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No rest for a Totemist, you suppose. You consider swapping out your bindings for something a little less stealthy, given the swath of destruction carved into the city before you. So much for keeping a low profile.

Though sounds of distress echo through the air, a piercing wail catches your attention. You narrow your eyes, peering through the gloom and the smoke, and catch sight of a figure on the top of the Garden Dome.

A chill runs down your spine as you feel four burning eyes peering back at you through the gloom. A tattered cloak flows behind the person—the thing below. Like the tide rolling in, you can feelt he tightly wrapped sphere of spiritual presence beneath you unfurl. The air around you warps and hisses at the surge of pressure that pulses outward, and though your knees do not buckle as they once would have, you find yourself short of breath.

-Oho.- Magni murmurs, nearly aloud. -Interesting.-

The smoke billlows outward, and for a moment you catch a glimpse of a thousand writhing shards of darkness coallesced vaguely into the shape of a man. Indigo flames lick its form, and the fire below it roars like the scream of an angry behemoth.

From hundreds of feet away, you can feel the words snarled into the air.

“Evaleii Myoho.”

“Fuck,” you mutter eloquently in response. You hadn't considered that he would be looking for you now. In hindsight, it was an obvious blunder; you crafted a totem of obfuscation for Elana so she could wander outside the village, but you neglected to craft one for yourself. Now all of Eluneia is at a very real risk of fiery destruction.

Not the best welcoming gift to present to the royalty.

-I have looked forward to this reuinion,- Magni tells you. -I assume you wish to draw upon my strength again, as you did to quell the Wyrmling.-

> I do. Give me your aid. [Weaponmaster]
> I do. I need a moment to prepare. [???]
> Not yet. He'll be expecting your usual tricks this time.
> No. I can handle this.
> Write-in.

–--
You are Osyki, journeyman Totemist and first line of defense for your village against the rabid Behemoths wandering the land. Your master, the previous Totemist, fell in a battle against a terrible Behemoth, leaving the duty of defending your settlement to you. The long-awaited missive from the nation to the southwest has finally arrived. Your meeting with the highborn of Eluneia, and the negotiation therein, begins tomorrow. For now, an old enemy has reared his head to do battle once more.

[[Previous Threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive.html?tags=totem

Plot Summary: http://pastebin.com/dqBSNUTM (Current up to thread 58.)

The Cast Thus Far / Binder's Log: http://pastebin.com/VsJpEUx3

Ask: ask.fm/DiarcaEXE

Wiki in progess: http://totemistquest.pbworks.com

Quest Twitter: @TotemistQuest]]

>>42566856
> Not yet. He'll be expecting your usual tricks this time.

>>42566856
> I do. I need a moment to prepare. [???]

Well, this'll be a tough fight, we should readjust our bindings for this.

I don't think Nocturne's Embrace will really help much against this, so switch it to Wavecrest Cloak to possibly help against any magic that gets thrown at us.

Moth's First Resort probably won't do much against him, I'd go for the Hollow Fang, maybe it'll be enough to seriously damage him.

Crystfire might work, but I'd swap it for the Resplendent Gale, and keep the Siren's Heart free so we can LttWW the two of them together. And if we end up swapping the Basilisk Cryst out of the bow, put it in our mask for better magic vision, it should help.

And put something in our shirt, maybe the Emperor Cobra, to try and make up for our lack of armor.

>>42566856
>> I do. I need a moment to prepare. [???]

>>42567062

This guy knows, hopefully we have the time to pull it off

>>42566856
>[x] No. I can handle this.

>>42566856
i hope we get to bro it up with alternate universe moon knight in this fight. he seems like a chill dude.

>>42566856
>> Not yet. He'll be expecting your usual tricks this time.
>> I do. I need a moment to prepare. [???]

Um, lets assess what's going on around us and what we've got to work with while this thing ominously approaches, rather than just running in there. If we have time to not die and switch a binding or two, lets. If not, lets find something here to use to our advantage. Presumably there are some where that can be used as a secondary force or we can funnel the guy into a terrain we can work with. He clearly wants us so let's work with that. We can control where he goes. We should save our strength for using Magni at the right moment, I think.

>>42566856
> I do. I need a moment to prepare. [???]
> Not yet. He'll be expecting your usual tricks this time.

>>42566856
> I do. I need a moment to prepare. [???]
Are we were armor, by the way? Or is that something that Osyki left off as part of his focus on subtlety?

>>42567387

[[The latter. Writing in process, feel free to get your loadouts ready to go.]]

>>42567412
Shit. Looks like we're going to have to keep mobile. Okay, then, proposed loadout: Swap our cloak to Boand, use her as protection against any hostile magic. Gloves and boots stay Cordia and Elder Turtle, those are both really useful for mobility and weaponry. Raptor stays in pants, too, we'll need the speed. Skyscythe Drake goes in the bow. With the Basilisk Wyrm freed up we put it in our mask, if we have that on us, for boosted senses and a surprise attack with the venom spray. Anything else we either don't have the right equipment to bind to or haven't experimented with it enough to risk it during a fight. Maybe put Emperor Cobra in shirt in hopes of scaly armor, but that's the only one I'd try.

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“I do,” you tell him. “I am in no way prepared for this right now. I need a moment to make myself ready. Can you buy me some time?”

The spear hums in your grasp. -I can.- Magni says, in a way that leaves you waiting for the inevitable- -but be aware: the longer you lean on me now, the less I can be of use to you in the battle to come. You would do well to keep your preparations as brief as possible.-

“Noted,” you tell him. Below you, the Magus flickers with indigo flame, strange shuddering waves of energy shaking the air and the earth around him. “Let's do it.”

As the figure below you coils like a serpent ready to strike, you can feel Magni's cold, metallic tendrils creep up your wrist. The metal filaments stretching from the spear spiral up your arm, sinking into your flesh at odd intervals. As his influence climbs your neck, the world around stutters to an unsteady halt before coming apart in jagged chunks. The roof you stand on, the city around you, even the night sky above dissolve like shattered tiles, falling away into the abyss.

As the world you knew breaks, Modi's sanctum fills in the gaps. The ruined towers gleaming in the distance burn alight with sickly white flame, and the maze-like city that stretches below it reaches up to greet you. High in the air above you the Avatar himself floats, torn-metal wings thrumming with barely restrained power. His arms are spread wide, as if holding the whole of the world in place.

You have your moment. How will you prepare?

> Choose your Loadout.

Current:
Cloak: Nocturne's Embrace
Gloves: Obsidian Touch
Pants: Velociraptor Graves
Bracelet: Ring of Reverberation
Sword: Moth's First Resort
Boots: Cloudwalker's Stride
Bow: Crystfire

Unbound: Ykree Fin, Razor Wing, Siren's Heart, Eternal Maw, Boand's Pearl, Emperor's Crown

>>42566856
>You hadn't considered that he would be looking for you now.
Why now, though? We've left the wards plenty of times. Going north can be justified as the Iron General's domain having its own warding, but why didn't he come after us when we were in the swamp or the mountains or the forest outside the wards? Odd.

>>42567615
I my concern, before we go crazy switching everything, is that Osyki only has so much spirit magic in him before he needs to rest. It might be that switching around too many bonds will make us too tired to fight or unable to control Magni.

We should probably go for as few switches as possible.

>>42567615
Cloak: Wavecrest Cloak
Gloves: Obsidian Touch
Pants: Velociraptor Graves
Sword: Hollow Fang
Boots: Cloudwalker's Stride
Bow: Resplendent Gale
Mask: Noxious Roar

Shirt: Emperor's Crown

If we don't have time the Shirt and Mask are of lower priority, but it'd be nice to have.

>>42567615
The last time we fought this fucker he hit us with some Shadow Magic/Poison that kinda ruined our day, so consider dropping the Ykree Fin into an amulet, if the Basilisk Cryst is free use that instead.

>>42567615
I'm down with this >>42567727 except for the sword. Hollow Fang only works on organic materials, the Magus's splinters are made of shadow and bone. It probably won't be very effective. Besides, a sword isn't a very high priority weapon for us, we mostly use our fists and feet. Especially when we've got Obsidian Touch and Cloudwalker's Stride bound.

>>42567667
We've got that training band Ayren left behind for Osyki along with the Link to the World Without, though. It's supposed to make it a lot less energy intensive for us to bind foci, so it's not a huge issue. We've also got the Bracelet of Binding Threads, which now that I remember it I think we should have used when we were in the Moon Garden. Pointless at the moment, just something to consider if we get the chance again.

>>42567797
We've bound the Ykree Fin into an amulet before, it doesn't do anything for poison resistance. Basilisk might, though.

>>42567658
I can think of three possible explanations. The first is that being infected with that dark spirit energy during our trip made it easier for Osyki to be sensed by other dark spirits. The second is that there's something else in Eluneia that he wants, and it's just a horrible coincidence that we've run into him. And the third is that someone in Eluneia told him.

>>42567615
Uh, heres my best guesses:
Keep crystfire, Cloudwalker's Stride, And Nocturnes embrace.
Get Gnomes Garb, Grasp of Glory, Hollow Fang and Ripple.

>>42567799
Bone is organic

>>42567858
Durr I'm an idiot, you're right on the Fin. My mistake. Crude thermal sense would be the opposite of useful around now.

>>42567943
We can't put on Gnome's Garb, we left our armor at home as part of a more subtle loadout.

>>42567965
Yes, but we'd need to pierce through the dense mantle of shadow to get to it, is my point. Only his core would be vulnerable to Hollow Fang.

>>42567985
I think we could, but i'd understand not betting on it.
>>42567982
No armor hurts. we're almost guaranteed to take hits. I guess leaving the Obsidian touch would be the other best defensive choice?

[[Attempting to pull a consensus from the conversation so far. Writing shortly.]]

>>42567943
Reworked:
Cloak: Nocturne's Embrace
Gloves: Obsidian Touch
Pants: Velociraptor Graves
Sword: Dawning Zephyr
Boots: Cloudwalker's Stride
Bow: Crystfire
Mirror: Ripple

Really, going for balance between use and
the least switching here.

You flicker through the myriad possible choices. You regret leaving your armor behind, but you have no time to waste ruminating on what could have been. Your Foci fall from their shells one after the other, and you quickly put together something resembling a workable loadout.

Speed is tantamount to your success, so you leave your greaves as they are. Obsidian touch is too useful, and Cordia currently too fragile to consider swapping out. In the flickering darkness of the fire limned streets, Nocturne's Embrace will prove a steadfast ally too.

The Razor Wing finds a home in your blade, turning the ordinary steel to peerless gold. The Skyscythe Drake coils for a moment around the length of the blade, honing the air around it to a shearing edge.

The Whirlpool Pearl sinks into your hand-mirror, a better choice by far than its last iteration of this fight. You can see Boand looking to you as you stare into the Ripple. She wears a mask of determination, but you can feel her worry leaking through.

Feeling bold, you sink the Emperor's Crown into your shirt. The material warps and hisses as the flash of light overtakes it, settling into a much sturdier form around your shoulders. Your tunic has become a sturdy tabard, a serpentine design of interlocking stag horns and crowns ringing its trim.

>[[Binding Discovered: Tyrant's Tabard. This sturdy material absorbs and redirects the majority of any blunt force directed at it. Additional properties unknown.]]

Finally, you kick the toe of one Cloudwalker against the dirt, leaving a sparking scorch. They served you too well last time to abandon now.

>>42568523
“Modi!” You call. “We're all set.”

The figure above you nods once, letting his arms fall with an air of finality. The world slams into place around you once more with a calamitous crash, the landscape sliding into view like a painting dropped into place, and after a heartbeat the world jerks back into motion.

> Current Loadout:

Cloak: Nocturne's Embrace
Gloves: Obsidian Touch
Shirt: Tyrant's Tabard
Pants: Velociraptor Graves
Sword: Dawning Zephyr
Boots: Cloudwalker's Stride
Bow: Crystfire
Mirror: Ripple

Unbound: Ykree Fin, Siren's Heart, Eternal Maw

The Magus vanishes from sight beneath you, sinking into a pool of rapidly dispersing shadow. You tense, eyes scanning the horizon. Ripple clinks against your side, its long chain wrapped around your arm.

-He comes.-

The air crackles around you.

>2d100

Rolled 61, 100 = 161 (2d100)

>>42568551

Rolled 16, 80 = 96 (2d100)

>>42568551

Rolled 19, 42 = 61 (2d100)

>>42568551
I wonder how those new npc friends of ours feel about this magical transformation we just pulled.

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Rolled 25, 30 = 55 (2d100)

>>42568551
>>42568577
YEEEEEEAH BOI

Rolled 36, 47 = 83 (2d100)

>>42568551

Rolled 34, 36 = 70 (2d100)

>>42568551

>>42568609
So much for keeping a low profile.

>>42568577
>>42568551
Does that mean that Modi wrecks Myoho's shit?

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>>42568577
[Happening Intensifies]

>>42568652
Eh, it was going to happen eventually. It was only so long until someone connected "our new friend is a spirit-binder from a foreign land" with "someone arrived in town earlier today riding a giant golden dragon spirit".

>>42568609
I think they'll kinda just roll with it.

We did the transformation on a roof, and anyone who could've seen us is going to be far more focused on other things. They'll probably accept that our sword and shirt can change when they aren't looking, or not even notice.

The observant among them, or those who've kept track of the previous reports of our appearance, might work out that we change our equipment around a lot. But I think beating the tar out of the Magus will be of greater notice.

On a side note, I kinda hope sticking Siren's Heart into Dawning Zephyr works similarly to how I was hoping Siren's Heart + Resplendent Gale would work, gather up the inferno and turn it into a massive blade.

> 61

You coil your legs beneath you, riding out the space between heartbeats on a razor-thin edge of concentration. Your previous battle with a splinter flickers past your mind's eye. If you remember correctly, the Magus favors a few tactics in his opening salvo. First, he vanishes from sight.

Check.

Next, he blindsides his opponent. You drive your legs into the earth beneath you, spiraling skyward. As you ascend, the air below you roars as a bolt of indigo flame utterly immolates the space you previously occupied. This splinter seems to pack more of a punch than the last; the roof beneath you immediately sags and caves from the sheer heat of the conflagration that burns where you stood. You curl your body as you rise, tucking into a ball to present as small a target as possible. Your arm sweeps around, Dawning Zephyr crackling in your grasp, and you feel a sharp impact as it meets a solid wall of unmoving -something-.

This one moves faster than the last did, too.

Your momentum is cancelled and abruptly reversed as the Splinter slams one of its fists into your blade, sending your spiraling toward the claw-rent earth below. You twist your frame, and the raging flames below you billow outward in a perfect circle as the Cloudwalker's Stride touches the earth. You grunt from the force of the landing, but you are otherwise unmolested.

The Splinter lands a few feet in front of you, cracking the cobblestones beneath it with the force of its landing. Tiny hands push outward from its chest, clawing to be free as it straightens to regard you anew. Four burning eyes pierce through you. It's sizing you up.

“Are you finished cowering, Totemist?” it says, and the pressure in the air around you spikes uncomfortably. Your head feels as though it's caught in Merich's tongs, and your knees quiver for a moment as you fight to keep your composure. “Or will you tuck yourself again into the hole you crawled from?”

>>42569120
You grip your spear with a whiteknuckle grip and straighten your spine, more through sheer force of will than any muscular feat. Locking eyes with the splinter, you give the seething mass of inky horror a cocky little smile.

“Last I remember, Myoho, it was you who found a new home in a hole in the ground. Have you lost your way? I can help you find it again.”

You hear Boand snort with laughter from the mirror. The Splinter narrows its eyes.

The monster's frame flickers, and you bring up Modi's spear in time to stop his advance, but just -barely-. Claws dripping with virulent indigo poison clash against the wooden haft of your weapon, questing digits only inches from gripping your skull. You feel the ground splinter and crack beneath you.

“I will enjoy feasting on you.”

>100

“Feast on this.”

The spear in your hand shudders and cracks, liquid bronze leaking from the fissures that open in the wood. The White Claw roars with otherworldly flame, and the now-familiar thrum of tearing, rotating teeth sends a palpable wave of force outward. The Magus recoils, and you press his momentary lapse by shoving him back, swiping at him with the chain-spear's voracious teeth as Modi cackles audibly. The Splinter leaps back, giving you some much needed breathing room.

-I think it's time to show this charlatan what we can do.-

> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]
> Do your thing. I'll handle mine. [???]
> Take the lead. [???]

>>42569142
>> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]

>>42569142
Agreed

>>42569142
> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]
Gattai!

>>42569142
>> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]

>>42569142
>> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]
why are we still calling it Myoho, i.e. insulting ourself?

>>42569179
>"Evaleii Myoho is not the spirit's name, Totemist." she says, casting her gaze toward where the spiritual pressure is centered. "It is an insult in the old tongue, inferring that the one you speak to is unworthy of your time.

We're calling him worthless. When said Evaleii Myoho, he was basically calling us a 'worthless shithead'. We're just returning the favor.

>>42569142
> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]

there will be no lube.

>>42569142
> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]
HYPE

>>42569142
>> Take the lead. [???]
Because I want to know what this does.

>>42569179
If I understand right from its usage, it's not specifically "having someone call you this is an insult to them", it was just an insult he gave when we asked his name. Thus why he said it again when he saw us, he was insulting us again, not insulting himself by giving us that name. It means something like "you are insignificant", so maybe "Evaleii" is "you are" and "Myoho" is "insignificant"? Making us calling him just "Myoho" an insult in its own right, if that's the case. He called us insignificant, but we named him as such, defined him as it.

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>>42569142
> Agreed. [Weaponmaster Trance]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTQIogLBFBs

>>42569428
2edgy4me

>>42569476
https://youtu.be/o7xYEI9tUkE

“Agreed,” you tell your spear. “Like the swamp.”

The filaments of brass winding their way up your arm pulse, and you feel the Ancestral Spear liquefy in your grasp. Modi's form spreads like wildfire over yours, coating you in a second skin of brass. The liquid metal sinks into your pores as it coats you, leaving you with a hazy silver-gold halo of light.

The world around you sheds all trace of light and shadow, tracing itself into being anew in clean, sharp lines. You see past the flickering cloak of darkness that the Magus wears for a moment, staring into the hollow sockets of the twitching skeleton beneath. Threads of indigo magic puppet it aloft, and spheres of crackling shadow magics fill its ribcage, batteries that give life to its monstrous form.

>[ Modi Magni Transformation Lv. 1: Weaponsmaster]

The blade in your free hand is feather-light, and you twirl it experimentally. The winds that whip from its edge tear a perfect line from the stone beside you, sending a fine spray of rock dust into the air. A tense moment of silence passes.

“Abomination,” the Magus hisses.

“Like you have room to talk,” you retort, your voice backed by Modi's acrid tones.

Your opponent roars, making a beeline for you. A wave of black-blue fire surges at his back, a tsunami of flames set to overtake you.

You sink into a low stance, taking hold of Dawning Zephyr with both hands. The silent gales that wrap the blade howl with redoubled fury, and you await the onslaught.

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>>42569557

Two burning claws erupt from the wave of indigo flame, hurtling for your skull and ribcage. The edge of Dawning Zephyr interposes itself between them before you consciously move to raise it. You become vaguely aware of your muscles acting to swing the sword upward as wisps of golden wind surge outward from the blade, cutting a narrow corridor in the wall of encroaching flame. The walls of dark flame hurtle past you on either side, and Myoho is revealed in whole, straining against the edge of your blade. The two of you are deadlocked for another instant frozen in time, both straining to overpower the other.

-You are nothing.-

You flex your arms and -push-, and the bubble of safety around you balloons outward as Dawning Zephyr roars. The Magus struggles for a moment, then withdraws a step as the cutting gales threaten to tear his arm from its socket. You step back, swinging Ripple out on its long chain. The mirror sings in Boand's voice as it flies, swallowing the dark flame raging around you.

You can see one of the orbs of shadow magic making its way down the Splinter's arm.

> 1d100

> A ranged assault is coming. Make some space and respond in kind.
> He won't have time to get the shot off.
> Deflect it and press your advantage.
> Write-in.

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>42569586
> Deflect it and press your advantage.

Rolled 49 (1d100)

>>42569586
> He won't have time to get the shot off.
We am become speed. Speed am become us.

Rolled 66 (1d100)

>>42569586
> Deflect it and press your advantage.

>>42569586
> Deflect it and press your advantage.
if we rush him, he might just detonate it right on top of us, and i doubt we have the ranged potential that he does

Rolled 62 (1d100)

>>42569586
> Deflect it and press your advantage.

Keep up the pressure

At least we got that 75. Average rolls are average.

>>42569586
>> Deflect it and press your advantage.

>>42569557
It is kind of worrying when the horrid dark monstrosity calls what we just did an abomination. Makes me paranoid over whether joining with Modi like this is a safe thing. Especially when we're already dealing with at least one, possibly two, other forms of spiritual corruption.

>>42569680
>100
>75
i haven't rolled a crit since Shadow Quest. It is a good feel

>>42569856
Don't let him get inside your head, man. He's just calling it that because it's something he doesn't or can't understand that can actually beat him.

>>42569888
>Shadow quest
Rip in memoriam 4ever

>>42569897
Yeah, let's hope it's that. We don't do fusion very often anyway, and this is it at its lowest level. I'm probably just being paranoid.

>>42569856
What, don't you trust modi who behaves in no way a regular binding should? The modi who hates humanity in all forms? Naaah bruv we're good to go
I actually personally like modi, and am curious as to what he is precisely.

>>42569964
I mean he has no business stopping time like that.

>>42569964
>in no way a regular binding should
"Regular" just means what you're familiar with. Oysiki is most familiar with very basic bindings of lower level feral spirits.

>>42569964
Well, he doesn't behave like a Focus. But we know that there are other ways to bind a spirit into an item. It got mentioned once that you could confine a spirit and let it reach its essence out to still use its power in a limited fashion, so that's probably what he is. It explains why the White Claw remains a separate entity from the spear, he's not actually bound to the spear. He's just limited by his binding to only being able to use his powers on it unless given permission otherwise. At least, that's my theory.

The Magus actually takes a moment to -brace- itself as the orb travels toward its palm, and that more than anything else lets you know that you ought to be wary. Its legs spread wide, it thrusts one clawed hand out and a beam of utter black sprouts from its center. The ray of entropy blossoms, a sick flower that curdles the air around it, and lances out toward you with impossible speed.

You feel your bones grow warm with the potential energy that Modi invests in you.

Your left arm yanks hard across your body, drawing the Ripple back along the length of its chain. The wave-wrapped mirror tumbles gracefully through the air, dark flame still swirling in its depths. The ray of destruction quests toward you, still all too quick even to your enhanced senses. It will reach you before Ripple is in position to absorb its malignant power.

>75

You'll need to move to beam, then.

As the Ripple flies on its chain track, your right arm comes up. Dawning Zephyr lets out a screech, amplified and warped to a bubbling howl in half time, and a blade of compressed air rockets from its edge. It meets the beam head on—not potent enough by half to intercept and break the beam, but just enough to divert its course. The half-inch break in trajectory a dozen feet away from you is enough to ensure that the beam doesn't hit you dead center in the chest as it was originally aimed. It flies toward your right shoulder, -just- as Ripple passes over it, still flying on the momentum of the chain you pulled what feels like hours ago.

Unfortunately, it doesn't -quite- hit the mirror dead on.

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Osyki's face tomorrow when he goes "so, about that trade?"

>>42570210

The beam rebounds as the world snaps into full speed once more, and Ripple slams into your chest with enough force to drive you from your feet. Though the beam didn't manage to touch your flesh, you're quickly acquainted with the stone wall of a house a few dozen feet behind you. The Tyrant's Tabard does its best to disperse the spine-snapping ferocity of your landing, but you can still feel a few vertebrae groan in protest.

In the distance the reflected beam slams into a distant tower. As if a giant had swiped the structure from existence the top four floors of the building simply vanish, leaving only a cloud of debris and the stench of decay in its wake.

“Oh, shit!”

You turn to see Jun and Tybald peering around the corner of the building you've so recently become acquainted with.

“Get out of here!” you growl at them.

The Magus advances, priming another orb in the next of his four sparking palms.

>1d100

> Write-in

Rolled 69 (1d100)

>>42570229
just fuck his shit up

>>42570229
Are things on fire in the immediate area? If so, maybe try double-binding the Siren's heart to our bow, and seeing what we can do with that?

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>42570229
charge towards him using our speed boost and punch him fucking hard with our spiked gauntlets

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>42570229
We either need to get him on the defensive or let him use up his orbs. Keep Ripple handy and feign a charge.

>>42570278
I really don't think we have the time for that right now. I like the speed boosted punch idea better because we can interrupt his attack.

>>42570306
Use our boots to chase him after he goes flying and keep punching him before he can recover

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>42570229
Harry him. He loses a lot of speed while he's charging those beams. So use our superior mobility to constantly attack while staying just out of arm's reach. We've got a sword that's longer than it looks due to the wind blade, shapeshifting weapon-gloves and lightning boots. Even if he has four arms, the sheer amount of attacks we have should be able to keep him busy.

>>42570306
>>42570496
Cordia is still damaged though, I'm pretty sure punching is a bad idea.

Diarca are you an undead?

>>42570516
I thought she was only damaged by binding and unbinding too much but I could be wrong

>>42570527
No, he's a dark spirit from the void between realms. That's why we need to use the summoning circle to bring him forth.

>>42570516
Modi can shield her right?

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>42570229
Keep on moving, try to use Nocturne's Embrace and any shadows around to break his line of sight.

Use Crystfire, try to hit a joint to maximize the inconvenience of the black crystals.

If he does another serious fire attack, double-binding Siren's Heart into our Sword or Bow to turn it back on him seems like a good plan.

If we end up in melee, maybe double-binding the Maw to our Cloak would help, it'll hopefully consume his spirit energy, and those of any spiritual attacks he makes, and be more effective than the normal Mantle of the Leech due to both Magus and Thane being Shadow in nature.

>>42570565
Ooh, Thane and the Avatar of Hunger. Yeah, that would be a nasty double-bind. The howling void that hungers for blood and identity. We need to experiment with that.

>>42570542
>>42570564
I mean, we have a sword though.

>>42570593
I just feel like it's easier to transfer the energy from our speed boost into a punch at least for the first blow

You guys know rebinding takes time, right? Time that we don't have in the middle of a 1v1 fight.

>>42570677
I wasn't sure how long the LttW thing lasted, thought it was mainly good for one super attack?

Can someone post a summoning circle? i think its been long enough. i would, but im on a phone

>>42571098
No. You wait for Diarca until months have passed.

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>>42571098
I've got you fam

>>42571136
smh tbh brah

When the next beam lances out to strip the flesh from your bones and flay your soul with the fiendish tortures only shadow magic can bring to bear, you are conveniently nowhere to be found.

>95

The house you were embdeded in comes apart in a titanic explosion, sending shrapnel scattering in every direction. Down the street you roll to your feet.

Even without Modi Magni's power singing in your veins like brass blood, the combination of the Velociraptor Greaves and the Cloudwalker's Stride turns you into a bolt of living lightning. Given adequate time to prepare, you're much too quick for the Magus to hit with his orb-fueled rays of destruction. You bounce from place to place, leaping between shadows cast by the wavering firelight and the shadow of the Moon Garden's vast dome. You can feel yourself flickering in and out of sight, recalling that the last Splinter you waged war against employed the same trick against you.

Realizing that he can't draw a proper bead on you, the Magus momentarily abandons his tack of ranged bombardment. He spreads his arms out wide, four palms pointing away from his body at 45 degree angles, and behind him two pairs of enormous eyes begin to superimpose themselves in the air. You've seen this trick before, too. The translucent, draconic shape clawing its way through the ether burns in your second sight.

You're not letting him get it out into the open.

Drawing Crystfire and sheathing Dawning Zephyr in one smooth motion, you nock an arrow to the string. The inky quill lances through the air, burying itself between in one of the Splinter's shoulder joints. Confirming your suspicions, a geyser of black crystal immediately surges from between the bones within the cloak of shadow, throwing the figure momentarily off balance and ruining his concentration.

You flicker into existence beside him as he plants a foot to right himself.

> 1d100

>Sweep the leg.
> Obsidian uppercut.
> Impale the sucker.
> Write-in

Rolled 89 (1d100)

>>42571174
>>Sweep the leg.
ground and pound, niggas. we earth now and forever

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>42571174
> Impale the sucker.
So his bones count as inorganic material as far as a Basilisk cares. Interesting.

>>42571174

Sweep his leg out and punch him into the ground.

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>42571136
>>42571174
> Obsidian uppercut.
Everytime

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>>42571174
>>Sweep the leg.

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>42571174
> Obsidian uppercut.

>>42571174
>> Impale the sucker.
We have a shiny golden sword lets use it

Rolled 16 (1d100)

>>42571174
>Impale the sucker.

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>42571174
>Sweep the leg.

>>42571174
> Impale the sucker.

>>42571203
>>42569601
>>42568577
>100
>75
>89
>(you)
>the totemist dice are back in force tonight
Sorry for ruining your surprise bossfight, diarca. I guess sacrificing calf testicles really does do something for the rolls

>frag the boss from the hellzone, easy
>fail the DC for walking down a set of stairs

>>42571443
>Story of Oyski 'the prepared''s life

>>42571573
He was not prepared this once and just look at the collateral.

>>42571716
It's only been three buildings so far. That's not...too bad, I guess.

You leg lances out. Ribbons of lightning trails behind your sole as you turn you momentum sideways, hooking the Cloudwalker's Stride into the back of the Magus' knee and yanking him toward you. Modi's preternatural strength goes a long way toward overcoming the sheer physical bulk of the twelve foot tall Splinter. As he teeters back, you've already ff;ung your mometum upward, handspringing into the air over him.

“I am not the scared boy you fought a month ago,” you tell the Magus as you draw Dawning Zephyr from your side. “I will not be forced into hiding by a figment or a fragment.”

You drive your descending momentum behind the sword, plunging it downward. The edge of the Zephyr stops just above where the Magus' blackened heart would be. Two arms flung out to steady himself against the ground, one hand impaled on the Zephyr up to the hilt to stop its progress, the shadow-man below you snarls. You can see his face bubble and roil for a moment before a roar that shakes the ground around you literally bursts forth, splitting the shadows wrapping his form and exposing the polished bone beneath for a fraction of a second.

You find yourself lifted by the sheer concussive force of the exclamation, thrown sword and all away from your foe.

Pinhweeling and off balance, you do your best to twist yourself into a more favorable position. The Splinter pounces on you as you flounder, planting two hands on your shoulders to keep you in place and delivering a crushing two-handed hammer blow to your sternum.

You slam into the roof of the Moon Garden, then tumble through it as the ground gives way beneath you.

>>42571733
And a collapsing tower

>>42571744
I was counting that one. One tower and two houses, so far.

>>42571738
The pain that blossoms in your chest is incredible. For a moment, before Magni's influence claims you again, it eclipses all sense and thought. You consider that you're lucky that the Magus didn't choose to tear your heart from your chest, but the feeling of cracked ribs grating together limits the bounds of your optimism.

-Get up.-

You're in the stream. Broken crystals lie strewn in the crater of your impact.

You groan a string of oaths and expletives, scrambling to your feet. Overhead a chunk of the roof is torn away, flung into the night sky. The Magus descends, slamming into one of the raised platforms overhead. The distininct cracking sound of a death ray whines in your ears, and you scramble to raise the Ripple in time.

As it turns you, it's a moot point.

>86

A flash of color rockets past you, and the sound of blunt force trauma made manifest echoes around the ruined garden chamber. You blink. Was that a streak of...

> Red?
> Silver?
> Blue?

>>42571759
> Red?
Marisol?

>>42571759

[[*As it turns out. Be back shortly, need to recaffeinate.]]

>>42571759

>Silver?

>>42571759
>Silver?

Rolled 2 (1d3)

>>42571759
I can't choose, so the dice will do it for me.

>>42571759
>> Red?

>>42571759
> Silver?

>>42571756
Well you know how it is with towers, once one starts falling apart the further ones go down with it.
>>42571759
>Silver

>>42571759
> Silver?
We rolled an 89 and this is what happened? Was trying to stab him just the wrong choice or what?

>>42571759
> Silver?

>>42571759
> Red?
Someones gotta pick it.

>>42571759
> Blue?

>>42571823
What we should have done is just stabbed him instead of kicking then stabbing him.

>>42571823
Modi is not a lightweight.

>>42571854
And I doubt the Magus will go down like a jobber no matter how well we roll. This is a fight where we're going to take some hits.

>>42571854
Right but that seemed like a critfail. We did almost no noticeable damage to him and he fucked us up badly.

>>42571823
Given when the 89 showed up in greentext, I think the roll was for us getting backup.

>>42571759
> Red?

>>42571905
or at least how good the backup was. if it was an eight, im guessing they wouldve been swatted like a fly, adding more complications

It's difficult to be certain in the argent-splattered depths of the Moon Gardens, but you're fairly certain that was a flash of...

Silver?

You steady yourself on your feet, leaping back to avoid the chunk of falling platform plummeting toward you. A rain of feathers follows in the wake of the chunk of earth. Scraps of black and silver flutter in the breeze that surges in from the hole in the Garden's roof.

“Have at you, fiend!”

The sound of steel on bone echoes through the chamber again, a rough exchange of blows that bounces in odd directions around the inside of the dome.

The Splinter's only response is another ear-splitting roar, shaking the room around you and loosing another cloud of debris.

You leap up to another of the suspended platforms in the room in time to catch a flash of the Magus leaping out of the dome after what you can only assume is the Silver Hawk. The strange moon-touched man's boisterous laughter echoes through the night.

It appears you have a moment to catch your breath.

> Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.
> Swap out a binding. (Which?)
> Double-bind a Focus. (Which, and to what?)
> Write-in.

>>42572023
> Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.

>>42569428
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CevzIXAtX2g

>>42572023
Mother. Fucking. Silver Hawk.

>>42572023

I like this guy.

>red
maybe the girl who we met here, last thread?
>blue
maybe the king or some other noble? or maybe the girl, the Warlord's second in command?
>silver
obviously Mahvel Batman, in retrospect

>>42572023
> Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.

>>42572093
>blue
Jun. Has blue hair.

>>42572023
>Double-bind a Focus.
Thane and the Maw to our cloak, as someone suggested earlier.

>>42572093
First thing that comes to find for blue would be Saeri, but I have no reasonable justification for her being here.

>>42572093
Red could also have been Tybald. He's got red hair and he was described as wearing a red coat, as I recall.

>>42572023
> Double-bind a Focus. (Which, and to what?)
Eternal maw and razor wing in sword

>>42572023
ok this is a terrible idea and I'll regret it later
>bind maw to thane cloak

>>42572147
Putting the maw with anything has already been observed to probably be a phenomenally bad idea

>>42572023
>> Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.

>>42572187
If anyone can take it our resident spirit of who knows what the fuck and darkness probably can.

>>42572023
Maw, Heart, and Fin are unbound. Maw + Anything is dangerous at best. We could try >Heart+Bow+Basilisk

>>42572023
>Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.
keep the pressure up. hopefully moon knight won't job

maw+maw doublebind when

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>>42572216

pls no double bind
no need

>>42572023
> Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.

The maw only eat organic material.

>>42572216
When we get a second eternal maw
Also what happens when we bind it to a metal hoop I wonder...

>>42572191
Not going to risk it HERE. What else do we have on us, we could try another blind bind with either the Siren or Maw

Hey guys I've got a great idea!

We should combine the Maw with Modi's focus!

>>42572023
> Take a moment to center yourself, then pursue.
Not the time to experiment.

You can hear the sounds of the inferno crackling above as you take a moment to steady your climbing heart rate. Modi's impressive magics are already numbing the pain nesting in your ribs to a nicely tolerable dull throb. In the distance, the Hawk's laughter is barely audible. You're not sure if he chose an excellent moment to interrupt through careful planning or sheer dumb luck, but you're grateful either way.

-We cannot afford another blow like the one we were dealt.-

“You're telling me,” you say, spitting a gob of white-red onto the grass at your feet. “You're not the one who has to live with it once we're done here.”

-We'll focus on the living part of that first. With the Hawk in the fray, we may be able to afford taking a more ranged approach to this encounter.-

“Maybe,” you mutter. You take one more deep breath, then crouch. “I just hope Eluneia's champion isn't getting painted across the castle walls.-

You can feel Modi's amusement at the idea as you leap upward, surging through the ruined dome of the Gardens.

The heat of the fire hits with a slap to the face as you return to the town. The noble's quarter of Eluneia is awash in flames of orange and indigo in almost equal measure. You hone your senses and are rewarded nigh instantly with the clank of mailed boots. Turning, you see the Hawk touch down in an alleyway between two as of yet unruined homes.

“Ho, friend!” he calls, approaching you at a jog. “I thought it was you! I espied you when you first entered fair Eluneia Alasta--”

His longwinded introduction is cut short as the house to his left explodes off of its foundations, slamming into the house to his right.

The Magus withdraws his twinned fists, shaking a fine sheen of rubble from his claws. You draw a bead on the beast, readying yourself to fire and hoping it takes more than a small mansion to put an end to a chosen of the moon.

> 1d100

> Fire for his knees.
> Center of mass.
> Feint a shot, then dash in.
> Write-in

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>>42572263
Visual representation of how good of an idea that is.

>>42572263
Why don't we just unbind modi altogether?
NO!

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>42572319
>Fire for his knees.
The Knees!

>>42572023
> Double-bind a Focus. (Which, and to what?)
Crystal Scale and Siren's heart into Mask

Rolled 39 (1d100)

>>42572319
>> Center of mass.

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>42572319
> Fire for his knees.

>>42572330

We are just wrecking his shit.

>>42572330
Real fucking nice man

>>42572319
Kneecap

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>42572319
>> Fire for his knees.
break the metal skellies mobility, and we keep its movements to a small area, keeping casualties to a minimum

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>>42572330
He used to be an adventurer

>>42572330
>>42572352
Indeed

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>>42572352

>>42572352
>>42572367
>>42572373
Kill yourselves

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>42572319
>> Fire for his knees.
>an arrow to the knee meme

Who's in a betting mood?
I bet that our noble friend that we met in the commoner's bar, Tybold, is the Silver Hawk.

>>42572409
what? nonsense! they look nothing a like. Tybold wears glasses.

>>42572409
hahahahaha

this nigga got it in one

>96

Distracted as he was by the nation's befeathered champion, the Magus hardly has time to react as you launch another barbed quill from Crystfire. Any number of factors could contribute to the way he spectacularly fails to move out of the way. The light from the curtain of fire certainly aided in hiding the matte black projectile. The flickering shadows that Nocturne's Embrace nests in compound that matter. Perhaps some of the dust from the most recently ruined estate got in one of his many eyes.

Or maybe he's beginning to slow down.

He's certainly slowed as the needle of poison lodges itself in his kneecap, sprouting a jagged cyst of reflective black stone that flows like water between the tibia and the patella. You hear him let out a very human grunt of surprise.

The next arrow slams home in the monstrosity's chest. The one after that lances past him, creating a nicely pointed spire of crystal for him to stagger and fall into. The glassy protrusion shatters into myriad tiny splinters of ludicrously sharp shrapnel. A fitting cushion.

As if to add insult to injury, the house so recent evicted from its mooring is unceremoniously shoved -back-, slamming into the pinned shadow mage with the force of an angry bull. You watch him clatter across the cobblestones like a sack of angry hornets.

“... and I knew that I had to make your acquaintance!” the Hawk finishes, apparently entirely undeterred by the abode dropped in his lap. “Well met, in any case.”

From his prone position on the ground, the Magus wraps himself in an orb of indigo flame. You're wary, but you've seen that particular technique used defensively in your previous fight.

You may have turned the tide.

>1d100

> Keep peppering him with Basilisk Quills.
> Approach while he's getting his bearings. Dawning Zephyr will slice right through that sphere.
> Bait him into a mistake by making pleasant small talk with the Hawk.
> Write-in.

Rolled 94 (1d100)

>>42572485
> Approach while he's getting his bearings. Dawning Zephyr will slice right through that sphere.

Rolled 41 (1d100)

>>42572485
>Bait him into a mistake by making pleasant small talk with the Hawk.
Bait Masters!

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>>42572495
It just doesn't stop.

>>42572485
>Bait him into a mistake by making pleasant small talk with the Hawk.
Ask him if he's Tybold.

>>42572485
> Approach while he's getting his bearings. Dawning Zephyr will slice right through that sphere.

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>42572485
> Keep peppering him with Basilisk Quills.
FUCK YOUR SHIT ASSHOLE!

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>42572485
> Approach while he's getting his bearings. Dawning Zephyr will slice right through that sphere.
> Write-in.
"Yes, likewise. Care to pummel a monstrosity with me?"
And then we bring him with us to double-team Myoho so that he doesn't get a chance to get back up.

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>>42572495
poor diarca. All he wanted was a team-up with the cities defenders, but we had to come along with our great rolls and constantly fuck it all up for him

>>42572485
>Smalltalk: Tybald, is that you?

>>42572531
Eh, I don't know, it seems like great rolls only seem to barely mitigate poor choices though I'm still not sure what choices are good or bad. Like how many rounds have we been hitting this guy, and how bad would things go if we rolled below a 50 for one of these rounds?

>>42572574
To be fair, I don't think it's a matter of good or bad choices so much as it is a question of sheer difficulty. Diarca hinted that this splinter was more powerful than the last, and the last time we went up against the Magus we had the spirit of the entire forest backing us up. For fighting this one mostly on our own, I think it's reasonable to assume good rolls are necessary to hold our own.

>>42572574
>if we rolled below a 50
Thats when a silver/red/blue flash would come in and kick Myoho, therefore equalising the playing field. We just fucked up his encounter by never rolling below 75

>>42572531

[[If I didn't want this to happen I wouldn't have called for rolls in the first place! I know how /tg/ dice work. Writing shortly.]]

>>42572531
Honestly, I keep expecting HMQ's JJ to suddenly appear, hanging on Boxcar Joe's couch, whenever we critfail something. It's always hilarious, and done on things of a similar magnitude.

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You waste no time. You need to end this fight quickly. One more mistake and you'll be out of options. You dart forward with all the speed Magni can force into your limbs, taking off like a loosed arrow toward the dome of indigo flame.

You know that the marble of blue-black malevolence can be solid. Magni's rock-body hammering away at the tiny marble was barely enough to break through.

But if you can break the enchantment, you reason, you don't need the strength of a mountain.

You land boot-first against the shell of the indigo orb. The impact sends a pulse of actinic white racing along the contours of the barrier. Through minute gaps in the wrap of flame, you can see the Splinter climbing to his feet. You can taste copper on the back of your tongue as Magni's filaments visibly erupt from beneath your skin, shining threads straining in the weird half-light to coil every possible ounce of strength into your sword arm.

>94

You grip Ripple by the nacre wave design, thrusting the surface of the mirror against the steely wall of fire. The stylized waves framing the mirror contract tight around its surface as the charm repeals the dark barrier, sending sparks of negative light flickering in every direction. The Magus looks up, four eyes almost comically wide as you loose a vicious sweep of Dawning Zephyr into the enclosed space of his barrier of flame. Magni pours his all into empowering your arm, and a howling golden dragon unravels itself from your blade, pouring itself into the prison of black flame.

>>42572920
Once the infuriated Skyscythe's aura is properly unleashed, you withdraw the mirror and rebound away. The barrier snaps shut as you pull the Ripple away from it leaving the Magus trapped in a tightly confined space with what one might charitably describe as an infuriated serpentine razor blade.

“So,” you say to the Hawk as you land near him. “Tybald, right?”

The figure in shining mail balks. “Wh—seriously?”

The results are predictable, but oh so satisfying. Flashes of golden light shine through the rapidly growing cracks in the Splinter's shell of shadow magic. By the time your foe has regained the presence of mind necessary to dispel the barrier, his guise of shadow has been fairly torn to ribbons. Scraps of indigo flame and shadow hang from the skeleton's frame like torn cloth and frayed lace. One of the Splinter's eyes has dimmed, flickering fitfully.

> 1d100

> Roll to end this before any more of the city comes apart around you.

Rolled 43 (1d100)

>>42572937

Rolled 83 (1d100)

>>42572937

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>>42572937
>Wh—seriously?

>>42572937

Rolled 38 (1d100)

>>42572937

>>42572937
>To Tybald: "Kept ya waitin', huh?"

>>42572937

"Begone Evaleii Myoho" don't forget the pre-mortem taunt.

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>>42572937
>this fight

>>42572937
begone, peasant.
To tybald-'lucky guess'

>>42573028
We saved most of it. It's only the noble's quarter of the city that caught fire. And that one tower at the edge of a city collapsed when we mis-deflected a beam. Okay, and we put a hole in the roof of their most sacred temple. Fine, so maybe it was pretty disastrous. But less of it was destroyed than would have been if we hadn't defeated the Magus splinter, so I'm still counting this as a victory.

>>42573079
If things are still on fire after we finish off the Splinter, we should probably help deal with that. It'd be polite.

I imagine that Song of the Deep could shoot all the heat of a fire up into the sky.

I can't wait for the other spirits&the elders back home to chew Osy's ass when they hear that he leveled a portion of the city on the 1st day he went there.

>>42573175

I'm not sure we'll have the stamina for anything else other than not passing out.

>>42573184
Maybe if we shift our bindings around enough, no one will notice?

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>mfw, pretty much this entire thread

Wouldn't be Totemist Quest without Diarca's narcolepsy.

Zzzzzzz

>>42573228
Yeah, it's always fun when Osyki gets in a big fight. Nothing like reminding everyone around that he was trained by Ayren fucking Overwake, and he's nothing to mess with. Which reminds me, what's Osyki's last name? I know people in our village have those, despite the lowered cultural values we have for parent-child relationships, because I remember Thane freaking Quinn out once by using his full name despite never having been told it.

>>42573201
It may be one of the few times Magni would let his murder boner swing freely for all the world and this moon goddess to see, I'm not sure I want to denie him that pleasure

>>42573322
I don't think we ever got our last name out.
Tough Collateraldamage sounds about right

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Rolled 95 (1d100)

Rolled 78 (1d100)

>>42573365
A splended roll sir

>>42573310
>falling asleep right when we're about to finish this guy off
not cool

>>42573419
this you first time with diarca?

i dunno i think the rampant narcolepsy is cute

>>42573419
>>42573437

So does he just pass out at the computer or does he drag himself to bed?

>>42573479
Pass out at the computer.

You slam Dawning Zephyr into its sheath at your side. The Hawk moves forward with his lance brandished, clearly intent on aiding you in finishing off the tattered remains of the Splinter, but you throw an arm up to stop him. He stares at you for a moment, his expression unreadable behind the silver armet he wears. Then he relents, planting his spear in the ruined cobblestones and leaning against it.

You advance on the Magus. You don't leap trailed by lightning. You don't slink from shadow to shadow. You don't even run. You stride purposefully toward the Splinter as it raises an arm. At first you think it's a defensive gesture, but the final cluster of orbs rolling like loosed marbles down the pathways in the monster's arm quickly dispel that suspicion. Your Basilisk Crystal shards jammed in odd places along the length of the splinter's arm slow the passage of the orbs enough.

Enough for you to make a statement.

The liquid stone of your gauntlets flows outward, meticulously crafting a pair of hooked barbs to extend from the edges of your fists. You draw a thin golden filament from your shirt, holding it up for the Magus to see as you approach.

“See this?” you shout. “It's a link. A tie that binds.”

You draw the Siren's Heart from your robes.

“A link to the World Without. A link to the past.”

You wrap the glowing Heart in the chain, then squeeze both tight in your gauntleted fist.

“A link to my master. To my home. To my future.”

The orbs collect one by one in the Magus's palm. An orb of crackling hate unfurls, runic mandalas flickering to life in the air around him.

“You can't break that chain, Evaleii Myoho. No shadow magic or ancient pact can tear it asunder. This is the chain that will bind you.”

>>42573502
Oh shit, this is going to be a good one.

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>>42573502

Your gauntlets erupt with veins of glowing ruby light. You can feel the heat slowly spreading up your arms as the Siren's Heart suffuses itself in your gloves, drinking up the heat of the air around you, of the flames that still lick the ground.

“You had your chance to end this when I shattered you the first time.”

You can feel pinpricks of radiance along your arms as the Siren's eyes open one by one, studding the Obsidian Touch. The ground begins to splinter around the Magus, chunks of rock floating into the air.

“You could have stayed hidden. Forgotten about the girl, the village. But you made your choice.”

“Enough!” the Magus roars. “Enough of your speeches! You are a -boy-. You cannot lecture me!”

The ground beneath you burns with shuddering shadows as you close the remaining gap with a pulse from the Cloudwalker's Stride, flashing across the few remaining feet in the space of a breath. The Splinter's wavering arm rests on your shoulder, palm pointed toward the city beyong.

“I understand,” you tell him quietly. “What would a splinter know about being bound to a whole?”

>83

You shove your shoulder upward as the Splinter roars, sending the tree-thick beam of sheer hatred lancing into the night sky. The blowback of the beam is enough to send your hair whipping in a halo around your head. Nocturne's hood falls from your head. Your arm comes up, wreathed in molten magmic fury, and lifts the hulking shadow monster before you up by the throat.

“You've been broken since the moment you drew breath.”

(cont.)

>>42573527
>>42573502
Huh, still doesn't seem quite safe for Cordia.

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>>42573527

You squeeze, and as you do the ground beneath the splits opens wide. A yawning chasm of fiery red and gold sends cracks spiderwebbing through the ruined streets. You hold him a moment longer, then release him. Your free arm comes up in a vicious uppercut, and as you make contact a plume of molten rock erupts from the depths of the earth, a wave of molten magma that washes over your foe as he curves through the air away from you.

The blasts retreats into the earth as quickly as it came, and the crack before you seals with only a splatter of black to mark its passage. For a moment you can see the shadows and magics stripped away. A very human skeleton fails in the air, one bony hand still outstretched.

The Magus hits the ground in front of you as a solid black skeleton. The impact with the ruined street shatters him to dust.

You exhale slowly, unclenching your fists. The eyes that dot your arms close one by one, and you can feel the heat recede from your palms. The air suddenly strikes you as very cold.

The fires in the Garden Plaza are extinguished.

“Osyki?” the Hawk calls.

“Tybald...”

> I think it's time for me to go home.
> Sorry about the mess.
> Thanks for the assist.
> Write-in

>>42573557
>Sorry about the mess.

>>42573557
>Sorry about the mess.
>Thanks for the assist.

>>42573557
>> Sorry about the mess.
>> Thanks for the assist.

>>42573557
>Thanks for the assist.
>Sorry about the mess.

>>42573557
> Sorry about the mess.
> Write-in
"Between the show I gave your scouting soldiers, how I arrived here in Eluneia, and now this, I'm afraid I'm going to garner a bit of a reputation.

>>42573557
>Write-In

"Again, not great on city life. Is this going to hurt my meeting with the King, or help? Nice moves, by the by."

>>42573557
> Sorry about the mess.
> Do you think the party is still going?

Osyki could use a drink after all that. And it could have gone way worse.

>>42573557
I'd rather not go home already, but I'm not sure if we're currently capable of fixing this place up. And they might want us to leave.

So I'm going to do a wild guess now and say that both Tybald and Jun are the Silver Hawk. That they do some Firestorm-style fusion to make one champion.

>>42573582
Ha, yeah that sounds pretty good.

>>42573557
> Sorry about the mess.
> Thanks for the assist.
brofist

>>42573595
probably a bad idea, given what he just saw.

>>42573557
>> Sorry about the mess.
>> Thanks for the assist.
...
> I think it's time for me to go home.

>>42573557
Figure there'd be any point to sweeping up the Magus-dust? Or is all the magic pretty thoroughly drained out of it by now?

>>42573601
We do make a rather intimidating figure right now. A man of living bronze and steel, wearing armor crafted from scales and cloaked in darkness. Lightning crackles about our feet, and our hands blaze with the fiery eyes of a beast of the deep earth. We are fucking metal as hell and I love it.

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[[Okay folks. Will continue next thread with "Sorry for the mess" and "Thanks for the assist." Now it is time for me to drag myself to bed before I actually do pass out on the keyboard.

Thanks for playing, as always. Feel free to drop questions or suggestions into my ask box, and have yourselves a great week.]]

>>42573739
That's fine. We just had a pretty awesome scene, I am more than satisfied with the thread ending here. Thanks for running, Diarca. This was a great one. See you next time.

>>42573739
Thanks for running.

>>42573739
Thank you for running, that was a great boss battle.

>>42573739
thanks for the run

Anyone else REAL excited to see how well the Siren and Cordia play together?

>>42573828
Doubt it'd work but can you imagine how fucking strong Cordia and Boand would be since their main directive is mainly "protect Osyki"?

>>42573869
'protection with rocks' and 'talk pretty' are pretty opposite ends of the spectrum, to me

>>42573899
I don't know, Earth and Water are often considered to be allied elements. It's just a matter of finding what a binding that's compatible to both of them. I think putting them together in something like the mirror would work well. Cordia brings Earth's solidness to deflect force, Boand brings Water's adaptability to deflect spiritual energy. Together they could block anything.

>>42573828
I mean, when we summoned it forth, it mainly just creeped everyone out, and seemed too alien to even be considered an animal. Combine that with Cordia being weak, and while I hope she's not injured more, she's probably not having a great time.

>>42575746
I figure it could probably help her through giving her spirit energy or whatever

When we get a chance, we should check in with the spirits of all our new focii. Even though they're probably not sapient, can't hurt to try.

Also how did we guess it was Tybald? I never put those dots together.

>>42575985
I think he seemed kind of Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent ish?

So metagaming/intuition/lucky guess.

>>42575985
>>42578697
As the person who guessed it, my logic was basically "This is a nobleman who acts contrary to other nobles. He's in a position of public office and is apparently important and influential. He seems relatively unphased by Osyki's various eccentricities. The Silver Hawk showed up to help us right when we needed it most. The Silver Hawk is boisterous and charismatic, much like Tybald."

I didn't have any concrete evidence but I felt like it was a pretty safe bet.