Invasion from within: Beziar

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

* The humanoid mutant stood up fully as Dal spoke to him, not resisting when he was turned to look at Baelstrom. His strange, muted feature face contorted a little as he listened Dal's words, finding some truth in them. He nodded as he looked to the still flowing hoard.*

" ... you are right.... " * He shouted something to the sea of darkness, causing it to churn as it began fighting against itself. The magics that shrouded the mutant under folk soon lifted, showing that a good amount of the tide was them... but it became obvious that they were still simply mortal, and began falling in droves to the more powerful darkbrood*

[glow=blue,2,300]* Baelstrom laughed as he watched the rebellion play out, the weaker shock portion of his battalion now being used as target practice*

" Sending mortals to do your dirty work, eh? Some things never change, do they, Champion of the traitor gods!? I don't care what my orders are... I will descend upon you like the storms I command and leave you a pile of dust!... for you see... the primordials crafted you from dust, and they have decreed that it is to dust you are to return"[/glow]

* One Road stumbled a bit as the identity of this forbidden god finally hit him. Hie eyes widened as he reached for the single J-daiklaive on his back, drawing it in defense*

" I know who this is!! Baelstrom is a god who commanded storms that would rapidly age everything caught within them! The Unconquered Sun decreed there was no place for such a force in creation and called for his head! Nobody has seen him in thousands of years!"

[Dal'Lumen]

Calibration, 1





*It was happening again, the mistake he made once before and had vowed never to let happen again. Fury swelled in his chest, his mood was already off color today, and his usual stoic reserve was cracking away and the powerful emotions under the surface were surging out in waves. Something was happening to Dal'Lumen, the first signs of a change, a galvanization of the true self. He appeared to struggle to reign himself in, but it didn't go far. As he looked on at the weaker under folk being slaughtered for rising against their oppressors, it was the tragedy and bravery that inspired him, freedom was not a path for the weak willed.*

"Enough! Your name does not matter! Neither do your orders! Fate sent you to me, I am the end of you!"

*If it was this gods head the Sun demanded, Dal'Lumen would deliver it. His Anima flared to it's full splendor, filling the chamber with golden light that washed away all but the living shadows. Caution was cast to the wind and his whole body surged forward. This god was probably very dangerous, but none of that mattered with the casualties massing around them. With one hand Dal reached out to claim the throat of his adversary, and with the other he sought to strike him down. This attack was unlike the typical finessed motions Dal' was known to use, but seemed to be moved by pure murderous wrath focused on the forbidden god.*




(9 Join Battle Sxs Striking Cobra used)

(Compassion: 1 Limit Taken)

[Ress]

Calibration, 1


*The forbidden god smirked as he watched the Solar lose his cool as the genocide continued on around them. With the raise of his hand, a sour wind began to bluster as the sound of sifting sands blew through the area*

"If death is what you want, then that is what you will get... and here is a little tip. Kill me as quick as you can... otherwise something far more dangerous may come bounding out of that hole!"

*One Road readied his stance, his veil dancing around in the breeze*

( Baelstrom join:8 , One Road: 4 )

[Dal'Lumen]

Calibration, 1





*For Dal it was already clear that time was of the essence. His mind raced ahead, he envisioned his attack and accounted for retaliatory actions his foe might take in the fight that had not yet begun. His forethought surprised even him, it was all there, he saw it and felt every nerve in his body tingle with anticipation. His anima banner responded to this attack in kind, one of the large fists closed around Dal and followed him in his attack like the fist of the Unconquered Sun himself aiding in the blow.

When the gap had been closed the fist exploded into a shower of essence and Dal was upon the banished deity his eyes widened and his teeth bared.

The onslaught begun with thunder, as the rampaging Zenith slammed his left foot on the ground halting him. Dals upper body leaned forward into the deep stance and his left hand grasped for the side of the throat, seeking to pull Baelstrom in. To complete the motion he stepped forward with his right, twisted his whole body and followed up with a rock shattering elbow strike aimed at sending that grin right back down Baelstroms throat. The next acts of explosive violence broke out in a flurry of color and sound that defied observation.

After the first shock blow, Dal extended his left arm out and down, forcing Baelstrom to lean to the side, his elbow recoiled and came back down as a dagger hand to the exposed underside of the gods jaw. At the moment of impact he released his grip and allowed the kinetic energy of his strike to drive the gods head straight into the ground with such force that his legs would be thrown up, sending Baelstrom into a sort of involuntary headstand.

Attacking again before the god had time to fall or right himself Dal let his near hand come to the ground and he spun his twisted torso, kicked his legs into the air, and flipped his legs to the opposite side using his hands to rotate his body. One leg landed on the ground and braced him while the other whipped around carrying with it all of Dals momentum to collide with Baelstroms side. Now sprawled out sideways on one leg and one arm he planted his other toe, switched hands and spun himself back upright and caught the god on the opposite side with the sole of his perfected boot as if preventing him from being hurled away by the force of the first kick. He paused briefly as his momentum shifted to the opposite direction, and then he slammed his foot down, crushing the gods back under it. He lifted his foot and stomped down again, the floor shattered out like a spiderweb from the epicenter.

At this point Dals face was stone cold, and his eyes looked down mercilessly, for a moment he saw a flashback of the events leading to his exaltation, the slaves he'd freed dying around him, the faces of the slavers he killed in the process. He had vowed to live peacefully but somehow... he always ended up right back here, the deaths of those that followed him weighing heavily on his heart. He began shouting seemingly unrelated points as he hammered Baelstrom into the ground.*

"No more! I cannot abide their suffering! - Not of anyone that wishes for freedom! I will change it! I will change it all! I will make them stronger! I will free them all! Damn you for this!"

*He jumped up to the ceiling of the tunnels and used it to hurl himself back down both feet first down upon Baelstrom. The sound of him landing boomed through the tunnels, by itself drowning out the wild sound of the other darkbrood. Now he was trying to grab hold of the gods wrists, like he was trying to bend the god backward, and then he placed a foot on his back to pin him between opposing forces and make him bow his head, or... prepare him for decapitation.*

"One road... Finish him."



(-6m Striking Serpent Speed 7 sxs -1m Anima banner Armor +3 L/B Soak: 9)



1. Elbow 11 sxs: 0
2. Spear hand 10 sxs: 0
3. Kick 11 sxs: 2 = 9b
4. Kick 11 sxs: 3 = 10b
5. Kick 7 sxs: 0
6. Rebound drop kick 7 sxs: 1 = 8b
7. Clinch 10 sxs: 5 = Held

(Baelstrom: Dodge 11 Soak 23L/30B Hardness 15L/15B)

No damage dealt. Baelstrom is held.




(3D Stunt +6 motes)



Leech:6
Leech:6
Leech:6
Leech:6
Leech:6
Leech:6
Dal: 6
Leech:5
Leech:5
Leech:5
Leech:5
Leech:4
One Road: 4
Baelstrom: 0

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

*Balestrom could barely make out the swiftly moving solar as he jumped around the waterway wall and impacted himself upon his divine being. Taken completely by surprise, the Solar was able to hop behind him and hold him in place. For a few moments, Balestrom was in wide eyed terror, having forgotten what it was like to fight against the chosen of the gods. A strong wind blew through the tunnel for a split second as the forbidden god remained locked and vulnerable. In a single upward movement, Balestrom extended both arms and broke himself from the lock.As he did, a wind of fine shimmering particles swept through the tunnel and began circling around Dal in a funnel, flowing downward then fizzling out completely*

“ Nice try!... you almost had me, Solar! But you can not expect to down a force of nature with some parlor tricks!”

* The forbidden god grabbed his blades from his hips, and held them before him, grinning wickedly*

" Long before your Essence was even crafted, Dragon Kings used to make crude wards around their houses to keep me and my storms from blowing through and reducing them to dust!... but not even those worked, because there are few things that can withstand the ravages of time... and I am the ravage of time personified... now I wonder.. how long does it take for Solars to reduce to dust?"

* in a single fluid motion, Balestrom wafted to Dal on a gout of the shimmering wind, spinning like a top in an attempt to slice the solar to ribbons*

(

Pre DV:

1st strike: 22 suxx
2nd strike: 19 suxx

1st Raw Damage: 31L*
2nd raw damage: 28L*

*its not really Lethal, but interacts with soak that way

your turn to defend)

[Dal'Lumen]

Calibration, 1





*His enemies swords flashed, and whistled as they cut the air but nothing else. Dal moved like a shadow being chased away by firelight. When this attack ended, Dal took this opportunity to consider what he had just learned about this enemy of his. Power was required, with the application of precise technique, and no victory would come from even a thousand small blows. It would take time to set up, but he had a plan of attack... and it would take all of his self control not to throw himself furiously against the god. He took note of the creatures slowly beginning to close on them, and knew that it would be problematic if they interfered. They would come first.







{Seven shadows Evasion x2 -6m} Perfectly dodged)

[Ress]

Calibration, 1

* Balestrom growls as his attacks whistle through the air impotently, unable to catch the nimble solar with his savage strikes. The forbidden God snorts, sending more of the shimmering speckles airborne around him.

One Road steps over to Dal and slips his single remaining J-Daiklaive into the hands of the Zenith Solar, placing a hand on his back for a split second as he did so*

" I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this so soon, make sure this lasts!"

*Reaching under the front of his shirt, One Road retrieved eight throwing daggers. He brought both hands in close to his chest, then motioned them outwards, sending shadowy images of each dagger outwards to eight standing leech gods. When the shadows impact, the daggers disappear from One Road's hands and reappear in the bodies of the leech gods, terminating them immediately.*


The three remaining leech gods slink forward to One Road, seeing him as the most imminent threat. The three gods lash out at the single Sidereal, connecting solid twice, but doing only minor damage to the Journeys caste*

( {all Dal's attack and damage rolls are target 5 not 7 for the rest of the scene}

Leech:6
Leech:6
Leech:6
One Road:3
Balestrom:2
Dal:0 )

[Dal'Lumen]

Calibration, 1





*Dal's eyes widened as he felt the Sidereals essence course through him, joining with his own. He took up the sword, and gripped it firmly, his skin crackling as his hand cinched down on the handle. He filled the sword with his essence and immediately felt a surge of confidence, as if he could do no wrong, as if failure was impossible.

He took a measure of caution with this surge of confidence that came to him, relying on his endless hours of training to remind him that failure was always possible, and could only be minimized with proper consideration and precaution.*

"Yes... I understand."

*The starmetal resisted his essence but eventually was filled with it, and at that moment the J diakclaive looked as if it was a part of him that had been missing all this time. It suited him, became an extension of him. His mastery of this unique weapon became clear the moment he extended his arm and pointed it at Baelstrom menacingly.

He concentrated intently, aiming his next strike methodically. His attention back upon the condemned god.

In a blink Dal was upon Baelstrom, baring down with a gleaming sword of wrath, and in the next his slash had come down and he stood low with the sword drawn low, extended behind his center, parallel with his back leg. He made no sound but breathing as he turned the blade with his wrists and Slashed back up, pointing it back up at the ceiling, following through like a pendulum. An unusually powerful motion for someone wielding a weapon of finesse, which none the less was brutally efficient.

Even the swords the dark god raised in defense were cast aside under the fury of the strike, and the damage could be seen on Baelstrom as whatever the God had for blood sprayed in a line across his chest and down to the ground. His strike left a deep gushing slash down Baelstroms chest. The second strike had glanced off, showering sparks up Baelstroms chest and over his shoulder.

Dal glared, preparing for the retaliation, knowing now that this adversary could still be hurt. This fight was going to take everything just to keep up, he prayed backup would arrive soon... He would hold the breach for as long as he could.*





{-5m ATTN}

(-20m Aimed 25 SXS + 17SXS Attack on Baelstrom)



{ Balestrom parry: 11 }

(22 RAW Piercing - 12 soak = 7L Damage 14 RAW = no Damage)


(( Sword Stats Spd:5 Acc:3 Dam;8 Def:4 Rate:3 att:5))

[Ress]

Calibration 1,

* Balestrom shrieks as his divine form is cut by Dal's borrowed blade. His body tremors and ripples as his manifested form lost some integrity. in moments, his form solidified once more. a smirk crossed the forbidden god's face as he looked on at the zealous Zenith. From his wound, a fine golden dust sprays out of him and onto Dal, causing the silver flecks that surrounded him to fade into nothingness*

" I should not be surprised, should I? I have been away from anything that ages for thousands of years, my strength is not yet at full. I guess this means I can't afford to underestimate you anymore."

* Balestrom's form soon became difficult to focus on, his whole body seeming to skew as he moved with breakneck speed. Making a complete rotation, Balestrom extended both blades, intending for them to cut deep into the solar before him. Without missing a beat, he used the momentum to perform a leg sweep, then leaps into the air, doing a side kick in hopes of knocking the exalt a good distance away, just incase he had any more tricks up his sleeve*

* The horde of darkbrood that formed at the mouth of the tunnel began disappearing back into the dark depths of the caverns under the city*

(1st cut: 19 suxx
2nd cut: 14 suxx
Leg sweep: 11 suxx
Side kick: 13 suxx

Leech:5
Leech:5
Leech:5
Leech:3
Leech:3
Leech:3
Dal:3
One Road:0
Balestrom:4)

[Dal'Lumen]

Calibration, 1





"Oh?"


"I guess you thought this was my limit? Not even close..."

*He moved only his torso like a blurred swaying drunk in fast-forward dodging the two blades easily. As the sweep came round Dal tossed his sword into the air, the light his essence cast caused the flying sword to flash as it tumbled through the air like a flickering star. To avoid the incoming sweep he jumped sideways spinning in the air like a pinwheel, and landed as Baelstrom followed through with his back kick. Dal only moved backward slightly, allowing the kick to come within a hairs breadth of his nose, his pale gray eyes peering over the edge of the foot back at Baelstrom confidently. The sword he had thrown came back down, and without missing a beat he reached out to his sidie snatching the sword out of the air as easily as if it were handed to him. He'd evading all the attacks outright and made it look easy; another psychological technique to distress his adversaries confidence.



{{seven Shadows Evasion 4x -12m}}

[Ress]

Calibration 1

* One Road, looking to keep this battle as clear from leech god interference, reached his arms out, gripping tightly to the strands of fate around him, and wrapped them around the throwing daggers lodged within the carcasses of the fallen leech gods. With a flick of his wrist, One Road yanked the eight inert daggers, sending them spinning through the air. Still clinging to the invisible strands of fate, One Road rotated his boy a quarter turn, swinging both arms down at the hideous forbidden divinities which slobbered and growled around them, cutting down four of the six remaining Leech gods*

* Scale's body began to glow as her inner essence reserves hummed to life. She reared back up as her scales and feathers flared outward, looking like a serpent warning that it is ready to strike*

" Threat registered! Initiating self defensive protocols."

* From under her scales, small concussive essence cannons extended, their laser sights putting a steady bead on the two remaining leech gods, then blasted them tellingly with many shafts of blue crackling light.*

" Threat neutralized. Awaiting escalation clearance to infringe on Lawgiver combat"

"So, this is where the action is at now? I should have known!"
* From the thin air around them, Quie-Ra mterialized, his spear drawn and ready, despite the cuts and bruises along his immortal body*

" Balestrom? I thought mother told you to never show your face again? How fitting don't you think?"




(One Road:5
Balestrom:1
Quie-Ra:0
Dal:0
Scales:0)

[Dal'Lumen]

Calibration, 1





*Dal maintained eye contact with Baelstrom even as his underlings were obliterated around him, keeping a constant intimidating glare on him.*

"Ding, Ding, Ding! Times up! Hope you enjoyed your stay in Imperveress, time to say goodbye! Quie, Scales, let's do this!

*Dal Shot a smirk at Quie, and then turned and pointed at scales and then Baelstrom, signaling her to open fire on him.*

"Scales permission granted, engage with suppressive fire on Target, Quie his armor is thick, strike with intention... now with me!"

*Dal dashed right back in, using the shock of the last few moment to his advantage over Baelstrom, He took off at a full sprint, pushing the curve of his sword on the ground using it to control his turn and skid along on his toes, filling the room with the sound of grinding metal and trailed by a cascade of sparks, landing him behind the last standing dark god."

{6sxs Difficulty 1 Coordinated attack Dal, Scales, Quie = -3DV Baelstrom}

* Quie-Ra attacked on Dal's mark, his spear's end making sparks along the masoned wall as he held it high on its handle. A glowing white light slithered from the wall and up the leg of the forbidden god as Quie-Ra's form de-materialized, only to reappear above Balestrom, where he plunged his spear through the fleshy part of his shoulder, sinking it down into where a mortal ribcage might be. On his way down, Quie-Ra's body faded once again, reappearing on the back of Scales. All the while, a shaft of white light slithered all around the body of Balestrom, slowly taking the form of the Riverspeak word for "slice"*

*With Quie-Ra out of the way, Scales retracted her small concussive cannons, revealing a medium concussive essence cannon from within her chest cavity. After a second of charging, she fired a steady wave of concussive essence to disrupt Balstrom's form*

* Seeing the cannon pointed his way, Balestrom switched battle tactics and began turning the dead carcasses of leech gods into a dense sandstorm of silver and black lights which swirled around him, obscuring his form, making it slightly harder to hit him*

* With Quie-Ra cleared out of the way, and Balestrom concentrating on defending himself from Scales; Dal burst up from his crouched position with the fury of a jungle cat, lashing horizontally across the back of his enemies neck, seeking to sever head from body with all the force he had in him. His teeth were bared, his eyes wild, and a shout of effort escaped his lungs. Dals golden essence flared out again, rekindling it's previous splender as he pored everything into this one attack. Dal's attack would not be stopped by the bodies of the fallen, there was a flash of steel and everything, limbs and whole bodies were all cleaved though and Baelstrom was no exception.

( Scales Essence Cannon: 12 sux. 26RAW, 12 post soak. 4 damage
Quie-Ra: 8 sux. 14Raw, 4 post soak. 2 damage

Balestrom: Parry DV: 6, Soak 23L/20B, Hardness 10 )

Dal'Lumen {25 SXS Attack -1WP Valor Fuled - 10M = 31 Raw piercing 13L Damage }

[Ress]

Calibration, 1

* Balestrom gave a shriek as his body is bashed and battered from a combination of disrupting essence blasts and the slices from bladed artifact weaponry. within seconds, the material form of the forbidden god disappears, marked only by the single word "Slice"in riverspeak that floated around the dematerialized essence of Balestrom.

The word moved away as the god beat as hasty a retreat as its injured self could*

" Its escaping!" * One Road reached into his bag for a prayer strip, but found none that he needed*

" Slice?" * Scales tilted her head as she read the word that moved around the invisible person, her scales and feathers now dull from the expenditure of so much essence*

* upon uttering the word, it stopped and made a swift dash downward before disappearing into nothingness. Balestrom's two daggers clinked as they hit the ground, falling inert from the downed god. Quie-Ra propped himself against his spear, resting his knee to the wall as he looked on at what was before him*

" Right on time... a little present from the god of Riverspeak a long time ago. The question now is what do we do with him?"

* Out from the hole in the wall, five squat, stocky hairless blue skinned humanoids wielding white jade pickaxes appeared from the darkness. They wore sturdy moleskin clothing and looked at the three with large black emotionless eyes. From behind them, three squat humanoids with long peppered beards and goggles emerged ( think dwarves). on their backs were repeating crossbows and much like the blue beings, they too had jade pickaxes. The final being that emerged was nothing like the other eight. This was a tall almost Exalt like fire with long amethyst colored hair that cascaded around him as he walked out. He wore reinforced breastplate armor of many colors and stylized with images of gears and flames. In his hand was a giant grand goremaul also artistically fashioned from all five colors of jade. He looked at the four with a puzzled expression, his ruby red eyes looking between them as if trying to make sense of what he was looking at*

[Dal'Lumen]

* Dal's chest swelled and receded with heavy breathing, and his heart beat on his ribs as if it were trying to escape. He stood with his feet wide and both arms extended out to his sides, the yellow sand that had filled baelstrom streamed off of the sword he held in his right hand. He turned his attention to the new arrivals and assumed the worst. He drew his limbs in, grabbed the hilt of the sword with both hands and brought it in line with his spine in front of him and closed his eyes momentarily. When he opened his eyes again he pointed his sword at the group that had just emerged from the hole.*

"The puzzled expression on your face begs inquisition. Who are you, before you answer... Know if you plan any misdeeds against this empire we will destroy you as well!"

[Ress]

Calibration 1,



* The stocky blue skinned creatures looked at one another, unbothered by Dal's defensive position, then looked back at him, their almost frog like faces betraying no hint of sentience... until one spoke up*

" You have a strange accent..."

* When the blue skinned being spoke, he added a harsh emphasis on every hard sound (think Arabic) , but what he said was undeniably River-speak*

" People of Earth?"

* Scales posture changed from striking cobra to inquisitive corn snake as she looked over the five blue created beings. Scales feather's shimmer from root to tip as her essence cells began absorbing the ambient energy in the air*

"And Mountain Folk!"

* One Road placed his hand on Dal's shoulder, urging him to relax his posture*

" Do not worry, Dal... they are the enemies of the invaders as well."

" You are Prince of Earth, no?... our subterranean homes are overrun with darkbrood and they all seem to be coming here to the surface. Nobody has heard of anything like this occurring before."

* Their tall leader spoke in clearer Riverspeak, but still his accent was strange. He slung his hammer over his shoulder, sending refracted light in all directions from the glowing nodes that the smaller dwarven mountain folk carried*


* Quie-Ra walked to the invisible form of Balestrom, then knelt to his side. Quie-Ra's spear disappeared in a shaft of light*" Nobody else has ideas about this monster that can get loose any moments? Then mine goes to the top of the list! "* Quie-Ra forced his hand forward into where the chest of Balestrom might be. His hand pulsed with a white glow accompanied by the sound of a heartbeat*

" Balestrom, The Thief of Time... I condemn you to an existence of servitude, protecting the life and time of those you once sought to consume!"

* A hiss of white noise could be heard as the white light flowed outward into a roughly humanoid form. then collapsed into the form of a starmetal spear, stylized with swirls like wind. Quie Ra picked up the spear and swung it around a few times*

"wow.. I can't wait to try you out!"