Hatman1801

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Ulimani Crags

_{En route to Xena Rock Fields}

Iron, looking up from his destroyed hand, gave Jenso a sadistic grin. "Punk...did you just ask me to fucking surrender? I don't think so, little man!" The big man let out a roar, carnal and fueled by rage. He charged at Jenso surprisingly quickly, and jumped up into the air, ready to drop down with a heavy punch from above...

And then his face exploded.

What the bloody fuck indeed, as the brawler landed lifelessly on the ground in front of Jenso, a short white iron rod through his head. The tip was glowing with heat, as if it had just come out of a forge, and went right through the back of Iron's head to where his eye had been. The reason for the explosion became noticeable as Iron's right eye landed in pieces on the ground; it too was mechanical, and the A/B battery had exploded on impact. The Mage running from Par didn't bother to check what the hell had just happened; he only turned for a moment as Par's shot stopped just a few inches from the back of his head. The barrier he had been using for the crossbowman was magnetic or something, making it easier to maintain than a barrier that would stop more forms of offense than just ranged strikes. He didn't seem keen on even trying to fight anymore, his pace only quickening once Iron had died. To cement this, two more of the white rods shot into the ground a few feet in front of Par and Jenso, with tattered cloths attached. Surrender flags, thrown by a figure on top of the cliff their five enemies had come from. They never got a good look at the figure, as he too bolted off, the mage scrambling off in the same direction.

So three down, and the last two surrendering, although it wasn't quite clear why the fifth figure had both killed his comrade and never engaged in battle in the first place. Maybe he knew Iron was going to fail, and wanted to make his death... Ironic.

Hyznia

_{Castle Exterior}

Sulfrax glared at Rem as he moved to help, growling in the back of his throat. "Don't touch me!" The Archmage looked to stand up of his own accord, but immediately stumbled upon the quaking of the earth beneath them. The fight against these two was officially ended. They had crossed a threshold, and it was about time to solidify the gap between these bandits and Sulfrax.

"You control the earth. You control the wind. I wonder if either of you control water? It might not matter; I'm not quite sure if it could still be considered as such, anymore. Athscríobh an dlí Dhiaga" Sulfrax's touched the ground with his exposed right hand again, the light that had engulfed it slowly flickering away. Upon contact, a ring spread out across the ground from the point of contact. The trembling earth stopped, as the ground froze over in a sheet of black ice. No, not froze over... the dirt and soil and mud beneath vanished entirely, transformed from being dirt into being water, frozen immediately and laced with arcane power. A flick of his left hand, and the ice almost immediately engulfed the two from foot to neck. With the amount of energy focused within, the black ice was more akin to steel in durability.

Well, now there was essentially a frozen pond of magic ice outside of Hyznia, with two poor saps trapped on top. Sulfrax didn't kill them, though. He was kind enough to let them breathe, even retort if they felt like it. He stood back up, rolling his neck once with a sigh. "You two are an amusing display if nothing else. I could do far worse things than this, but I'd rather not start experimenting with my associate present." Sulfrax looked down at his arm for a moment, slowly clenching the fist. It was clear now why his limbs were bound with enchanted materials; the flesh was dead, burned and black like coal, and thin with perhaps no muscle tissue. More interestingly were the cracks; fissures marked the skin at random like wounds, glowing white with raw Arcane energy. It flowed beneath the skin like magma within a volcano.

"When your friend Ross shows up for the two of you, let him know that I was generous in just freezing you two. That flame that ruined your arm there may as well have been a bubble popping. I can do far, far worse. Any questions?"

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Hey everyone, I'm sorry about how slow I personally have been with the posting. It's not much of an excuse, but I've been dealing with taking care of my stupid alcoholic father lately, and it's kind of taxing on the brain-plain. I've been trying to strangle a post out of myself over yesterday and today but between RPG being buggy and destroying half of a written post yesterday and cleaning up after the old man's attempt at cooking today, I keep drawing blanks on what to even write.

I'll try puking something up later today or tomorrow, I promise.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Hyznia

_{Castle Exterior}

Sulfrax's mouth turned a little at the desperate swing of Florence's blade. A pitiful final attack, Sulfrax thought, another swing of his hand releasing another blast at the wave. Rem's sonic attack was subconsciously nullified by his passive barrier, but he knew that the Ki strikes of the small warrior took a bit more effort. It surprised him then, as the cutting wave from the sword just cut through his blast. The Ki was more focused, more pure than he had anticipated being possible. His eyes narrowed, and he held up his arm instead. The blast shred through his sleeve and leather straps, but the wave was shattered by raw force as the runic binds fell to the ground.

"You cut my...!" Sulfrax dropped to his knees, wincing, flinging his exposed arm up at the small man on the ground, angered and ready to retaliate, but immediately refocused towards the charging man once he saw the beast. "You'll suffer in his place then! Reo Gréine!" The blast was intense and unstable, an eruption of white flame straight from Sulfrax's arm at the man named Ruso. Whatever immediate oddity his magic held before was gone; this was raw elemental Arcane magic, almost desperately released, some of the fire even backlashing and travelling up Sulfrax's own arm. The sheer volume of it threatened to consume its caster, but the Arch Mage didn't seem to care. He was more angered now than cautious.

Ulimani Crags

_{(But not with Jenso & Par)
En route to Yvette's Z-ATV}

Alvios sighed, shaking his head as he ran from Diver's Paradise, mumbling about Luke sending off to deal with whatever might befall Yvette. He didn't much like the woman, although she probably liked dealing with his efficient attitude in comparison to Luke's passionate one. "Luke should be the one coming out here to check on Yvette. He's the one that came out here to deal with her in the first place. Should have dragged her back with him if he was so worried..." Complaining about the small things was better than dwelling on the big picture at the moment. He'd probably get an earful from Yvette once he showed up. At least he'd be closer to some of his contacts once he reached the Xena Rock Fields.

Ulimani Crags

_{En route to Xena Rock Fields}

"That's the spirit!" Iron held his arm up to block the kick to his head, and simply swatted back at Jenso's hammer with his hand. His eyes widened a bit as the hammer struck though; he expected the flames to disperse, not be as solidified as they were, and the attachment suffered for it, the joint bending inward at an odd angle. He didn't try to hold him back any more, and shoved Jenso away with his left arm instead, jumping back a short distance afterwards to check his wrist. "Shit, shit, shit..." he mumbled, grabbing it with his other hand and trying to adjust it. The joint had been offset from the way he blocked it; he wouldn't be able to do much with it now besides awkwardly slap at him with it.

On Par's end, it seemed as though the situation was picking up. The mage looked back at his partner, not making an attempt to save him as the last few bullets hit. He took another glance over at Iron, then back towards where he had last seen Par. "Good job," he said aloud, before turning and, oddly enough, running off. Guess the mage was a scared little bitch! ... Or he had an ulterior motive. It would be up to Par to decide whether to chase or not... and if he did, there was still the unseen fifth member of the group.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Hyznia

_{Castle Exterior}

Sulfrax's eyes were glowing with an off-grey light, the unusual sword clashing against the air next to him. An invisible barrier revealing itself, twisted and unstable magic, the portion struck revealing itself like static on a television. Sulfrax had known immediately the dangers of being out here, and there was a crease in his brow at this annoyance, with a hint of surprise as the barrier began to split. Retaliation was simultaneous however, even moreso upon noticing that this was different than theoretically expected; Sulfrax lifted his hand, and a burst of red-grey energy shot into the man, pushing him back The static properties showed themselves again as the trace energy lingered around his body.

"Domhantarraingthe Ifreann" The muttered incantation caused the remnant energy to flare up, and the gravity around him intensified to an obscene degree. It might have just caved in his torso if he was a normal human, but he was oddly durable against the force. "Hm, not a typical Arcane manifestation. I do hope that mixture was with Ki. Ever since the incident, I've been studying that obscure 'spirit power'. Making sure that the antithesis to Arcane magic wouldn't be an antithesis to me."

Arcadia

_{Inside the Z-ATV}

"Woe upon you, for your ignorance has been unveiled, my tinkerer comrade! A true tragedy that your shoulder should turn so coldly towards an ally!" Nicolas was looking at Dan now, his grinning mask likely matching the expression he had beneath it. It was a little surprising, however, when his tone changed from his usual sing-song entertainer's tone to a normal teenager's voice. "Listen, Dan, buddy. Even if you don't believe in Kho, heck even if the guy didn't exist, I'd keep the sarcasm on the down-low. No need to be all cold-shoulder when we're trying to work together, unless you really want to be lumped into the no-fun-allowed group with her." The end of his statement was punctuated with a thumb jabbed towards the back, where the quiet Illon woman sat, still as a statue.

Ulimani Crags

_{En Route to Xena Rock Fields}

"Come on, ya punk! I'm gettin' real sick of you trying to blindside me with stuff like this!" Iron wasn't the brightest, but Jenso had been using too many smokescreens and sneak attacks by now. He didn't try to smash the boulder to look for Jenso. He just rammed his shoulder into the damn thing, and returned the stone to its sender, interrupting Jenso's attack before he could get the full swing in. "You've set up smokescreens and dashed around rocks for way too long! Fight me head-on, or I'll take your head clean off!"

Par was having only partial success, although it seemed a little too convenient. Once the grenade was thrown, the retaliation was immediate as the mage spoke up. "Thirty-seven degrees to your left." The barrier went down, and a crossbow bolt flew right in Par's direction, embedding itself into a stone in front of him, and detonating a second later. However, an eye for an eye. The explosion of the grenade didn't need to hit the barrier; instead it hit the poor crossbowman, the blast throwing him backwards, the mage stepping casually out of the way of both his partner's flying body, and somehow ignoring the blast itself.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Alright everyone, my week has finally been cleared up, all of the drama and physical injury is healed up. I should be posting by tonight or tomorrow.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

In other news, I had a seizure earlier today and my father almost got a DWI, so there might be another post break from me for 2-3 days until I feel better.

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Sorry I haven't been posting terribly frequently. I've had some pretty heavy stuff on my plate that I'd rather not discuss here. Anyway, just a filler post for @Necrophage@tex, mild character stuff for @tex, and @Whimsley if Jäger feels like noticing/acknowledging Nicolas' actions while answering Dan, and a rather large chunk of fight exposition for @Jensoman@Letter Bee

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

Hyznia

_{Castle Exterior}

"Neither of you seem suited to Arcadia," Sulfrax began, pulling his hood back up before letting his arm fall by his side again, staring at the two of them with skeptic curiosity. "And I've little time to waste on escorting some lost peasants wandering through the woods. Find Arcadia of your own accord, unless you have a more interesting motivation." Sulfrax shifted his weight slightly from side to side as he inspected the two. He didn't appear threatened nor threatening, simply curious about the new company. Seemed as though his venture outside was netting more than just a conversation...

Arcadia

_{Inside the Z-ATV}

Nicolas was leaning back in his seat in the Z-ATV now, the grinning expression on his face staring straight ahead...no, not quite straight. The slightest bit angled towards Jäger now. His hands were behind his head, and he was bouncing his crossed legs. He looked like he didn't have a care in the world anymore, but it was perhaps a little strange that he hadn't started up his own case of small-talk. The mischievous actor was as interested in the monk's answer as the machinist.

Perhaps it would have been less noticeable if he reacted to the woman he had been nagging all day open her eyes, beckoning Haley over with a hand, a folded piece of crumpled paper in the other. As if the poor lady needed anything else stressing her; the Illon woman hadn't come with any formal paperwork, and wasn't a registered CMAS mage. Superiors had just tacked her on the Initiative team with no questions answered.

Ulimani Crags

_{En Route to Xena Rock Fields}

The swordsman's eyes widened for a moment as he noticed Jenso sprint past him through the smoke. He wasn't expecting him to be so fast. An immediate red flag went off in his head, and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "The yellow one's not a mage! He's a Ki user! You idiot, Iron, I can't fight that!" He began coughing after shouting so hard while still in the smoke, but he wanted to be loud enough for his comrades on the cliff to hear. Distracted by the realization of Jenso's actual strength and his shift to warn his team about it, he lost proper focus. Several bullet wounds from Par punctured his back. He barely even screamed as he collapsed on the dirt.

One down, four to go.

The problem with the next member though, was the boisterous laughter as the titanic man caught Jenso's flame-doused fist with one hand, a distinct klang as it impacted with metal, the fire burning away cloth and synthetic flesh covering his right hand, muscles bulging as the man's own Ki-enhanced strength held the attack back, standing firm. "Well now, ain't this more interesting! I thought you were just a little punk, but gotta say, you've got a real powerful left straight here, buddy!" A swift movement of his hand, and he grabbed Jenso by the wrist, flinging him in Par's direction with one swift movement. The man had blocked Jenso's strongest technique.

"The name's Iron, fire-boy! Two bruisers like us, we should know each other's names before we get down and dirty!" The man was grinning now, settling into a top-heavy stance, ready to clash with a retaliation. He didn't seem to care about what just happened to his ally, or even properly trying to kill the two now.

His buddies on the cliff though had different ideas. The mage and crossbowman came down from the cliff, and got themselves in a closer position to fire at Jenso and Par. They moved slowly, the mage's raised hands keeping the barrier in-tact no doubt. The crossbowman was half-panicking from a distance, calling out to Iron loud enough to be heard. "Are you serious, Iron?! Stoff is dead! Stop messing around and lets either kill them or leave--" The mage spoke up, features still indiscernible beneath his robe, except for rough boots and thin hands. He seemed like the quiet voice of reason between the two. "Calm down. Let Iron fight the Ki user. Watch for the gunner."

The two parties were close enough together now that smokescreens wouldn't help either side. Well, most of them. There was definitely a fifth figure on the cliff when they revealed themselves...so where was he now?

Rings of Fate

Krunk Fortress, Lobby

_{Big doors for little people.}

Ainra was...pretty annoyed. Jenso had been standing right there and just let them roll away from him back into the big fortress. And now they were gone, and they were stuck in a big room with too many doors and it was all quite frustrating. To top it all off, now there was this new guy, who seemed to be too tired to care.

"Uuuugh. I just wanted to beat the shit out of these guys, and now we're stuck in their big fuckoff fortress and have no idea where to go. ...We should start by looking for the kitchen though, just a suggestion--" Ainra was cut off with speechlessness as their newest comrade suddenly punched a door and drew his weapon. His distress and murderous intent silenced her casual sarcasm in an instant.

"Wait, what? Hey, uh, your name was Zerraf? What's the big deal about this pillow?"

Scattered Shades: Arcadia Chronicles

@NecrophageI was going to wait and see if you felt like doing anything with your cat first, but I went ahead and posted. @tex, @Letter Bee, and @Jensoman. I might make another post for the Z-ATV tomorrow, but I needed to put something down tonight, since I haven't been posting much. Just happens to be almost 4 AM when I'm making this post though.