It's always fresh outside. At least that's what Gavruk, the mighty orc thought. And his friendly female companion who's always there by his side to guide him through tough times makes things all the better. He is currently walking on a path with his three donkeys strapped to him while the beautiful Shawna is leading the way...
Maybe they'll meet someone today... Maybe...
Varian scowled under his hood as he walked down the road. "Hate the day. Hate it. No stars out." He muttered to himself, but then he looked up. "But, the sun is a star. The biggest star? No, the closest." He continued, and shook his head chuckling. He idly rubbed his gloved hands together, sill feeling the cuts on them. He had offered some of his blood to appease Dagon as he arrived at the islands, and he had come across no trouble since he arrived.
And so he walked on.
As Gavruk and Shawna were walking, the encountered a man...
Oooh, a potential ally, they both thought.
Shawna waved her hand towards the stranger.
"You, mister!" she shouted, her voice melodic even though she wasn't even trying.
"You, come here!" shouted Gavruk.
Varian stopped, and leveled his gaze at the two down the road from him. maybe I should have cut my other hand as well he pondered. The woman looked friendly enough, but the way the orc addressed him threw him off. He pushed up his smoked spectacles, which hid his eyes. He preemptively grabbed one of his gloves, preparing to take it off if needed. "I'd rather not." He said in a warning tone.
Suddenly, all the wind in the area died down.
"You come here or I'll chase and kill you!" threatened Gavruk.
Shawna urged her orc friend to calm down by soothing him with her hand. "I'll handle this," she said.
"Are you hungry?" she said to the man. "Travelling in these roads can get you hungry! My orc friend here knows how to hunt! And if you can't wait for that, we have beef jerky!"
Her tone was as friendly as possible, and there was a cute smile on her face. In truth, she thought the man to be a little strange... Something about him wasn't right...
"One wants to kill me, the other wants to give me food..." Varian whispered to himself, and loosened up the glove on his hand. He had to admit, he was feeling a bit peckish, not having eaten for the past few weeks. Besides, if they tried to kill him, he was sure he could kill them both without a problem. "I suppose I've nothing better to do." He said, and pulled his gloves back on tightly.
The wind resumed.
Varian slowly started walking towards them. His eyes were focused not so much on the orc, but mostly on the woman. Definitely, peckish was the word to describe how he felt right now.
Shawna grabbed a cloth-full of meat from one of the donkey's saddlepacks and handed it to the man.
"Here," she said. "Now will you come sit with us for a moment? On the shade perhaps? The sun is fiery."
Varian looked up at the sun when Shawna mentioned it, and chuckled slightly. "I must admit, it's alive as ever." He said, looking at Shawna. He weighed the cloth-full of meat in his hands, smiled. "Thank you for the food." He said, and his hands returned to his sides, the meat clutched in one of them. As he looked at Shawna, his mind started running. Perhaps he'd kill them anyways, as Dagon might require more sacrifices. Perhaps they were a sign from him, a couple of lone travelers ripe for the slaughter.
He motioned towards the nearby tree line and the shade it offered, and started walking towards it. He'd have to consult the stars when they came out.
Shawna sat down besides a tree, and so did mighty Gavruk.
"Please, sit down," Shawna said to the man. "We have a proposal to make."
She, indeed, have a proposal. And she's convinced that he'll accept it. It was, after all, a logical proposal.
(sorry if I took a bit, was preoccupied and I forgot to log out)
"A proposal?" Varian repeated, unwrapping the meat from the cloth and bringing a piece up to his mouth. He smelled it, and smiled. Fresh, just the way he liked it.
Rather than take a bite out of it, a small, lightning quick tendril shot out from underneath his robe, snatched it up, and pulled it underneath. Varian remained looking at Shawna as a faint chewing sound came from his chest, underneath the robe. "Pray tell, stranger. What kind of proposal?"
Quote from: DaGlobster on May 06, 2014, 05:05:19 PM
(sorry if I took a bit, was preoccupied and I forgot to log out)
"A proposal?" Varian repeated, unwrapping the meat from the cloth and bringing a piece up to his mouth. He smelled it, and smiled. Fresh, just the way he liked it.
Rather than take a bite out of it, a small, lightning quick tendril shot out from underneath his robe, snatched it up, and pulled it underneath. Varian remained looking at Shawna as a faint chewing sound came from his chest, underneath the robe. "Pray tell, stranger. What kind of proposal?"
"Me and my friend here are wanderers," said Shawna. "We are adventurers! Although I lead him with most things, we pretty much do what he wants... And he wants more companions for his journey."
Shawna smiled.
"We're looking for adventurers capable of combat. Someone powerful. In exchange for companionship, we will feed you with all the meat you can eat. Gavruk here is an excellent hunter, and he knows how to smoke meat."
"I have no need for companionship." Varian said, and stopped eating to glance at the orc. "And what, you assume that because I like meat, you're going to pay me with it? I think you assume wrong, woman. In fact, I'm feeling a little offended. Am I? I Am!" He said, placing his hands on his knees as he sat cross-legged on the ground.
He had a insane smile on his lips. In his small outburst, his tinted spectacles had slid down his nose slightly, revealing his one normal eye and one bizarre eye, which was a black void that twinkled with distant stars.
Shawna got disappointed by the man. She really wanted another person in her party. But he didn't want to join. And now, she had to let Gavruk do the most practical thing: Kill the man and loot whatever item he had.
"You know what to do, Gavruk," she told him.
Gavruk stood up, unsheathed both his bronze axes, and prepared to fight.
Varian glanced at the orc, then at Shawna, and his smile only deepened. He slowly stood up from where he was sitting, and slipped one of his gloves off, revealing the horrible anatomy he kept hidden underneath them. He flexed his black fingers for a bit, small eyes and mouths sprouting on his hand and forearms for a few moments before sinking back underneath the flesh. He reached up, took his spectacles off, and tossed them to the side, and removed his other glove.
The grass near him stood on end, and he held his hands at his side, awaiting the orc's first move. "It's best you surrender. You can't fight the unknown, orc." He hissed, and from under his robe his tail emerged, the mouth at the end of it baring its teeth.
Shawna realized the potential danger of the ensuing battle. She had to get out of the way. She knew how Gavruk could be, as she had seen first hand his battle prowess. She got behind him, trusting that his sheer strength and constitution will get them by. Shawna went right by their donkeys.
Gavruk assumed his fighting stance. As he was left handed, the left side of his body was cocked backwards, ready to swing. He began slowly marching towards the man until... he was now just a few feet away from him.
"Very well. I see you're not the surrendering type. Neither are my brothers and sisters." He snarled. The large tree closest to the donkeys shuddered for a bit, before it grew a massive, toothy maw and uprooted itself, giving out a bellowing roar as its branches limbered themselves up to become woody tentacles and its roots hardened up and coiled together to become four thick legs. It snapped up one of the panicking donkeys in its jaw and started shaking it around, spraying its blood everywhere as its branch tentacles whipped around, intent on bludgeoning anything nearby.
At the same time as this, Varian thrust his arms forward, intent on blasting the orc away using invisible force.
Now! thought the orc. The man was foolish enough to get in close range with him. His swing was incredibly lethal and would surely kill any enemy should he hit. He swung his power-arm sideways with great speed and power, knowing for certain that unless this man has incredible reflexes, would never be able to dodge.
As he delivered the swing, however, he was thrown aback by the man's magic.
Meanwhile, Shawna was flabbergasted by the killed donkey and immediately pulled out the remaining donkeys out of the way. They had obviously lost one mount now...
Despite his best effort to keep himself safe extending his arms to thirst magic at Gavruk left his arms exposed. As the orc flew backwards, his wild swing connected with one of his forearms. The axe sheared off the area just below his elbow, sending the severed forearm a few feet away. Varian took the moment to make a pained yelp as he grabbed at the newly formed stump, the black flesh screaming in unnatural agony. The flesh writhed, and small mouths opened up to scream. Tendrils of black flesh sprouted and waved about from the stump, small mouths snapping at the end of them.
Varian started laughing, and tentacles ripped out of back, covered in eyes and mouths. His severed forearm started bubbling up, slowly starting to expand into a beast of its own. "An axe? An AXE!?" He cackled.
All the while, the tree held the donkey in its jaws a few more moments, before dropping it. It snarled, before charging after Shawna. behind her, another tree started shuddering.
Shawna screamed. Gavruk heard it, and checked behind to see what's going on with her. To his horror, he saw that she was being attacked by sentient trees. He rushed to her help as Shawna tried to get out of the way. This time, she couldn't lead the donkeys to her side.
Gavruk roared and charged towards the nearest tree that was hostile towards his still-living donkeys.
The tree that Gavruk charged at turned to face him, drool dripping from its jaws as it charged to meet him, releasing some ungodly sounding growls and snarls. The tree that was in the process of animating split down the middle, regealing an inside full of writhing gray flesh and teeth, and lunged forwards, snapping the head off of anther donkey with its jaws. It swallowed down, and pulled itself by its roots towards Shawna, priming its jaws for another snap.
Varian smiled when the orc was temporarily distracted by the trees, and took the opportunit to heal. The bubblimg mass of eyes, mouths, and appendages that was his forearm lept from the ground and back into his place, forming not into his lost hand, but into a giant mouth at the end of his arm. In his other hand, a ball of green fire appeared, and he slung it at Gavruk, intent on roasting one of the orc's legs.
Gavruk didn't get hit by the fire as he was running and got away. He then drove his ax powerfully towards the sentient tree.
He knows he's no match, as he was severely outnumbered, so he merely used that moment to hurt the tree and save the last living donkey.
Shawna approached the donkey, alert with whatever goes her way.
The tree staggered as Gavruk hit with its axe. Instead of sap, the tree spurt out dark blue blood, and screamed. It was only deterred for a moment, as it tried to swat Gavruk out of the way with its branch tentacles. The other tree continued lurching towards Shawna, trying to snatch her up with its branches, which ended in scythes. Varian kept his distance from the fight, preferring to build up profane energies in his body. A single, rubbery wing shot out of his back, sending bits of his flesh into the air, and he moaned in a mixture of pleasure and pain.
He broke into a fit of laughter, and started to speak. "Yab si'derikkum, he'ru yascitabo ti'bi capi'ti'bkkus patri'Ia! Ia!" He yelled madly, in a language whose origins were not terrestrial, raising his arms to the sky. The earth rumbled, like a beast growling, before growing silent again.
He laughed once more.
There are indeed many advantages to being strong.
Gavruk was stable and when hit by the tree, he remained standing. He then immediately ran towards Shawna and snatched her away from danger, taking the blow from the hostile tree. He then grabbed the last living donkey by its rope and pulled it so hard it was forced to at least jog out of the way.
He has to live to fight another day, if he manages to survive at all. He was at the mercy of the speed of the trees. Perhaps they were not that fast... as trees were not built to run, only rooted to the ground.
Shawna looked at the strange man with weird powers. "This isn't over!" she said. "We'll come back with an army! We'll get you back for killing our donkeys!"
Gavruk was bleeding somewhat profusely.
"The rats, now realizing who the cat is, run for their lives. The cat is hungry, however. The cat will feed!" He yelled. The tree that was split down the middle fell inert, and the one that lunbered about on four columns of roots started smasming wildly, and eyes popped all over it. It reared up like a horse and bayed like a hound. Varian jumped on its trunk, latching onto the side with the tentacles on his back.
The tree's many red eyes shot about wildly, before they all focused in on the fleeing duo. It broke into a sprint towards them, reaching speeds akin to that of a galloping horse. The branch tentacles lashed about as it galloped after the two, each swing about as powerful as a trunk slap from an elephant.
"There is no escape from what you sow!"
((I call godmodding. I'm not buying this. Talk to the moderators if you object.))
(There's no need to get the moderators. If you think it's not possible for the child of several Elder Gods to animate a tree and get it moving at a decent pace, then you obviously didn't read the profile. Besides, godmodding is when I take control of your character, or do something I'd otherwise have to get permission to do. Chasing after you is hardly even close to that. But, if you feel that you have been wronged so deeply, I will respect your opinion, and will not hold it against you.)
((I understand how your character can summon trees, but to actually let them start running at the speed of a horse sounds ridiculous to me.
Would you still like to continue this thread? If we are to continue it though, I don't want you having the ability of making your trees both be big, powerful, and also have the ability to be extremely mobile.))
(Why wouldn't it be able to? This is the tree that's got four legs, not the one that was pulling itself by the roots. The first one, if that helps out. Perhaps I could lower the speed, so it keeps pace with them instead of actually catching up?)
((Yes. That's more feasible. I'll start it with this...))
Gavruk kept running as fast as he could. He, unfortunately, could not ride the donkey as it will only be encumbered. And he still was carrying Shawna.
Despite the initial burst of speed to get its momentum going, the tree, with it's erratic gait and lunbering steps, was only able to keep up this speed before it slpwed down, moving more or less at Gavruk's speed, every step shaking the ground. It was about fifteen feet behind Gavruk and Shawna, and Varian intended to close this distance. He balled up another shot of green fire, this time aiming it at the donkey.
Gavruk kept running... It was his only choice were he to survive. He didn't look back...
Suddenly, he noticed his donkey running MUCH, MUCH faster than he, which was a good sign. Donkeys can run more than 40 mph at top speed. Gavruk, on the other hand, was lagging behind. But at least his donkey was safe.
Jacob had seen many things over the years he had spent as a Shadow Ranger, but an orc with a woman and a donkey being chased by a man on a tree was by far the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen. It was not at all what he had expected to find when he came to investigate a woman screaming. Still, it was his duty as a Ranger to protect. Wanting to be prepared, he had brought a lantern with him, and he sprang into action. Jacob burst forth from the treeline and hurled the lantern at the four-legged tree. The goal was simple: the lantern would hit the tree, shatter, and cover it in burning liquids. Teleporting again, he put some distance between himself and the tree rider. He needed a better assessment of what he would be facing.
Suddenly, it all went tits up for the tree, although whether it could be considered a tree or something else entirely by this point was up for debate. On it's four stump legs, it bucked and writhed as the fire on it burned away the bark, it's gaping maw releasing terrible sounds as the eyes that lined its trunk lost all of their focus and reddened up with agony.
Varian himself lept off of the tree, keeping safe from its temporary moment of rage, and looked around for the source of the lantern. He held up his left arm, which was still a hand, as opposed to the nebulous mass of black matter, eyes, and mouths that was his reforming right one. Down his arms, all kinds of different animal eyes grew from it, scanning the trees. Sure, stopping meant the two would probably escape, but apparently there was someone who was a bigger threat. His body reformed itself back to what it looked like before he fought Gavruk and Shawna, although he was missing his spectacles and gloves. "Who else, huh? Who else is aiding these bandits?" He called out.
Sure, to the untrained eye, it looked like Varian had a thing for trees, but at the moment, they were the only things he could channel his black power through, twisting them into horrifying beasts. Personally, he preferred rocks, or sometimes even structures. The tree monster finally put out the fire by slapping it out with its branch tentacles, and pawed at the ground angrily as it searched around for whoever threw the lantern.
((Hi. Thanks for joining! It's Varian's turn. Let's give him a few hours, or a few days. :) ))
(Just realized Gavruk had a bit of a derp. Go ahead and post, Wicked)
Jacob stepped forward and issued the mandatory warning that was required by the edicts of the Vigilant.
"In the name of the Vigilant, cease all hostile actions or face the darkness."
To emphasize his point, his bow materialized in his hand as he spoke. With any luck this guy would just walk away, but Jacob was always prepared to fight when necessary. By the looks of it, this guy had quite a bit of power, so fighting him would be no easy task. However, Shadow Rangers don't back down.
Gavruk was extremely relieved.
It was honestly the first time in his nomadic life with his best friend Shawna that he had witnessed a being who can overpower him. Of course, it wasn't a fair fight. The man obviously had amazing powers. Gavruk had nothing but brawns, which were matched by the brawns of the man's minions.
To his relief, a mysterious cloaked man came to the rescue. Gavruk stopped running, put down Shawna, and waited for his donkey to stop running too (which it did.).
'Is this... human really stupid enough to face someone as powerful as this... weirdo?' he thought to himself.
"We better keep distance," said Shawna. "This man is obviously not an ordinary human..."
The two kept their distance and observed.
Varian took a few moments to look at Jacob, his face a jumble of emotions. Suddenly, he started laughing.
Darkness? Darkness!? If only this poor soul knew. Varian was a master of the darkness. Not the weedy, weak little darkness that subsisted in shadows and the absence of light, but the true darkness. The impermeable, protean blackness that existed in the bowels of the earth, the deepest ocean trenches, and the dark tapestries between the stars.
His laughter died down, ending with a sigh. "You made me laugh, so I'll give you a chance, stranger." He started, and the tree monster by his side pawed at the ground, like a bull preparing to charge. "Those two down there? They tried to kill me. I'm going to go kill them now. If you'd like to have your soul devoured as well, kindly stand in line." He said, waving his black, gnarled hand at Jacob dismissively before turning around. As he begun to walk away from Jacob and back towards Gavruk and Shawna, small eyes grew on the back of his black arms, watching Jacob intently.
The tree monster was content to stand there, watching Jacob with it's multiple eyes and growling.
Jacob teleported and ended up in between Varian the traveling pair.
"Or you could both go your separate ways and keeps this from escalating."
It was both a suggestion and threat at the same time. Even if the orc and the woman had started this whole thing, Jacob would finish it. Besides, animating entire forests just to go after a pair of petty thieves seemed a bit like overkill.
"I will deal with the thieves in an appropriate manner. You need not bother."
When the ranger teleported in front of him, Varian stopped, gritting his teeth together as Jacob basically told him to piss off. The anger was clearly visible in his mind. The stars in his void-like left eye winked out, and were replaced with several veiny, red eyes. These appeared all over his forearms as well, and even though Jacob couldn't see the rest of his body (as Varian was still wearing his robe), he would get the unwanted premonition that this unnatural man was not to be trifled with.
Suddenly, without warning and certainly much quicker than a normal man was capable of, Varian called his heritage forth again. Back out came the single wing, and the flesh under his robe shifted and moved, tentacles and other random appendages like hooved feet and eagle's talons shooting from his back with audible squelching and tearing sounds. His forearms twisted themselves, one turning into a black pincer, and the other into a rope-like tentacle with mouths instead of suckers.
he ripped his robe off, revealing that his entire body from the chest down was the same, gnarled black flesh, rippling and writhing with its own life, except for his legs, which were gangly, backwards, reptilian, and covered in a thin fur. His tail raised itself, and hissed at Jacob.
Varian charged forwards, releasing a sanity-jarring howl no humanoid should ever be able produce, intent on absolutely tearing Jacob apart.
Jacob took a step back and pulled an arrow from the Shadow Barracks as the man began twisting and mutating into some bizarre inhuman monster. This was certainly unusual. The creature then charged him, but Jacob was easily able to teleport out of the way and fire and an arrow at the creature. Whatever this was, he was unsure if he could kill it, but maybe he wouldn't have to. All he would need to do is keep it busy until the orc and woman were able to get a safe distance away. Jacob could easily track them down later to get their side of the story.
"Let's go," Shawna alerted her orc friend. "We don't know if that cloaked man will turn against us after this fight. We better play it safe and go."
Gavruk always valued Shawna's input and the moment was no exception. He began jogging away from the trouble with Shawna and the donkey into the deep forests of Yoreiq...
Varian glanced around wildly when Jacob teleported out of the way, and then released a half-gasp, half-moan of pain when the arrow took him in the back. He stumbled forwards a few steps before turning around, a mad smile on his lips as his flesh twisted around the arrow and spat it out. The tree monster shuddered, and fell inert, and Varian's appendages shot towards his head, all the mouths forming and unforming on his body letting loose a collective shriek, a thousand different voices as one. The black flesh below his chest started bubbling and expanding, like the froth at the top of a mug of ale, before his lower body was nothing more than a blob of black matter, eyes, and tentacles.
Varian shot towards Jacob once more, this time preemptively lashing out with his many deadly appendages in case Jacob decided to teleport away again.
Jacob teleported once again. This time, however, he went straight up. On his way down, he returned his bow to the Shadow Barracks and summoned a pair of dual swords. Jacob cut through the tentacles to ensure for himself a safe landing and prepared for the next assault. He didn't have to kill, just stall. Just stall a moment longer.
Varian stopped his assault momentarily, the severed tentacles writhing around on the ground making screaming noises before they burrowed themselves into the ground. Varian smiled at this, and resumed his assault. He started cautiously circling him, an alien look and intent on his face. His upper body and arms more or less returned to normal, and Varian crossed his arms.
It was clear Jacob was being studied for a few moments, before Varian uncrossed his arms, and thrust one towards Jacob, extending a finger to point. "Dagon take you!" He screeched.
Varian had cast a spell, and unless Jacob had some kind of strong magical resistance, he'd find that his lungs would start to fill up with sea water.
Jacob took a step back as he suddenly found that it was becoming much more difficult to breath. Something was filling his lungs, a notion that was confirmed when he coughed and tasted saltwater. Figuring that he had stalled enough and not wanting to drown, Jacob teleported away to get the spell taken lifted and to recuperate.
Fortunately for Jacob, the spell did seem to dissipate with distance. Varian snarled and looked around for him, but could not find him. He slithered around the area on his nebulous lower body, eyes everywhere and in all directions, but he couldn't find him. His body twisted back to normal, and he fell down to his arms and knees, slowly standing back up. That made three people who wouldn't be bothering him anytime soon, and seeing as how he didn't have the time to waste, he merely decided to keep on his way. He walked over to the campsite where the fight started, and retrieved his shaded spectacles. After that, it was onwards to his next destination.
(Not much else to do here, so I'm leaving this thread to you two. Have fun!)