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Post by Shifter on Jan 22, 2015 3:30:48 GMT
Shifter was getting tired, he needed to act fast. He grew claws and sharpened his teeth, transfered some of the muscle from his arms to his jaws and neck.
He charged against Roj, digging his claws into his foe's, securing a grip, finalising by bitting Roj's neck with his huge mouth and ripping of a large chunk flesh.
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 22, 2015 3:46:53 GMT
Shifter STR: 34 Roj the Sploj STR: 24
Shifter's mouth feels with his enemy's blood, almost choking him, but he manages to bite even deeper in Roj's neck. The giant wraps his arms around Shifter, trying to crush him to death, bit it too late. His life spills upon L'shak's face and chest, covering him in a tribute as satisfying as any he'd expected when coming to this dungheap of a village.
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Post by Shifter on Jan 22, 2015 3:50:19 GMT
Roj was done, but there was still Kuum. He looked around to trying find the other potential foe and also seeing how his troops were faring.
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 22, 2015 16:13:24 GMT
Shifter's troops were already in pieces, torn apart by the dozens of angry parents and siblings now approaching him, lead by their Clanfather.
"Kuum is not a warrior, kinslayer, but a master of illusion. You will not find our children now thanks to Roj's sacrifice, and you will almost certainly not survive if you do not leave immediately." Fenmir tosses him a tiny bag. "That is your master's final tribute. Perhaps that will sate him, but know that the Nightleaf Clan no longer tolerates your presence. Your crimes are abhorrent, and they only grow worse everyday. The only reason you still breathe through whatever you have for lungs is because we have no interest in angering your lord, who seems to collar and groom you like his favorite pet."
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Post by Shifter on Jan 22, 2015 17:43:19 GMT
"You've made a big mistake, old one." Shifter's brutish form said, ignoring the tiny bag and already growing wings for his next transformation. "I'll be back and when I do, you will repent this words... Death and ruin shall fall upon your clan; your women will weep as their children lie plagued by a thousand woes, your warriors will languish and fall under the weight of their own bodies. And when I'm done with them, they shall raise from their undug graves and follow me as I search for you in every corner of this scorched earth to bring you to your knees... This is the curse that I set upon you and your family." Spikes grew on his nape and a longs scorpian tail broke through his coxis, and with a flap of his wide wings the His Majesty's pet started to hover above their heads. He dived to grab his bone spear and Roj's limp dead body, and then soared off back to where he came from.
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 22, 2015 22:38:39 GMT
"Yes, well.. we can't have that."
Someone began humming, a sound that that made Shifter's ears collapse and bleed. A woman stepped forward and created a little motes of light, which promptly began gathering in Shifter's sensitive eyes. The manticore wings grew heavy and useless as frost grew on them in an instant. As his feet returned to the ground, a concrete substance began dragging and securing him, slowly covering the blind, deaf emissary.
Fenmir leaped forward with a distinct grace, and grabbed hold of Shifter's form. An unnatural tranquility flowed through his mind, a feeling he had never experienced in his long life.
***
When Shifter regained his senses and sense of self, he found himself lying atop a hill overlooking what was once the Blackleaf Clan's town. It had been reduced to cinders. Hanging from his manticore's pincer was the tribute Fenmir had attempted to offer earlier, a small bag of silk.
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Post by Shifter on Jan 22, 2015 22:48:27 GMT
"What just...?" Shifter said as he took back his elven form and got back on his feet.
He grabbed the silk bag from the ground, it had fallen from the pincer as he had his shifting going. A thought of reluctance came through his mind before he decided to open it, but in the end curiosity had the best of him.
(Int Check)
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 22, 2015 23:08:09 GMT
Shifter INT: 30
Inside was a single item, a plain silver ring, clearly designed for the thin fingers of old world humans. Upon closer inspiration, Shifter realized it was actually steel, not silver, and engraved with symbols on the inside. It was easy to assume that they were runes, as steel was commonly used by enchanters, but the metal itself did not shimmer with any obvious enchantment.
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Post by Shifter on Jan 22, 2015 23:17:30 GMT
Instinctively, Shifter decided to fit the ring... It was pretty, probably it would look even better on his finger.
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 22, 2015 23:37:49 GMT
The ring fits fine, but there is no obvious effect. Perhaps it was only meant to be worn by human hands, like most items from the Great War, but the Clanfather clearly thought it valuable enough to serve as tribute, and that meant it had some great value.
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Post by Shifter on Jan 22, 2015 23:40:32 GMT
Shifter shrigged and started descend the hill towards the village, he wanted to learn had broght it to such an end...
(Int check when he gets there)
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 22, 2015 23:56:18 GMT
Shifter INT: 37
Shifter could be forgiven for feeling offended. Wherever the villagers were, they certainly had not been burned alive. Shifter recognized the illusions for what they were by the flames never seeming to burn anything completely. It was a workable effect, but not up to the standards of His Majesty. However, the Aetherian is unable to determine if the villagers were still present, perhaps watching him at this very instant, or had used the opportunity to move on to another location.
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Post by Shifter on Jan 23, 2015 0:25:30 GMT
"Kuum..." Shifter chuckled. Knowing he was under an illusory spell made things a little more complicated; He had learned with his master that the tough part was not identifying the illusion, it was knowing when it was over. You see, some unburning flames could be just part of a much bigger illusion, a whole world generated inside his head.
If his eyes would not help him, he'd have to appeal to other sense. In that case, it was critical for him to confirm reality with all means possible. The Aetherian focused and started to change, again not to something specific... His mouth turned into a snout (enhancing his olfaction), his ears grew as a bat's (ecolocalisation), his tongue forked itself so he could taste the air around him, his head flattened as a hammer and his skin turned grey and soft as a shark's (electroreception). If there was something around, he'd know... Unless that was some really powerful Aetherian.
[Maybe I stretched a little with this one]
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Post by The Storyteller on Jan 23, 2015 2:13:10 GMT
Shifter INT: 33 Kuum INT: 28
His tongue told him there was no prey in front of him, but...
There... where the town square should be... the World's ugliest half-spirit could hear movement... feet walking on stone... somebody was still here, and moving steadily away from him...
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Post by Shifter on Jan 23, 2015 2:26:13 GMT
Time for the hunt... Shifter grinned, taking a new feline form but keeping his sensory appendages. He'd find this master of shadows and light and a tiger pursues his pray in the dark.
His muffled paws made little sound as he darted towards where he guessed the enemy would be.
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