Shadows of Sandfield RP Thread

Raid Day, Heather Pops Off

"I'm not. I'm really not alright. Because I'm not comfortable with the fact that there's two batches of callous gods whose warring and sacrificial cults control practically every facet of the world and that I'm supposed to be okay with that."

There's something to her tone. None of the usual lightness she normally bears but all of the disdain from previous jokes about the cult.

"I don't get how you guys are willing to let this slide."

Jayden

Jayden was quiet for a few moments.

Then, he took a deep breath and looked Heather in the eye. "I'm sorry, for what it's worth. And...well, if I weren't so tired with all of this, I might share the sentiment."

He thought a bit more, then stepped closer, lowering his voice. "I kinda do already. Everyone's handling this far too well and then there's me. And you. We might actually be the most well-adjusted, we're reacting to this like...like human beings."

He shrugged. "I don't know if this helps, but...I'll keep an eye on you. And if you ever feel like it's too much, you can always talk to me. Not even about supernatural stuff, just about life in general. I'd...love to get to know you, outside of all this."

And he meant it.

Onwards

Honestly, Heather worried Matthew quite a bit. He'd...need to make sure that this was ultimately just venting, because Heather's magic type might make this more dangerous. There was always the chance that it might end up doing something unpredictable in a time of stress.

"I'd like to think we're all friends here. If either of you two have issues that need to be discussed, whether it's life or the supernatural, there's a group chat - or we can meet up in person. We are getting through this, and once we're done, I'll make damn sure The Association assists you thoroughly in returning to a more normal life - financial, psychological, and any other means of help you might need. None of you asked for this. Tom sure as hell didn't."

As the team got ready to move on, they would see two rooms further down the hall, along with a pair of staircases leading down into the rest of the base, along with an overlook above a large hall.

No guards or sign of an alarm yet.

One of the rooms, as the team moved on, had what seemed like chanting (recognizably Nyczus') coming from inside it, along with some kind of incense wafting out from inside.

The other door, further down, seemed to have a heavier door, and a variety of ritual ornamentations and icons floating around near the entry. There seemed to be a bright light coming from the inside.

Matthew looked at the team, and stated in a whisper, "Looks like that one all the way down is the ritual chamber. Tom's probably inside...and that makes this one the prayer room. Let's get a plan underway. I could run in there..." Matthew gestured to the ritual chamber, "And grab Tom. You five could then fight Nyczus until Tom's safe, then I'll reinforce." Matthew cupped his chin, "Or...we could go for Nyczus all at once, and assume that whatever is going on in there will cease once the boss is done."

Edited by NickTheSwing on May 24th 2022 at 9:51:52 AM

Pablo shrugged "Frankly, I mainly managed to get through this by all this stuff just going right over my head" He admitted "Gods, reality in danger, all that shit... I barely get it, which might be a blessing" He chuckled mirthlessly.

But he tried to focus on what he was doing.

"And if what's in front is too much, I just look behind" He said, with more conviction "I got into all this stuff by accident, but I owe a debt I intend to pay, and I made a few promises I don't intend to break, which at least lets me focus on what's in what I am doing now and leave all the questions for later"

The options were limited, but time was critical, so he looked at the others to make the call.

Edited by Blueace on May 25th 2022 at 6:01:26 AM

Mina Parker

"T-Tom looks to be pretty important," Mina mused. "And we c-can't take the chance of the ritual conveniently f-failing in the background while we fight Nyczus. Knowing his t-type, he probably has a failsafe or two in p-place to keep the ritual going in c-case his cult b-buddies take umbrage with his treason. In fact, he's p-paranoid about it, a l-little, in the notes we found, because he's obviously t-trying to be all secret-y."

"If T-Tom is the key, he absolutely sh-should be removed first," she said with great resolve. "And I definitely w-won't just leave him alone to be m-made somebody's tool or random amusement or wh-whatever again!"

Edited by JumpingFruit on May 27th 2022 at 4:41:42 AM

"I agree, we are here to stop the ritual, so it only makes sense to remove Tom as soon as possible." James nodded. "Nyczus is hopefully not aware of our presence. I think we should capitalize on that and use the brief window of surprise as an opportunity to cast some debilitating spells before we begin outright attack him. I've been practicing my light spell for just this purpose."

He paused for a moment, looking around to make sure there was nobody approaching. "I'm concerned that he'll call in the rest of the Umbrals to deal with us. I seriously doubt we can fight an army. Do we have any way to stop that from happening?"

Raid Day, Onwards to Encounter Two

Heather was starting to calm a little bit, nodding at Jayden's offer until something Matthew said caused her to tense up again. This time though, she remained silent and stood there while the plans were made.

"Yeah, we should get Tom first. But... Let's not all get Tom, just in case. Maybe the others can waylay Nicksus or whatever. Just don't have all of us in one place, yaknow?"

She left unsaid her reasoning, her concern for traps or their enemy being able to deal with the whole team in one fell swoop...

Planning

"...Yeah, I'll make sure there's something to delay any reinforcements in case Nyczus calls in some help. I'll take on the ritual room and whatever's waiting inside," Matthew stated, "As soon as Tom's safe, I'll be right back over to help against Nyczus." He looked around, "Be sure to be careful when you confront him. He's not a frontline fighter by any means, but with what we've seen of the Umbral Horde, you don't live that long in it without being able to defend yourself."

With that, Matthew looked around, "Does that sound good? Once we have this, we can make our move."

Mina Parker

"Y-Yes. I'm ready," Mina said, balling up her fists by her side. "L-Let's do this."

Edited by JumpingFruit on May 27th 2022 at 8:03:04 AM

Pablo just sighed and nodded to Matthew, as he got ready for what was to come.

"Just cause a big boom if you need help" He warned. "It'd royally suck for us to get to this point and leave someone behind" He said, moving towards his destination.

"Give the order" He said, punching his palm.

Jayden

Honestly, Matthew, given how poorly you've handled your time as our mentor, I'm not sure I trust any plan you come up with involving us. While I will admit I couldn't come up with anything better myself, I am a relatively ordinary teenager who barely understands what the fuck is going on even after months of this nonsense. That I don't trust you, who has been involved with this much longer than us and thus understands it better, to come up with a decent plan is probably a sign of how much you've failed as a mentor. The monster priest from thousands of years ago did better than you're doing, and he didn't even know me.

"No complaints here."

But I want to get this over with, so your plan it is, I guess.

Raid Day, Encounter 2 Imminent

"My talons are sufficiently sharpened. On your mark, associate."

Heather didn't even look at Matthew, her eyes were focused on the corridor ahead. The vitriol in her tone hadn't subsided, but at least she looked ready to fight.

"Well I can't exactly back out now, can I?" said James. He was trying to maintain his composure but the pounding of heart was all but deafening. This was it. They were either going to save Tom or die horribly, and he honestly didn't know which outcome was more likely.

"I'm in."

And with that, Matthew took off in a sprint toward the ritual chambers - in the middle of a step a longsword forming in his hand, hilt first, point at the floor. The teens, who had come so far from home, were now heading into the nest of their adversary. The one ultimately responsible for the circumstances of Tom - and through him, everything that happened since.

Kellon Nyczus seemed to be kneeling at first at a collection of the very same totems that had started their incursion into this dark world of the Umbral Horde. But then he slowly got up and turned around, "Hmph...I figured the likes of you would eventually turn up at my doorstep. Though so quickly...either my son was worthless in combat against the girl his immature hormones pointed him toward, or he was ambushed. Neither case matters to me."

The bald priest stepped forward and one by one, bowls containing bright purple flames lit up by themselves around the room as he raised his staff. Nyczus as he was now discarded the niceties of Evangelical displays - his habit was black and deep maroon, with some inlaid silvery pieces giving the impression of armor. The staff he used on stage at prayer rallies in imitation of Moses was now a black metallic staff with a pair of circles at the top, intersecting at the sides - spikes protruding from each cardinal direction along the two circles.

"Very well. This gives me the opportunity to demonstrate the foolishness of his connections," Nyczus stated with a sneer, "After so long humoring you, it will be my utmost pleasure to break each of your bones - one by one - and offer your pulped remains to my beloved patrons!!" With that, he raised his staff and spun it in place for a moment, ready to move...

And when he brought the other end down to the floor, the uncanny material arced with black electric force as a huge, long and serpentine head emerged from the undulating, possessed matter. The serpentine head lunged for Mina and James at once!

Mina Parker

"You..." Mina growled as the ground started to bubble and turn into the same quicksand-like consistency around her just like in the training scenario. Just like before, it would help her skate around the area and help her teammates maneuver whenever they stood beside her but slow down the enemy if they stepped within it. Not that it looked like the second function would help here, given that Nyczus seemed more like a ranged fighter, but being able to dodge well would be very useful if that turned out to be true. "YOU!"

Mina windmilled her arms, and the liquified ground seemed to collapse into a small whirlpool in front of her, before she suddenly raised her arms again. Then, a snake of her own made of dirt and mud sprung up to intercept Nyczus' attack, and the two serpents were soon locked in fierce combat, hissing and trying to bite at each other.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 5th 2022 at 3:57:33 AM

James froze for a second, Kellon hadn't shown the slightest hint of hesitation.Could they really beat him?

As the serpent snaked towards James, he dodged out of its path.As he did so, a bolt of intense white light shot out of his palm and toward Nyczus' face. He didn't doubt that his opponent would dodge the projectile, but it would at least provide a temporary distraction.

"He probably can't attack us all at once." He shouted at Heather, Pablo, and Jayden "hit him while he can't hit you"

"So, no big intro?" Pablo said, as the air itself around him seemed to heat up "Guess morals isn't the only thing you lack, geezer" He kicked off the ground, shooting like a bullet to cut the distance as his fist glowed red hot.

His hand moved forward, as flames took the shape of a fox head and charged towards Nyczus, aiming to explode in impact.

Raid Day, Encounter 2, Kellon Nyczus

Heather wasted no time once it was clear the first attacks were not aimed at her. She lept to action, practically literally, talons out and rushing towards Kellon. She realized that he probably had armor, maybe even mystic warding, so her goal wasn't to cut deep of this preacher's flesh just yet; she was going in to try and cut his staff or his hand or some other way of disarming the priest either through the conventional meaning or the puntastic literal one.

"Man, can't believe mom was right about you; a shepherd only leads flocks until the slaughter..."

Jayden

Jayden found himself rolling his eyes at Nyczus's declaration. "Sheesh, could you GET more cliché?" he muttered. Half-expect him to break out into cackling laughter and then leave to tie damsels to a railroad track.

...uh, assuming there are damsels. This town's male-to-female ratio is weirdly skewed.

Well, either way, he'd like to end this sooner rather than later. Sure, the man probably had protection against this, but in the event that he didn't...Jayden manifested the sweeping black blades and swung, aiming for Kellon Nyczus's neck.

As the serpents intertwined in a show of Mina's animosity toward the foe that had brought on so much anguish, Kellon was left to deal with the attacks of her friends. And it seemed that despite his smug assurance as he darted to try to evade what he assumed was an energy shot from James, he was surprised when he only narrowly evaded Jayden's shadow slash.

The attack cutting the side of his neck and spilling a little blood on his habit. The priest slammed his staff suddenly into the ground as he saw Pablo rushing at him, the teen lifted into the air - hand covered in a radiant cone of vulpine shaped magical energy.

The ground erupted with a black wall of matter that crackled with energy...but then immediately gave and crumbled at contact.

As he reckoned with Heather, he fired off a barrage of thin, extending shadowy claws from the center of his ornate staff - aiming more to keep her off of him, while moving to evade her. Though he was more pressed than he thought he'd be, he responded to her, "The religion of those who call themselves sheep is an opiate to the masses - and this after they've been on copious opiates to begin with. The only use of their flesh is to be ground to paste to grease the gears!"

Mina Parker

For a moment, Mina thought that her serpent would lose, but as the evil priest lost concentration, it was eventually able to get at the neck of the opposing snake and dispel it. Panting, she wondered what to do next. Everyone was fighting in their own way against the dark powers of Nyczus. How could she possibly give them more of an advantage?

With her earth magic, it was possible to further her area denial, so she closed in beside Heather with heavy steps, her quicksand ground trailing behind her like molasses. She prepared to raise it in all its gloopy glory as a shield in case Nyczus tried anything suspicious. Mina balled up her fists and waited, though her very being screamed at her to beat his face in.

Edited by JumpingFruit on Jun 16th 2022 at 7:56:13 AM

Raid Day, Encounter 2, Kellon Nyczus

Heather was held back, at least for a moment; the shadow claws keeping her occupied as she tried to slash them away with her own.

"Then the only purpose of your blood is to feed my strength..."

Once she finished with that distraction she gave a curt nod to Mina beside her and brandished the claws at Kellon.

"And with that strength, I will tear your cruel machine to scrap!"

And with a screeching laugh she ran towards him, claws first.

Pablo cursed as his attack failed, but knew he had to keep pushing forward, unless he wanted things to become incredibly difficult for him and the others "And guys like you should be smashed down the ground for all the shit you pull" Pablo growled. His right hand kept glowing bright red, but his left hand started turning blue, as things got colder on that side.

If he got close enough, he'd barrel himself forward, aiming a left straight to the wicked priest's face.

Second Strike: Freezing Hound Meteor

The assault on Nyczus was going surprisingly well. There just might be a chance that they could win this fight. Considering his options James decided he didn't want to launch a powerful attack from his current position since it might accidentally strike one of his teammates. Instead, he figured it would be best to continue to debilitate Nyczus from afar.

A bolt of green energy emanated from James hand and shot towards the priest. It wouldn't directly harm him, but the ray's weakening effect would presumably make him easier to take down.

Edited by bobbitwormhobbitwyrm on Jun 14th 2022 at 10:23:48 AM

Jayden

Jayden didn't waste time on pretty words or banter or anything. He wanted this to be over, dammit, and he didn't want to wait.

He swung the blades again. This time, one aimed for Nyczus's legs, while another aimed for his back.