[F7-MB] The Atherial

[Dellis 0]

The night before the fight, it had been a stormy night.

Floor seven was usually like that, but the winds had been much stronger than normal, and the very wood that the inn was built off screeched lightly under its sheer force.

Under the roof of the inn, ten people couldn't sleep, kept awake by the noise... or the fear.

In the distance, a high pitched scream could be heard, its sound carried and deformed by the wind.

The Atherial had awoken.

The journey to his location hadn't been an easy one. On top of all the lesser monsters found roaming the floor, the Atherial had chosen the top of a secluded tower to make its nest.

Still, their guide, a young girl named Eri, had tried to cheer them up while they all climbed floor after floor of the tower, avoiding the traps. There had been no monsters in the tower, but only traps.

They weren't directly lethal... but they all threatened to push you out of a window, or crush through the wall to send you flying down the tower. That would mean death, at that height.

And after going to great lenghts... they were at the top. The Atherial was nowhere to be seen...

Eri motioned for all his followers to stop.

"Hold on", she said in a clear voice, holding out her two-handed axe, "I'm gonna check if it's near."

She took a step towards the nest.

A blue blur, a thunderclap, the wind suddendly blowing as strong as a shockwave.

In a wake of blue sparks, Eri was sent flying to the edge of the tower, now unconscious.

In her place, the Atherial waited the challengers.

While the skies suddendly darkened anormally, and a blue circle appeared around the tower, signaling the start of the boss fight, the Atherial stared at the participants with threatening eyes.

Blue sparks started coiling around the Atherial's body in the darkness.

The Atherial screeched.

SPOILER: Next Turn

The first Turn is Keith Yudai's turn! You may act.

A little reminder of the rules - two days to post. One post you describe the action, the other you only roll the dice, then modify the first post with the outcome, like the monster battle guidelines state.

If you've got any questions, you may send them to me by PM.

The Atherial's health will be visible once you first damage him, remember to keep track of your own.

Good Luck, Players!

[Guest]

Keith took a step back at the sound of its shriek, but he didn't cower. He looked to Eri, and then back to the Athrial. "That's it, bird, your goose is cooked!" He said, as he drew his sword. The silver blade shown reflections of the blue spark the monster made. Keith set his sword on his shoulder and ran at the bird. "Here I come!"

The air cracked and thunder roared as Keith landed a slight hit on the monster. His blade let out a strike as the Athrial shrieked in blinding hatred.

[Guest]

Battle Roll

[1-3]Miss

[4-7]Hit

[8-9]Stumbles and falls

[10]Hits critically

[Dellis 0]

Gm Moderation:

Good job keith, thanks for having shown to the others how a combat post is done.

One point though - there is a fixed list for action results in boss fights, so you cannot make up your own.

Your action is still valid, but I need to tell this for future reference, so other players use it.

It's 1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

The next Active Player will be notified shortly!

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki equipped her shield and spear at the sight of the giant bird. Kieth had already attacked the Boss, and now it was her turn. She needed to maintain agro in order to keep it focused on her, waiting for the other players at this point wouldn't help. She had missed her opportunity at first blood, but she would not be denied the rest of the fight. She took a second to focus on the creature before charging it herself. She was lucky here as she had the additional reach of her weapon.

She gave a sturdy yell as she thrust her spear into the birds breast, though not deep enough to kill, she had certainly left a mark. Nikki pulled back now, slamming her spear into her shield in triumph.

[Nikki Styx 0]

Dice Roll -Spear Thrust-

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Dellis 0]

GM MODERATION

Due to Player Garou not posting for two days, the next turn passes to Akua.

[Akua 0]

Akua's heart was pounding from pure nerves blended with excitement, and floating off a bit, she jolted as she realized it was her turn. It had come so quick, but a new burst of level, reasonable confidence came to her concious as she withdrew first her rapier. She lifted, aiming to strike the bird, before at last rushing fowards.

And...! Damn. Disapointment set aside so she could focus on surviving, Akua realized her attempt to strike had missed.

[Akua 0]

Dice Roll

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Akua 0]

Aisu, seeing her partner fail, instantly rushed foward. Leaping, she pulled a huge blue paw out, aiming to strike the bird's side. The familiar had just been following her "instincts;" she had registered her owner as in danger, and thus, had charged at the beast of adversary intent.

The dark snow leopard striked the foul bird with her paw. Of course she was in danger now, but it was her duty. And she had succeeded. It wasn't a bad strike too; not crippling, but definately not useless.

[Akua 0]

Dice roll

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Dellis 0]

The Atherial let out a deafening shriek, as Keith's blade cut through its flesh.

He reared a bit, still keeping himself between them and the nest, in which two little golden eggs could be seen in the distance.

It did not have time to recover from the attack. Nikki dashed forward blindingly fast, thrusting her spear right into the creature's body, before retreating.

In blind hatred, the giant bird swung once, twice with its clawed wings, Nikki evading all the attacks, until finally catching her off guard with a thrust from its massive beak. The floor cracked under the sheer force of the hit, Nikki's bones threatening to snap under the hit. She saw her health bar drop a bit.

Noticing the opening, Akua tried to attack him in the side, but the Atherial thrashing wildly prevented her hit from connecting. She was now in the open, undefended, in front of the Atherial, which turned slowly towards her, with murderous rage in its eyes.

Sensing her companion in danger, the Snow Leopard, Aisu, leaped to protect her, hitting the Atherial in the side and distracting him just enough for him to change focus.

Its orange terrible eyes shifting madly, never stopping once, the Atherial screeched at the Panther, and made a powerful thrust with both his wings.

The gust of wind, so concentrated it was almost visible, aimed right at Aisu, and threatened to hit Keith too.

Luckily, the leopard's nimbleness helped him get out of the way, and Keith followed soon after. If they had been hit, they probably wouldn't have suffered any damage, but they would have been pushed away, and when you're fighting on top of a tower, that could be dangerous.

Due to the damage, the Atherial's four health bars showed up. The first one had begun emptying, but there was still a lot of way to go to finally defeat the monster.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Atherial HP: 27/30

Nikki: 1 HP Damage, please record it in your next post

Aisu and Keith: Missed

[Dellis 0]

Dice Roll Action 1 - Beak Attack - Target Nikki

[Dellis 0]

Dice Roll Action 2 - Wing Thrust - Targets, Aisu and Keith

[Dellis 0]

GM MODERATION:

Keith, Akua, and Nikki may now post their reactions to what happened, but it isn't mandatory. They may not take further actions, though, since they are not Active Players. The next Active Player will be Garou, which due to being on the second inactivity strike has a little longer to post. 4 days, starting from this post's date.

[Nikki Styx 0]

It had been close, the giant bird had turned its attention to Nikki and up until the very end she had managed to avoid it entirely. It was its beak that caught her. The beak followed by the blunt weight of the entire creature. She had been lucky enough to raise her shield catching the direct impact on its surface, but she still felt the damage trickle though. The impact itself had been so severe that the stone under her feet had begun to crack and fragment. The gusts created by its massive wings were deafening, and the weight threatened to crush her entirely. However after a second the beast lifted up off her as it turned onto her companions. She noticed the tick on her health bar indicating that she had taken damage though not enough to be concerned with.

[Garou 0]

The utter pressure that the massive avian gave out caused Garou's nerves to bunch up. Here he was, with his younger "brother" and other allies he had never met before, about to risk their lives for glory. For what!? Glory? he thought to himself as an unfamiliar pang hit his side. Could this have been fear? The boy shook his head as he held up his gifted two-handed longsword, Heaven's Beam. He knew know it was do... or die...

He let loose a chaotic shriek from his lungs in adrenaline-pumping terror as he brought down his heavy golden blade onto his foe.

[Garou 0]

Dice roll

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Dellis 0]

Due to player Shard not posting, the active turn passes to another player, which will be notified shortly.

[Daeron 1]

Swift watched as the massive avian-like creature gave everybody around a quick glance. Swift tried to look for any "opening" she can find, but it just seemed impossible. She had to wait while it was least suspecting it. When the head of the avian cocked to the left, the opposite of where Swift was standing, she ran in for the attack. She pulled her two handed sword along the ground, scraping the tip off the top of the pillar, and went in for the attack.

As she swung her sword in an upwards motion, the avian turned it's head to Swift at the exact timing, giving it a chance to dodge the attack, which it did. Swift watched her sword miss the bird, by what seemed to be inches. A large bird like that, yet so difficult to hit? She was confused, but didn't waste much time to think over it.

Damage Dealt: None