[F09 - PP] Profaned King

[Oz 0]

Floor Nine was just awful. Oz had found the desert nearly unbearable, but the magma-scorched expanse of this hellhole was worse by a long shot. The air was so hot and thick that he didn't even want to smoke - not that his feeble fingers would have any luck keeping a firm grasp on the undoubtedly sweltering aluminum canister that hid them away. The viridescent vandal had the distinct pleasure of having multiple items of interest on the docket relating to this wretched place, and so thought it wise to try and knock them all out in one fell swoop. The sooner he was done with whatever bullshit lurked here, the sooner he could relinquish himself of the responsibility of ever having to return. Or so he hoped.

Today's task was a bit of an oddball. Rather than pursuing some quest or suffering through exhausting NPC dialogue options as he'd done of late, the matter at hand was a bit more vague. At the summit of the Profane Peak sat a throne, and upon its seat rested a crown. Lately, the crown had begun to hover and place, and there were whispers amongst the Playerbase as to what it could mean. It was probably no coincidence, Oz figured, that some of his better informants had gone missing around the time the rumors started floating around. Something was up.

As he reached the summit of the Profaned Peak, his clothes damp with sweat and sticking to his skin, he saw the silhouette of another. Someone a bit more dainty than himself, though seemingly not altogether different than he. After all, she was caked with a sweaty film herself.

"Now what would a little morsel such as yourself want with a place like this?"

Spoiler

Oz | HP: 290/290 | EN: 46/46 | DMG: 4 | ACC: 1 | EVA: 4 | LD: 9 | HB: 11 | VampOff 2 | VampDef 2 | ParaVen 2 
Level: 14

---

Equipped.

• Loathsome Lullaby. [T1 Demonic Throwing Knives - ID: 226394]
  • Vampiric Offensive II | Paralytic Venom II
     
• Garment of Gluttony. [T1 Perfect Cloth Armor - ID: 230260]
  • Vampiric Defensive II | Holy Blessing II
     
• Laurel Earcuffs. [T1 Perfect Jewelry - ID: 220923]
  • LD III

 

Battle-Ready Inventory.

• (3) Crystal of the Blood Dragon Horde.
  • Tierless Mass Healing Crystals - Heals user and each member of Party for 10% of Max HP
  • IDs: 222929, 222930, 222931
• (5) Crystal of the Blood Dragon Horde.
  • Tierless Mass Healing Crystals - Heals user and each member of Party for 10% of Max HP
  • IDs: 222932, 222933, 222934, 222935, 222936
• (5) Crystal of the Blood Dragon Horde.
  • Tierless Mass Healing Crystals - Heals user and each member of Party for 10% of Max HP
  • IDs: 222937, 223187, 223187-1, 223187-2, 223185
• (4) Potion of Oh God Oh God Oh God.
  • Tierless Perfect HP Recovery Potions - Heals user for 15% of Max HP
  • IDs: Unknown - acquired here.
• (5) Potion of Oh God Oh God Oh God.
  • Tierless Perfect HP Recovery Potions - Heals user for 15% of Max HP
  • IDs: Unknown - acquired here.

---

Skills.

Spoiler

Standard:

• Searching [Rank 5]
  • +5 LD
  • +5 Stealth Detection
• Throwing Knives. [Rank 1]
  • +3 DMG when wielding Throwing Knives
• Combat Mastery: Evasion. [Rank 3]
  • +3 EVA
• Unhindered.
  • +1 ACC
  • +1 LD
  • +1 EVA
  • +10 HP

Extra:

• Leadership. [Rank 3]
  • Leadership Art: Elusive
    • EN Cost: 4 | CD: 2 turns
    • Increase EVA of all Players in party by 1 for a single turn.
  • Leadership Art: Rally
    • EN Cost: 6 | CD: 2 turns
    • Increase ACC of all Players in party by 1 for a single turn.
  • Leadership Art: Steadfast
    • EN Cost: 8 | CD: 3 turns
    • Status effects that would be applied to the party for the next two turns are instead applied to the user instead.

Guild Buffs.

Spoiler

• Lucrative.
  • Reduce LD needed for Salvage rolls by 5
  • +2 Alchemist crafting EXP per crafting attempt
  • +1 crafting attempt per day at Rank 9
  • +2 crafting attempts per day at Rank 10
• Col Deposit.
  • +5% bonus col from mob loot
  • +10% bonus col from treasure chests

Housing Buffs.

Spoiler

• Well Rested.
  • -1 EN for the first three expenditures of each combat
• Squeaky Clean.
  • First time suffering DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 25% (rounded down)
• Hard Working (Alchemist).
  • +2 Alchemist crafting EXP per crafting attempt
  • +1 crafting attempt per day
• Filling.
  • Increase effectiveness of a single food item consumed in a thread by +1 T1 slot
• Storage Closet.
  • +1 Battle-Ready Inventory slot
• Dining Hall.
  • Turn 3 identical food items into a Feast, containing 6 portions for party members to partake in
• Living Room.
  • Increases out of combat HP regen by 5xTier
  • Reduces full EN regen to 2 out of combat posts
• Skylight (Searching).
  • +1 Expertise to Searching
• Practiced Angler.
  • +2 Fishing EXP per fishing attempt
  • +1 LD and +1 CD to fishing attempts
• Advanced Training.
  • +10% EXP to a thread once per month
• Multipurpose.
  • +1 LD to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post per thread, applied retroactive to the roll

Consumable Buffs.

Spoiler

 

 

 

[Bistro 0]

quite the predicament.

she'd heard tale of players going missing from that once dormant crown up on the ninth. that reason alone would've been enough for her to forward the tidbit over to her business' champion. but something in bistro had urged her to seek out the truth of the matter herself.

maybe, just maybe, her sister would be found there, too.

it wasn't easy making the trek herself. she'd left a note to her right-hands out of obligation, and made it certain to them that they weren't going to weasel their way out of their debt to her just because she might disappear all the same. from possible death, she would make sure her ties repaid her favor from beyond the grave before she would finally rest in peace. but the thought of not finding eternal comfort from her family still gone settled uneasy on her shoulders, and it maintained itself to be her roman empire on that tedious ascent.

solving the mystery of the crown wasn't the highlight of the trip. if bistro had to guess, it was discovering who had been gone, and rescuing them if need be. still, if either of those objectives aligned, she wouldn't be opposed.

but when she noticed how empty the summit was, she safely discarded the idea that this was going to be an easy solve.

there was someone else there. someone unfamiliar, and likely not as lost as bistro expected. free as he was, he would've been able to teleport himself back to safety at any time. so, not her target.

"Now what would a little morsel such as yourself want with a place like this?"

bistro gestured to the throne. the two players were bordering on the edge of a lake they had no reason to trifle with -- the liquid lava within boiled and bubbled up to the surface every so often, as though a warning not to get close. yet at the heart of it was a stone platform, and at the heart of that still was her mystery.

"i could ask you the very same thing," bistro replied. the man who'd called out to her wasn't exactly in adventuring form. granted, most players like the casual look of modern-day wear. bistro opted for the fantastical -- it had its advantages when one was out adventuring proper. though covered in sweat as she was, similar to the stranger present, she wasn't suffering as poorly in beating the heat. "not many are willing to make the trip. if you're on a levelling excursion, it might be best for you to leave now. haven't you heard? some who've lingered here have disappeared. better to be safer than sorry, don't you think?"

Spoiler

BISTRO | Lv. 13 | DMG: 16 | HP: 260/260 | EN: 44/44 | ACC III

• rabten halberd. | [#220897] | TIER 2 SPEAR | ACC III 

SKILLS

• SPEAR R5
• COMBAT MASTERY: DMG R3

 

[Oz 0]

His eyes traced a line from her gesture to the very throne he'd come to survey himself, and narrowed before returning to her. So they were both after the answer to the same mystery, was that it? And now she was suggesting that he leave. That the path was too dangerous, that he would not fare well enough to see it through to its conclusion. Perhaps true. More true that it was laughable to believe her experience might be any different.

Oz wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Nor was he particularly gifted when it came to this digital prison and its more fantastical inner workings. But he wasn't born yesterday. The prospect of him fucking off and leaving the secret (and perhaps treasure) all to her may have caused the humor to bubble up from within and spring forth in the form of boisterous bellowing, if not for the heat. For now, a smirk might suffice.

"Guess we can just say things the other can mirror all morning, if that's your preference." Or was it noon by now? Night, perhaps? It was never easy to tell on these sorts of floors. "Sorry to say, but you're too late. I'm here for the specific purpose of figuring out what's been going on with the disappearances. So, sorry to make you waste a trip, but I think I can take it from here."

She didn't budge. In fact, he was pretty sure he saw her eyeing the throne now, waiting for the appropriate moment to make a break for it. There was a sea of fire that separated them from the throne, and haste wasn't going to do either of them any favors when it came to making it across safely. That being said, expediency over safety may have been the only option left to either of them, if the other refused to back down. Every now and again, Oz would notice small platforms of rock surface amid the magma out of his peripheries, evidently creating some sort of pseudo bridge that the particularly nimble may have been able to cross. It was possible she was waiting for the next to surface so she could make her move.

And that would be happening right... about...

"Shit- watch your footing!" he would exclaim, extending an index finger to point at her foot closest to the cliff she'd scaled to make it to the summit. The hope was that this would distract her long enough for Oz to make his move.

The rocky platforms revealed themselves right on cue, and Oz wasted no time. He dashed forth and, in admittedly clumsy fashion, hopped from one to the next on his way across the magma. From what he'd observed before, the platforms didn't keep for long once they materialized. This induced a bit of anxiety in the man, only exacerbated when he landed toward the side of the final temporary platform and caused the thing to start tipping. For but a moment, his boot made contact with the molten liquid rock, and his health bar reflected it. Over a third lost in just a fraction of a second. Scrambling, he leapt with all of his might toward the platform upon which the throne rested, landing into a graceless tumble as the momentum of his upper half overtook the lower once his feet were planted stiffly upon the rock.

There was no time to check and see if she had managed to make it across the stones as well. He collected himself and rose to his feet, spitting out a mouthful of gravel collected during the spill he had taken, and  resumed the sprint. With a palm outstretched, he dashed headlong toward the crown and grasping it before his opponent could.

And then, he vanished.

[Bistro 0]

bistro winced at the man's bravado. in fact, she wasn't exactly sure what to say at his stand-offish nature. perhaps, on a usual day, she'd offer they work together herself, but the show of confidence he'd brought made her unusually on edge, especially given the nature of their surroundings. so between the other player, and the throne, her gaze bounced between them both.

"Shit- watch your footing!"

"-- wha?"

the oldest trick in the book, and she'd looked. just as she was about to take a step forward towards the throne as a silent, almost protested response, too. damn! bistro lagged behind the man, but she'd managed to catch up to the edge of the lake rather quickly -- while the other player was dancing through the puzzle of skipping over hot rocks, bistro had another plan instead.

one summon of her spear as she leapt allowed her to vault over one of the near-sinking rocks. her leap brought her forward, to one freshly risen, and then further still as she chased the fleeting platforms with careful steps. her spear had dipped once, twice in her navigation -- but things like item durability wasn't going to matter to her. the heat, however, she had to stop for, uncomfortable, and she watched the man disappear as he'd grabbed the crown.

...?

he'd disappeared, surely... but the crown had inversely remained. bistro wiped the sweat off her chin as she took her time stepping towards that mysterious object. one moment the other player was here, and the next he was gone?

she made quick note of this to her notes, and then a close ally. only then did she follow him, disappearing into a realm unknown.

 

 

where they'd landed up at had been a strange arena indeed. if bistro had to guess, looking up from their current position, they must've been teleported to another summit, perhaps nigh unreachable by any ordinary means. the sky above them was clear, after all, flush with the stormy clouds signature of the ninth, and where they were once stood in the middle of a great lava lake, now instead it acted as a much smaller, yet just as deadly moat. the grounds they ended up on was much more spacious, yet more threatening, than their previous platform: this time, their floor was divided into three strips, with small crags and boulders littered in between. the lava moat surrounded each section, all the way to the border of the walls of a volcano trapping them in. and surrounding even that was a gaggle of monstrous creatures, high on platforms above the threat of fire, shaped like goblins trapped in stone.

winged goblins. gargoyles.

no real exits, she noted. and, since bistro stopped to look, she spied just the same, a similar looking throne to the one they'd left behind at the far end of their gaol. she squinted, and could've sworn something odd sitting at the foot of it. a bird fountain? no, that couldn't be. it seemed too small to accommodate the size of said life forms that existed in this volcanic climate.

... right?

so enamored in studying her surroundings that she had yet to ask where the man she'd encountered a rivalry with was to be. so bistro cut herself out of her work, and swept around with a look.

"you can come out now," she said aloud, her back facing the throne as she stepped away from her point of entrance. "wherever you are. because i don't know about you, but i didn't intend to find a pk spot, without an escape, by touching the crown, either."

[Oz 0]

The physical gave way to ethereal as the lake of fire was scraped from the forefront of his vision, clawed viciously away from his peripheries until all that remained was the indescribable facade of reality's very fabric itself. Spindles of loose modular forms twisted in upon themselves in an endless cascade of mesmerizing mosaics; fragments of corporeality shifting in and out of view as through grains of sand sifting through a translucent sieve, each only visible at the apex of its crossing, the layer that separated "before" from "after" the only sliver of perception his feeble mind could muster discernment of. The wholeness of any individual shape evaded him - any conception, however minor, of his surroundings only a vague caricature presented in "slices" as they slipped through whatever slim window of reality that allowed mere mortals to catch a glimmer.

He felt himself going mad. Misfire after misfire lighting his brain ablaze as he attempted to make sense of that which had no sense, scrambling to bring order to that which expressly defied order. There was no logic to be found here, amid the stream of infinity which had slipped him between his dimension and the next. Nothing to ground him. No physical body to even ground, anymore. Everything gave way to everything, and in that instant, the infinity within a fraction of infinity was realized. Forbidden understandings of reality flooded him like a curse, forever tainting him with the knowledge that everything he'd experienced was a projection of that which he truly experienced.

And then, solid ground found his feet. All at once he realized he had feet again. He blinked. He had eyes again. There he stood, same as he'd stood only moments prior, though it felt like an eternity. Hand still outstretched as though to touch the crown he'd forgotten about until this very moment. To one who'd experienced the infinity of incorporeality, this form felt confoundingly confined. The crown, and its consequential combustion of his physical frame into digital ether, had shown him he was little more than the slave in Plato's allegory of the cave, shackled to whatever minuscule understanding he and other beings of this realm had regarding the true reality of their physical nature.

He let loose a horrified, shuddering breath, and then allowed his eyes to focus. It was the girl from before, this time with her back turned to him. She was saying something about how he could "come out now." How neither of them had intended to find this place by touching the crown. As though he'd somehow meant to remain 'hidden.' 

He could have sworn he touched the crown before her. He did touch the crown before her. Had she made it here, before him, somehow? And where was 'here,' anyway?

Silently, he allowed his eyes to trace their surroundings for any semblance of a clue as to what had happened to them. No exits, no escape. Gargoyles on high, either taunting the duo or keeping watch to ensure they didn't attempt an escape. Though they were frozen in place, skin of stone giving them the appearance of statues, Oz couldn't help but feel like there was life in them. They felt more alive than inanimate. Below, at the Players' feet, three gargantuan slabs of stone rode atop the sea of magma, the liquid rock that separated them acting as a makeshift moat with simultaneously invited transitioning between, while also foreboding it. Something told him they would not want to move onto another slab unless they were certain it was the time to do so.

"What... What the fuck was that...?"

His inquiry seemed to capture her attention, and she turned around to lock eyes with him. There was a puzzled sort of expression which masked her visage, though it was hard to tell whether this was a reaction to the cryptic nature of his inquiry, or questioning how he'd managed to maneuver behind her without detection. It was possible there were words to accompany this inquisitive expression, but Oz couldn't pay that any mind. There was a stony aura that had begun to envelop her, holding him at attention as he attempted to decipher how something so solid could be so ghostly at the same time.

No, wait. That wasn't it at all.

It was something behind her, something she was eclipsing from his point of view. Something that was appearing larger as it grew nearer. Something that was moving without making a sound. He craned his head to the side to look behind her, his own visage contorting into a mixture of horror and fear as he realized what it was. One such gargoyle as the ones perched above, this one larger and adorned in more regal attire (or at least however 'regal' a pure stone entity can appear). As soon as his gaze fell upon the creature, its momentum halted entirely, again without so much as a peep. Its own gaze was transfixed entirely upon the woman's back, a predator stalking its prey. Oz's eyes, widened, refused to leave the monster so long as Oz believed the fix was in.

If he looked away - if they both looked away, it would begin to move again.

"Very, very fucking carefully," he started, "turn around. Was that thing that close to you when you looked back at me?"

Edited September 19 by Oz

[Bistro 0]

how'd he get here after she did? between the both of them, she was certain she would've been present later. cardinal at play, perhaps?

(the easiest answer would've been latency issues, but we'll skip that for interest of time.)

bistro had snapped to face the other man the moment he'd spoken up. her weapon, while drawn, had been by her side the entire time. there had been a pause between them, as though she was waiting for his elaboration.

"the sudden teleportation, you mean?"

it may have been world-rending, sure, but the way the man had reacted seemed to make it out as though it had taken the greatest toll out of him. bistro herself had seemed fine. in fact, she'd moved onto other things that required her attention, now, such as why the other player was staring so hard at her.

er... behind her?

"Very, very fucking carefully, turn around."

she swept her chin to the side. was she inclined to trust this random person she just met who was trying to beat her to the mess they currently found themselves in?

"Was that thing that close to you when you looked back at me?"

"--- was what?"

turns out, she was willing to trust him after all. it was out of pure, innocent curiosity that her head did turn, and she couldn't exactly tell what the thing before them was exactly, because it was standing... too close.

so, no. she couldn't say. her gaze was trained on the rock before her as she rounded her quarry, gaining a better position from which to take a few steps back. down the length of the platform she found herself on, walking far enough that her steps wouldn't end in her tumbling into lava.

when she was far enough, she could finally tell it was yet another gargoyle. this one was dressed in attire quite different from the others. most of them seemed to be barren of clothes. some had the occasional ornament or dress of nobility. this one...

the rather large plumage (despite it out of stone) by its collar almost seemed to announce their importance and authority. it had a gnarly beard, and a pleated kilt of some kind, but the last bit, the object in its hand, looked almost like a wand of sorts (a court magician? a magical girl?) with a three-leafed clover at the end of it. to anyone, she figured, it must've looked like treasure, for while the entire creature was made out of stone, the wand's centerpiece was glittering of cut emerald.

something about its ensemble seemed off, however, as though it was missing a particular... je sais pas quoi?

bistro shook out her poor opinion of its dress sense from her head and looked around. she wondered if it was getting closer when her eyes had been off it, or if it was just her imagination. no other figures seemed to be standing out of place, from what she could tell.

and she was certain the other player had shifted. not that bistro could tell where he'd gone off to. she'd looked, but then felt her instincts to glance back at the strange gargoyle kick in. maybe it had moved closer? 

she tried to keep both figures in her sights as she turned to address him. "i suppose not," bistro decided. "but do tell me that it's the only ornament present that seemed to be wandering around the vicinity, or we might have a problem."

while he busied himself, bistro worked on her interface. found herself to be able to take notes --- so she did.

communications... not so much.

while she did take her first steps forward in an absentminded attempt to reconvene, she brought her write-ups of floor nine to eye-level, to read. bistro stood before the beast, circling it with a thorough look as though she was indulging herself in a history lesson, she spoke aloud for the other player to hear, "just so you know, i hope you weren't planning on contacting anyone you know for the time being. unless, for whatever reason, aincrad's reception is better where you're standing. and, in the worst case scenario, we might be far from home. do you need a teleport crystal?"