(( OOC )) Combat is text only, and I take the groups actions and mastery levels into account and write what happens. If something is purely left to chance, I'll call for a roll like I did yesterday; nobody was scouting or on guard, so I called for a roll to see if anyone would get hit by the evil bunnies surprise first attack. I'll use Avi as an example; you wrote that Avi is defending for the turn. since Avi has block, she has the potential to defend herself exceptionally well, but since there's 0mp invested right now, the skill isn't terribly effective. (having a 0 in your skill means that you understand the basics, but have had little practice using it) this will become a lot more important later on when you join raids and boss fights. Having a skill is almost meaningless until you start investing mastery points. We had a guy basically rage quit the site a few days ago because he didn't bother reading anything, and didn't understand why every time he tried to use extremely powerful/advanced spells, they kept fizzling. But that's OK! If you remember from the Player handbook page of the wiki the lesser homonculus' name is white, which means that it's on par with the two of you. this means that as the two of you are currently, you have a very good chance of beating it.
When the creature — or Lesser Homonculus, Amane read, its name and health bar appearing just above the enraged bunny frakenstein — tried to take a swipe at Avilon, her first reaction was to jerk backwards, never mind how she was never in the range of its attack in the first place. As the shock subsided, shame instead replaced it. She could have casted a buff, or a shield to negate damage, even prepared a healing spell before hand. Avi was willing to cover her, but she couldn't even trust herself to have her friend's back. All this while she had been confident in the assurance that here was a player who was as inexperienced as her, but it turns out that maybe Avi, for all her shyness, was better at this game than she. "It's disgusting," she agreed, reading herself to attack. She might have failed the first time, but she'll be damned before she lets herself miss this cue as well. "Hey, if we beat this without much trouble, I'll treat you to a drink when we get to town, after we deliver this package." It was the least she could do for someone willing to put themselves between her danger. Now, to attack or to buff? Normally, she preferred to take the role of support, but it seemed, from her posture, that Avi would rather tank than deal damage for now, so attacking it was. Arcanamancy would have been the obvious mastery to use, but Amane was loath to waste extra energy on casting a high-powered, homing spell meant for pinpointing distant enemies or specific weak points when the enemy was at such a close range. Albeit, the Lesser Homonculus was faster than most mobs that she had seen so far, but with her masteries as unlevelled as they were, and lacking any accessories for any decent energy recovery, she figured it would be prudent to wait until absolutely necessary before pulling out the big guns, so to speak. For now, clasping her hands together, the felis charged a concentrated orb of holy magic between them, moving her fingers in specific patterns to trigger the game's casting mechanic, before hurling the Illumancy spell at the creature. OOC: @Avilon C. Vixen , @evilandlazy
Lesser HomonculusHP:[//--] The small, evil thing pauses for a moment as it's entire body seems to vibrate, then lets lose with another sickly cry, this time a gob of saliva or mucus bursts from it's mouth and dangles from it's bottom lip, shaking and bobbing with the things movements. It's eyes gleam with the singular desire to inflict pain as it launches itself toward Avilon. The Swordswoman barely manages to deflect all three attacks, but is forced to take a step back under the supprising ferocity of the Homonculus' onslaught. The vile thing is preparing to attack again and press it's advantage when it is caught squarely in the chest and flung a good distance backwards by the orb of holy magic cast by Amane. The thing springs to it's feet with unnerving speed and glares at Amane while licking the blade of it's knife slowly and letting out a long and soft growl, making it's next intended target painfully obvious. @Avilon C. Vixen @Amane Hirota
Avi's face grimaced as she stared down seeing the creature's claw slash through her clothing leaving a few frayed strands. She then glanced back realizing her role in this party, she needed to play the strong front-liner leaving no signs of weakness for the homonucli to exploit. The two hand gripping the large two handed bludgeoning tool then would move forward slamming toward the side as she noticed that her attack wasn't the only one being prepared. Instincts, fight or flight Avi surprisingly finds herself attempting to protect others including a stranger. Amane though was considered a friend and she wouldn't allow someone to be hurt if she could help it. "A drink would be quite nice so let's try and end this sooner rather then later k," a jubilant giggle ending her acceptance of the offer. Eyes now honing upon the beast as she awaited her strike to hopefully cleave the creature after the prepared strike of Amane. It wasn't her intentions to act like a support, but that did seem to fit her personality the most as she was protective. Avi's eyes widened alerted to the illuminating cast that the spell caste, Amane was preparing. The intricate pattern being woven with her fingers made Avi realize one crucial fact. There was no way she could play a magician in this world, she couldn't memorize information for tests let alone muscle movements. "G-get this thing dead." She darted to the side taking a flanking position to strike the homonculus if the spell made contact homing her aim would stay true. @Amane Hirota @evilandlazy
Amane blanched as the creature turned towards her, its beady eyes conveying gruesome murder and bloodshed. She hadn't expected the spell to do so much damage, and belatedly she remembered that one was supposed to let tanks soak up some aggro before attacking the enemy. Well, the felis mused, slowly backing away from the enraged creature, the more you learn. She saw Avi dash to its side, flanking the creature and somewhat fencing it in, preparing a strike of her own. Trepidation crawled up her spine — the rabbit looked positively evil, and that knife seemed like it would hurt — but one couldn't fight without taking risks, and what other option did she have? It was her problem, for messing up her DPS, and her Illumancy wasn't at a level where she was confident in casting shields. If Avi could stand between her and the enemy, Amane could put herself in the line of fire as well. A flashback of green slime, piercing screeches, seeing a tank (who had bravely planted himself in front of the boss, like she was going to now) get swallowed whole, his armour oozing out like blood — with blood — from the arachnid's fang-like chelicerae, and thinking, fuck, she was going to die wasn't she? She was going to—— And then there was only pain, and darkness, before its eventual reprieve. But as quickly as the vision came, it vanished, and Amane wasn't facing a hulking spider but a couple foot tall rabbit, pathetic in comparison, its knife a toothpick to the trashing, armoured legs of the previous world boss. And her nervousness faded, firm resolve taking its place. It's just a game, she could do this. Amane tensed, readying herself to leap to the side at the slightest movement from the rabbit, her fingers already moving in the practiced motions of spellcasting. She could shout out the spell, she supposed, perhaps that would even be faster, but the felis wasn't feeling that confident yet. Her incantations were, frankly, ridiculous. "Then I guess I can't let you down!" She called back to Avi, and when the small ball of light — solid and bright, heat emanating off of it and enveloping her palms — formed between her hands, she would fire it in the direction of the creature, watching it streak across the ground in a luminous, golden trail. OOC: @Avilon C. Vixen , @evilandlazy
Lesser HomonculusHP:[//--] The strange and horrible thing paused only to glance at Avilon as she stepped to the side. One would have to question later whether or not the thing was intelligent enough to question it's good fortune, but this was not the time. The twisted and impish little thing simply saw an opportunity to attack the one that had just recently grievously injured it, and charged. Before Amane had a chance to complete her casting, The thing was on her, leaping high and delivering a vicious cut to it's would-be vanquisher just a moment before the spell was cast. Fortunately for Amane, the thing caught her below the intended target, and struck her lower than intended, leaving a long but shallow gash that rose diagonally that more or less followed the line of her collar bone. The thing landed with a hiss and prepared to launch it's next attack. Though the wound was bleeding freely, Amane could tell from her interface display that the actual damage had been minimal. Avilon C. Vixen HP - [//////////] EN - [////////--] Amane Hirota HP - [/////////-] EN - [//////----] ((Spells usually take some time to cast, and generally occur after melee attacks. The higher ones mastery is, the less time they take though. Waiting for X event to occur before attacking is also usually a poor idea, just because.)) @Avilon C. Vixen @Amane Hirota
Avilon's eyes glistened as she let tears slip form her ducts, her grip upon the rudimentary weapon tightly pinched in her clutches. This creature was not long for this world, it was the final moments that it would ever see. Her mind distracted possibly by the wound inflicted upon Amane despite the minimal damage. "Time to die!" She yelled a flourish of the two-handed sword raised up over her head brought down toward the ground before Amane, where the creature had rested. Adrenaline now coursed through her avatar, veins did those even exit but the rush was still real as she narrowed her angry eyes upon the rabbit. The glimmering blade of the monster now was coated in blood, not her own but the one she had vowed to protect just earlier as she was suppose to be the one in front. Attempting to draw aggro to the left without any success, it seemed unlikely this creature new any strategy in focusing the casters yet there it went despite her menacing approach toward it. Avilon's body would now skid forward with the maneuverable armor, or lack there of she wore now once again striking a defensive stance before Amane. "Hey hairball pay attention already!" "Sorry about that, I thought it wouldn't focus you if I just dragged it's attention I guess you have infatuated it with your looks." She grumbled now leering down after her attempted strike that ended her back in the path of the homonculus. As the ball of light shot across the ground, it reminded her a bit of a lazer pointer being bounced about on the ground before a feline which made her chuckle. "Well then, I will try not to let you down again, let's take it out and get to those drinks, aight?" A wink backwards as her confidence in the midst of conflict seemed to be growing as it was prolonged. She only hope that her strike was true and the creature was ready to depart. Repositioning was key for any tank, how to draw aggro and leave openings for long range strikes. At least, that is what she thought but it seemed that one had to remain vigilant as them monsters in this game weren't acting similar to others. Maybe the A.I was developing with the characters in the virtual wordl? A question for another time. @Amane Hirota @evilandlazy
Stumbling back, more from shock than any force from the blow, Amane absentmindedly raised a hand to her clavicle, feeling warm wetness trail down her fingers, undoubtedly sullying them and her armour red. Idly, she wondered if the blood would vanish on its own, or if the game would require her to scrub out the stains by hand. Once the shock passed, however, she realised that the wound didn't hurt so much as smarted — causing discomfort, but nothing near what she had been bracing herself for. Of course, 20% of the pain isn't a lot. The most uncomfortable thing had been the initial rush, when she was charged at by something holding a knife, and fighting the instinctual fear that arose at the sight of a weapon that commonly killed in the real world. A glance at her interface confirmed that hardly any damage had been taken, and Amane called out to Avi, "Don't worry! It looks worse than it is." Thank goodness the monster couldn't jump high enough to reach her neck — if the game continued to be as realistic as it had been so far, the felis suspected that a wound there would hurt a lot more than one that just grazed her collar, the bone beneath offering much greater protection than the soft flesh of her neck. Amane watched as Avi advanced on the monster, taunting it in a bid to arrest its attention. "Well, naturally," she replied to Avilon's comment, a slight drawl to her voice, tinged with a hint of irony. "I'm irresistible to all." As she spoke, the felis raised her hands in the air, fingers alight with movement as she traced out the activation command for another Illumancy spell, watching the orb of light take shape, suspended in mid air. Casting a worried glance at her energy bar, Amane gritted her teeth. The spell used more than I thought it would. This battle shouldn't take much longer, but next time, in a more extended fight, I'll probably be in trouble. "Don't sweat it," she continued, "It wasn't your fault~ Let's just take it out!" She was a bit surprised that Avi had thrown her a wink, the gesture a tad foreign coming from the typically shy girl. Well, she supposed everyone grew more confident in battle. And with those words, she hurled the spell in the direction of the rabbit, praying that the monster would decide to go after Avilon this time around. OOC: @Avilon C. Vixen , @evilandlazy
Lesser Homonculus HP:[----] Dead As realization of her mistake sunk in, Avilon would more than compensate for it as soon as opportunity presented itself. While her weapon was lacking in quality, the sheer weight of the thing was enough to nearly split the Homonculus in half as she brough her weapon down in a vicious overhand blow with all of her strength. the distracted monstrosity never even saw the attack coming. The creature was split in two, and it was strange to see thing split into cros section. contrary to what one would expect, this creature had no organs of any sort, and it's entire body was comprised of muscle and bone. The fight was over before Amane had a chance to finish and cast her spell, and instead hesitated for only a spit second before firing the collected energy harmlessly into the sky. Just seconds after the battle had concluded, the forest had returned to it's previous state of calm, and if not for Amanes injury, and the grotesque bisected corpse lying at her feet, one would have never know that just moments before, this place was the scene of a life or death struggle. Avilon C. Vixen HP - [//////////] EN - [////////--] Amane Hirota HP - [/////////-] EN - [////------] @Avilon C. Vixen @Amane Hirota
Deep breathing concluded the combat, the silver mane toppled down across Avi's face as she glanced down toward the weapon. An upgrade would greatly improve her fighting capacity, this dull hunk had slain their beast, this time she could only presume that creatures wouldn't always be this easy, or alone. As she caught her breath she slowly gripped the foot'n half long handle gently prying it from the earth. A rather faint blush was over her cheeks as she regained some composure noticing the tears in her raggedy outfit as the make-shift blade was strapped back across her back. "Well that was something wasn't it, anyway time to follow the yellow brick road, or in our case the dirt road that leads us on." She staggered partially before catching herself on the tree feeling a bit dizzy as she was still a novice when it came to video games or physical exertion. Avi's gaze fixed back on Amane, as she agreed, "I still feel bad since you aren't really suppose to be tanking up the shots. I'll make sure to do better if we ever go on a mission again. Off to see the wizard?" Eyes squinted shut, Avilon now offered out her arm as well as hand allowing her to join her in their brisk walk to town. As she stated that she was irresistible, Avilon stopped once again staring this time red cheeked before nodding in agreement. "You avatar if it is any resemblance then you are quite umm h-o-dor-exy." She stumbled over word after word, there was nothing that made her idea sound simply complimentary, instead the words would slowly fade away as she was left there staring bashfully toward the grass. Great job, you sound like a pervy flirt who can't even say a simple compliment when you never even thought about girls like that. What on earth is wrong with you Avi. A hand raised to her face, masking the same as she stared out to see the reaction, if any was offered to her hodge-podge. The bashful girl once again back where she belonged, she gulped fidgeting for a distraction along the walk. @Amane Hirota @evilandlazy
Wide-eyed, Amane watched as the monster was literally cleaved into two, each half flying across the ground from the force of Avilon's blow, bloody muscle strewn between them like a bridge, as if the body had tried to hold itself together up until the end. Her spell, already too corporeal to be cancelled, was quickly thrown into the sky, for lack of an actual target to direct it towards. With that, her energy bar took another plunge downwards, and Amane knew that if another monster chose this time to ambush them, she at least was going to have to limit her attacks and heals. Without any other masteries but her magic, she would be next to useless the minute her energy hits zero. For now, however, the enemy had been defeated — its body small and pitiful, a far cry from the fearful, deranged sight it had made just short seconds ago — and a surge of triumph soared through her blood, the felis letting out a ear-splitting grin as she swung towards Avilon, making her way over, unerringly stepping over the gruesome mess. "We showed it!~" Amane cheered, shooting Avi an elated gaze. "That last hit of yours was pretty amazing." If this was how combat always felt like; a rush of adrenalin, making decisions that had actual consequences, the thrill of taking down something with your own power...she could tell this was easily going to remain as one of her favourite aspects of the game. "You're right though, we should continue. We have to reach Emerald City in two days, after all." She said, sobering up slightly. The quest wasn't over yet, and until it was, she shouldn't let victory lower her guard. "Don't feel too bad though, we all make mistakes. Next time the both of us will just have to be more careful, that's all~ Besides, I hardly took any damage. That sounds like a pretty big success to me. "Are you alright, though?" Amane added, seeing Avilon catch herself on a nearby tree, her gait uneven and staggered. "We could...slow down if you want?" she suggested. Looking at Avi, she could feel fatigue weigh down on her own bones, as if her almost-empty energy bar translated to that of physical exhaustion. Though her desire to finish the quest drove her onwards, Amane figured it must have been a lot worse for the melee fighter, hauling around that giant sword as she does. The felis raised an eyebrow when Avilon stumbled through her next statement. Though she didn't catch the last few words very well, I'll take it as a compliment, I guess, she thought, chuckling inside. "Thank you," she said simply, shooting Avi a smile. "You're not too bad yourself." And with that Amane turned towards the path ahead, the two of them venturing onwards. OOC: @Avilon C. Vixen , @evilandlazy
The remainder of the adventure is fairly quiet until the forest parts, and the walls of the great city of Stokbon can be seen in the distance. Even if it isn't your first time seeing the great city it is still a sight to behold with tall imposing walls circling a thriving city so vast that one would almost suspect the walls are in place to keep the city from spilling out into the countryside. Construction sites and scattered and disorganized plots of farmland circle the city, as if laying siege to the capitol city by way of growth and agriculture. As the travel approaches the city proper, more and more travelers join the pair, until it is certain to the two travelers that their is little to stand between them and their destination. After a deceptively long walk to the cities easternmost gate and a cursory and routine series of questions by an obviously disinterested guard, the two have been granted access to the great city of Stokbon, ((I'm going to end the DM'd portion of the quest here, and have Admin send you a few GP for completing the quest. Feel free to post your own open thread and continue on if you'd like.))
@Pandora @Lyre @Hecatus Could someone please send @Amane Hirota and @Avilon C. Vixen both a quest reward of 20gp each and lock/archive this thread?
