Alastor vs Gatekeeper

[21:53] Now long standing before a cavern entrance. Such was the jounry they faced. Though no people in sight..The traces of the spireshard grew. Even with his senses honed onto the spirit world he knew the very familar calling of it.

The calling of time lost its grasp on the group as they ventured in. Further and further in..the power from the shard growing ever stronger, And it made the oscuri yearn for it..

But upon the rumbling snore of an immensly large creature his eyes pinpointed out a human...or what remains of one anyhow. A single word before the figure continued speaking. The blade of the seerer resonating quietly within the oscuri's grasp before forming his thoughts.

"I came in search of the power that resides here, For I seek completion..the balance and third path that my mentor Ja'nir has taught me to seek. If awakening the Titan is what I must do then I will gladly awaken it. For balance I will strive to set all in order, All in chaos..no matter what."

Dulled blue eyes stared down the figure as glances where given to the others and a small, yet humble prayer was uttered to his watchful mother.
(Sylvester)
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[21:55] Alastor seems to move in the same way as ever. How he was unnoticed so far, it was beyond him; He was simply propelled inside the spirit realm, somehow stuck behind during the trip. Luckily, Sylvester's own magical presence acted as an anchor of sorts, pulling him directly towards the group.

It was a terrible trip to stay behind. He fell down onto the hard ground underneath, elbows landing against the dirt to prevent too much harm from being done. Nevertheless... Alastor was there now.

Enough to hear the speech of the Gatekeeper that stood between them and their goal. Truth be told, the Oscuri wasn't exactly in his realm; Even if his manipulation of raw Rieka was powerful, it was mostly powered by simple faith and found itself with more direct uses in combat than this communication that Sylvester had.

Something that he wanted for him, as well. But that wasn't the topic; His desires were always something to beput ahead of anything... But now? Purple irises stared forwards. Hand moved to the hilt of the sword, at his waist. He knew that this was probably going to end up poorly.

Not that anything would stop him. Specially not someone like that gatekeeper. "Sylvester spoke of his wishes. Step aside." It was a command, plain and simple. They were indeed not the original denizens of this realm, but since there was supposedly a way of returning alive in any case...

... The Valmasian way, the one of Conquering everything they wanted, would prevail. And whomever stood between an Oscuri and their objective was another prize to be seized.
(Alastor G. Vishkar)
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[21:58] Time meant little to the immortal - the trip, however long it took, was merely another in a long unending parade of days and nights. Existence as it was. They might not have tired on the long climb, but they hardly noticed anything unusual. Descending into a solemn silence as they contemplated the realm they found themselves in, the strangeness of the place and this locale. It certainly wasn't what they had expected.

It was only when they neared the cave that they blinked - snapping out of their thoughts to look around at the sudden darkness. They had never seen a spire shard before in their life, but the indefinable power that radiated from this cave could be nothing else. At least - in their mind - it was either the shard they were here for, or whatever was making that low, echoing sound in the distance.

Scarlet eyes fell onto the figure that stood in their way, demanding to know reason and attempting to halt progress "As the man said. We are here to claim what we desire - and nothing will stand in our way." They knew nothing of titans, or of this guardian. But they had made up their mind already; if he would block the path to their goal, he would fall.
(Remy Draskovic)
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[22:00] {NARRATION} Their desire to press onward drew a sad shake of his head. The titan's wrath was far too damaging, far too destructive to let them through. It was time to fight, to repel the invaders into Terraheim before they could claim the power that kept the titan aslumber.

"Very well. You have chosen to forfeit your life for the pursuit of power. Allow me to make you one with the stone."

The gate keeper fetches his axe, keeping his attention forward as magma began to cover his exposed skin. Now, it was time to do battle, to push the invaders out of his home.

[22:20] ** The Keeper has inflicted an injury upon Alastor G. Vishkar. ("Molten impalement", "The fight against the Gatekeeper came with a price: Poor Alastor's torso plating has been dented inwards by a magmic spike, searing the wound and stalgmite into his flesh. Removing it is inadvisible, as it may come with fatal injuries. For now, the spike only causes great discomfort whenever Alastor bends or flexes his abdominal muscles.", "Permanent", "Severity: MINOR (-5 VIT)") **
[22:23] {NARRATION} The battle against the Gate Keeper was hard fought, but the gate keeper ultimately wins out the fight. For their troubles, vicious lashings, burns, and pain persists through the body. For Alastor, however, his injuries were the worst of it. One of the molten spikes is impaled into his chest, fusing partially his plates into his torso. The molten rock is wedged just deep enough into the flesh to cause great discomfort, whenever he so much as moves his abdominal muscles.

The gate keeper, weary yet determined, sweeps his flaming axe to the right as he points towards the cave entrance they came from.

"Leave! For the next you fall, I will banish you entirely!"

From the looks of it, he's allowing them to leave. However, that would mean abandoning the shard, but it'd also allow them to leave in one piece.
[22:45] Leave? No... Alastor knew that it wasn't for him to leave. He wasn't going to. He didn't go through all this to leave empty-handed. Even less than that, he left a "friendly reminder" upon his chest. That stake... He could still feel it. Surgically placed, perhaps; Nevertheless, it was still something that he hated having with him.

"Leave?!" He yelled back. The Fencer's position was broken for a moment, Rieka taking into his very eyes and glimmering with a strong, bright green. "We came here for one thing, Keeper. And no one stands between me and what I want." Obviously, to him? This was no longer about Sylvester, or the overarching goal of a fellow Oscuri.

Now, this was personal. This was sweet, sweet revenge. It was a tough fight, one that nearlytook its toll on Sylvester and Remy, again. Several, powerful strikes came thrusting onto the man. Posture was carefully maintained, even in this status of utter rage.

And then, the final blow.

Perhaps an overkill. The other two of the group could have claimed the kill, but no. This revenge was his alone, and no one else had the right to take what he wanted. Materials. Potions. People. Anything that he could have claimed as his, it belonged to no one else.

A combination of thrusts. One, at the tendon of the Guardian, sending him down to the ground; Or at least, stopping him from continuing onwards for too long. Slashes, so powerful that they sent blood all over the room, staining the more distant walls, before a last one moved against its heart.

It was a single thrust.

One that pierced through, definitely. "You are nothing more than an obstacle to our goals. And obstacles get thrown to dust." Two sentences, before he simply sent the poor man's body to the right. One tissue rose to sweep clean the rapier. "Let's go. We have an objective to fulfill." He spoke, before taking the forefront of the group, barely a glance given to the others.
(Alastor G. Vishkar)
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[22:49] {NARRATION} Once the Gate Keeper was disposed of, there was nothing to bar them further entry into the cavern. The depths of Menoetius' chambers was dark, hot, and most importantly, vibrant with the life of Earth spirits. They could see, thanks to their auras, the abundant earth spirits that crowded the sleeping titan. There, the spireshard rested, embedded into a stone pedestal that acted as a means to prevent it from awakening. Merely touching it would awaken Menoetius, but it'd allow them to take it, should they manage to best the slumbering titan.

It was now or never: The moment of truth that they had been waiting for.