RP:An Appetite for Destruction
Ensorcelled Dojo
Svilfon enters the dojo with a hint of trepidation. He had not asked permission to do this, for in doing so it would ruin its purpose, but he was sure the snow queen would allow it – even if the only way she can is by not knowing. He moves across the large room slowly, before pulling from within the folds of his robes the spellbook he wrote. It is a large tome; on its cover, etched in gold, in Svil's symbol: A wizard's hat. And all four corners of the book are marked with his unique mage circle. Revrently he traces his finger along it, before placing it down beneath the pedastol. This was the only way. With a quiet nod to himself, the wizard begins to mark out along the ground a huge pattern; layers within layers cross and mix, each twisting up and around, ending at a circle in which the book now sits. It takes him a long time to perfect it, but when done he carefully walks to its edge and speaks a few quiet arcane words. The lines glow with fiery light for just a moment, before they settle down again; latching themselves to the illusionary magic woven into the room and tying them to his book. Satisfied the first is done, he weaves a simple spell blocking the entrance to the room – he was sure Satoshi would recognize his magic in it – before he fades from sight – seeking through their bond his family member, Dami...
Colleseum
Dami didn't visit the Colluseum much. Even though it was a product of both her skill and boredom, she hardly felt the need to admire the work, and even less- the combatants that usually fought within. Only the toughest of the tough fought here, everyone knew that. So here she sat, tipped back in the massive, stone-carved chair that belonged to her, and only her. Patiently she rocked back and forth, paying no heed to either the weight and size of the furniture, but instead a rather annoying piece of folded parchment. Out of thin air, it simply appeared, and proceeded to fly, whiz, and zip around her head till she snatched it up and studied its contents. Now, she wasn't sure how long it was suppose to do that, or what she needed to do to stop it, but either way, it was like a twelve year old jacked up on pop. Dashing back and forth, zig-zagging around her head, it showed no let up in its relentless assult of annoyance. When she met Svil for the rest time, she was going to pelt it at him.
Svilfon appears out of a small cloud of smoke right into his own unique chair. One of the few things that is always warm in Frostmaw; curtesy of the wizard imbuing it with enough of his fiery magic to ensure it can resist the frigid temperatures of this place. He wastes little time in looking over at Dami and can't quite stop himself from flashing the powerful terramancer a crooked grin. "I think it likes you." He snickers to himself as he reaches out his hand and draws from the very air his Xalious-wood wand. He uses it to absently tap upon the armrest of his chair while he speaks again. "Did you read it?" Not really a usual greeting from the often loquacious wizard, but the only time he met Dami they shared perhaps two words, and Svilfon was sure the woman liked it that way.
Dami believe it or not, wasn't as rocky as her exterior might have suggested. On the contrary, she was quite talkative type for the few well aquainted with Coterie, and friends of Coterie; maybe anyone willing to buy her a drink or two, also. "I was hoping it would stop when I did~" Up until now, the lively sheet of parchment was of mild annoyance- at least until it took to folding up into a shoddy airplane, denting the tip of its nose against her forehead. Swipping up and crunching it around the mid, she'd shake the letter violently before looking to Svil. "Svil, I presume? Funny. It was in these same two chairs, in the same booth, that we met. Ironic, no?" She flashed a curt smile.
Svilfon could well have stopped the letter flying around his companion's head - and considering he was here to ask a favor, one that could cost Dami greatly, he really probably should have. But damnit! In a serious situation or not, he was still a wizard; he was allowed to enjoy the fruits of his labour's harvest. So with a small grin as he meets Dami's gaze, that turns into a larger one when she really starts to throttle the piece of paper, he speaks again. "Aye, Svilfon, wizard. Our first meeting was here..." The vampire lets his gaze briefly wash over the structure, before it returns to the terramancer. "Quite soon after you built it, if I'm not mistaken." Suddenly the wizard taps his wand three quick times against his armrest; it causes the piece of paper, which was fruitlessly trying to give Dami a paper-cut - quite possibly the single hardest thing of all time to do - to return to its normal papery state. "It is that very gift which I need. I have no ties of friendship to ask it, so instead I use family. Even though it is not my right. I hope you do not mind."
Dami was on the verge of just sitting on the damned thing, putting an end to its jittery, critter-like movements. Instead, the wizard simply put an end to its excitement with three simple taps. "The day I presented it to the Queen, infact. It gets a healthy amount of use, from what I've heard, and seen." Dami carelessly set the crumpled paper down on the arm rest of Kirien's chair, before crossing both arms letting her chair fall back flat. "Despite our lack of of aquaintance, you just like the rest are Coterie, too. I'd be willing to move the ends of the earth, if needed." Granted, so long as it didn't bring 'too' much trouble her way; she had enough with just staying on Kasyr's bad side alone. "What is it you need from me, friend?" For the first time in months, Dami's infamous fauxhawk was back, standing firm, and above all else- out of her eyes. For this, she met the man's eyes with her own.
Svilfon gives the terramancer a very serious tip of his hat. "Just as I would burn the world down to save the others of the Coterie." This is all the confirmation he needs, and with a quiet nod to himself that says, if they survive, he's going to spend more time with Dami, the wizard gets to his feet and begins to speak. "I will cast a protective spell on you, and then you and I will travel how I do through the world... there is something that must be slain, and in doing so, I will take what is needed." For just a moment Svil falls quiet, before with another nod to himself he speaks again; this was the only way, he was sure. "Were you not family, I would answer more with lies. But you are. So instead I ask simply that you trust me. There is a chance we will die, and it is certain that afterwards you will be drawn and tired - perhaps for just a while your magic may not be so strong. But.. it is the only way."
Dami was already reaching into the inner pocket of her bomber jacket, digging out a pair of sleek- but hardy gloves. Simple leather, but laced with none other than raw ghroundium plates (albeit small and thin-), enough to give her that extra oomph in her punch. Maybe even catch a blade or two; terramancy was only half of what she did~ "Impossible. I've died twice already, it won't happen again." She'd pause to wink, "Whenever you're ready, then." Given the hell Kasyr had put this man.. woman.. Person! through, there was very little that could shake her cool, calm demeanor.
Svilfon flashes a bright grin. Oh, how he liked this woman's attitude. "You and I could be great friends, you know." With a final tip of his hat the wizard walks over and speaks in quiet tones... "Just... relax... this part won't hurt." He snaps off a quick wink, before his eyes drift shut and he begins to speak an eldritch spell. The words are in an ancient tongue, yet they are strangely soothing... coaxing... warming to the sweet release of sleep for just a moment... To those watching the powerful pair, it would seem they simply vanish, but for Svilfon and Dami the trip is violent and quick; a shuddering of mind and body from the Colosseum into Satoshi's house; into the centre of the dojo... but it does not appear to be so. The wizard has heavily prepared the room, so when Dami's eyes open it would appear the two stand in the middle of a hot, dry desert. Winds whip sands with vicious speeds, and as the wizard leans against the moving air he screams across to Dami. "Come... The beast is close... I can smell it." Svil begins to walk towards the coming wind, heading towards its apparent source. The spells cast in this room are very strong, ensuring it is almost impossible to tell this is merely an illusion... and though it is a world that exists only in magic, the dangers are very, very real...
Ensorcelled Dojo
Dami was a fickle one. Master of earth and rock, arcane and otherwise, yet held a sour expression for 'magic' as a whole. In short, she wasn't a particular fan of something she didn't know much about. So naturally, the 'trip' left a bad taste in her mouth, metaphorically speaking of course. From frigid to sweltering, snow-to-sand.. she to say the least, was struck in awe. The goggles that dangled from her neck were quickly put on, and the jacket pulled shut. She didn't say much, but simply trailed in his wake, already putting every sense of perception into the sand they crossed. Whether or not this desert was real, her terramancy treated it as if it was. At least for now.
Svilfon struggles against the oncoming wind, spitting sand from his mouth every so often, and trying in vain to use his wizard hat to block the worst of the storm's wrath. They travel for a short while, though in the midst of the desert it is hard to tell how long, before they crest a high dune that breaks on the other side into a deep, dark pit. Mangled remains of tendril-like limbs twist and dance in the wind and tied to some are skeletal remains; the flesh taken long ago by the harsh environment. An almost palpable sense of dread eminates from the tunnel, and though the wind is loud, there is a sad howling in its tones; an unmistakably sentient cry for a release from torment. Svil moves as close to Dami as he can, and using his hands to help he speaks in her ear. "The beast lives in the heart of there, Dami... Only you can travel down through the earth to get it... I will help as best I can, my friend, but so deep inside Hollow's ground my magic is all-but useless." The wizard moves himself a touch, so Dami can see the almost endless depths that the pit sinks to - and judging from the remains around its edges of broken limbs and shattered bones, it would appear the beast inside is large... "Will you go in for me, Dami?"
Dami said, "If you weren't Coterie, I'd have already pushed you down- buried it, and set off in the other direction." She was serious too; no way in hell, you could make such a request and expect a straight reply. The elf did smile in the end though, and simply put her back to the pit. "I want two beers, and a bar full of wenches when this is all over." With that, she'd offer him a half-assed two-fingered salute, before tipping backwards to start her dangerous decent. There was something about that tickle in her stomach she always had when free falling like this; it was almost as good as a long night of se- ~Slam!~ She hit the wall. Scraping once- twice, and three times with her boots, the terramancer found and slid along the length of curved rock before coming to a stop. Nearly pitch black, Dami would need to rely on her ties to the earth to guide her along; she was for tonight, the fantasy version of Marvel's Daredevil.
Svilfon lets out a laugh at Dami's request; the thought of finding a bar full of lesbian wenches is too much even forhim. But as the terramancer Dami leaps in and can't help but smile again. She shared a mindset with him, and it is rare the wizard finds someone of a like mind. But today wasn't a day for such things. As she fades away deep within, Svil waves his hand an enacts a barrier around himself which stops the wind and sand, before he sits down crosslegged and begins to chant in a guttural language. The images of this place were not real, though the dangers were.. but even that wasn't enough to truly get what he wanted. So instead of using the powers of the dojo, Svilfon creates the beast within the pit himself. He remains sealed within his barrier, unmoving, but to him it seems his slitted eyes suddenly open deep within the earth. An unconscious growl comes from the beast, before it drags itself to its feet within the massive cavern and stretches its arms out wide. The creature seems half flesh and half stone; shaped more like a gorilla than a man, its long thick arms are covered in jagged protusions of rock. They move into a large body, legs thicker than a man is wide, and finally down to clawed feet which grip the stone with ferocious strength. It stands larger than a giant, and in a voice that sounds like a landslide it speaks. The sound echoes and dances through the tunnels, making its convoluted way to Dami, though still remaining entirely decipherable. "Another... another... come to me, thief... let me feast upon your flesh like I have so many before..." Hideous laughter follows the words, before Svil's creation bends down and tears a massive chunk of the earth clean out of a wall. This is what he'd be using to greet Dami with.
Dami kept the goggles on, no point in taking them off. Down here, it was as black as the devil's heart, and had it not been for her innate mastery of everything earth, this would mark her tomb. What she saw instead, was not necessarily dark, and only dark. She saw-- or rather felt --the outline of every rough edge, every jagged rock, and every bending curve in the network of tunnels. Much how a bat used its sonar location to move in the night, so too did Dami- with her terramancic talent. In fact, traversing the pit was far easier, and quicker than she would have thought. In no time the elf found herself stepping around the last turn in a series of tunnels, headed straight for the belly of the beast.
The beast, though as good at terramancy as Svilfon is, which is to say not that great, cannot sense through the stones where Dami is exactly, yet it can sense her presence through the bond shared by all Coterie. And so when Dami walks around the last corner into the cavern, the creation has already retracted its arm, and thrown the massive ball of stone - which is bigger than a horse - right at Dami. He snarls with glee, before his huge hands meet the ground and on all fours the creature charges right at the terramancer; its jagged flesh tearing away at pieces of the cavern as if they were as weak as freshly fallen snow; an indication, perhaps, of this beast's strength. It appears to have no definitive motive as it runs, other than getting close to terramancer and erupting into as much violence as a huge beast can... which is a lot, I am sure.
Dami was late in throwing up her guard. That stone wasn't hers, or of her willing creation. It was one thing to counter a simple boulder thrown her way, but another for a piece of the earth that wasn't under her direct control. In short, there was no stopping it- Dami was inevitably hit. That wasn't to say she couldn't minimize the damage- she didn't put those ghroundium plated gloves on for nothing. Her defense was bold, simple, and if anything boring. It served its purpose though, the boulder earning a swift, but strong Superman punch to the face! Fragments of crippled rock exploded, leaving her heavily staggered, but not out of the fight. The creature- as luck would have it -was made of earth, and for that was lit up like a beacon for her. Staggered as she was, it was no excuse for the elf to send a countering blow in her defense. Spinning on unsteady feet, she moved with the fluidity of water (a well earned tip from Redovian) and did a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn, pitching both hands up at her side. Ripping the cavern apart piece by piece, she'd start with a massive stalagmite of earth, aimed diagonally for the beast's chest, originating not only a few meters in front of the creatures path. A style of jitsu, using one's weight against them, and in Dami's case, momentum as well.
Svilfon can feel the magic flowing from Dami, through his magic circle and into the book. But he needs more... there must be more... so he drives his beast onwards as it fights deep within the earth below with no apparent care for Dami's safety... The hideous beast reacts with typical rage as its boulder is shattered by the terramancer, though majority of it is merely a show the wizard puts on. It screams loud enough to dislodge small pieces of stone from the roof, but the cry ends in a gurgled moan of pain as the massive stalagmite drives forward into its chest. Stone meets the creature's chest bone and the hideous crack that resounds is a disgusting mixture of both breaking, which causes the beast to spew a torrent of green blood from its mouth. But even with jagged bone grinding against his chest, the creature will not stop - could not stop. And so with no care at all at real defence, it sweeps its hand out, aiming to grab Dami, while its other hand whips behind, up, and then down with horrendous strength. If all goes to plan, Dami will be trapped long enough for the beast to squash her, but if she evades the first grasp, the hand will follow as best it can her path, so it can end her once and for all... on the surface, blood begins to pour from Svilfon's mouth, but still he maintains the spell...
Dami was hardly using terramancic skill in this fight, the latter mostly being strength granted though passive means. Still though, if she was going to end this creature, that would all change- quickly, too. While the first grappling assult was easily dodged, the unfoerseen slap of the second hand wasn't. Having barey came out of an acrobatic tumble, she was caught off guard, and promptly flattened. Now, Dami had never been one for the rules, making time to spit in the face of every single one. The rule of political, authorative, and even thumb. But where it got interesting, was how she chose to break not only the laws of physics, but life as a whole. A blow like that should have killed even the toughest, and most armored of men. Not Dami. The elf instead was flexing her arms as hard as she could, gripping the massive palm holding her down, if only so she could lift it a foot or two in the air. On her back, she threw it to her left while giving herself time to sweep both legs around, and spin up to her feet, akin to that of a New York street performing break dancer. Though her moves were flashy and showboat-ish, they had reason; once again, moving to the fluidity of her body, pieces of the shattered boulder lifted and sliced through the air, blasting the face of the golem-like construct. She only hoped that could serve enough as a distraction for her to get in place. Dashing forward with the speed granted by her vampirism, Dami swooped in low and fast, hoping to throw a linebacker's shoulder to the legs of her foe. If it was successfully staggered, she'd work on climbing it next.
Svilfon feels the resistence Dami offers to his attack and smiles a small bloody smile from his place in the desert. This is why she was here, after all. There was something entirely indomitable about the woman; unbreakable, unbendable; she is the very epitome of solidity. Which was why she is perfect for this. The ties between this woven world and book draw upon what she does, and slowly as the two battle one of the symbols of Svilfon's magic circle etched onto his book's cover begins to change... to slowly shift into an image of a jagged piece of earth. But it was not enough, yet. He needed more; his wife must never claim his work. None must. So he continues to drive the beast onwards. As Dami sends the shards of shattered stone hurling towards him, the beast snaps his hand that tried to crush her up to his face, blocking the stones and also obscuring from view the terramancer's second attack. She slams full force into his knee, buckling the limb backwards with a hideous noise and sending it staggering back. He does not fall, though - and though he makes a crude attempt to stop Dami from climbing him, it is infact merely a feint to his true attack. As soon as the woman had latched onto him, the beast acts with a speed that is not at all natural. Feed by Svilfon's will, the world changes a little to allow him this moment; and though if Dami is perceptive enough she might notice that not all is quite right, the woman doesn't have the time contemplate it. For she is wrapped now in the grasp of the horrific beast, and from each size he squeezes with all his ferocious might. The world above begins to fade out as Svilfon focuses all of his attention on this one moment. This grabbing and crushing of Dami. And slowly, so slowly, the jagged protrusions of stone from his arms would begin to grow.. seeking to crush the life out of the woman... and the only thing that can apparently stop this hideous death from coming true is her terramancy... it is a compulsion sent in part by the wizard... to use her strength to stop the stones. To end this grip of death. To prove herself stronger than the beast which lives in this pit, and in doing so, gift the book enough strength to ensure it will be equally as indestructible...
Dami had gotten cocky, comfortable. Careless. The shoulder to its knees was a spot on connection, but at the same time, flawed as an attack. She didn't even get two arms around the body to begin her ascent, before she was caught- scooped up into the arms of her enemy. Much like something she would do to a poor, unsuspecting humanoid of her size, 'it' now had her in the deathly embrace of a bear hug. She could feel its strength and pressure it used, gauging just how strong it- and herself -really was. Some would say this was where it all ended, the woman caught in the clenching muscles of this abombination- truly an inescapable fate. For Dami, Fate might as well been another rule to add to her defiant list. This creature, of rock-like orgin, had her pressed against its chest and arms. As stated before, if it wasn't of her will or creation, control was hard; when it was this close against her, like the earth under her feet, the rules suddenly changed. Wasting no time, Dami tapped directly into the arms of her enemy, and made them her own (figuratively speaking). Shattering like the projectile sent at her earlier, the terramancer was instantly released and dropped to the floor where she would remain, crippled at her knees. From the forearm down, Svil's construct was without its limbs, a mixture of blood and stone messily coating the area around them.
Svilfon can feel the magic that weaves throughout this room. He senses the flow coming to the book, and the bounds of his magic weakening against the mass of this potent spell-casting. He was strong, very strong; but he had a limit and it was soon approaching. But he could also sense the moment Dami released her potent terramancy upon the beast's arms. He feels it as if they were his own; and though his arms are not torn off, huge wounds appear up and down them as the creature is torn apart by Dami. The agony is too much, even for a mind as disciplined as the wizard's, and so he breaks his control of the beast and shudders into a heap at the top of the pit's edge in a pool of growing blood. Beneath the earth, the creature which Svil created, a very real creature, suddenly awakens with its own mind to feel a wash of agony that is indescribable. It goes besererk; thrashing its stumps around without real direction as its legs fail at keeping it upright. It falls forward into a heap of screaming flesh and lays in within the cavern, thrashing still as its life quickly fades from its shattered body... On the surface, Svil is coming back around. He could sense the limits of the illusion fading as the book seals its stolen magics, but the wizard didn't want Dami to know that this wasn't real. So he hides his wounds beneath his robes, before wiping the blood from his mouth. He sends a thought down to Dami; it is ambiguous, but it portrays he is satisfied, and the time is soon coming to leave...
Dami was on her hands and knees, crawling painfully forward while thick spatters of blood were coughed up. Dami may have been the deffinition of solidity in his eyes, but she -like the wizard- had her limits. Despite her strength, terramancy, and all around hardiness- she was broken. The damage externally was mimimal at best; inside was a different story. Albeit nothing was technically 'broken', plenty was cracked. Ribs, shoulders, and even a collar bone. Organs, which had been of no use for quite some time, were bruised and full of lacerations, making this fatal to anyone other than a vampire. She wasn't done, the screams of her enemy only fueled her anger. With shuddering breaths, she'd pound the ground with her balled up fists, purely out of frustration. Again, and again, and again. The surface to her right tremored and sent a splintering crack along- then her left. Back and forth the floor broke, piece by piece till it was nothing more than a litter of boulders and slabs of rock the size of a small automobile. Boulders and slabs, that pulled together by an etheral chain of terramancic magic, driven by the arms of the woman wielding them. All around her, the earth was alive- as if now an extension of mind, body and soul. With one last effort, Dami rose to her feet, each step staggering after the other. Rising with her, were the crudely made limbs of earth and rock, all connected by the torso of an elemental construct. Towering at least fourty feet behind her, this earthen golem acted as the woman's new shadow- an extension of her body, rising out of the ground from a waist only. A marionette of destruction. A roar of lavish disgust was lost in the grind of stone, each shadowed punch mimiced by the creation behind. Down it punched, right- then left- and right again, obliterating Svil's fiend with an empty stare. It punched, and punched, and punched, till the remains of the rock-like creature was literally, a pulpy smear on both cavern floor- and rocky knuckles. Only then, did Dami collapse, and with it, her anger. The woman was a crumpled pile of exhastion and heavy abuse- while the golem behind her, a pile of earth.
Colesseum
Svilfon smiles a bloody smile from atop the pit as he feels the surging of terramantic energy flowing from Dami; the etching on his book solidifies itself into a jagged edge of earth, and with a spark of life, it stores the magic within its archaic depths; locked forever to defend it from destruction. The magic is strong within it; months Svil has spent on this work, so when it grasps the last of the power it tears apart the illusion around them. It is lucky this happens when Dami collapses. In an instant the bleeding wizard is at her side. He touches his hand to her head and whispers a single word into the room which causes them both to vanish in a cloud of smoke. They appear again in the Colosseum and Svil moves quickly to grab Dami and place her back in her chair. He knew she would be safe here, but now wasn't the time to answer any questions about it. He needed to get the rest of the Coterie first. So using the last of his strength the vampire speaks a series of words. The air around the arm of Dami's chair begins to shimmer for a long moment, before a strangely decorated bottle of bloodwine appears there. It is from Svilfon's special stash and part of a deal he has with the butcher Valentin. The bottle is connected through their magic into a room; the blood Dami would drink from it is as fresh as a new victim's, for he was in fact drinking the blood of a poor captured victim, hidden deep below Cenril's streets. It would refill itself a few times before being empty, and throughout it is laced with a potent alcoholic drink. This wasn't done on purpose, it was simply a reaction to Svil casting this magic. He leaves this here with the terramancer, and after whispering the words, "I'm sorry... but thank you..." The wizard vanishes from sight - back to collect his book, rest, and then prepare himself a way to repeat the success of this with Kasyr.
Svil gave 50 blood wine to Dami.
Dami slumped poorly in the stone chair, looking like a drugged victim ready for interogation. Luckily that wasn't the case. That was twice now, twice in the same week at that, she lost control. Too much did her emotions play in that fight, all because ego and pride were as damaged as her chest. There wasn't too many things that could cripple the woman like so, and when it could, she was anything but calm about it. That.. that creature, whose face she'd never see, did just that; it damaged her. Barely hanging onto conscious, she'd roll her head to the side, and eye the glass and eventually Svilfon. All he'd get from her was a coy, bloody-toothed smile, and a couple muttered words. "I want three beers, and a wife after that." That was the last she'd say to him before he vanished into thin air.