Baldur

Thorny vines erupted form the ground and tried to grab Baldur and the party. He saw the icon showing the bleed effect appear and then disappear as his antidote worked its purpose. He struck at the vines holding him down to regain his freedom of movement, and then he felt the rainbow glow of Zandra's power fill him. She was right, it was time to end this. Baldur spun with his blade, and the arc of the sword art left him and sailed a short distance across the field of battle to strike the boss, but Baldur didn't turn back to look at it. Facing the rest of his party, he began to sheath

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Kataa, Battle Healing, Curved Sword, Light Armor, Charge, Quick Change, Extended Weight Limit, Energist, Searching Mod(s)/Addon(s)/Shift(s) Being Dropped: Meticulous, Emergency Recovery, Bull Rush, Parry, Combat Mastery: Damage, ST Shift, SP Refunded: 123 (should be everything) Cost: Utilizing Paragon Level 25's Free Skill Respec

Somehow, Freyd was back again. This was the second time the tank had faked him out, but last time he saw the man's HP bar go down to zero. What was going on? Was this like last time? Like Alkor? Was something changing and death was no longer on the table? Maybe there was some trick and no one had really died. Or maybe Freyd was in on it. How else could people die and come back? It should be impossible, but there wasn't any explanation. Speculation could wait though. "A little heads up next time you need to go AFK to change your avatar." Turning to face Callisto, Baldur watc

♪ ♫ ♪ ♫ The boss roared a mighty roar, so powerful that it seemed to be searing the very pixels of the game, breaking away the ground to view the mesh lines beneath them as Freyd called for them all to take cover. They moved quickly, sheltering behind the tank. Everyone except for Wulfrin. They all seemed to realize it at the same moment. Everyone looking at the man Freyd had helped train to be here, left out in the full brunt of the oncoming attack. Kuso he swore. Each of them twitched as if to move and help the man who was stuck in the post sword art freeze, though it was

Fire erupted from Freyd and seemed to burn away the fines that were trying to drain life from anything it could. The gaijin samurai looked towards Freyd and gave him a quick nod as a salute for his quick thinking and action taking care of the strange new lair action that they had seen. Turning quickly back to the bear, the health bars nearly depleted, Baldur charged once again. The bear was occupied with the tanks and the myriad of abilities being used against it, but Baldur took a measured breath, his energy ticking up for a moment as he waited for the moment to strike. As Callisto turne

Several things suddenly happened a once. Callisto seemed to almost implode in upon herself, decaying as if it were a speed run competition. Then vines suddenly erupted from the ground attacking the raid and seeming to draw energy from the members and back into the boss. At the same time, she picked up Freyd and other tanks, seeming to draw him into her. Kuso! "Freyd!" Baldur rushed forward as the tank was engulfed. Baldur tried dodging the lash of the vines, but he needed to do something about their tank before who knows what would happen to him. He put his hand on the sheathed

I was informed that my build no longer meets the item rules, and staff offered to let me re-evaluate one of my items. I would like to change this: into this: Thank you

The display of the numbers showed that Freyd had been critically hit again. It seemed like every attack was critting their tank, but he was able to keep it going. He had been trying to stun the boss, or trip it up, but the attacks didn't seem to be having an effect on the boss. He needed to switch it up and the sword he wielded, Teayre's sword, thirsted for blood. He saw his abilities were coming off of cooldown and he needed to do something with them. He would start his rotation once more. Rushing forward, he aimed to position himself where he could unleash a more powerful attack. H

The boss seemed to be building up to something, but as yet hadn't done anything beyond the expected. It seemed like even though they had run through many of its health bars, they had seen all of its tricks so far. It was a curious choice of game design. Usually the bosses had a trick up their sleeve, but if this was just a tank and spank for their group, then they should consider themselves lucky. He gave a quick scan over the raid, noting a few players health go back and forth like ping pong balls between red and green, but at least the groups were prepared to heal. The bear leapt forwar

Ghosts whispered past them in the decaying trees. Echos of the death and corruption that over-consumption brought upon the natural world. The gaijin samurai, however, was good friends with ghosts. Within the circle of his blade's range, his... zettai ryoiki... concentration was absolute. The bear roared and lashed out at the raid, and he saw a few players drop into the red, as well as other like Mina be brought back up to healthy again. It was a dangerous dance they were performing. "Remember, a hero of the front line is the one who lives to fight in the next fight! Don't think you're a h

The giant bear took a swipe at Freyd, and he expected to see the man's HP bar move a little, but the amount it changed was not an amount the gaijin samurai could notice. Freyd was forced back on the soft ground under the force of the blow, but was able to shrug it off to the side. Zandra cried out words of encouragement, the energy of her leadership serving to buff their stats and Baldur saw the small icon show up with his status effects. Everything is going according to plan. The boss's health bar was getting close to dropping off the first bar. 8 health bars was a lot, even for a b

The gaijin samurai stood back for a moment while the other groups gave their speeches of encouragement, and watched the younger fighters leap forward at the earliest moment, charging into the fray in a way only the vigor of youth could allow. Flashy sword art launched at the bear, an impressive array of particle effects and proccing attacks. The light show was almost enough to make him nostalgic for fighting alongside his friends and comrades. But that was always tempered by the deaths he had seen. He walked carefully up towards the floor boss, a necrotic bear decaying the area around it

"Really @Freyd, Thank you. You're a scholar and a gentleman." he glanced at the man's weapons after a good motivational speech. "Did you switch to the Katana? For some reason I thought I remembered you wielding a different weapon." Before he could get an answer out of the man, he felt someone bump into him. He might have been able to tell who it was just from the smell, but the scent of death in this place hung thick. Still, the impending battle and awful smell did nothing to dampen his spirits. Baldur couldn't help but let out a low laugh and put his arms around @Lessa, hugging her

The blue and white haori wove its way through the bog of stench, working his way through the trees and people of the raid until he found his target, @Freyd. He gave the man a slight bow. It had been a while since they had seen each other. First at the Raid, and then again at the tournament his guild hosted. "It seems I am filling in for an absent member of your team, Freyd. It is good to see you again." Baldur turned his smile on the rest of the group, two of which he knew very well. "Mac. Zan. Good to see you both again." He had heard Wulfrin offer some consumables, and Ba

Baldur had not been far afield when he received Jomei's text message. He had seen Hirru preparing for the floor boss fight and he had seen Mac fluttering between floors again. The fight would be well in hand as had previous floors. Best to let the old grudges die and let those more up to the task carry the fight forward, but some part of Baldur could not be too far off, just in case. They were still his friends after all. Reading through the text message, Baldur started to head towards the clearing where the others waited, his blue and white haori just barely staying above the muck. When

Baldur had been at a loss for words when Hirru had asked him if there were people at the raid other than their group of raiders, the people he described being unfamiliar to him. What could this mean? He knew of his friends memory issues, perhaps something was leaking through? How should he answer that? The gaijin samurai had opened his mouth, unsure of what to say or how to comfort his friend, when the man seemed to get embarrassed as the silence stretched a moment longer, and ushered them on. Should I have said something? What does this mean? Who could they be? How much should I pry?

Baldur noticed Snow blushing prettily at his words, but he didn't let that stop him. Too often people were afraid or embarrassed of what needed to be said. The important words. People should be complimented, praised, encouraged, and friends should know you love them. Baldur wasn't afraid to say any of these words, or to say them with conviction. It was, perhaps, even more illusion breaking about him being a gaijin samurai than his being a gaijin. Contrary to popular belief, Baldur was not trying to be Japanese, nor was he role-playing at being a Samurai. Indeed, he had never once referred to h

Thanks for the clarity! Keep up the good work.

The day before: A hustle filled the large open square in front of the Dreamer's Temple, the guild hall of Jacob's Ladder. People were rushing about, gathering supplied, both food their own crafters had made, as well as those that he and Shield arranged to be bought from Firm Anima and other associated crafting guilds. They had a large storehouse of them, but constantly needed to be restocked. Part of their role with the guild was to hand out supplies to those who showed up at boss fights unprepared. It meant the divesting of tons of resources for which the guild rarely saw returned or com

Baldur squeezed her hand back. If glory and pride could have been made manifest, they would have erupted around the two of them. Pride for what Baldur felt for Snow, taking his hand and taking the next step forward. Always so hard. She pushed through her fear and frustration and guilt and all the emotions holding her back, but she made the choice with a purpose. The steel melted slightly as her resolve took hold, and she could see the pride in her eyes. Glory surged within him at the feeling of relief and exultation at his words seeming to reach her and have the desired effect. "I promise

"Good." Baldur said half leaning, half sitting on a bit of a large fallen tree behind him as he saw Snow struggle with the feelings raging inside of her. He had to be careful here, she needed to redirect those feelings toward growth instead of towards self pity. He hoped that this combat would put a bit of shock into her, though perhaps with the hate shenanigans he chose a quest poorly. The girl did seem surprised at his choice of words, perhaps she was expecting more empathy from him, but while he did empathize with her, his heart aching at seeing her distraught, he was here to build her

"Sit down, you stuffy old fool before you get yourself killed!" Baldur barked at the NPC, but it was too late. The Monkey King had uprooted another tree and swung it at the three of them like a baseball bat and there was nothing they could do, all three of them were sent flying back into the dense forest like they were served on a t-ball stand to a major league hitter. The dense foliage and branches quickly rose up to meet them as the fell to the ground, taking fall damage on top of the tree. As they hit the ground, Baldur rolled to his feet. He wasn't in any danger as Sewallus had a com

Baldur smiled as Jomei complimented his choice of events and the success it seemed to be having at distracting everyone from their current predicament. He was glad that everyone seemed to be having fun, and that the tournament was a success. "Thanks, honestly it was a bit of a whim. But what I realized most was that we needed to be reminded that we're all people, stuck in this situation together. No a remember what we're fighting for, I think most people remember that every day, but we need to remember we're all people. I had hoped that by hosting this event, and the tournament, and givin

Baldur smiled when Alkor stated he would join the Frontline. It hadn't been his specific goal, but it was a good one to win at none-the-less. There were so many things left that he wanted to say to the man, so many more words he thought Alkor knew but needed to hear. The man didn't respond to platitudes though, but maybe hearing them from people he trusted often enough would start to make them sink in. "Just remember, Alkor-san, you are surrounded by people who care about you, whether you want them to or not. And your journey, just like our quest to get out of this tower, cannot be comple

Rules: OOC: This thread follows Observation thread 2. Observation thread 2 takes place during the second round of fighting on the first day of the Tournament, and the luau thereafter. These two threads bleed together and overlap each other to an extent, but the luau takes place at Sunset, and the Slumber party takes place after it's fully dark. The luau will continue to run for a few days. You do not need to finish what you had in the luau to post here. This is intended to be a clean start for people who have lost track of where the observation thread 2 went. Baldur once again stoo