05-22-2017, 03:24 PM
An otherworldly yowl escaped the maddened alchemist as globs of acid chewed voraciously into his flesh. His heretofore well-kept academic trappings disintegrated in large patches, revealing a spiderweb of vein-like beads of metal stretching from his malformed shoulder joint and down his scrawny chest. With a snarl, he wrapped his immense golden mitt around a glob of dissolving flesh, tearing the hunk of afflicted meat free with abandon and hurled the caustic slab at the damned ronin. Hiro’s eyes widened at the display, his augmented reflexes allowing him to dodge the bulk of the assault, though he was close enough to catch drabs of acidic spatter as it passed him. The dark conjurer grinned with self-satisfaction as the swordsman stumbled, hurriedly using his katana to abrade his rapidly-dissolving outerwear. The alchemist closed his darkened eyes, taking advantage of the momentary pause to begin his next ploy.
Elsewhere, the plagued paladin wrestled with what remained of the corpulent titan, blade hilt-deep in the construct’s gut. Okor could feel the thing thrashing its last, death throes becoming weaker as the caustic pathogens took their toll on its newborn flesh. All at once the knight felt the creature cease struggle, collapsing into a soupy puddle around his mangled armor. Nurgle’s chosen stood tall, smearing the slick remains off of his own tainted flesh. It had fallen.
”One...down,” Okor muttered, setting his sights now on the pair of acidic lifeforms.
Madotsuki and her gnomish companion were way ahead of him, plying the pair of caustic gels with their own signature destructive blasts on their respective ends of the clearing. The dreamer’s recent transformation had begun to falter, though this did not stop her from tearing into her foe with wave after crescent wave. Unable to bear the assault and too far away to effectively attack and feed, the scalding puddle-beasts were forced to retreat, scampering sloppily toward the ruined cottage. Samus spied the fleeing foes, taking a second to lock onto each of them before taking aim, leaping skyward, and spraying them with gattling cannonfire. The wretches hissed and bubbled as they attempted to evade the rain of energy bullets.
Hiro saw it first. “Okor, turn around!”
From across the clearing, the necrotic warrior turned to see the remains of his regenerating foe coagulating and taking the form of a bulbous flesh tone serpent, now making a beeline for Hiro’s location. He paused for a moment, pondering the thing’s intent. ”The alchemist...he is calling the golem.”
Above the ado, Samus somehow heard Okor’s words. It didn’t take even her level of strategic understanding to figure out what the conjurer was planning. She glanced at the panicked acid blobs, rushing blindly away from their master despite the constant pummelling of Madotsuki’s energy waves. Squaring her stance, the bounty hunter raised her arm cannon and unleashed a cord of fluorescent energy, catching the side of the amorphous meat worm and dragging it toward her with a might heave. The abomination thrashed against the tether as it was dragged through the pair of corrosive mutts, ebon acid washing over its muscled hide. The golem’s flesh began to rapidly burn away on contact, only to reform just as quickly. Samus dug in her heels, dragging the mixture of acidic meat farther from the channeling alchemist.
Hiro watched open-mouthed as the acid blobs began to shrink, their biomass unable to keep up with the impressive regenerative capabilities of the panaceas abomination. In similar fashion, the repeated non-stop regeneration had begun to take its toll on the regenerator, the pace of its self-healing now noticeably slower. A sly grin crossed his face as he turned to see a now somewhat panicked alchemist trying desperately to control his minions. Not wasting another second, the hacker drew his blade and charged, driving the glass katana through the conjurer’s chest.
As if on cue, the pile of mixed meat and acid ceased movement, dissolving slowly into puddle of gray goo. The alchemist’s eyes bulged as he took his last breath before falling limp. Before any of the gathered heroes could take a step toward their defeated foe, his metallic arm separated from the socket, crashing to the ground and shattered to dust, replaced by a hunk of black crystal, the size of a melon, pulsing with veins of deep violet.
Elsewhere, the plagued paladin wrestled with what remained of the corpulent titan, blade hilt-deep in the construct’s gut. Okor could feel the thing thrashing its last, death throes becoming weaker as the caustic pathogens took their toll on its newborn flesh. All at once the knight felt the creature cease struggle, collapsing into a soupy puddle around his mangled armor. Nurgle’s chosen stood tall, smearing the slick remains off of his own tainted flesh. It had fallen.
”One...down,” Okor muttered, setting his sights now on the pair of acidic lifeforms.
Madotsuki and her gnomish companion were way ahead of him, plying the pair of caustic gels with their own signature destructive blasts on their respective ends of the clearing. The dreamer’s recent transformation had begun to falter, though this did not stop her from tearing into her foe with wave after crescent wave. Unable to bear the assault and too far away to effectively attack and feed, the scalding puddle-beasts were forced to retreat, scampering sloppily toward the ruined cottage. Samus spied the fleeing foes, taking a second to lock onto each of them before taking aim, leaping skyward, and spraying them with gattling cannonfire. The wretches hissed and bubbled as they attempted to evade the rain of energy bullets.
Hiro saw it first. “Okor, turn around!”
From across the clearing, the necrotic warrior turned to see the remains of his regenerating foe coagulating and taking the form of a bulbous flesh tone serpent, now making a beeline for Hiro’s location. He paused for a moment, pondering the thing’s intent. ”The alchemist...he is calling the golem.”
Above the ado, Samus somehow heard Okor’s words. It didn’t take even her level of strategic understanding to figure out what the conjurer was planning. She glanced at the panicked acid blobs, rushing blindly away from their master despite the constant pummelling of Madotsuki’s energy waves. Squaring her stance, the bounty hunter raised her arm cannon and unleashed a cord of fluorescent energy, catching the side of the amorphous meat worm and dragging it toward her with a might heave. The abomination thrashed against the tether as it was dragged through the pair of corrosive mutts, ebon acid washing over its muscled hide. The golem’s flesh began to rapidly burn away on contact, only to reform just as quickly. Samus dug in her heels, dragging the mixture of acidic meat farther from the channeling alchemist.
Hiro watched open-mouthed as the acid blobs began to shrink, their biomass unable to keep up with the impressive regenerative capabilities of the panaceas abomination. In similar fashion, the repeated non-stop regeneration had begun to take its toll on the regenerator, the pace of its self-healing now noticeably slower. A sly grin crossed his face as he turned to see a now somewhat panicked alchemist trying desperately to control his minions. Not wasting another second, the hacker drew his blade and charged, driving the glass katana through the conjurer’s chest.
As if on cue, the pile of mixed meat and acid ceased movement, dissolving slowly into puddle of gray goo. The alchemist’s eyes bulged as he took his last breath before falling limp. Before any of the gathered heroes could take a step toward their defeated foe, his metallic arm separated from the socket, crashing to the ground and shattered to dust, replaced by a hunk of black crystal, the size of a melon, pulsing with veins of deep violet.
Quote:Encounter: Complete!
Damage Report:
-- Samus suffers 1 damage
-- Okor suffers 2 damage
-- Madotsuki suffers 2 damage
-- Hiro suffers 2 damage
Spoils:
-- From the remains of the alchemist, there is a medium-sized chunk of Dark Power, ripe for the taking. What abilities it has will be revealed if you choose to take it.
Furthering the quest: After completing this, the radar of the Liberator Aides will show the Stronghold for this area, deeper within the very forest you've found. You will be able to reach it without much difficulty, but Nebula's forces will be on high alert, this close to their base.
You have four days to make one post each, which may be up to 800 words to settle the spoils and move on to your destination. Happy hunting.