[EV-F07] Storm of Shadows

[The Shadow 3]

Cold wind ripped through the floor, cutting through clothing and even buildings. Those players that had survived this long would only find future hardships. While the storm hadn't taken much turn for the worse yet, several players already got to taste the threat for the very first time. As shadows took hold of them, it began to devour them whole. The light swallowed by the darkness. Those that managed to be freed from the grasp of the storm would notice that the areas that had been held down had begun to become eaten away, clothing and body. 

The dark rain continued to pour, pelting players and NPC's alike in the face with the freezing droplets. The shadows washed down into the lower ground, flooding them and rising up. As the players moved up, they would find the inky water splashing onto their feet as it moved down the mountainsides. Nimbus, once the main settlement of the seventh floor, was nearing a point of no return. Any who remained there would find their window of escape to be gone. The few NPC's that had managed to escape the city, moved up the mountainside. Children in front, the adults behind ushered them to what was considered the safest place from the storm. Taking the rear to this ground, Amos climbed after them using a hefty stick as a crutch to move up. The old man looked forward. "Keep moving quickly now. It won't be long before the mountain's too slippery to climb!" 

___________________

"Unfortunate, she will be missed."

The cold voice was unexpected to hear. Taken aback, he would frown as he held his weapon expectantly. Ignoring the dull throb in his back from the previous attack, his eyes searched the darkness for the figure of Setsuna. The area seemed to grown even colder as the sound of a unsheathing blade filled the air. "Tell me, what kind of monster ignores the passing of their friend?" It entirely made sense. Of course the parasite of the world cared not for each other. Only themselves and their benefit. Their own survival. 

Hugo prepared to block the oncoming attack; however, in his injured state he was no where near as fast as the small blue figure before him. As the cold steel slashed through his flesh, he would fall onto his back. Afterwards, the figure darted away as fast as she had come. 'What is up with them? Did she not intend to hunt me down? Why wouldn't she finish me off?' He pushed himself up off the ground, his body groaning as he did. His health was quite low. He was a low-leveled bandit. Taking on two players of decent level hadn't been the wisest of choices. 

"I'll get that girl." he whispered. He moved to push himself up, but found himself unable to even lift his hands or knees from the ground. His eyes floated down to the ground, finding his body sat within a puddle of the inky black liquid. It seemed to have frozen around his form and now slowly traveled up his arms. 

Trying to wrench himself from the ground, he found quickly any attempt was entirely futile. He had been captured. The ground bubbled in front of him for a moment as the shadows consumed more of his figure. A hissing sound made itself audible and in horror he watched as a dark figure rose from the shadows. Then another. The dark figures loomed over his downed body. The only feature he could make out were the demented smiles of these creatures before they clutched his body and drug him down into the shadows. 

† Alkor, Valentine, Koga, and Hugo^NPC have been consumed by the Storm of Shadows.

Round Eight will end in 72 hours [Dec 6th at 6:15 A.M EST]

The LD Threshold is 7.

[Demian 0]

What was it that just rescued him? It seemed to hold a voice. The moment Daemien showed any signs of confidence, of course the universe would conspire against him at it. Slippery footing; the man had nearly fallen flat on his face just as the duo had rounded a corner, but the shadowy figure that caught him hadn't been there one second ago.

So what exactly was happening, again?

Had the blot find itself stuck around for long, mayhaps the man would've caught sight of them, that tall shambling monstrosity that sent shivers down the youth's spine. A sputter as he rose, coughing out the scarce resemblance of a "Thank you" -- and yet, as it decided to high-tail it out of there (an orange crystal -- curious?), it was only at the figure's total disappearance did his partner's presence appear to return.

"'Plenty fine', you said?"

A delicate whisper in his ear. He brushed it away, starting to move in earnest before searching his surroundings for his mysterious companion. Nothing in immediate sight. How come?

"...Right."

---

ID: 179461 | LD: 7 | Escaping the Storm.

[Azhoda 0]

Shion got pulled up out of the black water, for a moment she couldn't see what was going on. Before thanking the kid that helped her and getting onto her feet she looked around, "KOGA!"  She yelled before moving the water around her as best as she could but without any sort of way could she seem to find him. She took a minute to even try and find Koga under the water, with no luck at all and the black ink not helping at all almost looking like it was growing even faster. 

She stopped for a moment as she was standing still in the cold water and her hair and armor getting covered by the black rain. "AaaRG"  she let out a cry of anger for a moment and then punched the wall behind her, or what was left of it, only to get completely destroyed as she punched it. She was clearly angry now and her eyes almost flared up like her hair color. "Whoever is doing this is dead if I get my hands on them,"  she said as she got out her spear and walked toward higher ground in hopes to find her friend.

Once getting higher ground Shion stopped a familiar blond looking woman. That must have been only one person she knew with blond hair. "Aly... Lessa!"  Shion yelled over to her before walking up to her. Shion was not good at reading people, but it was clear she was in a panic right now. Shion herself looked quite a bit angry gripping her spear tightly in her hand. "Lessa! Over here!" She said again before getting closer to her. Upon hearing a second name she kind of knew she looked around knowing what he looked like. But with nobody that looked like Alkor she already knew it, what happened to Koga also happened to Alkor. This couldn't happen any longer, Not while Shion was still here and breathing. "We will find them, Lessa, I will promise that as long as I stand here!" she said with determination and anger

Spoiler

ID# 179462
Initial Roll Value: 
Giving or Receiving: 
Final Roll Value: 7

@Lessa

Edited December 5, 2020 by Azhoda

[Lessa 1]

Trembling like the last leaf on a December tree, Lessa found her feet. "What was that?" she choked out. "It definitely wasn't normal water. I felt like I-" The words died on her lips when the woman turned to her companion, and found nothing but empty space. "Alkor?" she asked dumbly. "Alkor?" The second time she spoke his name, her voice cracked on it. Desperation corrupted her more completely than the shadowed water ever could have. Her blue eyes widened, rolling like a spooked horse's as she wheeled first left, then right. "Alkor!"

Had he been carved off from the group in the chaos? Or had he peeled off himself, going to save someone else in distress? Or was he... 

"Alkor!" This time, she cried his name to the small group gathered around her. "Uh, about this tall, black hair." Scrambling, teetering dangerously close to the edge of hysteria, she motioned with her hand. "Has anyone seen him?" 

Spoiler

ID# 179467
Initial Roll Value: 19
Giving or Receiving: -
Final Roll Value: 19

@Jevi @Grimm Reaper @Aquan @Mishiro

[Jevi 0]

The woman felt her back hit the ooze as she fell, the tendrils that splashed out to the side already retracting towards her body. They wanted to claim another victim. Jevi's golden eyes clamped shut, accepting her fact. However, fate had not intended her to fall at this moment.. or at least another player decided it wasn't her time to go. A hand grasped onto Jevi's wrist and pulled with all of their might. Quickly, the brunette, black sludge dripping from her hair and back, found footing on the fallen debris, and used that to assist in her rescue. One foot in front of the other, and with a the girl pulling her upwards, Jevi righted herself and stepped back onto solid ground where the rest of the players were. A few heavy huffs, Jevi looked to the girl who saved her. A bit younger than her, she seemed, and a face entirely unfamiliar. "Thanks, I owe you one." she said with a smile. Taking a quick look around, Jevi saw that she was not the only player who fell within those couple of moments. Two others that had been nearby, including one that she saved earlier, had gone over. raising her hands to her head, she pushed the soaked, brunette hair from her face while turning to the blonde who had approached them earlier, "So whats the plan?" 

@Aquan @Grimm Reaper @Mishiro @Lessa

ID: 179469
Roll Value: 18
Giving Receiving: --- 
Final Roll Value: 18

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Jevi

[Setsuna 0]

A twist of her steel it is returned to its scabbard, the Iai had done its job. Looking over her culprit with a twist of her head like a puppy. "I have already mourned enough, and it will serve for nothing. I could wallow, I could shout against it. Or, I can extract what you have wrought." As darkened hands from the puddles below, the very same that held Lessa a moment prior latch to his throat, and begin to drag him down to what he was inducing.

"That sorrow, that hatred, and that sense of failure you taste. I take pride in it, knowing that the last thing you get to see is me. watching....you...die." A flare of the energies that fueled her paints her iris in a blue like ice, that breaks its way through the coming tides of shadow cast. "Tell me, before you're dragged down to hell. Does the wolf finally know fear?"

A twist of her heels to the sway of silver hair tinged black from the rain. Before she leaps away a final word "And to all your efforts, they meant nothing."

Roll Value: ID# 179468 results: Loot: 13
Giving Receiving: 3 to Mishiro
Final Roll Value: 10

Edited December 3, 2020 by Setsuna

[Mishiro 0]

"we're already in a group, so we take full advantage of it. stay close, and keep an eye out for at least one other person," the pure blank canvas of her expression bore a hint of concern as she glanced at Lessa, then at what remained of the lower districts of Nimbus. "our objective's the nearest mountain peak. that should be sufficient? if storm hasn't stopped by then—"

Mishiro carefully tested her weight on the next step.

"—we can talk about it when we get to it."

she pulled herself up, and fortune's wheel spun. first, it was a clearly pronounced crack. her heartbeat skyrocketed; she nearly tripped over herself in her effort to find a foothold more stable above until the part of her mind that still retained its sense of her surroundings realized the sound hadn't come from the collapsed section of wall she was on top of, but from the structure in front of her. rain and wind wore down what remained of a watchtower on Nimbus's border, and its foundations crumbled in a landslide.

the others were within her sight, but she was the only player who'd taken that path upwards.

Mishiro made one last bid for her survival, and her answer was the outstretched hand of a small player in blue.

| 179478: LD 4 -- Received [3] from Setsuna.

[Katoka 0]

Katoka took a deep breath and pushed aside her fear as best she could. Elora was scared, after all it had been twice now that she had to pull her aside from a possible death. If she panicked then Elora would panic too and that wasn't goin to help either of them. "If we stay calm then we can find a way out of this mess. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we get out ok." Kat promised her friend, and she meant it.

Their path immediately in front of them may have been obscured, but that didn't mean there wasn't another way to get out. While the samurai looked around she didn't notice the pool of inky water behind her. Black tendrils of goo began to reach from the surface and creep up towards her. Suddenly the tentacles constricted around her legs and began to drag her back to their home. Katoka let out a scream and reached for Elora as she felt the burring of her clothing underneath their grasp. The smell of singed clothing and flesh filled her nose as she called out, "SHIT ELORA SOMETHING HAS ME! PLEASE!"

Spoiler

ID: 179484
Roll Value: 4
Giving Receiving: Receiving 3 from @Elora
Final Roll Value: 7

 

[Aquan 0]

Aquan climbed up the mountain with Valentine next to him, trying to keep him moving.

Slip

Aquan blinked for a moment, unable to register what happened. Valentine was there one minute, but then gone another.

"Grimm..." His head turns to look at Valentine's partner, unable to register fully what just happened. He kept his grip on the mountain but slowly looked at his hand, then back down the slope. He watched as the man's form disappeared into the storm. His hand started to shake, his mind overwhelmed by thoughts of what happened to the man, and what could happen to them.

"Stop, Up the mountain, you can take a moment when you have time." His eyes filling with tears closed for a moment. He took a breath and reached down for Grimm's hand to help him up the mountain. He knew the man didn't need help, as he was easily going up the mountain by himself, but he needed the grounding of someone else. "Here, Lets go." He looked down at Grimm, not even sure what to say to the man.

The pair began to climb for a moment before Jevi turned to ask what is next to Lessa. "We climb, get to the top of the mountain, and protect what is left of us. Right?" He looked at Lessa, wiping hair out of his face as he slowly got to some sort of makeshift landing.

Spoiler

ID: 179485

Roll Value: 20

Giving Receiving: N/A

Final Roll Value: 20

 

 

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Aquan

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Ozwald had barely registered what had happened as he was himself struggling up the mountain making sure that other people were okay and that no one had needed help. But how had he failed to realize that the one person who he wanted to help was no longer by his side, that the man he had called his lover had succumbed to the darkness of the water without so much as a single word from anyone including Valentine. Ozwald always wore a cheery smile, that was who he was, but at the moment his face was completely blank, there was no smile left on his mouth, and his warm red eyes were cold in the dark rain giving Ozwald an almost sinister look as he accepted help from Aquan to make the accent up the mountain easier for himself. despite the fact that Ozwald didn't know if he deserved to make it up to the top where Valentine had not.

Spoiler

ID: 179491

Roll Value: 19

Giving Receiving: N/A

Final Roll Value: 19

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[Elora 0]

Her instinct to survive consumed her once again. Elora's head throbbed as her sights spun to assess her surroundings. She needed to search for safety, to find something that would allow her to lower her guard and to ground herself back in reality. All of this had to be some sort of vivid nightmare. Yes, a nightmare, just like the one she had had before. In that one, there had been other players fighting beside her against a trinity of perfectly muscular beings. They --

It was then that she heard her guild-mate yelling at an inexplicable force that had begun to drag her down into the puddles accumulating at their feet. Elora frantically snapped out of her distraction, racing forward and severing the thick obsidian tendrils from their hold around Katoka's calves. "W-what the FUCK was that?!", she gasped, then fell silent as she took notice of her friend's disintegrating tights. The fabric around where the creeping liquid had touched was now gone, its edges curled like that paper had been cinched from the heat of a flame. "FUCK! This is bad -- this is really really bad! We need to keep moving!", ordered Elora as she struggled to shove down the sense of dread that was threatening to overwhelm her, "Do you see anyone else around? There have to be others that have left the city by now!"

"IS ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE?", she yelled desperately into the darkness before Katoka even had the chance to respond. 

 

Spoiler

ID: 179494
Roll Value: 18
Giving Receiving: 3 to @Katoka
Final Roll Value: 15

Edited December 7, 2020 by Elora

[MISERY 1]

did you know that if you took all of the dna out of your body and laid it end to end, you could make it from here to the sun and back 100 times?

you'd also fucking die.

[The Shadow 3]

It started within Nimbus. A sound rang out, filled with chatter and glee. The whispering laughter continues, echoing around the players seeming to come from all directions. For the first time, the shadows reveal how alive they really are. Figures form from the shadows, taking random forms from creatures to humans to monsters. Each make an almost a cackling noise before they surge forward. The Shadowlings begin to chase those that remained alive this long, only adding to the threat that they had to faced before. 

While these Shadowlings can be cut down with a blade, they only dissolve for a few seconds before reforming and continuing chase. Of course, those that remained away from the pools of shadows were safe from these creatures, but those who found it licking at their heels would find them attempting to drag them back into the shadows that they were born from. The air reached its lowest temperature, just below freezing. While conditions were almost at their worst, the threat had nearly doubled. 

Surrounding the player, MISERY, the shadows in the shape of hyenas nipped at the masked player's legs before dragging the helpless player onto the ground. The shadow rose in the form of hands, grasping the player's figure before slowly forcing the player to sink into its depths. 

 

---

 

Amos found himself exhausted. In his age, there shouldn't be any reason why he attempted to climb a mountainside. However, as a sound of high-pitched laughter whispered through the air, he found the energy to keep moving up. By now, the rest of the city's people were much farther ahead than he. They were young and spry, they didn't need to waste their efforts in someone as old as he. He looked back, finding that the storm had begun to catch up to him. He stared out to it, and found the grinning faces of unimaginable creatures staring back. Moving forward, he would use the last of his strength to climb onto a rock. Holding himself up with his stick, he would stare onwards into these faces. 

"Death is not something in which I'm afraid of. I've lived too damn long to not understand that it is a part of life." The storm licked at the front of his boots, washing onto them. Three figures loomed upward to him with outstretched arms. Slamming his stick into one, he would find that the creature had the same consistency as water. The creature splashed back into the storm. The other two didn't seem to mind the fall of their friend, but instead took the moment of his defenselessness to strike. Cold hands grasped his body, pulling him down to his knees. The creatures made a chattering noise, as if filled with glee from his capture. He understood this was the end. He didn't fight back against the storm as he was plunged into its depths. 

 

†  MISERY has been consumed by the Storm of Shadows.

Round Nine will end in 72 hours [Dec 10th at 2:15 A.M EST]

The LD Threshold is 8.

[Setsuna 0]

Against the backdrop of spinning chuckles that assailed the minds and ears of those within the storm. Beasts of many, presumably the souls of the lost, claimed through the ages like the current largest puppet. Releasing Mishiro's hand, her skin cold to the touch in a way that made it seem as though she was already consumed by this blackened downpour. "Whatever this is, whoever this grand schemer is. It expects fear." She mutters to the trickling blackness, looking up into the rushing cloud cover. An eye down to the rising tide. The numbers were falling with each passing moment, and it was only a matter of time before she'd succumb as well. "A shame really, that it did not hear what I said."  spoken with a bite to her tongue.

Removing a slip of cloth, a remnant from her own craft in a color that matched her attire. "You cannot take from me what I do not own, you wish to take away my sight and my warmth." Lifting it to her brow and pulling it taught with a sleek slide. "I do not fear the dark, creature. Wherever you are within this place, I want your head." She had no mind to if it could hear her, and she did not care for the answer was for herself. The sounds of breathing and screaming are magnified, a world she'd grown up in returned.

The voices of many racked her eardrums, the patter of the rain and the fall of an old man. She did not need her sight, for it was never hers to begin with. A spectral beast stirs from the pressing clouds, and with a subtle draw of a pure in blue blade it dissipates. "I suggest you seek shelter, this is a night like no other."

ID: 179491
Roll Value: 19
Giving Receiving: 8 to @Mishiro
Final Roll Value: 11

Edited December 10, 2020 by Setsuna

[Elora 0]

After helping Katoka onto her feet, Elora shifted her gaze to scan the horizon for anyone, anything that they could run to for sanctuary from the storm. If other players truly had survived the torrential downpour that flooded the valley below, then there was a chance that they could find one another, create a party to protect one another. Surely, there would be more safety in numbers. 

"I-it's ok, right? We're ok for now", she voiced to Kat as the mantra echoed in her head. Whether or not it held any substantial meaning or offered any actual comfort was beyond her concern. That wasn't the point. At this moment, she just needed something that she could repeat. She needed to create something that would feel familiar. 

Goosebumps crawled over Elora's clammy skin as she grabbed Katoka's hand and began to lead them toward a small group of silhouettes that had began to take shape on the horizon. "I'm sorry for acting like this, but we haven't got any time --", her voice began to choke, "And it would be nice if I could just feel the warmth of another person one more time before the end"

 

Spoiler

ID: 179758
Roll Value: 13
Giving Receiving: N/A
Final Roll Value: 13

Edited December 7, 2020 by Elora

[Jevi 0]

The blonde began to look around frantically for her companion, whom Jevi could have sworn was right behind her when they first made contact. Jevi took a quick look around, using the description that @Lessa had given them of Alkor's look. Her golden eyes finally peered over the edge next to where Lessa searched. The black ooze seemed a bit more sporadic, bubbling up as if it had just swallowed something -- or someone in this case. Jevi pointed a finger towards the pool, before turning to Lessa, a solemn look on her face, dreading informing her of her friend's possible demise. 

As she opened her mouth to speak, she felt something grab onto her hand, nearly throwing her off balance. Shooting a glance to her side, the shadowy water had taken a humanoid form, though one arm was replaced with whipping tendrils of black sludge. Where a mouth would be separated into a horrifying grin, before another tentacle shot out, wrapping around her ankle. The brunette's back crashed into the surface as the shadowy creature yanked her from her feet towards the murky depths. Jevi quickly flipped over, grabbing onto whatever she could with her free hand. She held onto dear life, her virtual muscles straining, and beginning to numb.

@Aquan @Mishiro @Grimm Reaper

ID :179759
Roll : 4 
Giving/Receiving : 5 from Grimm
Final Roll : 9

Edited December 10, 2020 by Jevi

[Grimm Reaper 0]

Spoiler

ID :179770
Roll : 20
Giving/Receiving : Giving 5 to @Jevi
Final Roll : 15

Ozwald was still in shock, Valentine, how could he just be gone like that. One second everything was completely fine, and then the next he was just completely gone. Though Ozwald couldn't think of any reason for himself to keep travelling up the mountain with the group that was slowly getting larger as they walked, he continued, making sure to keep pace with Aquan. Ozwald's face was one of sadness and grief, rather than the normally joyous and warm smile he had, he had a seemingly distant look, that made it seem almost as if he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings.

Ozwald proved anyone who thought this wrong when in a single motion he kicked a humanoid figure made out of sludge causing it to not only release one of the people on the adventure with them, but also to explode back into the inky black water that created it. Ozwald didn't make a coment or really help the girl more than that, he just continued to stare forward without any expression.

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by Grimm Reaper

[Demian 0]

That couldn't have been [Disguise], could it? Even as he continued his ascent, no trace of his companion remained, and yet he couldn't shake off the feeling that they were, still, following him.

Strange to be pursued. He was the one tailing them in the first place. Safety in numbers.

The skill usage had to be different.

"They're changing," the voice informed, to which Daemien glanced back the way that they came from. "Hounds, it looks like. Creatures of the dark." The tap on his shoulder made him turn once more, facing the view below. "Down there."

So he looked. And what awaited his sights were definitely something akin to a horde. No more was it just sticky black flatlands to colour a world of muted hues -- the depths seemed to come alive with a juggling of forms, rising and sinking, left and right. Flares of red even struck true to his vision from on high. Had the youth a shred of fear, perhaps he would've been haunted by the sight.

"Awful work," he responded.

"Yes. Hey, look on ahead--"

At their direction, he sought for answers again. Further down their path were but a gathering of players struggling to escape the rising pitch from hell. A flash of gold was struggling.

Daemien didn't want to be there. Crowds were never much his thing. But it didn't hurt to help out one of his kind. As quick as can be, he raced across the terrain-- oh, now the floor wasn't slippery -- and with a heave, he'd attempted to yank the blonde away from the void, beating back what solid figures he knew to appear with the sole of his boots.

"Careful now...!"

---

ID: 179778 | LD: 20 (- 1 = 19) | Escaping the Storm.
GIFTING LD to Lessa | LD: 1 

[Aquan 0]

Aquan opened his mouth to say something, but closed it slowly. He did not know what to say to the man anymore but he did know that he was hurting. "Grimm I-" He was cut off by the man's foot colliding with a shadow, saving the fallen Jevi from being pulled into the dark ink. Aquan gasped and pulled Jevi up to her feet after Grimm saved her. "A-are you okay? I could barely see you go down... I don't know how long we all can last out here." Aquan sighed softly and looked around the area they were. It seemed every single time he blinked, someone else was being pulled into the Shadow. The woman that was asking for help was gone from his sight and he only feared the worst. "I'm not sure what to do anymore.. I don't know where to go, what to do. Do you have any idea?" He looks at Jevi and Grimm, hoping that one of them would say something that would help. "I'm in shock right now I believe. I'm being overwhelmed by too many thoughts and events. I'm of no use right now." He said in a robotic voice.

@Jevi@Grimm Reaper

ID: 179779 LD: 8
Giving or Receiving: -
Final: 8

Edited December 10, 2020 by Aquan

[Mishiro 0]

It was the whispers that reached them first. Twisted with mirth, clear as bells amid the torrents of wind and rain, the corrupted mass shifted beneath them -- shadowy globules emerging, threatening to break through its surface. When the first sphere burst, a creature bearing the tainted blood of the storm tore itself from the fold.

She backed further up the ascent, lips parted in a soundless gasp.

Aniki— wherever you are, are you seeing the same thing?

Dozens more followed in the first's stead, and they raced up the mountain where the tides could not yet reach. Mishiro summoned her invisible weapon as one of the beasts appeared before her, but in the moments that spanned between now and the inevitable outcome of the spectre's claws closing around her, dragging her back down to the shadows -- she knew she had been too slow, too unfamiliar with her weapon --

The small girl disposed of the target, and Mishiro lowered her axe. 

--She was shivering.

 "Mm. Let's pick up the pace."

 

 

They just needed to make it to the top of the mountain, and then—

| 179780: LD 7 -- Received [8] from Setsuna.