The Glitch IV - Inversion (Ch. 1)

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus looked over to the Baron, lying on the ground.

"It must have been one of those dark riders from the forest," Decimus said to himself. "M'Lord, you are not safe here. You need protection."

[Charon]

Ottoman snorted as he held out his hand, obviously asking for a weapon.

"I am a Paladin. It will take more than this to stop me from doing my duty. However, I do believe that the assassin is not interested in us." He looked over to the dead Baron. "He did what he came here to do."

[Dark Silver]

Thog and the Warrior exchanged harsh blows wth one another, sword and hammer clattered together with each blow. Thog wasn't very good at defending himself, but he normally made up for it with the amount of damage his specialized combat could dish out.

Alot more damage than any character of his level should, actually.

After the fifth blow rained in on his armor, thankfully none had landed on the Rider's head, he slide back, armored feet dragging up ground. His sword, while big, was also extremely quick. He had managed to score several blows on the half-giant, the black aura of his sword poisoning the behemoth with each new blow.

Soon, the half-giant's strength would begin to falter, as the darkness took greater hold.

But that was not a honorable kill.

"Your...good..." the Rider said softly, circling once again, his sword swinging once again in the defensive pattern. He could have ended the battle of course, but he wanted to play this out. After all, half the fun of this, was to let them think they stood a chance.

-----

The exploding corpses drew the Sorcerer's attention as the large wolf died. It spun to face the resurrected Warlock, only to be blindsided by Leandra's spell.

He screamed then, a primal, peircing scream. It filled the woods, and echo'd into the town. The damage wasn't overall great, but the pain...the pain of holy light.

It had to get away.

The Sorcerer broke off, with the light, came the pain, and it could not cast while in pain. The Warrior could fend for itself, it would withdraw when the time was right.

Disappearing into the woods, the Sorcerer teleported away.

-----

The Baron remained on the floor of the chamber, clutching his stomach wound. Blood flowed from his back, staining the dark stone more so, as he gasped. His eyes grew wide as he weakly attempted to point at the figure now standing above them.

"Fools..." it said quietly, before the twin curved sabers sliced off the militia men's head. They rolled to the ground, bouncing slightly, thier eyes staring vacantly as the light faded. The black cloaked rider turned to face those who remained. The militia-men rushed him, and his movements, smooth as silk, sliced through thier ranks with ease, till he was face to face with Decimus.

[Charon]

Matthew cursed, so much for that idea. This guy was good, really good. He was definately a much higher level than him. He could retreat, but something told him that wouldn't mean safety.

Ottoman rolled to the side, grabbing one of the fallen militia men's swords he hefted it up and murmered his prayers again. So this beast was undead, very well, he could deal with that too. Leaning down he grabbed a dagger and held it in his other hand, getting in close would be bad, but he didn't have much of a choice. Ottoman waited for his openning again.

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus's sword was in his hand as the first soldier lost his head.

He raised his shield.

'I am so boned.'

"RUN, SIR!"

He swung his sword at the rider, his shield ready to block.

[Rukia]

Sivri threw a couple more potions at the Warlock before heading back to where she saw El last. She Looked beyond and then scampered into the forrest. The shriek from the Sorcerer seemed to follow her as she ran to find El, she put her hands to her ears. She saw the revine and sought that out to hide in as she caught her breath. Just as she was coming up the the edge the Sorcerer ran into past her and teleported, without even giving her a glance. She slid into the revine and on top of Els head.

[SirNitram]

Thog watched his former friend back off, as the poison coursed through his form. Not honourable! Not honourable! With the momentary respite, the huge warrior yanked a potion from his belt, bit the top off, and chugged the contents. The damage from broken glass would be far easier to take than the poison.

His hammer stayed in hand, gripping it higher up. The potion tossed away, another hammer, a smaller one, was gripped in his left hand. Thog abandoned all pretense of defense now, leaping back into the fray with both arms, bashing with all his might. It was, as was occasionally noted, a very foolish tactic, which relied as much on sheer intimidation as it did damage.

But the line was drawn. With poison on the enemy blade, it had to end fast.

[LadyTevar]

Thog and the Warrior exchanged harsh blows wth one another, sword and hammer clattered together with each blow. Thog wasn't very good at defending himself, but he normally made up for it with the amount of damage his specialized combat could dish out.

Alot more damage than any character of his level should, actually.

After the fifth blow rained in on his armor, thankfully none had landed on the Rider's head, he slide back, armored feet dragging up ground. His sword, while big, was also extremely quick. He had managed to score several blows on the half-giant, the black aura of his sword poisoning the behemoth with each new blow.

Soon, the half-giant's strength would begin to falter, as the darkness took greater hold.

But that was not a honorable kill.

"Your...good..." the Rider said softly, circling once again, his sword swinging once again in the defensive pattern. He could have ended the battle of course, but he wanted to play this out. After all, half the fun of this, was to let them think they stood a chance.

-----

The exploding corpses drew the Sorcerer's attention as the large wolf died. It spun to face the resurrected Warlock, only to be blindsided by Leandra's spell.

He screamed then, a primal, peircing scream. It filled the woods, and echo'd into the town. The damage wasn't overall great, but the pain...the pain of holy light.

It had to get away.

The Sorcerer broke off, with the light, came the pain, and it could not cast while in pain. The Warrior could fend for itself, it would withdraw when the time was right.

Disappearing into the woods, the Sorcerer teleported away.

Leandra grimaced as the Sorcerer vanished. This time, she was pretty sure he was gone for good. The Holy Light had hurt him badly.. that meant these were........ no. Darek. She turned back to see how Thog was faring.

Thog watched his former friend back off, as the poison coursed through his form. Not honourable! Not honourable! With the momentary respite, the huge warrior yanked a potion from his belt, bit the top off, and chugged the contents. The damage from broken glass would be far easier to take than the poison.

His hammer stayed in hand, gripping it higher up. The potion tossed away, another hammer, a smaller one, was gripped in his left hand. Thog abandoned all pretense of defense now, leaping back into the fray with both arms, bashing with all his might. It was, as was occasionally noted, a very foolish tactic, which relied as much on sheer intimidation as it did damage.

"Stupid idiot," Leah muttered as she rapidly scrolled thru what spells Leandra had available. "I should have just cast Wisdom Boost on Thog again, then Al would fight smarterl... AHa! Try this!"

Leandra cast again, a spell that she hoped would work against Darek. "Great Goddess, hear my plea... bind this man to Earth!" With a wave of her hand, she drew vines out of the ground to wrap around Darek's legs and hold him in place.

Hopefully, it would work.

[Dark Silver]

Thog gripped two hammers now, and rushed at the Warrior.

The Warrior smirked beneath the cowl, side stepped the rushing half-giant, and thrust a smal dagger into his side. The movement was far quicker than it should have been, quicker than Thog could have imagined, and the twist of the blade in the half-giant's side inflamed the wound as the dagger was yanked around to the back.

The vines which snapped around his feet bound him fast for a moment, a growl leaving the cowl. The sword flashed to cut the vines free, the dark poison from the blade withering them back; and he began to move away.

The Warrior seemed to float across the glade, as he moved back and away from Thog, the hood turning to face the Cleric. It almost seemed as if it blew her a kiss, before the dark wolf appeared at his side, and he mounted it.

Seconds later, he was gone.

----------

The Hunter stood impassive at the Paladin and the Warrior stood before him.

"Lambs to the slaughter...." he whispered, as the blades flashed out, striking for both opponent's throats.

[Agent Fisher]

Decimus's blade struck the hunters blade, hopefully deflecting it. He also brought his shield closer, to protect his vitals.

[SirNitram]

Thog faltered as his lunge exposed him to a stab-and-twist. He swung both weapons, but failed to connect as the opponent backed up too quickly. So quickly. Darek wasn't that fast... Al thought to himself, as the half-giant crashed down to the ground in pain. He had suffered alot of damage, and was bleeding on many places. But it seemed the attack on the grove was driven off.

"Thog hurt bad...." He croaked out, as Leandra came forward, casting the closer-ranged healing magics she was so good at.

"That was Darek.. Wasn't it.." The cleric whispered.

"Thog.. Think so.." The wounded colossus rumbled. "But.. Darek not dat... fast.."

[Shark Bait]

The wolf died and thanks to the healer the sorcerer took off running, followed shortly by the warrior who downed Thog. Vadlenar was angry as all hell he had been ready to cast immolate one of his more powerful spells on the warrior but now he had lost the opportunity. Not wanting to be fooled again he cast a simple spell to check for invisible foes, none being found he walked over to where the giant wolf had fallen. On the way he practically stepped over Thog’s body paying it no mind. Healing him was neither his concern nor his domain, instead stepped up to the body of the wrog and with a few components in one hand he placed the other hand on the large corpse. Seconds later the body exploded inward and a skeleton warrior rose from the gore weapons in hand ready to serve its new master.

[Charon]

Ottoman finished his prayers as the blade came in. He brought up his sword and caught the assassin's curved blade, pushing it to the side as it no doubt ate through the steel, it should give him enough time though. Ottoman's knife flashed and was thrust towards the creature's guts. Ottoman let go of the blade as it entered flesh and lifted his hand up, pressing against the assassin's chest he released another spell. This spell normally healed the wounds of the living. Unfortunately for the assassin, he was undead, and this spell wounded the undead.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Sivri threw a couple more potions at the Warlock before heading back to where she saw El last. She Looked beyond and then scampered into the forrest. The shriek from the Sorcerer seemed to follow her as she ran to find El, she put her hands to her ears. She saw the revine and sought that out to hide in as she caught her breath. Just as she was coming up the the edge the Sorcerer ran into past her and teleported, without even giving her a glance. She slid into the revine and on top of Els head.

OOF!

"Hey, this is my hiding spot. owever, I suppose that scream means the sorcerer is gone..." He said, as he bounded back out of the ravine, toward the clearing.

[Comrade Tortoise]

As Elwyn reached the clearing again, his ability to cast spells returned.

"Or that powerful I wager. That sorcerer was powerful enough to magic-lock me. Only three other mages have that spell that I know of. All three are amazingly powerful" he said. he knelt over Thog and checked over his wounds. Poison still coursed through his system. But then Leandra walked over and cast CUre Poison and he was OK

Edit: removed the spell cast

[Shark Bait]

Vadlenar repeated the process of summoning skeletons with another wolf, he and his companions then turned to Elwyn who had entered the clearing a few moments ago. “You always did know how to throw a partyâ€

[Cynical Cat]

James rubbed his back. It was really hurting today, but thank Christ work was over. He headed over to the fridge, pulled out the chicken that was last night's left overs and some lettuce. He put the chicken on a plate, put it in the nuker, and started making a salad with vinegrette sauce.

There. A lighter meal than usual. He poured himself a glass of water and set the table and prompley wolfed down the meal. He did the dishes, took a shower, checked his email and then surfed for some porn. After a bit he booted up the game. He really needed to kill something.

---------------------------------------------------

Zalethos dispelled the powerful wards around his camp and kicked out the fire. He wasn't that far from the keep, he could see it from here. The elf Sorcerer, Unraveller and Master of Flame, walk casually through the woods towards the keep.

[Narsil]

"Thog.. Think so.." The wounded colossus rumbled. "But.. Darek not dat... fast.."

Maeglin came sprinting, darting between the trees, "What the hell did I miss, and who's Darek?"

[Rukia]

OOF!

"Hey, this is my hiding spot. owever, I suppose that scream means the sorcerer is gone..." He said, as he bounded back out of the ravine, toward the clearing.

Siv followed closely behind. "I was looking for you! Le said you were in trouble." She yelled as she darted through the trees.

As Elwyn reached the clearing again, his ability to cast spells returned.

"Or that powerful I wager. That sorcerer was powerful enough to magic-lock me. Only three other mages have that spell that I know of. All three are amazingly powerful" he said. he knelt over Thog and checked over his wounds. Poison still coursed through his system. He of course, had something that could fix that.

He put his hands on the wound and whispered words that excited his body's immune system and fought of the poison. He would stop feeling it's effects in a few seconds.

Sivri came into the clearing just as El was casting a magic on Thog. "Is he gonna be ok?" She looked around. "Le, who was that guy? I've never seen someone that strong.... and those wolves? What the hell?"

Her thought was ehcoed as the high Elf from earlier stepped into clearing. Siv jumped and unsheathed her daggers ready to fight again, but quickly put them down when she recognized who was speaking.

+++++++++
Holy shit. This was bad, something wasn't right, and Rory and everyone else could feel it.
+++++++++

Sivri sat down on a rock and looked at her wound. It should have healed fully when Leandra cast her spell, but it was still trickling blood. It had a weird black ring around it, unlike any other wound she had gotten. She picked up a leaf that held some water and poured it on the injury. She rolled her shoulder and closed her eyes.

"You know we're all just standing around here and we don't know if he's really gone or if he's planning on coming back to finish us off."

[Shark Bait]

“Oh they are gone for nowâ€

[LadyTevar]

((OOC Note: Thog has posted for me that LEANDRA was healing him, since I had logged off to go to bed ))

Leandra walked around the group, casting the lesser healing spells as well as removing poison from Sviri once the Necromancer was done with his 'sampling'. As she made her rounds, she tried to answer the questions asked.

"Darek Steele is a Warrior Thog and I met a couple weeks ago and shared some adventures with," she started... and decided to be truthful, since most of those gathered knew her well. "He stayed the night with me a few times. He was supposed to have met me Sunday... but something weird happened" her voice trailed off, as she pulled a contact stone out of her pouch. "... he gave me his contact... and several days ago it started burning." she stared at it, rolling it in her hand. "I heard him scream my name... ... but nothing since then." She looked up, meeting their eyes in turn. "I even tried calling him this morning, soon as I woke... but I swear that was him just now. The swordwork was the same." .. as was the bit about blowing a kiss to her, but she wasn't going to mention that part.

[Narsil]

"That's odd," the High Elf said, "think he's been possessed by something?"

He glanced at the foothprints and gestured distantly, "At any rate; the tracks indicate that they came from this direction and their encampment might be at the end of this. If we're lucky."

-----------
Brian yawned wearily, he needed more coffee for this sort of thing.
-----------

"This reminds me of that horrid time trying to track down that bloody stag," he said to himself as he set off, regardless of whether they were actually following or not, "who knew that white ones were faster?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

Elwyn looke at the tracks the high elf was following

"No, they appeared inside the forest, they appear suddenly in the forest's center. Trust me, I was tracking them the moment they teleported in" the druid said as he examined the tracks. "I wonder what Ottoman is up to. He would probably respond personally to such a disturbance. As for posession. I dont think so."

...

Justin hit a keyboard character that he didnt use often, and sent an OOC Tell to all the players that they would see in a holographic display above his head

"Besides" it read "It would not affected his in game meeting with Leandra Something more is wrong here"

...

A few moments later, he could feel his access to magic returning

He looked around. it had rained recently, there shoukd still be some water.
Yes. He saw a clear pool of water in a hollow log.

He whispered a few words over it, and peered within, scrying for Ottoman and hoping he was still alive.

[LadyTevar]

Leandra helped Thog to his feet, having healed the half-giant up to his full strength. "So... if it's not possession.. what could it be? He recognized us... I think, but it didn't seem to matter to him."

Which really hurt Leandra and Leah both, in some way.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"It could be any number of things. From him being dead and someone having taken his character, to him being on something nasty to.. something worse"

...

Justin didnt know why he said that, but something very bad just crossed his mind.