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COLONISERS: Season 4!!! (Colonisers of Turmoil)
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"Look, if us winning this tournament can guarantee our success, then we need to send in a veteran. Vash is our most renowned fighter, although a bit brash. But, he will get the job done."
--Jack--
On exactly this day, exactly one year ago, I posted a challenge for the S1 of Colonisers. It was the first of the routine Outer Faction Interventions, something that has been a staple of the series up to this season (and we are definitely still doing that at some point). This, I believe, is when the series really got cooking. Seeing all those cards, which were GOOD, made me realise how much I love this site, and this contest. It's brought a lot of joy into my life, and maybe even brought a little joy into the lives of others, which is what makes for a successful hobby in my book
Thank you to everyone who has been along for the ride, from @Lujikul who's competed in this series for more than a year now (kudos, btw), to every newcomer this season.
Now that we have this out of the way, WHO'S READY TO BATTLE IN A FEW DAYS?!
That's the spirit!
The clans send Reyhar the Chief of Clan Tho.
The S.E.E. shall be transferred back to Kithidrantil and be congratulated by our guardian himself, Domotra. This will be a tremendous experience. This is S.E.E captain Galselpat signing off, and I shall give the com system to head scientist Yolakanishku as she has some things to say.
Thank you, Galselpat. I am head S.E.E. scientist Yolakanishku reporting in on some strange findings on Kithidrantil. One of our forest reserves is beginning to rot like crazy, and we don’t know the full reason. The disease seems to be a mixture of black slop and even bits of muddied flesh. If anyone could find the name for this virus that plagues our forest, it would be greatly appreciated before the whole environment is rotted away. Any answers shall be forwarded to my office computer. Thank you all for your time. Head scientist of the Scourge Eradication Enforcement, Yolakanishku, signing off.
HMMMMM, maybe the eradication protocol wasn't that thorough!
Illogical. No signs were detected after the cleansing. You speak slander.
An unsuspecting victim of fate.
From our grand epics, we open the gate.
Our champion appears. A bane of hate.
Gnash knows she has to go about this route. Marden was the only thing she feared once upon a time, and now the only thing she fears is not being able to free him. The Ritual of Unbinding frees a Drone that is chained to a Mindlord, but it is a long and arduous ritual that rips the soul from its victim.
She and her advisors spend hours completing rituals. Drones scream in agony as they are sacrificed and their being harvested. Older ones laugh maniacally at the sweet release that death is bringing them. Others still simply smile, for they are not conscious, and live without pain. Drone after Drone is given to the ritual, its progress draining Gnash's life force as it continues.
Gnash braces herself as her advisors remove blood from her body. The knife does not cause pain, but the realization of how low she had stooped did.
Before the ritual ends, Marden, mind still chained to Gnash's own, is shoved through the portal. It closes violently behind him, and Gnash finishes the ritual just moments after. She collapses as she feels his soul reaved from his body. It does not feel like you are losing something, as you are always told. Instead, it is comparable only to having your flesh stretched and peeled off of your bones. Agonizing would be an understatement, and the magnitude of the pain thrusts Gnash into unconsciousness.
Marden cannot control his screams as he falls to his knees on the floor of the stadium, filled with a soulless rage and hatred. Pain surges through his body as the wounds he bears are suddenly given power over him once again.
He looks up tentatively at the sky, the ceiling, or whatever is visible from here. He doesn't need to receive instruction. His soul flies around, angrily tormenting whatever it can find. It cries out, wanting to return to him. It whispers to him, telling him of who he once was.
As he sits in a cesspool of hatred, Marden knows that his only way out will be to kill. He shakily stands up, blood-caked spear and kopesh-style sword readied. He will fight to his death or to his victory, whichever comes first.
Who-wee! I've been working on this all week. Drafting and redrafting. Designing and redesigning. Writing and rewriting. I hope y'all enjoy, and may the best challenger win!
*applause*
"I should, I'm the strongest!" "Ay, but our enemies will be cunning. What about Marigold? She's the swiftest." "The lass can barely lift one of our axes, let alone swing one with any precision. Perhaps we should send the captai- err, Chulane?" The room quickly became abuzz and alive at this, and the crew quickly became divided. Those who believed Chulane should be sent reasoned that he was the most skilled and capable of them. The others argued that if he were to lose, then the Stargazer Society would fall to ruin.
With all this going on, Chulane simply shakes his head and sighs. Ironic that though he was often listened to, he suddenly didn't have a say in this matter. From up the stairs, the sound of heavy footsteps echoes, and the room falls silent. The sounds draw closer, one footstep after another, before this new arrival is finally visible. It was Serise herself, followed by one of the young apprentices who was assigned to keep her busy.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't stop her-" "Quiet." Serise cuts off the young man, and looks around, her gaze sweeping the room, before meeting Chulane's. "So this is where the crew went. What's this about a tournament, and trying so hard to keep me from knowing? And furthermore, why are you all gathered here, as though you were trying to hide?" Her words carried a heavy tone of accusation, her meaning clear to all present.
For nearly a full minute, everyone remains quiet, and the young apprentice that had followed Serise quickly rushed backup the stairs, his hurried footsteps echoing in the otherwise dead room. Finally, Chulane builds up the courage to speak.
"My lady, the truth is we are all assembled down here so as to not disturb your rest while we debated on the subject of the tournament. As our esteemed leader, you should stay well rested."
"And why keep me blind as to the simple existence of this... tournament?"
"I did not want you to feel any stress in the approaching days. After all, this is a subject of incredible weight, and as our greatest mage we certainly can't risk you being in poor health. After all..." Chulane takes a deep breath. This next line would either be a damning one, or an incredible victory. "...As our most powerful mage, I believe that you should be the one to participate." The tense silence returns, and Serise narrows her eyes.
"...Very well. But Chulane, you and I will have a discussion about this behavior when I return. Come, Marigold, and prepare my boat for the travel." Serise walks back up the stairs, the young lady following not far behind. It took all of Chulane's willpower to keep a smirk from crossing his face.
"What're you thinking, sending her off? All that's doing is establishing her position as leader."
"Worry not, Hector, this was the best possible result."
"I don't follow."
"Look at the sky, and tell me what you see." The two crane their heads upwards towards the night sky.
"I see the moon, the stars, the constellations you mapped out, like the scorpion, and the bull, and the serpent. Also the occasional shooting star, I suppose."
"Good. That shooting star is what I wanted you to see, Hector. They stand out among the others for their brilliance and dazzling display. But those that come for our planet fade long before they arrive, and those that do make it here are battered and beaten, reduced to mere pieces of what they were." The two stand in silence, Hector's face trapped in a pondering expression, before Chulane finally resumes talking. "Serise is the shooting star in this story, Hector."
"Aye, I see."
"Do you really?"
"...No."
Chulane sighs. "Serise will either die or return triumphant. If she dies there will be a power vacuum, one that will need filling. The Stargazer Society will need a new leader. And if she returns... not only will she have seized victory, but she will be weakened in the days to come." Chulane puts his hand on hector's shoulder. "In either case, this is for the best. She no longer looks at the sky merely to appreciate its beauty. She looks for the power she can rob from the stars, instead of accepting the gift of the power they do give us. Serise will take us down a dark path, one where the sky is a pitch black void." Chulane walks away to retire to his quarters, leaving the man in stunned silence.
24 HOURS!
--"My father!" Squeaked Edwin, whose skin had turned a mottled, sickened color, his face splitting open as if a tentacle had grown into it. "The tournament--surely you can't believe we--shouldn't e-enter!" Black spittle flew from his mouth, causing the once-eloquent inventor to stumble and trip over his words.
"I AM THINKING!" High Prophet Hastyr sent his voice booming into the poor mage's puny mind, sending him to his knees. AND YOU ARE NOT TO DISTURB ME!
Edwin hesitated, reeling, then continued. "Of -- of course, sir. Or, father. My apologies. It's just..."
Hastyr bent down, his intimidating, twisted mass lowering to meet his gaze. He cocked his horrific head.
"It's simply that -- that all of the others -- they have sent their most powerful champions to the arena -- and..." Edwin trailed off, then picked up again, with renewed intensity. "Do you not want to claim this land? To make it the home of the children? To bring in hordes and hordes until every plane knows the might of the Old One? We need a champion. We need--"
One of Hastyr's tentacles flew out and wrapped itself around the tiny, twisted thrall, bringing him terrifyingly close the the High Prophet's face in a great swinging motion. "I have someone in mind." He whispered softly.
"Who?"
"You may have heard of her. The first of my converts, who dwells in the darkest of our caverns." Hastyr grinned with malevolent intensity. "The Mistress of Blood."
"The Mistress? I thought she was a myth? How will we reawaken her?"
"We?"Laughed Hastyr. "You. You will be the one to reach out to her."
______________________________________________________________________________________
Hastyr stumbled through the dark forest, tripping on thickets and brambles, colliding into trees, cutting his bare feet and hands on rose thorns and sharp rocks as he fled desperately, leaving a trail of blood behind him as he forged ahead. He felt it behind him, biding its time, an incomprehensible force that held even more behind it, the tip of an iceberg of ancient evils. Slowly it engulfed him, and he found himself standing limp, waving like the dying strands of grass around him. His mind was trembling with horror but his body was entirely numb. That was when it began--he felt it creeping up from inside of him, the prescence crawling into his mind, a strange, wrong sort of glee taking hold of him as the force wrapped his mind in its indominable grip. The Old One had come to him, on his wedding day. He understood now that this wedding, him and this beautiful god, was so much more important than any of his mortal desires. But then the being, the great ancient, opened its great craggy lips and spoke to Hastyr, spoke its first words to his mind.
HER.
I WANT HER.
Edwin took a step into the enormous blackness of the cave, Hastyr watching from afar.
He took another. Saw her then, barely illuminated, crouching and rocking back and forth, sobbing. A goblet, ornate and silver, empty and hollow, was perched upon her white, delicate dress.
"Hello, Mistress. I was wondering if you would like to --"
In a flash of white and darkness she was upon him, goblet in hand, her teeth sinking into his neck. Edwin had no time to scream before his defiled blood had begun to leak into the goblet. The Mistress of Blood crouched over his body, immobile and silent. Her cheeks, still wet with tears, turned upwards into a smile.
"Hello, my love." She softly whispered into Hastyr's mind. He repressed a shudder.
"You would do anything for me, isn't that right, my love?" He asked, voice strong but hiding a tremble.
"Of course." Her eyes lit up. "The tournament. You want me to represent this wonderful nation of children!?" She giggled with childish excitement.
"Not only me, Vael, sweetheart. He does too." Their eyes met knowingly.
Vael crept up slowly, her thin, bony figure like a toothpick to her ancient lover's, and laid a pale hand on his knobbled skin. Cold lips met ethereal, eldritch robes as she kissed his cowls. She held the goblet of blood with awful excitement.
"Then count me in."
30 MINUTES!
The battle reflects how well you did in this particular challenge, not your points overall. It may well be that the first champion who gets killed (the least polished card entered into this challenge) may not be made by the eliminee. Onto the battle now!
THE BATTLE:
At once, the portals crackle. The champions have so far been hibernating in subspace, but they are now released onto the arena. A booming voice cries out: "Before the grand tournament commences, we have to say that we will not be receiving a champion from one of the 8 Great Empires, the Astral Peoples. The reasons for not sending one of theirs to compete are their own. AND NOW WE FIGHT!". The champions are let loose.
Immediately the landscape begins to change. Each of the champions finds themselves in a pinch.
Alas is trapped by a spreading bog immediately as the changes begin. Its eight legs sink in. This will require some struggling to get out of.
Vael is threatened to be impaled rising rocks. Using blood magic, she launches herself into the air on a stream of dark liquid, and by the time the growing obelisk catches up to her, its face had flattened. Now she faces a second problem - how to get down from the pillar?
Around The Hero, streams begin to run. Streams turn into a river. Soon, he is ankle-deep in a pool of water. He begins an epic song about a hero surviving a flood, but he'll need to sing harder of he is to make the water flow away.
Then there is Reyhar. Reyhar smartly avoids the arena's traps on land by soaring into the sky. But there waits another surprise - a flock of falcons!
Serise appears to be in the best position at first - an open field. There, she can clearly see the night sky. But what she doesn't realise, is that she is in the middle of the arena, and everyone is eyeing her as the first target.
Vash is at the very edge of the colosseum, in a dense forest, a confusing place for an orc, albeit a righteous one. Even so, he bravely marches on, though not very stealthy, he is prepared to face any challenge.
And as @SammySammyson had already described, Marden retreats to a solemn corner, and tries to make peace with the different spirits and enchantments inside his soul.
THE KILLS START:
.
Vash is trudging through the forest, when he sees a target in a clearing. Serise. He slowly creeps up, and is about to strike, but Serise is cunning. She immediately embalmed herself in holy light, and set the air around her on fire, rising in the air, imitating the sun. And thinking she was the holy sun itself, Vash feels a wave of righteousness, and starts charging across the arena.
He happens to arrive at the edge of a bog, where Alas had just climbed out of. With lightning reflexes, the spider launches a web at Vash's face, obscuring his vision, but it is too late. Vash charges, and pierces the spider's shell using his sword with pure velocity,
drawing first blood.
But of course, it is difficult to sense your enemies when you cannot see, and especially if your enemy is coming from above. Before he can apply his piety to a reaction attack, he is fried to a crisp by a dragon's breath, just like a few falcons were a minute ago.
On the other side of the arena, The Hero is more and more successful by the line. After one especially descriptive verse, he gains control of the currents, and gets them to carry him to the middle. Immediately, a scarlet spell is fired at him from the top of a stone column, but it is repelled at the last second by his sword. He is about to take revenge on the sangromancer who made an attempt on his life, when something truly epic distracts him. A dragon and his rider. After a truly storybook-worthy confrontation, the ending unfolds just like in a storybook as well. In a near duel, the Hero slays the dragon, and he gets to bathe in the sun's glory.
Wait, the sun? But the battle is happening in the dead of night! Indeed, the sun he sees is not truly the sun, but in fact, Serise. Her ball of flame rises on the horizon, and distracts the Hero. When he looks at the sky in disbelief, he sees that the stars are shining brighter than ever. In fact, their glow is getting unbearable. After a minute, the stars erupt in a flash... which blinds The Hero. Dazed, he stumbles around, and falls onto the jaws of the dragon, who, with its last dying breath, snaps them shut on The Hero's
neck.
Thought all of the light was directed at the contestant from Saklinan, it had also phased Serise a little. That, and the immense power it took, left the stargazer a little woozy. To calm herself, she leaned against a boulder. Little did she know, that this boulder was the one who served as a prison for Vael. With a thud, the One Who Gifts in Blood lands on her spine, and injects her fangs into Serise's neck. She has won a lot of glory for her nation today by getting into the Top 3, but the stargazer's eccentric leader is NO MORE.
Wait, Top 3? YES, Top 3!!! There is one more challenger left. The one who we call Marden, had seen the objective, and managed to unite all instances of himself for a final showdown. And this showdown he does win, and it is GNASH (Hi, @SammySammyson) who wakes up not on their comfy bed, but sitting atop the THRONE OF TURMOIL!
This doesn't make the war for the plane won yet, not by a long shot, but it does grant her domain a SLICE OUT OF TODAY'S ELIMINEE!
Alas didn't survive, but your nation did.
Sad.
"Forgive me, one who sees stars. Go, join your fabled constellations. Godspeed." She whispers into the smoking air. She regrets Serise's death. She really does. But she knows that the Children of Ruin will stop at nothing to win. That her once-loving betrothed, that monster Hastyr, will one day lead his rabid, twisted cult to salvation. And, as the first of the Children come to witness their surviving contestant, dancing with awe and glee, she repeats her vow in her head, the one she made all those years ago on her wedding night, when Hastyr came to her with madness in his eyes and blood on his hands.
I swear, I swear on my heart and on my love for you, that I will never let this take me. And whatever you do, whatever horrible atrocities you force my love, my beautiful Hastyr to commit -- I will stop it. I swear on my love for you, for him, I will stop it."