War of the Ancients (Warcraft CYOA pseudo SI)
- Thread starter Crocea_mors
- Start date
-
- Tags
- warcraft cyoa self insert
- Location
- Australia
They don't really care, Odyn is powerful enough by himself that only someone like Kil'jaden or Archimonde can actually rival him, and there are a fair few Val'kyr who are powerful enough to casually fight entire hordes of demons by themselves.
Beyogi
and a fairy
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Worst case they can probably rezz them?
- Location
- Australia
Why would the rez them? they failed the Trials, they are clearly unworthy.
Rakjo
Ork Mek looking for WAAAGH!
- Location
- In the Shadow Realm
Nice to see this story again cant wait for more
Vrykul take their trials very seriously , but yeah its kinda dumb , buut what can you do what Odyn says goes and if he says lets do a trial Vrykul do it
Vrykul take their trials very seriously , but yeah its kinda dumb , buut what can you do what Odyn says goes and if he says lets do a trial Vrykul do it
The Might of Yotnar
- Location
- Australia
The Might of Yotnar
I was painted with blood, and coated in ash, the Vry'kul before me nothing but cadavers and kindling when presented with the overwhelming might of my magic.
The first fight was.. insulting to tell the truth, only the very youngest of the Vry'kul bothering to fight me, the others apparently dismissing me as a threat.
That changed soon enough.
It was child's play to step under the lazy blow of my first challenger, bisecting him with my impossibly sharp blade.
It was even easier to rip his blood out of his lifeless corpse, freezing them into a wall of sharp icicles, and sending an irresistible challenge to all Vry'kul in the vicinity with the sharpened blood of their brother.
I grinned as they abandoned their duels, charging at me recklessly, and consequence charging straight into the wave of fire that burst out of me, all but the hardiest burning to ash.
The fighting after that became blurred and indistinct, all but the oldest and most experienced Vry'kul incapable of offering a true threat, and even they were incapable of actually fighting me properly in the storm of fire and ash that I had surrounded myself in, falling quickly to my icy blade.
Then, as the flow of Vry'kul deciding challenge me slowed to a halt I was punted out of my Ash cloud by a gigantic stone foot, flying several metres through the air, before crashing down into the hard ground painfully.
"Ah a new challenger!" the voice was deep and grating to my ears, more akin to two rocks grinding together than a normal voice. "I'd feared that this late into the Trials that I would be stuck watching weaklings cut down one another in a futile attempt to gain my attention!"
I rolled over onto my front and pushed myself up, clutching at my stomach. it took a moment for my eyes to focus properly, but as I shook my head to clear the blur away, I took in the massive form of what had kicked me.
It was a massive stone creature that rivaled even Helya in height, heavily built, and with a face that was akin to a Vrykul, though slightly less angular than the sharp features of the average Vrykul, and was noticeably male. It carried no weapons but, I reflected as I felt my abdominals throb with pain, that was clearly not an issue for it.
"I AM YOTNAR" Yotnar somehow managed to grow louder "KEEPER OF THE VAULT OF AGGRAMAR, AND THE WATCHER OF THE TRIAL OF MIGHT, DEFEAT ME, AND YOU'll HAVE SUCCEDED IN YOUR FIRST TRIAL". He burst forward in an explosive motion, moving with a speed that should be impossible for anything as huge as him, much less a creature also made of stone.
I blinked backwards, hastily constructing a pattern for an ice shield, barely putting it up in time before he was upon me, smashing through my shield as if it wasn't even there. But the shield slowed him just enough for me to duck under his fist, reforming my shattered shield into several icy spikes, that I stabbed down at Yotnar with, even as I rose up and slashed at his stone chest with my sword and blinked away, barely avoiding getting crushed by his hands as he brought them down in a brutal hammerfist.
"SILIPERY LITTLE ELF AREN'T YOU?". I felt a hand wrap around my head as I rematerialised, and I felt my eyes widen in shock, the time between blinking away, and rematerialsing was almost instant, how could he have possibly moved fast enough to reach me before that happened, much less guessing where I would rematerialise. The thoughts were driven from my mind as he bodily lifted me by my head, casually tossing me into a rock some distance away. "You almost managed to scratch me, with that paltry sword". I coughed into my fist, and my hand came away wet, I couldn't let him keep beating me around like this.
I pushed myself to my feet, taking the opportunity to mark several rocks under my hand with a locator rune, if he was too fast for me to get away with through blinking, then perhaps short ranged teleports would serve me better.
I through myself into a series of blinks, dropping the locator runes with each blink, barely avoiding Yotnar catching me with each blink.
Then when I had run out of Runes, I stopped blinking, instead tossing myself into a teleport reappearing where I had originally begun my blink chain, almost fifty metres away from where Yotnar was looking confused at my previous location.
I condensed the moisture in the air around me, freezing it into eight solid ice spikes almost as large as a small Vrykul, which granted, were tiny compared to Yotnar. I flung the eight spikes at Yotnar, and scowled as they seemingly bounced straight off his stone skin.
I shifted my foot, smashing apart the stone underneath our feet sending massive boulders up into the sky, as he charged at me once more, but the shattered ground was no obstacle to his massive bulk, and he smashed straight through the uneven ground.
I blinked sideways, before teleporting again to another locator rune, and I watched Yotnar pulverize a falling boulder where I had just blinked to.
I caught the still airborne boulders in a telekinetic grip, pulling them towards Yotnar and burying him underneath a mountain of stone and dirt.
My hands shook as I began the second part of my spell, superheating the rocks burying Yotnar until they turned into Molten Lava, keeping the molten rock tightly constrained as I continued to melt the rock closer and closer to where I had buried Yotnar.
Weak Weak Weak, even now you struggle against the simplest of enemies, give up, give in, nothing can stand before you as the herald of my might
I straightened up, brushing the dust off my cloths even as my knees buckled from the mere strain of holding myself up right, the fight was surprisingly short, but it was one of the most intense fights I'd ever been in, certainly the highest speed one.
"WELL DONE!". I desperately tried to fling myself backwards into a blink, but I felt the same power that Helya used when she dragged me here prevent me once more. I looked up at Yotnar's massive form, taking in his slightly melted features. "It's been decades since I've been damaged this badly in the Trial of Might, Well done Elf".
"You are supposed to await the challengers in the Vault, Yotnar". I flinched as I heard Helya's voice from above me, and when I looked up, I saw a blurry vision of her impassive mask staring down at me.
"Bah, the elf would have ruined all my hard work keeping the Vault in good order, much better that I fight him out here". Yotnar waved his hand dismissively, and I think I saw Helya roll her eyes.
"You say that about every challenger Yotnar" I blankly watched Helya descend to the ground. "give the Aspirant his blessing, I'll take him to the Trial of Will in the morning".
"Bah, no appreciation for a good after duel conversation". He waved his hand and I felt a heady feeling of power settle into my body, much akin to the power that had restrained me from blinking away. "There you go, elf, the blessing of the Watchers will be with you now".
I breathed out harshly, and nodded slowly, a thick mystifying cloud settled over my thoughts. "Thank you, I suppose". Was all I could manage before I lost the fight to stay conscious.
A/N: alliance getting free ilvl 400 gear is bullshit, and I demand recompense.
I was painted with blood, and coated in ash, the Vry'kul before me nothing but cadavers and kindling when presented with the overwhelming might of my magic.
The first fight was.. insulting to tell the truth, only the very youngest of the Vry'kul bothering to fight me, the others apparently dismissing me as a threat.
That changed soon enough.
It was child's play to step under the lazy blow of my first challenger, bisecting him with my impossibly sharp blade.
It was even easier to rip his blood out of his lifeless corpse, freezing them into a wall of sharp icicles, and sending an irresistible challenge to all Vry'kul in the vicinity with the sharpened blood of their brother.
I grinned as they abandoned their duels, charging at me recklessly, and consequence charging straight into the wave of fire that burst out of me, all but the hardiest burning to ash.
The fighting after that became blurred and indistinct, all but the oldest and most experienced Vry'kul incapable of offering a true threat, and even they were incapable of actually fighting me properly in the storm of fire and ash that I had surrounded myself in, falling quickly to my icy blade.
Then, as the flow of Vry'kul deciding challenge me slowed to a halt I was punted out of my Ash cloud by a gigantic stone foot, flying several metres through the air, before crashing down into the hard ground painfully.
"Ah a new challenger!" the voice was deep and grating to my ears, more akin to two rocks grinding together than a normal voice. "I'd feared that this late into the Trials that I would be stuck watching weaklings cut down one another in a futile attempt to gain my attention!"
I rolled over onto my front and pushed myself up, clutching at my stomach. it took a moment for my eyes to focus properly, but as I shook my head to clear the blur away, I took in the massive form of what had kicked me.
It was a massive stone creature that rivaled even Helya in height, heavily built, and with a face that was akin to a Vrykul, though slightly less angular than the sharp features of the average Vrykul, and was noticeably male. It carried no weapons but, I reflected as I felt my abdominals throb with pain, that was clearly not an issue for it.
"I AM YOTNAR" Yotnar somehow managed to grow louder "KEEPER OF THE VAULT OF AGGRAMAR, AND THE WATCHER OF THE TRIAL OF MIGHT, DEFEAT ME, AND YOU'll HAVE SUCCEDED IN YOUR FIRST TRIAL". He burst forward in an explosive motion, moving with a speed that should be impossible for anything as huge as him, much less a creature also made of stone.
I blinked backwards, hastily constructing a pattern for an ice shield, barely putting it up in time before he was upon me, smashing through my shield as if it wasn't even there. But the shield slowed him just enough for me to duck under his fist, reforming my shattered shield into several icy spikes, that I stabbed down at Yotnar with, even as I rose up and slashed at his stone chest with my sword and blinked away, barely avoiding getting crushed by his hands as he brought them down in a brutal hammerfist.
"SILIPERY LITTLE ELF AREN'T YOU?". I felt a hand wrap around my head as I rematerialised, and I felt my eyes widen in shock, the time between blinking away, and rematerialsing was almost instant, how could he have possibly moved fast enough to reach me before that happened, much less guessing where I would rematerialise. The thoughts were driven from my mind as he bodily lifted me by my head, casually tossing me into a rock some distance away. "You almost managed to scratch me, with that paltry sword". I coughed into my fist, and my hand came away wet, I couldn't let him keep beating me around like this.
I pushed myself to my feet, taking the opportunity to mark several rocks under my hand with a locator rune, if he was too fast for me to get away with through blinking, then perhaps short ranged teleports would serve me better.
I through myself into a series of blinks, dropping the locator runes with each blink, barely avoiding Yotnar catching me with each blink.
Then when I had run out of Runes, I stopped blinking, instead tossing myself into a teleport reappearing where I had originally begun my blink chain, almost fifty metres away from where Yotnar was looking confused at my previous location.
I condensed the moisture in the air around me, freezing it into eight solid ice spikes almost as large as a small Vrykul, which granted, were tiny compared to Yotnar. I flung the eight spikes at Yotnar, and scowled as they seemingly bounced straight off his stone skin.
I shifted my foot, smashing apart the stone underneath our feet sending massive boulders up into the sky, as he charged at me once more, but the shattered ground was no obstacle to his massive bulk, and he smashed straight through the uneven ground.
I blinked sideways, before teleporting again to another locator rune, and I watched Yotnar pulverize a falling boulder where I had just blinked to.
I caught the still airborne boulders in a telekinetic grip, pulling them towards Yotnar and burying him underneath a mountain of stone and dirt.
My hands shook as I began the second part of my spell, superheating the rocks burying Yotnar until they turned into Molten Lava, keeping the molten rock tightly constrained as I continued to melt the rock closer and closer to where I had buried Yotnar.
Weak Weak Weak, even now you struggle against the simplest of enemies, give up, give in, nothing can stand before you as the herald of my might
I straightened up, brushing the dust off my cloths even as my knees buckled from the mere strain of holding myself up right, the fight was surprisingly short, but it was one of the most intense fights I'd ever been in, certainly the highest speed one.
"WELL DONE!". I desperately tried to fling myself backwards into a blink, but I felt the same power that Helya used when she dragged me here prevent me once more. I looked up at Yotnar's massive form, taking in his slightly melted features. "It's been decades since I've been damaged this badly in the Trial of Might, Well done Elf".
"You are supposed to await the challengers in the Vault, Yotnar". I flinched as I heard Helya's voice from above me, and when I looked up, I saw a blurry vision of her impassive mask staring down at me.
"Bah, the elf would have ruined all my hard work keeping the Vault in good order, much better that I fight him out here". Yotnar waved his hand dismissively, and I think I saw Helya roll her eyes.
"You say that about every challenger Yotnar" I blankly watched Helya descend to the ground. "give the Aspirant his blessing, I'll take him to the Trial of Will in the morning".
"Bah, no appreciation for a good after duel conversation". He waved his hand and I felt a heady feeling of power settle into my body, much akin to the power that had restrained me from blinking away. "There you go, elf, the blessing of the Watchers will be with you now".
I breathed out harshly, and nodded slowly, a thick mystifying cloud settled over my thoughts. "Thank you, I suppose". Was all I could manage before I lost the fight to stay conscious.
A/N: alliance getting free ilvl 400 gear is bullshit, and I demand recompense.
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AzraelvonGruber
probably should put something here...
- Location
- somewhere in France
Now i need to ask... how many Vry'kul died because of those Trial ?
- Location
- Australia
Like, that day? Or in total.
Because for both answers it's a lot.
- Location
- Versailles
Too bad Ymiron is already born, kicking him out of the gene pool would have been a great victory for all, especially for the Vrykuls.
Also, this was a lvl 120 player vs late WoD mobs and WoD Worldboss
Finally, deal with it Horde Scum, the Alliance always prevail.
Also, this was a lvl 120 player vs late WoD mobs and WoD Worldboss
Finally, deal with it Horde Scum, the Alliance always prevail.
- Location
- Australia
Prevail in raid tagging lone hordies trying to do WQs so you get your ridiculous 400 Ilvl heroic raid tier
- Location
- Oslo
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Lol. According to wikipedia, "jötnar" is plural to "jötunn", you know, old norse mythology giants everybody know and love. It's as if somebody named an individual character "Gobluns". You had one job, Blizzard! One job!!
icy spikes
Seems, like an editing artifact.
Vrykul
I'm unsure here, but it may be worth checking, what would be correct here "was tiny" - a 'small Vrykul' or "were tiny" - 'eight solid ice spikes'.
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- Location
- Australia
Thanks! I was in a bit of a rush to finish it last night.
- Location
- Los Angeles County
People still play WoW?! I'll admit, I only seriously played from Vanilla till Frozen Throne, but when I tried Cataclysm, and Pandora with my friends, the game felt soulless.
- Location
- Australia
Legion breathed some life back into it, But BFA is a fucking Gacha game with how bad the RNG is.
Like, they added Titan residuum recently but to buy an actual good piece of gear (not even mythic tier, its heroic tier) took something like 5-6 scrapped azerite gear of a roughly equivalent Ilvl, and you couldn't even choose the one you wanted, no if you wanted to do that you're looking at closer to thirty pieces of gear scrapped, and considering most 8+ mythics take around thirty minutes, its about 15 hours to grind for your specific gear (because Blizzards RNG is utter fucking ass cancer, and seems to take great delight in never handing over your BiS, so buying a random one is pissing away your residuum) and all this is for Heroic tier gear, the kind of gear that most guilds had on farm for months at that point, and the worst kick in the teeth, is pre-patch azerite gear didnt drop residuum when it's scrapped, because blizzard hates forward thinking, as clearly demonstrated by the fact that their two most senior financial officers resigned within months of each other, and were immediately offered other jobs!
Sorry, I'm a bit annoyed about Blizzard atm
- Location
- My bedroom
I wonder if those refugee elf will turn into completely different type of elf than the canon one later. If they continue stay around here, which is likely since going out is dead sentence, they gonna get stranded on the eastern continent when the well go boom. High elves seems to be highborne that got changed by sunwell, but these night elves seems quite racist against highborne and might not join the high elves while being on the other side of the world from the world tree probably won't give them the blessing from it. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what would count in the drawback for MC race hating him. He's a highborne but does that include the night elves and what about the offshoot that gonna crop out later?
- Location
- Versailles
2 options:
One is a night elf society who do not shun arcane but are without a source of arcane. Without immortality or almost immortality, they might become more like the humans (constantly fighting off neighbouring threats, and fucking expanding).
The other is a Titan worshipping night elf society, smaller and pinker Vrykuls.
One is a night elf society who do not shun arcane but are without a source of arcane. Without immortality or almost immortality, they might become more like the humans (constantly fighting off neighbouring threats, and fucking expanding).
The other is a Titan worshipping night elf society, smaller and pinker Vrykuls.
Finagle007
[Verified Great Old One]
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
The calm before the Storm (dragon)
- Location
- Australia
The Calm Before the Storm (Dragon)
Once upon a time, almost two centuries ago I had a cousin who had been cursed by his mentor to fall asleep randomly, as part of a several year long lesson in the necessity in always keeping your protections active, as you can never truly know when you might be put in a dangerous position. I like any immature child barely into his forties considered this the height of humour, and his clear annoyance at waking up to me laughing at him as he came too after collapsing face first into what ever object was in front of me only heightened my amusement. However over the course of my short journey away from Zin-Ashari I had come to sympathise with my cousins troubles, after all, I had collapsed many times since leaving Zin-Ashari, some due to mighty battles leaving me exhausted, and some being because Cyanigosa was incapable of acting like a civilized creature and often randomly blasted me with magic with effects ranging from sending me unconscious to forcing me to stay awake for days at a time, and each of those times were disconcerting in their own ways forcing me to take new measures each time to mitigate such thing happening in the future.
However, none of those times were as disconcerting as waking up with Helya staring down at me, her impassive gold face mask glinting in the fire light, and the small part of her marble like skin visible being just as inscrutable.
"Few people manage to entice Yotnar into leaving his vault, fewer still manage to actually hurt the fool". Her hereto placid face twitched sharply into an amused smirk "much less a Spellcaster, he must be losing his touch if he can't even manage to fulfil his basic role anymore" The smirk disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, her face once more two masks.
I pushed myself to my feet, and back away from her, treading carefully around the fire I had been placed next to, before coming to a stop at a distance at which I didn't have to break my neck craning it upwards to look into Helya's Facemask, which come to think of it, I didn't even know if there was eyes behind them perhaps my attempts at politeness were entirely wasted?
"Considering much of the fight was me being punted across the valley, and most of my attempts at fighting back being brushed aside with casual a startlingly casual contempt, I'd say he's fulfilling what ever role he has far too well". My throat felt dry, and I conjured a flask of water with a flick of my hand, drinking deeply as I carefully watched Helya.
]I said you were weak didn't I? without my gift that's all you'll ever be, a weak child flailing at the true masters of this world
"Yes, but you were not the caliber of Spellcasters he was designed to fight against, and if you can put a scratch on him" Helya let the words hang in the air, and I felt my jaw clenched as I realized how backhanded the compliment was, less a commendation of me and more a condemnation of Yotnar.
She's right, you couldn't save them could you? You couldn't stop any of it, you're weak, weak without me
"I'll keep that in mind" my eye's flicked up to the sky behind Helya, trying to gauge the time by the position of the moon, before flicking down to a nearby tree to the left of us, taking note of the side that the moss was on.
"The next Trial is the Trial of Wills, presided over by the Thorignir, judging by the scent that still lingers on you, this will either be interesting, or very amusing". She tilted her head right, the flickering fire and the moonlight contributing to an ominous shadow being cast across her face. "I'm not certain which one I'd prefer". I swallowed as my legs tensed up, and I was suddenly forced to confront once more that Helya was far more dangerous than me. "Thorim's peak is south of us" I glanced left, and sure enough now that I was made aware of it I could make out a massive misty mountain in the distance between the mossy trees, but before I could glance back there was a flash of light that blinded my sensitive eyes physically hurting me for several moments. When I had finally blinked the black spots out of my eyes, Helya was no where to be seen.
I looked back at Thorim's peak, and began walking, if the last trial was anything to judge by, I needed to conserve my energy.
I was born and raised in Zin-Ashari, and though my family presided over fiefdoms further out in the Kal'dorei empire we generally left them to be locally administrated while my family played the Game for the Queen's favour. But I digress, the important part of the story wasn't my families dereliction of its governing duty, and more about the fact that it was rare that I left the comfort of cities, and the few times I had was generally with a convoy, or more recently, while running as fast as I could while being attacked every other hour by Fel-constructs with nothing but desecration and ruin on their minds. The opportunity to actually walk through a forest was therefore a fairly novel one, and I found that it was one that was enjoyable, the calm faux-stillness of the forest would perhaps unnerve someone less observant but with a keen eye I could see small animals darting about the underbrush, and through the trees even in the dim-light of early morning. Perhaps the best part of walking through the forest was that it provided me with time that was unequivocal mine, no Dragonwhelp's showing up randomly with twisted spells, no Dragon Wyrm's to train me in equally twisted ways, No demigod's setting a demanding pace, or demons to fight, just myself and my thoughts, and granted the odd dozen critters darting about, but counting them as serious interruptions to my thoughts would be almost as embarrassing as being as bad as Illidan is at magic. I felt my lips curl into a small smile, I would need to go for more relaxing forest walks more often.
But unfortunately as much as I wished to continue observing small animals in their natural habitats until I inevitably grew bored, two things prevented that, one being there was a massive Azeroth spanning war going on, which having an army of Vry'kul would greatly benefit my side in. Speaking of large groups of freakishly large people, the second reason was the bakers dozen heavily armoured Vry'kul stomping towards me ruining the forests ambience.
"You have a lot of nerve, tiny one" the largest and most heavily armoured one said, coming to a halt a few steps away from me "to think Lady Helya would let a creature like you participate in the Sacred Trials". He pulled a sword almost twice my size off his back, and held it ready in front of him "turn around now, and I won't fix that mistake for her".
"Do you think you could stop me?" I waved my hand, and smirked as some of them flinched, evidently they had heard of what I could do "any o-" the leader burst forward unexpectedly, slower than Yotnar, but still far faster than what I expected any creature that size could possibly move. But at this point what my expectations were and what my ability to deal with were far different, and I slipped underneath his swing easily, imposing my will on reality through patterns once more, blasting the Vry'kul with a firebolt that was more force than heat that ble-… my jaw clenched and I felt a jolt of rage flash through me as the firebolt dispersed harmlessly across the full-plate of his Chest.
You see it too don't you? They mock your might at every turn
The Vry'kul grinned "You'll never get through th-" I crushed his skull from the inside, reaching past the primitive protections inlaid on the Armour, layering enchantments only on the Armour instead of having the Armour act as an anchor point for the enchantment was the sign of either an idiot, or a novice, and anyone with half a brain could exploit that weakness.
They taunt you, with how little they think of you and how little you can change it
I turn towards the other twelve Vry'kul, eye's flashing with arcane power, and felt a flash of gratification as they all flinched underneath my gaze. "Look, I was having a rather nice stroll before you came along, and none of you have actually attacked me yet, or even talked to me, so lets keep it like that". I walked forward, past the lifeless corpse of my attacker, and felt another flush of gratification shoot through me as the parted around me stiffly, glaring at me impotently.
Unfortunately, my walk had been irreversible spoiled after that, the placid sounds of the forest that had calmed me merely minutes ago now irritating me, and I picked up my pace towards Thorim's peak, quickly eating ground until I arrived at the base of the misty mountain, staring incredulously at the thick fog obscured the entire mountain, I could barely see a metre in front of me, much less make out any significant features of the mountain
Oh? Whats this? Someone else wants to muscle into MY territory? Haha, come, come, make yourself welcome
I sighed deeply, and stepped forward, my limbs already feeling heavy, stumbling up a steep mountain mostly blind was going to exhausting, and that wasn't even considering what challenges awaited me on the way up the mountain.
"I really do hope that after all this is said and done I'll get a parade or something, maybe a nice statue or two". My words echo back at me as I picked up my pace, the Fog obscured the Sun, so the sooner I exhausted myself, the sooner I could go to sleep.
The sound, I decided was the most eerie thing about this place, the greatly reduced sight was rather disconcerting, large boulders suddenly appearing right in front of me was somewhat funny the first few times, but as it happened over and over, and in the one case wasn't actually a rock but instead a terrifying creature that seemed to a cross between a cat, a bear, and stone for some well-forsaken reason, it started to become a frustrating reminder of my blindness, and especially after the Stone Catbear, a frightening demonstration of just how helpless I was.
But the sound was a awful feedback loop of being utterly incapable of hearing anything but myself, the blood rushing through my veins, the air filling up my lungs, my tendons and muscles flexing and contracting as I walked ever forward, even the sound of my eyelids was tortuous the wet sound of them sliding over my eyelids to meet each other in a fleshy clap almost shiver inducing.
But the worst was my heart, because it kept beating faster and faster, until it was almost one continuous metronome drilling deeper into me, forcing all my other thoughts away until I could do nothing but focus on it, until everything happened in rhythm with my heart, my feet landed when my heart expanded, and they pushed off the ground as it contracted, even when it forced me into a run, and my breath followed suit, short sharp breaths left me dizzy and, ironically, breathless forcing my heart to beat ever fast exacerbating the issue to even worse heights.
This torturous sensory feedback loop continued in an ever degenerating cycle clawing at my mind more and more and more and more and more and more. Then at the point where I was sure I couldn't go on, I trip and fall, a sudden cacophony of noise that was -other- that wasn't me that wasn't my tyrant heart. The crunch of soil underneath my feet, the sharp sound of a harsh wind, and the crunching of a large Vry'kul skeleton as I fell bodily on top of it.
The mist wasn't as thick here, in fact, there was no mist at all in a ten metre radius, centred around a merrily crackling fireplace surrounded by thin Vry'kul bodies, both recently dead and long dead. I stumbled over to the fire, only now feeling a bone-deep chill.
Haha, oh how the mightiest of creations fall, something as simple as this breaks them?
I sat down, carefully observing the Vry'kul corpse across from me. Taking in his mostly rotten body, the tightly stretched patches of skin that clung close to the bone, and dropped haphazardly next to him was a massive rune-etched sword on a bed of discarded rotting scraps.
I felt myself shiver as the heat of the fire chased away the bone-deep chill, and conjuring a nice pie to eat. But as I crunched down on the meal I felt my body lock up in revulsion, gagging and forcing the incomprehensibly disgusting food out of my mouth. I spat out on the ground several times, burning away the food with a irritated huff.
I sighed, leaning back and taking in the nearly second floor of half chewed rotting scraps. "So that's how it is then? I suppose this is one way to test someones will". with a flick of my wrist I cleared out part of the floor in front of me, softening it and warming it, before laying down, continuing to scale the mountain on both an empty stomach and a tired mind would be foolish, especially since I didn't know when the next fire would be, and even if there would be another fire.
I let my eyes slip close, and quickly drifted away under the fires warm touch.
A/N so between work, and the fact that every time I try and write this I somehow end up putting the character in a situation where he dies, this has taken a while, sorry about that.
Once upon a time, almost two centuries ago I had a cousin who had been cursed by his mentor to fall asleep randomly, as part of a several year long lesson in the necessity in always keeping your protections active, as you can never truly know when you might be put in a dangerous position. I like any immature child barely into his forties considered this the height of humour, and his clear annoyance at waking up to me laughing at him as he came too after collapsing face first into what ever object was in front of me only heightened my amusement. However over the course of my short journey away from Zin-Ashari I had come to sympathise with my cousins troubles, after all, I had collapsed many times since leaving Zin-Ashari, some due to mighty battles leaving me exhausted, and some being because Cyanigosa was incapable of acting like a civilized creature and often randomly blasted me with magic with effects ranging from sending me unconscious to forcing me to stay awake for days at a time, and each of those times were disconcerting in their own ways forcing me to take new measures each time to mitigate such thing happening in the future.
However, none of those times were as disconcerting as waking up with Helya staring down at me, her impassive gold face mask glinting in the fire light, and the small part of her marble like skin visible being just as inscrutable.
"Few people manage to entice Yotnar into leaving his vault, fewer still manage to actually hurt the fool". Her hereto placid face twitched sharply into an amused smirk "much less a Spellcaster, he must be losing his touch if he can't even manage to fulfil his basic role anymore" The smirk disappeared just as quickly as it appeared, her face once more two masks.
I pushed myself to my feet, and back away from her, treading carefully around the fire I had been placed next to, before coming to a stop at a distance at which I didn't have to break my neck craning it upwards to look into Helya's Facemask, which come to think of it, I didn't even know if there was eyes behind them perhaps my attempts at politeness were entirely wasted?
"Considering much of the fight was me being punted across the valley, and most of my attempts at fighting back being brushed aside with casual a startlingly casual contempt, I'd say he's fulfilling what ever role he has far too well". My throat felt dry, and I conjured a flask of water with a flick of my hand, drinking deeply as I carefully watched Helya.
]I said you were weak didn't I? without my gift that's all you'll ever be, a weak child flailing at the true masters of this world
"Yes, but you were not the caliber of Spellcasters he was designed to fight against, and if you can put a scratch on him" Helya let the words hang in the air, and I felt my jaw clenched as I realized how backhanded the compliment was, less a commendation of me and more a condemnation of Yotnar.
She's right, you couldn't save them could you? You couldn't stop any of it, you're weak, weak without me
"I'll keep that in mind" my eye's flicked up to the sky behind Helya, trying to gauge the time by the position of the moon, before flicking down to a nearby tree to the left of us, taking note of the side that the moss was on.
"The next Trial is the Trial of Wills, presided over by the Thorignir, judging by the scent that still lingers on you, this will either be interesting, or very amusing". She tilted her head right, the flickering fire and the moonlight contributing to an ominous shadow being cast across her face. "I'm not certain which one I'd prefer". I swallowed as my legs tensed up, and I was suddenly forced to confront once more that Helya was far more dangerous than me. "Thorim's peak is south of us" I glanced left, and sure enough now that I was made aware of it I could make out a massive misty mountain in the distance between the mossy trees, but before I could glance back there was a flash of light that blinded my sensitive eyes physically hurting me for several moments. When I had finally blinked the black spots out of my eyes, Helya was no where to be seen.
I looked back at Thorim's peak, and began walking, if the last trial was anything to judge by, I needed to conserve my energy.
I was born and raised in Zin-Ashari, and though my family presided over fiefdoms further out in the Kal'dorei empire we generally left them to be locally administrated while my family played the Game for the Queen's favour. But I digress, the important part of the story wasn't my families dereliction of its governing duty, and more about the fact that it was rare that I left the comfort of cities, and the few times I had was generally with a convoy, or more recently, while running as fast as I could while being attacked every other hour by Fel-constructs with nothing but desecration and ruin on their minds. The opportunity to actually walk through a forest was therefore a fairly novel one, and I found that it was one that was enjoyable, the calm faux-stillness of the forest would perhaps unnerve someone less observant but with a keen eye I could see small animals darting about the underbrush, and through the trees even in the dim-light of early morning. Perhaps the best part of walking through the forest was that it provided me with time that was unequivocal mine, no Dragonwhelp's showing up randomly with twisted spells, no Dragon Wyrm's to train me in equally twisted ways, No demigod's setting a demanding pace, or demons to fight, just myself and my thoughts, and granted the odd dozen critters darting about, but counting them as serious interruptions to my thoughts would be almost as embarrassing as being as bad as Illidan is at magic. I felt my lips curl into a small smile, I would need to go for more relaxing forest walks more often.
But unfortunately as much as I wished to continue observing small animals in their natural habitats until I inevitably grew bored, two things prevented that, one being there was a massive Azeroth spanning war going on, which having an army of Vry'kul would greatly benefit my side in. Speaking of large groups of freakishly large people, the second reason was the bakers dozen heavily armoured Vry'kul stomping towards me ruining the forests ambience.
"You have a lot of nerve, tiny one" the largest and most heavily armoured one said, coming to a halt a few steps away from me "to think Lady Helya would let a creature like you participate in the Sacred Trials". He pulled a sword almost twice my size off his back, and held it ready in front of him "turn around now, and I won't fix that mistake for her".
"Do you think you could stop me?" I waved my hand, and smirked as some of them flinched, evidently they had heard of what I could do "any o-" the leader burst forward unexpectedly, slower than Yotnar, but still far faster than what I expected any creature that size could possibly move. But at this point what my expectations were and what my ability to deal with were far different, and I slipped underneath his swing easily, imposing my will on reality through patterns once more, blasting the Vry'kul with a firebolt that was more force than heat that ble-… my jaw clenched and I felt a jolt of rage flash through me as the firebolt dispersed harmlessly across the full-plate of his Chest.
You see it too don't you? They mock your might at every turn
The Vry'kul grinned "You'll never get through th-" I crushed his skull from the inside, reaching past the primitive protections inlaid on the Armour, layering enchantments only on the Armour instead of having the Armour act as an anchor point for the enchantment was the sign of either an idiot, or a novice, and anyone with half a brain could exploit that weakness.
They taunt you, with how little they think of you and how little you can change it
I turn towards the other twelve Vry'kul, eye's flashing with arcane power, and felt a flash of gratification as they all flinched underneath my gaze. "Look, I was having a rather nice stroll before you came along, and none of you have actually attacked me yet, or even talked to me, so lets keep it like that". I walked forward, past the lifeless corpse of my attacker, and felt another flush of gratification shoot through me as the parted around me stiffly, glaring at me impotently.
Unfortunately, my walk had been irreversible spoiled after that, the placid sounds of the forest that had calmed me merely minutes ago now irritating me, and I picked up my pace towards Thorim's peak, quickly eating ground until I arrived at the base of the misty mountain, staring incredulously at the thick fog obscured the entire mountain, I could barely see a metre in front of me, much less make out any significant features of the mountain
Oh? Whats this? Someone else wants to muscle into MY territory? Haha, come, come, make yourself welcome
I sighed deeply, and stepped forward, my limbs already feeling heavy, stumbling up a steep mountain mostly blind was going to exhausting, and that wasn't even considering what challenges awaited me on the way up the mountain.
"I really do hope that after all this is said and done I'll get a parade or something, maybe a nice statue or two". My words echo back at me as I picked up my pace, the Fog obscured the Sun, so the sooner I exhausted myself, the sooner I could go to sleep.
The sound, I decided was the most eerie thing about this place, the greatly reduced sight was rather disconcerting, large boulders suddenly appearing right in front of me was somewhat funny the first few times, but as it happened over and over, and in the one case wasn't actually a rock but instead a terrifying creature that seemed to a cross between a cat, a bear, and stone for some well-forsaken reason, it started to become a frustrating reminder of my blindness, and especially after the Stone Catbear, a frightening demonstration of just how helpless I was.
But the sound was a awful feedback loop of being utterly incapable of hearing anything but myself, the blood rushing through my veins, the air filling up my lungs, my tendons and muscles flexing and contracting as I walked ever forward, even the sound of my eyelids was tortuous the wet sound of them sliding over my eyelids to meet each other in a fleshy clap almost shiver inducing.
But the worst was my heart, because it kept beating faster and faster, until it was almost one continuous metronome drilling deeper into me, forcing all my other thoughts away until I could do nothing but focus on it, until everything happened in rhythm with my heart, my feet landed when my heart expanded, and they pushed off the ground as it contracted, even when it forced me into a run, and my breath followed suit, short sharp breaths left me dizzy and, ironically, breathless forcing my heart to beat ever fast exacerbating the issue to even worse heights.
This torturous sensory feedback loop continued in an ever degenerating cycle clawing at my mind more and more and more and more and more and more. Then at the point where I was sure I couldn't go on, I trip and fall, a sudden cacophony of noise that was -other- that wasn't me that wasn't my tyrant heart. The crunch of soil underneath my feet, the sharp sound of a harsh wind, and the crunching of a large Vry'kul skeleton as I fell bodily on top of it.
The mist wasn't as thick here, in fact, there was no mist at all in a ten metre radius, centred around a merrily crackling fireplace surrounded by thin Vry'kul bodies, both recently dead and long dead. I stumbled over to the fire, only now feeling a bone-deep chill.
Haha, oh how the mightiest of creations fall, something as simple as this breaks them?
I sat down, carefully observing the Vry'kul corpse across from me. Taking in his mostly rotten body, the tightly stretched patches of skin that clung close to the bone, and dropped haphazardly next to him was a massive rune-etched sword on a bed of discarded rotting scraps.
I felt myself shiver as the heat of the fire chased away the bone-deep chill, and conjuring a nice pie to eat. But as I crunched down on the meal I felt my body lock up in revulsion, gagging and forcing the incomprehensibly disgusting food out of my mouth. I spat out on the ground several times, burning away the food with a irritated huff.
I sighed, leaning back and taking in the nearly second floor of half chewed rotting scraps. "So that's how it is then? I suppose this is one way to test someones will". with a flick of my wrist I cleared out part of the floor in front of me, softening it and warming it, before laying down, continuing to scale the mountain on both an empty stomach and a tired mind would be foolish, especially since I didn't know when the next fire would be, and even if there would be another fire.
I let my eyes slip close, and quickly drifted away under the fires warm touch.
A/N so between work, and the fact that every time I try and write this I somehow end up putting the character in a situation where he dies, this has taken a while, sorry about that.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
Glad to see that this updated. Shame that it took me some time to read this again. Thanks for the chapter, and keep up the good work!