The Battle of Death Mountain: Staging

[Tearen Wover]

The sudden arrival of Demetri and his compatriot was certainly welcome, but ultimately it might not have mattered. At the scale they were choosing to fight, one or two more Primes in the available pool of power did not appreciably increase the odds. Not when they were attacking Volvagia almost completely head-on. Nealaphh would have, obviously, like a more indirect route that exploited a vulnerability in the Arch Dragon's defenses, but whether by natural forces, The Smiling One's hand, or Volvagia's sheer cunning, there was only one way to do this.

Nealaphh was aware that the group was being watched as it made its way up the final peak of Death Mountain. Flinty, gleaming eyes glared at them as they passed by ancient lava tubes and half-collapsed crags. As they grew closer and closer to the summit, the volcano seemed to respond to their presence. Great flashes of fiery light and gut shuddering rumbles wracked their every step, sending scree and small boulders tumbling down the treacherous path. Small, telekinetic nudged were all that was needed to prevent the rolling bastions away from the platoon.

With each step, their Goron guides grew more visibly nervous, until they crested a hill right before the peak itself dipped over. A stylized, jagged spiral with an arrow on its head was carved into a monolithic totem of stacked rocks. Their forward most Goron guide balked at the intangible threshold which stretched across the path, turning back and glancing at the fifty-odd people behind him.

"The point of no return. We step beyond this stone, and Volvagia's spawn will be upon us."

Nealaphh nodded, and turned to the rest of the Primes, hovering slightly to make itself more visible. It's cloaked silhouette against the fire of Death Mountain looked almost natural, as if such chaos and fire were the God-Mind's natural habitat.

Friends. Brothers. Allies. It is time we made the final commitment to our cause. Alpha Squad, hurry on ahead, and be quick about it. Beta will follow close behind. Gamma, you are to remain here and hold the line. I will not offer prayers to Gods or Fortune; it is our skill and our minds...our own Godhoods...that will see us through this day. Onwards.

With that, ten Primes surged forwards with all due haste, scrabbling up the black, crumbing rock face as they could manage. The instant they passed that stone totem, a droning, whistling howl seemed to wind its way out from the Mountain itself. Animal and Primal, the rallying cry of a thousand dragons pulsed in the air like the fevered beating of a titan's heart.

Half way up the path, Alpha and Beta Squads split, the ten Gorons laden with their most potent bomb flowers leading Nealaphh and its personal squad off to the right, towards a slivered wound in the side of the igneous wall that would have otherwise been missed.

With fated strides, Alpha crested the rim of the caldera, while Gamma squad prepared to keep their ground so far below. Even in the midst of all of this, the quiet focus of over a dozen Primes begging the attention the Omnivwrse, Nealaphh couldn't help but feel that it had...forgotten something important.

Joining the event is now closed. The threads for Alpha, Beta and Gamma will be up shortly.