[Cspace]

(Note that this is a continuation of Van's encounter, so he should be the first to arrive.)


In the middle of nowhere, with the Zolan Range barely visible over the horizon, you become aware of a desperate battle... Three adventurers are being attacked by seven reknosks. These beasts are near the worst of their kind: Standing twenty meters high, with massive horns, many exposed bones, and engulfed in perpetual fire, these reknosks are rarely seen anywhere on Earthia. These adventurers must have something of great power to justify these fiends' appearance here.

Two of the adventurers are running ahead desperately, but in a direction such that the reknosks are in your way to reach them. The third is also running, but falling behind as if to impede the beasts. He has a very strange weapon... Its long blade extends parallel to the hilt, as if it's some sort of heavy inverted sword.

To attack even one of these reknosks is an extraordinary risk, and there are seven of them. There are some very difficult choices ahead of you...


Whatever the adventurers have is surely valuable and powerful... You could make good use of it for sure. But would that be wrong to take? What if the reknosks defeat them? What if the reknosks become aware of you standing here? How would you deal with this kind of danger if it came to you... Or if you went to it? Is this even your battle to fight?

... You can probably catch up to them if you feel the need.

[Darkness]

OOC: *grumbles about Alpha having to post first* Hurrryyyy, Alpha, before I EAT YOUR LIVAH

[Neraphym]

Van: "Reknosks.... impossible. These demons shouldn't be here unless... unless their targets are somehow very valuable. Maybe they have a power I'm looking for, but I doubt I can beat one of those damned beasts, but seven! They are doomed. Perhaps I can distract them... Hic veni!"

The shadow cast by Van begins to stir... it takes on the form of a dark pool as black and viscous as oil. Two undead monsters and a flaming skeleton emerge from the depths of the pool. The pool evaporates, leaving behind Van's three personal bodyguards he summoned earlier.

Van: "Minions... your task is to distract these Reknosks long enough for me to rescue these people. Attack!"

The minions charge the reknosks, but Van dashes ahead at amazing speed towards the adventurers.


Burning Skeleton
HP: 700/700
DP: 100

Disciple of The Fallen (1)
HP: 1500/1500
DP: 400

Disciple of The Fallen (2)
HP: 1500/1500
DP: 400

OOC: These stats won't be necessary, as we are just roleplaying. But I put them here just to give you a clearer picture of what I'm sending up against the reknosks. You can decide how long they last based on this info.

[Darkness]

OOC: Since you've neglected to put the Geomancer tree up, Cspace, I'll just pretend that the Wizard Thaumaturgist Concentration is the same thing For now. And also since we have not yet been told quite how many points we'll be getting, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get two third tier classes pretty well done So for now, I'll assume I'll be able to.


Some might wonder how, exactly, the dark cloaked man got all the way out here, in the desert, after being in Maldenar such a short time ago. Some might also wonder how he knew to come here. But of course, when all of time and space lies before one, waiting for one to pull any one of hundreds of strings tied to any event, to any piece of matter, as they did for the dark cloaked man, things were often easy to discern... At least, they were to a limited point of view. Things were... clouded... as of late. He felt as if his powers in changing the cosmos were... limited. Still, he had managed to know that something would occur here, and then it was a simple matter to get himself here quickly.

The sight that greeted him as he mounted a dune, still about fifty paces from the reknosks (which would be about 150 feet, for all you people who use real world measurements in roleplays XD) was surprising, even for him. One reknosk was powerful enough, on its own. But seven? It was not a matter of whether or not he was capable of destroying them all, for he knew that he was, but it was a matter of being able to defeat them before the adventurers, and whatever they had, escaped. He doubted that it was the stone that he now sought, but he had an idea that even if it wasn't, it would help him find it. He could not let the adventurers escape him. Perhaps if he only subdued the reknosks, temporarily. What he would do once he had gotten to the adventurers, though, was a different matter, something not even he had decided yet.

Though his powers as an Arcanist were limited, his powers as a Geomancer were not. His left hand came up near his face, parallel to his body, his index and middle finger pointed straight up while the others were loosely bent. With an abrupt movement, the dark cloaked man yelled out, "Sepulchrum glacialis!" as he swung his arm out to his left, his fingers still in the same position, but his arm now perpendicular to his body to his left.

Ice accumulated around the reknosk closest to the adventurers, encasing it completely in several feet of ice, halting it immediately.


OOC: Based on the Wizard's Icy Tomb spell. And no, I don't think it would be fair that just because the reknosks are described as 'fiery', they should melt the ice. If we were playing Final Fantasy (X, at least, not sure about the others right now :\), ice would do -extra- damage to fiery creatures, and vice versa

Also, if I were to use an Arcanist ability like:

Long-Range Time Travel: A master Arcanist can travel a great many years through time, but still cannot leave the current Age. Safety is not guaranteed, so bring your own weapons.

would you allow me to like... go back in time a few hours or whatever and find out where the reknosks came from? Or maybe to go back in time at a place where I know Ethan and Gero passed by, so I can follow them and know where they are?

[Cspace]

The reknosks quickly become aware of their new adversaries. However, with either steadfast devotion to their cause, or simply due to the well-founded confidence in their own power, the reknosks continue to chase the three adventurers.

Across the sands, the words of ice are heard. "... Sepulchrum glacialis ...". A cold wind swirls around the beasts, and frost begins to form underneath one of them. With a flash of light and a sudden gust of upward-moving wind, the frost covers the fiend and grows to become a tomb of ice. The six reknosks continue, but the seventh remains. Seconds pass, and it begins to break through the ice. At first its left arm becomes free, sending a shower of ice shards toward the ground, where they quickly melt on the hot desert sand. Then a leg becomes free, followed by the rest of the ice being shattered as easily as a battle hammer breaks through glass.

It belts out a deafening roar which resonates across any metal equipment that the newcomers have. It turns quickly and notices the skeleton and two Disciples of The Fallen, both moving quickly toward the beast. With one quick sweep of its claw-like hand, it smashes the skeleton and sends pieces of bone in all directions. Then it eyes the Disciples, and suddenly appears to be pacified. The Disciples are extraordinarily weak in comparison to the reknosks, yet this beast will not attack them. Van was most likely not aware that all the reknosks of Earthia are direct minions of The Fallen himself.


The six reknosks continue to pursue the fleeing adventurers, yet one remains. One Disciple begins to speak to the lone reknosk with a raspy tone: "Essssak veruuu niidaas... Enaaaar qaaras teree!"

The two Disciples begin to move back toward Van with visibly enhanced power and vigor, and the lone reknosk eyes the cloaked man with a threatening gaze. The fire surrounding the reknosk burns brighter than before.



(And sorry, time travel isn't an option right now. )

[Neraphym]

OOC: Did I lose control over them?

[Cspace]

OOC: Indeed

[Neraphym]

Van is quite disturbed at the loss of control over his minions. The desperateness of his situation begins to show on his face as his once humble servents turn on him. This is every necromancer's worst fear... when a necromancer's control over his minions is lost and the deranged dead set their wrath upon him. But Van still has time and a few tricks up his sleeve.

Van: "These demons can control the Fallen's servents better than myself. Perhaps the Reknosks themselves are operating according to His will. No, if the Fallen One was behind this, he would have saw fit to use me as well. That I am uninformed of this is proof enough. Isn't it? Yes, I must have faith! They are just controlling the minions through superior necromancy. I can overcome this!"

Van summons up great power into his ring of conversion and sends bolts of energy towards the minions. Van doesn't wait to see the results of the blasts. Instead, he takes off towards the fleeing adventurers.

[Darkness]

OOC: Well geez, -that- didn't work. And aww, no time travel? I thought it was a great idea :C Can I do -anything- related to time? Any of the arcanisty things? This one's based off Tectonic Break, btw, another Wizard spell.


The moment the ice enclosed the reknosk, he knew it wasn't going to work. The spell had been cast correctly, yes, and it was a very strong spell. Yet the reknosk tore right through it. Ice wasn't arguably the strongest thing to seal someone in, but it should have worked. It wasn't as if the dark cloaked man had even intended for it to be a long term way of keeping the reknosk, for all he had intended to do was slow him so that he could catch the adventurers. But he had intended it to last longer than it did, at least. Still, this seventh reknosk had fallen behind the others, now.

As one arm came free of the ice, closely followed by a leg, the dark cloaked man was already forming the words of magic for another spell in his mind. The ice shattered into a million pieces, all glittering in the sun for a moment before melting away into nothingness, and the man brought his left hand out before him. Arm perpendicular to his body, palm facing down, each finger rigidly slightly bent, he felt magic course through him, aiming it at the reknosk that was now closest to the adventurers.

"Fragmentia terra." The words were spoken with a swift upwards pulling motion with the hand.


OOC: Wow, that one was rather short. Interesting *hmmm* And what exactly are the roleplayed effects of Upheaval?

[Cspace]

One Disciple is struck by the energy and is knocked down, but he quickly rights himself. The other appears to block it with his right hand. They notice that Van's tactic was merely a distraction, and they realize that he must be stopped before he reaches the reknosks' targets. In unison, the Disciples begin to conjure a spell... A sort of void surrounds them, and mist forms around Van's legs. By the time he manages to reach the other reknosks, his legs become too heavy to lift. Van is rooted in one place, incapable of pursuing the adventurers, and incapable of turning to defend himself against his previous minions.

The third adventurer, fallen behind to combat the six reknosks, finally notices Van and his attempt to stop the beasts. He holds his weapon above his head, parallel to the ground. Spheres of light spiral around him, and just before the reknosks can take advantage of his defenseless state, he turns the weapon toward Van and the spheres fly across the ground toward him. The adventurer then turns to avoid one swipe, parries another, and ducks with a quick vertical sweep of his weapon to strike a reknosk's arm.

The spheres coalesce around Van's legs, ultimately freeing him from the Disciples' spell.


*********************************


Meanwhile, the lone reknosk is fixating on the defeat of he who cast the spell of ice. Before it can consider a plan of attack, the words of Stone are heard... "Fragmentia terra." The ground beneath the reknosk begins to shift, and a column of stone shoots up from below the sand. With a strong swipe and another deafening roar, the beast shatters the flat-topped column of stone before it can strike. Two more come up, and the reknosk is knocked off its feet. Still, one more column jets out, but it misses the target. Behind the rubble of the first column, and behind three diagonally-oriented (randomly aligned) columns, the reknosk is thrown. Still, through that punishment, the beast rights itself and appears to be mostly unharmed.

It charges toward the cloaked man with heightened anger.

[Darkness]

OOC: ... And this is when I wish you had uploaded more of the Arcanist's abilities Reknosks are now my least favorite evil creature thing. Even Tolkien's Balrog would've been halted for at least a while by all this by now *eats the reknosk* (Btw, the Balrog is what Neraphym pictured a Reknosk to look like, and since that made -way- more sense than what I pictured them like, I now picture them like Balrogs too XD Is that.. accurate? Balrog = Reknosk?)


This battle was not going as planned. While it was true that he, the dark cloaked man, had not yet taken a blow... He hoped it would not come to that. Reknosks were mighty beasts, true, but it should not be so hard to subdue one for a measurable amount of time. And he knew that if the reknosk reached him, the battle would take a turn for the far worst. He needed another spell, one that had a greater chance at stopping the creature. To think that this was only one reknosk, and it had already stood up to two of his strongest spells.

Magic flowed through the dark cloaked man's body, forming words in his mind at the last moment... Raising his hand out before him, he made a motion as if grasping the reknosk out before him, though there was still some distance between them, and then made a sudden downward motion. "Locus en terra!" If it worked as planned, the reknosk would be transported to beneath the sand. He could think of no way that it would escape from such a trap, but even if it found one, it should at least take a while for it to manage to get out. In that time, he would be able to get past it, one step towards the adventurers...


OOC: That's based off Careless Translocation, a Mage spell, but I guess it's more like Malevolent Translocation, which is the Translocator's, I think... XD Oh well. I suppose it's possible a character -might- get three blocks into a third 3rd Tier class, depending on the points you give me

[Neraphym]

Van stumbles as the light frees his legs from the root condition. He cannot catch up to them now, not with his old disciples still bearing down on him. He needs a quicker way to get where he needs to go. He realizes what he needs, and begins chanting to himself. He is summoning a great monster...

[Darkness]

OOC: You better give me a ride on your great monster, Alpha Or I might just send the next Icy Tomb in your general direction

[Cspace]

As the fiend charges toward the cloaked man, more ancient words can be heard above the chaos... "Locus en terra!" The reknosk quickly begins to glow brightly with a cyan color, and when the light reaches enough intensity to block anyone's view of the beast, the light dissipates. Spheres of energy and a fragmented image of the reknosk dissipates vertically into the air. Almost as quickly as it disappears, with a sudden shift of the nearby landscape, the beast is buried under the sand. It roars again as its head sticks above the surface. You feel the ground shake violently as it releases one arm, and the tremors caused by the beast become even stronger as it works to free itself.

The reknosk does not appear to be harmed, and it won't be long before it's free. This should buy the cloaked man a little time, however, to run past the rampaging beast.

Btw, the Balrog is what Neraphym pictured a Reknosk to look like, and since that made -way- more sense than what I pictured them like, I now picture them like Balrogs too XD Is that.. accurate? Balrog = Reknosk?

Maybe a little bit, but not really. They're the direct minions of The Fallen, and they appear like undead demons (with big horns and many exposed bones)... Although they aren't actually undead or demons, just the ultimate vision of fear as viewed by their master. They're extraordinarily strong, and don't have any known weaknesses. Defeating one is usually a very big deal, even for someone as powerful as your cloaked character.

[Darkness]

The spell hadn't been as effective as the dark cloaked man had hoped. He had hoped to send it deeper down into the sand, but alas, he had not done so successfully. He desperately hoped that the trap of sand would hold the beast longer than it looked like it would. He would cast one last spell, and then he would let magic decide what happened.

He raised his left hand above his head, gazing up at the sky, and closed his hand as if he was holding some round object, something invisible. Then with a pulling motion, he brought it down, in the direction of the reknosk that was trapped under the sand. "Cometes incurso!" He knew it would be a while before an effect was visible. And during that time, he would get out of range of the attack. He began running, past the reknosk trapped in the sand, towards the group of reknosks chasing the adventurers.


OOC: That was Comet Strike