[SP-F6] Calming the Soul

[Ethereal 0]

[TO UPDATE HAVE RENAMED MY CHARACTER ETHEREAL SO DARKWOOD = ETHEREAL]

Darkwood sighs. He's ran out of some alchemical ingredients and needs to stock up again. "I hate having to this." he says to himself as he puts everything he'll need into his inventory. "Staff, check. Robes, check. Let's do this!" he exclaims. He swings open the door of the tavern and heads down to the warp gate on F1. "Teleport Floor Six" he says and is surrounded by blinding light. A few seconds pass and he is hit by a wave of humidity and the sounds of hundreds of treeborne monsters.

[Ethereal 0]

He blinks as the light fades and does a 360 of his surroundings.It seems he has been transported into prehistoric times - with wooden huts and vines everywhere. "Intriguing." he comments as he steps off the gate. He walks to the centre of the settlement and asks an NPC for some information. "Hey, what is this place?" he asks, "This is Amazon, City of the Jungle." explains the NPC. Darkwood looks around once more and realizes a lack of male NPC's in the area. "Wh.. Why are there no men here?" he questions, "Amazon is the seat of the Amazonian Tribe, an all-female tribe." she describes.

"WAAAAAT?! Um.. Excuse me" while others may have thought this was great, Darkwood found it somewhat awkward and had thoughts like 'How can they survive with no reproduction?'. He quickly shuffled away, staff tapping in a fast rhythm.

[Ethereal 0]

As he made his move to get away from that unnatural place he spotted a ring of huge, crumbling pillars around the entire settlement. Curious, he moved closer to the pillars before a otherworldly sensation ran through him and he had to touch the pillar, nothing else mattered. He sprinted up to the structure, ignoring the warning cries of the nearby NPC's and planted his hand firmly onto the sigil that was embedded into the pillar. In an instant all matter of unpleasant memories surged through him. That boy he could have saved if he knew how to do alchemy, the man who nearly killed him after pretending to be hurt by the roadside and driving a dagger into Darkwood, the stupid spider that caused him to ruin somebody's wedding. He fell to his knees, palms driving into his temples, "AHHH LEAVE ME ALONE" he screamed as the nearby players and NPC rushed to him before he blacked out.

[Ethereal 0]

After waking up with a pounding headache and several Amazons and players gathered around him, Darkwood was frightened and confused. "Wh-What happened to me? he pleaded, You've just experienced the Call of the Haunted, a curse that has been bestowed upon you as you touched the city's holy Idol. the leader replied. As soon as the word Idol was spoken Darkwood blacked out again after experiencing a sudden gigantic pain in his temples. He woke once more several hours later, an NPC waiting for him to rouse. The NPC said "Your only hope to stop these pains is to Calm your Soul.", "What is that? inquired Darkwood. "You must travel to the Folly and confront the demons that plague you., "Sounds simple enough. So.. Which way to this place?"

[Ethereal 0]

The Amazons gave Darkwood a basic iron longsword and wished him luck, pointing the way to the Folly. 'God, I just can't get these images out of my head. he slapped himself to try to clear the images but just hurt himself. After several hours of walking and getting lost, Darkwood spotted a huge forest to the right Ah! Here we go! he exclaimed, and plunged headfirst into the dark band of trees that stained the langscape.

[Ethereal 0]

The instant he entered the forest he felt as through there was an invisible piece of string connecting him to a destination somewhere in the forest. There were no paths to speak of in this wild, sprawling domain so he stumbled blindly forwards, following the call of the string. Suddenly a huge beast burst from nowhere, charging straight towards the chest of Darkwood. He quickly drew the sword he was given gingerly and attempts to sidestep while slashing its side.

Darkwood HP: 11/11

Ape HP: 15/15

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[7]

He successfully evades the charging monster, which looks like a huge ape, slashing its left side and arm.

Ape HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 11/11

Ape HP: 14/15

The ape roars in disappointment and rage, turns and jumps into the air to crush the puny player under its feet. Darkwood sees this coming and rolls backwards.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[3]

Darkwood avoids the feet, but the beast's hands follow through and knock him in his side as he rolls.

Darkwood HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 14/15

Darkwood is mid-way through the roll and continues rolling backwards. He stops himself when he lands in a squatting position and pushes off towards the ape, who opens its mouth in a roar. It moves its arm to bat him aside.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[1]

The ape's hand connects fully with Darkwood's side, batting him towards a tree. Darkwood spins to rebound off the trunk. "Let's try that again." he comments.

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 14/15

Darkwood puts all the force into his jump and shoots towards the ape. The monster spins, unsure of where its foe has gone, and sights its prey, giving a screech.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[10]

He shoots like an arrow straight into the face of the beast, the sword embeds itself in the creatures eye, and it howls in agony. It's hands shoot up to its face and Darkwood has to leave the sword behind to avoid getting crushed. He evades by jumping upwards

Ape HP - 2

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 12/15

As he jumps Darkwood draws the staff from its holder on his back. He spins at the height of his jump and plummets back down, staff like a spear in front of him. The ape screeches in pain and covers its eyes.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[9]

The staff hits its mark, discharging the force of all his bodyweight into the Ape's head. The ape screams and moves one of its hands to hit its assailant.

Ape HP - 2

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 10/15

Darkwood jumps backwards, off the head to avoid the upcoming paw. He lands on the ground. The ape hears and turns, eyes burning with hatred, it sees its attacker and charges towards him. Darkwood whirls his staff over his head and is about to whip it at the ape.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[8]

The staff strikes the monster in the chest and knocks it to the side, where it loses balance and falls over. Darkwood steps towards the ape menacingly as it starts to get up.

Ape HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 9/15

The ape pushes itself up as Darkwood advances. He brings the staff over his head like a spear and brings it down onto the back of the ape.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[4]

The ape sees the stroke and quickly grabs the staff in mid-stroke. It screeches in delight and yanks the staff from Darkwood's grip. "This is why I hate fighting alone." he proclaims.

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 9/15

The ape is now upright and standing several feet above the 6"3 Darkwood. 'Man, that's tall." he admits. He looks around for another weapon and the ape throws the staff away. Darkwood can't see any weapons and decides to try and jump to retrieve his blade from the thing's eye.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[7]

He jumps, evading the paw that comes trying to knock him off course and seizes the longsword. He pulls but it does not come free. The ape howls, affronted, as the jarring of the blade causes more damage.

Ape HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 8/15

Panic rises in Darkwood as he tries once again to free the sword from the eye tissue. The ape howls and brings its fists towards its face to knock him off.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[6]

The blade comes free, but only just. Darkwood falls to the ground just in time as the fists stop just before the ape's face - it realized he's not there anymore.

Ape HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 7/15

Darkwood steps to swipe the ape in its left thigh, while the ape's vision is still obscured by its fists. The ape senses movement and moves its leg to kick away the bug about to attack its hip.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[7]

The blade connects, opening up a wound that spewed pixels into the air. The ape screeched and followed through with its leg, forcing Darkwood to dance backwards.

Ape HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 6/15

Darkwood decides to jump into the trees and swing his sword at the ape's arms. The ape can now see with one eye and moves to punch him before he can jump.

1-5 fail

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[4]

Darkwood evades the punch but has to pull out of the slash by doing so. He lands in the trees and the ape looks up the see where the bug went, pounding its feet in impatience.

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 10/11

Ape HP: 6/15

He falls from the trees, blade by his side, aiming to strike the ape in its good eye. The ape expects this maneuver and tries to throw another punch at the torso of the insect.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[4]

Darkwood has no time to react - he didn't expect the ape to predict his attack. The fist strikes him with force and causes him to fly through the air and land badly on his back. "OOF" he said as the air escaped him.

Darkwood HP - 1

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 9/11

Ape HP: 6/15

Darkwood struggles to rise as the ape turns and sprints at him, hoping to crush him underfoot. He puts his hand by his side to get up and feels the smooth wood of his staff, the ape had flung away earlier. He braced himself and lifts the staff into the path of the ape, putting the back end onto the ground.

1-5 miss

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[3]

The ape sees the staff and stops itself just before Darkwood can pierce it. He gets to his feet swiftly and goes in for another attack.

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 9/11

Ape HP: 6/15

Darkwood swings the staff in a wide arc and feints, spinning it towards the ape's head. The ape bends over to grab the left side of his body.

1-5 fail

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[5]

The ape lunges faster than the hit can land. Darkwood is forced to roll out of the attack and redouble his efforts on the eye of the ape. He jumps up once more. The ape goes for a headbutt.

[Ethereal 0]

Darkwood HP: 9/11

Ape HP: 6/15

Darkwood brings the staff straight down, attempting to smack the ape in its one good eye and blind it. The ape goes to headbutt the stomach of its assailant while he is exposed.

1-5 fail

6-8 hit

9-10 critical

[5]

Both of them misjudge distances, for Darkwood is still stunned from his fall and the ape has no depth perspective. Darkwood flies above the headbutt, his staff missing slightly and the ape overbalances and tumbles forwards.