Adventurers of the Inquisition: A Dragon Age RP (started)

[sage42]

Nola felt unsettled at best when she saw the creature. Darkspawn were horrendous, Darkspawn mages were worse, but this thing? This was a whole different story. Her grip had tightened on her blade as they approached, a plan forming in her head on how to deal with this disturbing pair. Of course none of her plans involved Berund throwing his hammer at the Emmesaries head. He was getting reckless, someone was going to have to have a talk with the ex-Legionnaire. And if Calien didn't she would.

"Von, Jarrett, Cailen help that dumb fuck! Ash, Nola on me!"

"Right behind ya." She called as Kari charged forward. She brought her shield up and began to circle around the insectoid darkspawn, the flat of her blade ringing against the wall of metal. She then lashed out with her own blade, striking at the closest joint in the Darkspawns spindly leg. She fully intended to get as much of an opening for Kari's blade as she could.

 

[IFS]

The maul took the emissary off its feet disrupting the spell entirely, incoherent yelling filled the air as the creatures incantation changed to a string of curses. Even as it heaved itself to its feet a shield struck it, leaving a bloody gash on the monster's forehead. Hate glimmered in the creature's eyes even as dark blood ran from the wound and it slammed its twisted metal staff onto the ground, surrounding itself in a barrier of pure force off of which Jarrett's blades bounced harmlessly. Protected for the moment but seemingly unable to attack from within its barrier the monster caught its breath, eyes flashing over the group.

"Kill them Child," it said to the Childer "rend their flesh, the Last commands it."

Its meal disturbed the Childer let out a bone rattling shriek, staggering the group with the sound of it. Then it moved, faster than one would have thought possible given its size, sweeping away Kari's blade with a nimble swipe and turning to face the Qunari. It raised two of the larger legs to attack when Ash's spell struck it. It convulsed in pain, blood leaking from around the red lyrium crystals that studded its hide and began to thrash back and forth slashing out at random. Nola's clanging gained some measure of its attention in its pained state and it wheeled to face the dwarf.

"You DARE raise your hands against the last Child of the Mother?" the emissary hissed indignantly at Ash "you will suffer!"

The advantage seemed to be theirs, with the new opening Kari's blade found a soft spot and blood oozed from the wound she left, Calien circled around behind the sphere of force ready to pounce on the emissary when his defenses ended, and the Childer staggered from the injured leg leading its swipes to glance off of Nola's shield only shredding off a strip of the steel rather than the dwarf herself. But then something changed, the lyrium crystals pulsed with crimson lightning and Ash could feel his spell's effects thrown off of the creature. The blood oozing from its wounds began to crystalize into more of the wretched substance and the monster let out another screech as its strength renewed.

The emissary cackled as this took place, its voice barely audible over the shrieks of the monster "The Child is invincible!" he declared "It will end you all! You, the dwarves, the wardens, the Mother will be avenged!"

 

[DarkRawen]

"You DARE raise your hands against the last Child of the Mother? You will suffer!"

"You just dare trying!" he replied, but he felt a bit unsure of whether it was a good idea to taunt the creature. Especially if it was capable of blood-magic.

I'd rather not have it turned on me, thank you very much.

As Ashtalan felt his magic twist, and the blood crystalize, he ended his magic. It was almost instinctively, akin to when you touched a hot surface and withdrew your hand. A completely natural reaction, though one that made him curse under his breath. Yet again, there was something to ruin his magic, control him and make him close to useless.

"The Child is invincible! It will end you all! You, the dwarves, the wardens, the Mother will be avenged!"

More words, what a cocky creature.

As if we'd let you do that.

For a moment, he didn't think about it, but suddenly it dawned upon him.

"Is that... darkspawn talking?" He was too used to demons talking to consider it strange at first. "Isn't that..." he trailed off, there was always time for questions later. Ash drew his short-sword, and pointed it at the emissary.

"I can't do anything but to either keep my distance and keep using blood magic against the childer in order to ensure he can't afford to stop twisting it and attack any of us, or try to cut that guy. Use me as you see fit," he said, looking towards both Kari and Calien. Ash could act on his own, but he wanted to ensure there was a sense of order.

 

[Protocol95]

As Jarrett was moving to finish the emissary, it erected a barrier that repelled the attacked. Jarrett jumped back a few steps wanting to re-evaluate the situation and be wary of any possible counterattack. Raising an eyebrow in curiosity as the creature healed, he decided to test just how potent this was.

"The Child is invincible! It will end you all! You, the dwarves, the wardens, the Mother will be avenged!"

"More ways to defeat something than killing. That barrier of yours, how long can it last? Look around, you're surrounded. Even if this 'child' lives, you can't hope to survive. But personally..." With eyes focused turned on what he guessed was the Child's smallest leg, Jarrett launched his chain at the leg and leapt through the air.

"MY hope is that you live long enough just to despair!" Tackling the leg with full force, Jarrett drew his main weapons and launched an unforgiving chain attacks against the same spot before jumping into merciless strike against it. Before the blades fell against the monster, Jarrett was careful to keep his mouth shut as he was almost bursting with anticipation. He thought to himself, "Since it can, how deeply can it bleed? Deep enough to lose a leg perhaps!"

 

[Athol]

Staying in constant motion, Kari parried a blind kick and took a few slices at soft spots as the opportunities presented themselves. While the Childr?s attention was directed at Nola, she used the moment to catch her breath, and ready herself. Backing off a bit, she switched to a ?half-sword? grip and charged to creature, bellowing as loud as she could.

Slamming into one of its hind legs as hard as she could, she rammed the tip of her blade into a soft spot, before lunging away to clear its counter-attack. As the beast turned towards her, she thrust with an archer-like accuracy towards an eye on its abomination of a human face. The threats of the cowering Emissary were drowned out by the sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears.

 

[StormShaun]

About to attack alongside with Jarrett, Von stop as he pulled his sizzling dagger out. Each of the metallic blades bounced off harmlessly, and the Emissary was safe inside its cowardly bubble. The Templar spat on the ground. "Damn coward, allowing this beast..." He started yelling, but took a single look at the battle against the monster. It seemed well for the rest of the group, for now, but this man was supporting it. "...To fight for you!" He bellowed, and surprisingly, the Darkspawn twisted its lips.

"Kill them Child,"
"Is that... darkspawn talking?"

"Maker... I've heard the stories, but it is true. There are intelligent Darkspawn." Von said to nobody in particular, but the clarification of this tall tale sent a shiver down his spine. "I'd hate to imagine that the Darkspawn have grown intelligent." He muttered, but his mind came back to the battle and he started running to the battle against the thing known as "the Child". Then the scratching started again, the hard noise echoing within the Templar's eardrums. Stopping immediatly, he gazed on, quickly spotting the Red Lyrium that decorated its hide. "Maker damn the thing that made the red mineral!" He yelled.

"It will end you all! You, the dwarves, the wardens, the Mother will be avenged!"

The Emissary mocked within his own prison, and Von's eyes turned into rage. This thing made fun of the group, making use of a beast that should no exist, for its very design was joke against life. Ignoring the urge to bring The Child down to annoy the Darkspawn Mage, but the shining blades of the Templar faced the Emissary. "Maybe, but it will end for you first!" Von said to the Darkspawn, taking a careful look at Ash, and immediately charged, muttering several phrases before picking up the dropped shield, and immediately stopping in front of the force shield.

Thrusting his palm towards it, the Lyrium within the Templar was drawn, to blown away all magic around the Darkspawn, taking down the shield. Von then finally ended it by using the momentum to once again throw the shield at the Darkspawn, but at extremely close range. "Say goodnight!"

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Berund looked at the emissary in mild shock. Apparently gibberish wasn't the only language it could speak. Either way, he wasn't prepared to allow it to continue speaking much longer. That was until it raised a barrier that deflected even the elf's blades. It was a strong one, that much was certain.

The dwarf turned his gaze towards the Childer, the red crystals pulsating with electricity. His eyes narrowed onto the glowing gems as it lashed out with its gaining strength. Jewelry doesn't suit you, worm, thought Berund as he turned his axes around. He charged the beast at a dead run and leapt onto its back. He dug the pick of an ax deep between two chitinous plates of the creature, holding it firmly like a bucking horse's bridle.

Berund held fast against the Childer's thrashing, though with no small amount of effort. When he managed to keep himself steady, he struck with the pick of his free ax, wedging it beneath the flesh that encapsulated the Red Lyrium crystal. The dwarf pulled and pried in an attempt to loose the glowing rock. But it didn't give way. He withdrew the pick and struck the gem forcefully with the narrow point, swinging like a miner that spotted the glint of gold. Hoping he rattled some slack in the socket, he planted the pick again and continued to pry. "C'mon, budge, ye bleedin' bastard!!"

 

[sage42]

Nola was thankful the thing stumbled as it's claws lashed out at her. Judging from the sharp scream of steal metal rending and the sliver of metal she saw rise over the edge of her shield, that thing would have sliced right through her armor. This only made her angry. She had just finished this shield damn it, and now this thing was cutting through it like wet parchment. "Ancestors damn creature! I just made this!" She called angrily, not backing down. She lashed out with her blade at what she could only guess what was the things face. Followed quickly by a bash from her shield, her aim to make the thing stagger back on those spindly legs.

 

[IFS]

"I can't do anything but to either keep my distance and keep using blood magic against the childer in order to ensure he can't afford to stop twisting it and attack any of us, or try to cut that guy. Use me as you see fit,"

"Focus on the Childer!" Calien called, while he himself remained behind the emissary, waiting for a lull in its defenses.

Jarrett's onslaught of blows, while impressive, had no effect on the shimmering barrier of pure force. Each glanced harmlessly off of the barrier causing nothing more than brief flashes of light from their impact. Von's powers however had a noticeably greater effect, the shield of force vanished all at once and the emissary stumbled backwards for a moment, barely managing to deflect the thrown shield with its metal staff even then having the thing clip it in the side staggering it further. Calien siezed the opportunity and pounced aiming to drive his blade into the creature's back. It's armor deflected the blow into its shoulder and he drew blood but the emissary turned and with monstrous strength grabbed him and flung him aside.

Hissing with anger the injured darkspawn was pushed back on the defensive by Jarrett's renewed assault, temporarily deprived of its magic all it could do was fend off his blows with its staff though the elf was steadily gaining ground inflicting ever greater cuts on the monster.

Meanwhile Kari's blade bit deep into the Child's face, striking bone and being deflected by it. Nola joined in on the effort and the creature emitted yet another horrifying scream, this time seeming to shake the very ground. Berund's strike to the lyrium crystals however sent the beast reeling, stumbling to the side as though struck by much more force than the dwarf had mustered. Black, toxic blood seeped from the broken crystal, and red lightning crackled from the things hide shooting off at random into the air, striking the ceiling and cracking the stone itself leaving angry red scars in the rock that seemed to spread as the stone weakened. The Emissaries eyes widened briefly at this, and then he called up what magic he had left to throw back his attackers turning to run as the cavern ceiling began to crumble.

"Fall back!" Calien called out "we don't want to be crushed!"

The Child, still reeling from the blows it had suffered, scurried back with incredible speed as the rocks fell down around and upon it. Soon enough nothing remained of their battleground but a wall of stone and rubble separating them from their foes.

Calien exhaled deeply, shaking from the adrenaline of the fight "Somehow I think it's too much to hope they were crushed," he said "is everyone alright? Anyone know what in Andraste's name that was?"

 

[Athol]

Kari let out a snarl of triumph as her blade bit, but it turned to disgust as she realized she?s missed her target. Clearing away to avoid a potential counter-attack, she was about to launch another strike, when the cavern started to shake. ?By the Dread Wolf!? She yelped as a fist sized stone bounced of her helm.

"Fall back! We don't want to be crushed!"

She didn?t have to be told twice, as she scampered clear of the falling rocks she saw the creature scuttle to safety. Once the dust had settled a bit, and it was obvious their opponents were nowhere to be found, she sat on a convenient, former, chunk of ceiling.

"Somehow I think it's too much to hope they were crushed, is everyone alright? Anyone know what in Andraste's name that was?"

Unfortunately, she shared Cailen?s opinion; there was no way they were that lucky. ?I?m good.? She replied, spitting some inhaled rock dust on the floor. ?I saw some pretty fucked up things during the Blight, but Andraste?s Puckered Asshole, I?ve never seen anything like that.? As she spoke, she couldn?t help but look towards the two Dwarves?hopefully one of them knew something.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Focus on the Childer!"

Ash nodded, and again, focused his blood magic upon the weird creature. It was an uncomfortable feeling, letting his magic get twisted on purpose, and while he was hesitant to simply let it happen, he pushed through it. Every now and then, he changed the shape of it, and, when the emmissary was occupied or simply not quick enough to react, he managed to do some damage.

I'm not helpless, even in front of this guy.

That was good, at least. In the meanwhile, the others battled the Childer, with Ash standing the furthest apart. There was little reason for him to move, and instead he stood mostly still, feeling the chills of the creature's screams, but none of the fair. Suddenly, Calien told them to get back, and Ash nodded. He had no difficulties getting away from the cave in when the emissary made a rather dangerous mistake. Suddenly, the battle was over.

That's... a bit anticlimatic, isn't it?

Of course, it didn't seem like the enemies had been defeated, too few pained screeches for that.

"Somehow I think it's too much to hope they were crushed. Is everyone alright? Anyone know what in Andraste's name that was?"

"Shouldn't we... do something about it?" Ash asked, as he started patching up the slice in his arm. He had acted a little too quickly, and cut a little too deep. It had helped during the battle, but now it caused him to go so far as to drink another of his health potions.

Running a bit low now.

He could always make new ones, if he got the time. As he looked at the others, he took a few steps while still standing in the same position, trying to shake off a bit of nervousness. "Or at least get out of here. We're not certain they can't get through, should they be aggravated enough. Though, I think the most dangerous thing is what exactly will happen if we do let it survive..." he looked at the others. Could they even chase after it? Would it be worth it?

"I don't know," he then said, seemingly out of nowhere. "I think we should do something, at least. Not just stand around and act all horrified. It wasn't... it wasn't that scary. A bit strange, but not scary."

 

[sage42]

Nola's head shot up to watch the first few bits of sealing crumbling down. She looked back to the Childer with a growl as Cailen called for the retreat. She didn't want to let this abomination go, but getting herself squashed trying to kill the damn thing wasn't gonna help anyone. She turned and ran with the rest of the group. When they made it to safety, she put her hands on her hips as she breathed heavily. She looked back at the collapsed cavern, and began to laugh. "Oh by the Ancestors! I missed this!" She said happily. "Not the darkspawn mind you, could do with out those creepy bastards, but this? The dark, the warmth, even the cave ins! Any chance the Inquisitor wants to set up a base underground?"

"I saw some pretty fucked up things during the Blight, but Andraste's Puckered Asshole, I've never seen anything like that." Nola shook her head with a shrug. "Sorry, those damn things are new to me. I've heard rumors about the talking 'spawn but I always dismissed them a drunkin ramblings."

"I think we should do something, at least. Not just stand around and act all horrified. It wasn't... it wasn't that scary. A bit strange, but not scary."

"Well sure we're gonna do something about it. But even with magic it's gonna take a while to dig through that." She said jerking a thumb towards the cave in. "Frankly it be easier to go around and hope we run into it again so we can kill it, if it even survived."

 

[Protocol95]

Leaping away from the Child after his final strike Jarrett then begrudgingly retreated as the area began to collapse. He laughed at the situation. "It's not over! This opportunity will only serve to throw you deeper into the despair of failure!" Jarrett cried out mockingly towards the emissary as the ceiling finished collapsing.

"I saw some pretty fucked up things during the Blight, but Andraste's Puckered Asshole, I've never seen anything like that."

"Sorry, those damn things are new to me. I've heard rumors about the talking 'spawn but I always dismissed them a drunkin ramblings."

"Same with me on Nola's first point. Darkspawn were never something I thought would concern me. My interests lie in dealing with... other threats." He gave a brief chuckle at the last bit. He knew that with his introduction to thinking darkspawn rampaging for insane interests, the threats he discussed weren't too different.

"I think we should do something, at least. Not just stand around and act all horrified. It wasn't... it wasn't that scary. A bit strange, but not scary."

"Agreed that we need to do something but I'm sorry to suggest we take the other path with the lyrium. With the crystals in that Child, I don't want it getting near any more lyrium."

 

[StormShaun]

Seeing the outcome of his projectile attack, a smirk immediately began to grow on the Templar's face. It almost made no effect, but with Calien making a sneak attack, it all made it worth while. Von quickly gave the Antivan Agent a thumbs up for the effort, but a counter was quickly launched, and the Inquisition Agent was simply thrown away. "Curse it. You damn talking demon!" Von spat, and began to take several quick steps towards the Emissary.

That was when red lightning struck.

"Fall back!"

The command was quickly issued towards the group, and Von managed to take a single glance at the ceiling before dashing away. It was an annoying maneuver that saved their lives. Still, the Templar was annoyed, for they faced a monster that goes beyond anything they have faced. In Von's eyes, it was something that should not exist, not in this world, the fade, or even the Black City itself. Barely avoiding contact with the falling rocks, and with a final roll, he was reunited with everyone.

Breathing deeply, Von quickly placed his weapons back into their homes, and took a swig of water. Ah, and there goes that nice shield, Von though as he gazed at the cave-in. Turning back to the group, he made a shrug. "Red Lyrium, talking Darkspawn, and a monster straight from a book. Ah, what a lovely day this has become." He said with straight sarcasm, which turned to a sigh. "All I know, is that we should kill it and that talking darkspawn. I... I don't know how to describe it, I feel that it shouldn't exist." Von said with a grim tone, before going silent.

 

[Tortilla the Hun]

Tried as he may have, Berund just simply couldn't keep a firm seat on the beast once it thrashed in agony. He was thrown from its back and he scraped across the cavern floor on his back, his axes skittering to a stop just ahead of him. Sitting up and looking on, he watched as lightning shot up from the open wound?the energy striking the ceiling and coursing through the stone like poison through veins.

"Fall back!" Calien called out. "We don't want to be crushed!"

"Don't need to tell me twice," the dwarf muttered as he jumped to his feet. He sheathed his axes and dashed towards the escape, plucking his maul from the floor as he ran. He was nearly crushed by falling rocks but fortunately avoided being crushed beneath the rubble.

"Is everyone alright? Anyone know what in Andraste's name that was?"

"Seems all is accounted for, save for peace of mind I think," said Berund as he dusted himself off. "As for what that was, somethin' I've never seen in all my time on the Roads. Though I have heard stories. And paired with what that bug-charmer was mouthin' off about, it's definitely not somethin' we want alive for much longer. Pray that it was crushed beneath all those rocks, because much as I want to see it dead, I'm not about to dig through all that."

 

[IFS]

Calien listened to the groups comments, seeming relieved that none of them were severely hurt, though the fact that none of them knew what the creature was seemed to visibly trouble him.

"Agreed that we need to do something but I'm sorry to suggest we take the other path with the lyrium. With the crystals in that Child, I don't want it getting near any more lyrium."

"Yes," he said "that was our original objective wasn't it? Hopefully we can manage it before those ghosts rise again. Talking darkspawn and whatever that thing was, as if we didn't have enough freakish things to deal with down here."

He shook his head then began to lead the way back down the tunnel, knowing what sort of monster had left the claw marks in the wall did little to ease his nerves but still he moved quickly as quietly towards where they had sensed the crystals before. Red light, disturbing and unnatural, began to light the tunnels as they drew closer and the sensitive members of the group could hear the song louder and louder. Finally they reached their destination, emerging into a large room to find a horrid sight.

The room looked to once have been a mining site, and at some point a shelter for dwarves fleeing the lost thaig. Their skeletons lingered still piled in a corner. Flesh did not decay under the influence of the taint, so poisonous it was that it prevented even the microbes that cause decomposition, so scraps of it clung still to some of the gnawed bones. In the center of the room a vein of lyrium, still largely blue and uncorrupted, lay exposed, creeping up the walls in places though fortunately it was solid and the air itself seemed clear of its influence. Standing atop it though there was a pillar of red lyrium, growing from the bodies of darkspawn, some still twitching as the crystals engulfed them and grew down into the lyrium vein. Not all those who had been consumed to make the pillar were darkspawn though, a few dwarves, largely dead, were among the pile though one could be heard muttering incoherently.

"the song, the song I can hear it," he said, his feverish mutterings filling the room.

"Poor bastard," Calien said, face twisting into a disgusted expression "someone should put him out of his misery. How do we go about destroying this though? I doubt my bombs would do enough..."

 

[Athol]

As they pushed deeper into the caves, and the eerie red light began to grow, Kari began to feel more and more uneasy. [small]?This is wrong??[/small] She muttered. Finding the remains of the miners, and the red lyrium growing out of both darkspawn and dwarves, did little to dissuade her feelings of unease.

[small] "The song, the song I can hear it?"[/small]

?Maker save us?he?s still alive.? She?d seen some terrible things in her life, especially after having lived through a Blight, but this?this was a whole new level of just plain wrong.

"Poor bastard, someone should put him out of his misery. How do we go about destroying this though? I doubt my bombs would do enough..."

Kari?s armour rattled slightly, as a shudder of revulsion ran through her. ?You?re right?? Readying her blade, she walked over to the encased dwarf and stopped, the tip levelled at his chest; turning slightly, she looked back at Berund and Nola. ?Do either of you want to say something?? She asked softly.

 

[sage42]

Nola stared at the surroundings her head swiveling to try and take it all in. Once more she was glad she had her helmet on. It hid the horror that no doubt had slid across her face. This.....this was wrong. She couldn't think of anything that described it better. Somehow this was worse than even the Darkspawn.

[small] "The song, the song I can hear it?"[/small]

She turned when she heard another voice, horrified that it was coming from a dwarf she had thought dead. "by the stone....." She mumbled, her grip tightening around the hilt of her blade.

"Poor bastard, someone should put him out of his misery. How do we go about destroying this though? I doubt my bombs would do enough..."

Nola nodded. She wanted to step forward and do it herself, but....she couldn't. Not until Kari stepped forward at least and put her blade to the dwarf's chest. "Do either of you want to say something?" Nola swallowed and stepped forward. If she couldn't put the man out of his misery, she could at least see him off the right way. She knelt by the dwarf and put her hand to the man's head. "Atrast Tunsha, Brother. Atrast tunsha. Totarnia amgetol tavash aeduc. Know that you are returning to the embrace of The Stone." She mumbled before gently brushing his eye closed.

 

[DarkRawen]

Ashtalan frowned has he heard the others talk, deciding to head down the path with the Lyrium.

"Yes, that was our original objective wasn't it? Hopefully we can manage it before those ghosts rise again. Talking darkspawn and whatever that thing was, as if we didn't have enough freakish things to deal with down here."

"Do we have to?" Ash asked, he'd rather take his chances with this "Childer" than go through the passage of nothing but bad. Although, could they blame him? None of the others, not even Von, could sense it to the degree he could, the red Lyrium, the regular Lyrium, he didn't have to see it or even hear it to sense its presence. The red variation kept whispering, singing, while the clear one made it difficult to breathe. Eventually, it became a little too much for him -too much too quickly- and Ash covered his ears, cursing the others under his breath.

Stupid morons. Couldn't only some of us have gone in? Couldn't the rest just... wait outside the cave entrance, or...

Part of him wanted to close his eyes, he was seeing too much red around, pillars, while the walls had regular Lyrium veins everywhere.

"I don't want to be here," he whispered to himself, weakly, while looking at his feet. The caverns were tall, but he still kept his head down a little, as far away from the ceiling and walls as possible. "Can't we just leave?" He couldn't hear his own voice, nor any of the others, both because he was covering his ears, and because it did very little to keep the sound of the red Lyrium out. Ash ignored everything else, while he had spotted the pillar with the darkspawn and the Dwarves, it had not really stood out to him. Not now, not while in this state.

 

[Protocol95]

Entering the new area of the caves with everyone, Jarrett was unperturbed by the corpses but what little living remained caused him to go silent.

[small] "The song, the song I can hear it..."[/small]

"This is..." Jarrett reacted with horror at what he saw, something he had seen many times at the end of his weapons. "...the face of true despair."

"Poor bastard, someone should put him out of his misery. How do we go about destroying this though? I doubt my bombs would do enough..."

"Grant me a moment, then you'll have me to destroy what you see fit." Jarrett past Nola after she was done with he assumed was a prayer and kneeled down close to the unknown dwarf. "Despair closes in but it needn't consume. Tell me your final wish, one to spread the last of your hope across Thedas." This was a charity he meant with all his heart but Jarrett was foolish and so he kept a weapon hidden ready to defend himself should the need arise.