Sinerathin

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

It was a liberated groan that escaped from Sharon as he was finally released from being trapped between Rae'liel and Serphia, two women notiably much larger than himself in his current size, and the latter probably so even in his default size. It was comparable, to put it short, to be between a rock and a hard place.

As he was dropped to the floor by Serphia, Sharon staggered around for a moment; almost tripping over himself as his muscles raced to reastablish an equilibrium.

"By the light." Sharon said under his breath as the High Elf noticed how he was completely covered in blood, now infusing his robes. Indeed, his blue robes had now turned to a crimson red color, and his armor was splattered with blood in every corner.

"Blood... it's even worse than wine. I'll never be able to use these robes again!"

"Next time, could you please use your other shoulde,-" Sharon began to talk as he turned around to look up at Serphia, but when he noticed that the Night Elven Captain was in the process of stripping Rae'liel of her armor, the High Elf soon turned back around and looked the other way out of respect for the Blood Elf's decency.

It was not until Serphia pointed with her sword at him that Sharon turned around to give the large weapon, relatively speaking, a glance.

"That'll be easy. Just give me a moment." Sharon noted as the tiny mage raised his hands, leaving his staff levitating in the air next to him as he focused on Serphia's sword.

Soon, a pair of fiery globes were spawned in the air around the Captain's blade. Slowly but surely, the ice cold steel of Serphia's blade started to gain a bright-red glow after about half a minute as the metal became superheated!

"Now, mind the touch; you don't want to burn your fingers. That thing is hot!" Sharon explained as he motioned towards Serphia's blade which was almost on fire.

A burning blade in the hands of a fearsome warrior like Serphia; quite a terrible combination indeed the High Elf thought to himself.

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An unnatural roar came from the iron mask of the Death Knight as the dart was plunged into his exposed flesh.

The creature dropped to its knees, his grip going limp and causing him to lose his Runeblade to the ground. A white puff of smoke was now rising from his back where the dart had entered his skin. The necrotic flesh around the dart was literally bubbling as if it had been splashed with acid, and emitted an absolutely foul stench as it went up into the air in the shape of white mist.

Now defenseless and seemingly stunned by the pain, the creature was unable to defend itself as the sentinel Aleena brought her large saber down against him, effectively decapitating his head in the process! As his helmet fell forward and landed onto the floor, a pale faced, blond haired head of what had been a young man rolled out of it and onto the ground. Its features had long since started decomposing, though the decrepit face seemed to be embalmed with various sticky oils that kept it from rotting further. The golden hair had gained a green taint, and whatever youthful vigor the face may have once held was long dead.

In the meantime, Sherpa was lying with his back on the cold stone floor.

The High Elf reached to his nose, ensuring that it was not broken. It felt like he had stood in the tracks and taken a facefull of the deeprun tram head on!

Leaning up and staggering to his feet, he saw no sign of the Night Elf that had run over him. But he had seen the small figure of his brother, Sharon, sitting in her cowl as she had passed him. And the suffocating white mist that had once filled the hallway was now dissipating through the underground ventilation.

"Are you alright, sire?" One of the chevaliers asked as he reached to give Sherpa a hand, but the High Elf pulled his arm back spitefully.

"Get that ogre of a Night Elf!" Sherpa yelled at his men, pointing in the direction that Serphia had run off with Sharon and Rae'liel.

"But the intruder-"

"I will deal with the intruders!" Sherpa said again, reaching for the hilt of his sword that rested at his hip. The chevaliers around him took a moment to look at the snow-haired High Elf, before nodding and ran off in the direction that Serphia had taken.

As his men disappeared through the dust and remnants of the white mist behind him on their pursuit, Sherpa turned to look towards Liaena and the rest of the group now standing in front of him.

As the elf unseathed his blade, it soon became apparant that past the silver ornaments in the shape of a falcon at its handle, the rest of the blade was a Runeblade, a series of cryptic runes etched alongside the spine of the blade. As the cursed weapon escaped its sheath, it was as if the temperature in the corridor dropped with multiple degrees. A faint whisper could be heard through the air, as the runes on his blade began to glow in a haunting, dark purple light.

"The game ends here." Sherpa uttered as he pointed towards the grip with his Runeblade, his darkened blue eyes narrowing as he spoke.

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

I'm sure an incapacitated Sharon is going to be to much use for Serphia when they inevitably run into the next set of battlemages >:)

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

As the white gas rapidly spread through the confined space of the hallway, Sherpa and his mercenaries allies in the White Hand, including Rae'liel as well, would soon break out into a violent series of coughs and tearful eyes.

On the other end of the corridor however, the Death Knight blocking the other way seemed completely unaffected by the gas.

The Death Knight came through the white mist and out towards Liaena and her group like a vengeful wraith cloaked in the gas. As Liaena fired off her rifle, the first gel round was sliced in half mid-air as it approached the Death Knight by his bloodborne Runeblade. The second round however, was caught mid air by a dark telekinetic spell from the Death Knight. Instead of heading towards the Death Knight anymore, the gel round now flew straight back at Liaena, showering her with the sticky green, gelatinous substance that quickly bonded to the lower portion of her body and the floor, leaving her stuck.

Yet as the Death Knight raised his sword as he charged for the now immobolized Liaena, he was suddenly intercepted by a truesilver crossbow bolt that traveled past Liaena and hit the Death Knight right in the exposed, necrotic flesh around his shoulder where Rae'liel's blade had carved through his armor earlier.

For Alissah, her ears were ringing to the point it was hard to hear anything that was being said, and her body was pulsating with pain from the tremendous explosion; as if she had been charged head-on by a rampaging kodo! But even so, she knew that she had to fight on lest the Death Knight would make mince-meat out of Liaena!

"The dart I gave you, now would be a good time!" Alissah called out to Liaena who was stuck in the gunk, as the woman sliced her shortsword in a low arc down at Liaena's feet, cutting up a good portion of the tenacious gunk before running off to face the Death Knight that now howled in a guttural roar through its mask.

The truesilver bolt seemed to have done some damage to the Death Knight, but that did not prevent it from swinging its Runeblade around in a ferocious strike against the incoming Alissah.

Alissah immediately stepped to the side, her cloak and coat flowing after her as the Runeblade swished through the air where she had once stood. Grabbing a pin on her coat, she suddenly threw it off and at the Death Knight, disorienting him while revealing the auburn leather armor that she was wearing beneath it, which was strapped full of knives, bolts, bandoliers and vials.

Raising her flintlock pistol, she fired off a bullet straight through her coat that now covered the Death Knight, an audible plonk emanating from his head as the bullet buried itself in the Death Knight's mask.
But as she tilted her blade to close in, the Death Knight suddenly tore through the coat with his Runeblade, cutting it in half before the dark visors of his mask turned to face the incoming Alissah. With surprising speed, he turned his blade around to strike in a sudden upwards strike against Alissah, cutting through her leather armor with his cursed blade as if it had been nothing around her lower chest and causing the woman to fall to the ground with a shriek of pain!

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

It would appear that Serphia's bargaining chip has just expired :o

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

As the Night Elven Captain stepped out of the ritual chamber with the limp body of Sevarian in her arms, Sherpa's eyes opened as he noticed the condition of his darkmaster.

"Or your commander will become one head shorter!"

"Captain."

"Do not think me a liar!"

" ... Captain."

"ONE MOVE AND HE'S DEAD!"

"Serphia!"

"What?" Serphia finally seemed to react to the lesser voice coming from the High Elf standing on her shoulder, the Captain turning to glare down at Sharon with her silver eyes.

"I believe he's already dead." Sharon commented quietly as he motioned towards the pale faced; more pale than usual; dark mage in her grip. Sevarian's head was hanging limply to the other side, whatever remnants of blood dripping out of the side of his mouth as his eyes were closed shut. The man seemed to have finally succumbed to this grave wound.

"I do not know what your plan is, but I don't think you are going to get very much out of a dead hostage." Sharon quietly said to Serphia as he inched slightly closer to her cheek, the High Elf throwing a highly worried look towards the White Hand mercenaries and Sherpa who now stood before them. He also noticed Rae'liel among them, and gently motioned towards her with an arm.

"Whatever happens, Serphia, I much need the Blood Elf alive if you wouldn't mind."

"Assuming WE survive in the first place."

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

I have to say, the best thing about being a GM is throwing the characters into terrible situations and watch them either find some creative way out or burn >:D

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

"Yeargh!" Sevarian growled as he slammed his staff around to block yet another of Serphia's blows! As the abyss black base of the saronite staff met with the Captain's sword, it created a magical shockwave of purple magic that pushed Serphia backwards!

"My powers are beyond that of any backwards wood elf!" Sevarian spat as he used the small opening to start summoning a dark spell.
"You will find that death is but one of my lesser gifts!"

But as Sevarian attempted to cast his spell at Serphia, Sharon had conjured an arcane blast of his own that intercepted the dark mage's shadowbolt mid-air, causing the two spells to explode in a mix of dark and purple flames that gushed out to the side instead!

An arrow came flying through the air from one of the sentinels in the back, but it glanced off Sevarian's silver white armor. From the sideline, one of the few remaining troll ghouls came scrambling towards Sharon and Serphia, its claws raised and jagged maw ready to bite! But just as the ghoul was about to come within range of them, Sevarian cast a spell of his own.

All of a sudden, the ghoul erupted in an explosion of gore, harmful shadow magic and fragments of bones that flew around like bullets in the ritual chamber!

Sharon succeeded in quickly conjuring up a temporary barrier that was annihilated by the corpse explosion, but succeeded in shielding Serphia from the worst of the damage. The explosion had left a blinding cloud that was dark as night around them.

A frantic battle cry could be heard from somewhere through the cloud, as a green bolt suddenly flew towards them, coming straight out of the cloud! Sharon had tried to raise his hands to deflect it, but was too late. Fortunately however, Serphia seemed to already have noticed it, the large Night Elf, surprisingly agile for her size, dodging out of the way just in time!

But while she may have dodged the necrotic bolt, Sharon soon noticed a figure appearing in the shadow before them...

*Fwhoom!*

A gust of burning fire flowed out from Sharon's staff, hitting Sevarian straight in the face as the dark mage came out of the blinding mist. The mage reeled back in pain, letting out a cry! All the while, Sevarian's failed sneak attack had become apparent to Serphia, as the Captain swung around to bury one of her swords right into the side of the dark mage!

A shock expression now haunted Sevarian's face, now partly scorched, the rest covered in blood and grime.

As Serphia retracted her blade, he stepped back, dropping his staff before falling over; his armor clattering as he fell to the floor, red blood gushing out of the side of his mouth.

"You... i-insignificant vermin!" Sevarian uttered through his shaken voice, struggling to speak as his lungs filled with blood as he looked up at Serphia and Sharon with eyes full of hate.
"You... hnngh! you are already dead! Through your very own flesh and blood, I will have my revenge!"

Sharon merely looked down at Sevarian from where he stood on Serphia's shoulder. There seemed to be no resentment in the ocean blue eyes of the High Elf. Instead, it could almost be taken as an expression of pity.

"I hope you find peace." Sharon simply replied, seeming unphased by Sevarian's hateful last breath.

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Outside the ritual chamber, Liaena's group were met by a surprised Smokey as they barged out of the door.

"We're leavin' already?" Smokey asked, the dwarf having stayed behind during the fight. Although he received no initial answers at first, the dwarf looked at them and soon guessed what it would be.

"That's great! I've had enough of this blasted place! Let's get outta here!"

The Dwarf said as he turned to begin running down across the corridor.

But as the dwarf had run a couple of yards down the corridor, a loud bang as from a musket could be heard behind Liaena and the rest of the group, a snapping past them to hit Smokey right in the back. The dwarf fell forward, losing his blunderbuss as he crashed onto the ground as his heavy backpack fell on top of him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine!"

The dwarf was quick to repeat as he scrambled to get back onto his feet, turning around to look back at Liaena and the party who were further back in the corridor. The dwarf seemed completely fine, his backpack having absorbed the bullet.

"Get a move o,-"

His backpack that was filled with dynamite.

*BOOOOOM*

Without a warning, Smokey's backpack exploded with an eye shattering boom! The blast stormed through the narrow corridors like a crushing wall, knocking Liaena, Alissah and the rest of the party completely off their feet. The ritual chamber was shaken, with rocks falling from the ceiling and a cloud of dust and rocks gushing in through the entrance!

The entire passageway that Smokey had once stood in had completely caved in. As for the dwarf himself, there was no sign of him. If there had been anything left of him after the initial explosion, it was presumably buried beneath multiple tonnes of solid rock that now blocked the passage. A thick carpet of dust and smoke now filled the corridor, making it difficult to breath for anyone in it. With the collapse of one of the tunnels, only two opposing hallways now remained, one running off to the north, and the other one; south.

"An adequate shot. It suffices." Sounded a familiar voice emanating from the southern hallway.

Emerging through the thick cloud of dust was a group of humanoid figures. At the front stood Sherpa, the High Elf staring towards Liaena and her group that lay on the floor outside the ritual chamber. Behind him stood his White Hand mercenaries, alongside Rae'liel in bonds and magical chains.

The High Elf nodded to a White Hand musketeer who was currently in the process of reloading his weapon, apparently in approval of his previous shot against the dwarf.

"How convenient for my brother to decide to come all the way over to my own house." Sherpa remarked with a satisfied smirk.

In the other corridor on the opposite of the one Sherpa and his crew had come from, a lone set of footsteps could be heard from a pair of heavy steel sabatons. Emerging out from the cloud of dust was the Blood Death Knight from earlier, his chestplate still carrying the heavy dent from Doin's axe, and the armor around his shoulder still cleaved in half from Rae'liel's own strike, yet his decomposing body was stitched together. The Death Knight clutched his Runeblade tight in his glove as he stared silently towards Liaena's group as well.

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

The monstrous wraith that was trying to possess Kathlin howled with a deafening voice as its dark being was lit on fire by holy magic! It raised a shadowy arm, unnaturally long claws now extended and ready to strike as it aimed down at Kathlin, now seemingly more interested in outright killing her than possessing her.

Yet as it lounged forward to strike at Kathlin, the wraith dissipated in a cloud of darkness around Kathlin with a chilling howl that signaled its demise.

"No! You have ruined my work!" Sevarian growled as he saw his creation dissipate around a rather stunned Kathlin. Turning towards Vashi who was currently in the process of casting a spell, Sevarian enacted a sudden counter spell, causing the arcane energies summoned by Vashi to suddenly implode between her hands before violently shooting outwards in a shockwave that knocked both her and her nearby sisters into the surrounding floor and walls with breath-taking force!

But as he was about to cast another spell, an arcane bolt came towards him like a cannonball, fired by Sharon who was standing on Serphia's shoulder. Sevarian barely had time to raise his staff and block it, the arcane bolt exploding in a loud noise as it was deflected by his magical staff.

"We need to finish this before more reinforcements show up!" Sharon called out to Serphia's face beside him, urging her to bring an end to the fight.

The spirits that had previously occupied the room had now dwindled in number as some of them had been exorcised by the holy magic of Liaena's colleagues, but with the death of what seemed like the main apparition around Kathlin, their ethereal beings began to fade, and some outright disappeared in the air.

The reanimated trolls, and about four cultists, were still roaming about, now finally focusing their deadly claws and spells at the intruders now as the spirits began to disappear.

Alissah had left the main group and rushed forward to Kathlin, before pulling a pistol out of her pocket and aiming it directly at Kathlin!

Before Kathlin could say a word, Alissah had fired off a sanctified bullet from her flintlock pistol that snapped past Kathlin's cheek, before an audible growl emanated from behind her as one of the undead trolls that had been rushing towards her was struck down by Alissah's bullet, crumbling in a limp pile behind her!

"Come with me!" Alissah shouted as she extended an arm to grab Kathlin's hand and yanked the debilitated priestess apprentice with her, while simultaneously holstering her pistol and unsheathing a truesilver shortsword to meet the next threat that might come at them!

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Finished a post.

Feel free to make a post yourself, Rae. After all, Sherpa could use a talking partner on his way to the slaughter :)

"Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

Sevarian spun around as the door to the ritual chamber was blasted to smithereens, leaving rocks flying in every direction as both a cloud of dust and a wall of flame gushed into the room.

"They have breached the sanctum - aawwh!" One of the cultists exclaimed from behind his steel mask just before one of the tiny rocks ricocheting through the room hit him in his upper left leg, causing the man to crumble to the ground from the wound.

All the while, the spirit host that was circling up beneath the roof of the ritual chamber seemed to have become antagonized by the sudden disturbance and explosion. The shadows and apparitions now screeched and howled in a frigid fury as they moved more erratically through the air, whatever dark harmony that had guided them before seemingly having vanished completely! Now the disfigured shadowy humanoids descended down upon the people in the room, attacking every living being indiscriminately regardless of affiliation!

The cultists would soon find themselves having to fend off incoming wraiths and spirits with their spells and barriers, too preoccupied to neither attempt to continue the ritual or mount a proper counter attack against the new intruders. The lone chevalier who had escaped back into the room was running as he tried to get away from the enraged spirits, and because the Night Elves were blocking the only way in he was essentially only zig-zagging and running in circles!

But some of the spirits had also gotten their eyes for Sharon and his group, now eyeing the humans and Night Elves standing in the door way, and began to descend upon them like an unholy dark hail of wails and clawing hands!

The magic that was holding Kathlin in place had vanished, allowing her to move freely. But as she had barely taken a step forward from the ritual circle, a spirit from the host up above her, by far the largest and most menacing looking of the wraiths, seemed focused on her! With no warning, it descended with a chilling shriek down upon her from behind! As its claws latched onto Kathlin's arms and shoulders, it was as if the shadowy aberration melded around her, covering parts of her body with shadowy tendrils and lesser clouds! To Kathlin, it felt as if a thousand daggers stabbed simultaneously at her brain as she was dropped in a pool of ice water, her mind filled with angry, shrieking voices that deafened any thought her or noise around her! Her body became numb, and any movement became sluggish.

"You meddle in affairs beyond what your meager minds could ever comprehend!" Sounded the infuriated voice of Sevarian as the black haired dark mage had turned to face the intruders. The man was wearing his full set of silver polished steel plate armor adorned with a cloak and tabard of the White Hand.

Extending an arm out to the side, a staff suddenly flew forth from beneath one of the walls of the room, springing out from under a bolt of cloth. Snatching it as it came at him, Sevarian turned his arm to point his staff now at the entrance to the room where Liaena, Sharon and the rest of the group stood.

The base of the staff seemed to be made out of a pitch black metal - saronite, a notorious ore that was known as the blood of an old god. Multiple miniature bones adorned the shaft and head, holding a green plague crystal at the end that pulsated with a sickening and debilitating aura.

Summoning a spell, Sevarian slammed the bottom of his staff into the floor beneath him - causing a wave of necrotic energies to shoot out in every direction. As it touched the bodies of the slain trolls, the magic seemed to dissipate into them as they were reanimated. But while the animated corpses of the trolls who had been victim to the ritual began to rise, glowering around them with empty green eyes, Sevarian had already slung his staff around, firing plague bolts in the direction of the group!

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"I will take your silence as a sign of consent." Sherpa concluded coldly as he looked down at the defeated Rae'liel. Motioning for the knight behind Rae'liel to take her with him, Sherpa began to walk across the battlements with Rae'liel and the Knight in tow. Along the way, he motioned for some more chevaliers to follow him, and soon the group that was lead by Sherpa would consist of an additional nine chevaliers and two battlemages.

Walking into the main fortifications, Sherpa lead the group as he walked in front, heading down a large flight of stairs taking them deeper down into the very core of the reef itself, all the while Rae'liel was pushed after him while surrounded by the chevaliers.

"Do try to keep up, my dear Sin'Dorei. I would hate to miss the party." Sherpa said as he walked down the stairs, slightly motioning towards Rae'liel with his head.