illusions in the mist. [Now open thanks to ninja subthreading.]

[immortal_lion]

Characters: Rishfee, Vincent Valentine, General Rughadjeen, Eiko (You are stowing along, right?) Auron (I believe. Lemme know if Ive been informed wrongly.)
Progress: Ongoing.
Summary: Caedarva Mire exploration / Azouph isle staging point discovery / boss fight / aftermath. Luzaf's UNEXPECTED TURNING UP IN FINE FORM AT THE WORST TIME EVER will be

Comments

Azouph Isle staging point / soulflayer fight.

[immortal_lion]

As the general wind temperature seemed to inform the group that it was nearing twilight and as the voices of the Ephramadian fomors started to grow stonger yet again, finally the dreary, foggy and murky scenery started to dissipate. The fog remained as strong as ever, as did the stench, yet the dim and faint outlines of trees finally gave way into something unseen, something that could even be relished, as it signified an end to the long and slow traversion of the mire.

It was a wall. A solid darksteel one in fact -- one that was easily 70 foot high and very rigid. Ornate, detailed carvings were inlaid upon the solid, impenetrable sheets of various serpents- symbols of the empire upon which it was crafted. A sign in the common tongue was displayed profoundly and almost immediately, informing anyone that cared to read it that the gate signified imperial territory. There were no locks. No key holes. Not even a door, so to speak... It was merely a wall. Scaling it was impossible. Knocking it down was even more so. Yet Rishfee moved directly to it, moving a hand to his arm and unfastening some of the ribbons that held his gold bazubands firmly onto his arm.

All it took was a few seconds, and the sheet of worked gold fell to the stinking, muddy grass with a somewhat sickening squelching sound leaving him bare armed. ...Well, bare wasn't the word. There was something on his forearm which the bazubands had always hid -- cut into the flesh cruelly and actually implanted underneath the skin. It was a mark of a two-headed serpent, magically infused and magical in nature.

...And it was also a key. The door around the blue mage's forearm seemed to glow for the smallest of moments, An un-noticed cage of fireflies at the right of the wall seemed to glow with a new energy, then finally the sound of heavy darksteel bolts clunking individually and the door opening slowly made the ground shake.

"Enter..." The sentiment was soft, though it came from Rishfee.

Pausing, the Immortal picked up his bazuband and walked through the door, eyes widening at what lay before him. The camp... was almost ruined.

Sundries, supplies, medicines, books, documents... piles and piles of items lasy strewn around the camp. Some of the silken, enormous tents had been ripped-- as if something huge and something that didn't quite move right had attacked them in blind rage. The grass was dead in a certain location, an unknown substance darker than night itself still boiling away, burning at the earth, and a scimitar -- exactly alike the one Rishfee himself held -- was lying at the front of the dead patch of earth.

"...No..."

The gate slammed shut instantly behind the group -- and that made something aware of their presence. The sound was almost impossible to even describe, it was a sound--- but it was a feeling. Perhaps of someone scratching their nails down a chalkboard. Perhaps worse. But it was constant -- alike the drone of a wasp, and somewhere inside it was the sound of a woman screaming endlessly, as if lung capacity meant nothing.

It made him recoil, and he was used to dealing with the fallen.

Before he could even lay his eyes back on the gate to open it again, it had moved into view, originally concealed by one of the ruined tents. it was almost nine feet tall. it moved like an old puppet that was operated with strings -- should one of the strings be broken. The arms... limp, pallid, dead things with claws for fingers and nails easily 10 inches long splayed and jerked in unknown patterns. Some kind of broken logic they could never, ever hope to understand.

It's head rolled back. and it's eyes were the same blue as Rishfee's. It spat out putrid, stinking water. And it was coming.

[chaos_vessel]

The blue of the creature's eyes, as well as Rishfee's reaction to it, set off alarm bells in Vincent's head. It reminded him far too much of Rishfee's reaction to his transformation into Galian Beast, or what little of it he'd seen. They had seen nothing else but this creature after entering the area, certainly not the blue mage they had been looking for. There was only this creature. The signs all pointed to an unpleasant fact.

There was little time to think on it, though. The monster was coming closer. Clearly, there would be no escaping it, not if they wanted to stay to examine this place. Since the bow was already in hand, he got off a shot at it immediately, but he was already watching the creature to see if the weapon had an effect- or rather, how little effect it had. He doubted the bow would be helpful in this situation, and he was more than prepared to set it aside in favor of his gun. Even if it would use ammunition, it would probably be necessary for this fight.

[immortal_lion]

"Do not look into it's eyes!"

To do such would render anyone under paralysis. Striking one should render one under a terrible curse which sapped the strength from both their mind and their body. They were vile, vile creatures- versed in black magic more accomplished than that of any black mage.

As it approached, the oddest squealing sound filled the air, at first unnoticeable, but continued on and on without end. As it came closer, still tracing odd arcs in the air with it's arms very alike a broken puppet, the sound was to get louder. Loud enough for Rishfee to hold his head in his hands. Loud enough to be extremely painful.

It came to a dead stop, and dark energies swirled around the creature. Tribulation -- an ability meant to curse Vincent with the effect of the most severe Bio, an incantation designed to bring the man to his knees in suffering in a matter of minutes.

[rughadjeen]

The noises that were made and the sight of the creature, the stench, everything, it was over powering. His blade was freed as soon as the thing made a move towards them, taking Rishfee's warning and lowering his gaze. He made sure that all he could see was the bottom of the flayers robes. His grip tightened, this wasn't something he had ever fought against before. Not that he could remember, and it was surely something he would never forget if he had.

Rughadjeen made to move against it when the noise got louder, he stilled but brought the Algol higher, closer to the monster as he swung the blade down with as much might as he could muster.

[immortal_lion]

The Soulflayer hissed, spitting out putrid water as the Algol almost cleaved it's head from it's body. However, even the might of the sword of stars was not enough to even wound it. The soulflayer extended a damp, pale arm and caught the Elvaan around the throat, dark energies swirling about it as it begun to cast, what passed for words causing sprays of putrid, horrible, stinking venom to splash against the Elvaan's face.

"Rughadjeen!"
Rishfee was forced to break from Vincent, and attempted to run towards the creature which still had the Elvaan by the throat, now lifting him up so high, even his feet couldn't touch the ground. Sadly, he didn't get there in time. The soulflayer finished it's incantation. Flare II.

The Elvaan was envoloped and consumed by a series of explosions.

[chaos_vessel]

The effects of the Soulflayer's spell were nearly immediate, and Vincent gave a pained grunt as Bio began to work on him, draining his strength. He refused to stumble yet, and did his best to remain standing, though with the spell working on him, it might not last for long. He barely paid attention to Rishfee breaking away from him when the Soulflayer grabbed Rughadjeen and held him in the air. The most he noticed was that the effects of the spell likely would not be removed any time soon. He could feel it draining away his strength, and already, his aim was wavering slighly.

He meant to get in as many shots as he could, as quickly as possible. That was why, unlike Rishfee, he remained where he was when the explosions surrounded Rughadjeen, and waited for an opening- then fired, getting three shots at the monster.

[rughadjeen]

Rughadjeen was far too slow to pull away from the Soulflayer as it reached out to grab him. The clammy hand around his neck caused him to let go of the Algol with one hand and bring it up to try and free himself. His eyes widened and he tried to turn his head away as it began the spell. He choked as he feet left the ground, kicking his legs hoping to maybe catch the thing and have it either let go or loosen it's grip.

But the first kick was all he managed as his body stilled and his back arched at the pain that erupted around him. Letting out a loud cry he dropped the Algol. He wasn't down, but he was badly hurt and ached everywhere. Pretty sure that he was still smoking. It didn't matter though if the Flare II hadn't finished it, the fact he was being strangled would cause him to pass out if it kept going on.

[immortal_lion]

It was all he could do to leap upward against the Soulflayer and raise his wightslayer in an upward cleave against the creature- turning it in the air as he reached the peak of his jump and forcing the thing down to cleave. The Soulflayer spat more venom alongside a few loose tentacles which writhed and contorted upon the floor, dropping the Elvaan and making a strike to bash Rishfee with it's stave.

However, thankfully, Vincent's aim was as true as ever, and the creature gave a piercing scream before getting a face full of lead. It stumbled backward, raising it's staff unto the air. The finishing blow was fatal -- yet it would not... it could not allow those which had fatally wounded it to escape.

Mind Blast. Three lightning strikes came down immediately, striking all three and inflicting a massive amount of damage. The Paralysis effect of the spell was strong, about as strong as the Bio Vincent suffered. Whether it lived or died wasn't important to it. It was rendering the three men absolutely incapable of any sort of movement- while it bludgeoned them to death, one by one, until it's final breath.

[chaos_vessel]

Vincent saw Rishfee get in a hit to release Rughadjeen, and watched the shots hit in satisfaction, even as he did his best to prepare for the creature's next attack. He had dropped to kneel after firing, feeling the Bio spell still working on him. Still, he did his best to ignore it, and reload to fire again as the creature raised his staff. It had already proven that its attacks could do horrible amounts of damage, and to be unprepared to respond, if not avoid it, would make an already difficult fight nearly impossible.

He had almost completed the action when the Soulflayer cast Mind Blast. He would have jerked in pain, maybe even would have screamed, but the Paralysis was already in effect. He was trapped in no position to defend himself, and no way to break the Paralysis until it wore off.

[rughadjeen]

Rughadjeen fell to the ground unceremoniously, having the air knocked out of him. Despite the protest of every single part of his body, he still willed himself to move, to get to his feet, get a better distance put between them and prepare. He had just been able to crawl and grab the handle of the Algol when his body and mind were hit by the monsters final and desperate attack. Each time he made to move his body resist, only now and then were his actions carried through. With a lot of struggling he managed to get to his feet, actions stopped more often than not. He had no remedies or Panacea's on him to cure himself of the paralysis so the only thing he could do was fight through everything.

It grew harder and harder as his own body wanted to succumb to exhaustion brought with the pain. His jaw clenched and he heaved the Algol up, each bombardment from the Mind Blast weakening him until he got close enough to the Soulflayer. He still remembered to keep his eyes away from the things own, despite the urge to watch the life slip away from it's eyes. He gripped the blade tighter and used the weight as well as his own to bash into the monster. Shifting his weight to stop himself toppling over, he brought the blade down upon the Flayer and pushed forward around it's abdomen. Closing his eyes and calling up on his magic his eyes opened when he was done and stared at his target as Holy was cast. The Flayer was wrapped in a bright light before the spell seemed to explode outwards.