ST: Resplendant Wave (2xp)

Player: Obsidian Falcon

 

ST's Note:  Falcon posted this log and in doing so decided to remove all non IC content (not something I think was the greatest of ideas given the response but that's his prerogative).  It DID actually happen behind the scenes so to speak, but anyone who looks at Longinus's character sheet (which I can provide on demand) would understand this battle was a foregone conclusion.

 

Longinus had no ability to summon demons or elementals, the school was on an isolated island in the middle of a river miles away from any other civilization, and his mote pool was substantially reduced due to being largely committed to training effects.  His character sheet listed no combos combining his perfect defense with an excellency.  Even if it had, he still would have been totally one sided as his archery + dex was a grand total of 7 so with a full excellency thats only 14.  Presuming automatic 2 die stunts we get up to a 16 dice.  The likelyhood of him being able to hit Falcon's DV of 18 then is somewhat limited.

 

My reasoning for the manse's burning is as follows:  It didn't have the essence vents power which means as soon as it receives any evels of power failure it begins to uncontrollably vent essence whereever it feels like (as per Oadenol's Codex).  Now I'm presuming (though it doesn't say this anywhere) this vented essence doesn't actually hurt the manse.  The books inside the manse though are not actually part of the manse (otherwise walking off campus with them would be like inflicting a geomantic attack on the manse).  118 million books and tomes, regardless of topic is AN enormous quantity of loose leaf flamable material.  If that was all virtually simultaneously ignited the resulting inferno (concentrated and focused by the subterranean library that has effectively become a giant blast furnace) would easily be hot enough to melt tempered steel, let alone softer metals like gold.  Also making Falcon crawl on his hands and knees (even if just to avoid having his lungs burned out by super heated smoke.  Thanks firefighters who visited our elementary schools!) was fun.

 

If your manse is going to house people and there is a chance that it might suffer power failure, essence vents are probably a good investment to make to prevent this sort of thing.  In this case however the absence was probably beneficial in that while a lot of folks died in the initial uncontrolled outpouring it was enough of a warning for most of them to escape and take their knowledge all over the East.

 

If you have issues with this scene, please read the comments below to see if its already been addressed then go here

 

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program

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Obsidian Falcon and his necrotech skirmishers arrive via airship at island housing the Longinus Detective Agency and College for the Occult. The ship lands at the docks and the call to disembark is shouted. Supplies are unloaded all around Falcon as other fresh faced potential students exit the flying vessel with glimmers of hope in their eyes. Today, they hope, is going to be the first day and a new life for them! Or so they hope...

 

 

         Obsidian Falcon was not eager. In fact he spent most of the flight willing his Writhing Blood Chains from whirling out and starting a mass slaughter around the deck. As he disembarked, he led his five 'men' forward and with a wooden suitcase carried by one of them--the poor Luggage can't betray its nature just yet. The first order of business is, of course, to find a suitably high tower from where to cast spells.

 

 

The college grounds are expansive and the buildings themselves are enormous. In terms land occupied taken up, Falcon thinks its dwarfs many of the towns he's seen. That coupled with the sheer size of the buildings must amount to a truly incredible amount of square footage. Of course all this first age style architecture gives the Necromancer his pick of towers. There's the tall gold one with the angels, the observatory, the bell tower, and many many more.

         Greeters are waiting at the docks and are ushering along students as they pick up their luggage. Falcon notices that some of the students seem less hopeful after speaking to the greeters. He's not sure why, but imagines he'll find out soon enough as one approaches him and his team.

 

 

         Unfortunately, Falcon must pass by a greeter on the way to the tower of his choice--the bell tower. This of course complicates matters since he has no desire to talk to any of these meatbags. However, he presses on with his eyes set on the tower and sheer determination in his stride. Hopefully he won't be stopped on the way over.

 

 

         "Hi there! Hey wait! Where are you going? Hey wait up! You need to follow me!"

 

 

         Falcon grinds his teeth and thinks to himself, "Great, just what I didn't want." He turns to face the greeter and says, "It's alright, I simply need to get to the bell tower. New duties and all that, wouldn't want to be late." He motions to his retinue and says, "Come along now gents, we need to get to the bell tower to start our work."

 

 

The overly exuberant member of the welcoming committee has a somewhat puzzled look on his face. "What, oh ok then. Um I guess I'll tell grounds you've arrived. Whom should I say has arrived?"

 

 

         Falcon shakes his head, "No need, my good chap. A sorceror already sent an infallible messenger. You must carry on with your duties after all."

 

 

The man nods sagely. "Yes yes, of course. Well carry on then." You get the sense that he's going to tell grounds anyways just as formality. Security isn't /that/ lax. But you're not sure where "grounds" is on this sprawling campus, so theres a good chance that you'll get to your location faster than him.

 

 

         Falcon nods to the man and even offers him a smile before briskly making his way towards the bell tower. Meanwhile in his head he's cursing himself for not being able to sneak or lie. Perhaps if Stilled hadn't destroyed his life size doll he could have used it as a bribe.

 

 

         Falcon watches the man greet some more students and lead them off the the center of the college , while he meanwhile heads over to the bell tower. The building is unlocked, though some students give him a glance as the tower is usually not used by anyone but the staff. Still though, Falcon and his team adhere to the old adage that if you look like you're doing what you're supposed to be doing then most people will leave you alone, and the students give him wide berth. While entry is no problem two floors up on the inside there is locked orichalcum door that prevents heading further up the tower.

 

 

         "Annoying," Falcon says to himself. Turning to his henchmen he says, "Make sure no one's watching, I'm going to try to break open this door." He takes off coat to reveal the plethora of writhing chains and begins attacking the door with all of them at a time, trying to break it off its hinges--the weakest spot.

 

 

Falcon's chains uncoil in a flurry of activity. It only takes seconds for the essence charged iron to rip the doors hinges and a chunk of the surrounding wall to pieces, despite its being reinforced by underlying matrix of the manse itself. Ever midnful though, Falcon doesn't just toss them down the stairs but lays them neatly in the small landing just beyond the door. Unfortunately though across from the landing is yet ANOTHER door. Apparently unauthorized personnel are discouraged from going this way...

 

 

After stalking up the stairs, Falcon gets to what he estimates (based on brief glances out the plentiful, though barred windows) to be the last of the doors. A glance out the window shows a small hustle of armed guards crossing the quad being led by what is presumably a student pointing at the tower and the greeter Falcon managed to circumvent earlier.

 

 

         He frowns and decides this might be a good time to use a Charm. Adopting Eye of the Tempest, he decides that the last door will have a different treatment. Turning to his henchmen he says, "Be ready to fire on everyone, don't leave anyone alive boys and let the Luggage be free too." Once they put the Luggage down it sprouts hundreds of tiny legs and snaps its lid hungrily. Then his chains lash out at the door along with his fists. He tries to push the door off its hinge and use it as a bulldozer.

 

 

As Falcon wrenches the final door off its hinges he sees essence visibly trailing from the edges of the breakpoints, spewing out in an angry golden light into the air. He doesn't really have time to comtemplate the matter though as he suddenly hears screams from all across the court yard, and indeed the campus as a whole.

 

 

Distracted by the screaming eminating from outside, Falcon almost /almost/ doesn't react in time as the torches in room all explode in a shower of golden Solar fire. However he manages to roll forward, though now the roaring inferno golden light blocks his exit. He quickly realizes that the damage he has done to the manse hacking his way to the top of this tower has caused power failure and the excess essence from the partially capped manse has begun to pour out wherever it can.

 

 

         Falcon cackles maniacally and produces a knife from his vest. It's a small athame for ceremonial purposes mostly and he cuts his left palm open as his necrotic anima engulfs him. Holding the palm up at the open sky he chants a hymn to the Neverborn in Old Realm before a ray of scarlet shoots up at the sky--the seed of the Blood Monsoon. Turning to his men he says, "Alright men, I think it's time to run. Let's head to the angel tower now."

 

 

His spell cast Falcon and his men, along with the "luggage" move through the flames, unscathed, Falcon due to his anima power absorbing the blast, and his "men" through quality of craftsmanship.

 

 

         The spell reaches its zenith at a mile above the ground and quickly spreads to engulf a 5 mile diameter around the center--the bell tower. It will take an hour to fully set in and blot the sun, but Falcon plans to spend that time well. As they leave the bell tower he gets his bearing straight and heads towards the angel tower, that's the next target. With all the chaos, hopefully he'll be left alone, to assure that's the case he wraps his chains around him and puts his coat back on.

 

 

Everyone is too busy tending the wounded or being dead themselves to hinder or even harass Falcon and his men. They reach tower unimpeded, the door is unlocked. The entrance to the main building of the college is nearby as well and its doors are open slighty, huge clouds of smoke billowing out.

 

 

         On second thought, the main building seems like it needs some 'help' that Falcon can provide. He and his men change course to the college and he calls out, "Anyone alive, I come to help!" He leaves out the part where he's going to help them die though.

 

 

As the team of benefactors moves into the smoke choked building they here screams and moans of pain from all directions. The huge libraries have been turned into raging infernos, the flames licking the ceilings and the millions upon millions of pages churn out thick black smoke, threatening to smother anything breathing not crawling on the ground.

 

 

         Falcon is forced to crawl on the ground as well, shedding his coat and ripping part of it to tie around his face to reduce the smoke. He keeps going in further into the main building hoping to find a sign that points to the hearthroom to cause further power failures.

 

 

Apparently the simultaneous ignition of thousands of tons of loose leaf paper is enough to damage the manse. Possibly the shelves themselves were intrinsic parts of the buildings matrix or perhaps the heat is simply enough to shatter marble and melt the excessive amounts of gold and orichalcum that decorate the building. Regardless Falcon notices that the geysers of golden Solar flame have become stronger and more intense.

         He thinks he can follow the geomantic lines of the building's architecture to track down the hearthroom, but without some sort of essence sight, it will be difficult to pick out what is merely decoration and what is tied to the underlying matrix of the structure while he is en route. He can make educated guesses but an exhaustive investigation will take hours.

 

 

         And so educated guesses it is, or at least that's the best Falcon can do for the time being. After all, if the place explodes before he finds the room he'll have completed the mission and if it doesn't, then he can proceed with a more in depth investigation. But for time being, guessing is his best option.

 

 

Falcon makes his way deeper into the structure following the occult lines to the heart of the building. His going is slowed by a need to avoid the flames, both essence charged and those derived from everything being on fire. He is fortunate in that he doesn't need to actually go /through/ the infernos that the libraries have become, and must simply go /near/ them though the heat is enough to make him sweat profusely and its going to take a lot of baths and scented oil or magic to clean the smell of smoke from his body.His chains flail and gouge deep scores into the wall. Over the course of the entire path he seems to have done enough random damage to cause more power failure as the vents have once again increased in strength. That or else the hellstorm raging throughout the building, indeed the entire campus, has done more lasting damage. Regardless Falcon finds himself before a pair of huge closed orichalcum doors. He is 78 sure that the hearthroom lays on the other side.

 

 

         Falcon frowns and knocks on the door, "It's a repair team, let us in so we can fix the manse! You need to let us in or we'll die out here anyways. Is anyone there?"

Obsidian Falcon will give the people on the other side a minute before trying to rip the door apart.

 

 

There is no response from the door. He's not sure if its just because the doors are huge and scorching hot, theres no one on the other side, or they have no intention of opening the only thing keeping them safe from the inferno Falcon finds himself in the middle of.

 

 

         Falcon shrugs to himself mostly, but also to his men. His barbed chains scrape against each other as if sharpening themselves before they begin to relentlessly pound into the doors at the hinges. Likewise with the bony spurs on his arms he begins to scrape at the door trying to part it open.

 

 

Falcon's savage beating managed to rend a whole large enough for him to make his way through with some difficulty. He sees numerous students on the other side, their eyes wide with terror.$r

 

 

         Once he worms his way to the other side he grins widely, but not too wide to expose his fangs. He holds up his hands and says, "Don't worry, I'm here to help!" Yelling to his men he says, "Come on men, we have work to do here, crawl over!" Looking back at the students he asks, "How many of you are in here? Also, is this the hearthroom?"

 

 

         Obsidian Falcon's barbed chain deflects the shot and his eyes meet those of Longinus. His eyes narrow and he opens his mouth, exposing his fangs which grow to tusks as he says, "Ahm gunna bweed you dwy!" His chains writhe in anticipation and he rushes towards him trying to grapple him and sink his tusks into his neck even as his chains try to slice the detective to shreds. However, the detective is not so easily taken and his form flickers as he jumps, vaults and generally evades every attack with the supernatural puissance of his Charms. This serves only to anger Falcon more and his attacks become more relentless, eschewing his tusks for the more efficient form of his talons. And yet, even so Longinus evades him to the point that his anima burns brightly in contrast to Falcon's own necrotic display. The final blow comes in a calculated punch by Falcon. He coils back and his anima display becomes clear--a falcon gathering at his fist. "Remember students, that it was the Obsidian Falcon's punch," he calls out just as he drives his fist through the Solar's chest and pulls out the man's heart.

 

 

During the fight the students fled screaming to the corners of the room trying to avoid becoming collateral damage. Surprisingly enough, seeing their mentors heart yanked beating out of his chest does not stop the shrill chorus of terror.

 

 

         Falcon looks at all the students and says, "You know, I _was_ going to help you all have an honourable death so you could pass to the Lethe. But since your master had to be a little brat, I think I'm just going to blow up the place and have your souls suffer in agony." He turns to his men and says, "Men, fire on the orichalcum plate with everything you've got." Falcon himself stands 5 yards away and allows his chains to do the job for him, reaching the entire way to the stone-collection plate and hitting it repeatedly.

 

 

Some of the students, realizing they don't stand a chance of actually fighting Falcon, simply try to flee through the cracked door. One of them must have pressed a button somewhere as the door swings open, apparently the minor conveniences are stilled powered, though not for long. The combined onslaught quickly shatters the collecting plate. Over his shoulder through the open doorway Falcon notices the golden geyers suddenly stop. The inferno from everything else being on fire continues rage though, and the now opened door allows billowing clouds of nearly pyroclastic gas into the room.

 

 

         Falcon gives the hearthroom a few more swipes of his chains before looking back at his men and saying, "Keep shooting, don't stop for any reason. I'll just go make sure no one can interrupt us." Then the deathknights breaks into a sprint out from where he came. He may want this place burned down, but he wants to do it and not die if he can help it."

 

 

         Falcon stumbles coughing out the main doors of the building, the smoke clinging to his clothing in little wisps. The entirety of the grounds are ablaze, though much of the lawn is merely charred wastes by now and is no longer actively on fire. Something wet hits Falcon's cheek. As he wipes it off and looks at his hand he sees it smeared in red. Very rapidly more droplets hit and then the area is quickly overwhelmed in torrential down pouring of blood. Through the heavy rain and smoke Falcon can't see any one else, and the loud pitter patter drowns out all other sound.

 

 

         Falcon cackles as he sees that his Blood Monsoon kicked in. Finally, he'll be able to respire Essence like a normal person. Well, as normal as deathknights get at any rate. He runs towards the docks, trying to see if any ships are left so he can disable them.

 

 

The docks are deserted, both the aerial and marine ones completely devoid of even animal life. Anything that was portable and not bolted down has been stripped down and presumably thrown onto one of the fleeing vessels.

 

 

         Falcon frowns and puts his hands on his hips. "Well, there's only one thing left to do," he says out loud to himself, "Time to find some corpses and build myself a dinghy so that I can get out of this place without having to swim." His resolve set, he starts wandering around the grounds trying to find corpses.

 

 

         The Obsidian Falcon sets sail on his makeshift raft, making sure he stays a good half a kilometer from the island. He leans back and enjoys the carnage that he's caused. The Blood Monsoon has since subsided, which is for the best since the rain would certainly make the ensuing explosion dull. It is in fact a very spectacular explosion. At first it seems it will be an implosion as the air gets sucked into a vortex at the center of the island and then it pauses for a second before expanding in one concussive burst outward, creating a massive mushroom cloud of Essence in the process and incinerating any non-magical materials in the area.

 

 

So goes the Longinus Detective Agency and College for the Occult.  Creation shall mourn its loss.