[BR-F21] Paving the Way to Floor 22 (Floor 21 Boss Battle - Tesseleth the Tyrant)

[Jomei 0]

Jomei felt a heavy hand on his shoulder, a hand that clamped onto his muscle with a firm grip, sending a chill down his spine as he spoke. Jomei's eyes went wide as he recognized the voice as the man who had killed Beatbox, the man that tortured Telrenya, Ruby and Spencer, the man that left him holding onto life by a string with one attack. His first words made everything freeze, he believed that Jomei had not listened to his words, and was still trying to play the hero. Was this where Jomei was going to die? would he soon see the blades of Michael and Lucifer piercing through his chest? No, not today. Death Adder, as he came to be known, had walked past Jomei, informing him that the frontliners would need his help to be able to defeat this boss, being so little showed up to the door so far. Jomei shook as the man walked past him, turning his back on Jomei. At this moment, he could have attacked.. and with Ruby backing him, they could kill him. Right here, before he even had a chance to see what hit him. Slowly, Jomei's hand reached across his body towards his rapier.. but stopped half way. The man shook the nerves out of his head before taking a step towards Death Adder. "Yeah.. I did ignore what you said." His voice sounded determined, yet he spoke quiet enough for only the two of them and Ruby to hear. "... I ignored what you said because I have people depending on me.. people to protect." Jomei took another step towards Adder, his voice speaking more softly so others couldn't hear. "I won't come after you... revenge isn't for be.. but I will still defend those I care about from you if the time comes. Even if it means dying..." He turned and began to walk back towards Ruby, "I appreciate the extra hand though with this fight... hopefully you don't get killed in there." he said sarcastically. 

As he turned back towards Ruby, he got a better look of all of those he knew present at the boss fight, Hikoru, Calrex, Macradon, Morgenstern, Itzal, a face or two he did not know.. and then he spotted the blonde bob of Ariel, Lowe's killer, as well as his ex fiance, Zandra. Jomei scoffed, "..Great.." Once he was standing back in front of Ruby, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You okay?" he leaned in to whisper to her, "I doubt he is here to hurt us.. but if he decided to turn.. we need to get out of there." 

[Macradon 0]

Listening to Morgenstern’s comments towards his plan, Macradon would nod and just fix it, nothing major, no problem coming from it at all, that was until he saw a person he had missed from before, this threw everything off the rails for him. “This might not be good … now we have to split up in 3 smaller parties for everyone to be safe” he muttered and looked at the man, Beat. He would analyze the information he had now and would try to make parties that felt proper.

He would place those in guild together in those teams, they would probably have more synergy with each other, and better coordination internally than splitting them up. That’s the only kind of raid organization he knew off, and that was from being a Vanguard Commander for a while, organizing field boss raids with his knights under him, but that was it. Having a whole floor raid in front of him, Macradon would try to have as much cooperation from the others, so everything wasn’t on his shoulders and everyone had a thing to say.

With the new teams in their setup, Macradon would speak up again and try to announce his new plans for the raid. “Alright, since I missed you, sir” he said and pointed at @Beat, not really being too familiar with him, but knowing who he was with from analyzing how things were going at the raid. He would continue “I’ve created these teams, they will probably be able to construct the teams we need, even if they’re somewhat smaller than the most efficient teams can be, but we have to roll with this since that’s what our numbers™ grant us” he said and would then go to what the new parties would be.

"The parties will only have one tank and the rest will either take dps or adapt to this situation. party one will consist of @Calrex fronting with the support of @Ariel - The Crowned Lion, @Hirru and I, dealing the damage for the party. The second party is the Celestial Ascendants, your whole group will be a party, you may organize yourself as you deem fit" he would say and then group up the last team "@Zandra, I know you're able to tank hits, so I'm making you the tank of party 3, if you're not comfortable with that, please tell me. Anywho, standing behind Zandra's protection will be you" he said and gestured at the guy he didn't really know anything of "with @Jomei and @Ruby. If anyone dislikes this, please let your voice be heard" he would say.

Edited October 25, 2017 by Macradon
Added Party Spreadsheet

[Zandra 0]

After an hour or so, people finally started to show. One by one they walked up to the area infront of the massive doors. Thou Zandra kept her pose and didnt let a word over her lips. This meant they havent tricked her, but the angry feeling was still there. The dragoness's red eyes scanned each new person as they arrived. Almost all was familiar faces. Thou there was a special face that made Zandras anger calm down."No, what are you doing here?" She almost whispered to the man she loves, the red haired irishman. She took a step towards him to tell him to leave, threaten him if that would ne necessary. Thats when a new voice was herd, one she immediatly recognized. A 180 degrees spin on the spot and she stood face to face with Ariel. "Oh hi Ari. Im so goad to see you." The alchemist said before the blonde started to talk. A grin grew on the brunettes lips. "Hehe. Im always ready to have some fun." Thats when the berserk healer remembered something. She pulled up the mask that covered the lioness face. Now she could see right into the silver globes. "So you have picked up hiding habe you?" Zandra took a step closer as she unbuttoned the cape she had been wearing since that gathering event. Then Zandra threw it over Ariels shoulders. When she did, their faces was only an inch from eachother. Zandras cheeks blushed as she felt the warm breath from the spearwoman. "Here, you will have better use of it to have your fun." She said and took a step back, cheeks red and heartbeats increased as she thinked about how close their lips was only a moment ago. The crimson eyes looked troubled at first and she wanted to say something but hesitated. At least she could hold it back. The axe user embraced Ariel. "Why did it have to be like this." she said so only Ariel could here, her voice sounding sad. "Promise me to not die in there okay."

[Calrex 0]

As the blunette's eyes calmly scanned across the various other members of the frontlines that came into view he gave a small sigh, crossing his arms for a moment as his armored limbs clinked softly, the individual pieces sliding to accommodate the movement of his elbows bending. Jomei was one of the returning members, and with the number of the people here Calrex could make an educated guess that Hikoru was possibly here, albeit in stealth. He made no effort to try and find the young man, merely deciding to continue panning his vision across the crowd.

Shield and Beat were another couple of people he saw, along with other returning frontliners like Itzal and Macradon. It wasn't long ago that he and the other tank-like player went through an extremely grueling dungeon, with a couple of particular parts that certainly brought back some of the original "fun" of the game. Sadly, this was not one of the times where puns and jokes could be flung around casually, not like before. They needed to be focused, as their teammates' lives were in their hands. One slip, and someone not built to take a hit would be sent flying, potentially permanently out of the game. With the many floor raids he had seen, the Ultramarine Knight was in no mood to be accepting such potential events. As long as he was alive, he would protect those under his charge.

That being said, there were a couple of other people that he did not recognize, both seemingly having some connection to the ginger-haired rapier user. One was a young blonde woman, someone that he would have to read more into later on. It was the other young man that seemed to be speaking with Jomei, and the exchange seemed to have sparked some kind of concern and danger in the usually calm and friendly Irishman. The bluenette's eyebrows furrowed out of reflective concern for a moment as he lowered his arms to the side, ingraining the person's appearance in his mind, "Seems like someone I'd trust as much as I could throw them. Going from his armament though, he must be a frontliner level player. If he's willing to play nice with the other people for the raids, I'll have to let it slide. But I'll definitely need to dig deeper on this man's background. If he's some rogue PKer in disguise, then it's possible I'll have to confront him at some point."

Walking over to the man he had helped rescue alongside Piera and Lee the Ultramarine Knight reached up, giving a reassuring squeeze of Jomei's shoulder before stepping forward so that he could speak without having to yell to Macradon, "No problems here Mac, I'll keep you guys covered."

After speaking he looked over to see that Zandra and Ariel were interacting, giving a calm nod to acknowledge their presence before stepping back, continuing to make sure his equipment was ready.

[Macradon 0]

 

 

Smiling towards Calrex, Macradon was glad that at least someone would voice their opinion towards him, that’s what he liked about the Celestial Ascendants, if they had an opinion, they would not hesitate to say so, that was the impression Macradon had towards the guild and he was respecting them in that aspect. He would look around to look at the battlefield and the warriors that had come to gather here today to help the players of the Castle Aincrad escape this feeble place. Macradon would stand and await further comments towards his plan and how it should be changed and altered to fit everyone’s opinions. Looking at the current teams, he wasn’t too sure if they were optimally crafted, but that was for his guildmate Hirru to decide upon, as he was the tactician, not really Macradon’s forte. With everything set, they all just had to wait for everything to be set into order and they would all be able to get in and attack the boss.

[Zandra 0]

Zandra listened to Ariel with one ear and the other got its attention to a male player behind her. When he had told everyone the new teams, the dragoness let go of the lioness and locked her eyes on Macradon. She glaned at the ultramarine knight as he accepted and said it was all fine. Then she started to walk towards Macradon, her eyes burning and grit her theets. "You..." she started. "What do you think youre doing? What the heck are you splitting up me and Ariel? I know you know our relationship. Both to eachother and to the rest of the players in Aincrad. Thou, Im fine with playing the tank role for..." a quick glance at the irishman."...party three. At least one player I wont accept shatter into crystal." The last sentance she whispered as she leaned closer to his ear. Then she nooded. "Put Ariel in my team and Il ready." The berserk healer finished with a clear and steady voice.

[Macradon 0]

“I’m sorry your ears might not be working properly … or you just purposely ignore what I’m saying, anywho. I’m making parties that work as efficient as I possibly can make them. As I said before, if you dislike the ways the parties have been formed, you should say, not come up and act offended” Macradon said to his old friend … they were friends, good friends, at least they were. Times have changed and Macradon had lost sights of this person known as @Zandra, it wasn’t the same anymore, it was a whole nother person now. Nevertheless, Macradon would sigh and straighten out the parties with the new regards to his planning.

“With that said, the new parties will be Calrex, Adder, Hirru and I. Party two, Celestial Ascendants. Party Three, Zandra, Ariel, Jomei and Ruby. Anything else to add?”. This was the only way Macradon could train his organizing skills, they weren’t great, they were … quite stale to be honest. All Macradon was good for was his hunting in solidarity, that’s the thing he had learned throughout the game, how to handle yourself while alone. He wasn’t the greatest team person, and that’s somehting he wanted to change, but change comes slowly.

Walking over to @Jomei, Macradon would let a hand upon his shoulder. "Hey, Jomei. I know these parties might not seem that great, and I know the situation between you and Zandra. All I have to say is ... would you like to rearrange anything in the parties? Take you two over to party one and that guy into party 3? Or are you fine like this? If so ... take care, stay vigilant" he would say to his friend, a man he had been on a few quests with.

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had looked back to Jomei and she had said out to him "Well... whether or not he comes in peace, I don't truly think that he should be here... why in the world is he even here?" she looked back to Death_Adder, and back to Jomei. Eventually when Macradon had split them into parties, and the tank assigned for our party that originally Death_Adder had been a part of our group known as Zandra had stepped out to Macradon and acted insulted towards him saying how he should have known they're relationship and seemed like she was just outright insulted. With a growl she had stepped up and said out to the woman "I don't care who you are or what the backstory is, but just because you prefer one person over the other it doesn't mean you should act offended that way, let alone demand that you and Ariel gets placed together switching parties extremely last moment." she had turned around aggressively and looked towards Jomei with a angered look "I don't wish to support someone like this. I want out of here."

@Jomei

[Jomei 0]

"He's still someone stuck in the game.. and he has the power. If he truly thinks he is this.. hero of Aincrad.. he would fight on the frontlines to be exactly what he says he is.. I think we are okay. Though we should still keep our eyes open." Jomei said softly to Ruby. "I'm more worried about everyone else... just who exactly saw his name on the Monument.. and who wants to really get revenge for Tel's brother..."

Due to forgotten players, as well as other requests, Macradon kept having to change the teams around. In the end, the final roster put him in the same squad as Zandra and Ariel. He sucked his teeth, not because of being in a team with his ex and his best friend's killer.. but because he wanted to keep an eye on Adder and make sure that his presence among players who were familiar with his name did not cause this entire boss fight to go wrong. Though Calrex, Macradon, and Hirru all seemed level headed enough to not let any personal grudges or rumors get to them. As he wondered about the player killer, Calrex had given him a quick squeeze on the shoulder as a means of greeting. Jomei nodded his head in return, before turning his attention to Macradon. After changing the teams, he asked Jomei personally if he was okay with having the two on his team, especially Zandra being their history. Jomei shook his head, "No Mac, this is fine. I appreciate the concern though." He looked over towards the two, Zandra especially. "Zan's tough, she can deal a hit, take a hit, and cure a hit.. Having her in my squad will definitely be fine. Whatever happened between us is the past." He chuckled, "I have enough to worry about with being back after so long."  He took in a deep breath and stepped up to Macradon one last time, placing a hand on his shoulder and leaning in to whisper to him. "Keep an eye on that one... he has a history. I'm sure we'd all like if it stayed as history." Jomei's eyes looked over towards Adder before they went back to Macradon with a nod. 

As Jomei spoke with Macradon, he heard Ruby start to yell at Zandra for demanding the teams be switched around just for the two's relationship. "[censored].." Jomei cursed under his breath before walking over to Ruby, stepping in the way of her seeing Zandra. "Ruby.. Look, don't let what she's saying get to you. Ariel is just as capable of a fighter. We can really use them both in our team." Jomei's eyes shifted back over to Adder. "I wanted us to keep an eye on him ourselves.. but it might be better if he's in a group with people who can handle him if need be." He looked back to the blonde, placing both hands on her shoulders. ".. If you really want out, I won't stop you. But if you stay, we can't have you losing your cool.. We are all on edge... And.. well.. I'm sure Zandra's a bit more on edge since this is the last time we saw each other since we broke up. Just.. relax. We need her on our side." Jomei opened up his inventory and sent another trade request to Ruby, "Here.. I know you just bumped up your armor ... but this will help get that little extra boost to get out of the way if things look really hairy." He sent the Monkey's Evasion over to Ruby.. hoping she would still stay with him for this fight. 

Traded Monkey's Evasion to Ruby. 

@Ruby

[Ruby 0]

Ruby had looked to Jomei which had clearly gotten just a tad bit annoyed with her, speaking out that everything is going to be alright. While Ruby rolled her eyes and believed that if you can't work with other people then you shouldn't be here at all, she was just going to oblige like a good girl. "Alright Alright I guess I'll stay but I am not very happy of the events that happened or due to someone being here." she puffed out her cheeks and just waited for the battle to begin since she didn't want the team layout changed or to leave without him. He just better keep his promise and not die. Eventually Jomei had given out a trade to her saying out she just improved her armor but she needed just a bit more, Ruby had said out "Alright thank you Jomei. I appreciate it." she then accepted the trade and consumed the potion. 

-Monkey's Evasion

[Macradon 0]

As Jomei leaned in to say something that seemed like a secret thing, Macradon would nod at him “Aye, I’ll try not to budge too much at it, but I'll keep my eyes on him” he replied. It seemed like the frontlines were slowly getting to set down again so everyone could think straight forward on what they were to focus on, the boss. Macradon reevaluated his decisions on the teams and it did indeed seem like they would work out if everything was set as it was. He would sigh heavily and walk back up to his banner and prepare himself. He would inhale, hold a short pause, then exhale as he gripped his Banner of Command with the KoB Insignia on it, standing proud by its side, awaiting everyone to be set so they could venture into the boss fight unhindered by anything like personal quarrel, it wasn’t fit for the frontlines to act so childish, but sometimes it did happen.

[Zandra 0]

---Jomei placed himself between Zandra and the new player that she had never seen before. Zandra let out a sigh and put her hand on his shoulder before she took a few steps forward towards the girl. ‘’Haha!!’’ she laughed right in her face, with a pair of red eyes staring into the other girls with the same colour. ’’I dont need your help newbie. For the first, do you even have the skills to be worthy a place among our ranks.’’ She moved her hand in a half-circle towards the other players. ‘’These are all veteran players that have fought and risked their lives to make people like you...’’ She poked the other girl hard in the chest. ‘’…to get out of here safetly. But what have you done? NOTHING!!. Just run away and let us do the dirty work like we already have, for several years. Also, if you saying that it dosent matter whos team your with, then Im sure you’ve never even been out in a serious fight.’’ When the alchemist was done, she turned to Jomei. ‘’And you.’’ She said to the Irishman. ‘’I still love you, but Ive putted that behind me and I wont make it effect my life nowadays. So, don’t pretend like you know me anymore.’’ She finished off and walked back to Ariel.---

Or rather, that was how she wanted to act. But she new it would ruin the teamwork and probably also the fight, which could lead to the worst possible outcome, player die. Just as she did down at floor four when she broke up with the man infront of her, she locked her feelings deep inside her. Then she placed her hand on his shoulder and gently moved him to the side and took a few steps forward to the other girl. ‘’I’m sorry for losing it like that. But the relationship I have with Ariel will take to long to explain to you now. So lets put it aside for atleast after this boss fight. I also wont blame you for wanting me dead, since your not alone on that. But I would be very happy if you could ignore that desire for now.’’ She finished off. Then she putted on a smile and reached forth her hand.’’party-members?’’

[Shield 0]

Shield had always prided himself on his ability to keep a calm head and a cool exterior in the face of conflict, but sometimes he wished he could take vacations from stoicism. Whether at boss raid meetings, or even now the events themselves, every time veteran players gathered from different corners of Aincrad, the past always came back to haunt the field like a grizzly specter hanging over everyone's heads. It seemed to be dying down for the moment, but with players like those assembled, it was impossible to say whether it would last for long.

Meanwhile, he turned his attention to the newest iteration of the party assignments, and another oddity vexed him. There was a player who had not been introduced, although several players acted as though they at least knew him. Still, his name was the only one not spelled out on he roster. He considered simply going over and asking, but it felt as if that particular elephant in the room was going without mention for a reason. If he remembered later, he might ask around about it. He turned to Beat, raising an eyebrow subtly, so hopefully only his companion would notice.

"Quite an assortment we've ended up with, huh?" he said, a slight sarcastic bite ebbing its way into his tone. "It's a good thing, too, because after all of the fun we had in the planning meeting, why let the fun stop?"

[Hirru 0]

The hunter watched on as people finally came in to the new raid that would bring them that much closer to ending this horrible world.  He wondered what the other side would be like, and how he truly was.  His family and relationships.  Those thoughts kept the man going, and with more resolve with each new floor that they unlocked.  This new floor was a treasure trove of new experiences, but that time was about to end.  A fearsome black dragon lay on the other side of the large metallic doors that blocked their way, but only temporarily.  A simple push would bring them all face to face with the first boss of the third tier group.

Of course, what they had to deal with more was not the beast, but each other.  With the recent meetings, the Knights of the Blood Oath haven't been looked at in kind eyes, especially the Sisters of Chaos, or so the hunter affectionately nicknamed them.  He would, of course, never let them know that.  Going into that, it seemed that the pairing of groups that Capt. Mac proposed didn't come to the liking of the Berserker Sister, Zandra.  I'm sure if the Ruler Sister, Ariel, had anything to say about it too, then we would not be doing this raid today.  This is why the hunter usually made the teams to work around any weird rumors that had been popping up about people.

In the end, Capt. Mac made another grouping including some of the newcomers that came.  A yellow haired girl, whom the hunter had heard word of from when she thought of joining the Blood Oath, but decided against it.  Ruby, was her name, if he remembered correctly.  He didn't know anything else about her, but with the latest spat, the word "Support" got thrown out by her.  Maybe she was a support type player, which is rare to the fact that anyone here didn't know her until now.  Well, Jomei apparently did.

Speaking of people Jomei knew, another random individual had come into the mix, as well.  The only thing that the hunter could tell from him, was that he was an <<Orange Player>> aka a criminal.  Depending on his actions, the hunter was ready to give the signal to end the raid at the drop of a hat, to end any tomfoolery.  Though, any help could be useful, as they were missing some key people.  Where the heck were Takao and Beatbox?  To go even further, where was all of Spectrum?!

After Mac made another change to the teams, the hunter couldn't stay quiet anymore.

"These teams seem very.... unbalanced.  Team 1 has far too many AOE users.  Team 2, has one too many tanks in their party, and Team 3 has... actually the most balance between all three, but having Zandra as a meat shield, isn't very complimentary.  I would say that we ask Morgenstern or Shield to tank for Team 3 instead, and let Zandra perform at her peak form as their AOE / Healer."

The hunter spoke on to Capt. Macradon and anyone else that was close by to hear them talk.  He was eager to make sure that they went into the coming fight with the most potential damage that they could push through.

"Teams 1 and 2 should be the heavy hitters while Team 3 should be used for the stray mobs that may or may not exist, so we should have AOE users a plenty to destroy them as quickly as possible.  Unless we're thinking of having the last team being an anchor, of sorts.  Though, I don't think that would be useful.  Maybe having a few AOE in each team would suffice..

"Maybe.... like this...."

The hunter said while bringing up his own grouping to see how everyone likes that.  After making a few nods and humming, the list was sent on for further approval.

"How about this?  Much easier to deal with, and mostly everyone is happy.  At least, I hope so."

The teams were much more balanced than before with everyone where they should be, at least with the precision of data that the hunter could gather.  He didn't know about the orange player, but if he was here, then he might as well be useful as a fighter, so DPS with his... OHSS?  The hunter wasn't sure.  Still, having Ariel in the Vanguard group would allow for maximum potential damage for her, and keeping Zandra with her was more to keep the two quiet, than much else.  Though, Zandra would keep her max potential with her axe and healing, which could be another plus from that.  The hunter just inserted himself into this team as he sort of forgot to put himself in any of the teams while planning.  Team 2 stayed mostly the same, as he figured that the Celestial's were fine as they were.  Team 3 would have Morgenstern keeping them safe, with Macradon and Jomei being the AOE and burst damage dealers.  Ruby was more of an guess to what skills she had, since the hunter's only thought about her was Ruby saying "support"; so... support, unless she had fists of steel to go with her mouth.

The hunter would then explain his reasoning from above, with less humor and more facts.

	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3
Tank	Calrex	Shield	Morgenstern
DPS	Ariel	Hikoru	Macradon
Secondary DPS	That Guy?	Itzal	Jomei
Support	Zandra	Beat	Ruby
Fill	Hirru	TEAMS ARE STILL NEGOTIABLE

 

Edited October 28, 2017 by Hirru

[Shield 0]

As Hirru began picking apart the strategy, the statistician in Shield got the better of him, and he wandered nearer to examine the new proposal. As much as Shield valued the strategy that he and Jonathan had been working through in their spare time, it did make less sense to have one of only two dedicated healers and arguably one of the highest damaging players on the field step into the role of tank.

"If we're being as efficient as possible," Shield said over Hirru's shoulder, "then we need to take into account hit points. Zandra is a heavy hitter, and in the tank role, any time she's not healing damage on the players, she'll be working on trying to soak damage, and that's a bit of a waste. Besides, if there are squishies split up across the field, they're either going to have to waste time and resources burning through healing items or our healers will waste time getting over to them."

He began pointing to the players arranged on the newest grid. narrowing his eyes slightly as he thought through their options.

"Zandra has her preferences, which works out fine since Ariel is a bit of a glass cannon and might need healing more than some of the more balanced players. Beat is below level fifty. He needs to be close to a healer. The same goes for anyone else below that level, if not level fifty five."

He didn't want to place himself nor Beat on the same team as Ariel and Zandra. He trusted the former less than he could throw her, and given his low strength, high fortitude build, that was saying something. Still, he needed to protect Beat above all else. That forced him to either trust him to Ariel or to a complete stranger who claimed to be support, but who also seemed volatile and quick to make snap decisions. He knew very little about Ruby aside from that.

"Jonathan has high defense, but of the dedicated tanks, his hit point total is the lowest and his familiar doesn't have a back-up heal for him in a pinch," he said, the nerves in the back of his neck silently singing as he knew what following suggestion made the most sense. "He would be best suited tanking beside a healer just in case, and Hirru, I agree that splitting the dedicated tanks makes sense, as much as I would prefer to keep the Ascendants together. If I'm taking the punishment for Zandra's group, I can burn my familiar's heal to keep me up and moving, hopefully giving Zandra an extra chance to swing that she might otherwise miss. "

With that, he began his own set of notes, leaving holes where he was unsure of player's strengths. Macradon he had seen in action a number of times now, as well as Calrex, who had tanked a considerable amount of damage due to some uncoordinated strategy on Shield's own part once upon a time. If anyone could take punishment without healing, it was those two. When he was satisfied, he held his list up beside the others.

	Team 1	Team 2	Team 3
Tank	Shield	Morgenstern	Calrex
DPS	Ariel	Hikoru	Macradon
Secondary DPS	Hirru	Itzal
Support	Zandra	Ruby
Fill		Beat

"Jomei and that guy there are the only ones whose abilities I either can't speak for defensively or else just don't know," he went on, pointing out the still blank spaces. "If we decide on this plan, then I trust you two to arrange yourselves, though if you have below 1200 hit points OR below about 150 mitigation, I would highly recommend avoiding the third group. Those players will need to go without dedicated healing, and we don't know what this enemy is capable of. We have ideas, but that's all they are - ideas."

Before even hearing feedback, Shield knew that this plan would leave some people unhappy. Jomei and Ruby had come together, and Ruby's team had no extra spots for her companion. Most of all, though, he knew that Beat would not want to be separated. They were a team and had always fought as a unit, but Shield's build allowed him more independence on the battlefield than Jonathan, and unless Ruby was somehow Aincrad's best kept DPS secret, the more time Zandra spent attacking rather than healing, the faster the boss would drop.

Damn my analytical brain.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Shield

[Jomei 0]

The blonde woman seemed to retract her statement and calm her nerves after blowing up at Zandra. From behind, Jomei felt a hand on his shoulder, an all too familiar hand. His head turned to look at the player who had approached them, but he was gently moved out of the way at the same time by Zandra. The woman came over to apologize to Ruby for making a big scene about changing the teams, wanting to put her on a team with Ariel. The Irishman let out a silent sigh of relief, realizing that could have probably gone a lot worse. Before the noirette had a chance to walk away from the two, Jomei looked to her with a nod. "Thanks Zan."

The two players, Hirru and Shield, began discussing Macradon's battle plans, changing up the teams a bit more accordingly. Jomei listened to their ideas, watched as they switched players around. In the end, he had been left off the roster, due to Shield not knowing of his capabilities, and Ruby being placed on an entirely different team with no slots for him. Jomei shook his head and grit his teeth behind his lips, he was not a fan that the group could not come up with a solid plan of attack. It made him feel uneasy about what was about to happen. Not only that, but the only reason Ruby had come with him was because of Jomei's attendance, now that they were not on the same team.. what would be stopping her from just going back to her original thought and leaving. The man was not about to make another scene, however, for his nerves were already skyrocketing as it was. "Put me on Team One then, if you're going to split me and my guild mate up. I won't survive this fight without a solid support on my team, and I know Zandra can do the job.. But I can deal damage and hopefully dodge most hits thrown at me." His voice did not sound happy, but he still did not argue the changed. "If I may speak for the... newcomer.." Jomei said, looking over towards Death Adder, "He would be more suited for Team Three with Calrex and Macradon."

[Calrex 0]

As the planning in front of the boss room's entrance continued on, Calrex spent the time listening to all of the various formations and such being tossed around. Zandra's suggestion was for merely personal desires, but the bluenette didn't find such things surprising. He had seen more than enough emotional flare-ups both in the preparation meetings and right before the  battles to know the the generally ragtag group of participants were not always going to be bringing their best to each fight. Every battle wore down everyone in different ways, so it's no surprise that such things would eventually come to surface.

The final suggestion made by Shield was something, however, that he had not seen in quite some time, back when the frontlines was made up of less people. He and Macradon were going to be on their own separate team, meaning that they wouldn't have a healer and be relying on their own massive health pools and survivability in order to outlast the battle. Two members of the participants were left out due to the tank player's unfamiliarity with their armaments, Jomei, and the currently unnamed newcomer.

"Sometimes what's not said speaks louder than what is. If Jomei's suggesting that he fill team 1, and that this unknown person be with me and Macradon, then that likely means that he's close to being the same level, or somewhere between the two of us. Mac's two-handed sword is specialized for AOE combat, but with my tanking abilities we'll also likely be hitting the boss as well. Shield's suggestion of balance and efficiency in his formations probably means that this guy can fend for himself in terms of dealing damage, more than enough to make up for us being two people less than the other teams. If so, that means whoever this guy is has been gaining levels while somehow remaining under the radar, enough that not even any of the best info brokers knew about his presence. Could mean that his orange status mean's he's refrained from hunting around other players, and his inability to enter the safe zones prevents him from interacting with others even moreso."

As he got a better look at the man's equipment, something did seemingly stand out to him. Whether or not he was wearing a cloak, he was capable of seeing the handles of what appeared to be two blades on him. Even if he had gone through the effort of concealing them, the hilts would still push against the cloth. The realization made Calrex's eyes widen for a moment before they returned back to their calm appearance, "If that's right...well I guess that the skill seems to have found a new wielder. Guess it's no surprise Jomei appears to be on edge. If that man possesses it and is a malicious PKer, then a particular future problem might have just made itself known. Achilles is certainly not what it used to be, but if I recall Zelrius' power output accurately, should the need arise I could step in without fear of being destroyed in a single strike. Guess that's one reason I can't regret strengthening it as fast as I did. Nonetheless, if he's going to be with me and Mac, I'll be sure to keep the both of them covered. But if he steps out of line, I just might have to make sure he falls back in. I generally hate having to to that, but it it is necessary I guess I wouldn't really have a choice.

Beneath his stoic helm, the Ultramarine Knight did express some curiosity and concern. But that would have to come after this was over. Walking over by Macradon the blunette gave a quick heads up as to his current equipment, "I have no problems with these, however as a heads up I don't have any healing potions on me, only Safeguards. If I take a strong hit I'll likely be unable to attack or maintain aggro, since I'll be using them to allow me to maximize Battle Healing."

With that he looked over at Shield and Hirru, simply giving nod. He had no qualms with either strategy, because he already knew what his role was going to be. It just depended on if he was going to need to switch out to attack at times, or merely focus on Hate building and defense for majority of the battle.

[Macradon 0]

Macradon would bring his right hand up to his temples and rub them lightly. This wasn’t really getting anywhere, if someone were to make these parties, it wasn’t Macradon. It was a fine training session for making teams, but now it was time for those who were actually good at it to do it. Macradon would just step back and let the strategists take care of this, now that he had kickstarted the party crafting. The teams Hirru came up with seemed pretty balanced for what they were showing, but before much else could be said, Shield of the Celestial Ascendants would come with his inputs as well.

Listening to Shield’s proposed plans, Macradon would like the idea, but from what it seemed, Jomei and that guy didn’t really have their spots in the plan. Macradon was unsure to how this was gonna turn out, but as always, he would let the analytical players do their thing and just wait for the boss raid to begin. Ideas were thrown around, coming with proposed teams that would work, Macradon wouldn’t really say much to this for now but to let it happen slowly. Looking at the overarching scheme going on here, Macradon would deduce  the plan to be somewhat balanced with the heavier players in the third party, taking care of that.

Macradon would nod at the Ultramarine Knight and reply “Sound like a fine plan, with the other parties also doing some damage to the boss, we should be able to keep out focus at whatever we need, be it lesser monsters or the big bad guy” he said with a smile, thinking that the teams were decent enough to be able to take on the raid head on. Looking at everything in front of him, Macradon would just prepare himself for whatever could be coming their way now, with the parties being decently crafted in 3 parties with only the last party missing a healer, which wasn't that big of a deal when it was Calrex being the tank. While Zalrex was the tank of the party, Macradon would also be able to draw some aggro and take a few hits until Calrex could take the wall role again.

[Tesseleth the Tyrant 2]

OOC: Times up! Boss begins now...

Another whistle sounded, and the area of the town grew silent, to where you could hear the water dripping off the Stalactites. After a few moments, the doors opened to the large boss room, where Tesseleth awaited them.

Tesseleth appeared from the bowels of the cavern, steam emerging from his nostrils. His evening had been interrupted by the puny players, and he wasn't happy about that. He gave a low growl as he emerged, his scales giving a low clang as he trudged forward. He stopped moving as his name appeared above his head, along with four large-looking health bars. He gave a roar as he aimed his head upwards, fire emerging from his mouth as he snapped a hanging stone behind them, blocking out the exit and what little light the city gave. Only the glow of Tesseleths scales which gave off a red aura, along with the torches that burned along the walls, giving the room a red look, giving it a feeling of hell itself. Tesseleth was raring to go, and the time to fight was now. 

Tesseleths Stats / Party Stats:

Spoiler

Tesseleth the Tyrant - HP: 12,000 - MIT: 135 - ACC: 4 - EVA: 0

Boss Room Info: The boss room is a large cavern, with many earthen columns, stalactites, and stalagmites. Littered throughout the room are crystallized warrios who seem to be frozen in place... and time. Some of the ones that remained intact inside the crystals wore solemn and determined expressions while others showed fear and agony as though they have seen pure hell in their last moments. They wore different types armors and weapons but most of the ones inside the crystals in relatively good condition, wore long dark colored capes. 

Several shallow pools of clear water lay scattered throughout the cave, they resemble dark spots in the ground, reflecting what awaits above. The ceiling of the cave is high and obscured by darkness, preventing players from seeing the top. Up there ,on a large perch, stands a large winged creature watching down over this desolated domain of darkness. A dragon engulfed in obsidian scales and mists notices movement and noises below. It lets out a loud high pitched warning roar towards all that try to trespass into his capital lands.

First Attack: ???

Slash (Basic Attack): ???

??? : ???

??? : ???

??? : ???

___________________________________________________________________________

Party 1 -
@Shield - HP: 1425 /1425 - EN: 116/116 - MIT: 220 - EVA: -1
@Ariel - The Crowned Lion - HP: 1330/1330 - EN: 130/130 - MIT: 43 - EVA: 1
@Hirru - HP: 1165/1165 - EN: 102/102 - MIT: 99 - EVA: 1
@Zandra - HP: 1485/1485 - EN: 144/144 - MIT: 233 - EVA: 0
@Jomei - HP: 1110/1110 - EN: 108/108 - MIT: 43 - EVA: 4 Safeguarded

Party 2 -
Morgenstern - HP: 1265/1265 - EN: 110/110 - MIT: 232 - EVA: -1 
Hikoru - HP: 1410/1410 - EN: 138/138 - MIT: 133 - EVA: 3
Itzal - HP: 1410/1410 - EN: 138/138 - MIT: 135 - EVA: 0
Ruby - HP: 900/900 - EN: 90/90 - MIT: 0 - EVA: 4 Safeguarded
Beat - HP: 990/990 - EN: 78/78 - MIT: 90 - EVA: 0 Safeguarded

Party 3 -
Calrex - HP: 1685/1685 - EN: 164/164 - MIT: 144 (Achilles) - EVA: 0 Safeguarded
Macradon - HP: 1425/1425 - EN: 138/138 - MIT: 170 - EVA: 0 Safeguarded
Death_Adder - HP: 1630/1630 - MIT: 0 - EVA: 4 Safeguarded

 

[Shield 0]

As the doors swung open, Shield broke his attention away from the discussion. They had arrived at what seemed a solid plan, and not a moment too soon. As the chamber was revealed little by little, the stalwart tank strode to the front of the pack, posturing himself between his party and the draconic threat ahead of them. Exchanging a quick glance with Beat, he thought two words into the tension of the room, hoping that the message would be received by his companion.

Stay alive.

With that, he stepped across the threshold. His shield arm gripped the Manticore Mask, hugging it tight against his body in preparation for whatever was to come. As the dragon's scales clanked, so too did his armor. As the dragon let out its roar, so too did Shield draw in breath to respond.

"Team one," he bellowed, unleashing a <Focused Howl> of words and force that ripped through the still echoing air of the cavern. "Forward!"

His call to battle rumbled through the stone passage.Those assembled may not have been many, but they were strong, they were ready, and they were organized now. He raised his sword, urging his temporary teammates into the fray. He was not overly glad of who it was that was behind him, but he had seen nearly all of them in action and knew that they had plenty of punishment to give out.

"That should get his attention," he said over his shoulder. "Now, it's up to you guys."

Spoiler

Action: Focused Howl

+6 Hate - Tesseleth
-8 EP

Tesseleth the Tyrant - HP: 12,000 - MIT: 135 - ACC: 4 - EVA: 0

Boss Room Info: The boss room is a large cavern, with many earthen columns, stalactites, and stalagmites. Littered throughout the room are crystallized warrios who seem to be frozen in place... and time. Some of the ones that remained intact inside the crystals wore solemn and determined expressions while others showed fear and agony as though they have seen pure hell in their last moments. They wore different types armors and weapons but most of the ones inside the crystals in relatively good condition, wore long dark colored capes. 

Several shallow pools of clear water lay scattered throughout the cave, they resemble dark spots in the ground, reflecting what awaits above. The ceiling of the cave is high and obscured by darkness, preventing players from seeing the top. Up there ,on a large perch, stands a large winged creature watching down over this desolated domain of darkness. A dragon engulfed in obsidian scales and mists notices movement and noises below. It lets out a loud high pitched warning roar towards all that try to trespass into his capital lands.

First Attack: ???

Slash (Basic Attack): ???

??? : ???

??? : ???

??? : ???

___________________________________________________________________________

Party 1 -
[H:6] Shield - HP: 1425 /1425 - EN: 108/116 - MIT: 220 - EVA: -1 - Safeguarded - Antioxidants x 1
@Ariel - The Crowned Lion - HP: 1330/1330 - EN: 130/130 - MIT: 43 - EVA: 1
@Hirru - HP: 1165/1165 - EN: 102/102 - MIT: 99 - EVA: 1
@Zandra - HP: 1485/1485 - EN: 144/144 - MIT: 233 - EVA: 0
@Jomei - HP: 1110/1110 - EN: 108/108 - MIT: 43 - EVA: 4 Safeguarded

Party 2 -
Morgenstern - HP: 1265/1265 - EN: 110/110 - MIT: 232 - EVA: -1 
Hikoru - HP: 1410/1410 - EN: 138/138 - MIT: 133 - EVA: 3
Itzal - HP: 1410/1410 - EN: 138/138 - MIT: 135 - EVA: 0
Ruby - HP: 900/900 - EN: 90/90 - MIT: 0 - EVA: 4 Safeguarded
Beat - HP: 990/990 - EN: 78/78 - MIT: 90 - EVA: 0 Safeguarded

Party 3 -
Calrex - HP: 1685/1685 - EN: 164/164 - MIT: 144 (Achilles) - EVA: 0 Safeguarded
Macradon - HP: 1425/1425 - EN: 138/138 - MIT: 170 - EVA: 0 Safeguarded
Death_Adder - HP: 1630/1630 - MIT: 0 - EVA: 4 Safeguarded