Elements RPG! Part 2

[icybraker]

If no one posts in 20 minutes, I'll edit this post with segment 2.

"Anything else you've ever felt? Anything... aetherial?" Illustrus was intrigued.

Heimdall remembered back to morning. "Yes... I... I think I once used my mind to... repair myself, sort of. I concentrated, and I was no longer tired. Blue waves flew off of my skin for a second before I absorbed them and felt energy flow into my body."

Illustrus's eyes flew open. "When was this?"

"Just this morning."

With a fire in his eyes, Illustrus stood up. "If..."

In a motion so fast Heimdall had no time to counter it, Illustrus had unsheathed his sword, glowing with sigils, and had swung it at Heimdall's right side. Heimdall instinctively protected his mind from the pain he knew would come and closed his eyes. However, he felt no pain. Warily, he opened his eyes. Nothing had changed. Illustrus was still standing, an expression of sheer wonder on his face. Behind him, Veneficus also stood, dumbstruck and slack-jawed. Heimdall stared at Illustrus's sword, which was sticking straight into Heimdall's stomach.

But Heimdall was different. His body was like a pane of glass with only the contour showing. He stared at his hand and chest. They were devoid of color, and he could see straight through the woven carpet at his feet through his clear body. My god.

And then, Illustrus had pulled his blade away from Heimdall, and Heimdall regained his normal, corporeal form. They sat down once again. "What?" Heimdall said, panicked. "What just happened?"

"Q... Quint... Quintessence..." said Illustrus. Heimdall had never seen him so shaken. "A Quintessence spell."

"Quintessence?" Heimdall had only heard of that once or twice. "Isn't that... a potion that makes you... immortal for a period of time?"

"Yes," explained Veneficus. "But the potion itself is extremely rare. Immortals like Illustrus are born with the ability to be 'immortal'; in fact, this is really the ability to phase out into a dimension parallel to ours. For Immortals, this ability is active; they must will themselves to phase out into the alternate dimension. For the select few who have Quintessence potions, the effect is automatic. While one is in the phase dimension, one cannot be hurt or harmed by the physical world... at all. Quintessence also serves to rejuvenate and revive."

"But I don't have a Quintessence potion!" said Heimdall. "How? How did I do this?"

"Again," said Illustrus, "You have innate powers of Aether. You have demonstrated this twice. You... are unique. I've never seen anyone like you. You should experiment with your powers. Try to cast Quintessence on someone else. Try to use Thunderbolt again. Experiment, like I do. You're the only one who can unlock you're own powers."

Before he knew it, Heimdall was thanked out of the barracks. as he pushed and shoved his way back to the relatively calm streets of Umbrios, Illustrus's words echoed in his ears. You're the only one who can unlock you're own powers. They told me what these powers were. Aether. And it definitely has something to do with my shard... but I have to learn for myself. Experiment. I guess I'll start here. He noticed Orthon, the vampiric manservant, wandering in the streets.

"Hey, Orthon. Can you do me a favor?" said Heimdall.
"Eh," said Orthon. "I'm on my break. It better be simple."
"It is," said Heimdall. "Hit me."
Without a pause, Orthon said, "Don't mind if I do!" He pulled one fist back and swung it. It caught Heimdall square in the chest. Heimdall staggered backwards, bile rising to his throat. I guess my time limit is up. "That good?" said Orthon with a huge grin.
"Thanks," said Heimdall, walking away quickly.
"Pleasure's mine!" called Orthon. Heimdall strode quickly back to the citadel, clutching his upset stomach with more questions than answers.

[Sirenes]

Sirenes laughs at Xanriel's joke, a bit too much. She was excited. Very excited and ready to learn something new. Watching as the mote floated outward to different positions in the room, she reached out and gently touched one, her fingers passing right through it and disappearing in the brilliant light it gave off. Her attention turns back to Xanriel as he take his stance and she does her best to copy it. "Okay... like this?"

Alexandria lands a few meters away, running the rest of the distance, pushed by the inertia of her flight. Her eyes blazed with anger as she glared at the trapped anubis, glider dragged to the ground in one hand, the other clenched into a fist. She extends and finger and brings it up to point at him. It was an odd sight, the short young woman man handling someone almost two feet taller than she without fear. "How dare you just use some damn spell on me without any provocation! Who do you think you are?! I wanted nothing to do with you or your motherlovin' caravan! And who in the hell is Mariah?!"

[Purity_Riot]

OOC: Ah, but you don't know Sekhor the way I do. All he wants to do is be an excellent sword dancer, he's not brave, he won't risk himself to save a world he doesn't care about. He's a master of time, time flows, he doesn't care where it goes. If he had shown up, he wouldn't have left, but he wouldn't have shown up. Think Yoh Asakura, only not brave, with no cause to fight for.

InC:

Xanriel:

"Widen your base a little.. perfect, just like that. It's not about being prepared to attack, it's about being able to shift your wait easily. It's like treading water. You aren't fighting the water, you're becoming part of it," He smiles, proud of his own analogy, "Alright, now run at me, and try to punch me." He waited, ready to grab Sirenes's arm as she struck at him, so he could pull it over his body, throwing her off balance.

Sekhor:

A confused look crossed the anubis's beastial eyes, what was Mariah's game? He decided to play along. "My apologies... you remind me of someone from long ago. Please, release me, I was only taking the actions I thought were necessary." Mariah had always had a tender spot for his big eyes, and he looked at her with all the pleaing he could bare. He hated the look, she had always said it made him look like a puppy, but in this case it was necessary. Not once, even since he had gained his father's powers, had he been able to break free of this spell. His only idea was to jump back in time, but he decided to let the events play out. He was a sword dancer, he did not need the powers of the Master of Time. A true Sword Dancer can fight any of the elements with nothing but his blade and his heart.

[Bloodshadow]

If the Void destroys the world, the Void would destroy Sekhor too. The Void seeks to end all existence, and leave nothing behind. Sekhor must care for his own personal safety.

After some more walking, the pyramid began to come into focus in front of Faustus and Eliza. However, as they walked closer, they saw a colossal, prehistoric form, with rows of golden blade-like protrusions growing from its spine. Its gargantuan body was covered with dark scales, and its head was shaped like a powerful dinosaur with golden horns.

"A Devonian Dragon", Faustus muttered. "It must be guarding the pyramid."

"Do we have to kill it?" Eliza asked. "We're not grave robbers here to take treasure for our own selfish, greedy gain. I would prefer not to harm any living being if possible." Of course, Eliza had been a doctor and nurse when she was still human, and she did not like the act of killing.

"Well, my dear, I don't see a way to negotiate with the prehistoric beast."

Eliza sighed. "Fine... But I don't like this. If we have to kill to get what we want, then we should find another way."

Suddenly, as if detecting their presence, the Devonian Dragon twisted its long, blade-covered neck and focused its eyes on the two small, pale forms before it. They stank of Death, and they did not belong in the Desert of Time. The dragon roared, a deep, resonant sound that shook the sand dunes around the pyramid. Then, it opened its massive jaws, and spew forth a stream of golden energy, a stream of disrupted time.

Eliza nimbly leapt away, but Faustus stayed standing and let the time current flow over him. He was already undead, so it was impossible for the time spell to age him further. Raising his hand and pointing at the dragon's head, Faustus shot forth a blast of nerve-paralyzing neurotoxin, intent on crippling the dragon rather than killing it.

[Sirenes]

Sirenes shifts her body a bit like Xanriel says, hopping in and out of the stance to be sure she could get it easily after awhile. Of course, she felt very foolish doing it, but she was learning so who cared. "Okay... are you sure?" When Xanriel nods, she rushes him throwing a punch aimed for his chest. Normal, she would have aimed for the face, but she wasn't really comfortable with doing that.

Alex eyes Sekhor closely, growling when he gives her the puppy dog eyes. Dammit, she hated that look. She was tired of how cute things pulled at her heart strings like that and how she nearly had no control over it. But he did seem to mean what he said. Right? Sighing, she waves her hand and releases the whirlwind surrounding him, but stayed on guard. "Now, talk like a normal person. Why did you cast your stupid time spell on me?"

[icybraker]

Mordekai shifted his weight from one foot to the other throughout the entire time the two were talking. The Anubis was tall and intimidating; the human was very short, but was probably more than she seemed. I need to leave. Mordekai started shifting slowly towards the right; it wasn't easy walking in the middle of a dark desert. Additionally, the Anubis had cast a time spell and the human had done something with the wind; Mordekai knew without looking down that he was not moving at all. Whatever's happening between them... I'm going to have to defend myself. He silently extended his Pyrospear and hid it behind his back.

Heimdall:

Heimdall went back to his room in the citadel. His stomach was starting to churn, and with every contraction, a strange, twisted pain rammed into his body. Maybe I shouldn't have chosen Orthon to punch me, thought Heimdall. Regardless, this is a good time to... experiment. He closed his eyes and decided to listen to the sounds of his body. His strong heartbeat; the wracking sounds from his stomach; breath gently flowing in and out of his lungs...

...and...

There. Right there! If he concentrated hard enough, he could hear something. A faint but pure note... but he couldn't quite catch where it was coming from, but he had a very good hunch. And he was right; looking closely at the shard, he realized that it was shooting tiny sparks down to the base of his brain and back. They're... communicating? All this time, and my mind had a direct connection to the aetherial shard... As he had done before, Heimdall compressed all his mental energies into his shard. He held them there, watching as his mind struggled to go free, vibrating with energy. Heal, he thought, releasing his grasp on the mental energies. They flowed outwards and bathed him in a blue light once more; then, the light was gone.

And Heimdall no longer felt the pain wracking his stomach. He smiled in satisfaction. And now let's see if this works... He lightly held his dagger in his hand and slowly lowered it to his wrist. When the dagger made contact with the surface of his skin, his body turned transparent and the dagger fell through his wrist. It landed with a clatter on the floor; then, Heimdall immediately phased back to the physical dimension, color returning to his body.

So I can't enter the parallel dimension unless I get injured. Hmm... Heimdall raised a fist and smashed it into the wall. To his surprise, he did not phase out; instead, his fist met the wall. He felt a twinge of pain as his fingers met hard rock. Thankfully, they were not bruised, but his hand still hurt. Apparently, the spell doesn't protect me when I try to attack... that's troubling. I'll have to be careful.

[Optimalist]

With one arm around mAx's shoulders and a hand on his stomach, it took a lot of effort for Zanthos not to fall over laughing. "Hahahahaha.... you're killing me maX! Give me time to breathe.... hahahaha." They were headed towards Heimdall's room to check on him as they couldn't quite catch up with him after they saw him leave the barracks. He looked a bit bothered especially after that thug punched him in the gut.

As they were about to knock, they heard the sound of a dagger clattering inside. AND, immediately after, a dull thud on the wall. The elves looked at each other and with one swift synchronized move, they barged into the room.

"Heimdall!" "Heimdall?"

[icybraker]

Heimdall turned around. MaX and Zanthos were there; they seemed concerned. "Oh. Hello," said Heimdall. "I made some... rather interesting discoveries today, and I was experimenting with them. I'm sorry if I troubled you two."

[Optimalist]

"You had us worried for a moment there." Zanthos crossed his arms and made a face.

"Especially after your stunt with that vampire hitting you in the gut." maX said, starting to laugh again.

Zanthos couldn't hold his poker face and began to smirk, "you looked... that was... hahahaha.... I'm sorry, Heimdall... hahahaha... but seeing your face when his punch connected was classic!"

Heimdall chimed in and laughed with his friends, grateful for the empathic release from the emotional tension created by his newly discovered emerging powers.

[icybraker]

Heimdall finished laughing. "I asked him to do that for me so I could practice healing. I'm all fine now. And about the thump and clattering... let me show you how that happened."

Heimdall picked up his knife and lowered it to his wrist. When Zanthos and MaX leapt up to stop him, Heimdall just sat them back down. "Watch. I want to see if this still works." The knife was cold at his fingertips; with a quivering hand, the knife descended...

And Heimdall phased out, his body turning translucent as the dagger clattered to the ground once more. Instantly, the dagger dropped and clattered, and Heimdall phased back. "Did you catch that?" He said with a wide grin.

[Optimalist]

"Oh. My. False God." max mouthed without a sound. 

"Quintessence!" Zanthos exclaimed with wide eyes. 


OOC: I'm "phasing out" as well... be back in half a day or so.

[Purity_Riot]

OOC: Actually, he really doesn't. Sword Dancer's live for the dance, for the adventure. They know death walks on the edge their blade, and the blade of their opponent. Like he said, a Sword Dancer only knows one way to fight, to the death. He'd never break tradition and run from a fight he was already in, but he would refuse to fight as a proxy, such as his view in the situation of being asked to sacrifice himself for the world.

InC:

Sekhor:

Sekhor calmed himself, his eyes still had their effect on her.
"I already told you, I thought you were somebody else. You two look quite similar, she even flies in a similar fashion as you. I imagine you're from the lands of Air, just as she was. I have reason to believe this woman has ill intent for me, and rather than fight, I decided to leave well enough alone." Deciding his explanation was sufficient, he nodded to her, lifting his hand up to his face and dragging the edge of his thumb down from his eyebrow, along his eye socket and the edge of his nose to the tip, the traditional Time symbol of apology, then turned toward the caravan, "If that will suffice, then we need to be going, I've offered this gentleman a place to stay for the evening, and as I imagine you well know, the desert can get fairly cold at night."
"Coming Mordekai?" Sekhor sheathed his swords, his hands still resting loosely on the handles.

Xanriel:

Xanriel reached out, grabbing Sirenes's wrist seconds before contact and tugged on it, causing her to spin in place as he lightly smacked her shoulder, sending a small twinge of pain down her arm. Grabbing ahold of her waist be the hips, he steadied her and smiled.
"With that move, you can easily disable an attacker, breaking their arm, you just need to put in a fair bit more strength behind the heel drive," He pecked her on the forehead, "Are you alright? Would you like to try it?"


OOC: Not that I mind, but it seems like we've been off track for a while, If it's alright with Sirenes, maybe we could just assume that Xanriel spends a fair bit of time teaching her, and we could start with the next part of the campaign sometime soon?