Goodbye LJ...
Feb. 20th, 2006 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windandwaterThis is just to make it official for those who don't know, but I'm leaving LJ completely. For the rest of this week at least. Tomorrow is the Bar Exam and it runs for three days, so don't expect to see me about at all until Thursday night. Or even until the weekend since I plan on spending Thursday after the Bar drunk and crying. No online time for me at all. *whines* It will be hard, but I know I can do it.
So, because I'm a total h0r like that, I am declaring this to be a spam post. Go ahead. Run wild! Give me fics, give me links, give me pics, just babble to your heart's content and rape my inbox so I have something to see when I finally DO come back to the wonderful world of LJ. I don't even care if you write me a drabble and post it one word at a time. XD;
Though, I've tried to make a spam post before and it failed a bit miserably, so I don't have very high expectations this time around. Feel free to prove me wrong though!
♥
So, because I'm a total h0r like that, I am declaring this to be a spam post. Go ahead. Run wild! Give me fics, give me links, give me pics, just babble to your heart's content and rape my inbox so I have something to see when I finally DO come back to the wonderful world of LJ. I don't even care if you write me a drabble and post it one word at a time. XD;
Though, I've tried to make a spam post before and it failed a bit miserably, so I don't have very high expectations this time around. Feel free to prove me wrong though!
♥
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Re: World of Darkness (cont.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:04 am (UTC)"Oh... ew!" was all Quatre could say.
Duo looked a little pale, but proud of himself, despite the revulsion evident on the faces of his teammates. "It's not a pretty beast, but it's useful," he said quietly, actually reaching out to touch the golem. "The more damage it does, the stronger it grows. And since it shares my blood, it won't die... unless I do first."
"But isn't that dangerous?" Wufei said, profoundly disturbed.
Duo rolled his eyes, getting his breath back from the difficult casting. "Of course it is, Wufei," he said sarcastically. "But, in comparison to, say, going up against one of the lesser archdemons of Hell --"
"Let's go," Heero said abruptly, not seeming to have truly noticed to their new companion. "This is what we came here to do."
"Is everyone ready?" Trowa asked quietly, one hand on each of his wolves' heads as though communicating with them telepathically.
"As ready as we're ever gonna be, Tro-man," Duo replied, straightening and taking a firm, almost white-knuckled grip on his weapon.
"Then let's do it."
It took all five of them their combined strength to shove open the cathedral door, but once it got moving, it swung out on its own. In the wide, high-ceilinged space inside, demon heads turned all over the room to see their entrance. The spellcasters let loose, fire and lightning pouring through the doorways as curses rained down at them from overhead, blinding and weakening the demons. Heero and Wufei hung back, at first, picking off any demons who got too close and waiting for their main enemy to appear. Wufei tossed out a few firetraps, wreaking havoc into any group of monsters it landed among, but Heero just waited, face grimly set.
The cathedral, once a proud and beautiful space venerated to the Gods, was barely recognizable now. Most of the tapestries were torn down, or soiled with a thick black slime. The center open space in the room was actually sunken into the floor, seething with the sullen glow of molten rock. Demons ran back and forth in hysteria, wavering between running away from their unexpected attackers in terror and towards them in fury. Very few demons, though, got close enough through the elemental magics that were flying around to be finished off with the quick strike of a weapon. Bodies fell in heaps, to be reanimated into skeletal minions or dissolved for the health and mana the carrion vines could glean from them.
Absorbed in keeping up the assault, the warriors did not even at first notice when a pair of doors towards the back of the cathedral burst open and a towering figure stalked out. Heero was the first to see her, twice the height of any of the demons they'd fought before, form a hideous parody of a woman. Four viciously clawed
Re: World of Darkness (cont.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:04 am (UTC)Heero broke away from the others, running like a shot across the floor between the dying lanes of fire. "Heero! What are you..." Quatre's voice trailed off as he saw what had caught Heero's attention, and his eyes got very big. "...doing. That's Andariel?"
"You go, Heero!" Duo cheered, eying the towering demoness nervously. "Hit her in the kneecap!"
As Heero approached the demoness, she drew back slightly, and opened her mouth to speak. Instead of words, however, all that came out was an infernal hiss and a cloud of vile poison that caught Heero by surprise. He turned green and stumbled backwards; fortunately, some of Duo's summoned creatures were nearby, and at a shouted command from their master, they mindlessly threw themselves at Andariel. A single blow from one of her claws shattered them into pieces, but that gave Heero time to recover.
He charged in again, holding the enchanted scepter ready to strike, seemingly oblivious to the monsters that were closing in at his back. The other four worked their way across the chamber as fast as the could to support him, Duo spending all his energy to call up new undead minions to support them. They might not be much use against Andariel, but they could at least clear out the smaller demons and protect their backs while they concentrated on the larger threat.
The warriors cautiously surrounded Andariel, dodging clear whenever she turned on them spewing poison. Trowa tried another Arctic Blast, to freeze her or at least slow her as he had done to the Smith, but she shrugged it off with no effect. Duo cast his strongest poison spell, but it was just as useless as Wufei's metal claws, which practically ricocheted off of Andariel's demon hide. The only thing which seemed to do damage was the enchanted scepter, which flashed white light despite the fact that what dim light was available in the dank room was a sooty red. Where the weapon struck her, Andariel shrieked and recoiled, and retaliated with another blast of noxious vapors.
The first few times Heero was caught by the poison cloud, he took a precious second to quaff an antidote potion, but before long he was running out. Steeling his determination, he decided he would wait and take the antidote only after he knew he wouldn't be infected again. The poison quickly sapped his strength, so he redoubled the speed and fury of his attack.
Changing tactics, the others gave up on hurting Andariel and resorted to distracting her, keeping her deadly claws away from the real source of danger, Heero. One of Duo's spells finally managed to catch hold, a vicious curse that reflected damage back onto the demoness every time she managed to land a hit in.
Re: World of Darkness (cont.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:04 am (UTC)At last, everything fell quiet once more, and they cautiously looked up again. Wufei breathed a silent sigh of relief; he had not been entirely sure that the cathedral wouldn't collapse around them. Trowa, who had been standing next to Quatre when Andariel died, had wrapped his arms around the slender mage to protect him from falling blocks; for a moment, they just stood there, before Trowa seemed to realize what he had done and broke away with an uncharacteristic blush.
Duo, however, missed out on this wonderful blackmail material, hovering at Heero's side as the Paladin struggled to get his breath back. He solicitously offered healing potions and encouraging chatter, the latter of which was ignored, and Wufei shook his head in exasperation. As though we didn't have more pressing concerns, he thought irritably.
A portal flickered to life above the quickly disintegrating remains of the demoness, and Quatre saw the by-now-familiar shapes of the Rogue Encampment through it.
"At least we don't have to walk back through that wretched dungeon," he said with relief. "Let's get out of here."
"Not yet, Quatre!" Duo said protestingly.
"Why not?" Quatre demanded. "We've killed Andariel. What is there left for us to do here?"
"Well, for starters, this was where Andariel was camping out, right? Which means... there's gotta be some serious treasure here!"
Heero, apparently, had recovered enough to growl. Trowa sighed and shook his head. "Somewhere along the line, Duo, you're going to have to get your priorities in order," he said.
"They are!" Duo insisted defensively. "Clear out the Monastery: check. Kill Her Bitchiness Andariel: check. Locate all available loot is next on the list..."
"Where does 'rid the world of evil' fall on that list?" Wufei asked dryly.
"Somewhere after get a good meal and a good night's sleep," Duo replied promptly.
Re: World of Darkness (cont.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:04 am (UTC)At last, everything fell quiet once more, and they cautiously looked up again. Wufei breathed a silent sigh of relief; he had not been entirely sure that the cathedral wouldn't collapse around them. Trowa, who had been standing next to Quatre when Andariel died, had wrapped his arms around the slender mage to protect him from falling blocks; for a moment, they just stood there, before Trowa seemed to realize what he had done and broke away with an uncharacteristic blush.
Duo, however, missed out on this wonderful blackmail material, hovering at Heero's side as the Paladin struggled to get his breath back. He solicitously offered healing potions and encouraging chatter, the latter of which was ignored, and Wufei shook his head in exasperation. As though we didn't have more pressing concerns, he thought irritably.
A portal flickered to life above the quickly disintegrating remains of the demoness, and Quatre saw the by-now-familiar shapes of the Rogue Encampment through it.
"At least we don't have to walk back through that wretched dungeon," he said with relief. "Let's get out of here."
"Not yet, Quatre!" Duo said protestingly.
"Why not?" Quatre demanded. "We've killed Andariel. What is there left for us to do here?"
"Well, for starters, this was where Andariel was camping out, right? Which means... there's gotta be some serious treasure here!"
Heero, apparently, had recovered enough to growl. Trowa sighed and shook his head. "Somewhere along the line, Duo, you're going to have to get your priorities in order," he said.
"They are!" Duo insisted defensively. "Clear out the Monastery: check. Kill Her Bitchiness Andariel: check. Locate all available loot is next on the list..."
"Where does 'rid the world of evil' fall on that list?" Wufei asked dryly.
"Somewhere after get a good meal and a good night's sleep," Duo replied promptly.
Re: World of Darkness (cont.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:04 am (UTC)As it turned out, Andariel had indeed collected a great deal of treasure during her occupation of the Monastery; gold, jewels, and fine-crafted weapons in abundance. Heero found a new, ornate scepter to replace his old one; after Andariel had vanished, the weapon had sizzled and corroded almost into uselessness, its magic spent. By common consent, or at least by majority vote, they agreed to leave the majority of the wealth to the Rogues, so that they could begin to rebuild, and take only what they could easily carry to Lut Gholein. Warriv, the caravan master, was more than anxious to get going after such a long wait, but he agreed to wait one more day for the warriors to rest and say their goodbyes.
The Rogues were overjoyed at the news. Charsi actually risked life and limb to give each of them an exuberant hug; only the fact that her weapon had made their victory possible restrained Heero from taking her head off for the unexpected embrace. Even Kashya approached them to say their goodbyes, and, reluctantly, she admitted that maybe they weren't so bad after all. For outsiders, that is.
Deckard Cain had decided to accompany them. "You'll need my wisdom for the trials ahead," he had pointed out. "After all, you may have defeated Andariel, but she was but a Lesser Evil in the hierarchy of Hell. In order to face the three Prime Evils, you will need not only strength and skill, but courage, determination, and cunning... not to mention the Gods' own luck."
"You're so encouraging," Duo told him as the wagons rumbled out of the Encampment.
~tbc~
[1] since diamonds raise resistances, I attribute this to the diamond lodged up his butt... ^_^
[2] Figuratively.
[3] No shit, Sherlock!
[4] Those of you who have played the game should be groaning about now.
[5] I always thought this was a singularly stupid thing to do. Who did he think he was? Tal Rasha?
[6] See footnote 3.
[7] In other words, she's one ugly mutha.
Re: World of Darkness (notes.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:05 am (UTC)It was hot.9 It was always hot, waves of unrelenting, unnatural heat that seared the air. He had stopped talking to himself, keeping his mouth closed to defend against the searing heat that threatened to dry his body out past the point of no return. The only water was in the mystical pool that opened an eye onto the world above, and that was as flat and smooth as mercury. That link to the real world was the only thing that kept Quatre sane; he watched it all the time, except when his eyes slipped shut from exhaustion.
Inhuman creatures came and went; sometimes he sensed more than one of them, talking or maybe arguing in earth-rending voices. He had no idea why the demon hadn't just killed him, but he made sure to stay quiet and out of the way, not wanting the demon to rectify that fact. He stayed hidden in a quiet corner, keeping his eyes on the portal. With all his soul, he hated the forces that kept him here. Not only was he trapped in this infernal place without food or water, but worse yet, he was away from his friends, unable to talk them or help them against the dangers they faced.
The mirror that let him watch them was his only comfort. Unbidden, a small smile flittered over his face as he looked down into the image; Heero, Wufei, Duo -- and all accompanying undead -- Trowa... He missed them, he knew they missed him, but they hadn't let it deter them. They had kept on fighting even without him. They were coming.
In the image, only slightly wavery, Trowa and the others were crossing a stone bridge over some glowing backdrop. They approached a blood-red portal, not unlike the ones from the Arcane Sanctuary... and then, without warning, the image went dark.
Quatre sat up abruptly, out of the unobtrusive pose he had drawn himself into. No. That wasn't possible. That just wasn't possible! The scrying spell had been cast by Diablo, himself... the only reason Quatre could possibly think of that it would suddenly cut out, was if the targets had ceased to exist...
"NO!" he cried out, voice hoarse and dry. "NOOO!" He jumped to his feet and, without a thought, ran over to the scrying pool to confirm his horrible suspicion. It
Re: World of Darkness (notes.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:05 am (UTC)It was hot.9 It was always hot, waves of unrelenting, unnatural heat that seared the air. He had stopped talking to himself, keeping his mouth closed to defend against the searing heat that threatened to dry his body out past the point of no return. The only water was in the mystical pool that opened an eye onto the world above, and that was as flat and smooth as mercury. That link to the real world was the only thing that kept Quatre sane; he watched it all the time, except when his eyes slipped shut from exhaustion.
Inhuman creatures came and went; sometimes he sensed more than one of them, talking or maybe arguing in earth-rending voices. He had no idea why the demon hadn't just killed him, but he made sure to stay quiet and out of the way, not wanting the demon to rectify that fact. He stayed hidden in a quiet corner, keeping his eyes on the portal. With all his soul, he hated the forces that kept him here. Not only was he trapped in this infernal place without food or water, but worse yet, he was away from his friends, unable to talk them or help them against the dangers they faced.
The mirror that let him watch them was his only comfort. Unbidden, a small smile flittered over his face as he looked down into the image; Heero, Wufei, Duo -- and all accompanying undead -- Trowa... He missed them, he knew they missed him, but they hadn't let it deter them. They had kept on fighting even without him. They were coming.
In the image, only slightly wavery, Trowa and the others were crossing a stone bridge over some glowing backdrop. They approached a blood-red portal, not unlike the ones from the Arcane Sanctuary... and then, without warning, the image went dark.
Quatre sat up abruptly, out of the unobtrusive pose he had drawn himself into. No. That wasn't possible. That just wasn't possible! The scrying spell had been cast by Diablo, himself... the only reason Quatre could possibly think of that it would suddenly cut out, was if the targets had ceased to exist...
"NO!" he cried out, voice hoarse and dry. "NOOO!" He jumped to his feet and, without a thought, ran over to the scrying pool to confirm his horrible suspicion. It
Re: World of Darkness (notes.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:05 am (UTC)An inhumanly strong grip grabbed him away from the pool, and he found himself being thrown into a narrow, hanging cage, like the garret that Deckard Cain had been imprisoned in. There was more of the mind-numbing voices, and then suddenly the cage was moving, out of the profane temple they'd been in and onto a flat, black plain.
Stunned, Quatre collapsed to the bottom of the cage, days of weakness catching up to him. As the last one left, he knew it was up to him to somehow escape and finish the job, but he couldn't make himself care.
Trowa would not be coming any more.
Re: World of Darkness (notes.)
Date: 2006-02-21 10:06 am (UTC)When they stepped through the portal, Heero braced himself for the worst. He didn't know what he would find on the other side; given the portal's nature and origins, he wouldn't have been surprised if it had dumped them right at the feet of the Hellforge.
"So this is Hell," Heero mused, looking around at the serene white walls. "Or at least, the gateway there. This is the last bastion of the forces of Light before the
Darkness sets in..."
"What are we waiting for?" Trowa's ragged voice cut across his contemplations, and he turned to see Trowa standing beside him. The Druid's grip was bloodlessly tight on the hilt of his weapons, and his single visible eye brimmed over with anguish. "Quatre's out there somewhere, we have to go and find him! It might already be too late!"
"Calm down, Trowa," Wufei advised him. "We can't just go charging out there blindly, with idea what to expect. We'll be able to find Quatre much more quickly if we know where we're going. Duo is over there talking to Tyreal now," he said, nodding up the shallow stairs to where the Archangel floated.
There is a dark tortured soul who was trapped within this forsaken realm long ago. He was called Izual by mortal men, and in ages past he was my most trusted Lieutenant.
Yet, against my wishes he led and ill fated assault upon the fiery Hellforge itself.
Despite his valor and strength, Izual was captured by the Prime Evils and twisted by their perverse power. They forced him to betray his own kind and give up Heaven’s most guarded secrets. He became a corrupt shadow of his former self - a fallen angel trusted neither by Heaven nor Hell.
For his transgressions, Izual’s spirit was bound within the form of a terrible creature which was summoned from the Abyss. His maddened spirit has resided within that tortured husk for many ages now.
It seems to me that he has suffered long enough. I implore you, hero, find Izual and release him from his cruel imprisonment.
Put an end to his guilt and suffering.
As though prompted by the mention of his name, the braided Necromancer's voice rang out against the white marble walls. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO PAY YOU?" he shrieked. "YOU'RE AN ANGEL!"
It was difficult to tell in the faceless shadows of the Archangel's hood, but Heero though Tyreal looked uncomfortable. "These lightning wings don't light themselves up, you know," he said defensively. "Do you have any idea what my electricity bill is like?"