Lucia waited at the top of a small overhang, a tall rock-structure that overlooked the plains that were a part of her grander scheme. When it came to causing pandemonium and chaos, few would be able to compete with her for the title of best. Taking into consideration her potential for being caught, the risks of being caught in the cross fire, the chances of drawing unwanted attention, Lucia plotted carefully starting with the Goblins, a race of greenskin humanoids that fit the proper criteria for the conditions of her growth. All she had to do was take something valuable for them to make them hunt after her, their greedy nature would push them to hunt her to the ends of the world for it; particularly when it was an object of their faith. Lucia happened to chose the mask of the great green prophet. The monster race she chose was one of the more aggressive and savage creatures, the kind that would hunt anything with warm blood; Killer Mantis. They would fly long and hard to try and hunt prey, greenskins might not be their typical food source, but seeing so many gather to chase the mask would present a tasty chance for those aggressive swarms. Lastly the chosen beast was a group of territorial wolves, simple creatures, but numerous ones that would fight to defend their territories to the last. She'd already achieved a great deal of this plan on her own in retrieving the mask, the mantis group would only appear when the horde came about and the wolves would come to the battlefield after sensing intense conflict on it's turf. The materials were all acquired at least, all that was left was to lead them appropriately. This job however was not one she would do herself, neither a rogue nor someone who specialized in speed any more, she didn't trust her ability to outrun 3 armies. Instead she left this job to a young newbie she contracted with a bright smile, offering them the mask and giving them the task of wearing it from point A to point B. It was a little underhanded, perhaps even cruel, she didn't exactly explain what would be chasing her, just that she'd no doubt encounter 'trouble'. Being chased by an army of angry goblins and bloodthirsty giant mantis creatures into heavily guarded wolven territory was no doubt an experience that might end in near death. Lucia had prepared for this as well, offering the chosen newbie a blessing of physical protection for this adventure. Her goal was only to have the girl make it to her without dying so that the three armies would meet at he base of the overhanging craigs... She waved her hands contently, weaving a grand magical formation one hand gesture at a time in an effort to deal with whatever army survived the three way free for all. @Megan Tritor
Megan confidently strode through a dirt trail somewhere within the Brisshal lowlands. She had been quite lucky today, after having met with a witch of possible equivalent power, she had been granted the Mask of Sickening Madness. It looked like a normal angry man, covered in a shade of green, thus the name. Megan wore it proudly walking the Path of Greater Understanding as told to her by Ms. Lucia. Though Lucia had explained its meaning was something mundane, Megan knew deep down within her dark heart the true meaning of the journey. It was the destiny of any true harbinger of darkness to walk this path, and it was the only way one could truly mastery the chaos within. With a grin Megan swung her rotted wizard staff before her jabbing it into the ground with each step as if it were a walking cane. As she strutted forward, mask tied to her face with a piece of string, she heard something from behind. It was an odd gurgling sound, Megan tried to ignore it picking up her pace. “Probably just the wind” She said out loud calming herself as she pointedly ignored the rustling of bushes around her. Despite this after a few long moments, a green goblin jumped out, slashing a dagger in her direction. “Eeeekk!” screamed Megan as she jabbed her glorified walking stick in its direction, barley parrying the attack with a loud thud. Well at least that’s what she thought happened when she closed her eyes, but in actuality her staff went wide right, and the dagger bounced off the magical shield she was covered in. Taking a step backward she was filled with a sudden surge of confidence. These things weren’t that hard, hah for a dark witch like her they were nothing! “Fu~ Fu~ Fu~ Foolish green thing, you should not have tried your luck with this merry passenger.” Megan said with a twirl of her rotten staff, “Behold the unlimited power that is harbored within me! Come forth Shiva, mistress of the night’s council, daughter of the trinity of power, bring forth chaos and never ending night as you cover the land in frosty destruction.” Megan pointed her staff at the green goblin as her mana plummeted from the spell she had begun channeling before shouting, “Permafrost!” As she did so a slew of icy wind exploded forth from the front of her staff covering the goblin, and freezing it in place. Even though she was tired, Megan couldn’t help but smirk at her handiwork. Smacking the frozen goblins head with her staff shattering it and sending its pieces falling to the dirt. “Fu~ Fu~ foolish green thing, feel my power!” As she spoke however, a gathering of goblins appeared behind her growling and grunting in tandem. Megan turned in fear, knowing the number wasn’t anything she could handle. “Uh-oh.” Turning about face, she sprinted forward along the path screaming at the top of her lungs. As she dashed at full speed, a green blur slammed into her sending her bouncing off the ground thanks to the magical protection she had gotten from Lucia. The blur turned out to be a gigantic insect. Megan screamed. Loudly. The insect raised its blade preparing to end her fragile life, when suddenly a giant wolf slammed into the incectoid, in flash of fangs and fur. Stunned Megan looked around. She was surrounded by a pitched three way battle of goblins, insects and dogs. She fainted.
Lucia saw things going well, a mellow smile came to her lips clearly pleased with her helper's work. Seeing the girl faint from afar though made Lucia's brow furrow though, perhaps she was weak to conflict? Or had she maybe spent too much freezing the single goblin? It did seem like it took a lot of energy, Lucia after all didn't have the skill to instantly slay a goblin when she first started. At least, this was the conclusion she came to when she looked down at the poor girl who was practically asleep amidst the battlefield. Giving it some thought, she continued her hand seals finally activating her skill from the sacred blight tree she made. The skill created a magical formation, draining the meters of those creatures that were currently smashing into and cleaving at one another. Though the process would be slow, the armies no doubt kept each other in check, the first one to run would be decimated by the other two-- this was a part of Lucia's calculation at least. She needed at least 150 to die in this conflict. In the end, Lucia made her way down from her observing plateau feeling that Megan would be in trouble once a superior race was picked out from among the warring species, Lucia's magic made them avoid her for the moment, but as time passed the effects wouldn't be as strong. Lucia expected it to last from when Megan started her journey to when she'd reach her on the top of the rocky craig, she didn't expect the girl to just drop face down after casting a single spell. In a way though, this was a little expected, with a mellow chuckle, Lucia anticipated the need to get her hands dirty. Lucia swung her hand making a few hand gestures until a translucent shimmering with glittering sparkled as she made her way through the crowd. Whenever a creature approached her, she'd naturally repel them with that screen wielding it as if it was attached to her fingertips like a flexi-shield as she walked. Grabbing onto Megan's body by her mid section, she began carrying the girl back with a small smile, black magic wrapping them in black fog as they moved growing little by little to keep the monsters at bay. Rotting those that came too close as she carried Megan to safety with a soft sigh. Though safety only ended up being the arranged meeting place, she tried to douse MEgan with a bit of water from her canteen to wake her up with a small modest smile. "Come now sleepy head, it would be sad if you missed the fruits of your effort." She teased gently.
As Megan fell to the ground, unconscious, a pitched battle raged around her. The Goblins, intent on capturing back their Mask, tried to push forward, only to be assaulted by the giant mantises. Those that did manage to get through the barrage of insectoid wings and claws were set upon the wolves who prowled the outer portion of the battle field picking off weakened prey in groups of three to four. The war slowly evolved into a three-way affair as the mantis began to try and hunt the wolves down in revenge, only leading to opening their flanks to the goblins who took the opportunity to push forward. And regroup to help fend off the onslaught around them. Luckily due to the confusion and frenzied battle, Megan laid comfortably in a small patch of dirt completely dead to the world. Without movement, she didn't draw attention from any of the creatures, at least not yet as the battle continued around her. After some time, Megan felt something gently pick her up, that act managed to only slightly stir her as she attempted a half hearted kick with a mumble, "Not going..to fall..asleep." She gave up struggling as quickly as she had started though, becoming dead weight in Lucia's arms as she dragged her up to the safer location. The next thing she knew, Megan was drowning. Or rather there was water splashed in her face causing the sensation. In a bit of an overreaction, she snapped up with a surprised look plastered on her face her head swiveling in place. It seemed she was in the relative safe care of Lucia, whom she looked at with blurry vision as tears gathered in her eyes. Pretending as if they were not there, she pushed her fist forward giving her a thumbs up, "I...did it... right?"
Lucia chuckled sweetly at the girl's struggles, they were familiar to some extent, Lucia had never quite had a good time in the game up until recently after all, her early days after all were filled with strife and struggle. It was only after the raid that she really began to get acclimated to the game and understand the path she should take for her own little enlightenment. It was a tough journey but looking at Megan she couldn't help feeling this poor girl was no doubt in for a tough time like she was. Seeing her stirring though Lucia only nodded along reaching down to pet the girl's head with a hand as she spoke. "That's right-- you did good~ I'm proud of you." She spoke with a gentle smile trying to be reassuring and thankful as possible. After all it seemed like the poor girl had been through a lot. "It's okay, the rest of the job is easy, just sit back and relax." She urged the girl kindly as she dropped a hand to her own waist. She began unlatching her Grimoire, unfolding the bindings that kept it wrapped and bandaged to reveal her Necronomicon for what it was. With a content expression she held it up, spreading the pages with a warm smile. Wisps of energy were being pulled from the battlefield, with every death a soul was being pulled from a body, it was pleasing to her, just how long had she been on this road? And finally her plan had come to fruition, from spending time as a newbie in a small church helping to wash dishes and clothes for mastery points to struggling with her choices of masteries as a ranger or a full mage. It was certainly a struggle for her up until now. Finally with a step in the right direction, she felt assured knowing that this was the last leg of the race. She glanced down once more at Megan who still seemed a little exhausted; "All we need to do now is wait for 50 to die from each group and I'll be settled." Lucia murmured, making a few hand gestures to help things along, when it seemed like one group was starting to wane she'd try to subtle-y grant them a brief blessing to continue urging the combat on. The closer things seemed the better she felt it would go at least.
