- Location
- Seattle, Washington
This doesn't seem to have been posted on Spacebattles.
The Sparks of War
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
They aren't really hypocrites. As they said to him, Gatewatch was founded to fight threats to multiple planes. Sargas wasn't a threat to multiple worlds since he had no planeswalkers. By comparison, a Nicol Bolas powered by the sparks of thousands of planeswalkers definitely is a threat to multiple planes. Its the same reason Atregos never went back to the plane where the crazy plant lady almost killed him: Sure, she is doing horrible things on the plane, but Atregos:
a. Possibly can't beat her
b. He doesn't have any reason aside from morals to help the people on the plane.
Basically, they probably have seen that sort of thing happen on planes enough that they are jaded to it.
I am currently banned on SB, I will put it up tomorrow.
- Location
- Finland
I meant hypocrites in the sense that they now expect Atreus to help them, personally. Sure, their reasons can be viewed as sound on the bigger picture, but that wouldn't really matter to Atreus personally if he had had to watch his world get crisped. Fortunately, the worst got avoided so he's at least likely to help out the common people getting killed in the here and now. If he hadn't been force-summoned in (also something to talk to Jace about), he likely would have told them to go screw themselves if they'd asked normally.
- Location
- Finland
Could someone remind me who dis?
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I'm pretty sure it's the planeswalker dude who helped conquer and burn a village that Atreus and Alexis were trying to save.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
Atregos wasn't there when Alexis fought him, I think Alexis only barely got away from him or something while trying to protect a village.
Edit: Found the chapter where Alexis mentioned Geraka: Chapter 37 of Metamorphosis
TLDR: Geraka was the leader of a force working for an emperor on a plane, his forces attacked a rebellious town and started mass executions, Alexis couldn't stand by and watch, and drove back the Imperial forces before Geraka started spamming summons and almost killed her, she only survived because she managed to Walk to get healing from Atregos and dragon healers. When she left they were burning the entire town of 10,000 people
Last edited:
27
Alexis went for her sword, and I quickly wrapped my arms around her, pinning her arms to her sides as I bodily pulled her off her feet and turning her away.
"Let me go!"
"Not the time!" I said, squeezing her tighter as she struggled, "Later! We can kill him later!"
Alexis slowly stopped struggling, "...You can let go now."
I looked at her dubiously.
She shook her head, "...Really," she said and sighed, relaxing slightly, "You're right, we can deal with him later."
Slowly letting go, I stayed ready to grab her again. Because if anyone started any actual fights in the group right now, they would turn everybody else against them.
Especially us, I suspected because of what I was and that she was clearly my ally.
I glanced back towards Geraka. He didn't even seem to have noticed and was flipping through a thick book that seemed attached to his armour by a silvery chain.
I turned back to Alexis, she was breathing slowly and deeply, her hand resting on and not quite gripping the hilt of her sword, "You doing okay there?" I asked carefully.
"...No," she said after a second, "No, I'm not. I'm going to go look at what I can do. You should go find Beleren."
I squeezed her shoulder before I nodded, "Okay," I said and then let go and looked around as Alexis left the room.
Better keep an eye on that guy though, after what he did to my friend... one step out of line and he's dead.
"Atregos!"
I looked over at the sound of my name to see somebody I had not seen for quite a while and I smiled, "It's good to see you again, Saheeli."
Saheeli Rai smiled as she walked up to me, looking almost exactly as when I saw her the first time. Long dark hair tied up with metal and she was wearing something very similar to the first time I saw her, but it also seemed covered in an almost metal like mesh in a second layer as well as a pair of shoulder protectors and vambraces, a satchel hanging at her side, "You as well," she agreed, "It's been a while."
I nodded, "It has," I agreed.
Longer for her actually, last time I saw her I had gone back in time.
"I'm glad you made it," she said and crossed her arms, "It sounded bad when you left."
I sighed.
"It was bad," I agreed, "and it was close several times since then, but we all made it out alive. How have you been?"
She flashed a quick smile, "About the same," she agreed and then sighed and motioned to the room in general, "And now this."
"This indeed," I agreed and snorted, "Ever run into this Bolas?"
"Yes," she said, her voice about as warm and cuddly as liquid hydrogen, "I have. And he's as dangerous and devious as you would expect from somebody that pulls this sort of thing off."
"Nothing is ever easy, is it?" I asked and shook my head, "See the guy behind me? With the armour and book?"
"Mhmm."
"He's a mass murdering maniac," I said softly, "Put a town to the flame and slaughtered everybody there. Almost killed Alexis."
"I remember her," Saheeli agreed quietly, "Thanks for the warning. Jace said you're coming with the team to shut down the Immortal Sun?"
I nodded, "So I'm told," I agreed, "My enchanting skills may become useful. Who else is on the team?"
"Chandra, Lazav and Lavinia."
"I know Chandra, but who're the others?"
"Lavinia is a member of the Azorius and Lazav is weird."
I raised an eyebrow, "Weird?"
Saheeli nodded and frowned, "Some sort of shapeshifter, I never managed to quite pin him down. Not sure what the plan is yet, we're gathering a couple of rooms down."
"Well, no use dragon things out," I said, "Shall we?"
Saheeli grinned for a moment, "We shall," she agreed with a nod and then she looked at me as I let her lead the way, "So... did you get some practice quicksmithing?"
"A bit," I agreed and shrugged, "Never did manage your lifelike replications though," I admitted and then smirked at her, "Did you ever figure out those enchantment equations?"
The human scowled, "Those things are impossible and unnecessary. Better to do things my way."
"My way gets the same result each time and they are easily replicated by somebody else with the same skill, time and equipment. They can be taught."
Saheeli shook her head, "But that's just... there is no soul in it! You might as well have golems working on a production line."
"That sounds awesome, have you found a way to let golems cast enchantments?" I asked with a grin.
"No! And that's not the point! You can't just-"
We were still arguing by the time we reached the others.
"Let me go!"
"Not the time!" I said, squeezing her tighter as she struggled, "Later! We can kill him later!"
Alexis slowly stopped struggling, "...You can let go now."
I looked at her dubiously.
She shook her head, "...Really," she said and sighed, relaxing slightly, "You're right, we can deal with him later."
Slowly letting go, I stayed ready to grab her again. Because if anyone started any actual fights in the group right now, they would turn everybody else against them.
Especially us, I suspected because of what I was and that she was clearly my ally.
I glanced back towards Geraka. He didn't even seem to have noticed and was flipping through a thick book that seemed attached to his armour by a silvery chain.
I turned back to Alexis, she was breathing slowly and deeply, her hand resting on and not quite gripping the hilt of her sword, "You doing okay there?" I asked carefully.
"...No," she said after a second, "No, I'm not. I'm going to go look at what I can do. You should go find Beleren."
I squeezed her shoulder before I nodded, "Okay," I said and then let go and looked around as Alexis left the room.
Better keep an eye on that guy though, after what he did to my friend... one step out of line and he's dead.
"Atregos!"
I looked over at the sound of my name to see somebody I had not seen for quite a while and I smiled, "It's good to see you again, Saheeli."
Saheeli Rai smiled as she walked up to me, looking almost exactly as when I saw her the first time. Long dark hair tied up with metal and she was wearing something very similar to the first time I saw her, but it also seemed covered in an almost metal like mesh in a second layer as well as a pair of shoulder protectors and vambraces, a satchel hanging at her side, "You as well," she agreed, "It's been a while."
I nodded, "It has," I agreed.
Longer for her actually, last time I saw her I had gone back in time.
"I'm glad you made it," she said and crossed her arms, "It sounded bad when you left."
I sighed.
"It was bad," I agreed, "and it was close several times since then, but we all made it out alive. How have you been?"
She flashed a quick smile, "About the same," she agreed and then sighed and motioned to the room in general, "And now this."
"This indeed," I agreed and snorted, "Ever run into this Bolas?"
"Yes," she said, her voice about as warm and cuddly as liquid hydrogen, "I have. And he's as dangerous and devious as you would expect from somebody that pulls this sort of thing off."
"Nothing is ever easy, is it?" I asked and shook my head, "See the guy behind me? With the armour and book?"
"Mhmm."
"He's a mass murdering maniac," I said softly, "Put a town to the flame and slaughtered everybody there. Almost killed Alexis."
"I remember her," Saheeli agreed quietly, "Thanks for the warning. Jace said you're coming with the team to shut down the Immortal Sun?"
I nodded, "So I'm told," I agreed, "My enchanting skills may become useful. Who else is on the team?"
"Chandra, Lazav and Lavinia."
"I know Chandra, but who're the others?"
"Lavinia is a member of the Azorius and Lazav is weird."
I raised an eyebrow, "Weird?"
Saheeli nodded and frowned, "Some sort of shapeshifter, I never managed to quite pin him down. Not sure what the plan is yet, we're gathering a couple of rooms down."
"Well, no use dragon things out," I said, "Shall we?"
Saheeli grinned for a moment, "We shall," she agreed with a nod and then she looked at me as I let her lead the way, "So... did you get some practice quicksmithing?"
"A bit," I agreed and shrugged, "Never did manage your lifelike replications though," I admitted and then smirked at her, "Did you ever figure out those enchantment equations?"
The human scowled, "Those things are impossible and unnecessary. Better to do things my way."
"My way gets the same result each time and they are easily replicated by somebody else with the same skill, time and equipment. They can be taught."
Saheeli shook her head, "But that's just... there is no soul in it! You might as well have golems working on a production line."
"That sounds awesome, have you found a way to let golems cast enchantments?" I asked with a grin.
"No! And that's not the point! You can't just-"
We were still arguing by the time we reached the others.
IvanDead
My bones are made of schadenfreude.
- Location
- Brasil
"Yeah, I even got to quicksmithing spells. Fragile stuff, but quite useful in a pinch."
28
The guy guarding the Immortal Sun was apparently a master engineer and spymaster by the name of Dovin Baan
He had little flying mechanisms called thopters that spied for him all across the town. Which means that if they spotted us, he would be ready.
Which meant moving underground.
I ducked low again as the roof started to get lower and I suppressed a growl of annoyance.
"Bit low," Saheeli commented as she walked next to me. She had not needed to duck even once yet, short enough to walk without trouble.
I glowered slightly at her and then snorted, "At this point, I'm glad that these are maintenance tunnels and not sewers."
"With some luck," Chandra said from up ahead, holding one hand up with flame licking along it to light the way, "It will stay like that."
"Does it seem like we are lucky?" Lazav asked as he walked next to her. The shapeshifter had started as tall as me, wearing a heavy cloak that seemed to change colour and shape constantly and slowly. Now, he was short as Saheeli and walked easily through the tunnel.
I should have done like Chromie and picked a gnome as my mortal form. What in the world was I thinking when I picked something similar to my original body?
Gnomes are just so practical!
I should have picked a gnome. Stupid mortal form is too big.
"We're getting close," Lavinia said quietly, "We should keep conversation to a minimum."
She was right. If we were spotted now, moving this way would have been a complete waste of time anyway.
I glanced towards her. For someone wearing that much heavy armour, she was moving quite quietly. If it was because she was that good or because her armour was well made was unclear, but it was quite nicely made. I wouldn't mind having a closer look at it.
Lazav stopped and held his hand up, "This is far as we can get underground," he said quietly and nodded towards a ladder leading up to the right, "This leads to the basement of a building close to that side of New Prahv, only a block away from the compound, best way there without getting spotted. We need to move above ground for that. We better do it now."
Chandra nodded and stepped back, giving everybody else room to move past her as Lazav shimmered, shifting to look like her.
Then Lazav led the way and climbed up the ladder, followed by Saheeli and Lavinia, leaving Chandra and myself alone in the darkness with only her flickering fire for light.
Chandra looked at me, "We wait five minutes and then go."
I nodded, "Yeah," I agreed and pulled a ring out of a pocked, "I made this on the way, in case we're spotted anyway, this will help."
Chandra frowned, "What is it, invisibility?"
"Better," I said with a smile as she took it and slid it onto one of her fingers. Almost instantly her appearance shifted, her face shifting, her ears lengthening and narrowing like an elfs and her hair changing from the roots out to a beautiful deep blue from her previous fiery red. The colour of her clothes shifted to black and blue from their normal red and black in reverse of the normal combination, her clothes turning black and her boots and sleeves turning a nice blue colour.
Her usually amber eyes were the last to shift to an icy blue. Chandra blinked and looked down at herself, her hand moving up to bring her hair into view so she could look at it before she raised an blue eyebrow at me, "Blue, huh? I thought we were going to hide under a spell?"
I nodded, "I like it," said as I looked her over, "You make a good looking elf. And this is just in case something sees through it. But In my experience, security in layers is better than to trust something completely."
Reaching up to my necklace, I touched it and triggered one of the possible appearances already pre stored. My hair turned white and my armour shifted from its usual appearance to look like it was a fairly standard looking set of leather armour.
Chandra frowned slightly and crossed her arms, "I think you may be as good at that as Lazav."
I shrugged slightly, "I cheat with enchantments. I think he/she/it may be doing it naturally, I didn't feel a whisper of magic when they changed."
"Neither did I when you did that," Chandra said a bit dryly and then looked towards the ladder, "Time?"
"Time," I agreed, "I'll go first, stay within a meter away from me at all times when we're on the surface."
She nodded firmly and I started up the ladder. It was a surprisingly long climb to the top through a somewhat cramped stone shaft, ending at a thick metal lid.
I pushed it carefully upwards, looking around carefully for any random Eternals. Nobody or nothing in sight. I couldn't hear anything either, which was stranger than anything else. Ravnica was a city, they are never quiet.
Then again, maybe the inhabitants had grown brains and gone to ground to avoid the fighting. Which was far from a bad idea considering what was going on. I pushed the lid away and slowly climbed out into the dim cellar before starting to weave my best Blur spell around me and the area around me I could.
Chandra climbed out a few seconds after me and looked around before looking at me in question.
I nodded and led the way towards the door.
Let's do this.
He had little flying mechanisms called thopters that spied for him all across the town. Which means that if they spotted us, he would be ready.
Which meant moving underground.
I ducked low again as the roof started to get lower and I suppressed a growl of annoyance.
"Bit low," Saheeli commented as she walked next to me. She had not needed to duck even once yet, short enough to walk without trouble.
I glowered slightly at her and then snorted, "At this point, I'm glad that these are maintenance tunnels and not sewers."
"With some luck," Chandra said from up ahead, holding one hand up with flame licking along it to light the way, "It will stay like that."
"Does it seem like we are lucky?" Lazav asked as he walked next to her. The shapeshifter had started as tall as me, wearing a heavy cloak that seemed to change colour and shape constantly and slowly. Now, he was short as Saheeli and walked easily through the tunnel.
I should have done like Chromie and picked a gnome as my mortal form. What in the world was I thinking when I picked something similar to my original body?
Gnomes are just so practical!
I should have picked a gnome. Stupid mortal form is too big.
"We're getting close," Lavinia said quietly, "We should keep conversation to a minimum."
She was right. If we were spotted now, moving this way would have been a complete waste of time anyway.
I glanced towards her. For someone wearing that much heavy armour, she was moving quite quietly. If it was because she was that good or because her armour was well made was unclear, but it was quite nicely made. I wouldn't mind having a closer look at it.
Lazav stopped and held his hand up, "This is far as we can get underground," he said quietly and nodded towards a ladder leading up to the right, "This leads to the basement of a building close to that side of New Prahv, only a block away from the compound, best way there without getting spotted. We need to move above ground for that. We better do it now."
Chandra nodded and stepped back, giving everybody else room to move past her as Lazav shimmered, shifting to look like her.
Then Lazav led the way and climbed up the ladder, followed by Saheeli and Lavinia, leaving Chandra and myself alone in the darkness with only her flickering fire for light.
Chandra looked at me, "We wait five minutes and then go."
I nodded, "Yeah," I agreed and pulled a ring out of a pocked, "I made this on the way, in case we're spotted anyway, this will help."
Chandra frowned, "What is it, invisibility?"
"Better," I said with a smile as she took it and slid it onto one of her fingers. Almost instantly her appearance shifted, her face shifting, her ears lengthening and narrowing like an elfs and her hair changing from the roots out to a beautiful deep blue from her previous fiery red. The colour of her clothes shifted to black and blue from their normal red and black in reverse of the normal combination, her clothes turning black and her boots and sleeves turning a nice blue colour.
Her usually amber eyes were the last to shift to an icy blue. Chandra blinked and looked down at herself, her hand moving up to bring her hair into view so she could look at it before she raised an blue eyebrow at me, "Blue, huh? I thought we were going to hide under a spell?"
I nodded, "I like it," said as I looked her over, "You make a good looking elf. And this is just in case something sees through it. But In my experience, security in layers is better than to trust something completely."
Reaching up to my necklace, I touched it and triggered one of the possible appearances already pre stored. My hair turned white and my armour shifted from its usual appearance to look like it was a fairly standard looking set of leather armour.
Chandra frowned slightly and crossed her arms, "I think you may be as good at that as Lazav."
I shrugged slightly, "I cheat with enchantments. I think he/she/it may be doing it naturally, I didn't feel a whisper of magic when they changed."
"Neither did I when you did that," Chandra said a bit dryly and then looked towards the ladder, "Time?"
"Time," I agreed, "I'll go first, stay within a meter away from me at all times when we're on the surface."
She nodded firmly and I started up the ladder. It was a surprisingly long climb to the top through a somewhat cramped stone shaft, ending at a thick metal lid.
I pushed it carefully upwards, looking around carefully for any random Eternals. Nobody or nothing in sight. I couldn't hear anything either, which was stranger than anything else. Ravnica was a city, they are never quiet.
Then again, maybe the inhabitants had grown brains and gone to ground to avoid the fighting. Which was far from a bad idea considering what was going on. I pushed the lid away and slowly climbed out into the dim cellar before starting to weave my best Blur spell around me and the area around me I could.
Chandra climbed out a few seconds after me and looked around before looking at me in question.
I nodded and led the way towards the door.
Let's do this.
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
...Atregos. Atregos, the pronoun "they" exists. Just... just use "they". It's so much easier.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
To be fair, Atregos probably hasn't encountered anyone not male or female before this.
29
We moved slowly. The Blur spell was useful and easily hid you from view… at range. And it worked best in the sky.
But the slower we moved, the better it worked on the ground as it let the spell shift edges and patterns blur around us. Besides, I had worked a lot on making it better.
The courtyard was surrounded by a trio of towers, water cascading down from them, and it was likely all that was keeping the Immortal Sun from melting the general environment because holy fuck was that thing given a fitting name.
It was a sphere on a plinth in the middle, and it shone and radiated heat like a small sun. Above it in a large floating circle was a platform of thick white stone.
The heat was oppressive, and that was even with the assumption Chandra was drawing the heat away from me.
From open portals high on the sides of the towers flew thopters of all sizes; they filled the skies with their swarms, from the size of flies to actually a bit bigger than my real form. The sound of wings almost drowned out the sound of the waterfalls.
The rest of the group was facing off towards a blue skinned guy on top of the platform.
I shifted and whispered to Chandra, "Do you really think you can melt that thing? It's handling a lot of heat already."
She just nodded firmly, "Just a little closer."
I nodded and slowly moved us closer, arms spread as I channeled the spell. The Blur spell was usually a set and forget spell, but if you channeled it, it was more efficient but took constant concentration.
I really need to build something that does this for me for next time. Why I haven't yet, I have no idea. Damn, that's starting to get seriously hot. We were almost twenty meters away from the blazing orb and it felt like I was standing right next to a bonfire.
"Chandra…"
"Close enough," she agreed and stepped around me, flames starting to flicker along her arms and her blue hair starting to turn back to red as her flames burned through the illusion enchantment.
Then she let loose and whirling streams of fire so intense I couldn't look at it speared the plinth in a bloom that… the apparently heat resistant stone couldn't withstand, and it started to deform under her assault.
The blue guy whirled and stared at us and started to raise one hand.
The ones on the platform attacked, Lavinia throwing her hand out towards him and the blue guy stumbled with a scream of pain, hands going to his face.
I pulled a pair of blasters and started firing. Thopters intercepted some of the blasts, but one grazed his shoulder and he spun around as there was a spray of blue blood.
Lazav took advantage and changed mode on the flamethrower he had used to mimic Chandra's pyromancy, and hosed him down with liquid fire.
Dovin Baan screamed and fell off the platform.
Chandra stepped forward, pouring more fire on the plinth, blasting a hole into the thopters defending the Immortal Sun before she broke into a run towards it and jumped through the gap in defenses, putting her hands straight into the inferno that was the Immortal Sun.
Seconds later the Sun flickered out.
Every thopter in the sky seemed to go nuts and whirled towards us. I raised my blasters and started to fire as quickly as I could.
I might as well not have bothered.
Chandra raised her hands, flame licking along her hair, raising it, and her eyes glowed brightly as fire flickered along her arms as she raised them, and spiraling spears of flame shot out towards the thopters.
Thopters exploded in showers of sparks and metal shrapnel. My own blasters helped as I fired into the swarming mass, but most of it was Chandra.
Suddenly thompters only remained on the fringes of the area, slowly circling and not attacking. Chandra stopped her attack and it was quiet other than the muted sound of wings around the area, and the cooling falls.
I slowly holstered my blasters. That had been both easier and way harder than I had expected it to be. Hard yes, but my part of it had been walking slowly for thirty minutes holding a spell up.
Holding my hand up against the quickly fading heat, I approached the Immortal Sun as Chandra shouldered it off its resting place and onto the ground.
"You okay?" I asked, "i know you can handle heat and all but…"
"I'm fine," Chandra said and slid down after the sphere back onto the ground, "I can handle hotter fires than that."
Nodding, I looked at her. Pyromancer or not, her clothes actually looked like they were smoking in a couple of places.
Moving around to look down at the Immortal Sun, which now looked more like a plain metal sphere than anything else, I held my hand out, feeling heat still radiating from it, but even that was fading quickly. Very quickly.
I reached towards it only to have Chandra grab my wrist,
"Don't," she said, "That's a bad idea."
"I have examined bad ideas before," I said and then frowned and pulled my hand back, "But I don't feel like ending up unconscious for a couple of weeks."
"..Chandra, is that you?" Saheeli asked as she climbed off a landed thopter, the other two coming in to land along with her on their own captured thopters.
Chandra looked at her with a small frown, "Huh? Oh!" she asked and then pulled the ring off, causing her colours and features to shift back to what they should be.
"What now?" I asked and looked between them.
Chandra frowned, "Okay… Saheeli stay here, the rest of us can join the main assault if you think you can take it from here."
Saheeli nodded, "I got this. Go."
I nodded firmly. I had wanted to have a look at the Artifact, but if Chandra thought poking it would be a bad idea, then I was ready to listen to her. At least for now; I might try again later.
I turned to Lavinia and Lazav, "Either of you want a ride or are you good with those?" I asked and nodded to their thopters.
Lavinia shook her head, "We're good."
"Awesome," I said, looking at Chandra, "And you?"
Chandra nodded, "Yeah. Transform quickly, we should hurry."
She was right about that.
But the slower we moved, the better it worked on the ground as it let the spell shift edges and patterns blur around us. Besides, I had worked a lot on making it better.
The courtyard was surrounded by a trio of towers, water cascading down from them, and it was likely all that was keeping the Immortal Sun from melting the general environment because holy fuck was that thing given a fitting name.
It was a sphere on a plinth in the middle, and it shone and radiated heat like a small sun. Above it in a large floating circle was a platform of thick white stone.
The heat was oppressive, and that was even with the assumption Chandra was drawing the heat away from me.
From open portals high on the sides of the towers flew thopters of all sizes; they filled the skies with their swarms, from the size of flies to actually a bit bigger than my real form. The sound of wings almost drowned out the sound of the waterfalls.
The rest of the group was facing off towards a blue skinned guy on top of the platform.
I shifted and whispered to Chandra, "Do you really think you can melt that thing? It's handling a lot of heat already."
She just nodded firmly, "Just a little closer."
I nodded and slowly moved us closer, arms spread as I channeled the spell. The Blur spell was usually a set and forget spell, but if you channeled it, it was more efficient but took constant concentration.
I really need to build something that does this for me for next time. Why I haven't yet, I have no idea. Damn, that's starting to get seriously hot. We were almost twenty meters away from the blazing orb and it felt like I was standing right next to a bonfire.
"Chandra…"
"Close enough," she agreed and stepped around me, flames starting to flicker along her arms and her blue hair starting to turn back to red as her flames burned through the illusion enchantment.
Then she let loose and whirling streams of fire so intense I couldn't look at it speared the plinth in a bloom that… the apparently heat resistant stone couldn't withstand, and it started to deform under her assault.
The blue guy whirled and stared at us and started to raise one hand.
The ones on the platform attacked, Lavinia throwing her hand out towards him and the blue guy stumbled with a scream of pain, hands going to his face.
I pulled a pair of blasters and started firing. Thopters intercepted some of the blasts, but one grazed his shoulder and he spun around as there was a spray of blue blood.
Lazav took advantage and changed mode on the flamethrower he had used to mimic Chandra's pyromancy, and hosed him down with liquid fire.
Dovin Baan screamed and fell off the platform.
Chandra stepped forward, pouring more fire on the plinth, blasting a hole into the thopters defending the Immortal Sun before she broke into a run towards it and jumped through the gap in defenses, putting her hands straight into the inferno that was the Immortal Sun.
Seconds later the Sun flickered out.
Every thopter in the sky seemed to go nuts and whirled towards us. I raised my blasters and started to fire as quickly as I could.
I might as well not have bothered.
Chandra raised her hands, flame licking along her hair, raising it, and her eyes glowed brightly as fire flickered along her arms as she raised them, and spiraling spears of flame shot out towards the thopters.
Thopters exploded in showers of sparks and metal shrapnel. My own blasters helped as I fired into the swarming mass, but most of it was Chandra.
Suddenly thompters only remained on the fringes of the area, slowly circling and not attacking. Chandra stopped her attack and it was quiet other than the muted sound of wings around the area, and the cooling falls.
I slowly holstered my blasters. That had been both easier and way harder than I had expected it to be. Hard yes, but my part of it had been walking slowly for thirty minutes holding a spell up.
Holding my hand up against the quickly fading heat, I approached the Immortal Sun as Chandra shouldered it off its resting place and onto the ground.
"You okay?" I asked, "i know you can handle heat and all but…"
"I'm fine," Chandra said and slid down after the sphere back onto the ground, "I can handle hotter fires than that."
Nodding, I looked at her. Pyromancer or not, her clothes actually looked like they were smoking in a couple of places.
Moving around to look down at the Immortal Sun, which now looked more like a plain metal sphere than anything else, I held my hand out, feeling heat still radiating from it, but even that was fading quickly. Very quickly.
I reached towards it only to have Chandra grab my wrist,
"Don't," she said, "That's a bad idea."
"I have examined bad ideas before," I said and then frowned and pulled my hand back, "But I don't feel like ending up unconscious for a couple of weeks."
"..Chandra, is that you?" Saheeli asked as she climbed off a landed thopter, the other two coming in to land along with her on their own captured thopters.
Chandra looked at her with a small frown, "Huh? Oh!" she asked and then pulled the ring off, causing her colours and features to shift back to what they should be.
"What now?" I asked and looked between them.
Chandra frowned, "Okay… Saheeli stay here, the rest of us can join the main assault if you think you can take it from here."
Saheeli nodded, "I got this. Go."
I nodded firmly. I had wanted to have a look at the Artifact, but if Chandra thought poking it would be a bad idea, then I was ready to listen to her. At least for now; I might try again later.
I turned to Lavinia and Lazav, "Either of you want a ride or are you good with those?" I asked and nodded to their thopters.
Lavinia shook her head, "We're good."
"Awesome," I said, looking at Chandra, "And you?"
Chandra nodded, "Yeah. Transform quickly, we should hurry."
She was right about that.
- Location
- Oblivion
The Immortal Sun isn't a sphere, or even spherical, it's a large clockwork like slab, you can see it in full on the ceiling of the Sanctum of the Sun card.
Not according to the book.The Immortal Sun isn't a sphere, or even spherical, it's a large clockwork like slab, you can see it in full on the ceiling of the Sanctum of the Sun card.
Hestia&theCourt
Turns out we're plural too.
- Location
- In transition
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I mean, the book was a hot mess written by someone who clearly didn't care about the franchise, so I'd be more inclined to believe the card over the book.
- Location
- Oblivion
This^^
For a number of reasons the War of the Spark: Ravnica book is only questionably canon at best. The short stories officially published by wizards however describe it as a disc.
Huatli glanced at what was beneath the vampire's feet and gasped. There it was, inlaid in the glittering gold of the floor, as real as ever; the disk could only be the Immortal Sun.
30
I stretched my wings as my armour deployed before I lowered myself a bit, turning my head to look at Chandra.
She walked up, patting my side before reaching up and pulling herself up into the saddle asd it automatically shifted for her, before the metal safety restraints strapped her in place.
Chandra nodded at me, "No looping."
"No promises," I said, and took two running steps and beat my wings, taking to the sky and climbing towards the dark sky before leveling off, not wanting to fly too high. All that'd do was make me a target if somebody had good ranged weapons. I didn't think that very likely, but this was also the Plane where the Izzet were, and I wouldn't put it past them to have invented some sort of AA missiles.
My armour was good, but come on. I would rather not risk the chance if I could help it.
"You okay back there?" I asked and glanced at Chandra, turning my head to look at her.
She had pulled her goggles down over her eyes against the wind, "I'm good," she answered and looked towards the beam of light spearing the sky straight ahead of us, "How long?"
"Not long," I answered, "Have any way of speeding things up?"
"...Maybe," Chandra said, "But I would rather save my mana."
"Not a bad plan," I agreed and looked towards the source of the light and the dark sky. Nicol Bolas. Liliana Vess. They did this, they...
Alexis was there somewhere, fighting. If she died because of this... she was one of my best friends. At least none of my Consorts were here. Shiela, Zrazta, and Rengosa were all safe back home. The thought of them being here for this, possibly getting trapped here if I fell...
At least they weren't here. I missed them, I was afraid what would happen if I didn't come home, what it would do to them... but it could have been worse.
Alexis being here was bad enough. Damn it, what would I say to her father if she died?
But... now the Immortal Sun was off. I could feel it deep inside, that slight pressure I had felt before no longer existed. I could Walk out of here. I could Walk out of here and be safe, we could just leave. But if I did... if we did...
The Eternals would still be here. The entire population of Ravnica would still be in danger and absolutely nothing would keep them from trying it again. They deserved to die for what they had done here, and if we didn't make them pay for it... who could?
I rested on my wings for a second, sinking slightly lower to avoid standing out as much against the sky, covering us in another Blur spell. No use taking chances.
"Do you think they can do it?" I asked after a moment, "Take out Vess? Without her, they would lose the Eternals."
"Maybe," Chandra said and leaned a bit against the wind, "Why did..." she broke off and shook her head.
I knew how she felt. They had been friends. Fuck, Vess helped save Azeroth. But saving one world didn't give her the right to destroy another.
A mental command shifted my helmet, lenses shifting down over my right eye and magic activating the telescopic zoom function and I could see the target.
Nicol Bolas. Sitting in a throne like some sort of humanoid on top of a massive zigurat. He was ugly, a pair of curved side horns like a female and a pair of wide ratty wings. He was thin, like some sort of wyrm. It was... it was as if a child that had never seen a dragon had drawn one from a description.
He was facing away from us, I could only see his back from here, and past him and the temple I could see a shimmering portal. And then I suddenly didn't anymore.
"It's down!"
Chandra looked around, "What? What's down?!"
"The enemies' portal is down!"
Wait, I recognized that from somewhere. Where was that... never mind.
I shook my head before I continued, "The planar portal just went down, the Eternals aren't getting any more reinforcements!"
"Two teams at least made it," Chandra said, "If you can see the portal..."
"I can see 'him' too," I agreed and sank a bit lower still as we passed residential areas, "Bolas is still on his throne. I can see... I can see Sparks in the air moving towards him. We have lost people."
I beat my wings harder, flying a bit faster.
Suddenly a voice rang through my head, "Everyone, retreat! Regroup at the Senate building!"
"You hear that?" Chandra asked.
I shook my head in annoyance, "I did," I admitted with a growl, "I wish he'd stay out of my head!" and then I banked hard and shifted course around and back towards the large compound we left from. Go there, go there, go back there. Fight, retreat, fight, retreat.
"A retreat isn't a loss," Chandra said over the wind, "Remember that."
No. No, not when we managed at least two out of five objectives.
Not when we could all just fucking leave if things became completely critical. Not when the enemies' reinforcements have been shut off. But I still didn't like it at all.
She walked up, patting my side before reaching up and pulling herself up into the saddle asd it automatically shifted for her, before the metal safety restraints strapped her in place.
Chandra nodded at me, "No looping."
"No promises," I said, and took two running steps and beat my wings, taking to the sky and climbing towards the dark sky before leveling off, not wanting to fly too high. All that'd do was make me a target if somebody had good ranged weapons. I didn't think that very likely, but this was also the Plane where the Izzet were, and I wouldn't put it past them to have invented some sort of AA missiles.
My armour was good, but come on. I would rather not risk the chance if I could help it.
"You okay back there?" I asked and glanced at Chandra, turning my head to look at her.
She had pulled her goggles down over her eyes against the wind, "I'm good," she answered and looked towards the beam of light spearing the sky straight ahead of us, "How long?"
"Not long," I answered, "Have any way of speeding things up?"
"...Maybe," Chandra said, "But I would rather save my mana."
"Not a bad plan," I agreed and looked towards the source of the light and the dark sky. Nicol Bolas. Liliana Vess. They did this, they...
Alexis was there somewhere, fighting. If she died because of this... she was one of my best friends. At least none of my Consorts were here. Shiela, Zrazta, and Rengosa were all safe back home. The thought of them being here for this, possibly getting trapped here if I fell...
At least they weren't here. I missed them, I was afraid what would happen if I didn't come home, what it would do to them... but it could have been worse.
Alexis being here was bad enough. Damn it, what would I say to her father if she died?
But... now the Immortal Sun was off. I could feel it deep inside, that slight pressure I had felt before no longer existed. I could Walk out of here. I could Walk out of here and be safe, we could just leave. But if I did... if we did...
The Eternals would still be here. The entire population of Ravnica would still be in danger and absolutely nothing would keep them from trying it again. They deserved to die for what they had done here, and if we didn't make them pay for it... who could?
I rested on my wings for a second, sinking slightly lower to avoid standing out as much against the sky, covering us in another Blur spell. No use taking chances.
"Do you think they can do it?" I asked after a moment, "Take out Vess? Without her, they would lose the Eternals."
"Maybe," Chandra said and leaned a bit against the wind, "Why did..." she broke off and shook her head.
I knew how she felt. They had been friends. Fuck, Vess helped save Azeroth. But saving one world didn't give her the right to destroy another.
A mental command shifted my helmet, lenses shifting down over my right eye and magic activating the telescopic zoom function and I could see the target.
Nicol Bolas. Sitting in a throne like some sort of humanoid on top of a massive zigurat. He was ugly, a pair of curved side horns like a female and a pair of wide ratty wings. He was thin, like some sort of wyrm. It was... it was as if a child that had never seen a dragon had drawn one from a description.
He was facing away from us, I could only see his back from here, and past him and the temple I could see a shimmering portal. And then I suddenly didn't anymore.
"It's down!"
Chandra looked around, "What? What's down?!"
"The enemies' portal is down!"
Wait, I recognized that from somewhere. Where was that... never mind.
I shook my head before I continued, "The planar portal just went down, the Eternals aren't getting any more reinforcements!"
"Two teams at least made it," Chandra said, "If you can see the portal..."
"I can see 'him' too," I agreed and sank a bit lower still as we passed residential areas, "Bolas is still on his throne. I can see... I can see Sparks in the air moving towards him. We have lost people."
I beat my wings harder, flying a bit faster.
Suddenly a voice rang through my head, "Everyone, retreat! Regroup at the Senate building!"
"You hear that?" Chandra asked.
I shook my head in annoyance, "I did," I admitted with a growl, "I wish he'd stay out of my head!" and then I banked hard and shifted course around and back towards the large compound we left from. Go there, go there, go back there. Fight, retreat, fight, retreat.
"A retreat isn't a loss," Chandra said over the wind, "Remember that."
No. No, not when we managed at least two out of five objectives.
Not when we could all just fucking leave if things became completely critical. Not when the enemies' reinforcements have been shut off. But I still didn't like it at all.
- Location
- USA
Is that an Ender's Game reference?
Yes haha. When they play they zero g game.
Can't wait for Bolas to get down off his throne.
31
"Oh god, god no why!?" Alexis protested and pushed my snout away after I gave her a big lick straight across her face.
"Because you lived," I said and sat down, shifting my wings slightly.
She ran her hand down her face and then gave me a disgusted look, before she sighed and reached to scratch by my nosehorn, "I'm glad to see you too, Gecko. Everything go okay on your side of things?"
I nodded, "All went more or less according to plan," I said, "My part of it was fairly simple. You?"
Alexis shook her head and lowered her hand before brushing some stray hairs away from her face which instantly fell back. She frowned and then started redoing her braid, "Well, Vess is still alive," she started, "I'm not sure what happened, I couldn't see it very well but I think Bolas might have saved her from the attacks. The portal closed, but the Eternals are all streaming into the place from across the District.Beleren called the retreat before we could get surrounded."
"...Good call it sounds like," I admitted and sighed as I settled down fully on the stone of the square, "We're going back in then?"
"Think so," Alexis agreed and tied her braid off with a piece of leather, "I know they are having some sort of meeting about it now."
"We could just leave, you know," I said softly, "I think some already have."
"They have," Alexis agreed and smiled sadly at me, "And both of us know we can't."
I growled at her, "...We don't owe these people anything. We have already helped where we could."
Alexis didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow at me until I sighed and nodded,
"I know, I know," I admitted, "It's not who either of us are."
She nodded and rested her hand on my snout as she sighed, "Yeah," she agreed, "but we'll get this done and then go home."
"Home?"
"...Home," Alexis admitted, "Not sure when that big monstrosity of a structure you lizards call a tower became home, but I guess it has been for a bit at least. At least for now."
"You're planning on staying then?"
Alexis frowned, "I... I don't know," she admitted, "I think I'd prefer a little more civilization if you know what I mean. But until I do, I'll stick around if you guys will have me."
"You are a friend of all the Flights, Lexi," I said and bumped my head against her hand, "Stay as long as you like. At least Wrathion will be happy."
She smiled slightly and shook her head before she tapped her hand on my nose, "Now turn back and we'll head inside. I want to hear what's going on and I'm not going anywhere near That Fucker without you watching my back."
Fair enough. I nodded and got up before turning to mortal form with a cloud of spellsmoke, "Did you spot him during the assault?"
Alexis crossed her arms with a frown, "No. I stayed away from the area he was moving to," she admitted, "Whether it was because I might kill him if, or to keep him from attacking me, I'm not sure."
"How did the blaster work?" I asked as we moved towards the entrance of the building.
"Fairly well," she admitted and pulled it to look at it, "Haven't even run out charges yet. Did you improve the capacitor last time you looked at it?"
"Yep," I agreed, "Should have sixty or so full power blasts without reload and recharge is faster."
She nodded and then looked at me, "So... why do you carry six of them?"
"Because you only carry one," I explained, "I put in more expansive energy storage and turned the power down. Will still hurt most things. But mine are full power, giving me maybe half as many shots on each and at the expense of recharge rate. More power, but it means that just carrying one won't work."
Alexis frowned and holstered her magiblaster again, "...You know, you could just make them reloadable."
"And carry around unprotected and fully charged mana storage crystals?" I asked with a grin, "I can think of less painful ways to die."
"Wait, is this thing explosive!?"
"Eh, kinda? Half of it is to contain the powersource and keep it protected," I said and shrugged, "magic or not, the power has to come from somewhere."
Alexis pinched the bridge of her nose, "You could have told me."
"I thought you would realize that on your own. I mean, power is power, it's never safe to handle. Especially when it's made to fire bolts of magic that can blast a fist sized hole through somebody."
"Damn it, Atreus, not all of us are-"
I tuned her out as we walked into the main room again and I spotted somebody across the room and through the crowd. I recognized her. I knew her.
Tall. Long dark flowing hair, dark tattoos down her temples and cheeks, and wearing a flowing white dress. With pointy ears.
Elf bitch.
I pulled my weapon and started to channel my mana.
AN// Posted early because early morning tomorrow.
"Because you lived," I said and sat down, shifting my wings slightly.
She ran her hand down her face and then gave me a disgusted look, before she sighed and reached to scratch by my nosehorn, "I'm glad to see you too, Gecko. Everything go okay on your side of things?"
I nodded, "All went more or less according to plan," I said, "My part of it was fairly simple. You?"
Alexis shook her head and lowered her hand before brushing some stray hairs away from her face which instantly fell back. She frowned and then started redoing her braid, "Well, Vess is still alive," she started, "I'm not sure what happened, I couldn't see it very well but I think Bolas might have saved her from the attacks. The portal closed, but the Eternals are all streaming into the place from across the District.Beleren called the retreat before we could get surrounded."
"...Good call it sounds like," I admitted and sighed as I settled down fully on the stone of the square, "We're going back in then?"
"Think so," Alexis agreed and tied her braid off with a piece of leather, "I know they are having some sort of meeting about it now."
"We could just leave, you know," I said softly, "I think some already have."
"They have," Alexis agreed and smiled sadly at me, "And both of us know we can't."
I growled at her, "...We don't owe these people anything. We have already helped where we could."
Alexis didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow at me until I sighed and nodded,
"I know, I know," I admitted, "It's not who either of us are."
She nodded and rested her hand on my snout as she sighed, "Yeah," she agreed, "but we'll get this done and then go home."
"Home?"
"...Home," Alexis admitted, "Not sure when that big monstrosity of a structure you lizards call a tower became home, but I guess it has been for a bit at least. At least for now."
"You're planning on staying then?"
Alexis frowned, "I... I don't know," she admitted, "I think I'd prefer a little more civilization if you know what I mean. But until I do, I'll stick around if you guys will have me."
"You are a friend of all the Flights, Lexi," I said and bumped my head against her hand, "Stay as long as you like. At least Wrathion will be happy."
She smiled slightly and shook her head before she tapped her hand on my nose, "Now turn back and we'll head inside. I want to hear what's going on and I'm not going anywhere near That Fucker without you watching my back."
Fair enough. I nodded and got up before turning to mortal form with a cloud of spellsmoke, "Did you spot him during the assault?"
Alexis crossed her arms with a frown, "No. I stayed away from the area he was moving to," she admitted, "Whether it was because I might kill him if, or to keep him from attacking me, I'm not sure."
"How did the blaster work?" I asked as we moved towards the entrance of the building.
"Fairly well," she admitted and pulled it to look at it, "Haven't even run out charges yet. Did you improve the capacitor last time you looked at it?"
"Yep," I agreed, "Should have sixty or so full power blasts without reload and recharge is faster."
She nodded and then looked at me, "So... why do you carry six of them?"
"Because you only carry one," I explained, "I put in more expansive energy storage and turned the power down. Will still hurt most things. But mine are full power, giving me maybe half as many shots on each and at the expense of recharge rate. More power, but it means that just carrying one won't work."
Alexis frowned and holstered her magiblaster again, "...You know, you could just make them reloadable."
"And carry around unprotected and fully charged mana storage crystals?" I asked with a grin, "I can think of less painful ways to die."
"Wait, is this thing explosive!?"
"Eh, kinda? Half of it is to contain the powersource and keep it protected," I said and shrugged, "magic or not, the power has to come from somewhere."
Alexis pinched the bridge of her nose, "You could have told me."
"I thought you would realize that on your own. I mean, power is power, it's never safe to handle. Especially when it's made to fire bolts of magic that can blast a fist sized hole through somebody."
"Damn it, Atreus, not all of us are-"
I tuned her out as we walked into the main room again and I spotted somebody across the room and through the crowd. I recognized her. I knew her.
Tall. Long dark flowing hair, dark tattoos down her temples and cheeks, and wearing a flowing white dress. With pointy ears.
Elf bitch.
I pulled my weapon and started to channel my mana.
AN// Posted early because early morning tomorrow.
Last edited:
