[ Dungeon ] [ Gate ] The Rise of Dawn

Silva Kaida
@Silva Kaida

While Silva was quick to leave, Seimei lingered behind for a short moment before he followed behind.

The path led them both to the grand bridge. A destination that neither of them would be prepared for. Not even Seimei, who had lived for years with one of the most powerful beings to exist in their world, had experienced anything like the monster looming over them. What he had seen as he reached the top was not something the samurai spoke aloud. It screamed out in his demeanor. A tall, stout man; now appeared to be so much smaller as he fell to his knees. His gilded eyes pinned themselves to the ground, palms laid flat upon its surface.

Even if Silva had made the attempt to go back for him, to lift him across the expanse, he would find it hopeless. With each step, the bridge seemed to become longer. When he would think himself closer to his golden-haired comrade or the glistening magic of the castle gates, he could not get closer.

Intense heat billowed around him as the dragon breathed his flames. His knuckles and lips dried and split, blood beading from raw cuts. It seemed the gruesome visions of his brother, Manami, and the others were the only thing he couldn’t run from. Seconds passed and those horrors seemed to appear nearer. From the corpse of his beloved Manami does her hand raise up, clutching at his leg with a weak grasp. She looks up at him, once beautiful eyes burnt clean from their sockets.

“Silva…” Her voice rasped, quiet as a whisper yet audible to him as though she spoke into his mind. “Stay with me..?”

Another hand reached up, pulling on his wrist.

“... Don’t leave us…”

More fingers caught onto his clothes, around his flesh. Faces of those he knew, strangers of young and old surrounded him. All burnt and robbed of sight. Their skin coarse like tree bark, stinking of corpses.

At the edge of the summit road, Seimei had just sunk further down to the earth. Smaller and smaller as he wept in silent anguish.

Menat
@Menat

The vines reach his maw but are futile in their attempt to snap his jaw closed. All it had done was narrow the scorching flames until the plant matter disintegrated into a crisp of ashes.

As his mouth opened wide once more, Menat would find it licking at her heels as she made the valiant attempt to move from it. The unbearable heat seemed to sap at the moisture in the air and even her flora. Her bark began to splinter and whatever green plant matter she had began to shrivel and brown.

But before the flames could reach her, his jaw snapped shut and it seemed as though he was even smiling. The ethanol pouring over his head from the Khiimori burst before it even made contact with his impervious veil. Then, Oragann possessed a booming laughter that thundered out into the scalding air. A terrible vibrato that caused even the mountain to tremble.

“A beitas parumdh obradolis bè ormmihi?”

His massive hand reaches up, closing into a fist over the Khiimori. It bursts into cosmic flames that burst out of the seams of his digits. Oragann then slinked down to get his face closer to the Meridian princess, blackened teeth bared in malicious content. Star filled fire puffed out from between the rows of them.

“Spes est dòcha ahn.”

Combat Notes:

Enemy:

Zana & Zion
@Zana @Zion

The woman cocked a brow at the sudden transformation that overtook Zion but said nothing. If at all, her lip curled with the slightest tinge of disgust. Some of the others in their group took it upon themselves to inch closer. Some in awe, others in confusion. Most of them had never seen a dungeon beast before. Let alone a creature with that amount of tails.

“If you want to fight that… thing — do it far from us. I’ve seen what it can do,” she tells Zion, further disdain leaking out into the nastiness of her tone. “Hitting it with weapons is no use and spells are useless against it. You can disable parts of its shroud with pure magoi but that just pisses it off.”

She shakes her head and sighs, looking up towards the summit where the darkness loomed. Her voice softer, carried in a murmur on the stale wind that blew through the trees.

“I don’t plan on losing more men. We get up there and we get across that bridge at all costs.”

As she began to lead the expedition up the mountain, she said  something that only the keenest of ears would catch:

“I’m going to find that Magi and I’m going to kill her for what she’s done.”

Saint Germain
@Saint Germain

It was not long until Kaguya found the game suited to begin. Toward the end, she rushed through the rest of the numbers in her impatience. Her thirst for blood grew into a visceral excitement that seeped into her bones — their bones. Something drastic changed about her and from the eagerness her thoughts broadcasted to the hivemind:

They knew the hunt had begun and with her connection to them, it did not take her long to find their location.

Through their noses, the Saint Germain began to smell the boiling earth. As Kaguya neared, she began slamming her claws into the molten liquid in feeble attempts. Their hands began to blister with agonizing pain as though the flesh were being peeled off their bones as she did so.

Come out, come out wherever you are…

Her song seemed to boom out from behind them, muffled by the dirt, yet still rung clear in their minds, creating a cascade of chaotic vocalizations.

... Come out!

The pain would travel up their left arm as Kaguya reached deeper into the liquid, attempting to grasp onto their tail end with a hand much larger than she should have had.

It was clearest then that the Draglann had transformed. A draconic creature; massive in length alone and covered in stark white fur scorched black from the flames that ignited it with a long fox-like snout. Large, red orbs opened from the sides of her head, peering through the opening of dripping magma and earth that she created.

Ghost
@Ghost

With the boulder lifted in place, the flames seared into the other side of its surface until the stone began to melt. It remained intact until the creature latched onto it, assaulting it with futile gnaws and slashes with its talons. Soon after, the rock had taken enough beating to fracture apart. However, this bought Ghost enough time to create distance before charging in once more on his horse.

The metal steed then kicked at the dragon, sending it into a crater formed from the impact it created as it hit the earth. With a direct blow like that, the she-dragon then dissipated into a plume of screaming rukh.

Alongside her, the valuable stash once belonging to it that he had stuffed his pockets with would too disappear save for the most precious one of all. Still nestled in his arms, the scarlet egg grew warmer to the touch. As though it had acknowledged his triumph against its kin.

In light of it all, the witch king was clear to continue his journey toward the summit where the Gate awaited him.

Combat Notes:

Emperor Jaja
@Emperor Jaja

The djinn remained silent at his king’s inquiries, stoic to the swiftness of his decision.

Venus held the foal in her lap, face buried in its auburn mane with tear-filled eyes as she stared back at her second-mother. Watching as the woman gathered her strength. Rhea smiled down at her. A reassurance that, if at all anything, it would be okay. Even so, the young fanalis looked to her father for something more. If she had ever doubted any of his decisions, it was now.

The Corvus woman bit the nail of her thumb, focused hard upon the visage of Venus. The woman had been every bit as much of a mother to the girl than Diana did. Her hands delivered her into this world and every waking hour since then did she avow herself to her protection.

“There is nothing you ask of me that I have not already sworn myself to.”

The princess shook her head in further defiance and wiped her dampened eyes on her sleeves. Her little fingers balled so tight until her bronzed knuckles turned pale. “Mister? Please don't hurt Rhea,” she spoke up, voice wavering as she frowned. Wise words not of her own repeat from her mouth without understanding:

”Mama said... if we forget who we are, we cease to be.”

She leaned down to give the foal one last embrace. The beast relaxes into her, innocent in its acceptance of her affections. Her intentions pure until her arms tighten around its neck.

Crunch.

Something changed in her expression. An emptiness blacked out all the innocence in her eyes and her trembling lip stilled. It was a unnatural detachment raised in Corvus children. Jahangir would have seen it in the others. But not yet his own child. Thin white legs kick, labored breaths lulling softer in weak-willed whinnies. Blood dribbles out its mouth. It gurgles, choking on its own ichor. Rhea steps forward, hand reaching out to stop her, but Venus tried again.

Crack.

Its limbs twitch, then stop. Gremory kneels beside the child, placing his hand on the back of her neck. Tighter, she held onto the creature until all she could do was embrace herself as it separated into not viscera — but a light that enveloped the princess with a soft glow. “You are strong, Venus, but this was not your decision to make,” he tells her, and something within the girl snaps back when Rhea falls to her knees before her.

"Rhea!"

The fanalis woman clasps at her neck, a sharp gasp ripping from her lungs as rukh of strength magic began to swarm. It consumed her. Larger that shadow grew until it was a mass of pure strength. The deafening hum of magic stifled the agonized bellows she cried out and rebreaking of bone as her form shifted.

"What did you do?! You hurt her! I said don't hurt Rhea!"

In her rage, Venus turns to hit Gremory, screaming in a tantrum of frustration. Angrier than she had ever been before. Such unbridled rage had been one of the worst traits she had inherited from her grandfather, as did her mother before her. What the young Corvus had done was in vain and as her blows slipped through his corporeal form, she pounded her fists into the ground. Wild with streams of tears, she glared at the djinn and at her father as she spat words she did not mean.

"I hate you, mister! And I hate you, papa! This is your fault!"

When it was all over, Rhea laid weary in the dirt — changed forevermore from the proud fanalis she once was into a beast not unlike Pluto. And in the climax of all the chaos, Venus had decided to run; leaving but remnants of footprints in her wake as she escaped into the forest. Rhea tried to claw herself after the child but couldn't muster the strength.

Gremory, fading, stood once more, brushed off his robes and faced his king once more. The metal vessel upon Jahangir’s head begun to feel lighter as the rukh of his djinn began to return to it.

“Know what lies before you is but a mere test. There are no ends to the trials he will force you to endure before this is over. I will not be able to help you overcome them with the power I have granted you. As much as I wish not to admit it, he might not be strong in the flesh, but Malphas is a much more powerful magician than I.”

Into the rukh and forth toward the crown he passed on. Just like it had been all those years ago. Unto his king’s ears only did the last of his voice carry:

“Seek the little one at the summit to which she has fled before her childish tantrum leads her to a place of no return.”

NPC Obtained: Rhea Corvus:

Scene Notes:

NOTE:

The Summit
@Silva Kaida @Menat @Emperor JaJa @Zion @Zana @Ghost

Unicorns, spectral and en masse sped across the bridge. Only an unriddled mind could see a child was among them. Tanned skin and long, silver hair paired with an indigo gaze set with intent upon the gate. Those that had been there and recent arrivals would see them, feeling a faint sense of peace as their spectral forms passed through.

Yet even that, in the presence of such a godly tyrant, was fleeting.

Hopelessness was a terrible affliction, growing ever stronger the longer one loitered in this place. Even unbridled fear seemed to pale in comparison. After all, what is there to be frightened of if all was lost?

Seimei had risen, gilded eyes once full of life now emptied and vacant. What he had seen, what he had experienced — it had taken a toll on him. Yet it seemed what sins that haunted him were buried back behind a wall of steel. Oragann let him pass to his companion but no further. A thick tail now rested against the large doors, barring the entrance. He lifted Silva upright, bearing the weight of the man on his broad shoulders. "C'mon, old man… I got you." While the shades continued to beg with the man to remain with them, Silva would notice that their pull was not so strong and so long as he held onto Seimei, they could not get him so easily.

With all their words spoken, the group had taken up the kitsune’s offer to ride with speed up the mountain path. Even the woman found herself impressed. White rukh, tinted in pink hues fluttered around her. The others began to point them out, teasing her. She cursed them as she buried her blushing face into the soft, silver fur as Zion took them up the path at amazing speeds.

Zana had run off before Zion and his companions could join him. The man would notice his former group rush past him as he climbed the mountain path. When he reached the top, it seemed as though more than just them had already been there.

The scar faced woman, her group of thuggish magicians, and Zion would find themselves near the pair of blonde-haired men. All of them faced the impasse that barred their way into the castle.

She stared at the tail, biting into her thumb until the skin broke. Her full brows scrunched up in frustration. "Shit, shit, shit," she spat. Impatient, paced back and forth. The others couldn't help but stare up at the dragon, whispering amongst themselves about what they could do and rather thankful that the spriggan kept its attention for now.

Oragann lifted himself so that he was staring straight  down at Menat. No longer was the magic much of a threat but it still continued to cause the air to fluctuate around them.

“Such a wretched little twig,” the dragon snarled. Cosmic visions licked around his maw turning the air around the bridge hot, then cold in rapid instances. Back and forth as though the strange magic could not decide what it wanted to be. “Not only are you an abomination in this world,” he growled, scaled lips curling into a wider black-toothed grin, “You are not even worth my breath nor the death it will bring you.”

Another man approached, donned in the full might of his metal vessel. Mixed with the hot-cold of the air was an immense pressure that grew with each second. Little by little, those within its radius without the strength to hold themselves upright would be brought further down to the ground.

That draconic gaze that had been on Menat was no longer. Now, he stared at the winged figure. There was a hum that resonated in his chest, causing the air to tremble. He was amused by his rage, that much was clear.

“Ah… but you, little king, you are in hell. If you sought to be anywhere else, you would not be here.”

He opened his mouth, letting a shining golden dagger fall off his tongue. It hissed as it cooled on the warm stone below. The sound of it hitting the bridge rang out for all to hear. There was no mistaking the object. For not once Jahangir had given it to her had it left his beloved’s side.

“You would forfeit life so soon and forget those who still might live? How selfish.”

Oragann held his scaled palm out, opening his claws one after the other. Black and white rukh alike swirled around each sharpened tip then shot out towards each contender.

“If you desire the power to reverse even death, offer to me that which you hold most dear and I shall let you through. Refuse and live in eternal torment, never for your soul to rejoin those of the dead.”

The rukh that swarmed about each person shifted into their desires for all to see. Tangible objects or even people who seemed just as alive as they would in person. Perhaps relics that were long lost to them or those who had died. Even the futures one dreams of might dance about them within ice crystal shards.

All things too sacred to offer, yet untold power lies before each of them if one would so choose to take it.

“You’ll not say my terms are less than generous.”

Saint Germain
@Saint Germain

In efforts paid off, the bolt enters the arm of the draconic native. It buries itself deep in between the outlines of her scales. Kaguya shrieks in pain and withdraws her arm. Blood, thin and bright red dribbles from the wound. Even the pair would find themselves having paid the price for their actions against a being linked to their own.

But at least the two were now safe from death’s grasp.

Kaguya hadn’t rushed to follow them for reasons not even revealed to Saint Germain. While her thoughts and senses still penetrated through their own, all she had done was wallow in the prospect of a fun game ruined.

While the Draglann did not wander far behind, she did not remain within a range the two could see for long. Even so, she did not hide her presence — continuing  to stalk them like a predator, waiting for the right time to strike. But even when such a time would come, Kaguya would do nothing.

The clock was ticking down. Ten minutes turned to five, then to two. A normal outcome of the pill made for a new Saint Germain to take root in a new vessel, adding to the mass collective of hosts. Though, the essence of the creature found itself unable to find a hold on her mind.

When the clock clicked down to zero, something unexpected would happen.

NOTE:

Enemy:

NOTE:

The Summit
@Silva Kaida @Menat @Emperor JaJa @Zion @Zana @Ghost

The dream was ever malleable to the strength of emotion, of conviction. Once thin, white clouds began to grow dense and darken in response to Jahangir’s will as though a part of his being. Even the setting sun sunk below the horizon, its warm light fading into darkness. Thunder rumbled and lightning danced across the skies, striking down into the mountainous terrain below.

What depriving, black rukh he possessed shifted into that of pure strength as he declared his extreme magic into existence. A specter of a woman appeared beside him. Long, white hair cascading behind her. Scales of iridescent white latticed up her limbs. Eyes of pale scarlet wide with focus. Her hand slips around the hand that held the ornamental dagger, gripping it tight in  her own. A command from her stern rings out just before his own:

“Strike fast and true, my love. For our family.”

Plunging this sword into the cloud, the gravitational force spread across its packed molecules as it drew the vapor in until a gigantic sphere of water hung in the air. Then, in an instance, it dropped with impossible speed — unnatural and lethal. As the water comet clashed with the bridge, it burst outforth in tall waves down the length of the bridge and spilled violently  over the edges. The knockback collided into Oragann, causing him to fall back into the chasm. He melded with the darkness. A pair of glowing, violet eyes peered up from down below.

No one was safe.

For Ghost, still walking down the length, had not moved fast enough to spare him the brunt force of the water coming down upon the genesis of the bridge. The stone construct around him shatters into rubble, pelting through his borg and beating into his form. Before he knew it, the witch king was falling.

Menat, on her mount raced down the length of the bridge toward the gate, water splashing at the hooves of her Khiimori causing it to slip and stumble. The kitsune’s tails close as she gets into range, barring her from a much needed haven.

Water crashes into her back, throwing her off the Khiimori as she is consumed beneath the wave. The violent whirl sends her construct off the edge and threatens to do the same for her. It tumbles her around, making it difficult to secure a hold on anything solid.

Then, she finds alongside Ghost in the distance — falling… and falling… never landing; until all but darkness surrounds.

The others near the gate had been enveloped within the fortress of furs put together by the kitsune, Zion. Each person found themselves cramped, pressed up against each other. However, no one could be less than thankful for the act as the muffled sounds of raging rapids echo into the chamber.

The incoming rush of water carries them to the doors of the gate. It crashes into the metal there and unbeknownst to them in the moment, the gate begins to creak open.

Against his chest clung the scarred-face woman. Widened red eyes stared up at him. Her heart pounded wild in her chest, thumping against his own. “T-Thanks,” she said. Even Seimei, who had his arm draped around Silva, muttered his gratitude — still under the sudden shock of the events.

Silva would feel something cold form within his chest. The flesh over his heart began to concave into a hollow hole. Any emotions he might make the attempt to muster would fizzle out. A voice resonated in his mind of a soft-spoken man. It would state:

“Thou hath made an honorable sacrifice. To be human is to be flawed. Yet is such newfound perfection worth the cost, dearest muse?”

Thunderous roars shook the air, cold flames bursting as the cosmos from his gullet. Massive claws take hold of the stone as Oragann bursts from the void. His obsidian scales shining beneath the moonlight as the clouds below Jahangir dissipated into clear skies.

The blackened shroud that enveloped him seemed to be no more as he dashed upwards, maw agape. Rows of spear-like teeth snapped around Jahangir’s side as the monster reclaimed his prize. Bright crimson burst out from the wound, staining Jahangir’s face with hot ichor. Pain flared through him unlike he had ever experienced before as though molten steel was being pumped into his veins.

“You dare to strike against me with that power?”

Oragann’s resonating voice rattled his bones, causing them to fracture. Flames, colder than ice, seared crystals of frost into his tanned skin.

“I am God!” He roared, opening his jaw wide once more. The flames grew colder, threatening to freeze the world king solid. “You are nothing!”

Black rukh screeched out like nails scraping down a sheet of metal. So piercing that it would rupture the ears of an ordinary man. From her form, a swarm poured out.

Kaguya screeched, loud in their minds. The sounds of something so tortured and terrible. Her coming death was apparent. Delta and Teresa feel her throes in turn. Something seemed to be crawling within them, eating their viscera from the inside and clawing outward.

The voice of a man, or perhaps a beast soon replaced her own. Anger filled them. Then, a wash of justification. As though her final shriek of death was one just deserved. They could taste and relish her blood in their mouths. Licking at the strips of her sinew stuck between their teeth. It left them feeling unsatisfied, wanting for more yet their bellies oh so full.

They found themselves staring down at the forest floor. No blood stained their mouths nor flesh caught between teeth. But that wretched feeling remained. As though neither of them had any interest or love for the woman outside her demise.

Inside the fibers of its being, something did not meld. Something seemed to hold control over the Saint Germain, whether to its elation or dismay. But it was clear, somehow, whatever parasite that had been borne from its pill could be subverted.

Trait Obtained:

Host Obtained:

Enemy:

NOTE: