pack the dead bodies and we return to the city."
Garrett just looked at Neerayne again and shrugged.
Well, a bit anticlimactic but still better than dying by getting mauled by one of those things. Or get infected and dying a painful death, I suppose. Hope I still get my payment after this whole mess, hmph.' The dark elf was also a little confused about the current situation, then finally she decided to help by the packing the corpses and return to the city.
Her stomach was also grumbled in her annoyance.
'Great, a whole day hunting effort for the deer before is wasted too.' She sighed again.
"Hey Neerayne, do your sword also needs a repair too?" Asked the young soldier towards the elf in a sudden.
"Why do you ask it?"
"Well, can you check your sword again?"
She pulled her sword from its sheathe, and surprised about the result. The sword was now shattered to pieces, but a sort of aura seemed to hold it together, making it seemed to be more ominous than before.
Garrett could also only stared at it too.
"Well, I didn't mean by 'shattered in pieces' because it was only had some scratches here and there before..."
"Interesting..." The dark elf creaked a small grin instead.
- ][ -
(Some information about Neerayne :
Powers:
- Simple black mana manipulation, like in the previous fight.
- A magical warding in form of an azure pendant, like before. She could block a fireball or mind control spell with it, but it seems to be useless or can break against much more stronger magic attacks.
- She gets a new sword named Duskbringer, it allows her to turn into a wraith-like form. Because upgrade.
Abilities:
- Skilled swordswoman.
- Enhanced agility and reflexes for being an elf and a trained soldier before.
- Seasoned hunter and survivalist.
Not OP at all right? I know that you want me to lose in this second match boss, so you will be the one who continue the story after this. Oh, and Wardnan is in the forest along with five abyss seekers and some soldiers looking for another hunting parties, just telling.
Some cards for a better insight for you :
Just giving the info about the sword since I can't change my character anyway.
And the merchant I told before is a walker. I know that the card is crap, heh.)
First: You can change your card as long as it keeps to the rules.
* The card has to be the same person.
* It has to have the correct cmc and be a creature
* The core has to be similar (often an ability).
Everything around can be changed. you can change colors (as long as the core of the card remains similar). You can change creature types. etc.
As long as the evolution feels natural I am for anything.
Second: Please don't say such stuff as "you know that I will let you lose this match."
Neither you nor I will feel better about it. no one will.
There are two scenarios that can happen.
*You lose: It will feel as you could not have done anything from the start and everything was just a waste of time and energy.
*You win: It will feel as I gave you the win only to spirit you up and not because your champions was better.
I know that of all 16 players, I have to make 15 of them lose in the end.
The only thing I can do to encourage people and make them feel good for their time is to let them post their cards (I also want to see them) and receive deserved favorites for them.
I don't want anyone to feel bad or disappointed if they lose but the pure nature of this contest makes it so either way. I refer back to the first point on my self-critical post. The out-of-nowhere story. To change it back now though I believe would be even more unprofessional and confusing. It would make more harm than good.
So I want people to not put too much hope and soul into this contest unless they are having fun doing it.