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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 11, 2019 15:16:46 GMT -8
Mania darted around the desert, wind sweeping her footsteps away as if she was never there. The sand flying with it was a nuisance as well, as it made things harder to see where she was going. At least, on the bright side, she would be able to to hide a bit unless there were mages that could feel earth or sense life. Hopefully that wasn't the case. When she was close enough to what she guessed was the place the bounty said, Mania would settle down and take a moment to concentrate, closing her eyes to focus on any souls nearby. She had to play her cards right, otherwise it would spell disaster. Spell name: Detect Life
Spell Main Element: Life
-Spell Sub Elements: Death
Affinity Strength: 1
Function: The user casts a spell that sends a soft energy around them, marking all sources of life around them.
Availability: Open
Bounty Details |
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Post by Sparky on Feb 11, 2019 15:30:06 GMT -8
The outpost loomed in the midst of the rolling sandstorm, the shape and form of the Goliath stone walls masked by the sand. From the outside, the structure would appear abandoned. An ancient remnant from long ago. Surely, no life would remain? And yet, as Mania cast her spell, one after another, sources of life would mark themselves for Mania. One... three... seven.. more and more continued to gather, stopping at a whopping eighteen.
Many patrolled the halls within, while some idled. However, deeper into the structure, one life source stood out. There was little doubt that its owner was the leader of the ragtag group. Unfortunately, if Mania expected an easy fight, she was going to find herself sorely mistaken.
Bounty Key
Weather Conditions: Sandstorm
De/Buffs Present: +50% wind damage, +50% earth (sand) damage, -15% visibility, -3 stamina if not immune to flying sand
Enemy count: 18
Breakdown: 14 grunts, 3 intermediate, 1 boss
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 11, 2019 15:38:56 GMT -8
Mania kept settled, eyes watching the souls moving to get their general movement and then deciding to strike one at a time from the outermost and working her way in. Mania snuck around, careful to make sure that any looking out didn't see her form moving. Even going as far as to tumble around to look like a plant fumbling from the wind in case she was seen, at least her hair was bushy and long enough for that. She checked again, this time much closer to the hold and settled to look like a random bush. Surely no one paid attention to a desert's surroundings enough to find anything unusual about its landscape. The mage's eyes scanned around to see which soul was closest to her, which was closest to a ledge or door that led outside, and if there was any way for her to sneak in outside of bursting in through the front door. With whatever soul she could find that was the easiest to get outside, Mania would bring a hand out underneath her crouched body and attach strings to them, curling her fingers to tug that would force the person to come outside. How they took it didn't matter, as long as she could slay them before they called for help. For all they knew, it would be that feeling of 'literally my soul is telling me I must go this way' and think it was a moment of fate or something happening to them be it good or bad. Spell name: Soul Tug
Spell Main Element: Death
-Spell Sub Elements: Life
Affinity Strength: 1 at base
Function: The caster reaches out and grasps onto another's soul, tugging on it. Mages with a higher affinity can actually pull the souls, forcing the bodies to fly towards the caster. In special cases, high affinity death mages can pull the soul out of the body, making the body fly past with the soul in the caster's hand.
Affinity - Tug feel
1 - Light tugging
4 - Pull forcing walk
7 - Flying towards caster
10 - Soul partially out of body
Availability: Open |
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Post by Sparky on Feb 11, 2019 15:48:06 GMT -8
All of the bandits were inside the outpost, taking cover from the storm. No one expected an attack to come in such fierce weather. However, one of them would find themselves strangely drawn outside. The man couldn't explain it. Perhaps it was a curiosity, perhaps it was a need to wander? Whatever the case, the lone bandit would force the door open and peer out into the storm. He didn't know what he expected to find. Nor did he know why he so desperately wished to come out.
The wind berated him, and the sand almost immediately tried to force its way into his eyes. To try and prevent himself from inhaling sand, he would let his hand leave his weapon's sheath, tugging the cloth of his scarf over his mouth and nostrils. Desperately the man tried to see through the cloud of dust, though he would only find failure. Why had he come here? It felt as though as something had drawn him to look... but what?
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 11, 2019 16:43:23 GMT -8
Mania watched quietly, tumbling closer to the corner end of the fort, still tugging his soul closer and closer. The more out of sight he was, the better. She tugged down her skull mask, hiding her face and then moved so her free hand was on one of her two swords, ready to strike the target in the neck so there was no sound. As the soul was drawn closer to the corner, Mania took a few more steps back so anyone else peeking out wouldn't notice a body dropped and dragged away. The mage flattened herself against the wall, still pulling onto the soul, sword now ready for a simple strike into them.
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Post by Sparky on Feb 11, 2019 17:07:42 GMT -8
Closer, and closer the man crept, fighting against the wind of the sandstorm as he turned the corner. What was it that was calling to him? What did he sense? Unfortunately for the bandit, he would find out all too soon. What had drawn him, what he had been following, it all ended with a blade buried into his throat. There would be a moment of understanding flickering in his eyes as his mind finally caught up with the situation far too late. The light would fade before he could even find the strength to call out, his body growing limp and collapsing towards the ground from its own weight.
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 12, 2019 0:21:25 GMT -8
Mania kept her blade in place for a couple moments before flicking it out the the side and sending blood spraying and mixing into the sand. She dragged the body further, so the blood that flooded out would not give her position away. Once again, she started to tug at another soul close to the door. Mania knew that she could only do this a few times before the stench of blood would be carried in the winds. Beasts attracted to carrion would have a delicious meal, so she'd leave these bodies out for them to feast on compared to what she would normally do and bury them. As she waited for the next soul to creep closer, she wiped her wet blade on the sand, picking up granules and smearing crimson ichor on the ground. It wasn't too many swipes though, and she dared not let her attention stray. The moment the next soul was out, she was ready to strike them like she did the last.
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Post by Sparky on Feb 12, 2019 0:35:27 GMT -8
Once the body settled, the storm didn't hesitate to begin to claim the corpse, sand slowly beginning to collect more and more upon it. If given enough time, Mania's job of having to hide the body would be taken care of for her. Of course, there really was only so much the sandstorm could do, but with the benefit of obscured vision, the bounty hunter's advantage was apparent.
Soon enough, her tug would pull yet another wandering warrior toward the door, only this one had no confusion as to why he was coming towards the location. In his mind, it was clear. The man wanted to know why the door was open, and where his friend was. Had he gone out to look for something? The man hadn't called out for help, so there couldn't possible be a threat? Maybe the idiot was just trying to grab an animal to roast or something similarly stupid. Didn't he know to keep the door shut during a sandstorm?
Regardless of the logic that was going through the bandit's mind, he would fall into Mania's trap all the same, wandering right outside completely unaware of the lurking danger. The man would instantly be berated by the wind, sand striking against his form as he struggled to try and see where his friend had gone. As the bandit attempted to see through the obscuring storm, he left his back completely exposed.
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 12, 2019 0:45:48 GMT -8
Mania peeked around the corner, seeing a soul outside. It was now or never, and this one seemed alert. She darted around, immediately bringing out both blades and striking once upwards from the kidney and the next against his neck and sliding out to silence any scream that would have happened. Mania figured she wouldn't have much time to pluck them off, so she quickly scanned the souls in the area, searching out a route with what limited information she had that would be the slowest method of alerting them. Once the body slumped, she pulled her swords out and let it drop, stepping around and crouching low up next to the door.
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Post by Sparky on Feb 12, 2019 0:54:55 GMT -8
The man didn't even have a chance to register what had happened, the life extinguishing in an instant. As the body collapsed into the sand without so much as a peep, the desert would once again begin to claim it. However, it wouldn't claim it fast enough. Another bandit would round the corner, pausing as they took notice of the open door. As they came closer, through the wall of blowing sand they would start to notice the shape and form of a person laying on the ground.
"Hey man, you ok?" The bandit would call out, starting the rush towards it. As the realization slowly began to process in their mind, they would come to a stop, crouching towards the corpse, searching for signs of life. "Hey! Someone help! He-"
It was only when they pulled their hands back to see the palms covered in blood that the full realization hit and they started becoming more aware. In an attempt to find the perpetrator, they would turn and come face to face with Mania hiding beside the door, reaching for their weapon in a panic.
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 12, 2019 1:08:47 GMT -8
A black body hidden in coarse looking fur with a skull for a face seemed to be staring straight at him, gold eyes blazing through the eye sockets and blades pointed down at both sides. In almost an instant, they flicked up and the girl darted straight to the blandit, bringing one sword to match the side of its mate and bringing them both around in a wide slash propelled with a sudden jump up in the bandit's face. She wanted to rely on the wind drowning out the man's call, but after this kill, she would need to infiltrate and murder as fast as possible until she got to the heart of this hive.
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Post by Sparky on Feb 12, 2019 1:17:34 GMT -8
The man would fall backwards just as the blades whipped overhead, barely keeping his life. Had he not seen Mania, or had seen her one second later, she may have had his head. The bandit unsheathed his blade and scampered towards the door, trying to push himself up off his hands and knees while still fleeing.
"Intruder! Intruder!" His voice would cry. Many of the souls that were moving would stop or slow as the bandit's voice echoed through the halls. No matter how loud the wind may be, a man screaming at the top of his lungs was a distinct sound. Mania's careful infiltration had just been undone by a simple mistake.
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 13, 2019 9:50:19 GMT -8
Mania cursed under her breath, latching her attention onto this man's soul. She drew her arm back and thrust it fowards, punching into his soul. She didn't have any time to waste, news carried fast in groups like this. She followed up to attack the man again, bringing blades around in swinging arcs, one after another. She attempted to knock him over while he was hurting from his bones breaking, making striking him in the neck hopefully easier. After this man was dealt with, she'd pick up his body and rush forward, using him as a meat shield should another have a projectile attack at her. Mania wasn't well dressed to eat damage after all, meat shields would need to suffice for now. Punch at 5 - tickling organs and breaking bones
Spell name: Soul Punch
Spell Main Element: Death
-Spell Sub Elements: Life
Affinity Strength: 3
Function: A mage within the domains of life or death is able to tamper with souls within reason. The caster throws a punch towards the target. Although the punch itself may not seem like it does anything at first, but the effects show up afterwards, scaling up with the affinity of the mage.
Affinity - Punch Effect
3 - Internal damage fracturing ribs
6 - Organs disrupted
9 - Torso destroyed
10 - Soul almost out of body
Availability: Open |
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Post by Sparky on Feb 13, 2019 13:47:20 GMT -8
The man's breath went out as pain surged through his body. Bones shattered. The world spun. His feet could no longer support his body's weight, the pain too much for anyone to stand. He couldn't even scream. There was a moment when the world went upside down, then right side up, then sideways, and the bandit's eyes registered that the headless body it now was staring up at looked oddly familiar, before darkness erased all final thoughts.
Two of the bandit's compatriots rounded the corner as Mania hefted the body. Thankfully for her, they didn't have any ranged weaponry. Unfortunately, that didn't stop one of the infuriated warriors from charging headfirst towards her, shield raised and sword drawn. His behemoth of a friend followed, lugging a giant battle axe, far slower than his more nimble friend as the first warrior attempted to stab through the corpse and into Mania.
Enemy count: 2
Striker 3
Tank 5
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Post by Mania De Witt on Feb 16, 2019 12:33:15 GMT -8
Mania ducked to the side, the body dropping and getting skewered just underneath the sternum. She pushed out from under the body, using its weight on the sword to throw their balance. Almost immediately from breaking with the corpse, Mania would strike into their side, spinning around in attempts to make a heavy gash. She darted towards the tank, keeping her movement up would be necessary to avoid and hit these guys. Admittedly, it wasn't a bad combination, but she was in a hurry now. She would leap up and bounce off a wall, spinning on her heel and trying to hit into the tank's back. Big guy needed a nap.
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