[Cspace]

You may have been here for other reasons, or just passing through, but next to a fallen marble column among ruins is an unusual glowing stone. It's getting near sunset and the sky is red to the west and blue to the east. So is this object. It could have power, but it can certainly sell for a bit of currency anywhere you go.

You can take it or leave it. If you take it, expect hostility to follow as long as you carry it. Everyone's out for profit and power nowadays, and a glowing stone will certainly get their attention very quickly.


OOC: This is also true for other players' characters. I hope that at least a couple will try to take it, as it was a similar relic that caused the first half of the conflict in the desert.

[Neraphym]

Neraphym flies over the Entarca fields atop his trusty dragon, Lohengrin. A gleam of light catches his sensitive eyes.

Neraphym: "Lohengrin, take us down. I see something interesting."

Lohengrin lets out a small roar as he slowly descends to the ground. Upon landing, Neraphym dismounts and approaches the ruins and searches for the object that caught his eye from the sky. He quickly spots a small, glowing stone.

Neraphym: "Hm, it seems to be some kind of enchanted stone. It's color seems to match that of the sky's."

Neraphym picks up the stone to examine it closer.


OCC: I haven't decided to keep it yet. Perhaps something could entice me to part with it, if another person wishes to have it.

[Darkness]

Though before it seemed as if Neraphym and Lohengrin were alone in the field, any who were paying attention would find themselves suddenly surprised as they noticed that there was a man not more than ten paces away, though he was in a spot of the field that had no sort of covering anywhere around it. So it seemed quite impossible that he could have gotten to where he was through stealth. Had he simply... appeared there? Or did he just somehow manage to elude attention for such a length of time?

Regardless of his method of earlier travel, he now continued forward at a steady pace. It would take him a considerable amount of time to span those short thirty feet -- perhaps... a minute, or so -- but this time would allow any who cared to study him for a short while. He was swathed in a black cloak that seemed to completely envelop his body, save for hands and feet which were covered in black leather gloves and boots. His hood was pulled forward enough that his face was completely indiscernible, masked in a veil of shadow. At this distance, at least.

The entirety of the effect of the complete darkness was rather chilling to most souls, and some might then believe their minds were toying with them as they seemed to see a slightly dark aura surrounding the man... And the fact that when a person's eyes once more focused completely on him, the aura vanished... Well, that made it seem as if it was all in the viewer's eyes even more. Still, that the dark aura seemed to reappear whenever the man was being viewed from someone's peripheral vision... It all combined to give one a rather foreboding feeling about the man. And, seeing as his identity was completely unknown, most began to become content thinking of him as the 'dark cloaked man'.

At last this 'dark cloaked man' reached the fallen marble column and, with it, Neraphym and Lohengrin. As he came nearer, something else seemed to be decidedly strange about him... But the answer was elusive. Perhaps more reflection upon the matter would yield an answer. As he neared, the hood of his cloak turns to regard Lohengrin and Neraphym, each for a few seconds. The darkness of the hood gave no hints as to what the man is thinking, as a face might, for any expression that might be playing across the dark cloaked man's face -- if a face he even had -- was hidden completely.

After at least a half minute, the dark cloaked man holds out one hand.

"Give that to me." It was not a request. It was a command. And there seemed to be something strange about the voice, as well. It was deep... But... No, the anomaly couldn't quite be pinned down in this case either. This man's entire being was clothed in mystery, just as his face was clothed in darkness.

[Neraphym]

A strong urge to give him the stone seems to permeate Neraphym's thoughts. He begins to lose his desire for the stone. However, it is not greed that motivates Neraphym to keep the stone. Had it been greed, Neraphym's desire for the stone would have been abated. Instead, Neraphym's desire is to understand the stone. His curiosity and thirst for knowledge far outweigh his desire to own the stone. He resists the temptation to hand it over.

Neraphym examines the dark cloaked man, but little information is revealed by this mysterious person. Neraphym gives a quick nod to Lohengrin, and the dragon swiftly takes to the sky. This leaves Neraphym alone with the dark cloaked man.

Neraphym: "Why is it you desire this?"

Neraphym holds out the stone for the man to see clearly.

[Darkness]

It had been a small amount of his power that he had used before, in an attempt to simply persuade this man to give him the stone. But his refusal to hand over the stone caused the dark cloaked man to believe that for this to work, he might have to dig a little... deeper. And so the dark cloaked man dug deeper into the man's mind, concentrating on encircling it with his power. This would take a small amount of time, and a good deal of concentration. But meanwhile, his ability to persuade the man would be stronger. Perhaps he would be able to convince him even without going to the extreme that he was preparing for.

Deep in the man's mind as he was, the dark cloaked man began to become aware of small pieces of... thoughts. They were only surface thoughts, and only pieces of those thoughts anyway, but they revealed a good deal to the dark cloaked man as he began to patch them together. So it was not greed that drove this one... But a... thirst for knowledge. Perhaps he could play off of that weakness.

"I wish to study it. To learn its secrets. Perhaps, if you desire, we could try to unlock its secrets together. You are clearly a powerful man. I am sure that together, our power can penetrate whatever shroud of mystery it may hold. But first... Let me see it. Give it to me."

[Neraphym]

These words and feelings strike Neraphym as odd, even foreign to him. He quickly realizes what is going on.

Neraphym: "Your powers of coercion are great, but alas, you've not been treading softly into my mind. Once the red flag goes up, you'll find my mind quite difficult to control. You see, I've dealt with your kind before. I cannot prevent your mind from penetrating mine, but once I know you're in there, I can separate our thoughts and ignore yours."

Neraphym draws his sword and point it at the dark cloaked man.

Neraphym: "Begone!"

[Darkness]

Silence existed for a moment, the man's outstretched hand remaining -- though it seemed unlikely that the dark cloaked man's command would be obeyed. The shadowed hood regarded the man across from it quietly, unmoving. Though no expression could be seen within that dark hood, it would be a fair guess to suppose that the dark cloaked man was very, very angry.

Then in not but a moment, the hand turned upside down, fingers bent like claws towards the ground. A circular glyph six feet in radius appeared, glowing a dark purple and black. A shadow rose up from the glyph, before taking form into a shadow wolf as the glyph dissipated. Much like a normal wolf, there seemed to be something... darker... about the creature. Its fur was darker, and there seemed to be an aura of darkness about it as well. The way it growled at Neraphym showed fangs that seemed as if they were somehow larger than that of a normal wolf's.

The beast leaped at Neraphym, snarling and clawing at him. Meanwhile, the dark cloaked man had moved his hands to his sides, palms facing down, as his mind began to reach into the very earth around him... A small tremor wracked the ground, though it was so small it was barely noticeable.

[Neraphym]

Neraphym sidesteps the wolf and slap's its rear with the blunt face of his sword (1 dp ) as it passes. Neraphym now lies between the cloaked man and his wolf. Though the wolf is now behind him, he pays it no attention. Instead, Neraphym, focuses on the man.

Neraphym: "So, you'll fight me for this stone? You won't win."

Neraphym waves his hand over the blade and enchants it. He glides towards the cloaked man and swings his sword horizontally, left to right. Both Neraphym and the blade seem to move unnaturally fast.

[Darkness]

The dark cloaked man's concentration deepens. As Neraphym's sword darts towards him, it seems that his battle may have ended in not but a minute... but at the last moment, a shimmering sword materializes in the direct path of the other weapon. A loud 'clang!' as the blades meet would cause any who heard it to be sure that the sword was, in fact, very real, and could indeed cut flesh despite its otherworldly appearance. As if held by an invisible swordsman, it pushes Neraphym's weapon back before slashing at the other Arcanist's own body.

At the same time, the wolf recovers from its missed lunge and turns, even more angry. It leaps at Neraphym's back, intent on dealing as much pain as possible.

A wind picks up, the breeze that had been present earlier steadily increasing. Another small tremor shakes the ground, hardly more powerful than the last, and so it is still barely noticeable.

[Neraphym]

Neraphym pulls his sword away from the spectral blade and dodges its attack. Again, he sidesteps the wolf's lunge. Wolves are such sloppy attackers. They aren't much of a threat alone, but in groups they can be somewhat troublesome. Neraphym holds out his hand in the direction of the cloaked man. A wave of distorted gravity flows out. Against most foes, this will knock them off balance and interrupt their concentration. It also leaves them vulnerable to attack.

[Neraphym]

OOC: If you don't post soon, I may just escape with the stone.

[Darkness]

OOC: Sorry XD Been busy with other stuff.


As Neraphym passed by the floating sword, it turned as he moved, and as the gravity wave rushed from his hand, it stabbed at his back. At near to the same time, the wolf returned, biting at Neraphym's legs.

The gravity wave rushed towards the dark cloaked man, and as it seemed that he must be hit, he put a hand, palm-face down, before him and pulled up. A wall of stone rose up before him, which the gravity wave promptly collided against. The force of it shattered the stone, sending it falling backwards towards the dark cloaked man. But the dark cloaked man was already preparing for this -- he put both hands before him, palms facing up with fingers bent, and then he pulled them upward, turning as he did it the other direction. As he did, stone was pulled from the ground in an arc over him. The falling stone collapsed against it, and the second wall of stone became a wall of falling dust, harmless.

The wind increased. Another small tremor wracked the ground...

[Neraphym]

The spectral blade impacts Neraphym's armor, but does not pierce through the thick dragonhide. Despite this, the blade still pushed Neraphym off balance a little. Neraphym runs his hand along the length of his sword, enchanting it yet again. The sword, having touched the wolf and the spectral blade at least once each, now gains the ability to cut through either one cleanly. (From now on, this will be referred to as a butter enchantment. After touching something once, the enchantment allows the sword or whatever is enchanted to easily cut through any object like butter, unless it is magically protected.)

Neraphym, with the blade still pushing into his armor, glides closer to the wolf. The wolf bites at his legs, but Neraphym swings his sword swiftly at the beast's face.

[Darkness]

The blade slices through the wolf quite easily -- far more easily than one would assume a blade would go through a solid creature. For a moment the wolf seems suspended frozen in its last moment, save for the large slice that exists cleanly through it, but then it is enveloped by a white light and explodes into a thousand glowing particles. The particles still retain the wolf's general shape, but then the glyph from which the wolf rose appears beneath it and the particles dart down through it, before both glyph and particles disappear.

Meanwhile, the sword too seems to have dissipated in a similar manner, though it was not attacked. A great wind has begun blowing, in the space of only a few minutes now. And it is now, in this storming gale, that Neraphym is able to realize what seemed so very strange about the man.

Ever since even before the beginning of this encounter, there'd had been at least a light breeze. It had been increasing since the encounter began -- the dark cloaked man had been creating it, after all. And now in these terrible winds, Neraphym's cloak would be flapping around him. The grass was flailing about wildly. The few trees that were spread across the plain were whipping back and forth, the force of it tearing entire limbs off on occasion. But through all of this, the dark cloaked man's cloak didn't move an inch. The cloak ignored the wind, as if it wasn't there at all. Truly chilling indeed.

[Neraphym]

Neraphym charged head on into the wind and at the cloaked man. His sword begins collecting gamma rays and concentrating them at the tip. Neraphym flies forward and thrusts his sword at the cloaked man as he detonates the collected gamma rays. (Stab + Gamma ray burst)