Bakan was ashamed for speaking so quickly and so carelessly to Inka when Samarta revealed the truth of the situation. He hung his head in shame for a moment, before looking to Inka sadly. "I'm sorry..." he apologized, before looking at the path ahead. What Garakaius said was kind as well, but alas, everyone would not be happy to know the truth of the situation. "I'm afraid not killing them is not quite an option... Under that evil presence's influence, should we destroy it's core, it will likely inhabit one of the surviving alraune in a most painful fashion... If what I was told is to be true... Then we have no choice but to do a most awful deed."
The gruffs did well to lighten the mood with their exchange. Bakan smiled a little as the tension seemed to fade. "Indeed, I named Stephano." he replied, shaking his head at the story of one gruff receiving sexual favors as thanks for heroism. But such good humor wouldn't last, before trouble was in sight once more. Bakan let the two have their exchange in silence. Krovika was obviously taking the lead now, and given his latest performance, he couldn't help but submit the role to her. Once it seemed battle was unavoidable, Bakan cast aside the conversation as pointless. He knew what the end result would be. He knew what would happen if the Alraune won this conflict and grew in power, he experienced it first hand. With that in mind, he unwaveringly set his mind's course for their destruction.
"Vanish from my sight, behind a wall of light!" he cried out, before trying to channel a shield around himself, Samarta, and Inka, allowing both to pass through his projection of his spirit.
(Bakan casts an improved version of the Holy wall, spending 8 EP and will pay 4 EP upkeep each turn. The resistance of the wall is 58.)
(Cheat sheet)
WHEN INTRODUCED TO FLUFFY TAILS: roll 1d4 to see if he gets stunned.
WHEN RECEIVING PLEASURE: Bakan receives +4 PP damage, and plus an extra 8 PP damage if Ashloriel is present during the stimulation. He has to at the very least know she's watching him for the added stimulation to count.
WHEN PENETRATING (OR PENETRATED, LOL): Bakan deals +2 PP damage.
Bakan: HP = 120, PP = 45, EP = 77/85, Status = Weakened, Holy Wall +1
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 70/54, PP = 67, EP = 59/67, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 8 (Mind)
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 42/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 30/70, PP = 50, EP = 86/90, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, Battle Aura X = 4
Daryl: HP = 5/60, PP = 39, EP = 55/61, Status = Badly Injured, Blessing X = 6
Jeff: HP = 6/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, Raging
Stephano: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +10 Dodge
Ogg: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +10 Dodge
Garakaius: HP = 16/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +20 Dodge
Billy: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +10 Dodge
Inka's Vines: 48 Body, Tentacles, Grapple Expert, Status = Grappling the Lady Alraune, taken 43 damage
Lady Alraune: unharmed, spent 8 EP, grappled, Holy Wall +1
Plant Hulk 1: unharmed
Plant Hulk 2: unharmed
Alraune Fighter 1: unharmed
Alraune Fighter 2: taken 44 damage
Alraune Fighter 3: unharmed
Alraune Fighter 4: taken 51 damage
Alraune Fighter 5: unharmed
Feral Hunter 1: dead
Feral Hunter 2: taken 42 damage
Siamese Alraune 1: unharmed
Siamese Alraune 2: unharmed
Siamese Alraune 3: unharmed
Rolls
Note: Bakan gained 40 corruption for dat scene with Samarta.
Bakan summons ye wall for 8 EP and 4 EP upkeep.
The lady alraune throws up a holy wall around Bakan's holy wall for 8 EP and 4 EP upkeep.
Daryl activates Blessing X = 6. It has to pass through the alraune's Holy Wall to reach Bakan, Samarta, and Inka.
Resistance: Enemy wins.
Inka casts Entangling Vines to grab dat Lady Alraune.
Casting: Success.
Attack: Hit. The Lady Alraune is grappled!
Samarta Activates Transformation X = 8 for additional Mind.
Krovika activates Battle Aura X = 4!
The alraune hidden in the bushes fling rocks at the gruffs.
Attacks: All hit, Ogg's just barely.
Damage: 3 + 6 + 5 + 18 = 32 * 2 = 62 - assorted AVs.
The two feral stalkers in the bushes attack Daryl and Krovika respectively.
Attacks: Automatic hits.
Damage: 11 + 1 + 20 + 1 = 33 * 2 = 66 - assorted AVs.
Plant Hulk 1 hurls a rock at the barrier and does nothing.
Plant Hulk 2 tries to crush the vines on the lady alraune.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 5 + 7 + 33 - 2 = 43 damage
Jeff rages and charges at the feral hunter that's attacking Daryl.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 3 + 10 + 42 + 10 + 4 - 4 = 65 damage.
Garakaius rushes off to attack ye alraune with 20 points of defensive fighting.
Attacks: Both hit.
Damage: 4 + 2 + 20 - 4 = 22 damage per hit on alraune fighter 2.
Ogg goes off to support Garakaius with a charge of his own at alraune 4, with 10 points of defensive fighting.
Attacks: Shield and sword both hit.
Damage (sword) : 6 + 5 + 25 - 4 = 32 damage.
Damage (shield) : 3 + 4 + 2 + 14 - 4 = 19 damage.
Stephano and Billy go after the feral hunter that's attacking Krovika with 10 points of defensive fighting.
Attacks: Hit.
Damage: 5 + 5 + 16 - 4 = 22 damage per hit.
The symbiote alraune pollen shot at Stephano, Billy, and Ogg.
Attacks: All miss.
A wall of light appeared at Bakan's call, shielding him, Samarta, and Inka from the alraune. "You heard the man!" Krovika deadpanned, "... But without the wall part! Scram!" The Lady Alraune, scowling, shouted back; "No you!" Bakan felt power stirring against his own suddenly, and after a moment a second wall of white light appeared around his own, slightly larger due to the fact that it had to encompass his own but no less dense. "Attack!" the apparent enemy commander called, and Bakan was unable to do anything but watch what unfolded next.
Firstly, Krovika's wolf threw its head back and howled, causing a wave of magic to spread out from the great white beast. That magic washed over the gruffs and his rider, empowering them, but when it tried to get through the alraune's barrier to get to him and his two allies it simply stopped. Krovika herself, in the meantime, suddenly began to glow brightly, a power that Bakan had seen enacted by Ashloriel more than once in the past, and drew her greatsword. Despite being trapped inside of a wall, Inka scowled and waved her tendrils, causing roots to suddenly shoot up from the ground to wrap around the alraune that had created the wall. "Gah!" she cried out in surprise and flailed, her own tentacles trying to free her but for the moment going nowhere.
It quickly became apparent that it wasn't only the two creatures next to her that she'd been speaking to, however, as the bushes to their left suddenly rustled violently as five alraune suddenly appeared within them. These ones hefted clubs and slings, and each of them wound up before sending a rock spinning at each of the gruffs, pelting them painfully and catching them unawares. Ogg took a shot to the thigh that left him limping, while Stephano, Billy, and Jeff all took hits to the chest that knocked the wind out of them, and Garakaius took a shot right to the head. "Great job girls! Now lets finish 'em off!" one of them called, and they looked quite excited at the prospect of charging into combat with the wounded goat-men.
Two of the animalistic plant creatures charged out of the bushes on their right at the same time, one leaping up and cleanly unseating Krovika, its bladelike tentacles already slashing at the surprised knight in mid-air. The other went for her mount, barreling the larger beast over and tearing at it with claws and mouth and tentacles. Both rider and wolf were born to the ground by their attackers, and for a moment all that Krovika could do was raise her arms to try and keep the creature from getting at her throat while her mount tried to throw the snapping abomination off of itself and get back onto its feet.
Fortunately, the gruffs weren't out of the fight yet. "We'll hold these ones off! Garakaius, with me!" Ogg called loudly, and he and the elder gruff charged towards the approaching alraune and attacked a pair, the shield warrior slamming his shield into one before slashing at it while the warrior with blades slashed wildly. Though neither alraune fell, the five seemed to devote their full attention to the two goat-men that had rushed into their midst, and though they were outnumbered the magic that had washed over them from Krovika's mount and their own experience made it look as if they might hold out. Jeff, in the meantime, let out a loud roar and charged at the creature attacking Krovika's mount, gripping his halberd in both hands. The gruff didn't even slow in his charge as he drew near, slashing at an angle and thus cutting the plant creature in half all the way through. Stephano and Billy charged the creature attacking Krovika in unison, slashing off a pair of its tentacles and causing it to let out a screech as it leaped off of the woman.
Krovika and her mount rose to her feet, and the armored woman grumbled; "Thanks..." Even so, the wounds on all of them were plain, and their foes weren't so badly harmed as they were... Yet. From the blooded warrior's stance, it became clear that Krovika intended to change that, but things seemed to be looking poorly even though the volley of pollen fired from the plant women approaching from the side with the magic using alraune missed their intended targets completely.
The two massive oaken creatures lumbered forth, and the first to act gripped the alraune bound in roots by the waist and simply wrenched her upwards, causing her to let out another startled cry. The other uprooted a stump with one arm and casually hucked it at Bakan's shield, spraying mud over the combatants but causing no one any harm, particularly as it simply smacked against his shield and then flopped to the ground. "The wolf!" the one alraune called, "Ignore the shield! Target the wolf!" Krovika, hearing this, shouted; "Daryl! Defend!" It was at that point that the beast revealed that it could speak, as it promptly deadpanned; "Don't you think I can figure that out on my own? Sheesh~"
Samarta turned to Bakan, and despite their predicament the naga looked almost completely at peace. "Hold your shield. Protect Inka. I can try to open a hole for you to get through, but I'm not promising anything!" she said calmly, and then started slithering towards the edge of the twin barriers with purpose in her movements.
The whole battle made Bakan instantly feel hopeless. Ambushed, everyone was immediately injured. Again...
Again... Things were not going in his favor.
Again... This feeling of weakness.
Again... Faced with odds he felt he could not overcome.
Again... Everyone was going to die, be raped, or both. This was not the first time he faced such failure, those around him suffering because of his weakness.
"I'm going straight for her." Bakan announced, following Samarta. His heart was pounding, his body shaking with weakness from before. He felt himself foolish again for acting to irresponsibly. And it was going to cost everyone. The gruffs were heavily injured, and who knew how many would die or suffer a fate worse than that. "I'm sick of it. I'm sick of this place. I'm sick of losing." he said. before rushing at the shield, passing through his own, before rushing his shoulder at the shield that the lady alraune created. "AND I AM SICK OF FREAKS LIKE YOU!" he screamed. "I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!"
It was all or nothing as Bakan found himself sinking into a blind rage. The memories of his failures, again, and again, and again, mocking him and laughing at him, torturing him. Past experience told him that he was going to lose, no matter what he did. He had no chance. He only managed to fight that torture now by screaming at the top of his lungs in pure hatred, malice, and with a desire for murder. The swamplands, green trees, brown mud, and gray rocks all became dyed red to his eyes. The only figure that wasn't in this bloody red haze was the alraune leader herself, and he rushed with a desire to change that quickly. He was going to crush her skull with his hammer.
... But would he even make it? Odds were that the alraune was no doubt impossibly strong. With all her forces occupying his friends, she might even be on the level of an angel. Bakan rushed forth regardless. She had to die. People like her had to die. There's no justice in this world until those like here have been flattened by his hammer. He wasn't even aware that the color of his wings had turned black as he let himself become indulged in anger. His paranoia of imagining everyone dead or worse driving him insane. The impossibility of being able to protect everyone simply too much. It made him hateful and angry.
'I want you, and everyone like you, to die.'
'If I don't have the power to protect those close to me, then I'd like to know if I have the power to murder you.'
Bakan: HP = 94/120, PP = 45, EP = 73/85, Status = Weakened, Lightly Injured, Holy Wall +1, +32 Body (Inka)
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 70/54, PP = 67, EP = 49/67, Status = Fine, Transformation X = 8 (Mind)
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 36/44, Status = Fine, Aspect of the Beast on Bakan
Krovika: HP = 30/70, PP = 50, EP = 84/90, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, Battle Aura X = 4
Daryl: HP = 5/60, PP = 39, EP = 51/61, Status = Badly Injured, Blessing X = 6
Jeff: HP = 15/60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, Raging
Stephano: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Bleeding out, Blessed
Ogg: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +10 Dodge
Garakaius: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +20 Dodge, Whirling Death
Billy: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured, Blessed, +10 Dodge
Inka's Vines: 48 Body, Tentacles, Grapple Expert, Status = Grappling the Lady Alraune, taken 43 damage
Lady Alraune: taken 83 damage, spent 18 EP, grappled, Holy Wall +1
Plant Hulk 1: taken 124 damage
Plant Hulk 2: unharmed
Alraune Fighter 1: unharmed
Alraune Fighter 2: taken 76 damage
Alraune Fighter 3: taken 32 damage
Alraune Fighter 4: dead
Alraune Fighter 5: unharmed
Feral Hunter 1: dead
Feral Hunter 2: dead
Siamese Alraune 1: dead
Siamese Alraune 2: dead
Siamese Alraune 3: dead
Rolls
Samarta casts Disintegrate as a way to weaken ye wall so that Bakan can pass through.
Casting: Success.
Attack: It's a wall.
Damage: Doesn't matter.
Resistance: Samarta weakens ye wall, effectively removing the +20 Res for this round.
Inka casts Aspect of the Beast on Bakan, a level 4 Body buff from Nature.
Casting: Success.
Bakan gets a +32 bonus to Body.
Bakan charges through ye wall at the alraune lady.
Resistance (vs wall) : Bakan wins.
Damage: 6 + 2 = 8 damage.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 6 + 6 + 59 + 16 - 4 = 83 damage.
The lady alraune tries to cast Move Earth.
Casting: Failure.
Inka's vines try to put her into a submission hold.
Grapple: Lady alraune wins.
Daryl uses Full Defense.
Krovika goes for the siamese alraune and uses whirlwind + supreme might for 20 more damage.
Attack: Hits all three.
Damage: 12 + 8 + 45 + 20 - 10 + 12 - 8 = 79 damage. They are dead.
The alraune attack Ogg and Garakaius with clubs!
Attacks: All miss.
Billy goes after the feral stalker that just killed Stephano.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 7 + 5 + 12 - 4 = 20 damage.
Jeff charges at plant hulk 1.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 6 + 9 + 42 + 10 + 4 = 71 * 2 = 142 - 18 = 124 damage.
Garakaius attacks the alraune, sending one attack at alraune 2 and the other at alraune 3, using 20 points of defensive fighting and activating whirling death.
Attacks: Both hit.
Damage: 3 + 5 + 20 + 8 - 4 = 32 damage on alraune fighter 2 and 3.
Plant Hulk 2 tries to squash Bakan.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 9 + 6 + 33 - 30 = 18 damage.
Plant Hulk 1 tries to crush Jeff.
Attack: Automatic Hit.
Damage: 8 + 5 + 33 - 18 = 28 damage
Jeff activates Bloodbath.
Resistance: Jeff wins, and transfers half of his EP to his HP in order to survive the hit.
Samarta nodded calmly at Bakan's cold announcement that he'd be going straight for the alraune that was using magic, flames already appearing in her hands as if she intended to simply burn through the barrier. Before he could go, however, Inka put a hand on his shoulder to stop him, and then leaned up and planted a gentle kiss on his cheek. It was difficult to tell with the plant women, but if she'd been human Bakan would likely have thought that she was about to be ill given the expression on her face as she'd drawn closer, but as her soft lips touched his face he felt a sudden surge of power run through him. It didn't eliminate the lingering exhaustion that still weighed him down after feeding Samarta, but it did allow him to ignore it.
Inka released him and stepped away, allowing him to charge the wall of energy that the alraune had put up over his own just after Samarta reached out and pressed her burning hand against the alraune's magic wall. The white magic flashed when he slammed against it, trying to repel him, but Samarta's flames had weakened it such that he was able to push through it. The magic burned him, searing him in both flesh and soul, but the pain was as nothing to Bakan, and he forced himself through the wall with all his might, and came out the other side. He was singed, but the harm was inconsequential, and he charged towards the squirming alraune lady even as the vines and the massive plant monster used her in a tug of war, effectively making her look like nothing more than an oversized pinata.
Bakan's hammer slammed into the alraune's chest, and she let out a wheezing cough as she was very nearly killed instantly. His hammer slipped aside slightly in his blind rage, however, making the strike imperfect and and thus not quite fatal. The massive creature released its master immediately, and reached out to slam its fist into his chest. Bakan was sent flying backwards by the force of the blow, but between the mitigation of his armor and his own natural toughness he was barely even inconvenienced by it. Rising back to his feet ready to re-enter the battle, Bakan saw out of the corner of his eye as Jeff suddenly surged past him, rushing towards the creature that hadn't just swatted Bakan aside as it lifted a rock to hurl at one of the others. The gruff slashed wildly with his halberd, carving a trench that was nearly a foot deep in its chest from shoulder to hip, causing it to drop the stone it had lifted from the mud and stumble backwards.
The monster wasn't dead yet, however, as it then promptly reared back an oaken fist and smacked Jeff in the chest with it, sending the gruff flying just as its companion had done to Bakan. He landed in a heap and rolled a good ten feet further before coming to a stop, and for a second it seemed as if the gruff was surely dead from the powerful blow, but then he rose to his cloven feet, breathing raggedly but nonetheless still shaking with fury and clutching his halberd in both hands. To his other side he saw Krovika, still glowing with power, charge into the midst of the three alraune who had fired their pollen and promptly scythe through them like so much wheat using her greatsword. Behind him, he heard fighting off to his left, where the alraune that had ambushed them had been hiding, and heard a high pitched shriek followed by a pain shouted that turned into a choking whimper, followed by an enraged bleat and a pained hiss. He saw the alraune try to do something, having felt the surge of energies from her efforts, but she didn't seem able to concentrate with her pained wheezing and her constant battle against the vines that Inka had summoned.
The wild flame of his anger was something that could burn down a whole woods if left unchecked, but before Bakan would leave to unleash that rage, Inka suddenly delivered a kiss. At first he was shocked to see her kissing him, though the look of disgust sort of ruined it. He understood why soon enough, and with newfound power, Bakan felt his rage now completely under control. It hadn't vanished in the least, but now he knew how to use it. Rushing forth once again, now with Samarta's aid, Bakan felt the magic, similar to his own, burn him. A disgrace of such pure magic, to be used by someone like her. Once he was through, Bakan growled as the searing pain ceased, rushing at the lady alraune.
But then, he saw one of the plant beasts deliver a fatal blow to Stephano.
Time stopped, as if Fate herself wanted to torture Bakan with the sight. She was successful, and as events continued, Bakan's roar of anger consumed all other sounds of battle. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!" Bakan shouted, as if he had become nothing more than a savage beast. His black wings became as if they were lit aflame, the feathers turning red to show his desire for blood. Swinging his hammer wildly, he wouldn't stop until he saw her dead. "You had no right to take his life! YOU HAVE NO RIGHTS AT ALL ANYMORE! DIE! DIE KNOWING I'M GOING TO ERADICATE YOU AND EVERYONE LIKE YOU!"
(Bakan aims to slaughter the lady. Personal defense means nothing to him.)
Bakan: HP = 94/120, PP = 45, EP = 69/85, Status = Weakened, Lightly Injured, Holy Wall +1
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 70/54, PP = 67, EP = 37/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 35/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 30/70, PP = 50, EP = 82/90, Status = Badly Injured
Daryl: HP = 5/60, PP = 39, EP = 47/61, Status = Badly Injured
Jeff: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Unconscious
Stephano: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Bleeding out
Ogg: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Garakaius: HP = 8/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Billy: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Lady Alraune: dead
Plant Hulk 1: dead
Plant Hulk 2: dead
Alraune Fighter 1: unharmed
Alraune Fighter 2: dead
Alraune Fighter 3: taken 32 damage
Alraune Fighter 4: dead
Alraune Fighter 5: dead
Feral Hunter 1: dead
Feral Hunter 2: dead
Siamese Alraune 1: dead
Siamese Alraune 2: dead
Siamese Alraune 3: dead
Rolls
Bakan smashes ye alraune!
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 1 + 5 + 59 + 16 - 4 = 77 damage. The lady alraune is dead!
Samarta casts Flare at Plant Hulk 2.
Casting: Success.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 3 + 2 + 14 + 2 = 21 * 5 = 105 – 8 = 97 damage.
Inka does nothing.
Inka's vines try to grab a juggernaut.
Attack: Hit, plant hulk 2 is grappled.
Daryl rushes plant hulk 2 and attacks with 20 points of defensive fighting.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 2 + 7 + 27 – 18 = 18 damage.
Krovika goes to finish off plant hulk 2 using Slay.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 6 + 1 + 45 + 12 = 74 * 2 = 148 – 18 = 120 damage.
The alraune attack Ogg and Garakaius with clubs!
Attacks: All miss.
Billy goes after alraune fighter 2.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 3 + 10 + 12 - 4 = 21 damage.
Jeff attacks plant hulk 1 using Slay and 20 points of Supreme Might.
Attack: Hit.
Damage: 10 + 8 + 42 + 10 + 20 = 90 * 2 = 180 - 18 = 162 damage. Also dead.
Garakaius attacks alraune fighter 5 with 4 attacks using flurry.
Attacks: All four hit.
Damage: 6 + 2 + 20 + 8 – 4 - 6 = 36 * 4 = 144 damage on alraune fighter 5.
Rushing back towards the struggling alraune, Bakan’s wildly swinging hammer came down upon the lady alraune’s head, crushing it like a fresh melon and spraying the rage-mad warrior with bits of plant-person brain and whatever they had that passed for a skull. In front of him he watched the massive plant creatures come under massive assault, as a bolt of the most intense flame that Bakan had ever seen suddenly streaked out and slammed into the chest of the one that had just attacked him, boring a hole the size of a fully grown watermelon into its chest and seemingly stunning the monstrosity. Inka’s vines seized it by the ankles, holding it in place as Krovika’s gigantic wolf darted in and raked at it, and then the knight finished it off with one tremendous cleave of her greatsword that took off both of its legs and half of one of its arms, which it had been using to try and stabilize itself.
Not to be outdone, Jeff roared as she rushed towards the other one, the only foe remaining within Bakan’s field of vision, and leaped into the air over it. His halberd came across its neck, and the gigantic oaken creature’s head was separated cleanly from its shoulders by the force of the enraged gruff’s attack. It, like the other one, tumbled to the muddy ground and went completely still.
Billy, in the meantime, rushed off to help Ogg and Garakaius finish off the alraune that they’d been holding at bay, rushing into the one that Garakaius had grievously wounded with his horns and bowling it over. The two gruffs seemed content to cut lose then, as Garakaius suddenly unleash a wild flurry of swings that diced an alraune into salad within seconds. Ogg bull rushed another, trying to smash the plant woman onto her back, but ended up merely stumbling her slightly. The three gruffs were all more vulnerable than they’d been before, having abandoned defense in favor of offense, but the two remaining plant women that opposed the far more numerous group glanced at one another before throwing down their weapons and raising their hands, unanimously declaring; “I surrender! Please don’t kill me!”
The battlefield was something of a mess. All of Bakan’s allies were in pain save for Samarta and Inka, having been hurt in the battle. The battle now over, those wounds caught up to them. Krovika and Daryl both slowed, releasing their magics and pawing at their bloody wounds gingerly, while Samarta slithered through Bakan’s shield and moved to examine the fallen Stephano. “He’s alive! Bakan, he needs help! Inka….” she declared quickly after examining him, but as she turned to Bakan and saw his wings still blackened she seemed to discount him, and instead turned toward her mute alraune. Inka was sitting cross legged in the center of Bakan’s energy shield, her face hidden in her hands as she rocked back and forth silently, something that silenced the snake woman completely, her desires torn. Jeff, in the meantime, glanced about to see that his enemies were all beaten, and then promptly fell over onto his back, his halberd tumbling from his fingers as his injuries caught up with him as well. Garakius, Ogg, and Billy were all guarding the alraune that had surrendered, but they too looked somewhat unsteady on their hooves now that the adrenaline of combat was wearing off.
Bakan was lost. Whatever made him who he is was sleeping somewhere deep inside. With a roar of hatred, his hammer came down, and crushed the Lady's skull. But that wasn't enough. Preparing his hammer, he made a powerful golf swing that would split her upper body into many smaller chunks and send the remains of her wretched corpse to splatter against a tree behind her.
He wasn't finished. Samarta's words were lost on him. The white in his eyes were replaced with black. The alraune that were surrendering were given no credit of mercy in those fallen eyes while all he could focus on was the whisper of his own hatred. "Kill them." the voice echoed. Bakan would understand a moment after that the voice was his own, speaking to whatever force had taken over his body. The events had become too much, and Bakan had unconsciously separated himself from the world, leaving a heartless spirit of his hatred behind to control his body. He wasn't sure how he did it, but he knew where the spirit came from despite being unable to explain it with words.
Unless stopped, Bakan would approach, and murder those alraune in a most brutal way. Mercy was gone. Compassion had vanished. This force that controlled him understood only to murder his enemies, a testament to Bakan's last desire before letting himself sink into the evils wishing to spread through his soul.
Bakan: HP = 94/120, PP = 45, EP = 65/85, Status = Weakened, Lightly Injured, Holy Wall +1
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 70/54, PP = 67, EP = 37/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 35/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 30/70, PP = 50, EP = 82/90, Status = Badly Injured
Daryl: HP = 5/60, PP = 39, EP = 47/61, Status = Badly Injured
Jeff: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Unconscious
Stephano: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = ???
Ogg: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Garakaius: HP = 8/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Billy: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Rolls
Bakan kills one of the surrendering alraune, we'll say the wounded one so that I don't have to roll. Everyone but Krovika and Daryl stand there stunned, the former of whom goes to Bakan while the latter goes over to Stephano.
Krovika then trips Bakan.
Attack: Hit.
Resistance: Bakan wins.
After sending the decapitated lady alraune flying aside with one powerful swing of his hammer, nobody stopped Bakan as he stormed across the field towards the surrendering alraune. The gruffs all seemed very out of it, Billy passing him and joining Samarta over by the prone form of Stephano, while Jeff laid where he'd fallen, and Ogg and Garakaius stood watch over the surrendering plant women. Samarta was still trying to tend to the dying gruff, while Inka sat huddled on the ground under Bakan's shield. The only ones that seemed to notice Bakan's enraged approach were Samarta, her hound, and the two alraune that he intended to brutalize. The two plant women glanced at one another in alarm as the now black-winged warrior approached with his hammer in his hands, but to their credit neither of them broke their surrender by attempting to flee.
And one of them died because of that, when Bakan's hammer came sailing down and smashed her head like an overripe grape. The other alraune screamed in horror as her comrade died, and the sound of a pained sob from Inka was audible alongside the dull thumps caused by the collapsing body of the now dead plant person. "B....Bakan!? What in the hell's gotten into you!?" Garakaius said sternly, but the badly wounded gruff stepped out of his way as he turned towards the other alraune, who had fallen onto her backside and was crawling away from Bakan even as he advanced, no doubt intending to do the same to her as he'd done to the other in order to quell the rage burning in his spirit. Samarta was looking over with a stunned appearance while Billy continued to kneel over Stephano, and Ogg stood back completely flabbergasted by Bakan's actions. Krovika and her mount split then, the knight sprinting towards Bakan while the hound headed over to the fallen Stephano.
Just before he could kill their other captive, Krovika suddenly slammed into Bakan from the side, smoothly hooking her leg behind his and levering herself in front of him, causing them to be pressed together for a moment. The knight pushed, and she was anything but weak, but even when he was exhausted Bakan was no pushover. Her move was meant to put him on his back, but he barely even budged, and so Krovika was forced to shift her strategy mid move, unhooking her leg and smashing herself against him so that he was forced back. He stumbled a bit as she caught his heel with hers, but he didn't fall, and was left facing the bloodied faerie knight as she stood in front of him holding up a warding hand with the index finger raised.
"Bakan! Stand down!" she shouted commandingly, which seemingly snapped the two gruffs near him out of their stupor as well. "What in the flying fuck is wrong with you!? They've surrendered! We don't kill surrendering prisoners!" she said, her voice tinged with a mix of fury, pain, and exhaustion. Inka's sobs had only grown louder in the interim, and he heard a canine whimper from behind him as Krovika's wolf knelt over Stephano and sniffed at him. Samarta was staring at him expressionlessly, and the gruffs were preparing to intercede in case he tried to attack Krovika for stopping his savage execution.
Garakaius' words barely reached him. Only a mere flinch would result from his calling out, before Bakan's hate fueled rage ended the surrendering alraune before him. His concentration on his anger would be broken when Krovika suddenly slammed into him, getting in his way. The black from his eyes and wings hung around him like an aura of disease, and his expression was warped into one of unrestricted rage. As Krovika stood before him despite his current state, the knight would see Bakan shake, and tremble with anger. Leaning forward, and arching his arms back, he held his hammer tight in one hand before screaming at the top of his lungs. He took his hammer back in the grip of both hands, and lifted it over his head as if to strike Krovika, before quickly slamming it down to the ground. He fell to his knees, both hands leaving his hammer to grip his face as he continued to scream. The fingers of his gauntlets dug in so hard that his face began to bleed, covering his face in blood to the point that he looked like some kind of red demon. He fell forward even further, before his bloody face would stain the ground.
Breathing heavy, Bakan stayed like that. The black of his wings slowly began to dissipate, making way for the prior white feathers that would be more familiar. He asked nothing as his dangerous behavior came to an end. Instead, instead of a voice of hatred, he began to cry. "What have I done..." Bakan asked with a whimper. Leaning back up straight, he held his hands to the sky, as if beseeching the heavens for forgiveness. He called out to an angel, any that would hear him, and made his request. "Please, save Stephano and the alraune I killed from the grips of death! I will pay any price asked of me, even my life!" he announced. It was pathetic in it's own way, to make such a request. Bakan wished once again that he'd have the power to do this himself, but now was not the time for self-pity. He let something dark grip him, and he had to do whatever he could to undo the evil he'd committed.
Bakan: HP = 94/120, PP = 45, EP = 53/85, Status = Weakened, Lightly Injured
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 70/54, PP = 67, EP = 37/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 35/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 30/70, PP = 50, EP = 82/90, Status = Badly Injured
Daryl: HP = 5/60, PP = 39, EP = 42/61, Status = Badly Injured
Jeff: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Unconscious
Stephano: HP = 30/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Injured
Ogg: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Garakaius: HP = 8/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Billy: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Bakan called to the heavens, and as usual his call was answered. There was a soft fluttering of wings, a sense of a powerful presence behind him, and then soft fingers brushed across the back of his neck and came to rest on his shoulder. "That won't be necessary," a soft feminine voice, unfamiliar but comforting, spoke from above and behind him. A glowing white feather fell before him, gently drifting down the corpse of the decapitated alraune where it landed on her breast. Bakan felt a working of tremendous power suddenly taking effect, and watched through his bloodied gaze as the alraune's shattered head slowly pieced itself back together from the splattered remnants. She was whole again in less than a minute, and then after another she took in a gasping breath of air, her eyes wide and a look of intense pain on her face.
"Hrmph. So he doesn't get to suffer the consequences of his mistakes does he?" Krovika asked irritably while glaring at the angel hanging over Bakan's shoulder. "He will, but others needn't suffer for them as well. These ones will be allowed to go free," the angel replied, gesturing towards the two alraune. Krovika heaved a deep sigh, and then glanced over at the plant woman who hadn't just been killed and subsequently resurrected and said; "You heard the winged lady, take your friend there and get lost!" The alraune didn't seem to need more prodding than that, as she quickly lifted her still gasping comrade and sped off into the swamp. Krovika then turned back to Bakan and, anger readily evident in her tone, said; "Do anything like that again, and the alraune will be the least of your worries. You killed a surrendering prisoner in my presence, and that I couldn't prevent it in the first place will require penance of which you can't even imagine. So, either get a hold of yourself, or get lost and let the adults do the real work."
Stepping past him, Krovika walked over to her wolf, who was licking a now conscious Stephano in the face as he tried to fend the gigantic beast off to little avail. Bakan was left in the care of the angel who'd answered his call, who turned to him and said; "Don't mind her. Krovika is a woman bound to many oaths. I am Selenia, and you are Bakan Jeru, the adopted son of Ashloriel and the Godslayer." There was a tiny hint of reverence in her voice, as if that title meant something important.
Feeling the soft hands against the back of his neck, Bakan sunk forward. He wasn't sure if it was just his weakness, but his whole body felt weak, and was shaking. The combination of emotional buildup and stress left him like this, though when he saw the alraune he killed revived before his eyes, Bakan let himself slump. His head hung in a pathetic fashion as Krovika swore he'd pay for what he'd done, before Krovika related him to nothing more than a mere child. Even in the deepest parts of his mind, he offered no argument to her. Her words sunk in and reached reached his very heart... Thinking himself a child, his mind flashed back to 'that' time, when he was indeed a child. Fear ruled him then, and now he let his emotions rule him once more. It was then that Bakan considered that he made no progress at all since that day. 'Have I been fighting just to run away from my past?' he wondered. And the more he thought about it, the more true it seemed. Even the very thought of going back to his old world, and seeing Idian once again terrified him. It made his heart beat faster, and sweat roll down his face, wetting the blood to cause red droplets to drip from his chin.
No, rather than make no progress, he had become worse. What happened when he saw Stephano was proof that he was deserving of every punishment Krovika would be able to plan for him. The way he sat on his heels on the dirt, and hung his head was like that of a man awaiting execution. His back was completely exposed, as if open to any lashing Krovika would deal upon him, or Selenia for that matter. Though, when Krovika stepped past, and Selenia seemed to try and comfort Bakan, she'd find that there was no part of Bakan that would accept the comfort nor the respect.
"I am not... Bakan Jeru." he suddenly replied back to her. his voice ragged from having screamed at Krovika. "I have no relation to Ashloriel... or the Godslayer." he continued, before looking up at Selenia with his blood decorated face, displaying many gashes of his own doing that had taken the flesh from his expression. One eye was half closed because of the blood still pouring from his forehead, while his mouth hung open, a stream of blood that had collected in his mouth flowing from the corner of his lips. Somehow, Bakan felt a disconnection from the world around him. His head felt light, and his thoughts were delusional and confused. One part of him wanted to laugh, another wanted to cry, and yet another wanted to scream for reasons beyond logic. Is this what being mad feels like?
His wings lost their white color, fading, turning into a dead brown as if his wings were becoming rotten. Even some feathers began to fall from his wings, as if he were decaying before their eyes.
Bakan: HP = 120, PP = 45, EP = 53/85, Status = Fine
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 70/54, PP = 67, EP = 37/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 35/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 30/70, PP = 50, EP = 82/90, Status = Badly Injured
Daryl: HP = 5/60, PP = 39, EP = 42/61, Status = Badly Injured
Jeff: HP = 0/60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Unconscious
Stephano: HP = 30/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Injured
Ogg: HP = 12/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Garakaius: HP = 8/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
Billy: HP = 3/60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Badly Injured
"Oh you stop that~" Selenia said lightly, a smile playing across her beautiful features. Dressed unlike any angel that Bakan had ever seen before and sporting a pair of pointed goat-like horns from her head, Selenia was fairly atypical of an angel in terms of looks, but as she reached down and brushed her fingers across his face and smiled down at him, he felt magic lightly washing over him. His physical pain seemed to vanish, and he felt his exhaustion wash away as well, leaving him at his fullest strength. His aches and pains washed away, that magic tried to ease into his heart, but only Bakan could let it in. Kneeling down in front of him, the dark angel washed the blood away from his eyes and mouth, and then forced his chin up so that he would meet her gave as she quietly said; "You're no monster, you're just passionate. I know who you are, Bakan Jeru~ I watched over you when you were growing up when Ashloriel couldn't do so! You could almost say that we grew up together given how young I was then!"
Running fingers delicately over his cheek, she brightly continued; "There's no reason to frown, everything turned out alright in the end!" Krovika, now standing beside her wolf and a now standing Stephano, suddenly interjected; "We've still got an elder god to slay here! The longer we wait, the more likely it is that we'll be attacked by its minions again before we can get there." The gruffs around him, giving one last glance at Bakan, went over and collected Jeff's unconscious form and his halberd before carrying them over to join the others. Samarta was next to Inka, who was still shaking back and forth slowly and apparently sobbing, but all the others were together in a clump. "Hey, angel! Get over here and make yourself useful. We've got wounded."
Selenia glanced at Krovika with an enraged scowl, her eyes flashing dangerously, before she turned back to Bakan and said; "Come, Bakan Jeru. Your companions still have need of you."
Her initial words slipped right through him unnoticed. However, somehow he could feel a sense of kinship with this angel. Her horns were a point he focused on. Corruption, he knew it was. If such continued, she'd become fallen and would lose the smile on her face right now in favor of something perhaps sinister. Some part of Bakan wanted to protect what light she still had in her heart that has gone uncorrupted. But then, he took an inner look at himself. He was not only still weak, but a weak shade as well. Something about him was it's own manifestation of that wickedness. It did not take long for Bakan to give up on reaching out to her with the desire to protect her from black wings. He felt as if he were trapped in a dark pit of his own design. Gravity was the various factors that made him fail thus far. So passionately would Bakan try to crawl out of this hole. Gravity became his weakness, and began to drag him down. Gravity became his foolishness, causing him to miss a step in his climbing. Gravity became his darkness, causing him to lose his grip, and make him plunge back to the deepest depths. Each time he fell, the hole felt a little deeper. Soon, he knew, he'd be unable to see the light above.
Then, like many times before, someone lent a helping hand, lifting him from the abyss. He knew he was only being temporarily saved. This pit was something that he fell into so often nowadays. Her magic easily found it's way into his heart, which was left completely undefended. Bakan never defended his heart, always opening it to others, now even by habit. It was inside that heart that a certain Bakan resided, being tortured by phantom images of his failures. They never let him be, and were vivid if he didn't ignore them. He was given temporary peace from them, but they would return. The nightmares would always return. All of them. Forcing him to carefully watch the ruined lives who suffered from his failures. The faces he never forgot, staring him down, accusing him, and damning him. He had long since passed the point where he got on his knees and begged for forgiveness. He apologized to the phantoms with tears running down his cheeks, but they never relented. His regrets never brought them peace. They're still dead. They're still ruined. So many he knew may even still be out there, in the hands of the wicked, being raped, or they may have already even lost their souls. But a part of them lingered within Bakan. The doors of his heart were open, and their suffering reached him.
His wounds healed, Bakan rose after Selenia revealed that she had watched over him. He didn't remember her. He didn't understand what she meant either. Ashloriel was always there to look over him. His expression, cleaned of some blood, was neutral. He was still mostly inside of his own heart, where the pain of the alraune he killed in cold blood now joined him. Somehow, that felt like the worst phantom of them all. He had sunk so low, that now he was the one causing the suffering. Carrying this burden, he quietly went about, healing the gruffs. Once they had all recovered, he stepped away from the group, uttering not a word. At his back, he could feel phantom eyes of his companions, manifested by his own mind. They were staring at him. They were concerned that he would kill them. He imagined Samarta would quickly wish to flee with Inka in fear of their lives, while Inka cried from the tragedy she was forced to witness, of Bakan's own doing. Bakan felt as if his heart would burst, he so badly wanted to get on his knees and apologize to Inka, but he could only imagine her retreating away from him. Fearful of him.
'I'm reaching my limit.' Bakan thought to himself. 'I feel like my heart is going to give out...' He pondered about the pain in his chest. His wings never recovered from their rotten brown, a sign of the current state of his heart. Feathers fell on their own, as if he were already a corpse and dying. So frail, and brittle were his wings, that one would be easily able to rip them off without much effort.
Bakan: HP = 120, PP = 45, EP = 11/85, Status = Fine
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 54, PP = 67, EP = 37/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 35/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 70, PP = 50, EP = 82/90, Status = Fine
Daryl: HP = 60, PP = 39, EP = 25/61, Status = Fine
Jeff: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Fine
Stephano: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Ogg: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Garakaius: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Billy: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Rolls
Bakan heals Jeff for 10 EP. Bakan heals Stephano for 5 EP. Bakan heals Ogg for 8 EP. Bakan heals Garakius for 9 EP. Bakan heals Billy for 10 EP.
Daryl heals himself for 10 EP. Daryl heals Krovika for 7 EP.
The gruff's accepted Bakan's healing without comment, costing him much of his remaining energy but leaving their wounds fully healed. Jeff awakened a few moments after Bakan had healed his injuries, and glanced around at the somewhat somber mood of his comrades and said; "What happened? ......Did we win?" Daryl took care of himself and Krovika, Selenia having refused to aid the armored woman, and Samarta dragged a practically limp Inka over to join the rest a few moments later. Seeing them ready to leave, the angel leaned in and kissed Bakan gently on the cheek and said; "My task here is complete, but yours is only just beginning~ I'll come to you with what you must do to make up for my service later." With that the angel simply vanished in a brilliant flash of light, leaving Bakan and his companions without him.
"Lets just get this matter over with," Samarta said impatiently once the angel had gone, and Krovika nodded and mounted her wolf. "Keep on alert. We can't afford another ambush like that one!" the knight said, and then they were off. As they walked through the swamps, Krovika didn't even look at him, and Samarta and Inka gave him a somewhat wide berth, leaving Bakan to walk among the gruffs as they proceeded towards the place where the primordial god was waiting for them. After a few moments Bakan began to notice movement at the corners of his vision, and a few seconds later he'd spot an alraune flitting between the trees, followed by another only a few feet away. Moments later he'd seen dozens of them, as well as their beast-like assistants, all of the shadowing them from a safe distance away. "We're surrounded, but they won't attack us. They're showing us the way," Krovika reported calmly, apparently quelling the fear that had been rising in Samarta and the gruffs at seeing so many enemies around them.
On they went, and after a time Bakan got the distinct impression that they were heading uphill, while the alraune and their kin only seemed to grow in number around them. The massive humanoid creatures made of wood were present as well, albeit not in the same numbers, and Bakan spotted a number of flowers tracking them through the barren trees, each attached to a mushroom-like stump with a pole sticking out of the top. Dozens, maybe even hundreds of alraune were all around them within only a short while, but they never tried to attack the group. Instead they simply hung back and watched, never coming out of the cover of the trees.
Eventually, Bakan and his allies came upon a massive clearing that was clearly their destination. In the center of that clearing was a gigantic plant, larger than any that Bakan had ever seen before, and it sat curled onto itself in a massive pile of living matter. At the top of the plant sat a gigantic bulb, easily the size of a house, and as the last of them stepped out into the clearing that bulb began to open. Slowly, the petals of it opened until it blossomed into a beautiful bright pink flower, and in the center of that flower, drenched in a thin veneer of some oily substance that only served to make the sight of her all the more alluring, stood the red-skinned alraune that had attacked Bakan when he had first entered the marsh with Cory and Rhep by his side. She walked forward as if to meet them, a slow strut that left all of her well-oiled curves on full display, but stopped at the tip of one of the petals of the flower in which she'd been waiting. Krovika stopped a half-second later, causing the gruffs, Samarta, and a heavily shaking Inka to do the same, and for a long moment the two groups simply stared at one another in silence unless Bakan opted to speak.
"Nice armor! Too bad it'll get all dirty when it's lying in pieces on the ground~" the crimson alraune shouted sardonically down at them, to which Krovika's wolf growled and Krovika herself promptly replied; "The only thing that's going to dirty my armor today is your blood, and that of the big ugly thing you're standin on!" The alraune merely laughed derisively at the knight's response, however, and instead turned her attention to Samarta who stood in the back. Her eyes twinkling eagerly, the alraune said; "Ahhhh, the mysterious fire serpent of the swamp! I had no idea you'd be so pretty! You're so nice to come to me rather than force me to come and hunt you down. I'll very much enjoy fattening your belly with my seedlings~" Samarta promptly shot back; "You won't be doing any such thing! I'm going to see you burn!"
Again offering nothing more than a laugh at the threat, this time giving a light chuckle, the alraune glanced at Inka curiously. "Oh? One of my kin? Is she supposed to be a hostage meant to inspire mercy?" she asked curiously, but the mute alraune merely glared up at her defiantly despite the obvious fear presented in her shaking form. Rolling her eyes, the crimson alraune passed her gaze over the gruffs with a contemptuous grunt before settling upon Bakan at last, at which point she grinned broadly. "I told you that this would go one of two ways when we first met, Bakan Jeru. The easy way, or the hard way. I see you've opted for the hard way. I can't say that I mind though~ It is ever so much fun to break men like you, who think their ability to commit violence makes them righteous!"
It didn't really matter if they were letting him through. If he destroyed the body of the daemon, one of them would simply be possessed. Inka's trembling felt like a constant reminder of guilt to Bakan, for killing the alraune who surrendered to him. Bakan, a few days ago would have told everyone to stay back and protect each other while he went ahead to do the deed, but he walked now with his head hanging, still at his limit. Under such circumstances, he would cry and reach out for his mother Ashloriel, but he was no longer an infant under her care. With each step he took, he felt as if he were somehow becoming more insignificant. If morale were to determine the outcome of this battle, Bakan would surely be the reason it failed. Rather than any force of protector, he now felt even more helpless than Inka, who was shaking, constantly shaking. She was truly mortified by what happened around her, especially the act at the end, when she cried the loudest.
Now he stood, before the creature he had to defeat. He thought to call Castiel, but somehow his trembling hands couldn't work, nor could his blurred thoughts, clouded by all of the anguish he felt in his past coming back, and crashing into him. The two sides exchanged with one another, both ready for battle, all but one of either side ready to fight... As Bakan sank to his knees.
"Please." he begged, both hands holding onto the grip of his hammer for support, his body feeling weightless, as if a simple breeze could topple him over. Not out of any physical fatigue did he feel this way, but mental. "Please, stop." he begged again. "I'll do anything you want. I..."
"I feel like I'll kill everyone around me, if you don't stop."
Bakan: HP = 120, PP = 45, EP = 11/85, Status = Fine
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 54, PP = 67, EP = 37/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 35/44, Status = Fine
Krovika: HP = 70, PP = 50, EP = 82/90, Status = Fine
Daryl: HP = 60, PP = 39, EP = 25/61, Status = Fine
Jeff: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 15/30, Status = Fine
Stephano: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Ogg: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Garakaius: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Billy: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Quirking an eyebrow at Bakan's dramatic display, the red alraune sardonically shouted down in reply; "Anything huh? Gee, I guess I'll just give up now and throw away the future of my species, just because some mutant promised to be my manservant." She paused to let out a long, derisive laugh at his expense, and as she did so the ground beneath them began to tremble and crack.
His companions readying themselves around him, Bakan heard Samarta mutter harshly to him; "Bakan.... Stop being such a coward! Get up! This is what we came here to do! When we get rid of her and the thing she's on, then you can rest all you want!"
Massive vines tore their way up from the ground, easily as thick around as Bakan himself, and at the end of them was a pod large enough that two people could likely comfortably fit inside. A dozen in all came forth, and just then an incredibly potent, sweet scent filled the air, making Bakan begin to feel light headed. The plant on which the alraune stood had seemingly come alive, hundreds upon hundreds of vines squirming along it as bulbous growths were revealed in its tuberous flesh. "You will feed us~" the alraune called down, now speaking in a voice that was several octaves deeper and clearly not entirely her own. "You cannot slay me, for what I am lies all around you! Throw aside your worldly trappings, animals, for soon you shall rejoin the world that birthed you!"
Bakan rose, his expression emotionless. He wasn't sure why he suddenly wanted to speak. There was something in his mind that ticked, as if he needed to speak. His heart was so separated already that the thought normally would never have struck him, but there came a short sense of calm enough for him to talk, and explain. "You don't understand..." he announced to Krovika. "It's not over when we kill that thing... It's evil spirit will move on to others like her." he directed at the alraune. "I don't know how it works, but that was what I was told." Bakan announced. "I was told to kill everything, so that the spirit would have nowhere to go..." Bakan said with uncertainty. He wondered if the alraune who let him by were the enemy that could be possessed. He didn't understand how it worked at all. Moreover, he didn't understand why he was hesitating to tell this to Krovika. Somehow, some part of him knew it was important to announce that the spirit could move from host to host. Bakan even wondered if it could possess him. The whole situation seemed so bleak.
(And if that isn't enough, Bakan suddenly realizes the whole thing and shouts for Inka to ditch. Fucks sake.)
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 54, PP = 67, EP = 2/67, Status = Fine
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 44, Status = Fine?
Krovika: HP = 70, PP = 50, EP = 90, Status = Fine
Daryl: HP = 60, PP = 39, EP = 61, Status = Fine
Jeff: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Stephano: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Ogg: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Garakaius: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Billy: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine
Rolls
Due to ooc issues, and because you didn't want to actually play through the fight, I rolled randomly to determine whether Bakan and co won or lost rather than play through the combat on autopilot. Because I am lazy. Suffice to say, he lost.
"What!?" Krovika spat as her wolf was forced to fight to maintain its footing, something that each of them was forced to do as the monstrous plant's moving parts erupted from beneath the ground all around them. "Why didn't you tell us this before!?" Samarta demanded, before looking to Inka with obvious alarm. "You can't stay here! Run Inka!" the naga commanded, but the mute alraune hesitated as she turned back and saw the wall of opposing alraune that stood in her path to escape, each of whom would also be as much a suitable host as Inka. Samarta was apparently having none of that, however, as the naga summoned up a ball of magical fire that exploded in the alraune's midst, effectively clearing a path of escape, setting the other alraune running, setting the forest on fire, and killing at least a dozen of the will-broken plant women all at the same time. "Garakaius! Stephano! Billy! You three go with her! Make sure she gets out of here!" Krovika shouted commandingly, and while the two younger gruffs looked ready to argue the point despite their dire situation, Garakaius pushed them both forward and spat; "Move! You heard the lady!" Before they left, however, Inka pressed a hand to Bakan's back, and a moment later he felt the alraune's magic enhance his strength and will. They set off immediately towards the burning patch of woods after that, Billy and Stephano going first while Garakius prodded Inka along as quickly as he could.
Unfortunately, their escape was not to be, as one of the pods that the plant had drawn up from the ground reached out and snapped up the elder gruff. Inka screamed, but before they could try to rescue the man Bakan and his allies had their own problems as the other seven pods descended upon them as well. Krovika's mount unleashed a howl, and power suddenly washed over Bakan and all the rest, power that made the heady scent being released by the plant easier to resist and the exhaustion of both his mind and his body far less pressing. The same magic washed over the rest of Bakan's allies, and that alone allowed them to evade the plant's attacks, which forced them to scatter just as Samarta's fireball had done earlier. "Not one of you is going to escape~" the crimson alraune declared loudly in an inhuman voice, calling up magic that Bakan realized were akin to those that Krovika's mount. The faerie knight herself blazed suddenly with power and leapt off of her mount's back, shouting back; "Why won't you just shut the fuck up!? I'm going to cut you in half!"
One of the pods tried to scoop up the woman, but she sliced it in half with her greatsword while leaping from spot to spot like a frog. "Bakan, try to get up there! I'll cover you!" Samarta stated even as she launched a bolt of fire at the plant, burning one of the pods. The one holding Garakaius was slashed from its stem by Jeff, and the gruff tumbled free of it while Billy and Stephano tried to push Inka into moving again while the alraune rocked back and forth on the ground. Ogg tried to cover Jeff, but one of the pods scooped the gruff up shield and all, and a moment later Bakan could no longer keep track of his allies due to all of the tentacles and pods trying to grab him. His progress up the side of the plant was slow, and he saw both Krovika and her wolf getting well ahead of him, and the occasional bolt of flame would intercept a pod as it came for him. He saw the red alraune touch the plant several times as he ascended, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the pods regenerate when she did so, but there was nothing he could do about it from there.
Krovika was the first to reach the top, and raised her blade to slash it at the alraune only to be immediately grabbed by one of the pods. "Stupid faerie~" the red woman snorted derisively, and the woman's wolf charged up to rescue his rider only to be smashed aside by a tentacle as big around as a fully grown tree. The wolf thumped its way down the plant's uneven surface, giving a yelp the first few skips before going silent just before it went out of Bakan's sight, and then he was the only one rushing towards the alraune now without the benefit of the faerie wolf's blessing. A few moments passed as he scrambled up the side, forced to smash aside the tentacles and pods with his hammer along the way. The fire stopped coming from down below, and a moment later he saw that the number of pods waiting for him above equaled the number of people he'd brought with him to the fight. The tentacles and pods left him alone after that, allowing him to scramble all the way up to the top over the course of a few moments while the crimson alraune watched with a smile on her face.
When he finally reached the top, Bakan raised his hammer only to be grabbed by tentacles and lifted off of the ground by his arms, causing the alraune to start laughing hysterically at him. "Oh you foolish human~ You actually thought you'd win?" she exclaimed between guffaws, at which point she snapped her fingers and turned around, her actions causing one of the pods to come toward her and open, revealing what must have been Krovika given the little bits of armor visible around her. The knight was completely naked, revealing a body possessed of athletic curves and light blue skin that was covered almost entirely in intricate, whirling, black tattoos. Her eyes were rolled up into the back of her head, her expression set in a look of mindless ecstasy already as her mouth hung as wide as it could to permit a tentacle to pound down her throat, choking out her lewd moans that were no doubt courtesy of the tentacles pounding savagely into the faerie knight's sex and ass. Approaching the captive, mind-broken warrior, the crimson alraune ran a hand over her belly and softly cooed; "Oh, you didn't even try to stop it? You must have really been looking forward to being impregnated~ I'll bet that what you've got growing inside you is more than enough to replace those of my people you killed too!"
The alraune stood there carressing the knight's belly for a few moment's, until Krovika's body shuddered and her moans rose a few octaves, juices spraying out of her sex mixed with a thick syrupy blue liquid and her belly inflating just a tiny bit. "Heheheheheh..... You'll be experiencing that a lot from now on~" she said before waving away the pod containing the faerie, which closed and receded only to be replaced by another as the alraune glanced back at Bakan with another broad grin. "You will too.... But I'm just vindictive enough to enjoy this for all the trouble you and the damned faeries you've been calling have caused me! So instead, you get to watch~" she said, and then the pod opened to reveal Samarta, her crimson wrappings gone.
The naga was obviously no less aroused than Krovika had been, her face being flushed and her sexual characteristics fully engorged and on display. Unlike Krovika, however, Samarta wasn't already being raped. Tentacles licked all around her massive breasts, but despite that they were fully erect and practically aching for attention, the tendrils never did more then glide delicately over the sensitive nubs. Her sex was revealed, it protective patch fully aside leaving pink flesh visible beneath her copper scales, but the pod's tentacles were only teasing her there, flicking against her nether lips or pushing the first inch or so in before pulling away and leaving the lust-dazed naga completely unsatisfied. Samarta was squirming and moaning desperately, obviously in dire need of relief, and like with Krovika she ran a hand over her victim's belly as she began to speak; "You creatures in your natural state is always my favorite~ Oh, and you haven't made any eggs yet? Your energy all belongs to him... Is he impotent, or have you been being careful?"
The red alraune's crotch suddenly erupted with a quartet of tentacles that quickly coiled into a cock that would put a troll to shame, and then she slowly stalked forward until she was pressed against the naga. The pod turned slightly, allowing Bakan to see in detail as the crimson alraune pressed her cock against Samarta's folds, and the look of eager ecstasy that came over his naga lover's face as she was about to be filled up with cock, and how she squirmed in the grasp of the plant pod as if trying to impale herself. "Oooh, she's trying to suck me right in!" she murmured gleefully, and then pushed into Samarta with a soft moan that was dwarfed in volume by the ecstatic scream that Samarta unleashed. "Sooo Tight~!" the alraune moaned loudly, and began to pound away at Samarta's tightly gripping pussy like a wild animal, clamping her mouth onto one of Samarta's huge breasts after she'd spoken.
Watching that, something in Bakan broke.... And then, so did his bonds. It wasn't because of any magic, for none came to help him. It wasn't because of his friends weakening them through some prior actions, for the tendrils up here were unharmed and the alraune had long healed the plant below. It was only rage that saved Bakan then, blind and impossibly powerful. Taking up his hammer, he smashed the alraune in the side of the head, sending her tumbling away from an obviously disappointed Samarta. Ignoring the lust-drunk naga's lewd whine, Bakan advanced on the stunned alraune and, without further adieu, raised his hammer and brought it down upon the woman's head. It shattered like a fresh melon, splattering green and red across the petals of the gigantic flower upon which he'd smashed it.
For several long moments, the glade was silently save for the subtle rustling of the gigantic plant's countless appendages and the soft whimpering coming from the sexually frustrated Samarta. Bakan was given a few seconds to himself, to speak to his fallen enemy or to his maddened ally, before the plant rumbled beneath him, and all of the thing's remaining tendrils and pods were directed at him. There was no way he'd be able to withstand all of them, and no doubt fully expected to be fully ripped apart as they closed in.... Only for a bolt of lightning more powerful than anything he'd ever felt to come down right onto his head. The bolt was wider around than Bakan's body ten times over, and was so hot that he felt the air ignite around him, but the magic never touched him. In the maelstrom of impossible power he stood, unharmed, as the one thing that he'd ever known to use such power descended toward him from on high. The angel's grey coat swirled in the wind as he came down, Castiel retaining his humanlike form and scowling demeanor. The plant beneath him burned, the crater around him deep and reaching into the thing's core, but even as he felt it twisting in its death throes more power poured from above, Selenia unleashing her own magics against the alraune in the forest. Lightning blazed in a circle all around them, obliterating the alraune in the dozens, and soon all of them were gone..... All save for one. The pods of the dead monstrosity beneath them spasmed and opened, spilling out slime covered gruffs and an equally slime covered Inka, as well as dropping Samarta and Krovika who began to writhe around on the ground before the two angels landed and gently put the two of them to sleep.
"Bakan Jeru," Castiel said coldly, showing no indication that he was pleased that Bakan had seen to it that the angel's mission was completed. The plant was surely dying, its body burning and its appendages all ruined, but neither of Bakan's guardian angels seemed to think that it was done. Suddenly, he felt the plant beneath him surge upwards as if it were trying to uproot itself, and then sag down with one final shudder.... Before a presence of unimaginable power surged from its dying body. Something both primal and utterly alien brushed against Bakan's spirit, the sensation akin to a light breeze brushing past him, before heading towards the one being that was of a type compatible with its spiritual essence... Inka.
The alraune shivered and sat bolt upright suddenly, her eyes wide, but if Bakan went toward her or tried to do something, he would find himself stopped by Selenia, who stood in front of him and frowned softly while Castiel approached the alraune. Bakan watched as the grey-clad angel stood over the alraune, himself watching passively as her skin erupted in bloody pustules and pulsating veins. There was nothing he could do as he watched Inka suffer, and as she shivered in silent agony the alraune began to change. Her body shifted from green to a deep maroon color, starting with her feet and going slowly upwards as corruption spread throughout her body, its effects visible and clearly wracking Inka with pain. "Just wait," Selenia said softly, turning away from Bakan to watch what was happening to Inka. Despite that there were a dozen things that he likely could have done to help her, Castiel simply stood over Inka and watched, and after a moment the shivering plant woman opened her mouth wide in a silent scream. Inka's eyes closed tightly then, and she shut her mouth and gritted her teeth against whatever was happening to her. The presence around them following the plant's death had been slowly shrinking, and that process was only happening more quickly as the seconds ticked by.
Minutes passed, maybe even an hour, and then suddenly the presence, which had shrunk to a shadow of what it had once been, simply vanished entirely. Inka opened her eyes again and looked up at Castiel impassively, and then at Bakan with a soft smile, and then flopped over. Selenia moved out of his way at that point, allowing him to go to the now maroon alraune if he wished to do so, though she looked at him with concern now.
Bakan lay on his back, looking up at the sky. He felt as if he'd fallen a fair distance, because he actually did. He wondered why his wings didn't aid him, even as he tried to recall why he fell. A mere glance, and he saw that they were mere bones. There were no feathers, they completely rotted away. The sight disturbed Bakan, as it reminded him of why they began to rot, and were completely rotted now. There might have been so much else to look at, but he did not want to look. He did not remember why, not because he lost his memory, but due to the complete blank that was his thoughts. He felt the strong urge to cry, but the tears would not come. It was as if he had none left. He only had one thing left to gaze at, so he stared up at the sky and trees. It was a liberating feeling. Some illusion of sight made him feel as if he was coming close to the sky, as if he were being sucked up into the heavens, taken away from this world to no longer experience pain. Such a delightful joy it was, to feel oneself being taken into a blissful afterlife without care for those you may be leaving behind. He felt surprised to be thinking that, but such was the case. This broken feeling came from the complete absence of desire to care for those around him. It just didn't matter anymore. The heavens were taking him away. Bakan laughed with a hoarse voice on the ground. It was peace. Finally, peace, even though it was just an illusion, and he knew it. Still, he felt like lying to himself a little. He just didn't want to look at his world any longer.
It was a happy little bubble in his mind he kept himself hidden within. His mind was exhausted by that point. All of the stress caught up with him in that instant. His vision would blur without warning. Sleep. He needed sleep something awful. Sleep was like a form of death, a quiet and gentle death that made his mind dead of any feeling if it was deep enough. It would form a cloud over his conscious and protect him from the phantoms of his own design. It hurt so much now, knowing the phantoms of Samarta and Krovika were there. They couldn't even describe how they felt as they were within the pods grasp. Bakan had to decide for himself, how they felt. Then, he realized that with this sleep, came no comfort at all. In his mind, slipping away, he wanted to scream for the heavens, to call out for some god to save him from being dragged down in his own darkness. It was all just an illusion to begin with, though the same for his own torment. It was entirely his own doing. A mere thought could save him, a simple cold and logical thought. Unfortunately, Bakan possessed no such thing. It was all real to him. All of the hatred, all of the suffering, and all of the grief...
He fell asleep there, as he was dragged under the black waters of his subconscious. Drowning there, he was forced to take the foul memories into his lungs, and drown... Starting with the beginning of what he tried to forget.
He stood before the massive thing. That terrible abomination that would ruin his mind, and the red alraune herself, who Bakan took sweet vengeance upon, thinking it would matter... It didn't... Not to him. It began with that beast, and continued with the realization of his own stupidity. Krovika tried to save Inka, but that horrible creation had other plans in mind. It was awful, watching her get scooped up. Bakan's steps of aggression that followed were so weak and drained that he feared he might trip, but he kept on going as best he could, with no idea that there was nothing he could do from the beginning. No idea of the horrible things he was about to see.
The whole scene was a damn mess. Tentacles everywhere, it did well to crush Bakan with that feeling of hopelessness. Some fate above must hate anyone who associated with him, he thought. Maybe, he could end it all if he just killed her. Maybe... Maybe, he could do it, even as Krovika was scooped up by a pod, and her hound smashed away. Awful things were happening to them in those pods, and it tortured him as Bakan tried to keep his mind off of it. He just had to kill her. He had to make it stop. He had to save them. Still, he had no idea that he never stood a chance to save him, with his weak and trembling arms, and lack of intelligence. In truth, he was an outright fool, charging forward like that. The idiot had no better clue of what to do. Ignorant, and hopeless...
It ended in the worst and most pathetic manner. He was simply bound. That was it. No great conflict, or epic clash. He was simply bound by his arms which were held over his head. It felt so awful to be so powerless, though that wasn't even the tip of the iceburg. That evil creature saw fit to do something awful. Krovika was brought forth, and shown to him in such a state that made Bakan scream out in anger and hopeless distraught desperation. All he did was scream, even kicked his legs. Pathetic. It was just all so pathetic. He was powerless and weak, and was forced to watch the result of his stupidity and weakness.
Krovika didn't deserve this. Why was he not summon the strength to stop it, he wondered. Every bad feeling mixed together to make Bakan lose any sense of dignity he had in the battlefield as he began to cry. His pride shattered as he helplessly watched the alraune show off Krovika being stuffed and filled with the pod's tentacles, gagged with their thickness, ruining her body. He hung limply at that point, and though the poor woman likely could comprehend nothing else in her sorry state, if there was anything else she could hear, loudest of all, it was this.
"I'm sorry!"
Bakan was something lame and worthless at that point. He realized his true worth by then, and knew how pathetic he was to apologize to a woman while she's being raped so harshly. He was a person who deserved no pity or sympathy from anyone. He had sunk to a level below dirt, and when Samarta came forth, he'd only sink lower.
He realized then that he had selfishly gone and developed a love for the wild woman some time ago, as a caretaker would love someone in need of their aid, to make them feel needed. He had thought that he could be the influence that would bring the end to her suffering, that she'd never be raped again, and violated in such a manner.
Wrong. He was so wrong. It was all wrong. The horrible alraune developed something thick, a large and deadly thing, before she slammed it into Samarta's body, ruining the snake's body with that awful thing. It was over, completely over for him, and for Samarta worst of all. Bakan wished she never met him. Dark thoughts emerged then, desperate ones. He wished worst of all, that he had killed her so that she didn't have to endure this. He wanted so badly to end her suffering, and his irrational and lost mind could only think of impossibly strange things.
Bakan's face was drenched in tears. He didn't want to watch this. Pleading would do him no good, and neither would anything else. He had to watch Samarta be brutally raped by an organ that was tearing her apart on the inside. He truly wished that thing killed her when it went in. It was a shame, he thought, that she somehow lived to endure it, and be ruined by it.
Then, suddenly, he began to laugh.
It was all a joke. A fucking joke. He was so damn pathetic. He gave it all up at that point, his childish act of playing the hero. That darkness inside him that he met, that evil thing, he welcomed it. 'If I can't kill you, I know someone who can.' Bakan thought, then gave his soul away to it, and it greedily consumed him, taking control. Bakan continued to laugh as his eyes turned black, his rotten wings black, and he broke the vines binding him. Laughing, he gripped his hammer tight. Laughing, he charged forth, struck the alraune down. Laughing, he finished her off right there. Laughing, he turned to Samarta, and rose his hammer over his head, looking down at her.
"You won't ever have to suffer again!" he promised. She'll be nice and dead. Finally, he won't have to worry about her anymore. Or anyone else. If all the good people in the world were dead, then only the wicked would be left to suffer. Somehow, this made sense. To a broken mind, this made sense.
He would have done it, if he didn't think himself suddenly killed. The hot bolt shocked him, he wondered if angels had come to put an end to his madness. He really, truly wished they did. It made him whimper that they didn't kill him. he didn't want to continue to see Samarta like that. It was no longer about whether she was okay, he just didn't want to see her anymore. He wanted her gone, and all the memories of her. He wanted all these feelings gone. He wanted to forget ever loving anyone, and at best, feel remote pity while watching them suffer. But it was not meant to be.
Bakan turned his black eyes to Castiel when the angel came forth. Bakan kept himself upright with a hunch forward, holding his hammer in front of him with both hands. He actually found himself admiring Castiel as the angel came down. He realized that his hatred prior was actually jealousy. He wished that his heart was as strong as that man's. Then his inability to save everyone wouldn't phase him in the least. Through his pitch black eyes, Bakan looked at him with respect.
He wasn't sure when that pitch black malice faded, but it did during the events unfolding, freeing him of it's grasp just in time so that he could cry as the evil spirit possessed Inka. Selenia didn't need to stop him, Bakan sank to his knees right there and cried his heart out, screaming his frustrations. It wasn't a tragedy, it was truly his fault. It was all on his head. If he weren't so pathetically devoid of intelligence, she could have been saved.
It was all his fault. All of it.
Bakan rose, sobbing harshly, to see it end. His eyes were blank, and his heart pounded so hard that it left him dizzy. The last thing he saw was her smile, before she collapsed. It was over. His mind gone, Bakan smiled, thinking she had died in peace. Even he, were he in a better state, would have not come to such a conclusion, shame that he was not. With the nightmare over, the weight of the world demanded Bakan come down, and so he did. His steps going backwards, he took a tumble. Whether he fell straight down, or rolled or tumbled off of limbs, he went down to the earth from the top of the plant, and to the ground below, on his back as he saw something magnificent.
All of his black feathers, shedding from his wings.
His mind went blank.
Then, he felt as if the heavens were calling for him.
NPC Stats
Samarta: HP = 54, PP = 67, EP = 2/67, Status = Fine?
Inka: HP = 51, PP = 61, EP = 44, Status = Fine?
Krovika: HP = 70, PP = 50, EP = 90, Status = Fine?
Daryl: HP = 60, PP = 39, EP = 61, Status = Fine?
Jeff: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine?
Stephano: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine?
Ogg: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine?
Garakaius: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine?
Billy: HP = 60, PP = 30, EP = 30, Status = Fine?
As he stumbled and fell down the side of the plant, Bakan saw a look of surprised concern wash over Selenia's face just before his head hit something hard, and he blacked out. Time unknown passed, and he awakened in a bed. A familiar bed. Even a glance around and Bakan would realize that he was back in Samarta's swamp cabin, and that same look would reveal a figure sitting in the very same chair that Inka had sat in when last he'd woken up here. His glasses had been removed, but even with her image blurry Bakan recognized Selenia seated. Her position mirrored the one he'd seen Inka in, her hand resting on her chin as she gazed out the window, and as before the one watching over him didn't seem to realize that he'd awakened.
