Free-Form Fantasy

[babidikrakenguard]

Sha'thzar sat down on the cushions and crossed both her feet. She was very comfortable sitting this way. She sniffed around and could no longer smell death in the air and was relaxed. "Before we begin, what is the normal way? As i've said, i've never done this kind of thing before. Unless we are doing the 'normal way' then i am ready." Shal'thzar said with a smile.

[Noname]

"Well, I like to meditate with my legs crossed with a scented candle or some incense burning. I don't have that set up right now, but its still good." Because Sha'thzar was blind, she could not tell that Aurescia had taken off what few garments she had on. This was considered normal for her, in an enclosed, private environment, or in this case, with one who could not see anything. "The 'normal' way is simply closing ones eyes and finding one's center, with no magic involved. Anyway, if we are both comfortable, we can begin."

Aurescia closed her eyes and began to focus her magic. "The first thing you will want to do is to concentrate your power within yourself and focus it on one spot. Find your center and be at one with your magic. Then we go on to the next step."

[babidikrakenguard]

Shal'thzar followed Aurescia's instructions. Even though she was blind, she closed her eyes and concentrate on her own powers. She then felt as though she was one with atleast one of her magic powers: Water.. Shal'thzar however wasn't sure if she should remain this way or tell Aurescia if she had passed the first step.

[Noname]

Aurescia didn't need to open her eyes to tell that Shal'thzar was centered. The magical signatures she detected matched up perfectly with the bodies they inhabited. Both females were centered, so Aurescia could continue her instructions.

"Now you have to focus on your power, becoming one with it, so that manipulating it is as easy as moving a limb or taking a breath. Once you do this, you can put your consciousness into magical form, then, the way to the astral plane is simple."

[Serris]

"I have a lump of darksteel and a piece of Mithril," Torvin said. He did not mention the water sapphire in his pack.

"The mine is stable and there is a deposit of darksteel not too deep from the entrance. The Quartzon mine also produces a small amount of mithril but I do not know where the deposits are located," the Strutho said,

[Noname]

"That sounds good" the necromancer replied. "It was good of you to give me such information. Naive too. Don't ever give out any valuable facts without a price. If I can teach you anything, let it be that. Free knowledge is a gift, not a right. I shall trade you for the steel and Mithril." Reaching into a pocket, the dark mage pulled out a vial of green liquid.

"This is banefire extract, one of the many arts of necromancy. Pour it onto a blade and it will light up with the green fires of the netherworld, but don't let the flame touch you, lest you suffer under its decaying flame. You should have enough extract for three blades, or three doses for one blade, each dose lasting about an hour. If you need someone dead, one touch of banefire will be enough to kill almost anyone as they decay before your eyes. Is this a fair trade?"

[Serris]

Torvin nodded. "It is a fair trade," he said, handing over the darksteel and mithril.

The Struth looked at the sky. "We'd better get going," he said. "It's getting dark."

[Noname]

"Ah yes. I love it when that happens. Blessed be the darkness" the necromancer replied, handing over the vial in exchange for the metals. "Be very careful with that; one drop can make an entire hand wither. Now, I must be off. The metals must be acquired by sunrise."  

Alima didn't like it one bit. Then again, mages scared her. All that esoteric knowledge combined with a lust for power... it was mind boggling to her.

[Serris]

Torvin carefully wrapped the banefire extract and packed it in one of the Strutho's packs. "So what am I going to do with this?" he asked.

"Use it like the necromancer said. Use it to power up your weapons," the Strutho replied.

Torvin shook his head. "I will only use it if we have no other choice," he said.

The group was now approaching the hamlet where Torvin lived.

[Noname]

By now, it was late at night, and Cassia was tired. Alima was beat, so much so she had to ride on the Strutho's back after being unable to go any further. "Made it back at last. I was thinking this day would never end" Cassia told Torvin.

[Serris]

"My feet hurt," Torvin said,

The Strutho pulled the wagon into his paddock and waited for Torvin to unhitch him.

Torvin yawned and unhitched the Strutho. He carried the gear inside the house and promptly collapsed on his bed.

[Noname]

Cassia and Alima stumbled into the house, and promptly fell asleep on the couch. The morning came all too soon for the equine and the kobold, both of whom regarded the sun's rays as an annoyance rather than a thing of beauty. Still, Cassia got up, even though it was broad daylight when she woke, and had been for a few hours.

[Serris]

Torvin got out of bed and washed up. He then went to check on the sword blank that he had been heating for the past day.

[Mirumoto_Kenjiro]

Youri and the others jumped back as the lead evil wizard had absorbed the lifeblood and power of the lesser mages to transform himself into a monster.

"Damn!" Youri cursed.  "It's worse than fighting a lich!"

Storm Paw hissed at the sight with pure hatred for such evil power.

Halo leaped back and stood next to Silverfang.  "And I thought we were hunting necromancers," he said.

Shiana, not wanting to waste another moment, drew back an enchanted arrow and fired straight for the beast's left eye...

[Noname]

The arrow struck true, but it didn't weaken the beast. Instead, the mage only became stronger, fiercer, and stronger.

"Blast it! I was afraid of this!" Silverfang launched a ray of ice at the towering monster, freezing it solid! Unfortunately, the ice simply coated the tough carapace, leaving the creature with a frosty look, but otherwise unharmed. Then, the mage-turned-monster lunged at Silverfang, who drew his swords in defense, slicing at the monster, but once again, to no avail.

Ophion took a more constructive approach, firing a bolt of lightning at the monster, causing it to stagger back and then fall over, a burned hole of charred flesh seared into its scaled hide. The whole of the party looked at the mage with surprise; he had accomplished what the archmage had failed to do.

"That was amazing, Ophion!" Who was that?! Oh, it was the female who had joined them. Youri, Halo and the rest were not the only ones in the party. The female was one of those they managed to recruit from the tower.

"Well, thank you, miss. That thing must have been vulnerable to electricity. That's why it- NO!" Ophion shouted as the monster got up and lunged at Youri, larger and stronger than ever! The injury Ophion had inflicted on it had healed already, and if anything, the creature was only made angrier by it.

[Mirumoto_Kenjiro]

(OOC:  Stronger twice, huh? )

Youri, who never took his eyes off of the beast, waited until the last possible moment to dodge it, using his rapier hands to slice at the tendons of the monster's left knee in the process.

Halo took the opportunity to piece his staff back together and twirled in the monster's direction, kicking up another dust storm.

Shiana moved back and covered her face from the dust.  "It's no good here!  That monster's getting stronger for every second it remains in all this dark magic!  We've got to even the playing field!"

[Noname]

Ophion saw that every attempt to fight the creature was making it stronger. He had an odd idea... "Does anyone have a spell that can calm a creature down, or to put someone to sleep?!"

His plea seemed to fall on deaf ears as the battle continued. Then, the female who came from the guild, told him "I've got it!" She unleashed a wave of blue mist, or, rather, what seemed to be blue mist, from her hands, hurling it at the mage-turned-mosnter. Within a few moments, the beast calmed down.

"Don't attack it! You'll only enrage him further!" Silverfang told the others, who backed off.

[Mirumoto_Kenjiro]

Youri usually wasn't one to back down, but the situation advises him not to lunge.  He keeps himself at the ready.

Shiana holds a hand up to wave Storm Paw back, for senmurvs spare no mercy for evil beings.  The beast kept at a distance, but his pupil-less eyes remained fixated on the monster.

"I wonder if that thing retains the sentience of what it used to be," Halo pondered.  "If so, then we're still in trouble down here."

[Noname]

The monster calmed down, and did not attack. It mind only had four modes; kill, eat, mate, or rest. Since none of the stimuli for the other three were present, the monster switched to the default mode of resting. As it calmed down, it began to weaken and shrink, now that combat was not necessary, neither was all that bulk.

Transforming before their very eyes, Silverfang could see that there was an opportunity to strike the beast down before it was ready to fight. Quietly casting a damage-boosting spell on Youri's weapons, the mage suddenly shouted "NOW! Strike while he's weak!"

[Mirumoto_Kenjiro]

The runes on Youri's sword-hands began to glow with Silverfang's magic, and Youri knew what to do.  This was the initial purpose of his creation years ago.  Within a moment, he moved like a blur, and in one motion he closed in on the monster, one blade for his jugular and the other for the reptilian ear hole...