Shadows of Sandfield RP Thread

Jayden

For a few moments after the beastman finished, Jayden was silent.

Then...he smiled. Small, yes, but the first genuine smile he'd had since forever. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," he said. "Thanks for the talk. I...appreciate it. Really."

The Past

"Should you find yourself so displaced, or, should we find ourselves in the same temporal plane, I will remember you." Gorrav nodded, "I too appreciated our discussion. May you find your way forward, and I shall pray for your path to be illuminated in rays of gold."

March 10th

The day had finally come. The impetus of the adventure was due to be marched for. A week and then some of training, done in the service of this moment. It was after school hours, at 3:30 on the dot that Matthew and Damien Winston drove in to bring them to the path leading there - to the back entrance of Orcath. Matthew...had his doubts, but Mina seemed steady about Xander's trustworthiness. Despite everything else Matt knew about him...this did admittedly all fit with the portfolio that the Association made about Kellon.

Absent from the occasion was Duane Logan, who it seemed had been absent from school for roughly a week. He even stopped showing up for training. Matthew said he'd look into it three days into training - and the very next day following the third absence, it seemed the Logan House was completely deserted. He hadn't been able to find anyone inside.

An abuser was a difficult person to foster any sense of long term loyalty towards.

And especially when that abuse is so persistent and directed at a teenager.

Matthew sat in the passenger seat as Damien drove, looking back at the teenagers gathered here today. "Alright. If we're all sure we're good to go...we can take the path. Just remember - we're all in this together. No running off, and keep your eyes on the prize."

Matthew took out a notepad, and started to pass it around to the teens arrayed in the back of the truck. Scrawled on the notepad were notes - on Kellon Nyczus, his history, and what Matt knew of his magic style;

Kellon Nyczus. The Shadow Priest. Known as the Black Apostle. Utilized vile rites to resurrect Owen Logan as a wraith. He primarily focuses upon long ranged summoning magic, spiritualism, and wields a glaive called the Stave of Danaos. Do not listen to his words. Kellon Nyczus is a manipulator, and a liar. If you see him conjure a red and black spell circle on his hand, move away.

Mina Parker

"O-Okay, we have the training and the other th-things we need to have," Mina said, breathing deeply with the adrenaline starting to kick in, given what the party was about to attempt. "I-Including this key that Xander g-gave me. Let's s-stick together in there, since we d-don't know what we'll find on the o-other side, okay? Slow and s-steady does it."

"To be h-honest, let's all catch our b-breaths before we go in," she suggested as she took the key out of her pocket. "I am s-somewhat nervous about all this...we sh-should check if we're all m-mentally prepared to storm the f-fortress."

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 6th 2022 at 3:26:02 AM

"Well, Showtime I guess" Pablo tried to steel his nerves for what was about to happen, looking over at everyone else. While he has his own stuff to deal with crushing pressure, but jumping into the dragon's den with just his fists and wits to work with was something else.

Giving a look at the papers just to have anything to do, he stopped to think.

"Sounds like the hard part will be to see the bastard's face in the first place"

James grinned nervously. This whole situation felt weirdly like taking a stressful exam. Though there was a hell of a lot more riding on this than simply a good mark. unlike a real exam he had actually tried to prepare this time, reading up on magic and getting himself into some semblance of physical fitness. Neither domain had been familiar to him for long, and he sure hoped it would be enough. Everything had come to a head.

"It's now or never I guess. This really isn't a great situation, but we've done admirably thus far, so I suppose we just have to keep moving forward. Here's hoping we get to ruin Kellon Nyczus' day."

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Apr 4th 2022 at 12:06:03 PM

Jayden

Jayden was in a surprisingly good mood today.

He'd taken the priest's words to heart, and had started dabbling in other things, other hobbies. They'd never captured his interest like the supernatural had, but simply having the options made him feel better about himself. He rather enjoyed drawing—detailed diagrams, not the fantastical watercolors of his dad, but still. It was...soothing, examining things and trying to capture them accurately.

He'd spent more time with his family, too. He knew he'd drifted from them, but it was only now that he truly grasped how much. There was so much about his siblings he didn't know, that seemed obvious now that he did know them. Despite his own lack of interest in things like football or parties or dancing or acting, Jayden still asked about them. And he listened to what Kyle and Amy had to say about them. In one week, he'd gotten closer to his family than he had in years.

Downside to all this was that he'd sort of...blown off the club. He came in for training, yes, but he never talked to the others, always heading straight home the moment he could. But to him, that was okay.

Mostly because of the second reason he was in a surprisingly good mood.

"It's over," he murmured, leaning back against the seat and sagging in relief. "We're done. Finally. We can put all this behind us and never speak of anything we saw or did, ever again."

Maybe it was a bit early to celebrate, but he wanted to be optimistic. For once.

Raid Day

"Alright dorks. Who's ready to fight some stupid cultists?"

Heather had been putting her all into training these past few days. Every session, she would turn up with her hat and spend time tearing into whatever targets were provided with her manifested claws. Perhaps it could have been called one-trick but it seemed like the only thing she felt comfortable doing in combat. Outside of training? Heather hadn't really been interacting with the "tabletop club" as it seemed her pursuit of school popularity had amped up; she'd been a social whirlwind in her red scrunchie...

But here and now, standing in her sturdiest garb with the big hat strapped across her back, she looked ready to get this over with.

"Sure. We finish this up and you can go back to normal. I'm probably going to keep fighting. Make sure these dark gods can't just do this all again to some other poor saps..."

Before long, the van stopped at a winding, cliffside road that seemed to lead up and around the forests that extended out beyond the city borders. The roads were rough and hewn largely in older days - only a vague clean cut space marked where the path went next - cleared as it was of brush, plant life, and any uneven soil. Damien looked over at the students, sighed, and stated, "Well, I've taken you as far as I can go. The path's right ahead...best of luck. Here's hoping this goes well."

Matthew for his part started to get out, looking around. He could see a small wooden sign indicating the beginning of the path into the mountainside. "Alright...this is it. Dominula Side Road. I've...been through here a few times. Never knew that anything cared to set itself up at the end of this. Stay close, and don't leave the path for anything. We might run into some issues, but as long as we stay together it shouldn't be anything too severe."

Mina Parker

Mina shivered as she got out of the van. Matthew's warnings did little to ease her worries about the operation. Then again, she supposed that it was normal, and that everything would be back to how it used to be soon. At least, that was what she hoped. She really had no frame of reference for everything that was happening. Still, she steeled herself for what was to come. "L-Let's go," she whispered into the cool mountain air as she took up a rearguard position.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 17th 2022 at 5:29:25 AM

Pablo just stretched for a moment before nodding. Time for a trek in rough terrain, huh? Those are always fun...

"It feels ominous, but it's missing something, somehow" He noted "No sudden lightning? An early night?"

Looking at the road, he simply tried to gain a spot in the front of the group, at least.

Raid Day, Dominula Side Road

Heather stepped out of the van, looking up at the mountain the path wound towards.

"There is a great horror beneath the mountain, a crawling chaos that must be destroyed. The task ahead is terrible, and weakness cannot be tolerated. My obsession caused this great foulness..."

Wait hold up that's factually incorrect. A little crack of a smile shows that yeah no Heather's making some stupid contextless reference.

"Ehhh, I can't do the proper voice so I won't bore you with the whole trailer speech. Let's just get in there and start punching the hidden malevolence that underpins critical parts of our town. And then maybe get some ice cream afterwards, as a treat!"

James stood with the others and chuckled nervously at their remarks. For once he was pleased by Heather's bizarre sense of humor. Her sullenness at the stakeout had been greatly disturbing to him, as he'd grown to expect an absurd degree of confidence from the girl. He looked out onto what was by all appearances an utterly nondescript and unassuming pathway.

"I'm guessing this isn't just a normal walkway is it? There must be some reason it isn't more secure."

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Apr 15th 2022 at 11:49:08 AM

Jayden

Alright. Final stretch. Then we're done.

You got this, Jayden.

Jayden got out of the car and followed the others, silently repeating those thoughts in his head as a mantra.

Dominula Side Path

Matthew seemed to be keeping his eyes on the path as he wearily marched forward, taking the front to make sure if anything happened, it happened to him rather than his charges. They were astute - this path was less risky than the one directly to the Umbral Horde's main gate. That one was a well known path, guarded by experienced old hands - on top of several other factors.

This one was far less inundated with defensive measures...but that didn't mean there was entirely no risk here.

"You'd be right," Matthew commented as he walked along, always with his guard up, "The Side Path is the safer option, in comparison to charging in the front way. But there's a reason they set up here. Dominula has a problem with Direwolves - basically, magical genetic engineered wolves, and there's a gargoyle around the end of the Path. But if you guys beat Zombiestein before all that training...? It shouldn't be a terribly big ask."

Mina Parker

Before, Mina would have balked at any mention of these strange magical beasts and creatures. No doubt they were dangerous. But now, after an extended period of training, she felt like she could take them on. Looked forward to taking them on, even. It was strange, even now, to see new confidence stealing over herself, as if her old self were merely a mask that she was wearing, and which she was discarding now. Still, excited to fight or not, there was no excuse for not being vigilant, which was why she was diligently scanning the foliage and even the forest canopy for any sign of an approaching threat.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Apr 18th 2022 at 7:26:24 AM

"Well, we are here, anyway" Pablo commented "So, might as well see what this place has to offer" Even with the current situation, he tried to show himself calm. His strengths are better used on what's to come. But he felt like he was waiting for the whistle to blow.

"This is gonna be a big one" He noted "Everyone up to it?"

Earlier on, James would have been understandably frightened by such a prospect, but now it seemed unlikely to be greater than any of the other dangers he had faced. He had enough confidence that they would be up to the task, daunting though it was. Looking around he noticed a similar resolve in his teammates, even in Mina of all people. They could do this.

He inhaled deeply and stepped onto the path, mentally rehearsing everything he had practiced.

"We can't exactly turn back now, can we?"

As Matthew led the way onward, he stopped at a particular twist in the road.

There was a sudden gust - particularly strong - that seemed to shake up the flowers and nearby grass, brushing over the entire twisting area - and down over the cliffside nearby. Matthew for his part just stood there, not even blinking, knowing full well what was to come. He turned and whispered to the others following behind, "Gargoyle incoming..."

The clouds above seemed to start to part, the rays of the sun starting to shine down...and illuminate something cresting near the sunlight. The shadow produced by how much it took up of the sunlight cast down as literal foreshadowing of its descent.

A tall and powerful-looking at least, 25 foot tall statuesque creature. Made of black and gold stony skin, a leonine mane around a draconic face. It landed in front of the team with another burst of wind in spectacular fashion. It stood there, its wings outstretched - the sun shining through stylized holes in its lacquer-like wings.

Its arms seemed to be made of folding black and gold metal in two cylindrical pieces, thick made claws outstretched - each holding one handle of a huge two-sided sword scaled for something of that size. Each sword blade was two sided, and made of some sort of black metal, embossed with golden runes.

Its legs stuck up perfectly in approximation of human features, but with goat-like hooves for feet.

As the winds stopped blowing, the gargoyle seemed to pause there for a moment...until its eyes flashed red with activation, and it held the twinblade in its claws aloft as the creature issued a roar of challenge.

Edited by NickTheSwing on Apr 24th 2022 at 12:57:21 PM

Mina Parker

Mina raised no roar as a return of the Gargoyle's challenge. Instead, she raised a song. An operatic tune, in fact, the kind that her mother liked, as she swiped upwards elegantly with a folding fan. As she did so, the flowers below the beast's feet shivered and started climbing onto its legs, foliage ever-thickening and aiming to restrict what Mina guessed would it its biggest advantages—momentum through movement and flight. Indeed, she didn't think the holes on its wings would slow it down any. This was a place of magic after all.

But she had brought a little bit of science to this place. Talking to plants could speed their growth a little, or so it had been found, so why not singing?

Edited by JumpingFruit on May 1st 2022 at 5:15:16 AM

Pablo growled back at the monster, as he got ready to jump. He had his own tricks to reveal, and he wouldn't let things happen. Out of the high school brigade, he was the bigger one, after all. First, his own hands started to glow. It was a trick similar to making a blade, but if he focused on making it shorter and thicker, he could do something else.

"Golden Jaguar Claws" He called. Feeling his own power flow, he charged, aiming for one of the swords. Even if they looked menacing, disarming it would probably make things easier.

"Hey, go for a good target, I'll give an opening" Making sure his legs can do what he needs of them, he prepared the jump.

On your marks He told himself Set, GO!

Raid Day, First Encounter: Dominulan Gargoyle

Well, there was an enemy so immediately Heather put her hat on and manifested claws.

"Oh what an ornate guardian. It's positively beautiful, a shame we're already killing it."

Heather laughed and charged in with her claws, silently hoping they'd be effective on stone and metal given so far she'd only ever tried them with soft flesh.

"Maybe one day when I have my own estate, I'll commission one? I mean it's just an animated construct, it probably doesn't have any innate moral alignment."

A pause.

"... I mean I hope so. It'd be sad if only the utterly darkfallen can create such beautiful guardians..."

James couldn't help but find a grim sense of bemusement in the gargoyle's sudden appearance. They had hardly begun to make their way before being confronted. If this was the warm-up, so to speak, then they were in for a rough time. Then again it wasn't as if he hadn't realized that.

Since this was a beast of stone rather than flesh, he doubted that using a blade would be very effective. Instead he rushed to the side of the beast, aiming to get out of the way of his allies. Muttering incantations under his breath, James wreathed his hands in flames, launching a gout of fire at the gargoyle's wings. Since they appeared to be made out of metal, he had reason to think it just might do some harm to the creature.

Jayden

...

This is just going to be a boss rush, isn't it?

...

Well. Let's just get it over with.

Jayden raised his tattooed arm, and long shadowy blades burst from the ink, slashing into whatever cracks they could find, trying to break the monster apart at the seams.

Dominulan Gargoyle - Begin

The creature was already stalking to the side when Mina's summoned roots and vines curled around it, binding the gargoyle in place just as it began making use of that twinblade, starting to lunge forward toward Jayden - but ultimately halted in its tracks. The monster started frantically spinning the sword around - fast enough to whip up a powerful gust of wind around itself, all in the aim of freeing itself from these vines.

Pablo's hands covered in golden energy, formed into the shapes of two huge, elongated claws, the clash between the fast-moving twinblade and Pablo's energy claws was strong enough to send four gusts of wind across the area from the impact site - tearing gashes into the path. While the gargoyle wasn't exactly disarmed yet, its grip was significantly disrupted by the attack...

Then Heather's attacks sent it careening backward, with Jayden's follow-ups pushing it toward the edge of the cliff. It managed to rebalance, just in time for Matthew to run in, a long cruciform sword materializing in his right hand in the middle of his run. He grit his teeth as he saw the creature starting to wind up another twinblade attack...

He met it in midair, the two combatants clashing. Brief recognition in the gargoyle - and then Matthew pushed.

The Gargoyle's blade flew backward as the motion from the blond swordsman pushed it further back - the blade parry completely disorienting the gargoyle, its back flung toward the cliff.

"Guys!" Matthew shouted, "It's unbalanced! Send it toppling over!"