6229/The Minstrel's Ballad: Gaius's Ambition

The Minstrel's Ballad: Gaius's Ambition
Date of Scene:	19 December 2018
Location:	Shrine of Adversity
Synopsis:	The Wandering Minstrel spins a yarn of the fall of Ultima Weapon, told in a way only Yoshida-san can, and the Adventurers get pulled right on in.
Cast of Characters:	6843, N'raha Tia, 6756, Tomoe, Seifer Almasy, Inga, Solty Revant, 1149

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Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
Gathering in the Shrine of adversity was a Wandering Minstrel, a man known in Eorzia as an amazing musician.  His stories seemed so lifelike, his tales so amazingly detailed that you felt you were right there, next to the heroes you heard stories of.  Also known to have spoken to the heroes of the tales he weaves, though perhaps...embellishing on some details.  

After all, nobody wanted to know about the forty-eight rats you slew to get to the true epic fight...only of the epic fight itself.  Tonight, it was a story of the Hero of Light of Eorzia, and their battle with the Ultima Weapon...or more specifically, the Ambition of an Imperial, a man known as Gaius van Baelsar.  The man who discovered the weapon. The man who brought it to the shores of Eorzia.

The man who demanded the surrender of all of the city-states.  

As you gather around, a man with brown hair, a black mask over his face stands.  His outfit mostly black, with a red overcoat and a white skirt-like dress over his hips.  In his hands was a harp, starting to pluck the strings, perhaps as to tune it.

"Come hither my friends, gather around for a tale of a would-be crown.
When our hero, protector of the realm
Must first fight through squalls, chaotic and unending
Through a firestorm, ambitious and ingenious
Through trembling earth, frenzied and unwavering.
Here the lady of the vortex makes her final stand, here the warrior of light must needs to shield the land."

You could feel yourself fall into the story.  You can imagine the squall that surrounds you.  The storm that aimed to threaten you all.  There were no more protections against it.  In the Center stood a bird-like woman, radiating magical energy.  It seems that she was battle worn, but so were you.  After all, you had been battling her for a while.

Just before, a dirty trick she used, using crystals and prayer from the helpless and scared beastmen of other Tribes.  And because of this, and because of the threat YOU represented, the three created a temporary alliance.

The relentless wind, the scorching earth, and the quaking earth would be your opponent.  As a large beast like figure, demonic by appearances named Ifrit would stand on one side.  On the other, a massive living man, almost as if he himself were made of adamantine and stone stands.  His expression full of rage...

However, encouraged by this plan and the flow of prayer and Ether, the woman, Garuda, laughed.  It would appear, she would fight first, again, catching her second wind.  As you approach her, the gale itself whips out at you, aiming to throw you back into the storm itself.

However, as the battle rages, as you throw yourselves at her, around the battlefield, two...copies of Garuda appear.  The gale protects them from attack, but they seem to...focus on a person directly.  Where that person, they follow...and you can see magic surround them, preparing a spell.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    There's a sigh from N'raha as he's once again pulled into The Narrative spun by the Wandering Minstrel. How many times had this happened back home? Too many to count. The Minstrel liked to hang out downstairs, after all, and it was hard to avoid the constant refrains that he sung to patrons.
    The embellishments.

    The... liberties.

    And thus he finds himself once again in front of Garuda, his faithful companions at his back. His rather... fancy magitek axe in his hands. Gone is the plain and staid armor he ACTUALLY wears, and instead, the catman is bedecked in the fineset gear that the Garlond Ironworks can turn out, all angles and shimmering energy, and bells and whistles. The visor of his helmet snaps shut as the attacks come in, and a speaker crackles on the suit. "RIGHT! Get behind me, everyone! Be careful! Watch out for Inga there, she's our primary healer! Keep her safe!"
    "HA! COME, YOU SALTY BIRD, TASTE COLD STEEL AND SPIN YOUR WINDS NO MORE! TILL THE SEA SWALLOWS ALL!" And with the battle cry, the catman tank is diving RIGHT IN, a withering blast of energy lancing out, and battering at one of the clones, trying to get its attention as he wades in, axe swinging.

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Is that what they call "roleplay," Stella ponders.

    It's not what she expected when she heard a bard would regal them with tales of epic battles and extraordinary foes. Of course she had been interested in that - battle is one of the rare things she feels 'comfortable' about, and she's not so ignorant as to not know what a bard is. Her king had several!

    It's just, the beats of music never...
    Well, she's crystal. Sounds make her vibrate weird. Not uncomfortably, just... weird. But certainly not as pleasant as it is to human ears either.

    But this man, evidently, is such a magician of music that he can create images from his voice, and Stella is left entirely taken aback by the idea someone could so vividly picture themselves in a situation like this. It's interesting. A bit confusing, but she'll adapt.

    The violent gale chips away at Stella's skin and clothes, cracking the golem's appearance slightly. As quickly as her outer layer cracks, however, the wounds mend themselves, crystaline growth filling the gaps right back up.

    N'raha goes for one clone, Tomoe claims the other - Stella goes for the Big Lady herself, blades of crystal bursting out of her wrists and settling into her hands like swords.

    "I do not know how I feel about this," she finally vocalizes.

    At least the simplest solution seems viable. Stab Garuda in the face and keep her attention, because Stella was trained to protect. And kill. Mostly kill. But knights protect people, and so, she does.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe was not expecting a call like this and after getting a keen reminder on why she sees Lezard as one of the most dangerous Mages she's ever seen. When the odd call from a WAndering Minstrel went out the Iron Lily was very curious to investigate also given she's heard something about this man from Eorzia as well? What could it hurt at the shrine she wants to see if it was true about his stories?

She rapidly finds out yes this man can make it seem to come to life, he can do what Heathcliff killed so many to do he can craft his own story in a world that the people experience.

N'Raha had experience killing the real deal so she will listen to him on this fight he'd what would be called a Raid Caller within the GU.

She al see Inga is there a hell of a lot of wind she sees the hulking creature before her. It's also like Christmas for her is early? Why Krusty and N'Raha are here two people she trusts to tank with so they should be interesting.

"Inga keep behind me and if you hear N'Raha bark and order follow it! He knows these things."

SHe notes she'll pop a number of her defence buff abilities and will also pop one on Inga, to give the caster some more cover.

"When this is over I need to ask you a favour of you. My Norse is ... terrible..."

She notes and given her chanting for her buffs, ya it's pretty much true, and then she's after the clone trying to keep it's attention all on her even as the Winds buffet the heck out of her.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer outright ignores N'Raha's chatter. It's not necessary. He's into the story, now, really *really* into it. This is a man who got so lost in his own dream of glory he decided to make the world bend to his will. A man who got so lost in the fantasy he sought, he learned how to kill gods just to make it come true, a fantasy so ridiculously outlandish that anyone else would call it madness. Even if madness and genius are near align'd, Seifer Almasy's capacity for blurring that thin line is such that even if the minstrel didn't have such magical talent, Seifer would *still* be lost in the godslayer glory. He doesn't need magic to get lost in a fantasy.

     It helps, though.

     Seifer also pays exactly no attention to the rest of the party. He's got his gunblade slung over his shoulder. For once, he's not wearing his white coat - or, rather, it's slung over the other shoulder, fluttering like a cape as he walks forward. His green eyes flash. There's a grin on his face. His muscular arms are covered in scars, and his stomach - visible in the gap between his black belly-vest and his black pants - is heavily muscled. Seifer is a man who takes determination to an absolutely ridiculous level; this body is proof of that.

     The burst of wind hits with enough force to push Seifer backwards. He doesn't lose his footing, though. He simply doubles down, grinding his feet into the ground. His coat flaps about him furiously. He holds to it tight, the red cross on the arms flying defiantly, a symbol of that romantic dream he's armed himself with.

     "Tch!"

     "Motherfucker!"

     Seifer pushes through. The wind is cutting. It's harsh. It's sharp.

     Seifer's blade is sharper.

     Hyperion slashes off his shoulder, carving through a gust. The break in the strike is sharp enough to cut the ground behind him on either side. He raises his blade back to his shoulder. "Hah. Asshole. Wind can be cut too."

     "And you aren't the first god I've killed!"

     N'Raha gives orders.

     "Fuck you," Seifer says aloud, "I'll go where I want. Don't try and give me orders!"

     As N'Raha goes running forward to claim one of them, Seifer falls in with Stella. "Hey, new girl!" He barks, "Ignore that cat guy for now! Let's pile on the damage!"

     Hyperion matches time with Stella's stabbing. Each slash comes with an explosion, a shaking burst of vibration that cleaves through metal and rock alike. And Seifer is *really good* at using it.

Inga has posed:
A good storyteller brings you into the story. The characters become real to you. They tug on your heartstrings. The action makes her pulse race, eager to know what happens next. It should be an experience that takes outside of yourself.

But this was a /bit/ ridiculous.

She's rather startled to find herself within the story, facing Garuda--specifically a clone of Garuda, thrashing at her with strong winds that knock her back painfully. "W-what is going on?" she cries, looking toward N'raha. At least he seems to understand what is happening. Battle it is, then, and as he said, she's apparently the primary healer. "By the gods," she groan, and looks up toward Garuda.

Her third eye tingles. She expands her awareness, looking toward the nearest Garuda--there, what is that? There's a shimmering line drawn between them... a swirling of wind in a circle around her. Inga looks puzzled, but its not a far stretch of logic to assume she should MOVE.

Inga rolls out of the circle. It would take too much time to get to her feet. It's not exactly elegant, but hopefully it works. Once she thinks she's free, she uses her staff to help pull herself to her feet. She probably /could/ fight sitting down, but she'd prefer not to!

Now that she's on her feet, she looks toward Tomoe, nodding. "Very well! I will do so!" she replies. If Tomoe is covering her, Inga can help out others with her own wards. As she knows N'raha will be getting into the thick of things, she draws her knife and drags it quickly into her palm, throwing a blood-ward in his direction. And since she's bleeding already... she lets the blood pool in the air, solidifying to form a wicked looking spear.

She flings her arms forward with a shout and sends the spear flying toward Garuda.

Solty Revant has posed:
     What child-like young person could resist epic story time! But, Solty wasn't expecting all of this! The minstral starts relating the tale and Solty blinks as it seems to come alive. "Oh wow! It's like some kind of re-enactment! So cool!" she says overly excitedly. But, she looks a bit scared as things progress and three big monsters approach them. Her twin green ponytails whip in the galeforce winds, and she ends up covering her ears against the howling storm. "This is really loud!" she exclaims to no one in particular.

     Then that burst of wind gusts out toward them and Solty's expression suddenly changes to serious. Her arms come up in an x-block and the wind breaks over her with minimal effect. There's some scuffs on her arms, but nothing serious. "Hey! That wasn't very nice!" she calls out asshe rushes toward the big baddie. She blinks as she realizes...she is in a different outfit! Over-elaborate robes with lots of unnecessary buckles and straps, all colored white and red and gold. Silvery pauldrons cover her shoulders and thick armored gauntlets with spiked knuckles are on her hands! "Oh wow!" Solty exclaims with a child-like giggle. She watches her robes flutter as she rushes forward, then focuses on Garuda. "Okay! Here I come!" Her fists start to glow with orange-yellow energy and anyone paying close attention would notice that her fists seem to actually blur like they are vibrating incredibly fast. She leaps and spirals her way in and throws a powerful punch packed with explosive energy, then bounces back a short distance before landing in a three point stance.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty had heard rumours of the bard in the Shrine of Adversity, so had decided to visit and see for himself the supposed ability of the man. Krusty has known a number of bards in his time. One of his own Lieutenants utilizes the class to an impressive degree. But the rumours he had heard of this one suggested an even greater power of song. And that had piqued Krusty's curiosity.

    The Adventurer knight wanders over to the group forming around the Wandering Minstrel, beginning to listen as he plays his song. Krusty can feel his sense of reality blurring as his mind is pulled into the story, the sight of the gusting arena around him.

    Krusty reaches up to wipe the sweat from his face beneath the horned helmet. The mix of leather and metal armour is heavy on his shoulders, but he's used to the feeling. As the blast of wind launches at them, Krusty swins his large axe and embeds it in the ground, struggling to hold his ground as he is pushed back. The sharp cutting wind scrapes across his armour harshly, but soon enough passes and Krusty rises once more.

    Holding back from resuming the attack just yet, Krusty takes in the situation. N'Raha is taking the lead as tank, some of the others moving to support him. And of course Seifer is being Seifer and just going off on his own. Krusty tchs at the familiar annoyance.

    Krusty then smirks.

    Perhaps he can use the other knight's recklessness to his advantage. Krusty raises his axe and then charges in on Garuda, right on Seifer's tail. Krusty capitalizes on Seifer's attack and the opening it presents, sweeping in shortly after him with a battlecry and massive blow from his large axe.

    Expecting a counterattack, Krusty jumps away from Garuda after his assault, before chuckling in Seifer's direction, "Thanks."

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
Garuda laughs as the storm takes you. It is a dangerously close game for some, as the wall of wind around the arena threatens to consume you, but you are heroes of light, warriors without peer.  You fear no wall and no primal!

N'Raha is into the fray, swinging the ax as he charges through the wind without fear.  Steel meets claw, but despite his determination, her claws just NARROWLY hold out his steel.  She does not come unscathed for it, but her body escapes the worst of it.  Tomoe goes in with N'Raha, as well, her weapon swings to taunt the mighty primal, apparently engorged on prayer and crystal.  Once more, the winged fallen angel manages to just keep ahead of his mightiest blows, her talons catching the weapon...but the pain that reverberates through her is not insignificant.  

The sword of Stealla comes next, trying to swing for the beautifully inhuman face of Garuda.  However, she remains just NARROWLY ahead of her, while her face still resembles a face, a cut above her brow remains, drawing the first blood of this fight.  Seifer joins in with her, aiming to swing Hyperion to catch a hit on the slippery bird.  However, this time the Primal is ready, her eyes flashing with intent as her talons strike against Seifer's blades, as the very WIND itself acts as a giant cutting blade.  While she does not hurt him, he does not find purchase on him.  

Solty works together with Inga's spear, the pair working together to bring the monster down.  Thanks to all of the attacks before, Garuda's hands are LITERALLY too full to defend too much against them.  Solty's fist smashes through the defense of the Primal, smashing her back.  Only to find a spear bearing down on her.  The Primal's eyes flash up in surprise before she takes the spear to the side.  A nearly fatal blow, but painful nonetheless.  

Krusty himself dives forward, right on Seifer's tail aiming to, perhaps, use him to break the wind and make his attack faster?  The Axe, which is normally a tank weapon, raises and comes down at the already pummeled Garuda.  Cutting through her defense and getting another satisfying SQUAK out of her.  

Garuda, now in pain, and now bloodied, starts to laugh.  Inga realizes the wind around her is dangerously starting to spin.  With her reflexes, she quickly tries to dodge roll out of it...and away from everyone else.  Tomoe, on the other hand, joined int combat with everyone else.  A tornado around him forms, aiming to swallow them up and smack them into everyone else in melee with Garuda.

Garuda vanishes and then comes down like a rocket from the sky in the middle of the arena.  around her, feathers fall from the sky.  There are two types of feathers, oddly, and each one moves to attack people.  Though their attacks are hilariously ineffective.  There are two types of Plumes, the majority of them are Razor Plumes.

There are also Satin Plumes.  There are exactly TWO of these, and they attack Seifer and N'Raha.  The other plumes go for everyone else, hilariously doing nothing but a single point of damage (if that) to anyone.  Strange!

However, Garuda herself seems to be charging up a powerful attack, as Aether around her surges to unprecedented levels!  

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Well at least some of them listened. Raha yelps as the winds rake at his armor, clash against the metal and fabric and generally do a bunch of Rude Stuff to him. That said, there's feathers everywhere ,and... well, he's remembering this now. There WERE feathers last time, but not this many, and not this many sorts of them. He growls as he shoves off against the clone, and calls out again. "Thanks for the help, Inga! Everyone! Start getting rid of the feathers! Seifer, get the one coming for you, please!"

    N'raha twists in place, ducking under a swipe of claw and wind, as he turns to dust the Satin Plume attacking him to the grass and dirt, before turning back to Garuda. He snarls, and gets right up against her, his visor opening up to show of his face, to let Garuda see the Light of Hydaelyn in his eyes. "We meet again, four bird. Tell me, do you dream, when you are gone? Is there anything in the Lifestream for you, in the times between? When you linger outside the flows of time?"
    He shoves the massive axe in his hands into the Goddess' belly, light flashing over his frame.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty is caught up in Tomoe's storm and ends up bouncing off several people as well as the ground! She finally manages to catch herself before leaping out of the storm. She ends up on one knee, wincing a bit from all the scuffs and bumps she took in that tornado. A bit of silver is visible in several places where armor or rocks hit particularly hard, puncturing her skin and revealing that she is actually an android to anyone who didn't know.

     People called out orders! Between the two orders given, protecting the one called a Healer seems the better option given the other was 'ignore that guy'. Solty runs over to put herself between Inga and Garuda. "Don't worry! We'll keep you covered as best we can!" she says to Inga before rushing in again...and trying to keep her distance from Tomoe this time.

     Her ears twitch as she hears N'Raha, then she looks toward the feather that is basically trying to tickle her. "Um...okay!" She punches the feather, then makes her way back toward Garuda, hitting any feathers along the way that come within her reach.

     When she leaps up like a rocket and aims one of her power-packed punches at Garuda's closest wing!

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Deadly winds chop at Stella. Her form cracks in places again - much larger than before. The gale cuts lines into her form like she's a big block of crystal, not people. And yet Stella stands her grounds, weathering the (literal) storm even as a slice from the wind lobs one of her ears off, bloodlessly. Crystal grows right back into place, restoring her body to pristine condition.

    Stella then looks at Seifer as plumes fall, as if looking to him for advice on how to handle this. Her instinct tells her to stab something, preferably Garuda, but the feathers are all glowy and important-looking.

    With N'Raha indicating the one targetting Seifer is important, Stella settles on taking a step away from Garudo, especially as the catman takes aggro from her. She spins, hurling one of her crystal blades for Garudo's chest like it's a projectile, and another for one of the Satin Plumes, as the cat indicated.

    "Is this normal when bards sing?" she finally asks Seifer. In her experience it really, really wasn't.

Inga has posed:
Thankfully, Inga chose to roll in the right direction to lure the attack against her away from everone else. This is good. She can, more or less, handle it. It is not exactly /fun/ but with her regeneration she continues to heal as she is hit. She may not be tough in the way the other Chosen are, but at least that still worked in her favor.

As if being hit by a twister isn't bad enough, she's soon be assaulted by a feather of all things. Still bleeding, she turns those wounds into a weapon, flinging a cloud of her own blood at the feather, turned highly acided by her magic.

Inga tosses more of her blood in healing toward N'raha, then takes in the battlefield. There's many more feathers, two that stand out as different. While most seem to have an malignant aura, the two that are different... Inga shouts out something quick on her radio, and starts moving toward one of the Satin plumes!

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer is momentarily jerked out of the dream. Caster's asking him for a present. Acknowledging the real world for a brief instant is enough to distract him, and the distraction is enough for the feathers to swarm and smash into him. Cuts scatter along his flesh. Blood streams down his face. When Seifer immerses himself back in the dream he's injured, badly.

     Krusty's doing what Krusty does and N'raha's still shouting orders. Seifer tsks.

     "Asshole! You don't need to tell me to kill something trying to kill me!"

     So he does. He turns around and he carves into the feathers, his blade flashing outwards like lightning. If Krusty wants to follow his lead, that's fine! Krusty can see how it's done. And the damn cat can-

     Stella jerks him out of the dream again. "Uh? No, not really-"

     He gets hit again.

     Dammit. He's getting distracted, unfocused.

     He needs to try something new.

     And with his coat in his hand, he can't direct his soul force. The snap is the hammer; without the snap, there's no /ignition/, no...boom. Without the boom, he doesn't really have...any way to measure it. Any way to control it. He just pours everything out.

     Then again, if he had a guide...

     Something like a barrel instead of a hammer...a machine gun...but if he fucked it up, Hyperion would be blown up. If he had something in his other hand-

     -wait.

     -he does.

     The feather comes in again. He doesn't have time to try it yet - he settles on just swinging his blade again to carve into the thing, cutting force applied to cutting force. Skill and power win out over just power any day.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe only gets the mechanic too late she is caught in a part she only catches on to it far too late as things are going bad, very bad, as worse things are going on now. She's really bored up but she wasn't quite expecting the a fight like this. It's already making some of the bosses in the death game seem like chump change.

The wind is a terrible thing Tomoe is legitly torn up badly there's wireframe damage all over her gear and body, worse she cries out in pain. She's been a noob and it nearly got everyone hurt, this isn't good, at all.

Orders come from N'Raha and she will follow them, forget the main enemy and take out the Feathers.

"Got it."

She'll start to chant and badly ion Norse, runes dance about her and she'll fire a barrage to rays of light not at the Primal but at the feathers, as all those damn feathers need to go she can only guess how bad it will go if they don't deal with it fast.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is rather focused on Garuda at the moment, but his keen Adventurer senses, plus his boss-fighting experience, alerts him to the danger presented by the tornado crashing down towards Tomoe. He doesn't have enough time to avoid it, but he can still dampen the blow, "Cool Defense!" A glowing barrier briefly forms over Krusty as the deadly winds hit. The defensive skill softens the blow, but it's still a harsh one and Krusty can feel it.

    The aura around Krusty fades after the winds of the tornado die down. He quietly chides himself for failing to see the mechanic. But that's the problem with fighting bosses for the first time. You don't yet know their moves, or how to avoid them. However, Inga seems to be in the know. Admitting her reasoning has merits, Krusty decides to not stray from Seifer's general area, using a quick sweep of his axe to cut down the more harmless feather after himself.

    Holding his ground near the fellow knight, Krusty doesn't let up on his assault against Garuda. He moves his axe around behind him, the blade of the weapon beginning to glow with light. Crying out once more, Krusty swings the axe forward, before quickly reversing his grip and bringing it around for a second swing. A cross of light forms from both swipes, before blasting its way across the gusty arena in Garuda's direction.

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
N'Raha strikes with the axe, and TINY PLUME is nothing to Axe.  The Plume is dead, and moments later, the dead plume seems to be radiating a protective aura around itself, almost like a shield.  However, Garuda sees that baleful light, her smile stolen from her.  "Soon, hated champion of light, you will see for yourself!" His Axe and her claw meet again, and like before, while she takes an appreciable amount of damage, it just narrowly avoids gutting her.  

Solty's barrage through feathers as she tears through the battlefield, being sent low by Garuda's attack.  She dives in, and once more that feathered fiend is able to roll with the punches in a manner of speaking.  While they land, she is just a touch too slippery.  Stella too, sword in hand comes in to strike, and once more the bird god is struck, but just so NARROWLY manages to roll with the blow.

Inga moves towards one of the remaining Satin plumes while burning away the feather near her, as well as the monstrous Garuda.  However, while some blood reaches her, most of it is lost in the gale force winds of the storm around them.  Seifer cuts through the feather, as the aura rolls out like before, protecting near them.  The aura continues to spread like the first one killed.

Tomoe moves to finish off the rest of the feathers, clearing them up from the field of battle.  They go down easily enough, leaving nothing remaining as the two that mattered are already dead.  Krusty too, diving around the Primal with his axe, but Garuda was too slippery this time to get a solid blow...though even then, they were bleeding her out, and her previous combat...

The spell she was channeling finishes...laughing again, she starts to raise...as a massive burst of wind strikes everything.  However, the plumes around N'Raha and Seifer protect the party, as her hurricane is turned into nothing more than a strong gust of wind.

"My power...no!" However, that was the last words she would say for now, as before she could say anything else there was a subtle change in the air.  As the wind gave change to...an inferno.  It goes from the cool storm to BLAZING hot, as on the edge of the battlefield, Ifrit appears.  The force of the Primal enough to send Garuda from the field, licking her wounds.

Now, before you is the diabolical looking Ifrit, blasting a wave of heat for all.  However, this time, strange spikes hit around the battlefield, radiating dangerously with intense heat.  

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Oh. Oh this wasn't right, this wasn't how things went at all, this...

    Narratively, of course this is how things happened, and N'raha lances out, smiling grimly as he dives for cover under the protective magics, letting the horrible winds push and shove over the barriers
    And then Garuda slinks back, skulks away like the petulant bird she is, letting the hateful flames take over. The heat is unbearable, and that viso snaps shut again, as he wades out of the now dissapating barrier. The ake lowers long enough for the catman's aether flare over, as he bolsters himself with ambient magicks in what's now the Bowl of Embers. "And now you, Lord of Flames? What damage have you wrought, what evils have you unleashed upon this Star, that you have yet to atone for? COME. Your deliverance and punishment lies with me. We shall send you back to the depths of the Void, and you can tell the Ascians I sent you! HAVE AT YOU."

    The axe comes up and around, as he calls to the group. "THE SPIKES! FOCUS ON THE SPIKES. I WILL HOLD HIM IN PLACE."

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty holds up her arms again as that heatwave washes over the battlefield. "Aaaah! S-so hot!" she says with a grimace. One of those spikes lands hear her and Solty once again follows N'raha's advice. She kicks it like one might kick a long goal in soccer, hoping to either shatter it or send it flying away. And probably earning a nice sear for her trouble. "Nnng..."

     She does the same on a few more spikes, then finally turns her attention to Ifrit himself. She runs up as fast as she can, leaving a wake up dirt and rocks like a jetski might leave a wake of water, and puts all that running power into a punch aimed at Ifrit's knee!

Tomoe has posed:
Inga drives home that N'Raha was right about the feathers, oh was he ever she doesn't want to know what would happen. She takes a good deal less damage thanks to the efforts of Seifer and N'Raha? The damage she takes is so much less than it could have been otherwise. She watches Garuda fall to their assault, yet now she stares at the demon looking thing before her and she just gets this moment of, oh what the frak is this.

She's already moving to get ready to keep fight, yet? The spikes worry her, and with N'Raha's warning? It's confirmed, get the spikes, oh god get the spikes.

Tomoe will move in with her blade and start hacking at the nearest of the spikes, she doesn't know which one is the right one but better to clear them all than to risk it.

"You heard him get the spikes!"

Inga has posed:
Inga leans into the wind, holding tightly to her staff as Garuda lets loose her wind storm. But the special feather near herself and N'raha does indeed protect them from what could have been a wind that would blow them all away. Inga grits her teeth and prepares for another onslaught from the primal, only to find Garuda retreating and Ifrit taking her place. She gawks briefly, met with a fire giant such as this. Its rather intimidating, and the air around them quickly becomes stifling. All the better reason to get this done quickly.

Inga feels that familiar vertigo sensation of a vision, and for a moment she stands still, her eyes wide and staring...when she comes back to the moment, she hears N'raha shouting about the spikes and knows exactly what he means.

Inga turns toward the nearest spike, squinting her eyes against the heat it radiates, hoping her eyebrows aren't scorching off. She reaches for her knife and again cuts into herself, allowing the blood to pool and solidify into several blood spears, which she flings one after the other at the nearest spike, her brow furrowed, eyes glowing with determination and ferocity. As soon as the spike she was aiming at was done for, she turns her attention on Ifrit. "You may know not how beings such as yourself are slain upon my world. I will give you a taste!" she cries, and raises her staff, the runes upon it's length flashing to life with brilliant, blue-white energy. The air crackles around her, humming with potential energy ready to be released.

A loud CLAP sounds as a lightning bolt manifests, striking down from above onto Ifrit.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty steadies himself against Garuda's attack, but finds it unnecessary as her power has been drained. He straightens again as the bird lady is driven from the field, to be replaced by the firery monster that is Ifrit. Krusty narrows his focus on the Primal. A boss change is unfortunate, as it means more mechanics they are unfamiliar with. But N'Raha is the one to bring the knowledge this time.

    However, Krusty is not about to leave the cat to fend of Ifrit's assaults on his own, so Krusty charges forward into range of the Primal and then plants his axe into the ground in front of him. Calling out to N'Raha he says, "I will assist!" Krusty announces another skill, "Heavy Armor Stance!"

    A chain of light manifests just in front of Krusty, before whipping out towards Ifrit. Being intangible, it passes into the large beast to temporarily restrict its movements and keep it from moving too far away from Krusty. Assuming the Primal cannot break the skill's hold on it.

    Hoping to reduce the pressure on N'Raha, Krusty then charges in and begins assaulting Ifrit with his axe.

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Oh, she's dead. That's... good?
    Stella still isn't sure how this works.

    And it didn't even stop the wind from ripping one of Stella's arms off! Rude. Crackling, prismatic crystals burst out of her shoulder to replace the lost limb, but that was still very inconvenient. And it's wasting stamina.

    Then there's another opponent; well, Ifrit and Titan had been visible from the start, so at least they were nice enough to wait until Garuda died to step in. It'd have been a mess to fight all three, right?

    Looks like there's... weird... monolith things this time. 'Nails'. They just look like nasty flaming spikes to Stella. But they do look Important!

    Stella slams her foot into the ground, and several pillars of prismaticl crystals burst out from under one of Ifrit's nails! What's more, as Inga unleashes lightning, the reflection of the lightning in the crystal spikes energizes them, and they burst into several bolts of lightning themselves.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     And now everything's on fire.

     "Fuck it, alright!"

     Of course Seifer's fine with this. His blood's hotter than the flames of Hell. Ifrit's fire is nothing compared to Seifer's boiling passion. The blaze against his skin is painful, but another slash from Hyperion cuts through fire, too. That's right, fire can be cut also. There's nothing Seifer's blade can't cut.

     The spikes stick up around them. They're burning hot. Seifer ignores them. Seifer ignores them twice as hard when N'raha shouts to get them.

     "Don't remember when you got promoted past me, motherfucker," Seifer says to the cat as he walks forward into the fire, "But you don't get to give me orders just 'cause you're loud. I'm a Hand of the Concord. You're some asshole who decided he was in charge. You wanna boss me around, you gotta earn that right."

     He strolls leisurely past N'Raha and into Ifrit's line of sight. Hyperion doesn't come out this time. He tilts his head to the side. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Let's show this damn cat how it's done."

     "Gilgamesh!"

     The giant just sort of falls out of the sky. There's a spear in one hand, and a more samurai-esque outfit than usual. Next to him is a green chicken.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     "Eh? Isn't that different? Enkidu, who is this?"

     The flying green thing just shrugs. Seifer makes a gesture. "Motherfucker, give me a Draw!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     "A...oh, I think I remember this from a long time ago. Or, perhaps, the future! Or maybe the yet-to-come! Or the never-was! It has a sort of nostalgic flavor, like something I drank a long time ago in a smokey bar. Enkidu, help me out with this!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     The chicken clucks loudly. The samurai holds up an arm and concentrates. A blue orb congeals into it; Seifer snatches it out of the samurai's hands and forces it into Hyperion's blade.

     The samurai simply watches from afar. "Hmmm, but this does feel awfully familiar...like an old coat, I- eh? Oh, sorry, Enkidu! You know how I get lost in my memories. Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer raises his blade.

                       LIMIT BREAK - CRISIS LEVEL ONE                      

                            THEATRO DE SUPERBIA                            

     The world fades out. The burning hellscape vanishes. In its place is a sprawling tournament field, the sort found in a chivalric romance. There are stands, there are banners. There are faceless knights with guns. There are empty modern clothes, invisible people with a thunderous cheer.

     Seifer stands in the middle.

     Ifrit stands on the other.

     Seifer lunges forward. His speed's gone up. His strength, too. Where he had before been fast, now he's unearthly. Where he'd been strong, he's now ridiculous. On this killing field, this superb theater, Seifer's already godlike skill is pushed to the limit. His blade is glorious and beautiful to watch, an artisan's work, a masterpiece of his craft. In moments, he's carved into Ifrit. In moments, he's on the other side, shouldering his blade.

     He waves at the royal stand, where an empty Japanese dress, fox ears, and a tail sit. Seifer blows a kiss and throws a rose to her, and the vision fades out, the hellfire returning.

     Seifer looks over his shoulder. His grin is wild. His eyes are mad.

     He didn't just seize the narrative, he *rewrote it* for a minute.

     What a powerful imagination.

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
The inferno rages, even as Raha rages against the narrative of the story.  The Minstral ignores him because of course, it didn't happen this way, he's EMBELLISHING!  Also if you don't stop complaining, he's putting this on loot master and giving the new ax to Seifer.  

However, the Axe comes RIGHT Into the face of Ifrit, however the massive fiend presses back with one of his horns, his voice etherial, but very very real.  "That baleful light will not overcome me a second time!" Solty fires her punch RIGHT into the knee of the massive form of Ifrit, however, his flames seemed to cause flash evaporation of water, dulling her blow as she tries to crack his kneecaps.  While not as heavy, it WAS doing something.  

Tomoe swings into spikes, trying to destroy them before they can empower SOME upcoming attack!  She does her best, taking out one and starting on another.  Krusty charges with Raha, trying to help him keep control of Ifrit.  His axe comes in, but Ifirit's hand comes out to catch the blade. His head swivels towards Krusty, flames pouring out of its nose.  It does not look happy.

Inga burns down more nails, aiming to try and keep them all dead before they can do whatever horrible magic they had planned.  However, this time, she aims her blood towards Ifrit, aiming to take advantage of the two tanks keeping his attention elsewhere and then hit with pure electrical magic, causing it to rear back in agony and growls in rage.  Stella outright destroys one nail, while the electrical energy surges throughout the entire arena, remaining nails go up in smoke, and Ifirt looks UNHAPPY.  

Seifer's skill impresses reality as he sees fit, the stage changes, the knightly field he imagines is impressed onto the area, instead of the raging inferno.  Ifrit on one side, Seifer on the other.  The moonlight shining down as they brawl.  Back and forth they dance, monster against Knight, but no matter how hard he struggles...Ifrit matches blade with claw, strike with armor...

Eventually, the dream is burning, as the aetherial properties try and reassert themselves.  As to give insult to injury...

Ifirt jumps away, landing in the center of the Arena.  "HELLFIRE CONSUME YOU!" he bellows out, as from him the primal seems to explode, four pillars of flame wash out in all directions.  

As the hellfire washes out, N'raha sees something happen, as if the earth beneath them starts to rumble, as strange cracks form and magma starts to spew.  The same happens with Solty, it does no damage now, but something is aiming to start bursting.  

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Awwwwww crap Raha remembers this stuff. That said, he is still the Tank and de facto party lead, no matter how much Seifer complains. Besides, he's been here before and Seifer hasn't.

    Also RED CIRCLE BAD. The catman's eyes narrow as he plants his feet, the Hellfire blast non-lethal thanks to the efforts of his companions, but it still bakes and sears at his flesh inside of the magitek armor.
    The axe comes up and around though, as he starts to maneuver around Ifrit. Not that he's moving slowly, no. He's shifting out of the pocket of incoming MURDERFIRE, and carving swings of his axe along the flank of the Lord of Flames, jabbing and poking and harassing, all the while letting the Light of Hydaelyn poison the Aether of the Eikon.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer can dodge fire. Mostly. It's not perfect - he still gets caught, still gets hit, a little bit of fire scoring across his chest. It's far less bad than it could've been, in no small part because he's really good at dodging and cutting fire.

     And then N'Raha gives him shit about it over the radio.

     'I'll just let you get murdered.'

     Like Seifer can't take care of himself.

     'By the GIANT FIRE GOD.'

     Like Seifer hasn't already killed a god.

     Seifer presses his teeth together. Like the only person keeping them alive is that guy, who decided he was in charge because he said so. Inga tries to placate with 'it's not orders, it's just advice!', but Seifer's not having any of that.

     He whirls past Ifrit.

     Hyperion comes slashing down, and it's not aiming for Ifrit, as Seifer plants himself between N'Raha and the hellish fire-god. It's aiming for N'Raha.

     "You don't!" Seifer's blade flashes.

     "Give /me/!" Hyperion comes upwards for the cat's face,

     "ORDERS!" The blade shakes as gunpowder goes off inside it, a furious, painful, cutting vibration.

     "You ain't fuckin' earned that!"

Inga has posed:
Inga watches with a degree of satisfaction as her lightning does a great deal of damage, and seems to have been empowered or piggy-backed on by Stella, causing even more destruction.

Even with all their attacks, Ifrit still stands and continues to fight back. Hellfire is unleashed, but Inga is ready to guard against it. She brings her knife up again to direct her blood, forming a quick ward around herself. It's warm, for certain, but when the fires die down she's not burned. Inga moves to make sure she isn't near one of the cracks forming in the ground, then begins to contemplate her next assault. Lightning seems to have done the trick, so she may as well keep up a good thing.

Another crack of lightning sounds, blasting toward Ifrit.

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Suddenly, there is fire everywhere.

    And it's kind of awful!

    At least the flames aren't hot enough to melt Stella, because while she can regrow from that, having her joints clump up and re-harden is a huge, huge pain. Hot enough or not, though... Hellfire is still Hellfire, and scorches the crystal golem quite badly. But where there's fire, there's... the ability to use fire?

    That's how that works for Stella.

    She flings her hands to the side, half a dozen blades of crystal forming in the air and then launching straight for Ifrit. The blades erupt into a blazing inferno on their way over, entirely reminiscent of Ifrit's own. There's even a hit of lightning in the flames, as the crystaline swords' surfaces show not just Ifrit's fire but Inga's lightning as well.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Oh. Well. That's new.

    There's a moment in time where N'raha is suddenly attacked by a party member. Now Seifer has been jabberjawing at him all night, but he didn't actually think that the fellow would come over and TRY AND KILL HIM.
    There's a brief moment that he's worried that an Elite had been Tempered by Ifrit and then...
    Wait no, he's just an asshole.

    That said, the catman bolsters himself through the swat, taking it point blank because his hand lashes out, and catches Seifer in the chest. "MOVE YOU IDIOT." And he bodily hauls Seifer out of The Red Circle Of Death.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty struggles against the the strength of the all mighty Ifrit, simply staring down the large Primal with a determined face... Is that a bead of sweat creeping down the side of his forehead? Well, it is hot in here.

    Krusty breaks free of the struggle as Inga's lightning cause the beast pain.

    Krusty backs off for the moment to recover, steadying himself just in time for the blast of fire. He raises his hand to shield his face, but thankfully finds the searing flames to be not all that harmfell.

    After the flames past, Krusty pulls a bottle out from seemingly nowhere. He chugs down the potion, an aura of light washing over him in the process and healing some of the wounds he has sustained. Krusty returns his focus to the fight just in time to see Seifer directly attack N'Raha. Krusty frowns at the idea of attacking an ally mid fight. Very impolite. He quietly admits that Seifer may just be a bit of a lunatic. And Krusty is greatful it's not something he has to worry about very often.

    Since N'Raha is likely to be a little distracted, Krusty moves to try and take Ifrit's focus off the cat. Taking a deep breath, Krusty raises his axe into the sky and unleashes a resounding battlecry that visibly ripples through the air towards Ifrit. After unleashing his Anchor Howl skill to draw aggro, Krusty charges forward and starts digging his axe into Ifrit repeatedly.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty tries to leap away from the flame pillars, but the unsteady ground beneath her feet causes her to stumble and she instead gets caught completely in the fire. "Aaaah!" She cries out from the pain of being burned, then notices that the ground has only cracked beneath her and N'Raha. "Is this like those tornadoes?!" she asks urgently even as she runs away from the group for fear of either some kind of eruption at her original location or even worse one that follows her.

     But, she doesn't want to not hit the big fire monster, so she punches into the ground and picks up a large rock before throwing it at Ifrit!

Tomoe has posed:
The spikes are being hammered on pretty hard but it's not quite enough, to bring down the Primal, still they are still standing when the hellfire comes and it's something she had a feeling that was coming, the Iron Lily moves for all she's worth and is able to barely leap and then roll out of the blast range of the very dangerous magic spell. She's up on her feet an gets the idea she should be kept back, then Seifer just goes after N'Raha and she screams internally why is this happening? There's no time to worry about that or even jump in on it, the primal has to be handeld while keeping out of the area that N'Raha warned them about.

She'll keep back chanting another spell she'll let loose on the Primal, this one is a focused gust of wind rather than fire or light from her part, it seems she's got a few more spell types than she normally lets on to.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     Seifer's foot comes up into N'Raha's chest as N'Raha makes the grab for him. He shoves the cat backwards, at the same time sliding back out of the circle.

     "Keep disrespecting me, motherfucker," Seifer snarls, "You see what happens."

     "I don't care what you think you know. I don't give a shit what you think you are. You haven't earned the right to bark orders at me. You don't get to be in charge because you said so. This shit doesn't work like that. You get respect when you show me you're worth respecting."

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
"You still stand?!" Ifirt says, to the surprise of nobody who has ever faced Ifirt ever.  "Thou art strong!" he bellows returning to the fray.  

Raha comes in first, aiming to try and put some pain on him, to draw his attention.  The focus of the Primal changes...though he manages to roll with the blow enough to avoid being murdered.  However, Seifer comes in out of nowhere, aiming to cut them BOTH.  Once more, the Primal stays on the move, trying to stay one step ahead...

"How interesting, you fight amongst yourselves!" Ifirit bellows, almost laughing.

Stella rains down crystals onto the form of Ifrit, who turns to look at her.  The heat of the Primal enough to warp the crystals enough from being as sharp as they SHOULD be, and while his body takes the pain, the natural toughness seems to hold out.  Lightning rains down from Inga, using the shards as an attempt to direct it more effectively.  Unfortunately, while the attack found purchase, there were not as many crystals to use.

Krusty swings the axe, trying to find purchase on the body of Ifirt.  The damage, to their collective benefit, is piling up.  The Ether pushes the form of the Primal to limits...but even then it can only hold for so long.  Solty joins into the chorus of Krusty's violence, throwing...A ROCK!  Grundy would be proud.  

Tomoe finds that their wind based magical attack seems to fizzle against the Fire soaked aether of the Primal, and while it should have worked, the magical field surrounding the battle seemed to be interfering with her. Ifirt does take notice of this...but...

Solty had reason to be wary, as the ground beneath them soon ERUPTS into an explosion.  However, N'Raha decided to STAND their ground, not avoiding the effects of Ifirts ERUPTION.  

However, the wounds done to Ifirt were enough, as it was not summoned with the full might of the glory of his people.  

"The blessing of light defies me..."

Falling back into the flames, however, a new threat drops down from the ceiling.  The massive form of Titan.  The Earth shakes, as immediately everything goes into upheaval.  Attempting to throw people back away from himself with the force of his landing.  

"SONS OF MAN!  MURDERS OF MY CHILDREN!"

N'raha Tia has posed:
    The whole force of everything, all that damage, all of it, washes over N'raha, bakes him straight to the core, blasts his armor off his body, cakes his flesh, scorches at him, curls his air, singes his ears and leaves him a bare, baked cinder on the ground.

    Except no. No, that didn't happen. Because now the catman is standing toe to toe with his hated foes, his one goal in life, his deathly opponents, and there's nothing for it but...

    The fire dies away, the smoke clears, the rubble from Titan's emergence clears, the dust settles, and there stands N'raha. Slaked from head to toe in murderous, awful, sickly red aether, his pure Wrath on full display, as an Aetheric Chain locks him directly in place with Titan. Face to face. No one where else to turn, as the HOLMGANG smoudlers, his Inner Beast fully riled.

    Yes. Yes, this was exactly how this all went, wasn't it?

    The mask on his helmet opens, and there stands N'raha, his eyes blazing, his body scorched, everything ruined and awful, and he just smiles, blood running down his features. "Hello, old man. And.... GOODBYE."

    There's a horrible flashover of energy, and the Warrior of Light raises his axe, magic slaking off him in waves as he lifts up into the air, does a flip and brings that axe straight down STRAIGHT DOWN onto Titan's head.

Seifer Almasy has posed:
     The earthquake throws Seifer backwards. He lands on his face, face-down in the dirt.

     This is the last straw.

     Seifer snaps his fingers. Gilgamesh, still sitting on the sidelines - just sort of hanging off to the side on another platform, now - looks up from the chicken. He's been having an animated conversation with it.

     The huge grey man tosses another blue ball to Seifer. Seifer snatches it out of the air and slams it into Hyperion. "Motherfucker, don't interrupt me when I'm making a point to somebody!"

     Seifer's blade goes up, and comes down into the ground.

                       LIMIT BREAK - CRISIS LEVEL ONE                      
                              GOTTERDAMMERUNG                              

     The top of the arena suddenly goes dark. Hanging in the air above Titan is what is unmistakably a spaceship. It's huge, black, sleek. It has an imposing, menacing aura. And, as Seifer raises his gunblade and points it at Titan, a red sighting beam comes out of it, locking directly onto Titan's center.

     The cannons on the ship turn to point at it.

     They unload. A massive, disgusting, destructive barrage. Laser fire. Cannon fire. Missile fire. It rains down on Titan, and the battlefield, with unbelievable force. As it exhausts its arsenal, a final cannon opens up, charging with incredible force.

     And then it discharges, a devouring beam of light to consume Titan entirely.

Inga has posed:
Ifrit tags out for another giant beast, the force of his landing throwing her off her feet and painfully onto her behind. She lets out a hiss of breath, wincing as she looks up toward their next opponent...

Only to see N'raha being attacked by Seifer, as well. Inga swears. This is ridiculous. "Could you not address your grievance at a later date, Seifer?! Let us get through this fight and then you can make the square for your fight. I ask you, please delay this duel!" she calls to Seifer. Perhaps she can appeal to him, perhaps not. It is worth a try.

Inga gets to her feet, which takes even longer than usual. Even with her regeneration, she is beginning to feel the strain. But N'raha has been attacked by primal's /and/ Seifer, so she throws another blood magic heal in his direction. Fierce as he is looking, she's sure he can use it.

They are all moving toward the crescendo of this battle. She can smell it in the air, feel it on her skin. The presence of the gods of war are with many now. She supposes she may as well go along with the ride. She opens the vein of her arm and begins to form an especially large spear of blood.

She thrusts it forward on a wave of force to sail over the battle to attempt to strike down the latest primal adversary.

Stella (6756) has posed:
    From Ifrit to Titan. Once again, the fact these Primals are apparently very impolite pays off. On the other hand, that's one thing Stella can't turn against them. Earthquakes don't really... reflect off surfaces.

    Stella shakes and rumbles in the quake Titan generates, unsteady on her feet due to the vibrations. THAT'S EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT!! The equivalent of vertigo for fleshy people, really.

    But at least it ends, eventually. And the cracked, battered golem shatters her broken limbs, allowing a burst of crystals to restore her body to... not quite perfection, this time. She's winding down.

    Her eyes trail to Seifer, who in his anger strikes at N'raha, and then they argue and... okay, back to Titan. That's... good? She wasn't sure if she'd need to help Seifer kill a catman or not. What was that even about?

    You know what's NOT confusing?

    It's killing things.

    Stella shakes her head, producing a massive blade of crystal after clasping her hands together. She runs after Seifer, and lets the light of his strike reflect off her skin, her clothes, her blade, like everything is one human-shaped mirror with a mirror sword.

    The same light pours out and around her blade as she slices, releasing a beam of light that traces an X with Seifer's.

    She doesn't shout anything because she doesn't have cool attack names. That's a huge shame.

    At least she's taking example on Seifer though! He's a knight, that means he necessarily knows what he's doing, always.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is struck hard by the impact, thrown from his footing and bouncing across the ground a few times. The knight in Warrior's clothing growns as he pushes himself back to his feet. Planting his axe into the ground, he leans against it as he takes a moment recover. He also uses the time to quickly examine the rough status of the fight. They appear to have the upper hand, but that could quickly fall out from under them in moments.

    Trying to plot out the next moments of the fight, Krusty rushes back into the fight. But he's keeping his distance as he skirts around the new arrival that is Titan. As he does so, he whips his axe out in several swings, sending more crescents of light streaking across the distance between him and his target. The ranged strikes aren't very strong, simply harrassing the Primal while Krusty prepares for his final strike.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty's eyes are wide as that eruption happens right behind her, but she keeps running until it is clear she is out of danger. Then, she turns toward their new opponent. She doesn't know his name, and doesn't really have time to wonder as the ground buckles around her again, smashing her against rocks and shaking her something fierce.

     When she manages to get back to her feet, the android girl is barely standing. Her usually perfect skin is marred by burns and slashes and outright broken in some places like the armor it is. Her monk robes are tattered and burned and half gone.

     Yet, determination burns in her eyes and energy crackles over her body. "I won't give up!" she shouts as she charges in again. Her fists start to glow and blur again, and she leaps with all her might. Like some kind of bullet she goes flying at Titan, aiming as best she can at his chest. "Hyaaaaaaah!!"

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe learns something about Ifrit, wind magic is a bad idea about him, she was able to keep clear of the worst of it from him, she keeps back as it seems the collective effort was able to bring down the lord of flames, it has to be over, right? It has to be over, right? Nope it is not older as a huge hulking being of the earth makes himself known and she's nearly sent flying even then the quake doe a lot of damage to Tomoe as the ground splits and upheaves. She's able to keep standing but she's looking to be in pain.

As everyone is getting the heck knocked out of them, it hits her, it really does or dies time against this gigantic being. She'll take her sword in hand, she'll chant a buff spell as it glows brightly with white fire, and then she'll let loose with a sword art, the blade glows even brighter now as she'll launch herself at Titan trying to do as much damage as she can and also try to keep him aimed away from the rest of the group who are all just unloading on it, maybe, just maybe they can take it down and for good measure she'll do a leaping jump cut as her Sword Art Finishes, but will such a savage assault be enough?

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
Titan, gripped in the chain from N'Raha, relies on his best defense.  Being tough.  Even as the AXE came down, aiming to split the rock that was his head, the blow sinks in...narrowly avoiding being cut in twain.  The Massive titan grumbles, unhappy but still kicking.  This only gets worse as a literal airship unleashes hell on Titan.  Explosions tear through the area, and Titan is forced to endure.  Eventually, the cannon itself aiming to swallow Titan completely...

When the smoke clears, the Primal stands, burning, sizzling...but he stands, somehow.  Clearly affected by the attack, but at the same time pushing forward with the rage of a father avenging his children.

Inga sends a spear of blood through the air.  Titan roars in defiance, and his massive form crashes against the spear.  The spear shatters, but the rock, too, shatters.  Pain surges through Titan, but he still BARELY holds on.  Stella's blade of light crashes down, but this time the overwhelming force of the attack overtakes his defense.  A large chunk of the Primal is nearly blow off, causing the massive monster to breathe heavily, and visibly damaged.  

Krusty swings, trying to find purchase in the armor of Titan, however, it was like punching a mountain.  Only overwhelming attacks were going to do much more than scratch it.  Solty goes in full offense, her fists empowered by her might.  She swings, and so too does Titan, the two collide in a massive show of power and the very earth QUAKES.  However, at the end of the assault...it was Titan who came out on top, pushing to deflect her blows.

Tomoe's sword art comes down, aiming to cut pieces of the massive behemoth off.  Once more, the massive girth and defense of Titan holds off an attack that would easily fell lesser foes.  Primals were dangerous for a reason, and today it is apparent for everyone to see why.  

Titan, however, howls in rage and pain.  Pushed to the brink, but quite not enough.  Roaring in pain, in anguish, in the loss of his children...

He releases a massive wave of earth ether.  The ground itself erupts, threatening to throw them all from the battlefield.  The ground splits, the earth shatters...and in the end, Titan stands, shakily...but he does.  

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty is thrown by the ultimate attack unleashed by Titan, flying through the air before coming back down again. On impact he forcefully coughs up a spatter of blood, before finally coming to a rest, unmoving.

Inga has posed:
The wisewoman watches her blood spear fly, and while it does not impale the creature, it does appear to do some degree of damage. Everyone in the party wails on Titan, and it would seem that perhaps, they would finish this one quickly.

But Titan endures.

Titan lashes out, bringing his power down upon them. Before Inga can even process what is happening she is flying through the air again. She lands hard, letting out a cry of pain as something in her breaks. Even from this, she could recover given the time...

Then a large rock lands on her, crushing her lower half. No sound escapes her now except one last, strangled breath.

No, that she will not recover from. The life in her eyes flickers out.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Well, he's done literally as much as he is able to, at this point. N'Raha doesn't even flinch, doesn't even take his eyes off Titan as that smash comes in...
    And with his last breath, the catman is tossed from his place, skidding to a halt in a trail of blood and aether, still and unmoving.

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Titan releases his fury.

    The earth gives way and shatters, and so does Stella, being of the earth. At least, she's made of crystal, not fleshy red stuff. It's not gross, or weird. It's a humanoid shattering into chunks of glowing, prismatic crystals that scatter to every bit of the battlefield.

    ... what's left of the battlefield.

    When Titan's fury calms itself, the crystals shimmer, motes of magic travelling between them into the largest piece, which then experiences an episode of explosive growth. First it reforms into a mess, that eventually regains its humanoid appearance, before retinting itself as though a human wearing clothes.

    Scratched and cracked, and breathing heavily.

    "Unpleasant. Dangerous. Is that really how that story went?" she questions, because clearly N'Raha is still alive.

    Sadly, she lacks... energy. To do much.

    And everyone's down! She can't piggyback their elements!

    Stella, then, just lobs a blade towards Titan's heart. That'll... have to do. She needs to regain her composure and beat, hopefully before Titan does that again.

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty leaps...and somehow just goes flying right past Titan. "...uhoh..."

     Before she can get turned around and try again, that wave of earth power smashes into her. Solty is thrown back and lands hard far from the battle, electricity sparking from several places. Perhaps nonsensically since she is a machine, she is apparently unconscious.

Tomoe has posed:
Has cleared learned something important today from this Bard's story has shown her first hand how dangerous the Primals are a terror to deal with and one must pay attention to every strange thing they do or a lot of people could be in the ground or from what she's been made aware of? Worse than dead, however, Titan is just too much for her with her aiding Inga for a good portion of the fight.

She's given it quite the effort but her earlier confusion may have cost them in the long run, she will just get flattened by Titan's fur.

Tomoe laying there not moving a mess of wireframe damage laying there, what is she doing? Inspecting the floor for the moment because she can't do much else.

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
The ground upheaves...and only Stella remains on her feet.  Six others fall, and besides this last hero, standing tall and giving a final stand...Titan remains.  Eyes blazing, the heart of hate thumping.  Even as the blade aimed at his heart strikes, the body of the Primal is still not so easily struck.

Titan rears back, Fist raised in the air as it swings down, the ground splits in three different ways, leaving only a little room to avoid the assault, as the earth itself attempts to SLIDE her towards the exit of the arena, and to (un)certain death.  

"FEEL THE RAGE OF MY SLAIN CHILDREN!"

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Stella's been broken apart by Titan's earthen might one time, she's not about to underestimate another incoming attack. She still questions if this is ACTUALLY how that went, though.

    Maybe the bard is full of it?

    "I did not slay your children," she says, flatly.
    No, she doesn't understand the obvious.

    Stella dives to the side, legs caught and torn up by the raging landscale. She tumbles to the ground, her broken legs unable to keep her steady. The cracks and missing chunks mend themselves, at least.

    Swinging an arm towards the Primal, she lobs another chunk of crystal at his earth, this time a jagged, spiked sphere that'll grow explosively if allowed to penetrate, but then remain there relatively harmlessly.

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
Crystal hits Titan, it's outer shell, even as damaged as it is manages to hold together.  Rumbling, the massive Primal starts stomping on the ground, weathering the blow and drawing up Aether into itself again.  Each step takes it closer towards its target.

It does not hear her words or even care that she, SPECIFICALLY, did not kill the Kobalds.  It only cares that she counts as a man, and stands before him as an enemy.  

The feet stomp down, repeatedly coming down as the earth rumbles.  The force of the stomp is enough to send shockwaves throughout it.  "

Stella (6756) has posed:
    Now Titan won't even speak.

    Maybe that's for the better, Stella isn't good at it either. Titan has a wide and elegant vocabulary compared to her.

    Titan steps on Stella, though.
    That sucks.

    It sounds a lot like stepping on broken glass, Titan repeatedly hammering Stella's form as it breaks apart, rebuilds itself, breaks apart again and-- she raises an arm.

    And clenches her fist.

    The crystal growth she'd lobbed at Titan's heart detonates into a flurry of massive, jagged crystal spikes. Hopefully, inside Titan!

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
Stella has almost nothing left to give.  Alone and faced with Titan.  The story drums up, reaching a climax.  Inwardly...the explosive crystal embedded within titan finally explodes.  Not with the strength of arms that he was taken down...but with trickery.  

"Run my children, hide in the dark.  The light will not be denied..."

Titan, leaping back, now stands with the other Primals, defeated.  Even then, they...look intimidating.

Here, the Bard stops, taking a drink of water.  "I think I need to take a break telling this story.  You all look...rather tired."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    And there, in the middle of the group, sitting next to Inga, is N'raha, his head in his hands, his beer empty in front of him. His ears are drooped, and he's just... well. Exhausted.
    "None of that is how it went. Just... Please, Minstrel, I appreciate your... enthusiasm. It is very... infectious. And I mean that in the nicest way as possible. But... have you ever considered telling the story... normally?"
    A plaintive look, as the catman's tail lashes against the chair.

Zenos yae Galvus (6843) has posed:
"N'Raha, do I tell you how to kill primals?" The Minstrel fires back, taking another sip and looking plenty saucy.

Krusty (1149) has posed:
    Krusty stand as calm and as cool as he usually is, moving a hand to adjust his glasses, "It was a rather... Gruelling tale. Thrilling in its telling. I commend you for your skill, sir. If only the bards in my own world had a similar talent for the art."

N'raha Tia has posed:
    "...No, no you do not." And it's not like N'raha can just tell him to NOT tell stories. That would be rude. Like, very rude for some reason. He can complain to this man, but... refuse him? Something seems... wrong about that.

Inga has posed:
Inga looks...well, she's still staring into space. She's probably gone. Someone may need to poke her.

Stella (6756) has posed:
    In the excitement of the tale, it seems Stella has detached one of her arms and is holding it up with the other, awkwardly.

    "How did it happen, if not like that?" She's curious. Too bad N'Raha is probably too tired to go over the story.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is quite drained by the tale but she's got a big old grin on her face. "tyhat was a heck of a story and I never seen anyone do something quite like that." She's tired though maybe she can get something to eat. It was one hell of a fight.

N'raha Tia has posed:
    Raha just looks at Stella, and sighs. "I'll tell you some other time, when it doesn't feel like my soul's been dragged through the void." He casts another glance to the Minstrel, and... actually bows to the man, before standing up and patting Inga on the back. "Hey, you. Wake up."

Solty Revant has posed:
     Solty blinks several times as the visions fade, then looks around in confusion. "Oh...wow that was intense! And it wasn't even real?" she says, hopping up and looking herself over for any actual damage. Nothing. She feels a bit drained, but overall pretty good for fighting three giant monsters. "Fighting is kind of fun when no one is going to get hurt!" she says energetically.