Spirits of the Earth

Western Le'raana => Niahi Woods => Topic started by: Wrathwyrm on June 13, 2017, 08:24:34 AM

Title: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 13, 2017, 08:24:34 AM
Well, this was the pits.  He was again in this woods, but right now...it was raining. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CilZSMpxboQ)

Often, he was found to wander, having no plans and no particular direction.  This solitary creature had been kicking about on his own for years now, keeping himself occupied by whatever came his way, whether it was an invitation for mischief or destruction.  He was the black magus, Garlock The Destroyer.  Right now, he was clad in a black armored torso with a midnight-blue mantle, black clothing with a brown leather 'claw' belt with leather travel boots...and black metal gauntlets that matched the dark helmet face-shadowing helmet he was wearing.

Clothes don't make the man, and he wasn't even a man.  He was a tom.

Garlock The Destroyer was not human, and as such did not think like one, but he had lived among humans as a familiar with the gift OF the human tongue and understanding.  His values differed, is all.  Yes...such as the event which caused him to hate humans with a passion...  Well, all but one, at this time.  It wasn't known, of course, but Garlock was given his familiar-hood by a human wizard, Zan Goldswith.  That man was killed by complete accident, and the sudden shock of it enacted an obscure legend within Garlock: The curse of the Bakeneko.

When a cat is old enough, or is consumed by woe and hate from whatever source, its tail will split, and it will become...a terrifying spiritual being.  Right now, Garlock was in the shape of a human, though he was but a cat.  His REAL form was horrible.  At the moment, however, he was in these rainy woods, and part of him had wondered if someone he knew was still around here, a ghost by the name of Raven.  She was not, at least not now, and Garlock was left mulling over a recent contact - Zan's niece, Rena - in the rain.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 13, 2017, 08:46:59 AM
Elsewhere in the dense evergreen forest of Niahi, a certain pale, thin,  and lethal man had the misfortune of stumbling upon a spacious clearing amidst the pines. At first, it seemed rather ordinary, just a large open area of dead pine needles surrounded by huge, ancient trees.

Nothing smelled out of sorts, and that was the problem. This damnable rain made everything smell like damp wood and dead pine needles, and it obscured the scent of danger. So when a draconic wyrm burst from the earth, lured by the subtle vibrations created by Kranaths footsteps, the Dragon was caught unawares.

What a horrible way to start a day.

The explosion of earth had knocked Kranath skyward as the great wyrm emerged, and a quick adjustment righted his body so that he could properly see the beast below him. His red eyes narrowed to slits as he reached backward for his daikatana, unsheathing it and twisting in a single motion to cut clean through the thick trunk of the nearest pine.

Another flash of movement pulled his wakizashi from it's sheath at the small of his back, and this he stabbed into the now freed trunk to anchor himself. Throwing all his weight to one side, he was able to direct the trees fall.

Directly onto the head of the massive wyrm.

The resulting crash echoed loudly throughout the forest, followed by the raucous screech of the flailing wyrm, it's head crushed by a tree-sized club, a man having rode all the way down with it.

Kranath pulled his wakizashi from the tree, and sheathed both it and his daikatana.

The noise from this beast will surely draw others, Kranath thought to himself.

And speak of the devil, the scent of wet fur gradually came wafting on the breeze. Kranath snapped his head in the direction of the breeze, red eyes glowing hellishly as he stared through the trees.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 13, 2017, 12:01:28 PM
The life that he'd had as a mere cat, even before he had voice, had been a pleasant one.  That was when he'd first been introduced to a girl by the name of Rena Goldswith.  They only saw each other when Zan's brother would come down from...oh, what was that town name again?  He didn't remember.  They were better times, but then Zan died and...well...Garlock had destroyed the town.  He assumed that he'd never see another soul that he cared for again...but he wanted to.  What he didn't know that Rena had had her own tragedies, and that by the time they saw each other again, she was a grown woman and sword-wielding fighter-for-hire.

The shock of their meeting weighed on Garlock's mind.  She'd been trying to find him...because of his crimes.  She, like everyone else, had no idea who he was.  Now she knew, of course.  The two of them had had a serious conversation, standing in the timeless substitute world of his own making, his personal realm.  She didn't like what he had become.  She understood, but she did not approve.  He was the creature that he was forever, and he would make those who create agony pay, and reap his own vengeance on he world.  And Rena had-

CRASH!

SKREEEEEE!!!

Umm...no, she hadn't quite done that.  Just what was going on out there?  There seemed to be a clearing with a great deal of activity.  Since it was hardly that of a ghost, it wasn't anybody he knew from around here.  However, as he stepped into the area...  Well, isn't that a coincidence?  He hadn't seen this guy since that little debacle with the cult that they wiped out.  Oh, those poor sods never had a chance!  A dragon and a bakeneko?  They were dead and they didn't even know it.  Garlock looked over the thing he'd killed.

"I didn't even know they had these here."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 13, 2017, 12:27:02 PM
"......."

Kranath stared at the approaching figure, very slowly arching a single brow. This was a...being he hadn't expected to see again.

"There aren't supposed to be Wyrms here. Yet, here one is." Kranath lightly stepped off the trunk of the fallen tree, and landed with practiced ease on the damp earth.

"So. I thought that little excursion in the desert was to be our last meeting...tell me you're not following me."

Garlock might notice the black marks under Kranaths eyes, present now unlike before when Tiamat withdrew her power from his own. The marks crawled and writhed across his face.

"I seem to remember you and I don't get along so well."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 13, 2017, 12:47:42 PM
"Following you?  Following you?"

His hands flew up in emphasis of how such a claim irritated him.

"It's been months since the desert!  I've been to Adela.  I've been through Seren.  I've been kicking about on a boat.  How in the furry heck would I be following you?"

He had a point.  It wasn't as though their travel plans had intersected much.  Frankly, if Garlock had any great and pressing plans to do something to the dragon, he wouldn't be waiting so long to pull it, nor wait for an isolated forest to do it in.  There just wasn't any purpose in that.  And now, Garlock very pointedly ignored the dragon-in-man-form to inspect his kill.  Oooh, he'd staved in its head with a tree.  The bastard wouldn't have seen that coming.

This was following you.  I have been here before."

After all, if the man himself said that it was out of place...well...that was more suspicious, wasn't it?
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 13, 2017, 02:52:27 PM
Kranath shook his head gently, his piercing gaze never losing eye contact with the other. One hand gestures toward the wyrm.

"If this thing followed me all the way from the Thunderblacks, I would have noticed....I suppose the same would be true for you."

He dropped his hand again, and finally broke eye contact to turn and look into the trees. "I was tracking...someone. Into the woods. The rain seems to have washed the scent away."

His head remained turned, but those eyes flicked to look upon Garlock once more. "So...what is it you're doing here, then? Surely there are more idyllic places for you to wander about, so you must have come here foe a reason."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 13, 2017, 04:06:31 PM
Well, he didn't exactly expect a black dragon to know what an earth dragon's up to if it's underground...and this one clearly was.  But for now, Garlock just let that one go.  He had to remember that it was a very prideful dragon that would just get grumpy if you called him out on things.  Whether he thought he could be followed or not, and whether this creature came from the Thunderblacks or not, hardly mattered to the cat-in-man-form.

He was far more interested in the wyrm itself.

There was only a lingering trace of its spirit right now, no indicator as to if it held some sort of grudge against yon black-scaled warrior currently walking as a man.  At the moment, Garlock couldn't even tell if it had been a conscious dragon or a mere animal.  They came both ways, of course.  How else would Adela have Dragonriders?  Raised from an egg so that it would psychically imprint upon the one who took care of it?  That's more like a storybook series or something.  Anyway, the dragon was addressing him as he flicked the dead wyrm's tooth to make a 'tink-tink' noise.

"Oh?  I must have a reason now?  Who said?  I mean, I've got one, but it's rather presumptuous of you.  I mean, for all you know, I just happen to like the outdoors."

He did, actually.  Warm grass was just so comfortable.  And trees?  Oh, to climb trees...!  Wait, what were we talking about?  Oh right, bloody reasonings to be here.

"The truth is that I know someone who frequents these woods, but she's not here right now.  Past client."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 13, 2017, 06:00:40 PM
Kranath let out an exasperated sigh. "I asked, because I gave my reason. Common courtesy would...you know What? Forget it." He closed his eyes for a moment, and turned back to the trees.

"So, neither of us found what we were looking for. The Gods are cruel, truly, to deny us our respective targets and cause our paths to cross. Again."

(OOC: Sorry, short...)
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 13, 2017, 07:07:29 PM
Yeah, he doesn't know it, but he's trying to explain courtesy to a cat, who would not often make the connection there.  Still, the dragon's weird comments would make Garlock raise an eyebrow if he truly had one.

"Gods?  What do gods care of mortal business?  I've yet to see a god come forth and address my situation, by any means."

Kranath would get the idea that tthe magus was hardly being serious right now, and in fact grinning behind that shadow that kept his face obscured.

"Besides, if there's really a load of angry gods at work, they must have been asleep when I was in Seren, of late.  I had a renezvous that could have gone extremely bad...but it didn't.  Perhaps they're not hiding in every tree, ready to plant misery in your path, eh?"
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 14, 2017, 03:51:58 AM
"Indeed. They seem to care little beyond their own personal musings, save for a few who make their presences known to select people." Garlock may not know this, but Kranath was referring to himself - the marks crawling across his face were proof enough of his statement.

"Well. Neither one of us will accomplish anything by standing around here, and I think I've spoken to you now more than I've spoken to anything in the last week. Perhaps we should move on."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 14, 2017, 07:59:02 AM
Considering the way Kranath tends to speak, he might've mentioned his own god at some point in the desert, but for Garlock this would be one of those 'couldn't be arsed to remember' moments.  Gods had nothing to do with himself, for or against.  If they had, for some reason, intended both tragedy and empowerment, the loss of his master and the gaining of destructive power which he would make use of, none of hem were claiming credit for it.

"I'm curious about something.  What does a dragon of your stature - a thinking dragon - do with itself?  I hear talk of hording, but somehow you don't seem the type.  As I recall, you're even a black dragon, and it's evident all over your face that you're an evil sort, as well."

Funnily enough, he was trying to run a comparison on motivations.  Garlock's own recipe for destruction was based upon a vengeance-hatred-suffering motif, that people get what they deserve...and he makes sure of it.  Alot of it.  True, gods for Kranath, but why?
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 14, 2017, 01:42:49 PM
Kranath was quiet for a long moment, staring into the trees. What was his purpose, beyond fueling the resurrection of his Dread Lady? After that, what would happen?

He was promised absolute power...but he knew from experience that beings such as Tiamat often didn't share their power.

That is a dangerous line of thinking, Kranath...

"Apologies, my queen..." he muttered under his breath. Lately that voice seemed to grate more and more on his psyche. After all these millennia, he was getting tired of having more than one voice in his head, during his first time at life, the ten thousand years during his death, and even now while he lived again.

"What do I do with myself....? What is my purpose....?"

His eyes narrowed, and very slowly he turned around.

".....after all is said and done,  I will have no purpose. "
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 14, 2017, 06:17:48 PM
He muttered, but cat ears hear.  Most curious a thing to be saying.  To whom was he speaking?  Somebody in his head or on the aether?  Gods above or devils below?  Perhaps the reverse was true.  Still, what was this all about?  The dragon-man seemed at a loss.  Garlock had no idea how long this creature lived or what he did with his time, but it was quite surprising to hear him say 'I got nothin'.

"Well, I didn't expect that."

He kind of expected the dragon to be philosophical, not morose.

"No hobbies or diversions?  I may be a Destroyer, but even I feel the need for something else to do, every now and then.  Besides, it keeps them from ever guessing where I'll show up next.  After all, I'm not out to destroy the world, just the parts of it I don't like!"

For whatever reasons, Garlock took his work seriously, but maybe not as serious as Kranath...
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 15, 2017, 07:47:05 AM
"No. I am dedicated to the freeing of my Lady. Any use of time beyond that is a waste, unless it is some other task dictated by her...such as our previous sortie into the desert."

Kranath crossed his arms over this chest, regarding the  other with an odd look. "Though I'm at a loss as how to proceed. I can do one of two things, two paths to the same end. I can hunt my brother, slay him, and send his soul to Tiamat...or I can reap the souls of many, many lesser beings and use them instead, draining the world of its population with an endless slaughter." A thin smirk appeared across his lips.

"Either one seems viable, and it's looking more and more like the slaughter would be far easier."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 15, 2017, 02:13:39 PM
"Oh, your Lady, huh?  Interesting."

He said thus, but in a way that indicated it was a little more than 'interesting'.  More like 'ironic' or 'amusing' or somrthing like that, though the first part was because...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They stood in his realm, black magus to armored swordswoman.  When they had first known each other, he was a cat and she was a little girl.  Now, look at them...  He was Garlock The Destroyer.  And she, Rena Goldswith, was a warrior clad in mythril armor with a bigass sword on her back.  Up until this point, she had assumed that he had killed her uncle and - for some reason - taken the name of his familiar as his stage name.  Now, she knew that he WAS the cat and that he had taken revenge for the death of her uncle.  Even still, they were still on somewhat opposite sides...

"Why do you kill and destroy, Garlock?  Putting aside who the hell a CAT achieves that, why do you do it?!"

"The answer is simple, Rena.  Zan was killed in a drunken fight between wizards, the pointless waste of a man who gave me everything.  What are people like when they MEAN to cause harm?"

"Don't I know it.  It seems like people like that are born every second.  People like that went after my mom and dad, because they couldn't stand a human and an elf starting a family together..."

That gave him pause for a second.

"Then, that's why you're in the armor?"

She nodded.

"Over such a stupid thing as who to love and spend your life with.  My parents killed them all, but...they didn't survive.  So, I have to live for them and be better than this.  You should too, Garlock."

"I'm not doing this out of simply fear or anger, Rena.  These people need to be taught a LESSON..."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The magus had managed just a small sardonic chuckle.

"So, she set you a task which requires either the death of your - I'm assuming - highly-formidable brother...or the massacre of the many."

The redness of his eyes appeared to deepen.

"Your sole task, for you have admitted that afterwards...you'll have nothing.  Tell me something then, Sir Dragon.  If that's the case..."

And then, there was sound like teeth gnashing together at the formation of a very large grin.

"...why'd you even get started?"
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 16, 2017, 03:54:32 AM
"Started....why? Why even bother...empty promises of false power....to be cast aside, my purpose fulfilled...."

He seemed to be talking to himself,  eyes fixed and staring, yet at the same time wild and feral. His mumbling became nearly incoherent as he continued, the musings slipping unintentionally into ancient draconic.

As his mouth moved, the eldritch markings on his face crawled and writhed wildly, sometimes forming logical formations and other times just an odd black scrawl, a mask of insanity.

And then, audibly, there was a crack, echoing throughout the otherwise quiet forest. A subtle wave of vibrations radiated outward from the Dragon. And then,  complete stillness.

"No."

With that one word, everything seemed to stop. The rain above came to a sudden and abrupt stop, and the breeze accompanied by the storm became still, the branches of the trees falling limp.

"No...." he repeated, and turned his gaze skyward.

When he spoke again, his voice began to echo with an odd duality, an otherness that thrummed with power. Yet this power...

...was all his. Another sickening crack symbolized the parting of God from Dragon, and the markings on Kranaths face vanished.

"I'll not be your tool to cast aside. I will fulfill my purpose. I will awaken you...and then I will kill you. I don't need your power...not when there is more than enough of it for the taking. I will empty this world...and cast your carcass to the abyss when you are freed. And I will rise....as the new God."

He turned his feral gaze to Garlock, and with deliberate slowness, unsheathed his daikatana.

"....I suppose I'd better get started."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 16, 2017, 09:11:06 AM
The writhing of the markings on the dragon-man's face and the way he was talking to himself would have been most unsettling to a normal person, even an abnormal person.  Hell, it was still weird to Garlock, though admittely he couldn't be entirely surprised.  No...not when going mad with shock and grief was precisely how he attained his power.  Seeing his own appraisal of the situation here effect Kranath was not a shocker.  It was just the display that caught him off-guard.

Crack!

Garlock looked around.  Somewhere, something snapped without warning.  Was that him or the dragon?  Probably the latter.  The dragon's energies were thrumming and the air was most disquieted by it all.  And then, it all seemed to go very still...  Even the rain stopped.  Apparently, Kranath had parted from his god, because he was talking to someone not there and then declaring that he would become a new god.

And then, he turned to Garlock while unsheathing his weapon.

"Hmmm?  Oh.  Ohhh...  Right.  Yes.  Slaughter."

He seemed to muse on that point for a second...then pointed his hand at Kranath and fired an ice beam (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT3J96BOGMQ), intent upon creating a frozen prison for the guy.

"No."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 16, 2017, 10:11:36 AM
Kranath first felt the energies, long before he saw them. His mind immediately shut down, and pure battle-tested instinct quickly took over.

His lips curled into a smirk, revealing teeth that were quickly looking more and more like fangs. With nearly unseen speed, he sidestepped the beam of ice hurtling toward him, lashing out with his blade to catch the brunt  of it.

Through a slightly dilated form of perception, he could see the crystals of ice spreading from the point of impact, jagged blades hanging from it. Still in motion, he twisted away from the beam, pulling his blade away with him.

Completing the turn, he swung his absurdly long daikatana in a horizontal arch, sending several long shards of ice hurtling back toward Garlock. Just as soon as he finished the swing, he leapt to the side, and began running wide, attempting to make his way toward the magus.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 16, 2017, 10:32:14 AM
Oh, that's right.  He's a fast one  Garlock had admittedly forgotten about that.  The question is...was he fast enough...and would it matter?  Kranath caught some ice on his blade and flung the frozen daggers back at him.  With an upward gesture of the hand that had been extended, the ice was whipped up and away by a sudden whirlwind around the magus.  Where they landed, he did not care.  Those icy shafts were of no particular use.  Probably hit some trees and shattered or smething.

The dragon was up to no good, of course.

There's just no gratitude!  Here, he put Kranath on a very decisive course, rather than wasting his time, and he wanted to kill him for it?  Guess he got underneath the man's scales.  Hmmm...  Underneath the...?  Now, there's an idea, but for later.  For now, Kranath would be totes fine on the approach until Garlock blew that whirlwind around him into a blastwave in his direction.  This was intended to throw the dragon-man into a tree, but Garlock tossed over an explosive fireball in afterthought.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 17, 2017, 03:54:59 AM
Kranath had yet more tricks on his repertoire that the other hadn't seen yet - though, admittedly, there hadn't been cause strong enough to use them. His own supernatural speed and his blades would always carry him through.

But, when the wave of force blasted towards him, he caught hint of it by the way the air seemed to ripple in front of him. He smirked, and suddenly vanished as his body seemed to dematerialize into black vapor.

The wave carried the remains of the black vapor into oblivion, and the fireball travelled harmlessly afterward to explore against a tree some distance away. And now there was going to be a forest fire.

Not that Kranath cared. The whole forest could burn, and it wouldn't matter.

Almost immediately after he had disappeared, he puffed back into existence some ten yards to the side, and resumed running toward the other, his daikatana held to the side and it's tip carving a vicious furrow in the damp earth.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 17, 2017, 01:19:28 PM
Oho...  The darkness, he has become.  It was a brief venture, but that was indeed a stab in the dark.  The fireball went off somewhere and exploded against a tree, creating burning fragments and a falling remainder of said tree.  Since it just rained, it actually might not start burning yet around here...but the day is young.  The dragon-man reappeared and charged towards him, digging a path in the ground with his sword.  Why do people DO that?

"Oh, come on...  You're not even trying!"

I mean, what're you to do if, say, you and your dragging sword were caught up by a sudden burst of earth spikes - essentially weaponized stalagmites - spearing up in your grill and shit?  It'd be just like that bit from Braceheart if Kranath wasn't careful!
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 18, 2017, 08:26:43 AM
Kranath didn't need to be careful. He was in his element - battle always made him feel so alive, and he was in his zone. Yet, he was just getting started. Stretching his legs, so to speak.

It'd been awhile since he'd had the opportunity to really cut loose, and he hoped Garlock was up for the challenge.

Suddenly, his form exploded into mist again, reappearing and disappearing multiple times at random places, always reappearing with the same wry smirk in place. However, after a moment it seemed there was only the flashes of black vapor....Kranath didn't seem to be appearing with them.

Now why would that be?

Above, there was another explosion of mist, and he reappeared even as the distraction continued below. He appeared with one arm outstretched, a swirling mass of blackness appearing at his fingertips.

He dropped towards Garlock, that arm pulling back momentarily, only to drive forward upon his landing.

Held in his fist, the cloud of necrotic gas, a conjuration of Kranaths own breath weapon, was driven in a punch towards Garlocks face, a combination of magic and physical strength.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 18, 2017, 10:00:49 AM
He dissolved into black mist again to avoid getting harmed, probably because putting the breaks on momentum like that was hard to manage without meeting the nasty earthen points protruding towards him.  A wise maneuver, though as he began to - Garlock assumed - flit about hither and thither around him, Garlock's gauntleted hands were raised in preparation for an attempt to blindside, but he was thinking thus...

Oh, he wants to play with teleportation, does he?

The attack came, but not from any of the sides.  Garlock heard sounds above, and looked up to see, but then suddenly he wasn't there anymore!  Kranath transported himself like that in the form of those shadow mist transmigrations, but Garlock Blinked, as in he was there one second and gone the next.  He had to be able to see it - or at least remember it clearly enough - to go where he was going, but it served.  And where Garlock DID go was not far, just five feet to the left of his current position so that he could a fire bolt of lightning at Kranath's landing point...while the other hand was calling down a whirlwind onto the earth spikes, grinding them up so the stone-laden wind event could be brought to bear on the dragon man, as well.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 19, 2017, 05:39:30 AM
Gone was the magus, but here was the wind and storm, carrying earthen daggers of pain and death, and lightning besides. To shadow step again would draw too much on the power of shadow, and to do so may cause him to get stuck in that half-plane he would travel through to do so.

In other words, he was stuck in the midst of the earth laden wind. Time to rely on other abilities for the moment, then.
The lightning, unfortunately, struck home, the stench of ozone clearly present in Kranath's nose. He did what he could to manage the pain, already feeling his body repair the damage. To the magus, it might appear as though his cloud of death dealing stones were surrounding naught but a blur of black and blades. The reality was this:

With inhuman speed, the Dragon withdrew his other two blades, wielding his daikatana in one hand, and both his wakizashi and kodachi in the other, holding them as if they were two oversized claws. And then he began to move, faster than mortal eyes could see, whirling about with those blades and rendering the stones to dust.

Crystalline blades more dense than the most well forged mithril would sunder and crush the stones until there was naught more than wind and sand, a black death dealing blur amidst the hazy cloud.

When the wind abated, Garlock would see Kranath there, his skin momentarily red from the abrasive sand but quickly healing. His longcoat smoldered from the bolt of lightning, a patch of the fabric burnt away from his chest. Those hellish red eyes locked on the magus, and Kranath smiled viciously.

"If you intend to live...stop playing with me."
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 19, 2017, 10:25:05 AM
Even as Kranath was dealing with the lightning, the wind, and the stoning, he could hear the magus laughing at him.  Not simple mad laughter or necessarily presumptious victory laughter.  No, this was genuine amusement.  A bit maniacal in tone, but he was finding this all too funny.  He even laughed when the dragon-man deftly broke all the stones into dust and grit and sand, as this were all just a spectacle for his own entertainment.  Perhaps that, if nothing else, was a good reason for that remark.  Garlock looked around, and said...

"Did you hear that?  He wants me to be serious.  The 'new god' demands a tribute."

He vanished from where he was standing, and reappeared atop the corpse of the dead earth dragon, on its back.

"Some might object."

The black magus stomped his boot on the scaley beast and...it began to emit an unearthly glow.  Garlock could call forth spirits of the dead to attack the living.  If he couldn't get the original owner of this body to come back, any old spirits would do.  This was a possession, you see.  Soon, the earth dragon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBFw73mO9Qo) with a collapsed cranium rose once more and roared its vengeance, before leaping to pounce upon Kranath!
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Marakai Trin on June 19, 2017, 10:38:21 AM
"I said stop playing. I've killed that thing once already...what makes you think I can't kill it again? And besides..."

He narrowed his eyes, and grinned viciously.

"I can do that, too."

Kranath laughed, a chilling, evil kind of sound, and sheathed again his two smaller blades, holding only his daikatana. Even as the undead wyrm was flying towards Kranath in a pounce, the Dragon shifted calmly to a two handed grip.

The black crystal blade seemed to burst into flames as black as pitch, with Kranath channeling the pure energies of death.

As the wyrm grew close, Kranath leapt up and forward, the long blade biting through it's mangled head, effectively bisecting it, and the channeled energies dispersing into the corpse.

Kranath landed some distance away, with brackish blood dripping from the tip of his blade. With a deft swipe, he flung the hot droplets across the carpet of wet pine needles.

Meanwhile, behind him, the wyrm had ceases it's attack, it's head cleanly cloven in have until nearly halfway down it's neck. Yet it still moved, the powerful muscles spreading to further split its own flesh, redirecting the two halves of its head to turn and stare at Garlock.

When Kranath turned around, his eyes were black as pitch. "Try again, little mage."

With a grin, he commanded the wyrm to attack, the split  halves of the head both lunging separately to attack Garlock on either side, jaws snapping in his direction.
Title: Re: Die Katze der Zeitalter (Marakai)
Post by: Wrathwyrm on June 19, 2017, 11:50:02 AM
Oh, so he had necromancy as well, did he?  Fabulous.  You learn something every day.  Sadly, he was currently overriding his spirit-calling with own compulsion of the dead.  From there, they could just be wrestling the same corpse back and forth, and that just gets tedious.  So, when the dead dragon came back for Garlock, he just projected explosive fireballs into both sides and they exploded into bone and scale fragments.

"Why is it that some people object so much to having a little fun?"

He glanced over at Kranath.

"You're the one in need of self-gratification.  I get my kicks another way."

Yes, that would be by tormenting whoever he felt deserved it.

"You think you can't be beaten because you're a big black dragon.  Well, go on, then...  Give us a show of strength.  Show me the difference between you and Headless Jim over here."