Mas Bagus

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

If Jazdia was here and saw what her yellow countryman was doing, she would call him mad. Maybe some bookings would be in order to introduce something called sense into him.

Nevertheless, Varya decided to stay behind and prepared the enchanted arrow.

At the center of the chaos was Ted, and he just broke free from whatever restraints held him. A small glint of fear burned in his eyes when he saw the violet light emanating from the Blue Elf's longbow, but he did not stop, nor would the elf.

The arrow released, and in an instant Varya too disappeared as the thunderous explosion bloomed behind the enraged bear. Stone crumbled down, and more supports shattered. A deafening echo blasted the lab, and Ted the Enraged stopped dead from his track.

A sheer madness prevented him from looking back, while a sense of duty urged him to keep running forward, heeding his mistress' latest call.
---

Meanwhile, a silhouette of a blue elf reappeared at the antechamber, right after the monster he was running from barrelled past the entrance of their sanctuary. It seemed nobody was sure why would Varya be standing in front of them, acting like a gatekeeper as if his slender build could prevent such a hulking beast from wreaking havoc in the tiny spaces they now used as their hideout. Luckily Ted was not bothered to investigate.

Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, someone else would soon overtake him in a race to be nonsensical. The very same bear they just risked life and limbs to save now walked past him intending to assist the very same bear that tried to rip them into shreds just some moments ago.

Even Widernia, after coughing coagulated blood out of her throat urged Veronica to let her stand on her own just to give him her piece of mind. "Are you daft?! Leave him be, you insufferable dunderhead!"

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Ted The Gladiator was so lost in a rage that he did not notice one more fighter had joined the fray. Bartholomew was still holding him from completely breaking free from the concrete. The tin man shouted something, but all words were lost in him, lost in the fire and desperation, and isolation. They had killed mother, they are killing him, they have to die with him.

Until another migraine struck him again, cringing in the middle of the subsiding blaze, the mysterious voice is coming again, and every word he heard felt like there was a hammer beating his injured skull.

"No... no Mother!" He bellowed, "You run from them... They here do bad to you! MATHA!!"

There was another wave of sound and whispers. So strong it numbed the pain from Bartholomwew's axe attack. The great bear clutched his head. and did all he knew best when being put in a stressed environment; that was to let it all sorted out in a fit of rampage. He knew he was stupid, he knew he should listen to... mother?

A realization dawned even slower than usual, but it did, and it came with a new purpose.

"Leave me alone!" he shouted, still in delirium, mad like possessed, but rather than trying to take down Bartholomew, he tried to escape from the Armored Undead's grapple this time by swatting him aside with what remained of his strength. It didn't work well, but that didn't stop Ted from clawing, and again pounding the rest of the concrete with his hardened forearm.

____

Meanwhile, the group's attempt to escape from the laboratory was met with minimal obstacles.

Cedar's plea was lost in the fire, and even if it somewhat got through Ted's thickened skull, there was less reason for the Gladiator-Bear to heed his call. Or even to remain calm upon hearing such a proposition.

Sands opened paths for them to tread through the burning tiles, and considering that they had avoided further contact with the enraged Ted, they managed to reach the antechamber leading to the first basement... several moments earlier before Ted the Gladiator escaped from his concrete shackle and Bartholomew'swerestling, and proceeded to charge through, with all of his balding and smokey mass toward the empty tunnel leading toward Strritzel's mansion.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

It was getting worse now, the fire spread uncontrollably and more cabinets were already burning. The flammable liquid had already crept around them. The fire started to reignite Ted's fur now, and at the most unfortunate moment, one of the red bottles burst in front of him, sending a splinter of glass, cork, and burning liquid to his face. To his bloody nose.

Yet Ted was not stopping, the air he breathed out from his injured muzzle was as hot and fumed as the surrounding smoke. Bartholomew anticipated the next mad attack and had a blade stab deep into Ted's forearm, and what came next was a tense pause, like a small prelude before the the wick ran out and ignited the barrel of gunpowder.

And finally, the Gladiator Ted lost it, following an ear-splitting roar was a brutal and continuous pounding. Sharp edges or hard metals, he did not care anymore. Injuries marred his muscular forearm. The fire burned his entire body, exposing his skin he almost looked pinkishly bald.

But he kept pounding, and mauling and pounding as cries of anger were ripped from his throat. Until his claws almost fell off from their sockets and his forearm was so calloused they looked like a pair of terracotta with blazing cracks rather than ones made of skin and muscle. Bartholomew's metal body endured, blow exchanged, until he realized that his living adversary had started to be as tough as himself.

Finally, in a single pulverizing downswing, Ted managed to detach Batholomew's arm from its invisible, unliving socket by crushing it against the hardened floor. A crack formed on the overturned tiles, the blow was so powerful that fire and burning liquid were withdrawn from them. Ted struck again, like a hammer trying to demolish the floor that trapped him and his enemy, again and again in multiple places. Retaliations from Bartholomew started to lose their effectiveness. A glow pulsed in the place where the heart should be, and after final pounding, Ted the Gladiator raised himself up from his stony restraint.

_____
Everyone heard that roar, and Widernia smiled smugly at the implied threat, but immediately cut them short at the idea of saving the lab. "It's too late for that," she said, mustering strength into his legs to stand, but she could not. Her vision was still black and white, and her hands shaking.

So she grabbed her staff instead.

Those... people were understandably alerted, but the red mage paid their cautiousness no heed, and remained smug, as if knowing whatever they would do to her was not making much difference... now.

With a single tap on one of the bars, a controlled electric current spread rapidly to all three cell doors. Glows outlined some runic letters, and when they faded again, the sound of locks being disengaged could be heard. Widernia adjusted her position and leaned on the bars, panting, yet still smiling mockingly. "He is coming for you!"

At this point, fires had engulfed almost the entire lab, and the smoke was almost unbearable. Still, the fire that blanketed the floor was shallow; one could run through and make it back to the main entrance if they were willing to burn their soles and withstand the pain.

The poisoning blaze and smoke, however, was the least of their worry, for Ted the Enraged Bear was breaking free, hell-bent on finishing the fight. There was no going back now, not for him.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

He heard yellings. And he hated, loathed it. Though his presence in the arena was to make Mother proud, Ted can never get used to human-like voices. Jeering or booing makes no difference it hurts his ears all the same.

So when one of the bears yelled to call her sibling, partially blinded Ted found again which way his brutal maulings and jaws had to be directed, thus rushed toward the direction of that voice. Smoke and blistering scars were what remained from his balded head. His thick manes, silky facial furs, and the smooth muzzle his Mother often caressed were all gone now. They took it, took all until there is nothing left.

That Armor and Orb things emerged from swelling fire and raised his axe to welcome his persistent assault. Ted forced his sticky eyelids to open and recalled one of the emergency stances he had practiced hundreds of times. His enemy might be armed, and armored, but he was bigger still, so when the weapon came down he was prepared, the gladiator-bear lowered his body and leaned forward, letting the axe bite deep into his shoulder. Using both hands, he immediately grappled the axe by its belly and used his entire bulk and arms to wrest the weapon away from its owner.

Before he could succeed however there was another yelling. Suddenly the floor under him started to liquefy. Smelling the danger from it, Ted tried to push away his adversary, but his legs had been sunk into the surrounding floor. Realizing that foul magic is at play here the Gladiator-Bear resorted to grabbing the Fire and Metal man by the pauldron and had him sinking with him.

Until finally the sinking stopped abruptly.

Still grabbing the Fiery Armored thing by the pauldron, Ted's realization was mostly centered around the fact that he had been trapped with his enemy rather than acknowledging that the floor had been rehardened again. In utter rage and desperation, he removed his grapple on Bartholomew's pauldron and started mauling his torso to dismantle him. Red cracks started to appear not only on his injuries but also on his palms and started to spread onto his claws.

___

Meanwhile, Widernia lazily opened her eyes after feeling the cold sensation of a metal instrument impaled her chest. Now there were two of them. How generous. If not desperate. Still, as the process of breathing becomes a lot easier, a weak yet mocking smile curled on her lips upon hearing their demands to unlock the cells.

"So what if I don't want to?" she purred. "Kill me?" the mage then paused to breathe deeper, feeling the poorly oxygenated air around her, eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling. "It's burning, isn't it? All of my life's work..."

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

"But you'll live. Let's close you up, then you can catch a nap."

"Oh, I will live alright! Deviant was her voice when she said that, as if telling the Death itself to scram. However, the next thing that happened was Jazdia biting one of the rolled bandages as the needle dived in and out of her flesh. Yvonne was so focused on ensuring the wound was properly sutured she didn't notice Jazdia's mild twitching and grimacing, probably regretting some of her choices in life while at it, or perhaps reconsidering if this entire quest was worth it.

Or She might have also been wondering if she should have brought a stronger anesthetic...

"Phew! All done. Sparky, you still awake? Sit up a bit, will you?."

"I am awake. Is it done?" Letting the bitten bandage fall, Jazdia moved her palm from her face when she heard the not-so-glorious announcement. It was the first time she did not frown when Yvonne called her with that name.

"Still gotta bandage you. Then we're finished for real"

Trying to square her shoulders, the elf pushed her body up and sat straight. The drug was still blocking the pain, but she could feel her then-severed muscles touching and the grating sensation from the threads. It was unpleasant, but seeing no more blood dripping from the wound was relieving.

"Sure, but let me do my bit, hand me one of those gauze pads."

After Jazdia applied what looked like a sticky piece of white clothes, Yvonne leaned forward to wrap her torso with a bandage. Her relatively shorter overall stature brought their face so close to each other, and Jazdia, with no reason in particular, pecked the noblewoman on the cheek.

Chuckling, the elf took the roll from her and continued the wrapping. "I told you let me do my bit. Don't worry, I still owe you one after this."

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Jazdia tried her hardest to not grimace. "Well, ideally we need to suture the wound." she paused, grabbing the nearest tankard and washing it with Yvonne's precious liquid courage.

"Give me that curved needle, scissors, and... bloody hell... we don't have a tweezer. So we will have to get dirty. Dip your fingers in this tankard. I assume you know how to drain and sterilize the wound?" pausing to peek at her exposed midriff, Jazdia shivered like a child on her first visit to an infirmary, yet still trying to hide it with an awkward smile.

"Doesn't look that bad... surely you can do it, right??"

"Ok, first things first, do you see those syrettes? Yes, those small tubular things with needles! Remove its cap and pick the ones with transparent liquid. The booze won't do much, so we have to apply a local anesthetic. Jab the needle some four centimeters under my wound. Remember, under the lacerated tissue, and then squeeze the tube. After that, we can drain it and... and... well, let's start now."

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

"Much appreciated."

Water...

Jazdia opened the silver flask and gulped its contents down. It felt burning in her throat, was that Rum? Whiskey? Didn't matter, it was terrible all the same. Trying to recollect herself, she switched to the water bottle to wash the alcohol down her throat and dilute the alcohol she had been swigged.

As the fire began to light up in front of her and her power started to do its thing, Jazdia dared herself to release the pressure on her bloodied bandage and reached for her blade to cut the bindings. The hemostatic substance in the gauze did its wonders to partially staunch the bleeding, but there was just too much blood it had been dissolved and needed to be replaced ASAP. Immediately she sheated her blade and undo the wrapping. Blood was still leaking from her wound like a wet sponge being squeezed whenever she made a move, and just seeing a glimpse of that made her feel light-headed.

"There is a medkit in my bag." she said to Yvonne, trying to sound unperturbed despite the trembling.

The so-called medkit was a relatively small nylon pocket with many things crammed inside but could be easily accessible after unbuttoning its only fastener and letting it roll open. Inside, several strange items were secured in their individual pockets and containers. The items were as follows: a small scissor, a pocket containing four squeezable things fitted with a needle on each, palm-sized wet gauze pads that smelt like alcohol and pinecone, a roll of bandage with a strange corrugated design, another pad that looked extremely thinner than usual, a roll of flexible tourniquet, some strands of transparent thread and a needle with curved design, and lastly, a small tube containing three red tablets.

Jazdia reached for the tube and chewed one of the tablets before washing it down with water again. Wincing, it was extremely hard to keep the movement minimal when you have nothing to lean for.

"Okay, now let's do the ugly part."

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Nodding, was the only response the Red Haired mage could give before finally lying flat on the floor with eyes half opened. Blood pooled around her, and it seemed the only movement she did was clutching the wide gash on her chest.

The electricity struck Varya and Cedar. The kidnapped bear got lucky because he was lying on a bed with wood as support, insulating him from taking full damage yet still powerful enough to jolt him awake. Varya however was hopeless to do anything to save himself from being energized.

___

The ball made of books hit Ted the Bear on the nose.

The hulking, flaming, angry, and desperate beast bellowed, shaking his head in pain as he flailed his right hand to reach for anything. Satisfied with the first hit, the juvenile bear continued her assault, undaunted by the enormous bear twice the size of her, she aimed to score a hit on Ted's face again.

But the Bear-Gladiators were not backing down, as the bundle of books and bedsheets hit him on his neck, Ted the Gladiator recalled his gladiatorial training and did his hardest to ignore the pain and focus. Using his acute hearing and sense to pinpoint the attacker's whereabouts from the previous blows, his arms outstretched wide, his claw unsheathed, and in a sheer rage, he swung it toward the pesky attacker, it connected on Lilly's arm and he grabbed it, sinking his claw deeper as he yanked the juvenile bear toward him for vicious bite to the shoulder, and letting her taste the fire she caused on his face and the burning floor beneath him.

He almost had her pinned when he felt another heavy blow to his back.

Out of pain, he released his grip on Lily and charged forth, stomping the juvenile bear and toppled cabinets in the process, and got stumbled by the ordeal. Ted and his bulk rolled on the floor and stopped at the other end of the laboratory, near the exit. Blood rushed out from his nose and back, and coagulated at an unnaturally fast rate as it dropped on the floor, sizzling.

Meanwhile, the attempt to put out the fire was slow and tedious. Whatever substance that had been ignited by the fire was not only flammable but also hot to the touch, almost like burning lava, and the wetted blanket could only do so much. The wooden cabinets blackened in a smoldering fire as the spilled substance continued to burn underneath it and spread onto the next ones. Black smoke began to cloud on the facility's high ceiling and its fumes felt irritating when breathed.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

Next to the cell where Varya was trapped, a chained creature could be seen sleeping on his tattered bed. further inspection revealed that the creature was of the species of ursine, but severely malnourished and so thin he looked more like a starved warg than a bear. Lines and tubes could be seen attached to his body, and those medical items seemed to be connected to a red, orb-like container by the corner of his room. His cells were dirty and smelt rancid from blood and other filth.

---

Widernia was a mere steps away from the cell door when the medallion she wore hummed. In utter fright she spun around, recognizing the attack, and stepped back. A kick she could get away from, but what followed was a poled weapon came down diagonally. One of the three gems attached to her artifact shattered, a shield sprung awake, and a backlash in the form of an electric ring triggered, but the scythe swung wide and unhindered, slashing her chest.

Confusion and horror dawned as the blood gushed from the wide gash, staining her sweeter and white coat. "You! How dare--"
The red-haired mage raised her staff, pointing it forward to shoot a wave of lightning in her general direction. Under her feet, similarly colored white sparks of electricity surged on the floor and spread rapidly, covering the entirety of the corridors and cells before the caster herself finally flopped down.
___

The jar landed square on Ted's temple and broke on impact. And because he was practically wrestling with an animated armor with an orb of fire for a head, it took no time for the doused alcohol to ignite his furs.

It was painful and frightening. When the fire crept upon his head and blinded him, Ted felt that whisper again, low, harrowing, and in agony. "Where are you, my boy... I am... dying..."

The whisperings and the blistering pain sent Ted into a terrible frenzy. No longer concerned about taking down the armored thing, he shifted sideways and released his grip, arm outstretched to maul everything in front of him, and in pure rage, he charged. With fire blocking his sense of direction, the Bear-Gladiator slammed his shoulder against one of the cabinets and pushed through, bulldozing everything in his path.

The cabinets shifted with a creaking noise and toppled, glass shattered, and bottles of many kinds and colors broke and rolled about, spilling their contents onto the floor. Ted opened his jaw and swayed his muzzle left and right to clamp someone with his enormous (and flaming jaw). For now, the blind-raged bear rampaging about was still the immediate threat.

Sovereign's Will: The Edge of War [Looking for new players]

"His arm needs treatment, but to hell with that. How in the world are you still standing?" A hand went for the potion belt, thumbing the lids to identify the content. "I have potions. It's nasty, but it does the job-"

"I can't drink it." Said Jazdia, immediately diverting. "Yes, We can use belts as a tourniquet."

When the choking stopped, and after a fit of cough, Jonas chuckled. His hands went limp again.

"Still couldn't help yourself, can you? After you turned my family against me, you still meddle, Even in death--- Destroyers! I hope you will live to see this nation crumbling to dust!"

Jazdia knelt beside Yvonne, pinning Jonas's arm with her knee as she drew her bow closer to the Patriarch's face.

"Struck a nerve didn't I? Ha Ha! That's the spirit! Come on then! Finish it!"

"Keep holding his neck, but don't choke," she instructed before pulling the string. A faint light emanated somewhere between the arrow rest and the nocking point and it disappeared with a small bang as Jazdia dry-fired her bow.

Like being bludgeoned to unconsciousness, Jonas Delving laid still, eyes closed.

Jazdia too stumbled a few steps back and was knocked by an onset of headache and nausea. She, Lurea, and her quiver lay on the grass. Blood was still dripping from her wound, but it wasn't as profuse as before. Above her, the sky was dark grey, it would still be a while before the sun rises.

"I got some belt and straps to stop his bleeding and to tie him later. Lord Thernous have his words once he regains consciousness. I shall carry you all one by one to retreat on the carriage, tend wounds and recover injuries there." It was Louise, returning after giving the remaining Enraged the coup-de-graces Jazdia immediately shook her head in utter disapproval.

"I need to rehydrate myself first, and some fire... I will be long departed before we can make it to our camp. My dear Yvonne, could you help this little old me walk?" She said, hobbling just to wake up and stand again, using Lurea as a supporting stick. "Those guys' camping spot... yes, that's the place. Dissaray as it may, they still have some campwood to burn. Miss Squire, would you kindly check on Miss Athena and Young Baron Evan?"