The Beast that Rattled the Stars

One last shot shattered the midsection of the great spire that the Tiger, the Faerin, and the Goblin stood upon, sending them all tumbling into the abyss, a mortal struggle ensuing heroic tenacity pinned down the arms of a god. They fell, the fangs of gravity pulling them ever faster into endless infinity, the air around them freezing over until the intermingled war cries of two empowered beings echoed. Quieted. Silenced.

Above, on the ravaged surface, the remaining adventurers could scarcely believe it. Had they done it? Had they overcome this terrifying situation at the very last moment, overturning all odds in order to grasp the glorious shine of victory?

CRACK.

All those nearby bore witness to the sensation of the earth rumbling, the skies quaking, the sheer wrongness that could be felt within their stomachs as a great magic was evoked, the blood in their bodies becoming colder and colder. The maw of gravity hadn’t been fast enough. The great pit hadn’t been shallow enough. And the crick-crack of innumberable spires criss-crossing the width of the pit could be heard, hammering like an ogre’s battle drum. A staccato nightmare of crimson heresy, filling pit up to the brim with those stakes, each jagged and distorted.

And, what followed was the beating of a heart.

Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump.

The magically inclined eyes of @Megan Tritor and Magdalyn could catch it now, the vespers of control that extended out from the pit, almost hidden by the heavy rain. The Skull Faced Goblin, the terrible foe cast into the abyss, still lived. And thus, his control over his minions still persisted.

Blake’s fist did little to diverge the path of the Ashen Swordsman, for the indignity of being challenged and ignored over and over was too much to be wiped away with a strike. Flesh bounced off steel armor, the Felis’s martial arts ignored as the smoting blade separated @Alric Stalwart ’s head from his shoulders. It fell off, rolled on the mud, and fell into the abyss, shredded by the jagged spikes below.

Predatorial, the Blackened Cat leapt towards @Magdalyn , the remains of the Blackened chain rattling in her hands. Unconcerned by her master’s plight, unconcerned by the Great Ice Mage that stood before her, she unravelled the chains and lashed out, scoring a black mark upon the Green Warden’s flesh. A mark that intoxicated, that infuriated, that reminded.

The loss of her Tiger, the pointless sacrifice of it! All this struggling, for naught! The sacrifices and the decisions, negated by the unfairness of the world! Red misted over Magdalyn’s eyes, and all she wanted was to run her spear through this Cheshire freak.

Nothing was over yet.

OOC

@Magdalyn @Alric Stalwart @Comet @Velka @Blake Elgis @Megan Tritor

• Minimum of 100 words and maximum of 500 words. Posts with less or more will be ignored.
  
• 1 post per character per cycle, with DM posts resetting the cycle at 4PM PST, daily.
• All dice must be rolled in this thread.
• If you want to do some extra communication between party members, do so here.
• Give me your heart.

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Cycle 4
Battle Conditions

Zone 6 Blackened Briar [282/400]
Zone 2 Ashen Sean [272/300]
Zone 5-2 The Skull Faced Goblin [500/???]
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Skull Faced Goblin
[Blood Veil] Obtained from Berserk Seigi's death, a crimson shroud surrounds the Skull Faced Goblin, requiring an attack of 50 or more to shatter before one can damage him. Extra damage from the barrier breaking attack does not carry over to the Goblin's HP.

[Lightless] Obtained from Lightless N's death, the Blood Spear of the Skull Faced reduces maximum HP when attacking the enemy.

[Berserker Soul] Obtained from Berserk Seigi's death, the Blood Spear of the Skull Faced inflicts knockback effects when attacking the enemy.

[Hidden Vigor] The Skull Faced's HP is hidden. When attacking, count up your damage, as you would from a culminative DC.

Damage:
@Alric Stalwart receives 30 HP damage.

@Magdalyn receives 20 HP damage and is [Taunted]. During this turn, she must attack Blackened Briar unless she is damaged by an ally or cleansed.

Zone 1, 8 Short, dead grass, soaked in blood and rain. It squelches beneath your feet as you walk over it, but is of no concern.

Zone 2, 3, 6 Nothing but fiery devastation remains after the pyromantic destruction released from the Ashen Swordsman's swing. Entering or ending your turn in these fields inflicts the [Burning] status on you.

Zone 4, 10 Signs of a brutal fight linger, jagged, broken spikes and shrapnel filling the cracked earth, still sharp enough to cut. When entering or ending a turn in this Zone, receive 10 damage.

Zone 5-1 A large, fathomless pit stands before you, promising absolute death for those that fall. When entering this Zone, roll a d100 + 5 for every tier of Aeromancy, Acrobat, or Mobility. If you make a total of 85 or more, you are able to grab onto the ledge. If not, you fall into Zone 5-2.

Zone 5-2 Countless jagged spires ring the inside of the pit, like the teeth of blood wyrm. Falling into this area deals 500 damage to all, as they tumble and crash and fall.

Zone 7 Only the base of the great spire remains, small, jagged spikes scattered over the ground. When entering or ending a turn in this Zone, take 5 HP damage.

Zone 9, 12 The land is exceptionally ravaged here, thick mounds of earth mixing with fissures and cracks. Combined with the heavy rain turning everything into a quagmire of sludge, this is exceptionally difficult to move through. Leaving this Zone takes 2 Movements instead of 1.

Zone 11 - 1 The bottom of the ruined tower. Shielded by a sanguine light that must be physically or magically destroyed before entering.

Zone 11 - 2 The top of the ruined tower. Ranged attacks targetting those in this zone receive a -20 penalty, unless it is a Geomancy or an Aeromancy attack.

Hidden: Supplementary Information

Movement Every turn, you may move to one Zone adjacent (diagonal movement is allowed) to your current one for free. If your Mobility is Adept, you may move two Zones instead of one. You may also spend your action for this round and move to another Zone after your free movement. Ending your turn on certain Zones may trigger events.

Range Ranged and Magical attacks can reach any zone, but may have reduced damage due to terrain. Melee attacks can only target those within the same Zone as the attacker. If you have the Tinker Mastery, you can switch freely between Ranged and Melee attacks, but you only gain Bonus Damage in Melee.

Bonus Damage Melee attacks gain Bonus Damage if they have Berserk, Tinker or Heroic Might. Ranged attacks gain Bonus Damage if they have Hunting. Magic attacks gain Bonus damage from Summoning Magic. In the DPS spreadsheet, apply the relevant Mastery with the highest tier only.

Actions

Everyone is allowed to perform one of these actions per cycle. RP-wise, you can do a number of things, but the system only counts the action you pick from the spreadsheets.

• Tank - Protect allies, disrupt enemies, and mitigate zonal damage.
• DPS - Damage, damage, and more damage.
• Support - Heal, buff, and dispel conditions from allies.

Hidden: Beast Taming

If you are a Beast Tamer, your Beast has its own HP and actions. The modifier for their rolls is +5 for every tier of rarity. Refer to the Equipment section of the Wiki for information on Rarity. For example, a Basic pet will have +5, while a Great pet will have +20.

Their maximum HP is 50 + modifier.
They can Attack, dealing d20 + modifier damage in Melee combat.
They can Protect one person in the same zone as themselves.
They cannot be buffed, and can only be healed by their Tamer.
They can only move one Zone away from their Tamer.

Hidden: Special Actions

Rainstorm [Megan Only] - Roll a d100 + 5 per tier of Hydromancy, as you wipe up the fury of the storm to quench the flames around you, negating all Burning statuses on the battle map. The DC for this is 90.

Seal the Pit [Megan & Magdalyn Only] - Roll a d100 +5 per tier of Hydromancy or Geomancy, as you fully seal the sarcophagus of the Skull Faced Goblin, trapping him there and cutting off the influence he has on the surface. The culminative DC for this is 120.

Hidden: Feats

Feats are special actions that can be performed at the cost of one's HP. These are to signal truly desperate times, and outside of Strenuous Effort, can only be used once per Challenge.

Important: Do not formulate combat strategies around these and force people to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the party. Usage of Feats should be a personal choice.

Strenuous Effort By permanently sacrificing HP (reduce both your current HP value and your maximum HP value), you can gain a bonus modifier to your roll equal to the amount of HP spent, up to a maximum of 50. This modifier can not be applied to Buff rolls.

Soul Filled Strike This is the climax, the final clash. Offer up your heart in exchange for godly strength and ensure that your nemesis falls. Roll a d100. If your result is 90 or below, you die. If your result is 91 or above, your HP is set to 1. Your next attack is (100 + modifiers + buffs) x 2.

Bravery's Gift You swore to yourself once that you will never see a friend fall, and now, it's time to fulfill that promise, even at the cost of your own. This Feat can be used retroactively. Usage of Second Wind is sealed. In place of a maximum of five others, take two times the damage they would have taken during this turn.

The Last Prayer If there is Divinity that watches upon, then with your earthly desires, pull them down from their lofty throne and force a miracle out of them. Heal all allies with the Single Heal action in your spreadsheet. At the end of this turn, you die.

Death caused directly by the usage of a Feat can not be overturned with a Ressurection spell.

 

The Beast that Rattled the Stars

<<Theme>>​

With the last effort, the last strike, the last life, the blasted pit was sealed, layer upon layer of ice turning it into an icy tomb for the undying monster. The final efforts of Shiva’s Beloved, a frozen testament to the heroic effort of all those that had undertaken this mighty task.

Slowly, the unnatural influence the Skull Faced Goblin had upon the world faded, one by one.

The scarlet vespers dissipated, the Ashen Swordsman and the Blackened Chainbearer collapsing, their corpses no longer desecrated and abused by the foul magic spun by the Skull Faced.

The great spires were blown away by the spring wind, sculptures rusting away and leaving nothing but mud and ash.

The hot flames were quenched, heavenly joy quelling the wrath of the fallen and leaving but smouldering remains.

And that tower, untouched by conflict, finally collapsed, brick by tainted brick, until it was but a pile of rubble, the bloody veil that shielded and maintained it melting into the sky above.

They came in with seven, and ended with three.

But they won.

Overhead, shafts of sunlight shone through the placated thunderclouds, illuminating the way back home.

They didn’t know how to respond.

Not when victory was proclaimed. Not when the quest that had ended in disappointment over and over again was declared as completed. Not when the somber expressions on the faces of those that returned were for the loss of their comrades, not the shame of their retreat.

The downcast villagers of Rivercrest were stunned.

And then, they were crying.

Without the fear of that masked monster lingering over their heads, they could finally grieve for their loss, elders, adults, and children all with tears streaking their faces, gratitude abound as they crowded over the adventurers that had finally solved their plight.

And when the well dried up, when even the most beautiful songstress in the Town of Romance was a red-faced mess, there was only one thing left.

To the honor of the heroes that had slain the great evil within the forest, a feast must be had, to eat, to sing, to dance away the vestiges of sorrow that remained in the hearts of mankind.

The revelry carried on long into the night.

Loot

200 MP
per person

Loot

600 GP
distributed as you desire

Loot

Monocrystalline Greaves
[Medium Legs]
Crystalline boots, razor sharp and fashionable. Enables one to skate on any surface with the same efficiency as normal movement.

Loot

3x Corrupted Arrowhead
[Consumable]
Arrowheads that sparkle like rubies, and bite like a rabid beast. +20 Damage. Negates Healing effects upon the injured enemy for the next round.

Loot

Blackened Harpoon
[1H Spear]
Made of an unidentifiable, dark metal, with a jagged tip that is savagely barbed. Occasionally resonates with the wielder's emotions, pulsating red veins emerging from the blackness.

OOC

@Magdalyn @Alric Stalwart @Comet @Velka @Blake Elgis @Megan Tritor

• Minimum of 100 words and maximum of 800 words. Enjoy your victory lap. Y'all did really well, considering how rough the start was.
  
• 1 post per character per cycle, with DM posts resetting the cycle at 4PM PST, daily.
• All dice must be rolled in this thread.
• If you want to do some extra communication between party members, do so here.
• When you have decided on how the loot will be split, ping me and your mod of choice.

 

​

Epilogue

Was it worth it?

Yes.​

Even if you’ll never see your children?

Yes.​

Even if you’ll never hold them?

Yes.​

Even if you’ll never teach them?

Yes.​

Do you regret this?

Never.​

Would you choose to fight, no matter the price?

Always.​

What was your name?

Kielash.​

Will you offer me your heart?

My soul.​

Will you fight for me, as you have for her?

Until the day our hearts cross again.​

Then I welcome you, my Champion. Until that promised day comes, wage my war. Win back your freedom with tooth and nail, your lifeblood and your foes. Craft me a sanctuary within this accursed earth and drive in the stakes that shall become the undoing of this debauched paradise.

Bare your fangs to the heavens and swallow the stars.​

As you wish, my Goddess.​