Jump to content

Graterras Chapter 4: Shattering Realities. [IC]


Raindrop Valkyrie

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 447
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

"No, we are in danger here. If we go down into the inn Marcus will tell you more." Abraham said, a bit of worry on his face. He tried to smile as best he could, but Oarloff knew something was definitely wrong.

***

"Nemesis is out in the forest, she doesn't like people." she is safe, but hiding right now. Hopefully she can warn us if anything else nasty comes. However, she sensed something leave, something very powerful let's be glad it isn't here anymore." Jupiter said to Marcus as she came down from her room. She was shaking quite visibly. The surprise must have caught her off-guard. THe others were used to seeing her be calm and collected, but she was clearly not right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Ok papa, give me just a second." The ogre said as he stood up and quickly located the three most precious objects to him. Magni's Hammer that he had received from Odin earlier that day, Mister Button's Ribbon, and most importantly his harp, his last memory of a simpler time. "Ok, papa," he said after gathering his things, "Me is ready let's go." He said nodding to Abraham to lead the way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marcus raised an eyebrow when Jupiter got down. Everybody up to now was serious and angry with the situation, but he didn't expect anyone - specially her - to be this shaken after all they had passed. "Yeah, better for us right? Anyway, we have Blue distracting them and Nero and Dru to help us here, so it will be easy work." he said, trying to sound confident. At this moment, Oarloff and Abraham appeared. "Ok, we're all here now. So, if I get it right, Nero and Dru will make us sneak out unnoticed. Helze and Jupiter, you better keep your bows ready to pick off anyone who happens to spot us. Warriors would be better positioned guarding the van and rear, and the rest goes in the middle. Sounds good?" The young templar asked everyone, haste clear in his voice. "Then if you all agree, let's get going, we must escape this place quickly" This last part was mentally directed to Blue too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Alright, the plan is a go, I will give the signal once I start the plan." Blue said throughout everyone's minds.

"Sounds like a plan Marcus, now we got to keep moving lads, no stopping." Bjorn said.

Jupiter got herself more under control now, but she was shaken for awhile. All of this out of the blue scared the girl. She wasn't afraid of something she could see, but right now, anything could be out there. She was now more worried about the others than herself however. This strengthened her resolve, she had to make sure they were safe. She remembered Brass's words to her the day he convinced her to follow her path in life. "Jupiter, you are a weak girl, one who cannot stand up for herself. However, that doesn't matter. For people you care about you will face any odd, any challenge, and any adversity. You are a true angel on the battlefield, one who fights to protect others, not for herself. I admire that, it is much more noble thing to fight for than the things I fight for. I am just a lonely shell looking for his place in this world, and the only thing I know how to do is chuck rocks at people. You can learn in time to stand up for yourself, as can a miserable fool learn where he belongs. Perhaps we should try to work on those things together."

She missed that oaf, he was like a brother to her. She never had a brother, or any sibling for that matter. Well at least one of blood relation. She grew up all by herself. But now wasn't the time to be weak she had to be strong for those around her, she had to fight so they could keep going. But she wanted to save them, not just because she cared for them, she wanted to save herself to keep traveling with them, she wanted every single one of them to still be at her side at the end of this. That is what she wanted. Was that a selfish thing to want? No, it was what she wanted, and she would fight for it. She would not just fight for others today, she would fight with them. The doubt left her now, and the shaking stopped.

***

"Alright, the plan is ago. They have taken the bait. It is now up to you." Blue said, they all felt his connections to their mind fade away except Helzebeth, she felt his connection still there. Well if she tried, it felt a bit natural now so it was sometimes hard for her to pick it out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Ok everyone, let's move!" Said Marcus, opening the door and leaving first, looking forward to check for enemies and back to see if his companions were keeping up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A hand, which, normally, would have been rigid and toughened from fighting and surviving, squeezed Jupiter's gently and assuringly. "We will pierce the heavens with our arrows, sister." If Jupiter looked up, she would see Helze's grey eyes, stormy as she herself was shaken, though the girl did her best to sound calm. "We will." The ranger nodded to Marcus. A stupid dream wasn't going to stop her from finding her father. "Hunter is swift-- he will run to wherever he will be needed most, but for the most part he will stay by my side." The huge wolf rumbled-- softly enough-- in agreement. Whatever scared Helzebeth and Jupiter would pay-- he would see to that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Yes, they will Helze." Jupiter said, with her typically smile. It came right after she righted herself in her head. It was like if the universe, through Helzebeth, was telling her that she succeeded.

***

Marcus saw what appeared to be a clear scene. It was hard to tell from a doorway whether or not there were any soldiers on roofs or around corners. Out in the alleyway, he still saw no signs of enemies yet. Blue must have drawn quite a few of them away. However they could be some lurking around, rushing would be bad even if they seemed home free. They heard a din coming from the village to the north, luckily no the way they were going. It sounded like a goblin was talking to someone, but the words were impossible to make out. MArcus could see the treeline to the south, but making a beeline for it would be most unwise. They didn't know the enmy positions and they probably had a perimeter. It would be suicide to rush out into an open field.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dru chanted under his breath, willing the Earth to soften slightly under the party so as to muffle their footsteps. He put a foot out the door and on the ground and peered around the corner, using his Earth magic to feel for the enemies' positions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dru couldn't feel much of anything, something felt like it was interfering. A slight tingle went up his body, it made his body feel entirely numb. Was it the remnant of whatever this Grave Earth was? It had to be. He could feel something other than the Earth, he could feel what was interfering with his connection to it. Luckily for him they were mostly dormant now, otherwise they would have devoured his body whole. Souls, those of countless formless creatures were attached to this Earth, and they weren't Earth spirits, they were the souls of humans elves and other civilized races. Dru could feel flashes of of the forms of people, now long dead, of what they looked like in life. He couldn't see them long enough to ever see a clear face, but it was still unsettling. He could them writhing through the ground and as long as he kept his spell up.....they would swim through his body and mind. If they were still active.....he would dread to think what would happen.

A gnoll walked past on patrol, he wasn't looking their way though and was a bit off in the distance. He however did notice the ground was softer than usual. He was picking up his feet in a weird way testing the ground. It was clear he knew something was up, but it wasn't certain exactly what was going through his mind. He could just thought he walked into a slightly muddier patch of ground. He started to turn around looking about, when a silvery arrow pierced him through the eye. He hit the ground with a soft thud due to the Earth's softness. However....it didn't end there. The Ground bulged up underneath the body, and it began to swallow it. At first it couldn't do anything, it must not have had the energy or something. But eventually it started to make headway into devouring the corpse. Dru felt a sinister energy from the ground, a ravenous hunger. When the body hit the ground, it recognized it, it knew. The Grave Earth turned back on, at least enough to start devouring the body. It was gathering energy now, the souls in the maelstrom got more restless, but it wasn't enough to recharge it. The Earth started to affect Dru more however, the sensation of crawling underneath his skin, it felt more active...more alive. The tingling sensation, turned into one of burning. It started to switch to pain ever so slightly. He could feel the souls in the ground, he knew what it was trying to do....it was trying to devour his body, but ti still couldn't not yet anyway. His soul and mind must have made it too difficult for the ground to devour him, and it didn't have enough power to do so yet. But if it ate another corpse, one drained of it's soul and mind.....it might devour the entire party whole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marcus saw the Gnoll fall to the ground and turned back to Jupiter to thank her with a thumbs up. A moment later, however, he noticed Dru was not looking well. "Ey, are you allright Dru?" he asked the sorcerer, before also noticing the Gnoll being... Eaten by the Earth, it seemed. The templar made a disgusted face and whispered to everyone. "Holy hell. Let's get out of here quick." He then considered their options: Heading south in the clear was obviously impossible, so they either needed a distraction or to get closer sneaking between the houses first. Either way, they needed a better idea of the field, so he decided to sneak quietly to the corner and look in the direction the Gnoll had come from. (Carefully, veeery carefully)

((Edited. Jeez, I was so sure I've read Goblin XP)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With a grimace, Helze considered keeping her bow and arrow away. It looked like they had to rely on pure stealth and speed to get out safely. Out before anybody could spot them. Just seeing the earth swallow up that man... The ranger shuddered visibly, remembering the eerily-realistic gravelly sensation of soil filling up her throat, blocking off her airway... She shook her head, hard, trying to get the nightmare out of her head.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marcus couldn't see anything down the path. It seemed as if no one else was behind the Gnoll. As it was the edge of town, it was most likely the fellow was on patrol of the perimeter. Killing him probably put a hole in the rotation at least. But Marcus had no idea if another patrol would overlap with this area or anywhere nearby anytime soon. It was anyone's guess how much time they had now. It seemed as if no others were in the area at least for now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dru felt extremely ill as he severed his connection from the Earth entirely for the first time in many years. The lack of its life-giving energy was... disturbing, to say the least. It felt as though a part of him had been hidden away, pushed aside to make room for something that simply was not there. He looked gravely at the rest of the party. He then turned specifically to Marcus. "No, friend, I am not 'okay.' What these foul creatures have done to this Earth is the most foul transgression that I have ever witnessed. To me it is an abomination that rivals the simple existence of the Gentleman." He breathed heavily, his skin beginning to return to its normal pallor. He felt nothing but anger welling up as he struggled to control his emotions, and could only imagine what Brass would say were he with the party.

The sorcerer shuddered as he began speaking. "This Earth is unnatural. It is... hungry. It has consumed the souls of all the dead of this town and yearns for yet more. And the most horrifying part of it all is the fact that with each soul it swallows it seems to grow in strength. Only my expertise allowed me to survive convening with it. We need to leave this place as soon as possible. My magic is useless here. I have severed my connection to the Earth for now. We must leave." He looked to his friends and repeated himself once more. "We must leave this place."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Flint walked around a little poking at the ground. "It must be inert or something, but still active. I suggest we be careful feeding it anymore of those poor saps. I have no idea what this stuff is.....what is the goal of these people if they would use something like this?" he shuddered. He must have reached out to it for a little as well, since he had a sickly look come over him for a few seconds, but he quickly perked back up.

"Another Patrol is headed this way, I see one in the distance." Jupiter said, pointing in his direction. It was far off, it was a wonder how Jupiter saw him, or at least it would be if she wasn't an Archer. It was probably another Gnoll judging by the size. "We need to decide now, the open field might be our only hope right now." she said, and She was right, either they chanced going towards the Gnoll and possibly other scouts and foot soldiers, or they made a break for the woods. It would be a tight fit either way due to the size of the group, they would have to act and act quickly to have any chance of not being seen.

((p.s., everyone is out of the inn already Jory *winks*.))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dru looked at Jupiter, mildly annoyed that she had evidently not heard the urgency in his voice but understanding the need for caution. "I suggest we make for the open field immediately. Should we run into any resistance, no lethal force should be used. And do try to keep them off the ground. Now let's go," he said quickly, waiting for the others to confirm his suggested course of action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

(( I should note, only them dying will cause the Grave Earth to devour them. As in Graterras the soul and mind [and the mind's Knowledge with it.] cease to exist upon the death of their physical body. They can be wounded, and knocked to the gorund, so long as they don't die. At least in phase one.))

"Aye" said Odin and Abraham together.

Bjorn and Chauff looked at each other. "You think you can run that fast you old Fishhead?"

"Surely I can run faster than an ugly geezer like you Chauff."

"We'll see Seabear."

"I told you to never call me that."

Chauff merely stuck out his tongue in response.

"Get moving, I will watch you keisters." said the Crimson King. "I wish I still had a butt....you don't know how uncomfortable stone chairs are without one. Maybe I should get some new chairs for my castle?"

"Helze, if we have to shoot for their knees or feet, it should at least keep them from coming after us, and it will make it harder for them to get help quickly if they do see us." Jupiter said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dru shook his head at Jupiter. "We can't risk them dying on this soil. If you have fowl hunting arrows, use those. If not, I ask that you refrain from putting holes in them. If even one dies, we may find ourselves in more trouble than if we have to fight off a few gnolls by hand."

((We can't risk them bleeding out))

Link to comment
Share on other sites

((you know it would take....like forever to bleed out from a leg wound right? [at least to the foot or lower leg.] Not really enough bloodflow unless they cut a major artery, and you would have to try to do that. I guess they don't know how far the Grave Earth goes...but still lol.))

"You think that lowly of me that I can't hit what I am aiming at? I know how to disable something and not kill it Dru'thuk. I have trained just as much with the Bow and Arrow as you have with your magic, don't treat me like a fool, when you don't even know me." Jupiter said, She started to move off not allowing Dru'thok to get in another word to her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With an arrow at the riser of her bow ready, Helzebeth nodded to Jupiter. "We'll be gone before they bleed out and the earth engulfs them," she said to the Half-Orc, before following her sister who walked off. "Sister, I'm sure he didn't mean to poke fun at your ample skill. Everyone has seen your mastery of the bow back at Passtrough," she said softly, hoping to placate her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Akuma draws his hammer as he follows the group thinking.. what the hell am i suppose to do? i don't have any fancy gimmicks to deal with these earth fiends, but I know one thing is for sure.. if it breaks or shatter, i must be doing something right. The berserker tighten his grip on his hammer and was ready to pulverize the earth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sigurd bit his tongue. He was pissed ever since he heard that one of the Death Angels killed the entire town right under their noses. His preferred action would be to go after the bastard and kill him, but he decided to go with the group. He was careful not to give away their location, he was seriously tempted to go slay some Gnolls, and listened to Dru. The Sorcerer had earned Sigurd’s respect and the Wind Templar took his warnings seriously. He followed the group, positioning himself at the end, with one blade in his hand. That way if an enemy showed up he could always shatter their knees with his wind attacks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

×
×
  • Create New...