Purging Atl [12/02]

[12:33] {NARRATION} And so Ohtli and her friends began their journey into the depths of Atl. They had come to purge the place of the corruption and sin, but such a task wouldn't be easy. The land here had seen three notorious chieftains, each one bathed in their own infamy and corruption. As if the power of these horrid leaders was not enough, the people here worshipped them as gods, committing sacrifices and violent rituals in their name for decades over.

In her research Ohtli discovered there were two primary focal points for the corruption here, or at least, two focal points they could strike out without disturbing the current yet absent Chieftain Pasis.

The first point one could attempt to venture to is near the resting place of Katzan, his Hall of Heroes being a dedciation to the great chieftains and warriors of Atl. It was a work in progress, interrupted by his death, which now houses some of his remaining power. Rumors say something horrid resides within and that the Chieftains remaining essence bleeds out into the land from there.

The other is Xomac's dungeons. These chambers deep within the Temple of the Moon are where the chieftain made most of his living and served as a place where his own ascension as a Pride Sin took place. The sacrifices and rituals Xomac commit within its chambers have pervaded Atl ever since, and some say his spirit may still haunt it to this day, but something inside is tangible. Something inside can be affected.

Or at least that's what the stories say...
[12:40] If experience and research had taught her anything it was that cleaning Atl was indeed a monstrous undertaking. Spire shards and necromancy might not have been involved in its corruption, but decades upon decades of other vile, treacherous acts had instead.

A different kind of beast with an equally unfortunate end result. Thankfully she doesn't have to tend to it alone. She marches forward through the brackish swamps of death and decay, looking back to check her companions- the stalwart Sirenian and the goldenhearted astrologist.

The further they trek in the greater that cloying feeling that comes with Chaos' influence is. Ohtli becomes restless, as do the contents of her satchel of ritual objects she has slung over her shoulders. As she marches forward she calls back to the others.

"Two places that we need to take care of before we can consider Atl clean," she explains.

"Xomac's dungeons or Katzan's halls. If you have a preference? Speak now."
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[12:44] Windsor headed up the Drakanite's flank, a hefty backpack hauling over his shoulders. It was always good to be prepared in some fashion - he mainly dealt with the first aid provisions of their trip. Though he lacked in lax essence, he had plenty of other convalescents that... he couldn't use entirely properly. Still, they'd have to do for now.

With the ability to float over the muck and mire, Windsor was able to avoid the worse consequences of navigating swampy land, staying airborne over loamy quagmires. Though the man was insensate to corruption compared to his companion, even he could feel the hairs at the back of his neck stand on end. It was a feeling he couldn't quite put a finger on - something was wrong, that much he could be sure of.

As the woman speaks, Windsor could do little but shrug. "...It makes no difference to me, Caretaker. I figure you'd have a better gauge on which would be the 'better' of the two evils to clenase."
(Windsor)
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[12:44] The huntress shifted her shoulders, taking a moment to look about, yet her gaze remained mostly atop the ground instead of the distance. With the hammerhead shark, Linde, by her side, who idly floated in her flank, she hoists her gloved hands adjusting her cape, tucking its lace back under the collar of her wool shirt.

Though t'was difficult to read the Sirenian's expression, as her face was mostly painted a cold, nigh emotionless frown, one-eye in a glare, she appeared somewhat curious, and even more so, alerted.

"Either." She spoke out, curtly. "Have we anything that'd influence our decision? One that is weaker, or strikes against the other?"
(Evelynnione)
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[12:44] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "I don't think one is any greater than the other. Not if my research tells me the truth."
[12:45] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "But if I had to call one worse?...The dungeons. We'll go to there."
[12:45] Windsor says, "Right."
[12:45] Evelynnione says, "Then flip a coin, and may Yama protect us."
[12:46] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "It all needs to be done. One way or the other. I won't do this by a half measure."
[12:53] {NARRATION} It isn't hard to sneak through these parts. The tribelands, while still ripe with their evil, have become less populated as Cruxati absorbed most of the people. Still, the party is met with some Gehennans who are definitely more on the bloodthirsty side of things. They give the trio pass without trouble, though wary eyes follow them where they go.

The Temple of the Moon is left unguarded, a ruin to the greatness it once was. As if to remind those nearing it exactly of that fallen power, the Sin of Pride ebbs into the ground and walls. The trio themselves can feel it welling within them, something that bolsters their confidence, but in a rather ugly way. If they were weaker magi, or non-magi even, they would no doubt be fighting amongst one another, giving into the sin as it affected them.

A staircase left with moss and crumbled stone leads down into the darkness of Xomac's dungeons, the only light coming from the party who has dared venture down here. The first thing they come across is a large statue of a snake, coiled around itself many times over with a gem in its clutches. The gem itself gives off a dark aura, and the feeling of the greatest of all sins is thick in the air here.

Whispers hit each of their ears as they approach...
[12:54] TattlesDM whispers something.
[12:55] TattlesDM whispers something.
[12:56] TattlesDM whispers: Gehennan.... you don't belong here.... no no.... too good.... too valiant... yet not without Sin.... admit it... admit your evils.... admit your wrongs.... admit the Greatest One and enjoy it... take Pride in Your Sin.... or remain silent.... and die...
[13:00] The Sirenian's brows rose a bit, her facial muscles loosening, as a nigh vulnerable expression crossed her face for the bout of a second, before she shook her head to the sides, and drew in a sharp breath, reaching over her shoulder, retrieving her long rifle within her gloved hands, mayhap gripping it a bit too tightly, before she freed its sling from her shoulder.

The hammerhead shark appeared to grow somewhat uneasy as well, mayhap a little more than Eve. Its maw slightly parted open, tail nigh aggressively swiveling to the sides.

She glances behind her, pressing the butt of the rifle against her right shoulder, holding it at the ready, before looking around.

"Did-..." She paused, clearing her throat. "Did you hear that?"
(Evelynnione)
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[13:02] The navigation through Gehennan tribelands was ultimately not that unfamiliar to the man. Having traipsed through these areas several times before, he could almost recognize some of the faces of the strangers that allowed them passage. Perhaps they knew what it is they were going to do, or perhaps not. It didn't make any particular difference to Windsor.

Windsor notes the pallid ambience of the dungeon immediately - as well as the darkness that enshrouds it. He draws out his astrolabe and heightens the light radiating from it, allowing the facade of the serpent to cast a grisly shadow against the wall behind it. The astrologian directs a stern stare at the perverse decoration before him, before the whisper hits his ears.

It doesn't take long for Windsor to figure out what is he's being told to do. "...Well, I can definitely name what's eaten me. Or... the sin I've committed. Whatever." He glanced over to the rest of the party. "Not sure what you guys heard, but I'm about ready to play some truth or dare if I have to."
(Windsor)
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[13:02] Ohtli is no less wary as the typically blood-thirsty of people let them pass, their eyes upon them as they march to their destination. The Drakan is on high alert and ready in case any of them should decide to change there minds. Atlan mercurial tendencies are well known to her and something she direly tries to avoid.

Pride's presence here is overwhelming, nearly indistinguishable from the presence of the land around itself. She's all too keenly aware of it as she passes to the dungeons.

That large statue is an eyecatcher. More-so the great gem. While she harbors a slight weakness for glistening, shiny objects this one is clearly tainted.

Whispers reach her ears and she looks back and forth to Windsor and Eve. The sourceless susurrations came from neither of them, surely. Ohtli starts to reach for her ritualist's satchel.

"You all heard it too, then?"
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[13:04] Evelynnione appeared to be affected by the whispers, much more than the duo. Mayhap she carrieth great guilt, or mayhap did all the loneliness of hunting alone weakened her, emotionally?
(Evelynnione)
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[13:05] {NARRATION} A thump and the stone behind the three warriors seals them within the chamber. Torches spark up, illuminating the room in an ominous and tribalistic way. The snake was still, unmoving, but its eyes seemed to pierce into their minds, seeking something. Seeking answers. Seeking admissions. The fires in the room continued to glow as it waited...
[13:05] Windsor says, "Right, then. Looks like we're here until we answer its question."
[13:06] Evelynnione asks, "...are we to repent? ...here?"
[13:06] Windsor says, "I mean... you could probably try blasting it with Order magic, but somehow that doesn't strike me as wise."
[13:06] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "You heard a question?...I don't think we heard the same thing."
[13:06] Windsor says, "Probably not."
[13:07] Evelynnione asks, "...is it a little late to admit that enclosed areas make me nervous, at times?"
[13:07] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "I'm not inclined to give in to the demands of...whatever this false idol is."
[13:07] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "Yes. A little late, Eve."
[13:07] Windsor says, "Well, it /is/ a dungeon."
[13:07] Evelynnione says, "Alas-"
[13:07] Windsor says, "...anyway, I don't have a problem with admitting what it is I've done. I'll play along, act as our canary in the coal mine."
[13:08] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "Hrmn...Then I'll be ready in case it goes wrong."
[13:08] Ohtli slides her sword from its sheate in one hand. The other hand draws out a carved mask from her bag. Just in case it hits the metaphorical fan.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[13:10] Evelynnione begins to slowly step around, her gaze mostly kept atop the floors, as if she was searching for any loose tiles, or any wires that may've been set about.
(Evelynnione)
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[13:12] Though Ohtli wasn't inclined to give in to the demands of the false idol, Windsor was more than willing to play the fool for the party's sake. His footsteps echoed dully through the dimly-lit room, and eventually he was stood before the stone serpent in full. It wasn't her Serpent - not by a long shot - but he'd speak to it all the same.

"...I take pride in my self-preservation. When my dearest Ohtli was assaulted and captured by vampires, I had the opportunity to either try fighting them off again, going with her, or escaping." His gaze didn't falter, no matter how the guilty pangs of his heart were striking him. In committing what he perceived as a sin, he felt he had done right by her.

"I take pride in the fact that I was able to live, craven as it might have been, and tell others of her condition so they could work to save her. Even as I had abandoned her." He swiveled on his feet to look to theaforementioned Drakanite. "I swore an oath of loyalty to you, and in that moment, I had broken it to save my own skin, and try to save yours."
(Windsor)
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[13:22] That the false idol even passingly resembled the Serpent (capital 'S') made her all the more hesitant to give in to its request. Beyond the fact that it clearly was awash in malign energy.

Her first desire out of reflex is to reassure him, but when she regards the statue, and the situation, it does not feel like the time or the place. She puts a proverbial pin in that thought. Later. For now she settles for giving him a dispirited glance. The astrologist had boldly taken the initiative. It falls to her to take the next step. Ohtli is technically the one that dragged them into this mess anyway.

"...I'm not without fault either. I won't be vain enough to say I'm not," she starts, pacing up to face the statue brazenly.

"I take the greatest pride in two things. In my duty to the Serpent- the -real- Serpent- and in my family. I, along with my husband, have been willing to do what was needed to be done. At great personal cost, and even when the whole damned continent seems to be full of ingrates. I am proud of my family, too. And in spite of that service to the greater good...I may be ashamed to admit it, but it is true. I hold my own blood and my kin above that of others."

That genuinely hurt to say aloud. The temptation to avert her eyes is strong, but she keeps those slit eyes of hers trained on the statue.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[13:30] There was hesitation, t'was clear from the woman's eye, yet she stepped forth herself, exhaling sharply from her nose. Her companion besides her, she glanced over, almost in search for strength.

"I hunt the unnatural, and the migrated, who harm the nature unknown to them. Cave-dwellers who are driven out by the vampires, and destroy forests, swamp-creatures that wander to the beaches in search for water, and drown fish in mud."

"Though many worketh with me, most choose to fight among theirselves, in what they callen 'war', much like spoiled children at each other's throats."

"None knowe the value oft life and nature, like I do."
(Evelynnione)
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[13:37] {NARRATION} The snake remained motionless, even as they spoke their prides. It remained coiled around that gem, almost defensively, but it was a statue all the same. The fires dimmed and went out, leaving the trio once more in the darkness, illuminated only by their own personal light sources. It seemed quiet for just a moment, before the crystal thrummed with power, giving off its own, violent pinkish aura.

The Sin of Pride fired out, reflecting their admissions onto them. Windsor, a human who sought to survive. A creature bent on living above all else. The snake's eyes seemed to look at him. But at the same time...

They were peering at Ohtli as well. Elitism at its finest, a belief that she and her kind were above all else. Wasn't she the leader here? The one who had spearheaded such an expedition?

And Evelynnione... more knowledgable of the world than anyone else. No one ever really understood as she did, did they? This world was a place where she was a master, surrounded by school children.

The gem brightened and brightened, and more whispers crept into their minds...
[13:38] Xomac's Serpent whispers something.
[13:38] Ohtli Tezcacoatl whispers: (whisper me them sweet nothings, snakey boi
[13:39] Xomac's Serpent whispers: You are right... your kind IS greater... you are a true warrior of Gehenna, a chosen... why travel with these.... lesser creatures... you are far more than they will ever be. You belong here, not them... take pride in who you are... enjoy it... leave them and take your place here in Atl as Chieftain...
[13:41] Xomac's Serpent whispers something.
[13:44] Windsor's answer was simple enough to the prideful serpent's whispers. Though his mind faltered before, that was nothing close to how things were now. He didn't even have to say it -- but he felt compellled to.

"Not today, asshole." He narrowed his brow, his astrolabe glimmering brighter for just a moment. Though he had - by his own admission - gone against his oath once, he was not about ready to do it again. A moment's hesitation would see both him and his integrity snuffed out in an instant. Never again would he let himself falter.

"I know everything I need to know. I'm a family man, and I'm not going to let fear get in the way of family."

It was a simple answer, and as he knew well, simple was oft best.
(Windsor)
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[13:48] The huntress slowly lowered her rifle, holding it loosely with her right, something stirred within her, but t'was more akin to anger, than anything else.

Her left curled into a fist, before she arched it, and then-

-punched herself, right against the cheek with a sharp grunt, her frame leaning forth, the hand the hit herself now laid atop her cheek.

Shaking her head to the sides, as if to recollect herself, she exhaled sharply, her spirit companion idle, simply looking nigh worriedly at the huntress from the corners of its eyes.

"Nae." She echoed, hoisting her rifle yet again, holding it tightly within her leather-clad grip, reaching to its bolt to cock it back, before pushing it forth with a metallic click, and a faint, energetic whirr.

"I will not succumb to weakness."
(Evelynnione)
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[13:50] Those whispers return, syrupy sweet and somehow...reasonable. Empathetic. The forked tongue speaks of temptation. It had unknowningly, or perhaps knowingly, hit upon something key.

She -was- a warrior. Even if the source of her lineage had become hazy at some point, that much was true. A Gehennan warrior, tested in blood and battle, no matter how long ago.

It offers her something. A place of power, a position of respect in her homeland that she'd felt so often spurned from. Ohtli could take it. It was there, right within the reach of her claws. Her family and her bloodline would partake of that respect and power too. They would never be disrespected, they would never know hunger. They would always have a place.

Wait...No. No no no. The Drakan screws her eyes shut. A sudden flare of deep and utter shame stifles the influence of pride. Ohtli had hesitated to don it but now is the time. She takes the feathered cowl and slips it over her head.

Her claws sprout longer, the scales grow further up her arm and a few bright blue feathers sprout between them. A minor transformation as she enhances her connection to the Divine.

It makes everything clearer all at once in the muddle of Sin. She stretches out her talon'd hand and a force of will goes with it. A blast of concussive telekinesis aims for the gem in the statue's clutches.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[13:56] {NARRATION} The gem was knocked out of the snake's grasp, flying through the air before it made a CLINK Clink clink against the ground. Its light faded, and the Sinful air dispersed only slightly. The statue shifted, its coils and scales grinding against one another as it seemed to rise. Was it growing larger?

It was moving now, and its eyes were watching all three of them. It curled back into an animalistic, defensive stance, as poisonous fumes began to leak from its nostrils and coat its scales. The torches flared up once more and the room became overwhelmingly hot. It eyes began to glow like stars BUT

The back wall gave way, it began to shudder slightly, as the gem was tossed away. The party could attempt to run with the sinful treasure in hand...

Or fight the great beast before them.
[14:00] The raiment was a wonderful tool. It's for this exact purpose it was crafted. To cleanse corruption wherever it might lurk in the dark corners of the earth, to do the Serpent's will.

Alas, that was a double-edged sword. The beast before her is clearly born of Chaos, of Sin. As with all the times she's worn it before it compels her to do her duty.

Ohtli brandishes her sword and she prepares the animated servant of Pride.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[14:05] The huntress pushed her tongue a little out of her mouth, licking along her lower lip as she glanced at the creature ahead.

There was naught in her eye akin to fear, or confidence.

Simply the look of a seasoned huntsman, looking her opponent over.

"Strike beneath the chin, or the back of the head." She echoed, taking a single glance at the others, before she rose her rifle, barrel pointed towards the beast.

"T'is a serpent's last armoured points."

And with that, she exhaled from her nose, at the ready.
(Evelynnione)
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[14:11] Evelynnione says, "*FUCK"
[14:24] After what the serpent - or the gem holding the serpent's will - whispered to him, Windsor was absolutely encouraged to strike back. So incensed was the man by the temptation that he pulled out all the stops from the very first. He sent rings of constricting energy to tie the serpent's long body into confounding knots. The ground itself was uplifted in order to be used against it, columns of befuddling mud sent in its direction to halt its advance.

More potent than anything else Windsor had to send out, however, was his command over Cosmic magic. Drawing on the stars for aid, even in a place as deep and as dank as this, he conspired to blast the monster with everything he had. All because it told him to flee - to run away from the people he had held so much responsibility for.

Perhaps in another time, he may have been like to act more selfishly. That, however, was not today's Winsdor.

Seeing both of his companions brought down by the confounded serpent, Windsor all but snarled. "Tell me to duck on them, will you?!" Rushing forward, he got up close and personal to the prideful being, propelled by rancor and his command over gravity. As soon as he neared the recoiling snake's head, he pooled energy within his hands within a moment's notice, and let it loose right into the monstrosity's face.
(Windsor)
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[14:30] Fleeing was not an option. Leaving it alive might have just left enough lingering Sin to undo their work.

It had taken a deep, personal desire of hers and twisted it in a cruel, manipulative barb against her. This injustice, this slight against her and her integrity, required an answer.

She fights as she usually does, up close and personal with claw and sword. Eve's insights only lend more deadly accuracy to her swooping strikes as she strafes by the serpent's vulnerable spots.

Fighting something of this sheer magnitude presented very real problems however. Its massive jaws, the great sweeping tail. The Drakan gouges, cuts, swipes and slashes but flying in the cramped quarters is no easy feat. By the time she crumples and struggles to regain flight again? Windsor is right up in its ugly mug, doing what he does best.

A flash of purer pride wells up in her as she watches him strike the creature for all he's worth.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[14:33] The huntress' style of fighting was as far from showy and flashy as possible, as she delivered continuous blasts at the snake, squatting with her rifle.

"Sic 'em." She hoisted a hand, extending her hand towards the monster, as her companion, the shark, begun forth with its assault, spiraling around the creature, aiming to jaw at its back to rear it backwards, to cause it to reveal its weak spots.

Yet she could not get a single opening to deliver a shot where the serpent was the weakest, and her shots were simply solely making it flinch.

With that, she swiftly pushed her rifle back behind her, slinging it over her shoulder, hand reaching into her bottoms, where she produced a rather dark coloured six-shooter, with a blade slotted under the barrel.

Almost doing laps around the creature, one hand held the side-arm, the other resting atop its crank, as she alternated from squeezing the trigger and rearing the crank back, fanning the hammerrather skillfully, her shots landing along the creature's weak-spots. Yet there were shots she'd miss, as t'was not quite easy for one to be running and aiming at the same time.

With the courage of a fool, she clung unto the back of the serpent, climbing up with her legs flailing somewhat about as it moved, before wrapping her legs around a part of its neck, and firing six or eight more, pointblank blasts into the opening little behind where its skull ended, felling it before Windsor for his final move, where she swiftly retreated to the side, panting, and with her shoulders slumped.
(Evelynnione)
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[14:40] {NARRATION} The heroes leapt into battle against the great snake, and their prowess proves worthwhile. With the mixtures of all their magic, the thrumming power of Order and Cosmic fight back against the cursed power of the serpent. As it is hammered with magic and more, its stone is chipped until it crumbled entirely. Scales and fangs, though once formidable, are left across the floor as nothing more than pebbles.

The snake is slain, now in a puddle of its own noxious poisons and venom. The exit has been unveiled but the cursed gem still sat there, unclaimed. Its prideful aura rang out, calling for something. The room began to rumble and shake, a terrifying echo roared through the darkened halls. Something else was coming.

And Ohtli could feel it.

This serpent was a construction of Sin and Evil, yes, but it was only a pawn in the greater game. The master of this place, the Chieftain Xomac, did not only wield Sin and Flame into this land. He was also infamous for his dabbling within the Chaotic power of the Arcane, one that rivaled the drakan's own.

It clashed, her own attunement to the Lifestream quaking as something approached that wished to destroy it instead. Once more the heroes could run, take the gem and escape outside.

Or they could face it head on.
[14:46] {NARRATION} And it arrived.

Xomac Tepin, the Chieftain of Atl.

Or at least... his shadow. A ghost of the past, an enemy of true corruption. Chaos ebbed from the spirit without a corporeal form and the stars themselves beamed their light down upon his flaming form. They had entered his domain, trespassed and slain his servant. And were now trying to steal a treasure within his dungeons...

The Sin was revealed for all to see and it was clear he had no intentions of letting anyone leave.
[15:10] Windsor wasn't about to let this rudeness slide. Not allowing them to leave - even if they had an opportunity to run - was unconsionable. The thing may have been a shade of the real deal, but something rubbed him the wrong way about the shadow's face. Perhaps it was the fact that it was, indeed, heedless pride made manifest.

A lingering thing though it was, Windsor also knew that Ohtli would have no intention of letting this thing run amok... or even stay where it was. It was just another edifice of sin to remove, even given the sordid history attached to his name. Xomac Tepin would not be let to stand, even as a being without a body.

Between calamitous waves of Arcane force and columns of terrible cosmic energy, Windsor manages to weave through the air. It's made readily apparent that he takes several licks throughout the fight, but he remains standing long enough to rally Ohtli and Evelynnione towards him. As soon as he sees the shade approach for another attack, he spreads his hands wide apart.

As soon as he does, the tile in front of him erupts into earthen spikes, jutting out in every direction. They serve as support, however. It wasn't solely to skewer the shadow of Xomac - Eve and Ohtli both could use the spikes as a means to be used against the monster.
(Windsor)
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[15:16] Ohtli knew him from crude depictions, by reputation and stories she had gathered from word of mouth and research, and by sheer presence. It could be no one else that rises from the dungeon's depths.

The blessed cowl keeps the influence of the specter to a minimum, but even with it she can feel it trying to intrude her thoughts and will past the carved façade of the snarling Spirit. A chance to cleanse even a fraction of the Sin from her beloved homeland. For all its faults, and her own, that is still what it was.

Even in death the shade's prowess with the arcane surpasses her own. Her telekinetic blasts struggle to divert his even partially. Thankfully it's not the only thing she has to her name, nor is she alone in this battle.

Windsor's field of spikes manifested gives them room to maneuver around the forces Xomac puts at play, putting a shield between them and the buffeting blasts and fire. With the foe similarly restrained there were only so many places the prideful poltergeist could flee. All the better for him to fall on their combined might.

Soon, soon it will be at least half over.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[15:18] Shadows and the likes were not the usual suspects of hunting, they'd no feet to bola, no known weak points... yet huntress lasses make do.

Standing back, crouching and shooting over towards the enemy, the huntress lays down fire, shooting compressed bolts of gravity, spikes of ice and jets of sharp wind.

As the shade neared her, she dove to her side, with Linde jetting beneath her, vaulting over her, while she cocked the bolt of her rifle.

Her rifle's mana gem glows brightly while she did, almost as if it was pure determination to strike against the pain that the sin of Pride had brought.

Yet the second assault, she was not quite prepared for, evoking a yelp, she rose a hand defensively, as the shade dashed over towards her, yet the beast was slowed and halted by a collection of earthen spikes.

Opening her eye back, she evokes a pant, glancing over towards Windsor, nodding at him, once. Dropping her rifle, she reached for her six-shooter yet again, before stepping from behind her cover.

"I strike upon thee!"

And with that, she begun to alternate between pulling the trigger and pushing the pistol's crank with her other's palm.

Yet this time, instead of six or eight, her blasts kept going. Rapidly and wastefully fueling the weapon with her mana, the woman was shortly exhausted, fitting nigh twenty-five powerful blasts into the creature, before it was felled, falling over, panting atop her fours.
(Evelynnione)
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[15:24] {NARRATION} The Shadow of Xomac, which was ironically more a boiling, formed essence of starlight, echoed forth with its entropic forces. It could not speak, for it was not alive, it could not feel, for it had lost life itself long ago. But it was here, bound to defend its home, to haunt would be trespassers. And its Pride remained. A force to be reckoned with when still a mortal magi just as much a force to be reckoned with now, the shade put up a fierce battle.

It was as if the sky itself had entered the darkened chambers and the stars crashed through the walls as Xomac's presence horridly clashed with Ohtli's own. Order and Chaos were felt colliding with one another while Windsor and Evelynnione played their part. Dashed across walls, thrown about through the air while nature's call answer the once Chieftain, the trio proved to be victorious.

The rapid fire from the sirenian and the restraint upon which the ghost found itself within Windsor's spikes provided the perfect opportunity to end it. With one last, echoed roar, it was defeated, disappearing into nothingness until all its starpower concentrated into a chunk of solid matter itself. There is fell to the ground, near the gem of pride the snake had been holding itself. Two treasures of severe corruption, artifacts that if left alone would continue to ruin the land of Atl, and perhaps Agartha as a whole as well.

The heroes were alone once again.

For now.
[15:29] Evelynnione flicks at a small cage of fireflies resting clipped to her belt, causing them to whizz, flying about, who were not really trapped, but homed.
(Evelynnione)
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[15:38] Combat with the Sin's specter is a powerful clash of combined magics that rocks the dungeon's interior. There's bright flashes, waves of heat, and the upheaval of the ground all to contend with. Not to mention the telekinetic blasts flung by Order and Chaos alike.

One last roar peals from the foe as it shrieks its death knell, and Ohtli is encouraged to roar in defiance at its passing.

Just as quickly as the battle and the light it brought had come, suddenly the dungeon was plunged into darkness and silence again. Save for the glow exuded from her raiment and the bottle of fireflies at Eve's hip.

The feathers of the cowl glow and illuminate the cavern in one last flash; the Drakanite shivers from head to wingtip. She is bolstered, revived. The job is done and she is imbued with an abiding sense of satisfaction- the Serpent's own approval, perhaps.

Only half done, but still done. The Drakan stalks towards the corrupted artifacts. Through the faceted lenses she can see the pinpoints of darkness against the colored tapestry of the lifestream's flow around her.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[15:39] {Item} You picked up Pride Of Gehenna. Dropped by TattlesDM. .
[15:40] {Item} You picked up Tyrium x15. Dropped by TattlesDM.
[15:42] Evelynnione says, "...Ohtli."
[15:42] Ohtli Tezcacoatl asks, "...What?"
[15:43] Evelynnione asks, "...would you make fun oft me if I said I was a little too tired to walk back?"
[15:44] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "...Yes."
[15:45] Ohtli grunts laconically, holding up one of the corrupted pieces to inspect it. Yes...More work. But it is good work. Satisfying work. The cowl still keeps the influences of the gem at bay. She scowls at it.

"Pride...disgusting," she snarls.
(Ohtli Tezcacoatl)
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[15:45] Ohtli Tezcacoatl says, "We're leaving. We finish another day."
[15:45] Evelynnione exhales sharply, while seated, producing a small flask from her bag. She uncorks it, a look of distaste crossing her face, before she took few large gulps, the sharp smell of incredibly hard black tea, an abundance of sugar and honey pouring forth.
(Evelynnione)
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[15:45] Evelynnione says, "Fheh- Eugh-"
[15:45] Evelynnione says, "No wonder why they call this the exhausted's drink."
[15:45] Evelynnione says, "Mine taste buds are dying."
[15:46] {NARRATION} And so the trio marched back to their homes. While Xomac's dungeons were swept clean, their physical manifestations of corruption now within the grasp of the Order magi and her friends, the lands of Atl were far from safe. The people were still infected by Katzan's presence, as well as whatever lied within his Hall of Heroes.

Another day, perhaps. They would return to face the void of emotions and whatever dwelled within...