>Current objectives:
-Stay alive.
-Find a skeleton-keybearer.
-Find your way back to the crossroads.
-Liberate Earth
-Put an end to the war.
-Put an end to the Corruption

>Current inventory
-1 KV-09 Combination assault blade/energy pistol. Modified with the Void Knight Shield
-1 Screwdriver
-1 Adjustable wrench
-Various spare parts
-A pouch of gold coins
-Another pouch with 17 "Calling Crystals"
-5/10 light travel rations
-7/10 full oil can
-5/10 bandages

>Current energy stored
-4 Aether tanks
-2 Void tanks
-0 Apotropeia tanks
-0 empty tanks
-Support tank-Aether (12/12 full)
-Weapon-Empty
-12 EP per tank

>Calling Crystal contacts
-Jodo, chief of Yujun village (Palia)
-Rose, interplanetary drifter (Currently on Aklabra)
-Jax, Hecatun Way Knight (Currently on The Crossroads)
-Parin, Hecatun Way Knight Trainee (Currently on The Crossroads)
-Winnow, Veeka Spirit Singer (Bray)

>Current known techniques
-Blade Wave (cost:5 EP)
-Charge Shot (cost:3 EP)
-Scatter Shot (cost:3 EP)
-Close Lesser wound (cost:1 EP)
-Close Moderate wound (cost:3 EP)
-Repulse (cost:2 EP)
-Repulsor Blast (cost:3 EP
-Reflection Field (cost: 7 EP)

You step out of the Void onto the planet ‘Fir-Vost’.

Taking in your surroundings, you put your weapon away. The scene before you is about as peaceful as it gets. You seem to be in a small village of houses and building made from a grey, wood-like material. There’s beaten paths running between them, revealing the red earth underneath. The area is surrounded by a field of grass, roughly the color of the sky back on earth.

The beings that inhabit this place all have dark brown skin. They walk on a set of 4 arms that protrude from their upper torso, and use their smaller legs to manipulate objects.

A quick check with Vicky tells you that the formulation of the Visio rune isn’t quite complete yet, so you have some time to kill.

Might as well say hello to the locals and-

>[ ] Learn more about this place

>[ ] Ask about the skeleton-keybearer

>>31610363
> ask about the bearer

May as well try to get shit done.

>>31610363
Let's learn a little about the locals first. Seems more plausible then goin' up to someone, and asking about magic bones.

>>31610582
This

>writing

You decide to learn more about this place. Tracing the key-bearer can wait until Vicky is finished with the Visio rune.

Looking around for one that doesn’t look too busy, you walk over to one of the creatures (which Vicky informs you are known as ‘Talkute’). The one you approach is sitting on a bench, relaxing and smoking a pipe-like object.

“Hello there.” You say, attempting to emulate ‘friendly’ as well as you can.

The Talkute eyes you over its pipe. “You here for the newcomers? It says.

“Newcomers?” You ask.

“Just yesterday a bunch of people popped in out of nowhere, they all keep insisting that someone is going to come get them. Is that you?” It asks.

>[ ] Yes

>[ ] No.

>[ ] Define ‘people’.

>>31611285
>Define 'people'

>>31611285
Define these folks
And hope to God this isn't a trap

>>31611554
>And hope to God this isn't a trap
if monthei left any to hope to lol

>writing

“Define ‘people’.” You say to the Talkute.

“Light hair, light skin, little bronze crystal things stickin’ out here and there. There’s about 3 of ‘em camped out just over that hill. Said they wouldn’t bug us if we didn’t bug them, and said they’d stay there until their comrades showed up.” It says.

Some eture then, interesting…

>[ ] Check it out

>[ ] Leave it be.

>>31612087
>Check that shit
And let's see if our cyborg ass can be subtle about it

>>31612178
Aw hell, let's see what happens. Worst that might happen is us gettin called an Aklabran/Kema baby again

>>31612178
Lazst time we tried being sneaky, we nearly got crushed by a golem... can we LEARn to be stealthy? Use magic to dampen sound, or something?

>>31612087
CHECK IT
wanna make DAMN sure they ain't makin' no ruckus. Not in MY town. Pull out them spurs

>writing

Might as well go check it out, since you still have some time to kill before you can get down to business. Without further ado, you thank the Talkute for his(?) time and head off in the direction of the hill he mentioned.

The walk only takes about 5 minutes. The hill looked fairly distant at first glance, but as you crest it you realize that it’s just small.

At the bottom of the hill you see where the Eture are camped. As the Talkute said, there appears to be 3 of them. They all have battle gear with them, but none of them are wearing armor or holding weapons. There doesn’t appear to be any stealthy approaches to their camp, but you just want to talk. Might as well make your presence known.

As you approach, you call out to them. The Eture scramble for their weapons and form something akin to a triangular combat formation. It’s a solid formation, though clearly one made for about 100 more people than they have.

“Who goes there?” The lead Eture asks.

>What say?

>>31613064
hello I am logan drey I understand you are having a bit of an issue.... involving the elemental kalki

>>31613230
This

>>31613064
>Greetings, I come in (literal) pieces
Seriously, though. Got fucked up by tall, black, and crazy too, I see.

>writing

>seems kinda slow tonight

>>31613456
well it is easter sunday lots of eeople spending time with the family....also potheads also due to the date
also at least it is not just me and one other person like it used to be

>>31613525
True that.

“Name’s Logan Drey, I’m a traveller of sorts.” You say.

“What are you doing here?” The lead Eture asks.

“Important business, doesn’t concern you. You lot came here from Aklabra, correct?” You reply.

“How do you know that?” One of the other 2 asks, before the lead shushes him.

“I was there. I also happen to know that everyone got sent all over the place at random.” You say.

The Eture don’t budge.

“Oh put the weapons down, if I was here to kill you I’d’ve done it 5 minutes ago.”

“You never answered my first question. What are you doing here, in our camp?” The lead Eture says.

>[ ] came to say hello.

>[ ] Offer to take them to Meyoun (Where Leohrad is)

>>31613893
offer but blindfolds first

>>31613893
Offer, but how many can we bring at a time? Might need to make a few trips, or else the holding on will get real awkward, real fast.

>writing

“Well, the funniest thing happened when I arrived here. The Talkute I spoke to asked me if I was here to ‘pick you guys up’. So I figured that the least I could do is offer.” You say.

“Offer to ‘pick us up’?” The lead Eture asks.

“And take you to Meyoun. Your leader Leohrad was there with some other Proclamation forces last time. Even if he’s gone, there’s still a Geob colony.” You say.

The three Eture huddle together for a moment, discussing your offer amongst themselves. You catch bits and pieces of their conversation, despite their efforts. They don’t trust you, but they aren’t even sure that help is coming. From the way they talk, it sounds like some Eture have the ability to manipulate Aether to form threads. These three lack that ability however, and are stuck here until someone gets them.

When they finish their huddle, the consensus seems to be ‘risk trusting you over being stuck here forever’. So they accept your offer.

After consulting Vicky about the logistics of carrying 3 other people through the void, you learn that the ‘human chain’ method works. As long as they are all travelling with you, they are protected.

With that in mind, you all join hands and enter a rift to Meyoun.

>[1/2]

>>31614702
ONWARDS

When you come out of the rift, you’re greeted by the now familiar sight of the Geob town. Though it seems larger now than it did last time. In between and all around the buildings the Proclamation has set up tents. It looks like they’re using this town as a general regrouping area.

“You were actually telling the truth.” One of the Eture says.

“You wound me. Now go report to you commanding officer, or whatever it is you do in this situation.” You say, attempting to sound commanding and failing to do so.

The three Eture thank you for helping them, and bid you adieux. As they walk away, you scan the thin crowd for familiar faces. You find only one. Yondur, the Eture you met on Bray is walking towards you.

“What are you doing back here?” She asks.

“Lending a hand, I had some time to kill.” You answer.

“It’s good that you’re here, I never got a chance to thank you for helping me out.” She says, reaching under her armor and pulling out… more armor?

She’s holding what appears to be a shoulder piece to a rather plain suit of armor, a black and gold suit of armor.

“Where did you get that?” You ask her.

“My beloved, Helm gave it to me. I’ve not seen him since Aklabra, and no one I ask has seen him either. I’m starting to fear the worst… But… Here” She pushes the piece of armor out towards you. “I want you to have this, as thanks.”

“I couldn’t-“ You say

“No, take it. It suits you far more than it would me anyway. But in return, if you find a Geob named Helm…” She says.

“I’ll bring him here.” You say, taking the armor piece from her. It looks like it goes on your right shoulder, so that’s where you put it. Immediately it melds to your current get-up, becoming a straighter, more modern shoulder guard.

>Formulation complete!
>New spell: Visio rune.

>[ ] Bid farewell to Yondur and get on with your mission

>[ ] Find Leohrad, you have things to discuss with him

I have a sneaking suspicion there may be a number of lurkers in the thread.
We also don't post many images

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>>31615284
>>31615284
>>>[ ] Bid farewell to Yondur and get on with your mission
duty calls
image viseo rune a weird abstraction

>>31615284
>But in return, if you find a Geob named Helm…”
Awwww
>a Geob named Helm...
Oh my... In any case, I'm leaning on bid farewell. Leohrad seems pretty inflexible

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>>31615284
WOOOO NEW VOID KNIGHT ARMOR!!
Soon...

>writing

“Did you want to talk to Leohrad? He mentioned something about how you said you’d be back.” Yondur says.

You consider it for a moment but… “No, I’m afraid this was only a short stop. I’ll be back at some point, but right now I also have someone I need to find.” You say, re-entering the coordinates for Fir-Vost.

“Good luck then. I hope you find them.” Yondur says.

You jump back into the void, your thoughts taking a grim turn. “For all our sakes, I hope so too…” You say, hearing the words inside your head as the sound gets lost to the void.

Back on Fir-Vost, you stand right where you came through. “This must be the leyline convergence point. If the keybearer was here, they probably passed through this place.

<Alright, activate the Visio rune.

The vision of your left eye turns deep blue, and you immediately start to look around. Oz mentioned that there was a trail, he didn’t give you any inkling as to what it might look like…

>roll 1d20

Rolled 19

>>31615710

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Rolled 12

>>31615710
look

Rolled 14

>>31615710

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Rolled 12

>>31615753

>writing

So where the hell is this trail? The way Oz was talking about it, it sounded like something that would stand out. But you’re just kind of standing here and- wait…

You see it, a glimmer out of the corner of your eye. Turning your head to get a better look, you can see how you missed it. It appears as a trail of lighter blue smoke against the blue pall that everything appears in through the Visio rune. You follow the trail with your eyes, and it goes over a hill to your right and out of sight. So you follow it.

And follow it.

And follow it…

You’re starting to wonder if maybe you aren’t following the right trail when it comes to a halt, ending in a rift that shines white against the dark blue.

<Can I do anything with this?
>The trail continues into the rift, if you were to reopen it you could follow it through the void.

Well, this is what you came here for. So you carefully reopen the rift and step in.

It’s a different feeling than your usual travel. Rather than speeding right along towards your goal, you currently have no coordinates to follow. Instead you’re following the trail, and moving more slowly so you can keep track of it.

It takes a while, but eventually you come out the other end. Right out into a corrupted world.

And from the sounds of it, you’re not alone…

>Roll 1d20

Rolled 19

>>31616148
eyes forward pay attention

Rolled 4

>>31616148

>writing

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On instinct you drop into a crouch, as several strange crystalline projectiles whiz over your head. You wheel around with a leg sweep, following it up with a punch to the jaw of the feline-like creature that had pounced over your sweep. Using the momentum of your swing, you snap your blade back so you can use your gun. You then immediately pick off the other 2 cats before they get into pouncing distance.

You seem to be in a ruined, corrupted town of some sort. The mashing of Aether and Void is making it difficult to keep track of the trail, but it’s definitely still there. But if you’re going to follow it, first you need to make sure nothing follows you.

“We MeEt AgAiN, vOiD kNiGhT.” Comes the familiar voice of a corrupted creature.

The humanoid figures emerge from the ruined buildings around you. The same ones that stole Rose’s bones…

>[ ] Kill them and move on.

>[ ] Try and weasel some information out of them

>>31616735
>weasel.

We need to know if they already have all the skeleton keys. That is priority no. 1.

>looks like interest has dwindled pretty sharply, so I'm gonna call it a night here. I'll keep running tomorrow evening if the thread is still around

>>31616780

second.

Maybe try to spin it that whoever is in charge of them will not succeed to prompt them into some villainous speech routine.

>>31616948

oh ok. Good night OP, and thanks for the thread!

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>>31617032
G'night guys. Looking forward to the next session!

>bumping

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>>31618228

Bumping without pictures is rude, Anon.

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>>31619925
My bad

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>>31617222
Bumlmplp

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>>31616948
>>31617222
I drank too much and failed

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>>31626975
bump

>will be back on in about half an hour.

>should I assume that the consensus is still "weasel"?

>>31629304
yes...as far as I know

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>cool

>writing

“How unpleasant it is to see you, ugly. What’s brought you lot to my little slice of paradise?” You say.

“We CoMe To SpReAd ThE gLoRy Of PeRfEcTiOn To ThIs MiSeRaBlE wOrLd. HaVe YoU cOmE tO sUbMiT?” It says. You can see the glow coming from the other corrupted through the buildings, thanks to the Visio rune. They’re moving past you where they think you can’t see them, trying to surround you.

“Oh, heavens no. I came to inform you that whatever you’re doing, it’s going to fail. I know you’re looking for the skeleton key-bearers, and I already have one under my protection.” You say, selling the lie with your facial expression and body language. You always did have a solid poker face. “I’ve put them somewhere safe, where you’ll never find them.”

“So YoU hAvE tAkEn ThEm To ThE cRoSsRoAdS. iT mAtTeRs NoT. oUr SeRvAnT hAs AlReAdY iNfIlTrAtEd ThE mIlEsToNe, ThE pAtHeTiC wAyKnIgHtS wIlL fAlL. aNd AlL sHaLl Be As OnE.” It says, raising an arm bristling with little crystals. “BuT yOu WiLl NoT lIvE tO sEe It.”

It fires a volley of purple crystal shards, and you can hear the others around you doing the same.

>roll 1d20

Rolled 16

>>31629971

Rolled 19

>>31629971

Rolled 6

>>31629971

>writing

You swing your arm inward to snap your sword up, and then hold your shield out. With the barrier in front of you, you charge through the oncoming spikes. A few of them hit home in your unprotected back, but they feel more like beestings than anything.

The enemy you chose as your target attempts to back off all too late, and your sword has bisected him before he can even take a step. With a quick spin to keep your momentum, you make sure that the one next to it suffers the same fate. Finished with the two in this area, you turn back to pick out your next target, only to find that they’re all disappearing.

“We ShAlL bE sEeInG yOu SoOn.” Says ugly, it’s form already half disappeared.

“The disappearing act again, huh?” You say once they’re gone.

<Can we still not follow them?
>No, their method of travel is similar to ours. You can track someone with a skeleton key, or someone who moves along the threads, they seem to move freely in the Void.

You’ll have to find some way to track them. Later.

You have more pressing issues at hand.

>[ ] Look for the trail.

>[ ] Call Jax/Achillea first

>[ ] Call Oz/Rose first

>>31630849
call jax first inform of what we learned then get back to looking

Rolled 9

>>31630931
This

I know he told us not to, but this shit is important.

>>31630849
>Look for the trail
Calling Jax, or Achillea, might put them at risk if the Crossroads are against us.

>>31630972
no I think he told us to not come there or to trust any wayknights

>>31630978
We can just leave a message. She never said not to call, though it was implied.

There being a corrupted agent in the wayknights is kind of a big deal

>writing

>>31630849
it just hit me.... zeshua went back home captured someone infected them since he knows where crossroads is....or parins recovery was not as successful as advertised

I think we all know which is the preferred method but both are bad

You pull out your calling-crystal and have Vicky ‘dial’ Achillea or Jax, whoever it is that actually has your crystal. “Hey, I got a lead on an infiltration into the Milestone by the Corruption. As well as a lovely big wrench I can toss into its plans. Contact me if you want details.” You say into the crystal. Figuring that should suffice, you put it away and start looking for the trail.

It was faint enough among the chaotic energies of this Corrupted world, and in the fight you seem to have lost it. Tracing your own steps back, you manage to find its starting point again. It seems as though the glowing rift marking the ‘bearers entrance into this world is only visible from one side, which raises scientific/magical questions that you lack the expertise to answer.

It’s a lot harder to follow the trail here than it was on Fir-Vost. The energies there were calm, and flowed beneath the surface. Here the Aether and Void clash, and you can see it spark and shimmer. Every now and then you come across areas where the energies have whirled violently enough to wipe away the path entirely, forcing you to look for the point where it begins again.

It takes 2 hours 13 minutes and 57 seconds (by Vicky’s reckoning) to find the exit point, but find it you do.

Right in front of some weird magical gate-looking thing…

>[ ] Examine the gate

>[ ] Move along

>>31631527
>Examine

Could be important

>>31631527
Examine

>writing

You prompt Vicky to scan the gate while you look it over, the trail isn’t going anywhere. Hopefully…

The portal sits on a raised circular platform with stairs leading up to it in all directions. The gate itself is a stone ring sitting upright, and through it you can see the endless Void. Chiseled into the ring is a series of familiar symbols.

Not symbols, runes. You recognize them from Oz’s book. The ring isn’t ornate like many of the runic devices on Aklabra, in fact it looks like it was built entirely for function.

And through the gate, you can see the Void pouring in.

>Scan complete!
>The device is a Runic Gate which has been opened to a null coordinate and left open. It appears to predate the Corruption of this planet.
<Do you think this is what caused it?
>I cannot say for sure. But if it did not cause the Corruption here, it most certainly aided the process.
<How long ago was this built?
>Approximately 56-98 hours ago.

That long? Even the long estimate is only a little over 4 days ago…
This is bad news indeed, but there’s nothing you can do for this place now. You can only hope that cutting the Corruption at its source will put an end to this. With that in mind…

>[ ] Get going.

>[ ] Destroy the gate, then get going.

>>31632113
>Blow this mutha'
Shit, if this got kicked off by the aklabrans... that would imply TERRIBLE things.
>UNIVERSE WIDE PORTAL NETWORK

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>>31632211

>>31632113
destroy and get going going

>>31632113
Logan smash

>>31632113
>Go out with a bang.

>writing

Why is it that every new piece of info you get can never be the solution? Always more goddamn question.

At least you’ve got this nefarious device to blow some steam on.

The first good swing takes a nice chunk out of it, causing the portal to de-stabilize. The next one goes clean through one side of the ring, collapsing the portal. This has the unintentional effect of causing the ring to explode, sending chunks of chiseled stone outward. None of them come at you, but you still use your shield to block the explosion.

At least you know these things can be destroyed. Although they’re probably guarded until the world is sufficiently corrupted, like this one.

With that finished, you go back to the trail’s end. The explosion seems to have jarred it a bit, but it’ll still serve its purpose. Following the same procedure from Fir-Vost, you re-open it and move slowly along the trail.

The going is faster now, as you’re starting to get used to the workings of the Visio rune. It also doesn’t turn or falter, which helps.

It takes about 15 minutes for you to come out on the other side. And the first thing you notice is-

“Damn it it’s cold out here!” You exclaim. You exit the rift into an expanse of ice as far as the eye can see. In the distance there appears to be a settlement of sorts, you can’t imagine how anyone lives out here. But people on earth hacked it in temperatures like these.

>[ ] Follow the path out, quickly.

>[ ] Check out the village.

>>31632872

>>31632872
>>[ ] Follow the path out, quickly.
enough distractions

>>31632872
I'm not seein' a line in front of us yet. Maybe that person went to the village?

>whoops, missed that bit.

>trail leads out into the expanse, you can see the end point from where you are.

>>31632872
>Follow
We gotta job to do. Hope we don't freeze our ass off before we get there. Actually, can Vicky make heat shields, or something, in situations like this?

>writan

Nope, screw the village. It’s not in any immediate danger and DAMN is it ever cold out here!

You immediately start moving down the trail. The ground is somewhat slippery, but you manage to keep from slipping too much.

<Is there any sort of spooky magic I could use to keep warm?
>I could work on that. But you would be well away from here by the time I finish it.
<Do it anyways, I’d rather have a solution for this in the future in case I actually need to spend some time in a place like this.
>Acknowledged. I will begin formulating a new spell.

The walk to the other rift takes far too long. And by the end on it you’re starting to lose feeling in your hand, which makes using your KV a little awkward. But you get the job done.

The neutral sort of temperatures of the Void seem relatively comforting to the cold you just experienced. And you can even feel the blood slowly returning to your fingers, a fairly painful process.

You continue down the trail until it exits the Void, into yet another Corrupted world.

“The hell?” You say out loud.

You are on a rocky mountainside, tinged purple by Corruption. The trail only leads off a little ways, before circling what appears to be another one of those gates and heading off into another rift.

Like before, the gate is circular and opens up into the Void. But it’s less clean this time. The first one you found looked to be made of polished marble of some sort. This one is rougher, and it’s made of the same stone that you’re standing on. And judging by the small indentation below it, it was probably made right here…

You’re starting to think that maybe whoever you’re following had a hand in this…

.>What do?

>>31633815
Start rushing this. If we want answers we first have to catch up to whoever it os we're following.

Also break any gates we find.

>>31634005
This

>>31634005
seems like a good course of action.

>>31634005
I like we need to use those metal leggs of ours that conveniently do not get tired

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>writing

So you’re either not the only one following this ‘keybearer’, or the ‘keybearer’ isn’t the innocent in need of protection that you thought they were.

Either way, it’s about time you kicked this into gear.

You start by wrecking the gate. There’s probably nothing you can do for this world, but it can’t hurt.

Then you move to the next world. This one is corrupted too. Like the last one, the path is short. It leads around another gate and immediately goes off the world.

Wasting no time, you smash the gate and move on.

The next world is uncorrupted, the path goes on for a while and then exits.

You follow the path for several hours, and each world is the same story. It’s either uncorrupted and the path simply leaves, or it’s corrupted and the path circles the gate and then leaves.

You can tell that you’re catching up, though. Each corrupted world you find is a little less corrupted. To the point where the one you just left is hardly corrupted at all. Hell, the portal on that world hardly had a chance to stabilize before you tore it down.

You exit the Void into an uncorrupted world, before you stands a group of armed men. Patterned scars mark their body, and similar patterns mark their weapons. These patterns glow with energy through the Visio rune.

The 4 of them are standing in a circle around a slowly growing, semicircular rock formation.

One of them is holding something. To your right eye it appears to be a bloody femur.

To your left it shines with a blinding light.

>[ ] Who the hell are you guys?

>[ ] Commence operation ‘kill these guys’

>>31634505
Kill all but one. We need one alive so we can beat some answers out of him

>>31634505
>Who are you guys?
I swear to god, if they say Batman, shit is gonna go down.

>>31634505
>[X] Who the hell are you guys?
Let's ask questions first, we can beat em' up if they aren't willing to answer.

>writing

“Just who the hell are you guys?” You ask them.

They all turn to face you, the one holding the skeleton key speaks. “Finish the gate, I’ll deal with this.” He says, stepping between you and the others and pulling out his long sword.

The symbols on his body and his sword glow more brightly, to the point where the glow is visible to both of your eyes. He looks straight at you, his face stoic. “I am Melachander, Runeseeker of the Servants of Life. Your life ends here, Void Knight.” He says. Then he dashes towards you, brandishing his sword.

If you had a nickel for every time someone told you that…

>roll 1d20

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Rolled 2

>>31635224
groin stab.....but keep one alive for interrogation

Rolled 20

>>31635224
I BELIEVE IN A LITTLE THING CALLED LOVE!

Rolled 18

>>31635224

>writing

>>31635363
>great, now that's stuck in my head...

His first sword thrust is aimed straight for your left eye. You wonder for a second if he recognizes the glow…

That thought is trumped by your ‘plan of attack’, as you twist away from the thrust and counter with a wide sweep. ‘Melechander’ leans backward under your strike and nimbly flips away, bouncing right back with his own sweep aimed at your midsection.

You slow the sword down by letting it scrape off of yours, then you grab it in your left hand and twist. His grip remains tight, so you shove it out of your way and headbutt him in the face. He abandons the sword to stumble back and away, but as you move in to follow up the sword reappears in his hand.

And then it, and his entire body, begins to glow. As you see this, you’re already leaning well forward into your strike. Even through the glow, he still looks disoriented from your strike to his head.

>[ ] Pull away and defend.

>[ ] Press your advantage.

Rolled 15

>>31635680
Pulling away now may hurt more than it would help

>press the advantage.

Charge the kv and cleave right through I suppose.

>>31635680
forward motion press it

Rolled 6

>>31635680
>Smack him up

>roll 1d20

Rolled 1

>>31636050

Rolled 12

>>31636050
Rollin' for realsies

Rolled 18

\
>>31636050
nononononoonono

>writing

Too late to back down now, glowing guy or not!

You squeeze the trigger and listen to the sweet sound of your blade humming to life. Whatever Melechander was getting ready to do turns into a desperate parry. You hear the squeal of steel grinding on steel, and vaguely notice as a bit of his glowing purple blade gets shaved off and falls away.

Melechander grunts as your blade grazes his chest. He backs off, his energy flaring and focusing into his hands.

You charge your blade with Aether, loading the ‘Reflection Field’ spell into it as well. As a feint, you rush forwards with your blade poised for an underhanded swing.

As Melechander drops his sword and releases the energy from his hands in the form of a short, powerful blast, you bring your shield up in front of you and fire off the reflection field. You stop your charge to brace for impact, as the blast hits your shield like a freight train. And then it goes right back the way it came. Wasting no time, you dip low and run after it.

Your foe is caught off guard, but manages to deflect his blast away with some effort. He didn’t see you coming up behind it, however. And while his sword is on the ground and his defenses are focused on deflecting his own magic, you plunge your sword straight into his chest.

He attempts to say something, but blood pours from his mouth in place of words. When you rip your blade out of his chest, he collapses. You can see the energy drain from his body.

To your left, the other enemies are about ¾ of the way to completing the gate. Only one of them seems to notice the way the fight ended.

>What do?

>>31636561
Murdertastic!

Quickly grab the bone. It's what we came for after all.

Then kill two of them and "apprehend" the last one for questioning.

Rolled 7

>>31636561
advance while firing

>writing

With Melechander taken care of, you’re left with the other three. All at once you snap your blade back with your right hand, pick up the skeleton key with your left, and prompt Vicky to lock targets on the two that haven’t noticed that the fight is over yet.

They must have been pretty confident in this guy’s abilities, or these guys still think you’re some push over.

Either way, two shots later it’s just you and the last guy. You can either question him here and then kill him, or knock him out and take him to Braghendire along with the key.

At the moment he looks quite shocked. You can use that to your advantage.

>[ ] Let the interrogation begin!

>[ ] Take him to Braghendire.

>[ ] Other.

>>31637131
Get as much as we can from this guy, then off him.

I'd rather not take this guy anywhere.

Rolled 15

>>31637131
work with what we got and we got shock and awe

Rolled 7

>>31637291
interrogation....forgot to link that I was agreeing with>>31637257

Rolled 13

>>31637131
INTERROGATE
We can save these fights, and info, for show and tell later. Ask Oz if he knows anythin'.

>writing

“So… Runeseekers, huh?” You say, slowly rounding the unfinished gate towards the last standing enemy. “What are you guys, Aklabran?”

The man laughs. “You know little and less Void Knight.” He seems to come to, and his body slowly begins to charge with energy. He either doesn’t think you’ll notice, or doesn’t care if you do. “We left that rock long ago when we had expended it. We spread out among the universe in search of greater power, higher knowledge. Do not compare us to the ones who stayed, those INSECTS. They rule over scraps and act like they have a kingdom. A true Aklabran is much more.”

“Cut the superiority crap. You’re far from invincible.” You say.

“We need not be invincible. The Father of All has seen fit to accept us into His paradise. Though the rest of you may strut about like kings, you are merely pawns.” He says. The energy continues to build.

You smirk. “And what does the ‘Father of All’ need with these little scraps of bone?” You say, flipping the glowing femur with your left hand.

The ‘Runeseeker’ smiles now, there’s something about it you don’t like…

“A primitive being like yourself would not understand the truth. Only we who are the Apex of the mortal form can comprehend it.” The glow begins to penetrate his skin. “One cannot achieve perfection…” He runs towards you, his limbs a blur. “Without SACRIFICE!”

The Runeseeker explodes in a brilliant flash. You just barely get your shield up in time, but even still the shockwave knocks the wind out of you and sends you flying off your feet.

Your flight ends when your back hits something hard, and your vision darkens…

>End of Chapter 22

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>That's it for tonight (and last night, technically)

>Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Next thread will be up on the twitter 1 hour before it starts.

>As always, CWK and I will be sticking around to answer questions.

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>>31637893

Cheers for the thread, OP!

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>>31637893
You guys all did great, tonight. Looking forward to our next fantastic voyage! Incidentally, to those who ask, my other not-face was unavailable. With that, I shall rest these non-existent eyes. Have a good night, everybody.