Herald

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

Leon took the proffered length of metal, sliding it into his sword belt for now. The tool would be better than a dagger admittedly, the edge of it filed down like a chisel for working its way into a gap and the sturdier construction allowing him to use more force and leverage. He looked up the side of the building, eyes picking out several decent looking foot and handholds. Ascending the wall wouldn't be overly difficult, but they still needed to do it fairly quickly.

Checking his gear again to make sure nothing was loose enough to fall, he took one last look into the storm for signs of approaching lanterns or torches, then began climbing up. Thankfully the climb was short, barely enough to get the muscles warmed up as he reached the partial ledge of the roof. He planted his feet and released one hand from the wall to wave in a semi complex gesture as he called on Mask's blessing. Although he couldn't see it himself, shadows poured into his eyes, darkening them completely as Mask granted them the ability to sense magical energy. Slowly he peeked up over the edge, readying a ranged attack spell in case he was spotted. Luck was with them though, the crossbowmen weren't within sight.

Hauling himself over the edge he crouched down to lower his profile against the roof and looked around for any signs of activity. If his companion had been anyone other than Iliskra he might have offered a hand, but he knew that she probably would have made the ascent even quicker than he had if she had taken the lead. Once she was up onto the roof, he began advancing to the closest window keeping his feet spread and using his hands to support some of his weight in a manner which looked more like an animal than a man as he quieted his steps across the roof.

Reaching the window, his eyes showed no signs of magical energy on the window itself and he nodded to Iliskra, trusting her eyesight to look for traps while he watched the interior for signs of activity. Once everything was clear, he retrieved the tool and wedged it under the window, carefully increasing the pressure until the window began to give.

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

Dang, Leon got a whole ass 100 Sugarcrush? Dude could sweep the entirety of Nocturnia with that kind of army.

@ERode

Goody two shoes, remember. Unless it has a use that can be justified legally.

Though there may be a curious math here.

What is better... 100 new Gyfted police officers loyal to Leon? Or one Lion man with 100 new POWERS!!!!!??!?!?!

Mostly kidding, while that would be awesome, pretty sure Leon would die after like... two? three?

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

In the meantime I would like to humbly submit that Wren needs a transformed name like Ebony and Val. Im thinking... Wrendigo.

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

Contrary to the violence Mercyval had been unleashing, it recognized it’s defenses against the heat and crouched over the vehicles to protect as many of them as it could, it’s maw turning up to look at the phoenix and roaring a challenge. The fires were spreading, and the heat coming off of Mercyval was only a bit better than the tornados themselves. His purple eyes started darting around, looking for solutions. The Phoenix was flying, and though it posed little threat to Mercyval with it’s fire attacks, he in turn posed little threat to it as long as he was stuck on the ground.

We must climb…

To drag it from the sky

The towers to either side were the only thing even possible to hold Mercyval’s weight. They were already damaged, both by Mercyval himself and from the raging battle.

We have allies Mercy…

We have never needed help making the kill. We do not need it now.

Neat. I didn’t know we could fly.

Sarcasm is for the weak.

Then you know what we have to do. Do you want the kill or not?

Mercyval growled audibly, turning it’s attention to Wren’s changed form and hoping his voice would carry through the raging fire and gunshots. ”Cabhrú liom tóg agus chosaint an lag ó an tine. Mé beidh ghlacadh an éan”

<Help us climb and protect the weak from the fire. We will take the bird.>

Mercyval then turned it’s gaze on the phoenix and roared out. “Amháin an lag fulaingt. Agus againn bhfuil ní lag.”

<Only the weak suffer. And we are not weak.>

Mercyval picked itself back up, it’s claws digging a wide trench in the earth as it hurled a cloud of dust up towards the phoenix, then leapt onto the least damage of the two towers and hauled itself up as far as it could risk.

Vines spit the earth at the base of the tower, weaving intricately around and through the exposed holes where windows used to keep away the elements. The tower groaned under the weight of Mercyval, but the vines pushed back against his weight, keeping pace with the large Wild as it ascended. Steel buckled and vines split, but the building held long enough for Mercy to reach the height it needed.

Mercyval spared little time in trying to guess the angle it needed. The more time the phoenix had to react, the more time it had to dodge the lumbering Wild. It turned it’s head towards the phoenix and bared it’s teeth as the dust cloud fell away from it’s earlier attack. Mercy began to aim for it’s neck, but Val’s mind intervened. The phoenix may be able to adjust it’s form, much like the Wendigo did around Wren and so a broader attack would be needed. Mercyval took the chance and leapt bodily at the bird, it’s claws swiping downwards to latch onto anything it could and trying to aim the tackle to take them both into and through one of the buildings and away from the convoy.

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

Roger roger. I'll type something up tomorrow and send it to you for approval

Umbra: The Abyssal Connection

@SporkoBug

Spoiler read after Estys post

A few thoughts on hitting the Phoenix. Wendigo could strengthen one of the towers with vines to have Mercy King Kong his way up and hit it.

Or Mercy could give Wendigo a boost if you'd rather hail Mary toss.

Thoughts?

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

Leon's first job out of high school:

Hider because why the hell do they make these images so big!

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

Kind of wonder if Noc Noc burgers are among Leons favorite foods....

Nocturnal Memoirs: An Urban-Fantasy Mafia Epic

There is always a way. It's just sometimes the dice disagree :p

FORGOTTEN REALMS - Gambit of Scoundrels

"Well done, Bram," Leon said, the magic of Mask translating his words into the mind of his summoned bat before it returned to it's home plane. The bat's report had been exceedingly useful, knowledge that the creature was indeed a golem and seemed to be following a set patrol route with pre-determined search points would help them avoid the creature altogether. Golems were tricky guardians to fight, often immune to nearly all forms of magic, possessing the strength of a dozen normal men and the endurance of the unliving. Their only weakness is that they couldn't make their own decisions, so it depended on the cleverness of the creator to issue them the right orders. The patrol pattern was one obvious weakness, but it couldn't be ignored that the golem likely had orders to respond to suspicious noises or disturbances as well.

"The golem continually checks the first floor. We may have a rough idea of it's schedule, but if there is any deviation from that schedule or if we get distracted and lose track of the timing we will anger something I do not think any of us are prepared to destroy. Certainly not quietly enough to avoid drawing the attention of our target," Leon said, sighing in a bit of resignation, "and I am loathe to channel any further powerful blessings from Mask lest we find ourselves having to deal with our target or any other magically inclined individuals."

"The second floor is simply too inviting to ignore. It is possible there are magical wards or traps, but we may just have to risk the maybe instead of the likelihood of us being caught on the first. Once we ascend to the second floor, the snowstorm should give me enough cover to weave a spell to let me detect magic within about fifty feet in my line of sight for a few minutes. As long as someone checks for physical alarms on the window, we should be able to enter without issue," Leon said, his hand reaching for the mask at his waist and sliding it up to his face, "shall we?"