[Nexus] Outside XXIX

[orb_of_blood]

[Outside Dragon Cave]

Skel'iim takes the offered hand and swung himself up behind Saer. What happened, My Lord? He eventually asks. When the mare starts moving, he grabs at Saer rather tightly.

Nixa? How do you ride a horse? Skel'iim can't find a memory of that - mosty because she doesn't have one - so paws through them until they're pretty much all out of order.

[kitcatk8]

[Outside Dragon Cave]

When Nixa's arms wrapped so tightly around him, Saer actually tensed, not sure if he should be enjoying having her so near or if it was odd since she wasn't entirely herself. Either way, he sensed the anxiety coming from that hold, and he reached his hand down to press it to one of her arms for comfort.

When the question was posed to him, he took in a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh, then shook his head. "He was no help."

And it sounded convincing, even to the demon's ears.

((Continued at Saer's Manor))

[Reinholdt]

Spoiler

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Field of Battle

Ooooh, that's not good. Well, at least the bleeding and the fact that Gordon is big is going to keep this latest chemical mix from taking him out at this moment. Good thing at this point he was ready for his last attack.

Gordon knows that while he is strong, he has limits, and these poisons are taking him to his limits. So, at this point he decided to take a gamble. After all, that is how he thinks. Gordon waits, holding back in fights, looking for the right time to strike or when he's ready. He hoards his abilities and weapons, saving them for when he needs. It has its weakness this mindset, but it does tend to work when he needs it.

In this case, he had some plans going into his fight. Some worked, other failed. In this case, its a half formed plan, made up on the fly. But its only hope he has at this point.

Gordon struggles but manages to turns his head on his neck to face his foe, charged up with the magic of the gemstone.

"Ilpholin Xar'Cha
(Spoiler for size)

Spoiler

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BEGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

This shout, is not just a shout. It is a spell to send demons away from the caster, and it is not only strengthen by the magic of the gemstone, but Gordon has put a part of his soul into this shout. If this works, it should send Ilpholin back, far back, back to the forcefield itself, for as long as Gordon can keep this shout going. He can't keep it up long, as using some of his soul is going to weaken him and once its over he'll be out cold and drying, but who knows? There is perhaps enough force to send Ilpholin right through the forcefield in this.

(Well, this is it. Gordon's last act of the fight. Hope it is epic enough for everyone.)

Debate outside

Rogar covers his ears, this shout is a bit too loud for his comfort.

[The Glory Fields]

It certainly was an incredible post. I wish I could follow it up with an equally incredible one, but it's not really as doable for responding to an attack as making one. All dragons should be tough like this. Not like those silly Skyrim things. *peeeeers at Skyrim*

Ilpholin has a few things going for her. High on the list is the drow's inherent resilience against magic. It does explain why getting lightning zapped in the face didn't leave her twitching on the ground. Some slightly stable footing rather than getting caught in mid-air helps too, if barely. Having managed to heal up definitely makes a difference.

However, she knows she can't try to web pull her way out as that'd snap her in half just be the attempt, so that's right out. She's not particularly heavy or resilient against straight up force like this either. Finding a way to use your strength against Ilpholin is a major advantage. It's why she doesn't like getting hit. But she can't dodge this one.

Finally, talking to Magtok, upon impact on the forcefield, the forcefield bends to try to accommodate the stress before slowly trying to reassert itself. This is to prevent things like bullets and explosions from hitting the audience. Indeed, if it were purely a stiff, non-pliable forcefield, it probably wouldn't have held up to this point anyways. But the bending is a major factor in Ilpholin's favor, and as cool as I would find an Ilph hole in the thing would be, it does not appear to be the case in this situation.

All the same, there is still a decent chance that she dies immediately upon impact with the field. That chance was rolled and witnessed, both not by me and may be confirmed upon request.

Ilpholin hits the field which bends under the pressure, crackling with energy for a bit until the shout finishes. The shield slowly reasserts itself, dropping Ilph to the ground. She lands on her knees and arms, all limbs supporting her as she faces the ground, her breathing ragged.

But breathing she is.

[ThePhantom]

Field of Battle

And so, Gordon falls. Eyes close, and the breath halts. But deep within, the spark of life remains. So the victory goes to the demon drow, as he can fight no more.

Outside the Forcefield

Rogar punches the forcefield, tears in his eyes. This is not good, this is not good at all.

[Ashen Lilies]

Spoiler

Show

Yeeaa, I don't so think so.
Black tentacles pop out the ground behind the Hunter-Killers.
You think Magtok is a competent leader, he fails at that. Being competent isn't the same as a leader. He tried and was leader for a while, and he quit.

Dark Lord walks closers to Kal with the ground behind it going weird.

You forget, that AMEN was always full of rivals. Besided he saved AMEN not you.

[Fields of Utter Silliness]

Cyrus can't help but grin at Kal's utterly ridiculous notions of how politics work.


"And that's what you think? You think that putting Ilpholin in charge will change AMEN away from being a cesspool of intrigue and rivalry? I can tell you that it will change nothing. Perhaps the percentage of members curtaining would rise without Gordon and Prometheus dragging said statistic down, but that's all that would happen. AMEN would not be any more an organization than it is now with Ilpholin in charge. It would be a cesspool of petty intrigue, rivalries, and slightly more meaningless curtains. It would be a wonder if she were to last a month without being herself deposed.

But is that your real purpose? Perhaps it is true that you merely want power for yourself? I can't think of any other reason you would object to Prometheus bringing in medics for after the battle unless you desire the whole lot of them to die so you can fill the vacuum. It certainly doesn't hurt my hypothesis that you just summoned a number of servants, presumably to silence those who would oppose your rise. All the evidence points to one of two conclusions as to your motives, sir, and neither are beneficial to AMEN as a whole."

[Fields of Utter Awesomeness]

Becky gapes at The Return of the Ilpholin, and then applauds whole-heartedly.
...and starts to celebrate...

In the process, Greg gets poked in the side, Cyrus gets a combat boot applied (in an amused fashion) to his backside, Javert gets a glare, and Kal takes an arrow to the knee.

The arrow, of course, she isn't responsible for. It just happens.

[Fields of Truth and Fire]

"And on another note. Why should she as a WATCHTOWER member lead us?"

Dun DUN DUN! Remember the wedding? Yeah Zefir was there in disguise and he saw her since it was really obviouse she was there. Zefir also knew that only WATCh member and family member where invited. I knew his Firework shop could be usefull Yeah.

And then he got a Moff behind him. Zefir doesn't notice him befor he graps his underwear his body acts more or less intuitive and he swings around the rocket launcher (trying)* to hit the Moff. His face changed under the pain of a half wedgie, what still hurts even if it isn't done totally?

* speech problem, not sure if this word is needed here or not for a not Godmod szene

Field of Battle

Aaaaand Prometheus just kind of lies on the ground, smoking slightly as his nerves, muscle tissue and the rest of what little surviving body matter he has slowly dies.

Outside the Battlefield

"Nonsense. Bull****, even. Magtok and Ilpholin taking over AMEN will not in any way make it any more 'unified'. Everyone here has their own motives, their own desires that more often than not are unaligned or even contrary to the current leadership, and that will not change any time soon." The battlemage shakes his head at Kal's empty little speech, tone quite condescending as he presents his counter-argument to the devil. "You yourself admitted to having ulterior motives, and We posit that the real reason you are so set upon ensuring that Ilpholin takes over is not out of any true desire to help 'AMEN' in any way, shape or form, but simply because your ulterior motives align with hers.

Now let us consider the fact that you are not, to the best of our knowledge, even an AMENite, coupled with this newfound information that she is apparently a member of WATCHTOWER. You are both clearly in cahoots with Magtok, who shows himself at AMEN rarely enough, previously sabotaged our attempts at conquering Inside by shooting Gordon at a crucial moment and represents his own faction upon the Remnant Council. Thus, every one of you is highly suspect upon your own, more so when put together."

[Fields of Really Long Posts Ahoy]

"Shows how much you know." Says Kal smugly to the battlemage. Kal is a member, after all. While the Battlemage is just a minion. Of a non-member spy, in fact, though Kal doesn't know that. Still, minion of a member is lesser than actual member, in his opinion.
"And forgive me if you misunderstood the meaning of my words. If we had a competent leader, would we be all sunshine and rainbows and fluffy shiny happiness? Of course not. That's frickin' absurd. But would we, maybe, be willing to actively co-operate with each other to pursue a common goal and not spend all our time on silly cathartic little time wasters like this to vent our hatreds... probably not, but we would anyway, because it doesn't matter what we want, just what the leader wants, and any good leader would have enough support that we'd be willing to follow them and ... and you know what, **** this. I could spend hours writing and editing a speech on the qualities of a good leader, but I don't have time for that kind of thing and it's pretty clear that you're just going to ignore the whole thing and cherry pick random quotes like a bunch of pompous asshats so if you'll excuse me, I'll just stick to my usual style."
He points at Dark Lord
"Yes. Saved. Past tense. What about now? Organizing go-kart races, turning into even more of a colossal fatass than he already is, and making awkward passes at Inside like a horny teenager until the Empire/Mortal Coil/Remnant gets annoyed and bitchslaps him all hardly seem like stellar leadership decisions to me."
He points at Zefir.
"Because our goals don't necessarily need to contradict with WATCHTOWER's, at least, not always, and being generally friendly with them and keeping them updated on our less world-destructiony actions prevents them from drowning us under a monsoon of humpback whales."
He points at Cyrus.
"The fact that all you've noticed about Ilpholin so far is the sex, and not that she's used it to create no less than two rabidly loyal PC minions within our current vicinity and probably more elsewhere probably indicates that you are either stupid, or a shallow, immature prude who refuses to acknowledge sexuality as a legitimate means of self-expression, manipulation or subterfuge, which is almost as bad, especially in a world where organizations such as HALO exist. Also the accusation that I'm trying to seek power in your petty mortal organization is frankly laughable, because. In fact, the fact that you and that pubic dribble over there," he jerks a thumb at the Battlemage, "automatically assumed my appearance here was a personal power play probably says more about you than it does me, seeing as I have absolutely no desire for personal station with AMEN, certainly not the one filled by someone like Prometheus. In fact, it's probably safe to say I don't care about AMEN at all. Not personally, anyway. Why would I? For the its members charming personalities? Yep. Nothing sure beats arrogant, narcissistic asshattery in terms of sheer attractiveness. The only reason I'm here is because, SURPRISE, I like Evil. Comes with the territory as a Devil. We want the bad guys to win. Not stagnate and devolve as it has under the current butthead in charge, or take on something bigger than itself and get summarily crushed as it undoubtedly would under a smarmy, self-serving tosser like Prometheus. And finally..."
He points dramatically at Becky.
Why the **** do I have a a suction cup arrow attached to my knee!?"

((*pant pant* Okay, I think that's everything. ))

[D_Lord]

Field of Battle

Dark Lord just seems to smile, smile with over an thousand mouths.

Oh, oh little devil.
Shaking its head back and forth.
I'm the one who can say things and do another, and I see no problem with that. I'm also older than you. I see things that others can't.

Dark Lord leans closer to Kal.
I own Gordon, and I want all of AMEN, I don't yet own you, or Ilpholin or Magtok but I'm working on it.
Now it's not so much a smile then lots of teeth being shown.
I'll think I will start with you.

The tentacles and mouths rush towards Kal and his demon allies. While the main body of Dark Lord tries to bite Kal's face off.

(Oh yes what a smart idea to think the crazy elder evil will let you yell at it like that, and it was due a manic section of it's manic-depression OCD, DIT, and homicidal tendencies.)

[Reinholdt]

Huh. Didn't know Rogar cared so much about Gordon.
*offers handkerchief*
AMEN doesn't deal in good.


[The Glory Fields]

Ilpholin takes a little while to recuperate, slowly standing from her position and observing the battlefield, looking for further signs of resistance. But it would appear her foes have fallen in the end. The fight was over.

She points at a Magbot outside the forcefield.
"You. Megaphone. Now."

She waits for one to be brought to her, continuing to catch her breath in the meantime.

[happyturtle]

Glory Fields

Kal has demon allies? Decker will be so so very disappointed in him.

Kal probably has some more flashy hellfirey way of dealing with Dark Lord, but Moff doesn't want to take that chance. So he simply steps in front of Kal and rips open a massive portal to the Yellow Road, just as Dark is charging tentacle mouth first. Of course charging directly into the Yellow Road won't do too much damage to an eldritch being, but it will at least get him out of the way for a few minutes. Or force him to stop. Either result is fine by Moff.

Hawt devil getting hurt is NOT fine.

[Gullara]

[Outside the Forcefield]

"Ilpholin!" Valente shouts. He rushes toward the edge of the dome, practically a blur in his haste.

He's relieved to see her stand, the tense minutes before she did were torture. Now he will just watch her, awed by this amazing woman.

[Lord Magtok]

Fields of Victory

The Magbot with the MagMegaphone glances nervously over towards Magtok in the stands, who nods to the bot, giving it all the assurance it needs before it hurries on over towards Ilpholin. The forcefield twists slightly, just enough to allow the Magbot to enter, and then closes shut behind the automaton. Victory may have been achieved, but until Ilpholin gives the word, exposing her wounded, vulnerable form to the slimy masses could prove to be terribly dangerous.

"Here, ma'am."

The Magbot then immediately steps back and walks away, taking care to make it that much easier for the Magbots recording the fight to get a good shot of Ilpholin, without that unimportant little peon getting in the way.

[Reinholdt]

[The Glory Fields]

When she takes the megaphone, she doesn't look wounded. At least, not on the outside. Her insides are probably still fixing some internal injuries. Though, caked in blood that she is, I suppose it'd be hard to tell. And her hair will never be the same.

All the same, her dangerous beauty is there if one is not too terrified to gaze upon it. Or perhaps too terrified to avert one's eyes. It is a sign of weakness.

Ilpholin raises the megaphone to her lips and speaks.
"From this point forward, I am the leader of AMEN. Magtok is my second-in-command. And I'm going to tell you why that is."

Ilpholin starts pacing as she speaks to her audience. "There are those who believe the biggest and the baddest make the best. Those who would try to make the biggest guns or the largest dragon or giant robots. Yet they were all defeated. And by what? By something very simple. They were defeated by Spirit." Ilpholin says, placing a particular emphasis on that word.

"They were defeated by the Spirit I have. The Spirit you have. The Spirit AMEN has. The Spirit that has spoken and said it's time for a change. The Spirit that says that even the smallest of you..." Ilpholin points out to the crowd in a sweeping motion, "Can beat the largest of giants." She sweeps back at the wreckage and bodies behind her.

"And that is what makes AMEN special. Out of all the organizations who envy us. Out of all the places and cities who despise us. They don't hate us cause we punched them in the eye and took their candy. No. No they hate us because they know they can never break us. They know that no one, no one can ever hope to compare to AMEN's Spirit."

"BECAUSE. WE! ARE! AWESOME!"
Ilpholin puts her fist high in the sky, making the regime change as official as any such thing can possibly be in situations like this.

[VampireRot]

[The Glory Fields - Stands]

Cheering! Yay! The henchies finally decide to do something, which is to applaud Ilpholin. Unlike Rogar, most of them aren't particularly attached to Gordon. He was a fine leader, but the nameless minions don't have very strong or lasting opinions. Some of them are unsure, but the majority are happy with their new leader.

One henchwoman who is not happy is Pink, who has brought a hand up to cover her face. She dislikes Ilpholin too much to be moved by the speech, so it just came off as incredibly cheesy to her.

[happyturtle]

Glory Fields

The Moffs also break into cheers. Horray for AMEN Spirit!

Except for Moff 4, who fears Ilpholin and is also busy with Kal and Dark Lord tentacle stuff.

And the Moff who is trying to keep an eye on Rogar, while looking at Ilpholin's blood stained form worriedly.

[Hattish Thing]

Fields of AMENness

Javert snarks at Ilpholin, who he had never met, he rattles out in his wispy voice. ...Greetings! I am Javert...I don't believe I have met you. I have a question. What exactly do you mean by, Magtok second in command"? Isn't he dead? Javert's entire plan revolves around the rival drow's response.

[Lord Magtok]

Glory Fields

Magtok takes off his silly Groucho Marx glasses and mustache, stands up, and waves to Javert from across the stands.

"The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated!"

Oh gods, he's always wanted an excuse to actually say that.

[Hattish Thing]

Fields of Glory

Javert smiles with his incorporeal grin.Ah. How very nice to see you. I congratulate you...for your ability...to survive."] Javert thinks Perfect...he lives.

[The Bushranger]

[The Glory Fields]

Becky, needless to say, grins from ear to ear. And applaudes loudly at Ilpholin's speech.
And her victory!
And her self, of course.

[D_Lord]

Glory Fields

Que Dark Lord poping out of the twisted ground that it left behind it. Some tentacles head back to Kal righting to bite and rip peaces of his flesh. The main body instead grabs Magtok's crushed and broken corpse and jumps back into the warped ground.

[Reinholdt]

Glory Fields

Silly Javert. They're only rival drow if their goals don't match up.

"I believe that answers your question. I apologize if I must be brief, but I do have much to do." Ilpholin says. This has all taken far too long. "We'll talk later."

Ilpholin motions for Becky and Valente to get themselves down here.

[Hattish Thing]

Glory Fields

Silly Javert. They're only rival drow if their goals don't match up.

"I believe that answers your question. I apologize if I must be brief, but I do have much to do." Ilpholin says. This has all taken far too long. "We'll talk later."

Ilpholin motions for Becky and Valente to get themselves down here.

I can assure you he has a different goal.

[UncleWolf]

Glory Fields

Que Dark Lord poping out of the twisted ground that it left behind it. Some tentacles head back to Kal righting to bite and rip peaces of his flesh. The main body instead grabs Magtok's crushed and broken corpse and jumps back into the warped ground.

(D_Lord, please be careful of godmodding. The forcefield is still up and Magtok's corpse is played by Magtok. It's still an attempt to both a) get through the field, and b) take the corpse. )

[Gullara]

[Glory Fields]

Valente is quick and ever eager to be at her side. He stands next to her dutifully and waits for her lead.

[The Bushranger]

[Glory Road]

Becky, needless to say, is all too happy to sashay her way up to join Ilpholin!

[Zefir]

[The Glory Fields]

Zefir looks down at the beat Moff hoping that this is cleared for now. Then he looks back at the Force bubble seeing it still active is fine and now he sees that Gordon is beat. He hoped he could do something, but actually he knew by picking Prometheus the fight was lost. Most likely because he doesn’t think Prom is in any kind a team fighter. At first he answers Kal.

"Pah. You’re not so well knowing things as you tell us here. What Apocalypse did happen here in the last months? Non that needed WATCHTOWER. They only got busy with weddings. I still think her actions are just to control AMEN."

He looks down at the battlefield while still talking to Kal.
"I can't contradict that she won the title of AMEN leader now. Gordon was to dump to see the fails he made from the moment she asked for the fight."

He turns his attention back to Kal pointing down at the battlefield.
"Hear what she is talking about. She isn't talking about AMEN she is talking about herself. Even if I'm not the oldest member of AMEN I can't remember her doing anything for AMEN. In all cases I would rather ask you to lead AMEN then her."

He looks down again on the battlefield. Just now he noticed something of importance for him. Something that wakes the true nature of the Holder of Chaos. Deep down in his mind grow a plan. It's a short term plan, without many future thoughts. He just needs to wait for now. Most likely until the shield falls down and the path is free.

"Now I think I can pay back." he whispers to himself. Is it obvious who he looks at? No cause he still looks at the battlefield with a Joker like smile in his face.

[Lady Serpentine]

The necromancy spell Talnassa’s attempting to cast may be disrupted by the slash of a scimitar across her front as the two shielded slaves reach her at last. The wizard hangs back a little behind the fighter. It- it’s not alive! It’s a machine! That means they can dismantle it without guilt! The realisation of this brings a relieved smile to her face as she raises her hands, scrolling mentally through her list of spells.

Her spell is indeed interrupted, sending a blast of necromantic energy across the battlefield, as Talnissa's concentration is rather suddenly disrupted, giving her no chance to close the channels she opened. The effects of this will vary from person to person, though they're generally unpleasant - sudden necrosis in wounds, hallucinations of dead friends and family, and other things of a similar nature, possibly including raising the corpses anyway, though in that case, they would simply be free undead, fully in control of themselves, with the same personality as before, and there's also a fair chance that it will simply rot them away.

If the slave was reasonably strong, especially if they actually aimed for one of the near-molten areas, they'll almost certainly get sprayed by a large cloud of very hot steam, as the attack weakened that area enough that the pressure behind it was able to force its way through. Of course, the area is sealed off fairly fast, and the steam swiftly begins flowing back into the robot, but her range of motion will be impeded until she can either repair that section or replace her torso.

Also, depending on just what spells the wizard has on her, along with whether or not she has any innate ability to sense magic, she may be able to tell that there's a ghost inhabiting the robot, specifically the steam flowing through it.

[Lord Magtok]

[Glory Fields]

Valente is quick and ever eager to be at her side. He stands next to her dutifully and waits for her lead.

[Glory Road]

Becky, needless to say, is all too happy to sashay her way up to join Ilpholin!

The forcefield flops upwards to create a sort of arch when Valente and Becky approach, to provide a way in for them and them alone. If anyone wants to try to shove their way past Valente and Becky to get in, they can try, but unless they do such a thing or something similar to that, they won't be able to get in.

[DoomITP]

"Grr!"

Valaira growls in warning as she edges around the hostile shade. She hates it, and she's letting the whole world know that she hates it! After that's concluded, she trots inches to the left of Zero's heels if she can manage to do so, never once taking her eyes off of the shade until it is removed from her sight.

The throne room is exactly what one would expect out of a throne room. The walls are laden with fine tapestries, which are firmly nailed to the walls. Arrangements of tables sit off to the sides of the great, stone hall. Double doors stand at the far end of the corridor. Suits of armor spruce the place up, imparting elegance to the crude labors of the masons. An old, cracked wooden throne lies upon a pedestal elevated three feet higher than the floor of the chamber.

In this throne there sleeps an unconscious Valaira. Her stomach and the areas surrounding it are enlarged for some odd reason.

That is worrisome! Very, very, very worrisome, I do believe!

Zero will run up to Valaira and do his best to figure out why her stomach is enlarged. Though Zero was never instructed in anything beyond basic first aid. After a moment he will begin to do what he is better at, searching for any magical influences that might be at work.

[The Alexandrian]

[Library of Alexandria]

Doom! You're alive! You were missed.

In truth, the reason why Valaira's stomach is so large is because she ate something recently. Something bad. Something that was a part of a black magic rite. Something she didn't want to partake of at all.

A human sacrifice. Yech! Stupid cultists. They are probably trying to use that to control her.

And upon inspecting Valaira magically, he will discover that they are attempting to harness her as an instrument and agent of mass destruction! She is sitting amid a magical circle made of runes which are invisible to the naked eye.

Sitting on a throne. Hmm...

There must be a crown or something nearby. A coronation is at hand? Is that ceremony the reason why Valaira was imprisoned in this forsaken realm two times over?

[D_Lord]

[Glory Fields]

After some weird thing with time happening so Dark Lord is still attacking Kal in part. The main body on the other hand goes fuzzy, not tv fuzzy, just out of phrase with things and slides through the force field. Then it trys grabs Magtok's corpse.

(Escape Artist dc 120, is an example of people doing this trick in 3.5 but this isn't d&d but the trick is still possible.)

[Ashen Lilies]

((It's also still godmodding. Seriously, throw a couple of "attempts to"s in there or something.))

[Glory Fields]

Kal's demon allies are messily eviscerated! Their imaginary entrails go flying everywhere and coat everyone in imaginary gore! How imaginarily disgusting!

His clockwork automaton allies, however, go down less easily, growing wings out of thin metal slivers that tear through the back of their robes, and flying up, out of range of the tentacles.

Kal pulls a similar trick. Aiming his gauntlets at the ground, he sends a hellfire blast earthwards, where it balloons out to attempt to incinerate the tentacles (while conveniently leaving anyone who is not a tentacly manifestation of an eldritch horror unharmed), and simultaneously sending him rocketing up to the air, where he is caught by two of his clockworks.
"Are you kidding? What part of 'AMEN has spirit, AMEN. IS. AWESOME.' isn't about AMEN?" He says incredulously to Zefir, acting as if he hadn't just escaped from tentacley doom.