[IC] An Inquisitors Story: The City of Ash and Decay (A High-Casual journey)

[pandapolio]

Halek had been prowling by the edge of the combat looking for a weakness in the beast. Watching every move the creature made he had been trying to find even the slightest gap in the armor. When his allies had made the hole in the giant's armor Halek smelled opportunity. The armor seemed to be it's only defence. Quickly coming up with a plan Halek sheathed his sword and began to trot towards the giant. Multiple spells were being flung at the giant creature, not giving it time to retaliate.

Once Halek had closed the distance to about twenty feet he drew his dagger. While cutting his palm with the dagger he murmured,”venenum aspidum stillante portasse.” the blade began to turn a sickly green and began secreting a thick liquid of the same color. Taking aim he knew it was a somewhat difficult shot to hit with the creature moving so much. Halek was having a difficult time getting a good shot until Kharne came up behind the creature and grabbed it from behind. Now with the beast detained Halek slung his arm down, flinging the blade at the champion. As soon as he let go he knew his aim was true, but he still watched the blade tumble through the air until it landed within the hole in the armor.

Quickly backing away, Halek went towards the archers. While his dagger leaked venom into the giants body for a time, he could poison the archers arrows. Reaching the archers he looked towards the person commanding them, “I can poison your arrows if you need me to.”

[ReusableSword]

What a strange occurrence. This champion didn't react to him after pulling so many spears up. “Perhaps because I'm not human? Or I have the goddesses divine protection?” these thoughts continued through the Half breeds mind while he regained his strength. He knew very well it will take some time for him to do something big like that again. “What a waste, that dammed demon didn't even acknowledge me.” he could feel it slightly, the build up in the pit of his stomach. The rage.

Casting aside his thoughts of why the demon didn't react to him pulling out so many spears made the shaman furious. How dare this thing ignore him. “Fine if you won't come to me ill go to you.” he thought aloud not really paying attention to anyone. His rage was growing there was no stopping it now. The half Goliath slowly turned to tunnel vision solely focusing on two things. His brother Kharne, who was attempting to grapple the beast at its waist, and the giant.

Slowly Genthok's muscles began to move and grow slightly, his eyes turning to a dull shade of glowing white and red. The cut on his hand from earlier stopped bleeding as it gripped onto his war hammer. Slowly he began walking toward the beast then jogged for a moment before charging towards its right side. His right hand began to burn with a pure white flame, it was what he used to burn corruption and evil from the places he purified.

His companion Artur also began to feel his masters rage. The runic markings that sprawled around the beast began to glow a subtle shade of red and the bear also began to grow slightly larger. He would still stick with his masters orders and keep River safe but his attacks would be stronger and more unpredictable.

Genthok neared his target he could see the ice forming around the beasts ankle and gripped his war hammer with both hands the white flame channeled into the hammer. The hammer itself remained the same other than white runes that began to appear across the hammer effectively transferring the touch spell to the weapon. As the large shaman neared, his focus was to first strike the beast in its ankle with a mighty swing. And then assist Kharne with his grappling.

[NoriWasHere]

Act: I

Giants of the north

Collab with Leo Khan

The armored giant, stuck in place by River's ice, found itself in its most dire situation yet. While it struggled to try and free itself from the grasp of the icy tendrils, the Falcons recognized the situation and reacted with the precision that had become their calling card over the years. Volley after volley of bolts fired from their wrist-mounted crossbows impacted the helmet of the iron-clad beast with volley after volley bouncing harmlessly off the angled surfaces of the helmet; save for a few shots that found a home deep inside the eye sockets of the helm. In an instant, the beast roared out once more with an otherworldly roar of pain. Its voice rumbled across the plain as it flailed its hands upward in a desperate attempt to remove the bolts from their new home.

As it did, Kharne once again decided to try his strength against the iron giant, grabbing the creature underneath its arms and lifting upward with all the strength he had. As Kharne lifted, the ice that held the feet of the giant heaved from the raw strength brought forth by Kharne with cracks forming all along its foundation until it shattered and gave way completely. Seconds later the strike from Genthok struck the ankle of the beast; although this, like all other magic assisted strikes, was rejected by the beasts' armor as the red lightning like aura countered and instead blasted the war hammer from his hand. Though his strength would be of great assistance to Kharne. As Genthok moved in to assist the duo combined began to effortlessly raise the creature upward. As the beast ascended into the air, the blade from Halek flew true and impaled the beast in the weakened section of the armor; digging deep enough this time to strike the beast's flesh.

The area around the beast rumbled as the beast roared the blood-curdling sounds of a monster in pain. The creature once again managed to overpower the raw strength of Kharne with a simple rear kick to the center torso area of the Inquisitor while in a seamless fashion managed to smack Genthok away with the back of its metal hand; through it was with less force than was to be expected from the beast. Kharne and Genthok would no doubt be sore from the strike, however, nothing vital would be bruised or broken and the Inquisitors would be able to re-enter the fight without a second thought.

Though as they rose back to their feet they would be greeted by the sight of a sluggish creature in front of them. It seemed the venom from Halek's blade had worked fast and was already impacting the strength and agility that it once wielded in a terrifying way. As it struggled to maintain its balance, the creature came under a second barrage of arrows, this time commanded by Lanithil and Inquisition archers. Like the first barrage from the Falcons, most arrows simply bounced off of the armor or were crushed by the sheer strength it possessed. Yet a few arrows, namely those tipped with a bodkin point, managed to pierce through the ruined section; filling the armor with enough arrows to make it look like a pin cushion. The impact, and the resulting damage forced the iron monster to one knee; with its fist falling in front to prop itself up.

Once again, the best roared yet the countryside remained quiet. Instead of the thunderous, bone-rattling roar, the group was presented with a soft, wounded whimper that barely escaped the immediate area. It was wounded. It was slow. Most importantly, it was vulnerable.

"Father of blood," the beast muttered under his breath before its breath was stolen by a coughing fit, "granter of life, grant strength, grant resolve," the beast continued in a deeper tone. As he spoke, the red aura that defended the creature against all forms of magic began to arc across his armor again; lashing out in particular against the bolts in the eye socket as-well-as the arrows and blade in the breastplate. The creature slowly began to rise up, "grant gifts so prayers can be given," the creature continued as the red lightning like aura began to destroy the arrows and the bolts while also pulling the blade out. "Grant strength so prayers can be given," Across the battlefield the spears that were untouched by the group and their magic began to glow a bright red color. As the spears glow intensified, the magic encasing the armor grew in intensity as well. Haleks blade was pulled further and further away from the center of the armor while the remaining arrows were destroyed. It seemed whatever magic the armor possessed was granted strength by the spears still planted in their dead sheathes, and that if left untouched the beast would heal back to full strength.

Ardur, immediately sensing the creature gaining strength once again, turned his attention towards Gil. "Gil," Ardur ordered, "strike it now, strike the beast now," Ardur roared in a loud voice.

Gil skirted the battlefield, watching as his comrades launched their attacks. He felt a twinge of hope as the arrows of Cyterius' men seemed to blind the beast. Yet, that hopeful feeling soon vanished, as Kharne and Genthok both began a hand-to-hand assault on the giant. Gil was sure this would be the end of both his companions. However, the giant responded, not with death blows, only with lightened attacks of removal. Gil could see the beast was becoming weak and once Lanithil's archers brought the creature to a knee, Gil knew they had won.

It was then that Ardur called to Gil to deliver the final blow. There was a bit of destroyed armor, right above the creature's heart, a spot that even the barrage of arrows had failed to hit. It was here that Gil would strike.

Gathering his courage, Gil began to run towards the beast, slowly picking up speed, his cloak flowing behind him. As he neared the creature, he cast his shield aside. The body that had held the spear he clutched, was directly between him and the beast, but Gil did not care. He used the body to push himself into the air, leaping as high as he possibly could. He gripped the spear with both hands, and with a savage yell, brought it down with as much force as he possibly could.

As the spear impacted the body of the beast, Gil would feel the spear being pulled from his hands by some unknown force through the chest plate. The beast was thrown back and staggered by the strike, taking some ten steps backward as its right hand gripped the spear shaft with all its strength as it tried to pull the spear back out. The iron giants left hand quickly moved onto the shaft as well, using its full strength to prevent certain death. Slowly it struggled as inch by inch the spear was pulled forth by the beast's immense strength, slowly but surely the beast drew closer and closer to returning to the combat, and slowly did the time pass for all who watched the beasts unwavering strength seemingly deny death itself from its prey. The metal giant was still wounded by poison, however, and soon its grip slipped and the spear forced itself through the chest completely, and out the other side altogether.

The beast took one more step backward before it fell. The metal giant hit the ground with a thunderous boom that caused a large dust cloud to be kicked up all around obscuring the vision of the inquisitors as well as shaking the very earth beneath their feet. Though through the cloud they could see the spear sitting at an angle that was not perfectly straight upwards like the rest of the spears in the field, though this was momentary. In a jagged motion, the spear slowly guided itself forward, through armor and bone, until it too sat perfectly straight with the end of the spear pointing upwards to the heavens above while the spear itself rooted the monster into the ground below.

A few seconds passed in silence as Ardur watched with bated optimism; knowing full well that the creature could return to life at any second. "About time Inquisitors," Ardur scolded as he took a step towards the armored corpse, "Lillianna, I want to figure out what that thing was," Ardur ordered as he began to walk towards the now defeated enemy, "Gil, what were yo-"

"Your prayers have been received," the mysterious voice returned with a thunderous roar, crackling through the minds of all around in an invasive manner, "I expected no less from the Inquisition," it whispered in near silence, "one for none with nary a drop spilled," it continued with a raspy voice and with a chuckle, "my champions will not be beaten so easily next time we meet," the voice trailed off into silence.

"Who are you," Ardur asked aloud, "what have you done with the people of this city," he asked with a fiery intensity, "why send only one of your champions?"

"A test it was and a test you passed. Word must spread of my arrival, death would only bind you to my side sooner. You know me and what I was," the voice responded, "my marks are all over from the prayers on the walls to the prayers in the field," the voice paused as it chuckled, "I grant you victory today, though we will meet again," it paused for another second, "I will receive your prayers soon enough after all," the voice trailed off before disappearing entirely.

Before Ardur could muster a single word of defiance, the air was filled with the crackling energy and noise of a raw and powerful spell being used in the center of the city. The noise cascadded into the surronding area, enveloping all who could hear with a terrible sound.
Those attuned to nature and magic would feel a great unease fall over them as if something otherworldly had stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the mortal realms. A bright, red glow could be seen as it caused shadows to be cast off of the nearby buildings before massive hooks and chains erupted forth from the center of the city, four in total, before they crashed down destroying every building, and whole sections of the walls itself, before they rooted into the ground below. Red lightning, much like the one seen on the armored giant, began arching outward torching anything it came in contact with from both the chain and the hooks.. In an instant, the sound of the spell was replaced by the thunderous clap of thousands of feet marching in unison along cobblestone streets, filling the air with their ryhtmic steps. *THUD**THUD**THUD* it went *THUD**THUD**THUD* it continued for minutes before the sound began to slowly fade away, and the sound of that foul magic was all that was left to hear. Shortly thereafter, the chains themselves were pulled from their roots back towards the center of town, goughing massive divets into the earth and city alike as they were, before they too disappeared from the area. Those attuned to nature and magic would feel the world return to normal as well.

Ardur, however, seemed unphased by this. "You soldiers," he spoke as he pointed out a few, "collect your dead comrades and prepare them for travel, the rest of you collect the spears from the field and place them here," he turned his attention back to the Inquisitors, "Sloppy work all around," Ardur paused as he turned his attention from one to another, "but we survived. I will save the harsh words, for now. We have work to do," he paused as he turned his attention to Lilianna, "figure out what we just killed, Lillianna," he paused as he turned back towards the city, "everyone else take a quick rest, help Lilianna if possible, we move into the city within the hour." He finished as he crossed his arms behind his back and took a couple steps towards the city proper.

[Achronum]

Lilianna watched the fight with disinterest, making note of things and prioritizing them for the post combat examinations. River was in play here somewhere, his magic moving water and ice around the monster. They would need to talk. She would meet up with him at the giant's corpse and discuss what he learned after her evaluation of the monster. Two Inquisitor's went flying as the beast flailed about and, although the hist seemed relatively ineffective, she'd spare a moment or two looking over them. She'd brushed off seemingly inconsequential injuries before. She still took flowers to graves for that.

The beast's chanting grabbed her attention and she frowned. Father of blood, granter of life, strength, and resolve. Not a deity she was familiar with but she also ignored all her religious training. Lilianna made a mental note to send an inquiry home. Maybe this entity showed up in their mythology as well. She watched as Gil shoved a spear into its chest but more importantly, she watched as it worked its way into the beast and subsequently righted itself.

Lilianna waited a few moments as the dust settled, moving immediately on command towards it. She gathered her magic and paused as a voice ripped through her mind. She snapped her mannerisms into professional detachment, despite the cold dread at its words. It called out the Inquisition and insisted that they knew it. For a force dedicated to combating the quintessence of evil and corruption, that couldn't bode well for the world. She feared the worst but the Beast had been slain ages ago. Right?

“We are checking out you injuries before we move out. Keep that in mind.” She responded to Ardur as she moved towards the monster again, gathering the air around her and speaking into it. “Anyone who maintained injuries from the fight, remove yourself from the field until myself or another medic clears you. All other Inquisitors need join me at the monster's corpse. I will be debriefing as I examine. Any other information will be discussed afterwards.” She released the air around her with a gentle push. It wound around the field, carrying her words-sharp and precise, leaving no room for discussion-to everyone involved. She stood over the creature's corpse and spent a few moments looking it over as she waited for her fellow Inquisitors.

Once appeased most of her comrades had arrived, Lilianna positioned herself to touch the exposed portion of the creature. Light shone brightly at her hand before receding into the creature itself. Her magic tapped at the spear as it sank into the creature's flesh, immediately recoiling before carefully poking it once again. Power thrummed within it, warped and off. It seemed... out of place. Not in the sense that one found their belongs rearranged with no memory of moving them but rather out of place in a sense that it has stopped in a place where movement is expected but everything has stilled for far too long. It felt like a long stretch of road, with only a single home near its edge, in the middle of the night. It felt like the shadows between the trees that only play when there is nothing else to see.

Lilianna yanked her magic away from it and sent it through the creature. She fought the urge to frown as her magic tapped and tugged and zipped through it.

“Initial examination reveals the subject's skin has fused with the inner plating of the armor. Most organs present severe scarring, similar to rapid growth corruption victims. Muscles have experienced severe atrophy, suggesting the subject has failed to move in an indeterminable amount of time. Despite this, the subject's arteries have been artificially enlarged in order to accommodate an increased blood flow and new growth veins and capillaries are fortified against bursting. The skeletal structure seems as little more than a place to anchor the internal organs. Nearly every bone suffers from multiple stress fractures, with the exception of the skull and spine. Both are abnormally strong, likely reinforced through similar means to the arteries. The subject is male and human. Age is currently indeterminable without further examination.” She drew back and turned to the other Inquisitors.

“In short, looking in this man's direction should have killed him. And yet he lasted against a unit of trained soldiers and massacred an entire city. The only explanation I can offer is that the magic that protected him must have also sustained him in some fashion. That being said, what insight do we have on the magics that have been employed thus far?”

[pandapolio]

Halek listened to the disembodied voice with little interest as he looked up at the sky. As the voice was monologuing Halek was looking in the sky for whoever was speaking, hoping they were within sight. Halek felt chills as the city was ravaged and the marching resounded throughout the area. Worried that an attack might be coming, Halek half-drew his sword and stepped towards the city. As the marching slowly quieted and the chains left Halek put his sword away and turned towards the body of the beast. Watching as Lilianna examined the body he looked for his knife by the beast. Listening as he looked he found some of her findings interesting. Such as how weak the body was without magic sustaining it. The beast must have been in constant pain throughout its existence.

Finding his knife nearby he tested the blade to make sure it was no longer leaking venom. After making sure it was safe Halek noticed some of the beast's blood was still on the blade. Bringing it up to his nose he sniffed the blade, wondering if the blood had been warped along with the rest of the beast’s body. Bringing up a vial he put a few drops of the beast's blood in there for later use and study. Feeling a stinging feeling in his palm he realized he had yet to tend to the cut on his palm. Pulling a bandage out of his satchel he quickly wrapped it around his hand, covering the wound. He would have to get that healed eventually, but it would be a waste of time now because if they were to enter combat soon he would likely have to open up the wound again.

Walking back towards the rest of the group he looked towards the city. They were unlikely to find anything inside of it, but it wouldn’t hurt to make sure by checking. Halek wondered what his master would think of this situation. Likely to be curious the old man would bury himself in scrolls to find the answer. Likely Halek would be dragged into studying with him. But that wasn’t until he returned so all he has to do now is focus on the mission. Stepping next to Ardur he kept his eyes trained on the city. “Any idea what that creature was? The Commander is going to be asking a lot of questions about this.”

[Trainerblue192]

_______________________________________________________________________________

River made his way towards Liliana, minding his steps as he observed the wreckage that was left behind by the fearsome giant. He heard the commander speak but paid no heed to his remarks except the one on how they performed. "If our combat was such an issue maybe next time dont get knocked flat. I understand your flames are hot but there is no need for your head to be." his tone was very dry and curt not even glancing towards his direction as he spoke so that he may take in the scene.

"That's some insight you were able to gather from the beast Liliana. You never cease to astound me. Now I'm sure someone of such high intellect has already gathered information about the spears that were at play here but I shall repeat myself to those who may not have heard my first explanation." River cleared his throat before speaking again. "As you've no doubt noticed, each spear is exactly perpendicular to the ground beneath our feet, we saw it happen with the one out lovely Half-Elf saw fit to drive through the heart of this foul creature. Now these spears if you pay close enough attention, have a red hue emanating from their tips where contact is made. What's more each body that is impaled with them appears to have had the blood drained out from them as I'm sure the same has happened to our wonderful friend here." he said as he gestured towards the corrupted man and then began to pace back and forth "This same hue could be seen crackling across the armor each time it was struck by either magic or something magically charged, repelling it and doing little to no damage it would appear. That is why our lovely draconian friend was able to weaken his armor via his acidic disgorgement and as to why I focused my magics on either containing, or terraforming so that I would not waste precious magic on ill fated attempts. It is my theory that the spears were a power conduit for the armor and perhaps that is why he charged at Gil upon the release of the first one. Why he did not charge for the release of the others is beyond me. Now sadly the creatures blood is all drained out and now incapable of being brought back for analysis to study the corruption further and that is a shame...however the outcome of this battle mustn't be forgotten and in the future I advise we move more uniformly and have plans in place for such 'champions'that may have magic dampening abilities, armor, and so forth. We must also do heavy research on this deity he appeared to call out to...I have a terrible feeling about him."

[ReusableSword]

As Genthok struggled with Kharne the two were slowly able to lift the beast but were unable to finish their move as they were swatted away. The barbarian was flung several feet away with a strong hit. Somehow it felt like the beast was holding back or weakening. Genthok was still engulfed in rage and fury and again began to stand and move toward the beast even as his companions struck the beast down.

Again the disembodied deep voice entered the shamans mind, it spoke of prayers and answering them. But soon faded. The large inquisitor began making his way toward the city when the giant chains erupted from the town and dug through the walls and city scape. The sound of a marching army slowly leaving the area as the chains retracted.

Genthok was quick to act. The presence that overlooked this battlefield was gone. The beast, Long dead and the others resting. The half giant disappeared back into the forest Artur was quick to follow his master but wise enough to keep his distance. The bear laid down and watched as the barbarian slowly calmed down through growls and yelling. Fists pounding the earth and his chest. But slowly he began to calm down, his muscles slowly shrinking and returning to their normal shape.

After a little while, the shaman had returned to his original size as he laid there in some tall grass focusing on his breathing. His large fury companion, no longer sensing danger, got up and laid back down next to his friend. “Yeah I know, I got worked up again” He spoke the bear only giving a slight grown in agreement. “Come on then let’s go regroup with the others.” The half orc smiled at his friend and sat up. Briefly he held his abdomen where he had been hit. The area was rather sore from the hit he took, “Lilianna is going to give me a hard time for being reckless again.”

Genthok took his time walking back through the forest. He was gaining as much energy back as he could from the natural environment before continuing on. He was also lucky enough to find his hammer embedded in the side of a tree near the edge of the field. The others had either gather around the body or Ardur clearly waiting for their next orders. He managed to make his way over to the corpse to catch the last bits of what Lilianna was saying, still holding his side with his left hand with dried blood covering the runic markings across his bone armor and markings.

The giant toward over the others that gathered around with the only exception being Kharne. This always allowed him to stay at the back and listen while still getting a good view. Genthok waited patiently for Lilianna and River to finish their observations before adding what he has found so far as well. “If I may. There is or was a corruption that seemed to be spreading from the city. I’ve seen this before in a smaller scale whenever someone opened a tear or a small portal to somewhere… else.” He paused for a moment glancing at the city, “judging by the chains and the sounds we heard earlier I would say we stumbled upon a major gateway opening or a hell gate.”

The giant was still holding his side as he looked on towards the city, “as for the creature this thing spoke of, the one that invaded our minds. He’s very powerful, it’s no simple feat to cast a mass telepathy spell.” Genthok then turned his gaze to their fearless leader and the others that joined up next to him. “As for who or what he is, very likely to be demonic, most certainly evil. By the way he was talking it was, as the creature said, someone or something we have dealt with before.” He paused for a moment adjusting himself to ease the throbbing pain in his side.

“By us, I mean as inquisitors not us specifically. He’s also extremely bored since he was either released or finally gained enough power. You can tell by his speech patterns and how he sent this one out alone for testing. Right now I do believe it’s safe to assume he’s looking for entertainment and a challenge, clearly this village did not give that challenge to him.” The shaman’s gaze drifted back to the town and the corpses on the wall. The spirits here were still angry and restless, he can feel their fear even now, “it’s going to take some time to cleanse this place, but those are the only assumptions I have at this time. I’ll be able to make a better guess at the site of that portal in the town.” Genthok, after speaking, took a few flowers and seeds from one of his pouches and dropped them into the field. For a moment he used some of his magic to help grow the small white flowers. These flowers helped to purify corruption naturally. While waiting and watching the others Genthok would be periodically whispering prayers for this place, his friends, and these dammed souls.

[Leo Khan]

Gil sank to his knees next to the body of the beast, breathing heavily. All the adrenaline he’d felt coursing through him during the battle had now fled and he felt every ache, bruise and scratch he had accumulated. Gil was no stranger to pain but this was the part of war he hated the most.

Gil remained silent as his fellow Inquisitors gathered around the body, and as Ardur spoke, the words were not those that Gil had expected. Instead of congratulations, he offered only criticism. Gil could feel the anger rising to his head, as he began to stand, a string of curses and defensive protestations coming to the tip of his tongue. Luckily, River spoke before he could, saying pretty much exactly what Gil was thinking, but in a much politer manner.

If his commander would not congratulate his troops for quick thinking, adaptability and being able to form coherent plans under pressure, then Gil would. He knelt next to River and laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, thanks for the patches of ice out there. I’m sure that bastard would have crushed me without them.” After having a small conversation with the plainsman, Gil moved to Genthok and Kharne.

“You two have got to be the most reckless and foolhardy Half-Goliaths I have ever met. But thank you. Without your distraction and most importantly your strength, I never would have had my opportunity to strike the beast down. You two killed it just as much as I did.” Gil performed a small bow, and after a few more moments, made his way to Halek.

“That poisoned knife of yours is like the sting of a wasp. It’s small but it can inflict great detriment. Your poison slowed the beast down and brought it to it’s knees. That was something I never thought would happen. Thank you.” Gil reached to shake Halek’s hand. Next he moved to Lanithil and Cyterius.

“I’m glad you all didn’t waste all of your arrows. Some of them made their way into the eye sockets and some into the broken pieces of armor. I don’t know if they really effected his ability to see but they still were annoying enough to give us even a moment more to bring the beast down. My thanks to both of you.” Finally Gil returned to the corpse of the beast, where two strangers were standing, along with Ardur. He turned to one who was obviously an elf.

“Hi, I’m Gilead. I take it you were the one to create the illusion of me? Thank you for thinking of that. I’m sure it must have taken a lot of energy.” He bowed to her before turning to the Aasamir. “I saw you attending to Ardur and seeing as how he’s already back on his feet, you must be an amazing healer. I feel much better, knowing you’re with us.”

[WileyCoyote]

Aradeyr

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Aradeyr looked on as a single blade cut through the chaos of the battlefield, finally solidifying the outcome of their struggle for her. The effects of the poison, from both the blade and arrows took effect almost instantly, though she noted it still possessed quite an interesting amount of strength to have shaken the grasp of both inquisitors in such a state. Still, it was was clear for now, the battle was won. As the beast stumbled to its knees it wailed in agony, a sound she would have been eager to trap within her own blade, yet her delight peaked truly as it began to chant aloud it’s dying prayers. Her interest not as much in what they meant exactly, but who would answer them. At once the function of the spears was apparent; they had in some manner granted him the hideous strength while planted in their victims, and for the ones which hadn’t been uprooted, he was now trying to draw what power he could to regenerate once more. Concentrating on those remaining she began, one by one, exerting bits of force magic upon those Genthok had not already displaced, though with the glimmer of Gilead’s frame shooting across the battlefield hastily at Ardur’s command, she knew it would not be necessary.

Allowing the illusion to dissipate, Gilead would be visible to all once more as he delivered the final blow; his counterfeit wisping away as quickly as it’d been formed. She turned away then, wholly disinterested by the beast struggling against what was now the inevitable. Instead, her eyes darted about their surroundings. She was sure from the beginning, something was watching, and she was sure now, it would be most displeased. From the satchel secured to her horse’s side she removed her tome, excitedly flipping through it until she was satisfied with one of the seemingly endless blank pages to begin on. It was then the unfamiliar voice echoed through her mind. Looking over the grim faces of her comrades she was sure they heard him too. Ardur called back to him aloud, and it responded once more.

Quite the spell she mused in return, noting that much like the magic which sustained the beast, it was in a class far superior than the average mage could muster. She herself could only speak to few individuals at once, yet they were able to address them all at the same time. She recorded his words exactly as they came, as well as the commotion that erupted from the city shortly after he’d finished. The ominous aura was indeed chilling, and as the familiar red light shone through the city she eyed the other visible corpses for any sort of movement.

“Well” she began, closing the space between herself and the slain beast to hear what Lilianna would make of it. “That was pleasant”. The spears continued to pluck themselves out of their placeholders, and at the behest of Ardur, began compiling themselves in a row before her. She jotted detailed depictions of them quickly, as well as began an account of all that had transpired since her arrival until Gilead interrupted. Releasing both her tome and writing instrument they hovered beside her in the air as she turned to greet him. “Of course” she offered with a smile. “Though it would seem he could still see you for some reason.” Taking both his hands abruptly her eyes began to let off the same pale glow as she began examining them closely on both sides, as he was the only inquisitor to hold one of the spears himself it was a necessary precaution. “I am Aradeyr” she offered as an afterthought. She released him then, performing a quick circle about him for any remnants of the spell. It did not seem to have an effect on him earlier, and she was satisfied now upon closer inspection that he was free of any trace of it’s evil. Gesturing to her tome, they returned to her hands and she jotted the lack of findings as well. She turned then, to address her fellow inquisitors. “If you have been injured please see myself or Lilianna” she gathered was the girl’s name “before we depart for the city.”

[Rultaos]

As the beast fell and lay still, Cyterius continued maintaining his stance, waiting for the giant to remain immobile for a few moments, before relaxing and gesturing at his team to stand down. They immediately tensed up again however when the unidentified voice began booming again. Cyterius had one hand shoot up to his head in response to the sudden voice while another hand darted for his sword instinctively.

the disembodied voice spoke in riddles once again, and Ardur actually had the nerve to speak up against it, despite not knowing the extent of whatever this being's power was. The voice began dying away, and Cyterius was about to call for his team to regroup, when a loud sound caught everyone's attention once again and let them behold the incredible display of magic within and above the City of Ash. Cyterius was stunned and watched it, mesmerized with a morbid curiosity as to what would happen, though his body twitched internally as his survival instincts reacted to his gut feelings of fear and unease, and prepared him to act on a moment's notice the moment a threat made itself clear.

When the spectacle ended, and the invisible army seemed to march away, Cyterius allowed himself to relax slightly and feel the relief of a finished battle. Though his eyes and ears still scanned the surroundings, in case it was merely a trick to get them to lower their guard. you could never be too sure when it came to magic. Finally, he gestured to the nearby Falcons and had them walk back to their allies' lines.

The Falcons complied, and they regrouped with their two teammates who had temporarily joined Lanithil’s Archer Platoon, just as Ardur began giving out his orders.

He reprimanded the inquisitors on site for not having dealt with it as efficiently as they should have. Cyterius often took criticisms against his fellow Falcons personally, but in this case he felt inclined to agree. The lack of discipline from the two soldiers whom Cyterius could not remember the names of ended up wasting their lives needlessly. Meanwhile Gilead’s premature charge had left him exposed and very nearly cost his life within the first battle of their campaign. The life of an Inquisitor of all people! Had it not been for the timely intervention of their allies, Cyterius knew there was little he could have done to have saved Gil in that situation. He probably would’ve gotten himself killed trying. Losing 2 Inquisitors in a single day would’ve been a horrid start to their journey.

With that said, things could have been much worse. Only their heavy hitters and best fighters, like Kharne, Genthok, and Gilead, had engaged the giant melee after the loss of the 2 over-eager soldiers. Cyterius feared the worst case scenario where the giant charged into their footmen lines and raised Hell by cutting their men down in droves with every swipe, all while reducing the ability of their Mages to attack for fear of catching their allies within the spell’s area of effect. Thankfully, between their melee warriors’ combat skill, the Falcons’ distractions, the Archery unit's support volleys, and their Mage’s offensive and stalling spells, the giant was kept out of range of the majority of their forces and allowed their spellcasters plenty of room to tear into the foe. Gilead even redeemed himself from his reckless behavior by delivering the coup-de-grace against the giant in spectacular fashion. Cyterius would still call it a victory all things considered. Gods know they would have suffered a staggering amount of casualties had the giant reached their massed lines.

With the Falcons regrouped around him, they nodded an acknowledgment to Ardur's orders and began to observe the area around them. Lilianna and several inquisitors, mages and scholars alike were studying the corpse of the slain giant. Cyterius would have assisted if he could, but the Falcons' trade was in killing. Had he not already witnessed the killing blow, he would've been able to determine how the giant was killed from the angle of their body, the death wound, blood splatters, and the shape of their injuries. The anatomy and magical nature of the creature was far beyond his expertise though. If the creature died, it had vital organs that could be damaged and that was about as far as Cyterius' knowledge went.

Percival however, seemed quite interested in their study of the corpse and looked towards Cyterius in a wordless request for permission to join them. Cyterius knew their resident tinkerer and alchemist would not miss a chance to learn about the nature and properties of an unknown creature, and so he nodded towards the group in assent. Immediately, the short, black-haired, and slightly pudgy Falcon with blue eyes put away his full-sized custom crossbow (which he had used extensively as part of Lanithil's impromptu archer unit) and went to get a closer look at the armored beast and listen in to the insights of the others.

At this point, he and his group had wandered near Lanithil where Gilead appeared to thank them for their efforts in the fight. Cyterius realized belatedly that he had noticed Gil speaking to multiple people earlier before he walked up to them. He nodded in acknowledgement to Gil's compliments. "My thanks, but we merely did our duty in that situation. We all hinge on each part of this army doing their jobs to survive against out enemies. And it appears the enemy we face now is one we cannot afford to make mistakes against. Do your job and I can assure you my men and I will have your back" He said. Cyterius still had yet to trust his fellow Inquisitors as much as he trusted his Falcons, but he hoped they would eventually prove themselves worthy of that trust... Before fate decided to force them to rely on trusting each other.

With Percival left behind with the scholars, the rest of the Falcons followed Cyterius as they approached Ardur, each one stretching their limbs so as not to shock their body with sudden inactivity after creating so much adrenaline. "Sir, with your permission I would like to scan around the city perimeter before we move in with our main force. I do not know what kind magic they had used at the end there. I believe I heard Genthok use the term 'portal' and 'hellgate', and even if the voice said it was done with us for now, but I'd rather not rely on our enemy acting so predictably. With your blessing, I'd like to take one of our mages to come with me and my team as we scout the edge of the city and the approach to the gate area for any traps or magical energy that could be a danger to a large mob of infantry, and clear it out if necessary. After our close battle earlier it would be difficult to needlessly lose more men at this stage," He said, before turning his head to look upon the walled city ahead of them. "And I have a sinking feeling we're going to need everyone we can get for what lies ahead," he finished ominously as he wondered what other trials would be forced onto them on this campaign they were on.

[iTem]

The battle seemed to have stretched so long for the Tiefling. Though in reality, it was shorter than she had perceived. “Excitement can do that to a person,” she found herself thinking. The prior show of light and magic was a sight to be seen, for sure. But she would rather not see them again though she knew that it will never be fulfilled. She was definitely impressed by the courage, or perhaps idiocy, of the one called Gilead despite being nothing more but a mere small human; the group of men and women that trailed behind the dark skinned man; the giants that called each other brothers though halves of their races are the only ones truly joining them; and the rest of their magic users who was equally impressive in their own rights.

With deep breaths, she drops the spear that she dislodged earlier and joins the others to listen in on their comments about the creature which was apparently supposed to be human. She internally grimaced as she absorbed the information that the others were speaking of and found herself looking towards the dead city before them. She was not anxious, but she continued to patiently wait for those with better heads to finally make a choice.

[Kazemitsu]

Kharne growled low in his chest when the giant someone got flexible enough to kick his chest which had been pressed to its back. Still he and Genthok were knocked away but oddly enough their bodies weren't damaged to much. At most a bruising. He had been to focused on lifting and holding the giant to notice what the others were doing. Shortly after getting kicked Gil struck the final blow, shoving a spear through the partially ruined cuirass of the giants armor.

When the giant finally fell though that voice from earlier showed up, making the bestial man bare his fangs at the air. As it went away, with a sound like marching, Kharne turned his attention to the others. They were examining the giant, who was apparently a human, or taking guesses at what the ethereal entity was. It said its name was the prayers on the walls and the fields. Looking around all he could see was death and carnage. He'd say war but there was only the bodies of the people who had lived in the city.

" Death...or carnage? Possibly murder?" He sound aloud to the people making speculations about the entity. Looking to Lilianna after her examination of the corpse. "I could use some healing. I can feel some of the muscles in my arms and back are torn." He stated before crimson eyes turned towards Gil. His eyebrow cocked up, he wasn't a glory seeker so he wasn't particularly concerned on who killed the thing so long as it was killed and stayed dead. He gave the smaller man a brief nod before returning his attention to Lilianna as if he were waiting for her to say or do something. It was an oddly...animalistic trait to just sit there and wait. The only movement the rising and falling of his chest.

[Awesomoman64]

Lanithil Valkas

---

Keeping his bow drawn and pointed at the metal beast, Lanithil kept a firm gaze until a faint whisper from the trees let the wood elf know the battle was over. With a sigh of relief he eased his bow string back and slipped the arrow back into the quiver. The archers following him did the same, each attempting to steady their breathing as the monster had finally been downed.

While Lanithil felt his contribution had been minimal, the front line warriors and mages had done a fine job in felling a creature never before encountered. Even with the loss of two comrades things could have been much worse had they not worked to discover it’s weakness. Their dear commander Ardur thought differently, however, as he made his opinion of their work very clear. It didn’t take the eyes of an elf to see the sour faces on everyone as they were told to expect a scolding for their efforts.

Once their orders had been given, Lanithil motioned for the archers to huddle before they dispersed. “I’m not one to say this normally, but pay no heed to the commander.” Lanithil said in a hushed tone. “This fight may not have gone smoothly, but now we know how to fight these things if anymore show up. For now, the beast is dead and our losses were minimal. In my book that’s a win. Now, let’s see if anyone needs our assistance. And keep an eye out for any unbroken arrows out there. Those things aren’t free, you know?”

With that, the archers spread out all going to different parts of the field. Before he too took his leave, Lanithil was approached by Gil who thanked him as well as the Luna Falcons for distracting the beast. “Please, you and the others did most of the work. I should be thanking you for keeping that thing at bay. Now go see a healer and get yourself patched up. Women may be impressed by scars, but not infected wounds.” He said giving Gil a firm pat on the back.

After that brief conversation, Lanithil decided to follow Cyterius and the Luna Falcons as they approached Ardur. Upon hearing their request to scout the city, Lanithil let out a fake gasp. “Cyterius! Don’t tell me you were planning on scouting without the ranger? If you and the Falcons are going anywhere near that place, then I hope you have room for one more.”

[NoriWasHere]

Act: I

The looming threa

Ardur was left speechless by the witty remarks of Inquisitor Fontaine, with his mouth left slightly agape. "Aye, fair enough little Inquisitor," Ardur thought as a sour grin panned across his face. Though Ardur wasn't left in silence for long, as Lillianna passed by informing him that he was to receive further treatment for his wounds. "Yes boss," Ardur spoke as he smirked towards Lillianna as she moved towards the armored beast; a rare sight to be sure. Ardur listened as she further commanded the rest of the soldiers who were injured to seek help before entering the city; an order that Ardur gave a quick nod of approval towards. Ardur knew the city held back the secret of whom they encountered, beyond the ruined walls lay a key to unraveling the mystery of what befell the people of the City of Ash; he would need his troops at one-hundred percent fighting capacity to seek them out. His eyes drifted back to the Inquisitors themselves. As if in a direct response to his criticism, Gil began strolling across the group of Inquisitors, passing praise and encouragement for each and every one along his way. Encouraged on by the faithful Gil and the praise he sang their way, the Inquisitors seem to have been in good spirits all things considered. Ardur snarled his lips at the thought. He was about to drift away to the trivial matter of figuring out what they were dealing with when Halek walked up and asked a question.

“Any idea what that creature was? The Commander is going to be asking a lot of questions about this,” Halek asked.

"No," Ardur spoke quickly in response, "I have my assumptions but no certain answers," he paused as he shook his head as he pondered his next word. Before either had a chance to further the conversation Lilianna called them to her side as she revealed the deep, twisted secrets held beneath the metal flesh of the beast. Her revelations about the unholy marriage of flesh and metal took Ardur by surprise. The thought alone of something so frail being able to move a massive set of armor with such speed and grace meant there was more to this puzzle than what they were seeing. Magic obviously played a part in the creatures' abilities, but which magic would be to blame? While he pondered the question, he listened carefully as Inquisitor Fontaine added their observation. River began by recapping her observations about the spears themselves, and Ardur again listened carefully to the words spoken by the bright Inquisitor. As River further explained the strange magic, he turned his attention back to the soldiers whom he had ordered to remove the spears from the corpses earlier. As each spear was removed, the same red 'mist' like substance fell from the spear and back onto the corpses below.

As Ardur found himself deep in thought, Genthok began to offer his shaman insight on the origin of the mysterious voice. He talked about the corruption that fell over the area, and Ardur was only casually listening until he mentioned the chains and the sound of an army. Ardur turned his attention completely on Genthok, listening deeply to the words as he described the evil being as something of a sadist, one that was only toying with them with a 'challenge'. Ardur stepped aside, letting the Inquisitors further discuss what possibilities may yet explain what had befallen the city. Ardur knew Genthok was on the right train of thought, but he could not help but think that there was still something missing from the explanation.

Ardur crossed his arms as he eyed up the ruined sections of the wall crushed underneath the giant chains movements before. "Anchors," Ardur thought aloud but he quickly muttered a "no" as he shook his head.

"Sir," Cyterius spoke as he approached, "with your permission, I would like to scan around the city perimeter before we move in with our main force. I do not know what kind of magic they had used at the end there. I believe I heard Genthok use the term 'portal' and 'hellgate', and even if the voice said it was done with us for now, but I'd rather not rely on our enemy acting so predictably. With your blessing, I'd like to take one of our mages to come with me and my team as we scout the edge of the city and the approach to the gate area for any traps or magical energy that could be a danger to a large mob of infantry and clear it out if necessary. After our close battle earlier, it would be difficult to needlessly lose more men at this stage, and I have a sinking feeling we're going to need everyone we can get for what lies ahead."

"You have my blessing," Ardur responded, "this magic is unlike anything I have seen before," he paused again, "once you begin your search err on the side of caution and don't take any unessecary risks," he paused again, "return back to us in twenty minutes and report on what you find," he finished.

The mystery of the armored beast and what had befallen the city still danced across the mind of Ardur. While the Inquisitors had made progress, he felt there was much left to speculation. He did not like that. What purpose did the spears serve? What created that monster? And most importantly of all, who was speaking to them? Ardur shook his head as he pondered these questions before a shooting pain forced his hand to the area the rock had hit.

"Inquisitors, there is much left to learn," Ardur paused as he rubbed his chin, "if I was to make a guess I would say the spears may be an anchor point of sorts for whatever magic they used," he paused again as his eyes squinted, "but I am afraid my ability to answer these questions is spent after that, for now, rest while we can and take up the medics on their offer of aid; when we enter the city we will need to be ready," Ardur finished.

- - - - - -Thirty Minutes later - - - - - -

Thirty minutes had passed before the sounds of branches breaking and feet stepping in a near unison caused Ardur's head to suddenly jerk in the direction that the sound had begun to emanate from. From their rear, in the same tree line they had set up in earlier, the images of soldiers in polished armor wielding big spears began to come into focus. The Inquisition had arrived. Stepping out in near uniform rows, and with precise steps, soldiers clad in bright metal armor began to approach in a long, stretched out formation ready for battle. Ardur shifted his focus to the left and right, spotting various lightly armored troops moving quickly along the flank ready to assault whoever charged the formation. At their front, riding a dark black warhorse plated in armor, was Anora.

Ardur turned to the others, "stay here," he said as he began walking towards the commander. The others could only watch as Ardur strolled casually towards Anora. After a few minutes, Anora moved her horse from a slight trot to a full gallop; closing the distance with Ardur within a few moments. As the two began talking, the sight of Anora's head shot from the defeated giant to the ruined walls and back to the giant, before she turned the horse around and took off back towards the army proper. Ardur then turned around and made his way back towards the Inquisitors and made his way back to them.

"Cyterius, you and your men go ahead and scout our approach, take Kharne and Halek with you," he paused as he turned his focus to the Luna Falcon, "while this giant may lack in subtly he proved his strength and usefulness in his combat with the armored beast," he paused for a second, "and while I may not like his magic, Halek will prove usefull as well if you encounter another giant," Ardur paused as he turned his attention to the rest of the group, "the rest of us will wait for Anora and we will enter the city behind them in five minutes time," he paused as he turned himself to face the city, "Inquisitors, brace yourself for whatever carnage we may find inside," he finished.

[ReusableSword]

Genthok found himself being tended to by Lilliana who was kind enough to assist the Goliath with his mostly sub dermal or self-inflicted wounds. She was quick to scold him on being careless before moving on. He didn’t take too much damage after all, his raging helped make sure of that. The large shaman found himself out in the field meditating as some other soldiers pulled the spears from the ground. His large furry companion was laying down across from him both resting and assisting the shaman as a point to concentrate on. A totem if you will.

The half Orc knew he didn’t have very much time to rest but wouldn’t waste any time with his purpose here either. He did have a job to do after all, other than regain his energy from the last fight. As he sat there in the field, his hands were clutched around a bowl with some burning herbs inside it. The slow burn of the plants would smell sweet and pleasing to the others around him while the smoke curved and curled around his head and body.

Slowly a slow rhythmic thump like that of a faint heartbeat could be heard near him. Slow pulses of visible light and energy began to accumulate under the large bear, whose ritual markings also began to glow a faint bluish green, before jutting through the ground to the meditating shaman. The Goliath’s dull Grey eyes began to glow ever so slightly as he opened them, but he seemed to be in a trance of sorts. After a few more moments, this blue light that seemed to flow into his very veins began to seep into the surrounding earth.

With every heartbeat from the Goliath, this light slowly creeped from him. These thin veins of blue and white magic continued to grow and spread. Crisscrossing each other and purifying the land of the dark magic and corruption that tainted its soil just moments before. The energy the bear had been gathering was that of the natural world around them and deep in the earth beneath them. Genthok was acting as a conduit, gathering and dispersing the energy and magic to purify the battle field.

This process could take him days to completely restore the area, but he knew this would do two things. For one, it would lift the uneasiness of this area and rest the souls who he could still feel around this area. The second was that it normally had a relaxing and calming effect on others in the vicinity. This was something he thought the others could benefit from, as none of them knew exactly what they would encounter inside. It could be nothing but it could also be a nightmare to some. Genthok was a shaman after all, and he was ultimately here to help.

After a few more moments the pulses began to die down and ultimately stop. The magic in the ground lingered for a few moments before being absorbed back into the earth. Slowly the shaman seemed to come back from his trance. The lingering calming effects of the purification spell still lingered but since he was using ambient mana from the earth and nature he wasn’t all that tired. But, he was a bit light-headed. The large Barbarian would continue to lie in the grassy field until called upon by his superior to continue their march into the city.

@MagratheanWhale