The Lord of the Forums >>> Return of the Nightmare

[mistral4543]

Rhianneth

As the booming voice droned on, revealing the identity of the vile creature, she felt her pulse growing less erratic. In fact, a gentle gurgling began, tickling her, until she finally burst out laughing. Not a pleasant laugh, but a derisive, incredulous one.

"So... you think that I wish to be his heir?"

A rhetorical question, it was. If the glint in her eye had been a weapon, it would have pierced through Terrakis' torso ~ "And pray, just what does being his heir bring me, that I do not already enjoy?"

Calm yourself down, woman... you are not quite out of danger yet, even if you are not a direct threat to them... ~ She inhaled deeply, considering her next words carefully before speaking them.

"No... I am not contesting you for the prize you crave, for I see that you will have enough trouble amongst yourselves, as to who is the one true ruler. Will it be yourself, or some other brother of yours?"

Another rhetorical question. How fond she was of them, especially when they could stir a little activity among seemingly cohesive groups!

"Anyway, I came because I seek the truth. Is Larry truly dead then?"

[Cyril Darkcloud]

For Rhianneth

Terrakis

Neither he nor his fellows exhibit any emotion as she laughs, for the derision of such a creature as this is of little consequence. He simply waits until her laughter subsides and her remarks are finished, his eyes all the while studying her movements intently. She is bold, of that there is no doubt. Bold, yes, and lacking much in the faculty of judgment. He wonders then, if it is not so much her strength of will, but her amusing foolishness that so charmed the One they name father.

“What you seek is unimportant, woman,” he says once she has finished speaking. “Foolish woman!” It is his turn now to laugh, a sound neither mirthful nor derisive but simply cold. Again, he indicates his brothers with a sweep of his arm. “We are his heirs, woman. You are no such thing. I see you have lost nothing of your proverbially poor judgment, you who so derisively underestimated the man of storms, you who simply abandoned our father thereafter, you whose defensive improvements to his tower left its roof undefended,” a note of anger sounds in his voice as he recites these events, an anger that is echoed in the movements of his brothers. A mighty arm tenses for a moment as if it would shoot forward and snap the body of the woman to pieces. His voice is cold as he continues, “No, woman, you are no heir. You are simply one in whom he placed his trust and proved herself unworthy of so great a gift. He esteemed you; whether or not breath continues to fill your lungs, however, is a very open question here where we know you only as the one who failed him.”

“Let us be clear about one more thing as well,” anger now gives way to a cold amusement in his words. “You did not come here at all. You were brought here, a helpless lump of stone seized from the lair of a hag.” Stooping he picks up a handful of broken stone, the pieces of what seem to have been statues. “Even your stammered mockery has been given to you, bought with the lives of those fools with whom you ventured below, in whose breaking was found your freedom.” He closes his fingers around the pieces of stone, crushing them and casting them casually back to the ground. “That you were important to him, and no other reason is why your stone form was taken from the hag. That you failed him was reason enough to have left you a motionless lump of rock, or to destroy you entirely…..” Again the tone of his words changes and the confident authority which surrounds him becomes even more oppressive, a thing that only the strongest of wills could hope to resist, and only then after no small struggle.

“….. And so it would have been, woman, had there been no one to intercede on your behalf …..”

ooc: Needless to say, I have a bit more ready to go, but as the post was getting long it seemed best to break it at this point and give you a chance to respond. Terrakis even moreso than the other Giants of Shadow is an overwhelming presence, and Rhianneth will have to successfully save vs fear at -3 to even have a chance at maintaining her arrogant demeanor in the face of the giant.

[Morgeruat]

Saithele

Looking at the gorgon, Saithele allowed a grim smile to flicker across his face, "Chances are good that only one or two of us shall return, if you are not one of them, then it won't matter what we remove from your home, and no that wasn't a threat, merely the truth that the thought of all of us surviving is so naive as to be laughable."

When Ana informed him of her goddess not allowing the magic to work, the elf nodded in understanding, "I thought as much, I have a few potions that might work, but it is all I have and I do not know if it will fully heal you," He then removed two potions from his cloak and set them on the ground in front of the gorgon, "Perhaps these will do the job fully."

After setting down the potions he continued his examination of Brendon's statue and the area.

[Larry_OHF]

Euryale

She merely hissed at him, as she slithered over to the potions, grabbed them up, and finished one after another. After the healing took place, she sighed and moved up closer to Saithele, looking him straight in the face.

"You place more trust in me, foolish elf, than I can imagine possible for any mortal. You must really be in need of help to stoop so low as to make bargains with one of my kind. It is curious. As for me...I know that I cannot get my revenge alone, yet I must also be foolish to think that you three pathetic fools would be of considerable aid."

She pauses for a moment to study the features of the elf. Then she hisses a sound similar to laughter.

"I wonder if you have the bravery...elf...to look me in the eyes, and risk your life. If you succeed this test...I will offer the aid of these caverns in your noble quest. Will you do this?"

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Anarrima

Ana shouts out in Elvish...with a drow accent of course...

"NO! It is a trap! If you die, we shall also fall! Do not listen to the snake!"

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DM Move>>>

For Ruby: Of course, you attempt a mind search of the thoughts of the gorgon at this time,,,but you discover that she has activated some type of mental block on herself, anticipating your move...and you are unable to see into her mind at all.

[mistral4543]

Rhianneth

As her laughter rebounded upon herself, she began to wonder at the wisdom of her actions ~ Can it be that they... ~ But it was an utterly foolish question, the answer was more than obvious ~ They could crush you within seconds, you moron. ~ The light in her eyes flickered several moments, and as she darted a glimpse at the towering figure, the gurgling in her stomach resumed.

This time, it was different.

It was a soreness that drilled deep inside, digging, spinning, drawing out the most vulnerable spot of her hard heart. It was determined to chip away the rough edges, pierce right to the core... and it would not stop. An involuntary gasp escaped her, even as she struggled to uphold her rigid stance, glaring at nothingness, not wanting to meet the eyes of her challenger before she was ready.

Break your will and you will have lost, Rhianneth. ~ At first, it was a frail cry, against the imposing, forceful pronouncement of Terrakis. But if she feared for her life against these pitiless monsters, she feared two things more.

Failure and weakness.

Have you not already lost to Mistral, you useless pathetic git? ~ She was hearing her own shrieks now, paying attention to nothing else ~ Will you lose yet again to more and more enemies?! ~ She was shivering now, from the battle of rage against terror ~ Get a grip of yourself or receive death, as you should, from your cowardice!

She felt the blood draining from her fists as she clenched them, her cheeks taut. Then tasted the blood in her lips, closing her eyes ~ You have come so far; die if you must, but die a dignified death. ~ When she re-opened her eyes, she was breathing more easily.

OOC>>> Post away, bro

[Morgeruat]

[img]graemlins/elf.gif[/img] Saithele

Pondering Ana's words for a moment, Saithele decided, looking at Euryale he announced, "You who have no concept of nobility, or at the very least have no idea what we Elves consider noble would try to use that against me? I will not fall into your trap, you have failed to make a dent in the giants skin, if you fear to give your aid, we shall leave you to rot here and deal with him alone, are you content to wait for him to get bored and send you to death, or worse?"

Shouldering his pack without waiting for her to reply he made ready to travel, and said "Ruby, Ana, let us leave this hag to her loss and destroyed slaves, She demands to much for the miniscule amount of aid she can offer, Euryale, if you refuse to come with us and we meet again, I shall deal with you as an enemy."

In moments the pack was once again invisbly resting on his shoulders under his dark cloak, and he was walking away from Euryale towards the entrance to the caves.

[Morgeruat]

Morguerat

The intruder was gone, the chaotic swirls of fog that were the warriors thoughts calmed once more, there was nothing to fight so early in the day, or was it late... he tried to focus on a thought, any thought, and chose the time of day as a place to start, thinking about the time did not cause him pain, although if he tried to recall the light ball above him out from the underneath the torment began again, but he was starting to recognize the warning signs of dangerous thoughts now, and could avoid them. Thoughts of pain were safe, as were thoughts of malice, warmongering and spite. but Nobility, Justice, Temperence, Humility, these thoughts caused a searing pain in his soul, a sense of loss that went beyond the physical pain thinking of his name, or previous life caused, that was a physical torment that made him collapse like a landed fish and cry like a babe.

The searing caused a deep hurt, a sense of loss he couldn't explain without delving into the realm of the other pain, but as he began to focus his thoughts he found he rather enjoyed the power over others the darker thoughts promised, he would conceal his motives from the mindspeaker, but deep in his heart a change that had been set in motion by one long dead to these lands, a Pet of the Modding Mage, Banished by Choc, and that change was taking hold and making him one with the darkness that empowered the arrow that took the purity from his soul.

Zachary saw the man continue to look around in a confused manner for several minutes before he finally settled into a grim smile.

Deep in the swirling chaos a lurker smiled at her work, and her cackling laughter at this most amusing puppet was dispersed into the ether before it could penetrate the haze overshadowing him.

{edit for sig}

[ 01-06-2004, 09:03 AM: Message edited by: Morgeruat ]

[RevRuby]

carefully watching the display of insulted egos, rbuy stays quiet. finding that the gorgons mind was blocked was not unexpected. many creatures and beings could block, it was simple. however ruby did not have the confidence in her companions ability to fight if she were to try and force her way in. the creature was strong, and ruby was not inclined to start something that may end thier lives.

seeing that the male elf was ready to leave, ruby spoke up, "wait! she owes you. the deal was to heal her, and to put brendon back to normal. if we leave now we can't very well take him with us, unless he is walking."

wyrd appears to agree with ruby, fixing his cold gaze on euryale.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

As Zachary's head finally begins to clear completely, he notices a smile cross the warrior's face...but for some reason....the sight of it doesn't bring him much comfort. It is not a smile of joy and happiness. Rather it is a cold grim smile without mirth, but with an odd measure of satisfaction.

The cleric isn't sure if this bodes ill or well for him. It is quite possible his interference allowed the warrior some manner of personal victory over his inner conflict. It is also just as likely that he has slipped further in his struggle, but no longer fears or fights it as strongly as he did before.

The warrior is an accomplished fighter and has been a good ally so far, but Zachary still doesn't feel comfortable turning his back on him.

[Larry_OHF]

Euryale

Seeing the glare of the lion, Euryale responded,

"Well do not blame me if the male elf is so caught up in his own self-preservation that he forgets his friends, lion! I still intend to do as I offered. I am at least honorable in that...especially if it will help me have my vengence on Terrakis."

Euryale focuses her glare on the statue of Brendon and her eyes begin to change and glow bright green. In a flash, Brendon fell to the ground, being made flesh once again.

"I have not fully recovered from my wounds the giant gave me. You four go and do what you can. I will reward you heavily for his head if you survive to bring it to me. Advice I offer. Terrakis was not created with the magic you are a part of elf. Your powers will be unusable against him to a large measure. In order to harm him, you will need more than what you current possess. Search for this hidden power that you may be victorious. Go as you are now...you will be throwing your lives away. Do you understand me?"

Without waiting for his reply, Euryale turned her back and began to move away.

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Brendon 20/70

Brendon had fallen to the ground, shivering from the sudden change. His body ached and his mouth was dry. He began trying to recount the events that had led up to this point, but could not remember much.

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Anarrima

The she-elf saw Brendon fall to the floor and she was so relieved that they were able to persuade the foul creature to release him. She looked him over and saw that he had received multiple wounds before he had been stoned-over. She began to chant a prayer to her goddess to restore his health again.

Anarrima casts: Heal