• Event • 3. All Alone [AoQ Event Part One | Mature]

The Assault on Quacia. Quacia Hot Cycle 720 Event. Balthazar.

66th of Ymiden 720

Most shops, parlors, workshops, and other businesses are found here, as well as the homes of those wealthy who are not of royal title. Guilds bleed the citizens dry of coin through taxes and fees. Trade is limited in Quacia, and supplies can be expensive.
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Strange
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Re: 3. All Alone [AoQ Event Part One | Mature]

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The reasoning that Balthazar tried with Slipper, resulted in slight hesitance. Slipper didn't know much about magic, after all, but he knew that Rupturers could leave places through portals. He wanted to leave, and if it required threat of the mage, then so be it. He did not notice the glowing eyes, nor the attunement.

Balthazar felt a flurry of notes while he attuned to the traitor: fear was prime among the rest of them; battle, war, stimulation, the Wildfire drug, panic, human, Quacian, death, and in the back of the notes, quiet and unobtrusive, Balthazar would notice the faintest note of Creepborne.

The portals snapped shut, and the Tree Walker attended to stop the spread of the fire that had gotten on it. It didn't react in any pain, just patience to settle the flame, while its pauldrons dripped with the lifeforce of soldiers.

The blue flames jumped from Balthazar and spread over Slipper. Unlike the Tree Walker, the flames clearly and obviously hurt the traitor. Slipper let go, and his dagger clattered to the floor, and stumbled away from the elbow to his stomach. At first, he sounded surprised with shouts...

...but as the fire spread, Slipper freaked out. It was the only way to describe it as hysteria rose in the burning rogue. He went running, right into one of the benches, fell over and started to claw at his clothes. Slipper tried to throw the flames off him, while his skin gave way and his flesh melted. A sickly scent filled the wood-smoke aroma, a scent fairly familiar in Quacia where pyre executions were common.

It was due to this cultural understanding that the other soldiers looked at their fellow with pity, but not shock. Fire was meant for heretics, and traitors, and so the other Quacians would not fault the foreign captain for such a choice.

Besides, they were a bit busy to spend much time on the philosophy about setting soldiers on fire while in the midst of battle.

Balthazar swung two stone benches and crushed the remaining thin Ferahom between them. It worked just like the first one. Flesh and plant matter both gave way in bone dust and wood splinters, then crumbled to the ground with the cracked stone.

The panther Ferahom, tail and hindlegs still burning away, leapt for one of the nearest soldiers as it approached the altar. It sent the soldier to fall and scramble, and the two ended up near the sacrificed corpse of the woman that Tribunal Vito had left on the altar. The soldier tried to use the corpse as a shield, hurrying to hide underneath the body while the Ferahom's claws struck out and slashed wherever it could.

However, the other soldiers - bolstered by Balthazar's shout and by their numbers - rushed at the Ferahom. They were familiar with such battle, from the previous trials, though it could be argued that the reason many of these soldiers survived was because of their tendency to avoid direct fights whenever possible. The fourteen soldiers figured they probably had good odds against the one, already weakened Ferahom.

Slashed swords, stuck spears, axes, and various weapons all hit on the Ferahom...

...until nothing remained but splinters and bones in a mess of the scratched up body of the already-dead citizen.

Some cheers from the soldiers, quite proud of their minor victory, while they looked over to Balthazar to show him that they had indeed accomplished what he told them to do.

The eastern Citadel wall gave way, in a crash of roots and branches. In the short time from Slipper's combustion and the Ferahom's defeat, the Tree Walker had gotten exasperated. Dust blinded most of what could be seen while large stones came down. The integrity of the citadel's architecture fell apart, the arched ceiling came down in huge chunks. Glass shattered from all the windows left, in one fell swoop of destruction. Gargoyles fell through, along with the decorative spires that had been placed on the citadel's rooftop.

While the fire continued on the Tree Walker, the Tree Walker pulled off the burning bark and threw it into the Citadel. Fire spread, quickly, as one of the blazing wood pieces hit tapestries by the altar. More of the walls and ceiling crumbled apart from the impact. Smoke filled the air, dark and causing a haze through the area.

In the fast and chaotic assault, five of the soldiers fell under the ceiling and stones. Blood pooled around their motionless bodies, which were covered in the rubble. The others scattered, fortunate to avoid the heavier pieces, but still pattered and knocked by the architectural shrapnel.

Joe, the soldier, shouted at Balthazar from across the nave, "Should we retreat, Captain?! I know a way to the basement!"
 ! Message from: Strange
Rolled for how many were killed by the ceiling/wall:
@Strange: 1d14 = (5) = 5

Rolled for how many remaining soldiers were hit by the ceiling/wall:
@Strange: 1d9 = (8) = 8

Updated NPC Count:
  • 9 Soldiers on Balthazar's Faction / 8 Dead.
    • 8 Soldiers with minor-moderate injuries.
    • 1 Soldier with minor burns.
    • 4 Soldiers high on Wildfire.
  • 5 Soldiers were killed by the falling architecture.
  • Slipper is dead.
  • The Tree Walker is destroying the Citadel.
  • The Ferahoms are all dead... or at least the ones that said hi.
  • There is a fire burning and spreading around the altar.
Below is the updated map, Balthazar can now see most of it (as long as he can see through the dust/light okay), as there is no wall blocking his vision for the east-side of the neighborhood. The inverted Ferahoms are dead Ferahoms (blue). The green blurs are where walls/buildings have been taken down.
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Image
word count: 964
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Balthazar Black
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Re: 3. All Alone [AoQ Event Part One | Mature]


66 Ymiden 720
Slipper burned and the smell of his melting flesh joined the other scents in the air. His screams joined the others. Balthazar didn't feel good about what he'd done but he didn't regret it either. If he could turn back time, knowing what would happen to Slipper, he'd do it again. Especially because of what he divined from Slipper's frequency. He'd seen everything he expected to find in Slipper and one thing he did not. Creepborne. Now that he knew the note he'd find it a little more easily everywhere else and there was plenty of it around at the moment. But just how much? Balthazar eyed his 'loyal' soldiers with more suspicion now as they killed the beast. He was proud of their victory over the Ferahom but it wouldn't last long. The building shook, and then it broke.

Balthazar was lucky that they burned people alive in Quacia otherwise he might have heard more objections than he did when he murdered Slipper. Another body to the endless death that seemed to follow Balthazar. Slipper didn't have to die by his hand, anything else could have killed him in a matter of moments, but it had been Balthazar who took his life. Then again, Slipper had cost Raven hers... but was that the justice he wanted to represent? It didn't matter here. He had a feeling no one in this room would see tomorrow... well no one but him. That sentiment was reinforced when the falling stones crushed five others but missed Balthazar entirely- granted Balthazar had an innate protection against falling stones due to Defiance and what he wasn't innately protected from, his loyal kin protected him from. Wind stirred to push stone aside and away from Balthazar who moved back towards his soldiers.

Fire spread around them, the element growing stronger and Balthazar feeling more bold by the moment. Joe came to him and the mage set his glowing eyes on the boy immediately. Was he infected as well? He reached out to attune as Joe asked if they should retreat. Retreat. Run away? Cowards ran... but cowards lived. How long had it been? How far had Woe and the civilians gone? Could Balthazar wait longer and let those who had chosen to follow him die while the blood fanatic and Woe might have already been safe? Once glance out at the horde coming for them and Balthazar had made his decision.

"Get everyone out of here! Kill any of the small ones that get in our way." He moved as quickly as his feet would take him without actually breaking into a run. Balthazar didn't want to risk going off balance while they retreated and he had to keep most of his focus on the massive hole the Tree Walker had popped in the wall. "I'll keep them off your back while you get to the basement. I'll be right behind you and they're probably going to be behind me so keep moving." Since he'd attuned to Joe, he couldn't exactly lose them and they'd only really get in his way. It had become too dangerous for them with the Tree Walker but Balthazar felt he could still stall.

Balthazar moved toward the altar, shooing the soldiers to retreat with Joe. He'd devote only enough focus to them to figure out where the entrance to the basement was and worst case, Balthazar would go through the floor. It wouldn't be the hardest thing he'd done. Balthazar reached out toward one of the benches, suddenly glad to have so many of them around. He reached out to the stone, calling on it to sharpen one end with a point before he punched towards the Tree Walker looming through the dust, hoping to impale it.
► Show Spoiler
word count: 696

Visible Mutations/ Marks

Mutations
Defiance: Skin always glows faintly and he is warm to the touch. His is also the center of a field of static electricity so people get shocked touching him on occasion.
Rupturing: Orange etheric cracks spider-web up his arms to his elbows. His eyes and the glowing cracks going down his cheeks glow dark blue.
Transmutation: He has a series of emerald, glowing cracks on his right pectoral.
Marks
Bellinos: His fingernails are always black. The color fades into his fingers.
Celarion: A dim glowing ring surrounds his left forearm.
Palenon: A silver lightning shaped mark about the size of a hand stretching up towards his torso.

Scars

  • Oops, Oops, Ouch: Balthazar Black has twenty scars across his back from a lashing as well as scars on his hands and arms from jagged rocks on Faldrass. There are two scars on the sides of his abdomen from being stabbed and a slash across his back which blends in with the whip scars.
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Strange
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Re: 3. All Alone [AoQ Event Part One | Mature]

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Balthazar held no mercy for traitors. Much like the city he currently fought for, his chosen form of execution for their crime of betrayal was fire. A moment of justice chosen, of judge, jury, and executioner in the fleeting moments of self-defense. Choices that only Balthazar could understand for himself. But perhaps at another time, when the church wasn't falling apart around him and a fire wasn't spreading rapidly through the holy shelter torn asunder by the Creep and the Tree Walker.

Joe almost cowered when the mage looked at him with the glowing eyes. As Balthazar attuned, he felt the following... War. Battle. Human. Retreat. Sympathy. Creepborne. Quacian.

At the command to retreat, Joe nodded. He gave a shout along with made a large gesture for the remaining soldiers to follow him. Rather than head around the altar like the congregation had, he sprinted to one of the side doors in the nave. Once cleared and thrown open, they started down a narrow hallway while the building crumbled around them.

The Tree Walker continued to swing with fury at the building. The fire that Balthazar had set on the creature had started to spread due to the wind created from the punches. This created flaming stones that fell down from the destroyed architecture. Mortar weakened, the walls came apart at the seams. The charred stones collapsed within trills. Half of the citadel had come down already, leaving few places to hide from the open air.

And Balthazar could see through the black smoke that parted for the Defier... that they were surrounded now. Ferahoms and Tree Walkers... For another Tree Walker had started on its way toward the made-vulnerable church. There was, after all, soldiers inside; and the Creep seemed to prioritize soldiers.

Joe did what he was told though, and there weren't any Creepborne who'd gotten ahead of them on the particular path to the basement.

Balthazar felt through his attuned Frequency while Joe disappeared beneath the ground into the basement level of the church. Behind him, the soldiers followed without complaint or hesitation.

The stone bench that Balthazar called, sharpened, and the spear drove through the dust and rammed right into the Tree Walker so fast that it burst out the other side of the wood. Wind whipped around the shaped stone, then returned to impale into the back of the Tree. The Tree Walker creaked, then fell forward and into the citadel. The fire leapt wildly and consumed the Creepborne, people-decorated pauldrons included.

Of course, something like this only gathered the Creep's attention.

A loud, high-pitched screech sounded from somewhere in the Gleam's neighborhood, followed by an array of bizarre and unnatural noises. A nearby building collapsed to the ground in a mess of writhing vines and brambles.

As if in response to these noises, though...

...a loud ROAR clawed apart the air near Balthazar. It caused more instability, as the altar started to crumble and fall over the corpses left on the bloody platform.

A portal opened into existence next to the foreign mage. Through the crackling ether, a stern and elderly man looked through to Balthazar. With round spectacles, shock-white hair and beard, though he was older, he didn't appear feeble. Instead, he said, "Balthazar Black, I presume? Defier, Rupturer, and Attuner? From the Eastern Continent, and of the Scalvori Elements? My name is Master Malyorn, of the Guild of Agriculture. This citadel has been deemed expendable. All routes have been compromised. Come with me. Hurry."
 ! Message from: Strange
Updated NPC Count:
  • 9 Soldiers on Balthazar's Faction / 8 Dead.
    • 8 Soldiers with minor-moderate injuries.
    • 1 Soldier with minor burns.
    • 4 Soldiers high on Wildfire (including Joe).
  • Joe is leading the 9 Soldiers through the basement.
  • The Tree Walker has been defeated!
  • A Second Tree Walker is in approach.
  • There is a fire spreading through the area.
  • Malyorn is requesting that Balthazar come through his portal.
word count: 665
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Balthazar Black
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Re: 3. All Alone [AoQ Event Part One | Mature]


66 Ymiden 720
Balthazar would destroy it all. By the time he was done, not a stone left in the cathedral would be left outside of one of the Tree Walkers. Stone had proven a far more valuable weapon against the Creep than flames which intrigued Balthazar but not so much that he'd let it distract him. Instead, as the cathedral fell apart around him and fires began to rage, Balthazar commit himself to destroying the Creep. He could see he was surrounded but it only made him smile. More enemies meant he didn't have to be as conservative with his magic and now that the soldiers had made it down into the basement, Balthazar could let loose. A plan formed quickly in his mind- he'd take to the skies to get out of reach of the smaller beasts, then he'd destroy them with flames while hurling large stone spikes into the Tree Walkers. He could-

And then he heard a familiar sound, the sound of space bending to a competent will. Even with all the other noise, the screech of a portal tearing open surprised Balthazar who turned and saw the elder man through a window in space. The man recognized him but Balthazar couldn't quite put a name to the face quickly enough. The man spoke quickly, telling Balthazar who Balthazar was and then demanding Balthazar leap into the portal. The younger but more powerful mage looked towards the basement entrance where Joe and the other's had just run through. Balthazar had promised them he would be right behind them and if he went through the portal he knew he'd be leaving them...

But Joe's frequency had the same note as Slipper's... creepborne. That caused Balthazar to wonder if any of them were worth saving or if they might have all been infected. Then again, he also wondered if the note was indicative of the Creep's control or merely indicative of frequent encounters with the creep. When he looked inwards, did he see that same note in his own frequency? He gave himself a small, passive look for the same note before thrusting his hands towards the basement entrance and commanding the loose stone near it to create a barricade, hopefully locking the Creep out. Then Balthazar stepped backwards through Malyorn's portal, out of the cathedral and into safety... well relative safety.

"A moment earlier and we might have saved more." Balthazar lamented with no real blame in his voice. Had this elder mage created his portal even trills ago- well it likely would have been destroyed by debris. Fate was funny that way... sometimes things came together perfectly to either save a life or to take one. Balthazar was fortunate that in this case it had been the former. "What of the others?"
► Show Spoiler
 ! Message from: Strange
Balthazar does NOT find the same note of Creepborne in himself.
word count: 525

Visible Mutations/ Marks

Mutations
Defiance: Skin always glows faintly and he is warm to the touch. His is also the center of a field of static electricity so people get shocked touching him on occasion.
Rupturing: Orange etheric cracks spider-web up his arms to his elbows. His eyes and the glowing cracks going down his cheeks glow dark blue.
Transmutation: He has a series of emerald, glowing cracks on his right pectoral.
Marks
Bellinos: His fingernails are always black. The color fades into his fingers.
Celarion: A dim glowing ring surrounds his left forearm.
Palenon: A silver lightning shaped mark about the size of a hand stretching up towards his torso.

Scars

  • Oops, Oops, Ouch: Balthazar Black has twenty scars across his back from a lashing as well as scars on his hands and arms from jagged rocks on Faldrass. There are two scars on the sides of his abdomen from being stabbed and a slash across his back which blends in with the whip scars.
User avatar
Strange
Prophet of Old
Posts: 1105
Joined: Wed Mar 27, 2019 1:43 pm
Race: Undead (Ghost)
Renown: 999
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Wealth Tier: Tier 1

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Re: 3. All Alone [AoQ Event Part One | Mature]


Review Rewards
3. All Alone

OOC Start: Sept 14, 2020 | End: Sept 29, 2020
IRP Start: 66 Ymiden, Arc 720 | End: 66 Ymiden, Arc 720

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Balthazar

Knowledge

  • Leadership x 5
  • Tactics x 5
  • Detection x 5
  • Endurance x 5
  • Discipline x 3
  • Combat: Unarmed x 2
  • Combat: Blades x 2
  • Acrobatics x 2
  • Rupturing x 5
  • Defiance x 5
  • Attunement x 3
  • Attunement: Note: Creepborne.

Points

XP: +20 (Can be used for Defiance, Attunement, Rupturing)

Renown: +20

Loot

+1 Artifact Ring known as The "Mage's Miracle" Ring; given to him by Malyorn afterward as gratitude for fighting against the Creep on Quacia's behalf:

The "Mage's Miracle" Ring can be charged with a single spell of Balthazar's choosing, at any competency tier, as long as it is in a domain that he has a spark for. Once the spell is chosen, it cannot be swapped out for a different spell ever and only Balthazar can activate it.

To activate the ring, Balthazar must be wearing the ring on any finger and intend for the spell to cast. He can do this, even if his sparks are sealed or muted at the time, and the spell should cast successfully. After that, the ring goes into hibernation as the ring can only be activated once per cycle.

Review

Balthazar did a wonderful job for being relatively all by himself for such an intense and dangerous battle. No small feat to take on a Tree Walker by himself, either. Just goes to show how powerful a developed and practicing mage can be in dangerous situations. Even so, as well as he did, it’s probably a good thing that another Rupturer came by to help him escape. A great show of fighting to the very last chance, with amazing courage and swift adaptation to unexpected betrayal within the ranks. Great job and thanks for your patience!

Word Count: 4,415 words

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