[EV-F07] Storm of Shadows

[Valentine 0]

Valentine was feeling a wave of disappointment. He came out to have a good time and was feeling very attacked. The weather was terrible and the black sludge reminded him of a nightmare he had as a child. Whatever event from hell was going on he hoped the prize was worth it. If he went through all this for another charisma hat Kayaba was going to get a kick in the dick.

"I got you." Valentine was helping with the relief effort when he spotted his lover in a bit of trouble. Anyone else could be in danger and Valentine could possibly ignore it. Grimm was the one person he would not let go. He grabbed his lover and yanked him towards himself, pulling him from the clutches of the black rain. "Stay close to me. It would be easier to look after you."  Valentine gave his baby a closer look as he remembered what he came to the floor for. "I am also have something to ask you."

 

Spoiler

ID# 177916
Initial Roll Value: 9
Giving or Receiving: Giving 5 to Grimm
 Final Roll Value: 4

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Valentine

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald was glad to see the old man alive, him being able to push all of the rubble that was left off of himself meant that he was stronger than he was giving himself credit for. "I am glad to help, and to see that you are okay." Ozwald responded to the old man's thanks. Ozwald couldn't see the NPC's back that was bright red when he turned away from the trio that had helped him. Ozwald stood around more looking around himself noticing the inky black rain begin to pool on the ground, not having anywhere to actually go. Ozwald was staring at the rain when he started feeling as though something was crawling up his legs from the floor. Ozwald looked in horror as the black rain began defying physics, climbing up his legs holding him in place. Ozwald couldn't struggle free "Val, Stranger, help me." Ozwald called out in slight alarm, the inky black liquid wasn't fast, but it wasn't slow either.

Being pulled out of the sludge by Valentine was a relief, but the comment that he made soon after made him almost as nervous as the sludge that was holding him in place. Ozwald thought of all of the implications of that as he stood on his own feet "We need to get to somewhere safe." He said looking around for somewhere safe from this storm, and not finding any around.

Spoiler

ID# 177920
Initial Roll Value: 2
Giving or Receiving: recieving 5 from Valentine
 Final Roll Value: 7

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[Setsuna 0]

A torrent of torment beckoned softly through the waves of black and pitch, muffled screams made through the distance. Fear had become commonplace here, the question being if it was from people. It could have very well been NPC alone that were feeling the pressure of the darkness drawn, players were a more difficult body to instill such things into. She held strong cutting through all that sprung up to oppose her, a hollow shell doing what she knew. If it offered resistance, cut it down and it won't. The difference here is that for every head removed was a head regrown. Like a hydra, it always seemed to have more. Like thick gum her feet stuck in the pools, her hair, and skin tainted by the stars. NPC had a luxury, being freed from grasps held by a silhouette that threatened to consume. Would it consume her, this notion in ink? Or would it forge her into something far more sinister?

"Now is not the time to dawdle, old man, move on and seek shelter from the storm. Allow the youth to fight this." spoken a bitter line from a girl accustomed to the cold, who took residence in snow frost and spent hours under its snowfall.

ID# 177952 results: Loot: 10
Initial Roll Value: 10
Giving or Receiving: Amos: 5
Final Roll Value: 5

Edited November 16, 2020 by Setsuna

[Demian 0]

So it was there, then, that he would have to decide on his next course of action. Gradually, as the pool of shadows only but shivered at his feet, Daemien was slowly swiping off the grime that had slathered upon his figure, wrestling with the attempt in futility that was ignoring the windows of red and black appearing before him of the ink's origins. When the man was certain of his cleanliness, he stuck his head out the cavern's entrance, an uneasy eye scanning the surroundings for any signs of shelter whilst he was on the move.

--And the storm continued to rage on, droplets of black hitting him square in the face. With a wince, the youth retreated, a thumb smearing off the darkness upon his cheeks. Perhaps something from his inventory might work as a make-shift cover, Daemien believed, scrolling through his menus for that deus ex machina.

---

ID: 1776962 | LD: 4 | Escaping the Storm.

[Jevi 0]

Finally, another voice cut through the roar of the pounding rain. Despite the weather growing worse by the minute, Jevi felt a wave of relief crash over her. Picking up her pace a bit more, she trudged through the mud and sludge until she met with the source of the voice. The younger looking, blonde haired player stood outside of the city, responding to Jevi's voice to guide her back to Nimbus. "Thank you. I thought I was done for." she spoke loudly, as to be heard over the whipping wind. 

Taking a quick look down at her feet, she noticed that the black ooze that had been raining from the sky was now climbing up her shins, nearing her knees. "The hell?!" Jevi cursed out, taking a step back and kicking her legs as to remove the sludge. "This shit is getting weirder and weirder.." she said as she pushed farther into to city. As she suspected, this was not just an issue outside of Nimbus' walls. The city was in utter chaos, players and NPCs rushing for shelter, some assisting others where they needed help. "I need to get out of here.." Jevi said to herself, realizing the blonde player had rushed off moments after Jevi had stepped foot into the city. Her first thought was to try and rush to the center of town, hopefully this storm wasn't present on another floor. 

@Freya

ID#: 177967

Initial Roll Value: 6

Giving or Receiving: --

Final Roll Value: --

Edited November 16, 2020 by Jevi

[Koga 0]

Koga hardly moved as the NPCs and Players around him began to rush outside, and the two women near him began barking orders. "Goddamn it..." he muttered to himself, "Gimme a break, I just sat down." Despite his complaints, the man stood, stein of beer in hand began to quickly gulp it down as he walked with the crowd.

Thud!

There wasn't so much as a shout as the green haired woman suddenly shoved Koga aside, and just in time. The roof crashed down, right where he'd been standing, and somehow, nowhere else. The man stared in both surprise and amazement at how pristine the rest of the tavern had remained. "Uh, t-thanks," he said to the woman before reaching over to the downed stein and picking it up. Empty...and he hadn't even gotten to finish it off...

Tossing the wooden mug aside Koga stood up, and looked over to the girl again. She was shaking. Koga reached out and gently put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey," his voice was steady and calm. "Thank you again. You saved my life." He wasn't really good at comforting people. But, hopefully, that would help ease her nerves a little. Feeling like you could do something, like you had some small iota of power, that helped people, or at least, that was the hope.

The nearby blonde girl began to shout some more, and Koga's head snapped in her direction, before he pulled his hood up. Not that it was doing much good at this point, his hair was already sodden and plastered to his head.

High ground. Right, that had been his original plan. Koga took a quick look around before sighing. Were the NPCs really necessary? At least they respawned. Players didn't. They needed to worry about themselves. Whatever...for now Koga would play along. "Start moving up the streets, stick close to the walls, and each other! Don't lose sight of the person beside you!"

@Elora // @Katoka

Spoiler

ID#: 177973
Initial Roll Value: 2
Giving or Receiving: Receiving 1 LD from @Elora
Final Roll Value: 3

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Koga

[Mishiro 0]

An instance—

———?

The flickers of static, the random number-letter matrices layered beneath what would have otherwise been an ordinary system alert, only created more questions than it answered. The patchwork beneath had come undone — somehow, and Mishiro was peering straight into its unraveling.

Another crash. Upstairs, the black storm lashed furiously through the blown window. She could feel the chill at her back. 

You know what to do.

Move.

Her hands flew over her menus as Mishiro nearly stormed out of the empty establishment, opening one tab, then another, and then closing both. She forced the door open and slunk outside to stand beneath the stone awning before the wind slammed it shut behind her. It wasn't any better here. The water was up to her ankles, and panic coursed through the streets. She backed further into the quiet of her small corner and pulled a cap over her hair, only half mindful of the messages flashing at the corner of her vision.

Arabelle: Oh, nowhere important.

She lifted her gaze to the blackened sky. She hadn't lingered long enough to find that the shadows had eventually seeped down the stairs to flood the spot she had been standing on mere moments ago.

Arabelle: Word has it that it's an Aincrad[...]
Arabelle: So why don't you just sit down[...]

Nimbus was a fortress, but only through the benevolence of the system. 

Arabelle: It's a beautiful day for the end[...]

| 177977: LD 15

[Azhoda 0]

Shoin looked around for anything or someone to help, her priorities set on saving the players and less on saving the NPCs but the few people that were here already did their best to get out. So Shion left the few players that seemed to handle themself alone only to maybe catch a blink of someone familiar. Or she thought so, as she kept walking holding out her spear Shoin looked around as the black sludge fell down onto her red hair. Disgusting really, she thought as she looks at were her friend walked to not see any sign of him at all "Yuumi, Dam it where are you!" she yelled at the entrance of the city only for her voice to be engulfed by the storm. Holding her hand in front of her head to block the wind from hitting her full on it the face she stoot almost in the middle of the plaza getting completely wet and covered in the dark black rain.

A worried yet angry look was seen on Shion's face and she seemed like she was about to throw down with the storm almost not faced by the storm as she got hit by it. The Black rain dripped passed her skin on her arms and her hair seemed to almost have a combination of red and black colouring. "Yuumi No time for your dam games where are you!" she yelled around looking around trying to find her friend. Uugh what the hell is this, I feel sick or something from this storm, She thought knowing she actually began to worry about her friend

Spoiler

ID#: 177994
Initial Roll Value: 16
Giving or Receiving: n/a
Final Roll Value: 16

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by Azhoda

[Alkor 0]

Alkor began leading Lessa uphill as the rain continued to beat down. Their clothes, their armor was soaked and dyed in the strange ichor. Fortunately if there was an odd scent to it, he had failed to notice it yet. For all intents and purposes, it was merely annoying albeit dangerous normal rain. 

If it didn't stop soon, it would be annoying albeit dangerous flooding, and possibly a death sentence to anyone trapped on the floor. From their new vantage point, Alkor could see that the town was slowly but most certainly being devoured in its entirety by the strange phenomenon. It might be minutes, maybe less before he couldn't even make out any of the buildings in the distance.

It was good that they had not stopped. This situation was already getting hairy. "Okay, I'd like to try and figure out whats going on, but I don't think we're going to have time for it right now. We should prioritize helping other people get to high ground and riding out the storm together. NPCs generally responsible, Players definitely don't, so they have priority," he spoke authoritatively, albeit with no small amount of concern in his words. 

"...didn't the Frontliners just move to start the boss fight?" he questioned suddenly. Could the two things somehow be correlated? Lessa had mentioned she wanted to meet up because she could use someone to talk to, and how Bahr was about to go to the boss encounter. 

But he'd never really stopped to think if it was possible that an event might trigger outside of the boss fight. With Cardinal, anything was possible. 

 

ID# 178051

Initial roll value: 3

Giving/Receiving: -

Final roll value: 3

Edited November 17, 2020 by Alkor

[Lessa 1]

With both hands, Lessa shoved her wet mop of hair back from her face. The relentless sheets of rain hardly gave her time to breathe, and each inhale brought water into her nostrils. She coughed once, shook her head in a slightly dog-like fashion, then turned some of her attention back to Alkor - the rest was split between the darkening sky, and the shouts from nearby players. His action plan only registered on a surface level, but she nodded along anyway. It wasn't until he mentioned the Frontliners that she whipped back to him.

"What?" she shot back instinctively. Then, when his comment registered, Lessa's lips drew into a line so thin her mouth nearly disappeared. "I've never heard of anything like that before," she finally told him, lifting her voice to be heard over the storm. "I don't trust coincidences, but I also don't like what these events being linked could mean for us."

Spoiler

ID# 178100

Initial roll value: 20

Giving/Receiving: -

Final roll value: 20

 

[Blueberry 0]

The pink-haired player moved down the streets alone, eyes on a couple of other players that were passing by. It didn't seem like they knew where they were going either. She stopped for a moment, searching for a familiar face. Anyone. She hadn't ventured to this high of a floor before and neither had most of the players she had met. 

A cold feeling began to make its way up her legs and horror filled her eyes as she looked down. The inky water slowly climbed up her leggings and threatened to consume her. She struggled violently against the waters that held her leg. Flinging them off, she resumed running through the streets. Apparently, she needed to stay moving or else she wouldn't make it for much longer. She took a quick glance down at her legs, finding that there were several holes in her once perfect leggings. 'Something is off with this water. I am pretty sure just being submerged in it would kill me.' 
 

ID# 178101

Initial roll value: 10

Giving/Receiving: -

Final roll value: 10

[The Shadow 3]

The storm showed no signs of relenting anytime soon. The air remained chilled and the waters slowly rose. It was the very definition of the apocalypse, the end. The sky by now was entirely blotted out, no light shone on the players. There was no light at the end of the tunnel for the players to stride for. Within Nimbus, the only source of light were the green crystals hanging on the walls. The number of these crystals were quickly diminishing as NPC's snatched them up for themselves. In the dark, the inky water was invisible. The only sign of it was the intense cold and the scent of what seemed to be a rustic iron. 

The dark waters pelted Hugo in the face. The end was near. So why was he smiling? What could possible there be for him to be happy about in a crisis such as this? Was he ruined at his core? Maybe. He stepped from his house that had already begun to leak and threatened to cave in soon. The creaking of the boards told him that much. There was no hiding from something like this. He adorned his typical wear: A brown T-shirt that matched his eyes and a pair of worn jeans. He took hold of his necklace and pulled it out of his shirt allowing to be in plain view for those close enough to see. Adorned on the necklace was a coin with the symbol of a red towed split down the middle by a black sword. The symbol of his purpose, of his people.

He pushed through the storm, his boots stomping through the waters that tried to grab him with every single step. The smile remained on his face. His eyes caught on a player, frozen no doubt by the mere fear of death. She was small in stature, a kid most likely. However, in a world like this. Even the children were guilty of the crimes committed on this world. Murdering the creatures and people of it over and over. They were parasites. They came from a different world and had come only for the reason to destroy his. To destroy Aincrad. He walked passively toward the white-haired child and as he got close he snatched her from behind. Luckily, the sound of falling raid had concealed his presence. Slamming his foot into the girl, he would push into the dark murky waters and hold his foot atop her stomach. "Shame you can't respawn huh? Once you die its over. Take that and run, you don't have to remember the horror every time. I pity you though, dying the first time is always harder. You are just the first. This storm is the sign of the world fighting back against the parasites. I am simply going to help it finish the job." The girl became fully submerged in the water and his smile became much more sinister. "One down. Where's the next?" Hugo questioned. This would be far too easy. He didn't need to have the strength to defeat the players like his superiors. He could use the storm as his weapon to get the job done. 'I'll focus on the players running around solo first. Then work to take down the clusters.' 

His figure sprinted off into the distance, leaving the girl to drown in the cold. 

† Assassin has been consumed by the Storm of Shadows.

Round Five will end in 72 hours [Nov 21st at 9:30 pm EST]

The LD Threshold is 4.

 

[Valentine 0]

Trying to stay calm as the panic built up was a daunting task. Valentine always thought death would come just never as quickly as it was coming. There was so much he wanted to do and accomplish. "Grimm. If we make it out...." Val had to stop talking as he started to tread water. The situation was growing increasingly dangerous and outside the realm of his control. He wanted to be a hero and look after Grimm. The issue was that he could barely keep himself afloat. The water felt alive and malicious in an odd way. If the developers made it as a floor boss than Kayaba deserved the hardest of a** beatings.

"I... want....." A full sentence was impossible to form. Valentine really wanted to set things in motion if they survived. As the water covered him like a pillow on a child. Valentine believed it was the end. He was saved by an unfamiliar face. Valentine wanted to say thanks but his brain short circuited when all he could think about was lesbian vibes.

 

 

Spoiler

ID# 178158
Initial Roll Value: 2
Giving or Receiving: Receiving +2 from
 Final Roll Value: 4

 

Edited November 21, 2020 by Valentine

[Jevi 0]

Nimbus was a complete and utter shit show. Any semblance of light from the sky above had been blackened out by storm clouds as dark as the inky rain that fell from them. The black ooze pelted the roofs of cottages, dripping off of the shingles like slimy icicles, stretching to their limit before breaking and joining the slowly growing pool on the ground. Bodies were scattering in any and every direction, NPCs piling into houses and shutting the doors and shutters behind them, not allowing any players entry due to being 'over crowded'.. just damn selfish was more like it. 

Remembering that the ooze somehow found a way to climb up her body as it rained down on her, Jevi kept her feet moving. The doors to various abodes and shops slammed shut as she rushed past, a missed opportunity to find easy shelter. Through the roar of the storm, she heard the sound of loud creaking, which turned to cracks and crashes as a poorly built NPC home collapsed under the pressure of the rain. Jevi's golden eyes went wide with shock, but now she was the one feeling selfish as she continued to push on to the center of town.

There, just before her, the stone platform with four tall obelisks on each corner, like a shining beacon of safety. Just stepping onto the platform that housed the teleport gate was sanctuary enough just getting her already soaked feet out of the sludge. "Warp, Fortaleza!" She shouted... Nothing. Frantically, her eyes scanned the scene before her. Still Nimbus. "Warp Floor Five! Floor Six! Fuck just get me out of here!" Not even a spark of the arcane energy that sent players between floors. They were trapped here, left on their own to survive. 

All around her, players and NPCs began to become consumed by the dark ink. Many kept moving to avoid possible death, as she was doing. There were some players, however, who put their lives on the line to help others, standing in place for a long while to assist a fallen NPC or fellow player. Jevi had noticed a group of men helping out at a fallen house doing just that. Two of them held each other in an embrace, the black ooze slowly building up their body. Jevi quickly rushed in to help, assisting in freeing the white haired man from the black ooze, hoping someone else could help his companion currently in the dark drink. "Alright lovebirds, nows not the time for mushy gushy if you don't want to die.. or whatever the hell this is." 
 

ID#: 178159

Initial Roll Value: 19

Giving or Receiving: 2 @Valentine

Final Roll Value: 17

Edited November 19, 2020 by Jevi

[Demian 0]

Though the rain continued, he found it lighter, easier now. Almost as though the ink was willing to slough off his form with the dark tarp around his figure, though Daemien could feel the cold of the liquid seep into the material and chill him to his very core. He huffed, that animalistic exhale, eyes scanning the environment around him for any trace of higher ground -- and he would find it upon the mountaintops nearby.

But that was absurd. In clear daylight? The growing flood by his feet was one factor to worry about, he was certain, however higher ground without any shelter spelled of a different premise to him. And yet, what choice did the man have, between Cardinal's frosty hold and relief of clinging onto another day's hope? A careful march did he take, rounding the earthen structure before him, hoping that he found locate a slope that might allow him to easily scale heights in the face of slippery conditions.

---

ID: 178165 | LD: 19 | Escaping the storm.

[Aquan 0]

Aquarian looked around the area, unsure of where to go from their position. He was aware of some Firm Anima members holding up in a tavern nearby, but beyond that he didn't know what he could possibly do. He sighed and turned to the couple, his eyes going wide as the shadow went up their bodies. Aquan began to run to them, but a two people interviened and pulled them apart. Aquan gave a small sigh of relief and ran up to them, shouting slightly over the storm. "There's a group at the Tavern near by. Freya and some other Firm Anima members are in there, we should head there with them!" He yelled to @Jevi@Grimm Reaper and @Valentine

His eyes turned to Jevi and he gave her a small nod. "My name is Aquan. Thank you for helping these two. I think you should come with us to the tavern. At least a roof above our heads. I'm not sure what that might do in a storm like this, but being grouped up against this weird situation would be better than nothing." He called to the woman.

[Tagging @Freya because they are mentioned in this post]

Spoiler

ID: 178160

LD: 11

Giving Or Receiving: 4 to @Grimm Reaper

Final: 7

 

Edited November 19, 2020 by Aquan

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Spoiler

ID: 178163

LD: 2

Giving Or Receiving: receiving 3 from Blueberry

Final: 5

The black water that was pooling on the ground was now enough to completely fall into, walking in the inky substance was like trying to walk through honey, not that Ozwald knew what that was like. Ozwald's dark black hair had already matted to his head, the normally poofy and messy style completely flat at this point dripping inky black water into his eyes. Ozwald was in Valentine's arms, but it wasn't like the rain from hell cared at all about that, it was still slowly crawling up the legs of anyone who stood still for more than a few seconds. This was the case of the pair that was standing in each other's arms, the black inky liquid slowly crawled to their hips trying to pull them into the water, slowly gaining headway. Noticing this Ozwald pushed his beloved Valentine away, The substances hold not breaking at all before the liquid completely pulled Ozwald under the water.

Ozwald thought this was his last moment in Aincrad, but feeling someone slice through the sludge that was holding him down renewed his vigor. He struggled until his head flew above the water gasping for air that was not full of inky black liquid.

Edited November 19, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[Blueberry 0]

Darkness had entirely settled in on the land and the sun was no longer to be seen. The only source providing light for her was now the few stones that lined the sides of buildings casting their hue down on the ground. Her eyes flickered for a moment towards an NPC who snatched one of these stones off the walls. 'You can do that?'  she questioned internally. She reached up, snatching one of the crystals for herself. Huddling to the warm light she now carried she moved with slightly more confidence. The dark had much to be fearful of and she was glad to have something to keep it at bay. 

Her eyes caught sight of a group of three players that trudged through the waters that now covered the girl's feet. 'Finally. Someone that can be my friend.' She stepped forward through the waters and notice the player that was in the back was slowly beings dragged down into the water. 'Its too high. Even those that are moving are starting to have troubles.' she noticed. Unsheathing her blue short sword she would put it to its first use. Slashing the shadows that stuck to the boy like glue she would free him from it and send it flying back into the pools of water. Returning the weapon to her sheath she would happily say, "I got you!"

---

ID: 178164
LD: 7
Giving Or Receiving: giving 3 to @Grimm Reaper
Final: 4

[MISERY 1]

He'd seen it all. An NPC had just murdered a child in cold blood. A real, human child. There would be no respawning for that tortured soul. Though MISERY had understood the gravity of the storm and its peripheral dangers, he hadn't stopped to consider the possibility of NPC-on-Player fatalities. Such an unimaginable feat may have shaken those with lesser mental fortitude to their core, but wicked grin stretched across MISERY's masked visage from ear to ear. 

So that's how it is, huh?

He shifted his weight.

So be it.

With the newfound knowledge that NPCs were just as dangerous as the storm, MISERY's next steps became abundantly clear. If he eliminated the NPCs, they would no longer be a threat. Maneuvering through the storm was becoming more difficult with each passing minute - the last thing MISERY needed was a surprise visit from one of the many hapless fools he'd looted throughout the ordeal.

Blending perfectly into the oil that now coated Nimbus, MISERY slithered along in a manner that resembled little more than sentient ooze, pursuing 'Hugo' until he saw the perfect opportunity to strike. He followed the deranged lunatic into a dark alleyway, springing from the soil and shoving the man against the wall of one of the nearby rickety structures. The wall bowed from the impact, but did not give. Yet.

"Guess it's your unlucky day," MISERY mused as he produced a skeletal sickle from the folds of his cloak. The hum of countless buzzing bees filled the alleyway as the weapon rose into the air, glinting a soft verdant as it captured the faint glow of a nearby crystal. "Wonder if you'll respawn in a storm like this."
 

Spoiler

ID#: 178168
Initial Roll Value: 7
Giving or Receiving: -
Final Roll Value: -

 

[Azhoda 0]

It was getting heavier every time the wind blew, with every push and blow the wind went harder and harder. But Shion was really not faced at all but it was not helping her that she was still looking for her friend. She got a bit worried now and she tried to send him a message. She knew he always responded fast and even in a storm he sends her at least something even if it was just one word back. plus she knew Yuumi was stronger than her quite a bit, but still, this storm didn't look good at all.

-To Yuumi

Where did you go!

It took about a minute or longer and nothing was send back, it was really not like Yuumi to not respond at all and she knew he was in some sort of trouble at least.

Those four words echoed inside her head a bit, she was not used to the feeling of being worried and she kept looking around as the black rain kept falling on her dripping down slowly over her armour and harms. It felt cold over her skin and her hair white-silver colour of her armour was getting a bit black as well as her hair. She looked around for a second, even with the storm making it hard to look around Shion saw someone she knew she could trust and she walked up to him fast placing a firm grip on @Koga Shoulder. "Help me!" She said calmly be quite loud to get over the storm so he could at least hear her. There was a look of anger and panic all at once on her face as she looked at Koga. "My friend went to the exit of Nimbus and I have not seen him again, you are going to help me," She sounded demanding and maybe a bit worried.

 

Spoiler

ID#: 178169
Initial Roll Value: 16
Giving or Receiving: Giving 5 to @Koga
Final Roll Value: 11

Edited November 21, 2020 by Azhoda