Caelum & Infernus: The Darkness Of The World

Riley and Sayli found themselves in Light's Vale, the one human settlement in this area. The city had been a bunker or something at one point as the bottom levels were far below ground, with an intermediate district suspended by the mooring chains that kept the spire of the top level from toppling over.

The two had found a lot of success with the caravan as they were able to provide pure water to replace the dwindling supplies. They had made a handful of coins and the relatively safe method of making their way to Vale. Though Sayli wasn't very well liked at first, once it was proven that there were no hidden obligations behind her abilities she was praised as a patron saint of humanity.

Now standing at the edge of teh hustle and bustle of Light's Vale market district, Riley and Sayli had no inkling of what they were supposed to do. The years of building Riley up to have a purpose to hold back depression seemed to falter in Sayli's mind as she witnissed what humanity had become in the centuries of her absence. In part Riley looked upon all of these people, suddenly afraid of this mass of people he was supposed to lead.

As the two were pressed along in the flow of tightly packed humanity, they found themselves passing the stand of what seemed to be a vagabond traveler like themselves. The stall wasn't much more than a sign and a cloth laid out with a chair. Despite the laziness of the setup the pair were drawn to the lone man sitting under the sign.

"Hello, I uh... what are you giving out?" Riley asked uncertain as to why he was speaking to this man. He was very different from the other merchants in the area as he was not shouting out his wares or prices.

 

OOT: So just to check, Is Riley talking to my character or another merchant?

 

OOC: Your character Richus, Spyton. I apologize for being vague.

 

Tempo kiiiinda just stayed in flight, looking down slightly confused, "And who do you think you are to command me to do such a thing?"

Out of sheer boredom, she proceeded to check her nails, making a rather clear display of being uninterested .

 

"Real smart. Ten out of ten for effort, now you're just annoying her."
"Do YOU have any ideas?"
"Well, she's obviously not going to tell you her true name, is she? She's a BROKER DEMON, they're not known for their idiocy!"

Aleitra sighed. "If you two are done bickering..." She pointed up at the bored Tempo. "Anything else that you can apparently do even though you told me you only knew the most basic magics?"
Melt was thinking too hard to catch the hints. "Er... not entirely sure I've got anything."
"Why not try seducing her? With your mug she might puke her guts out or have a heart attack!"
"Is it possible, even for once, for you to be helpful? Just once?"
"Of course! I just choose not to be."
Aleitra pointed Gurahl up at Tempo threateningly. "Leave the girl alone, demon! Come near her again and I shall smite thee!"
"Again with the holy vocab! Just give it a break!"

 

Spoiler: Imperium

Imperium, made from Potentium (named after the Latin word for power, Potentia), can absorb energy fired at it and re-direct it even stronger. Potenium itself is a black metal due to its nature of absorbing energy - thus absorbing light. The blade of the sword has been smoothed almost to perfection, allowing for a straight, clean cut. It had slight indentations down the center of the blade until the hilt where two daggers intertwined made the main hand guard.

Tempo reached forth as if grabbing something, and well, did. She seemed to yank out a sword from thin air. She looked at the incubus-sword and winked somewhat mischievously, "Go ahead human, try to dispel me again."

She turned her gaze to the self-righteous holy person, "Kindly shoo." She waved her free hand as if to motion her away.

 

Melt, and Theiyll by definition, backed away. Aleitra raised Gurahl, and the edges of it began to glow with a blistering light, sparking white lights that faded into nothing as she drew it back, preparing to swing.
"We're, gonna, uh, tend to the girl."
"Yeah, and the rest of the building, and then the street outside, and then - ah screw it -" The sword leaped from Melt's hand, morphed into a swallow, and darted out the hole in the wall. "CALL ME WHEN IT'S ALL OVEEEEEERRR..."
Devoid of any means of defending himself, Melt rather wisely ran up to Seyre, took her hand, and bolted for the door.

"In the name of the Holiest of Hosts, give strength to my blade in this hour of need, hear the prayer of your devoted and give me courage to face that which tempts us into damnation, and bring forth the light of my soul in the service of our Lord~!"
The axe glowed brighter and brighter, as if hungry for the battle it faced, and it started to whip up the air around her in an aura of heavenly light. "Deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever and ever, amen!" She swung, and the edges of the axe erupted into blinding soulfire slashes through the air, scorching directly towards Tempo.

 

Tempo, looking rather dumbfound, watched as the soulfire neared her. She held out her blade, allowing the energy of which the soulfire was composed of to be absorbed.

"I'm not evil. Nor am I good. I work for my own agenda and that is all." She tilted the tip of the sword towards Aleitra, allowing the previously absorbed energy to be shot back with a more... demonic tinge.

 

*Richus who was staring at a seemingly empty space in front of him lifts his head as soon as he realizes some one has approached him, He takes in the situation and moves his hand out in what appears to be a useless motion in which he pushes the Crystallized Air to the side Before standing up*

In a tone that he think sounds friendly he replies with
"I am giving out my services as a magician." Seeing the blank stares he quickly continues talking
"I should explain. I am Richus the Wizard." He stops to see if you are impressed( I assume you just stare blankly)

"I offer my services as a wizard to whomever is in need. I can Mend old trinkets, or help guard a caravan, or well... Pretty much anything You need help with I am able to help with in some way or another."
A small moment Passes before he adds on an addendum in a slightly quieter voice.
"Well other than breaking curses or healing people. I mean I can create a poultice or brew in alchemy as well as the next wizard, But no healing others with my magic." He shakes his head and wags his right finger as he says the No healing part.

"So how may I help you?"

OOT: I realize the idea of a wizard offering his services in such a way are very odd, and thus his lack of business and coin, Most people assume the old adage "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is." But he gets by so he does not mind.

 

"...What the-!?"
She dived right, and the reflected soulfire burned straight through the floor, incinerating a particularly crappy grandson on the floor below who was in the process of stealing his grandmother's jewelry while she slept. Being a good person, the grandmother wasn't harmed, but when she woke up later she would complain that her room smelled strongly of a particularly bad fart, as is often the case when an unpleasant soul is burned up in the flames of divine fury with a touch of demonic energy to boot. That said, a shot of Febreze sorted it out, and the matter was soon dropped.
The slash of soulfire continued on, slicing through the stairwell they'd climbed earlier - as Melt and Seyre were descending it at top speed.
"Ahh!"
"N A N I - !?"
The wall seemed to just crumble inward, and blue flame rushed on them roaring with the sound of singing angels. Instinctively, Melt twisted round and shielded Seyre from the blast.
The powers that be were not particularly pleased with Melt as a person - consorting with cowardly and not-morally-upstanding demons was rarely ever a good thing - but they had to acknowledge that trying to save a person from fiery death was definitely a plus. As it stood, the flames did not destroy either of them, and the demonic influence simply dashed them against the wall before the attack carried straight through the building, smashing a hole in the street outside and scaring the living daylights out of the local rat population as it was finally quenched in the water's of Light Vale's nastiest sewer. The resultant stench was immediate, and one of the rats promptly said "Phwoar, that's lovely!" before scurrying away with his slighty-confused brethren.

Aleitra raised Gurahl again... before twisting and running out of the room, vaulting the gap in the stairwell and racing after Melt on the way down. "I can't stop her, so keep running."
"Noted!"

 

OOC: Retroactive ability added; Sayli can put up a perception filter so she appears to be a crow that perches on Riley's shoulder. Something she did after all the trouble the two of them were given by the caravan.

Riley stared blankly at the wizard as the man rambled out his specialties. This man seemed to have set himself up as a jack of all trades. The true problem is that Riley had no idea what to ask for. He had been given a handful of coins by the caravan people but now that he was in the city proper all his preconceived notions had vanished.

He'd been wandering for hours with Sayli perched on his shoulder, the guise of the black feathered bird only drawing the few curious looks instead of the hostility of the caravan.

"I don't know what to ask," Riley told the man honestly. "I've never been anywhere like this place before. It's a lot to take in."
"The last time I saw this many humans together was in a castle. That was only a fraction of what's here now." Sayli murmured in Riley's ear.

 

"I see."
A small pause
"Well I think I am done at shop for the day, Since you have never been anywhere like this before, I offer you my services as a," He seems to stumble for a word and his eyes beam to the side, like he is talking to somebody standing next to you who was part of the conversation already. "Not a body guard, not a guide..." His eyes come back to you
"Anyways I am going back into the upper town to get something to eat. Also there is something going on up there, that would be interesting to observe a little bit more closely. Would you two care to come along?"
He casually points to you and your crow separately.

 

"You wot?!" She gave chase, holding Imperium ahead of her in case of any other attacks.

 

The ground shook again, a short as the last time.

And again.

And again, until the intermittent quakes became a constant rumble. One of the vast junk piles began to shift, as somethine began to rise from below.
The first part of the creature to appear was a great clawed hand. It was a deep red and covered in a tough natural armour, each finger tipped with a blade like claw, that seemed purpose built to rend stone.
It pulled itself further out of the earth, metal and other assorted debris cascading down over its immerging form. Its arms came next, 4 in total, followed by its head, bearing the same tough hide as its hands and arms. 6 vibrant yellow blinking at the twlight it had awoken to, its mandibled mouth opening and closing rapidly, clicking with each movement.
The beast rose further, revealing a large carapaced body, which appeared far more durable than the rest of its form. At its full height, it stood close to 25 feet tall, and maintained its posture with its tail, broad and long and equally as armoured as its body.
The beast roared, the sound echoing across the slums. This demonic monster had been dormant since the Apocalypse, starved of the magicks it required to move its colossal form. However, the recent actions of a select few had sparked it back into life, and now the creature, driven by instinct, sought to replenish its strength.

And the slums offered exactly what it needed.

 

"We will accompany you." Riley said for him and Sayli falling into step behind Richus. Suddenly the ground trembled throwing people to the ground and destroying many stalls and even toppling a few buildings nearby. From deep in Light's Vale came a sound akin to the rumbling of teh earth and the roaring of a great beast. This was quickly accompanied by a multitude of screams.

 

Richus seems to handle the quaking earth pretty easy. As it stops and the great beast roars, he clasps his left hand in the air to the side and his warp prism appears in front of him(if your character is standing behind Richus you can see into it too), the outer lens scrolling around trying to find the commotion. It comes across the behemoth after a few seconds of scrolling.

"It could be friendly and the people are just screaming out of surprise?" He says straight faced as he shrugs and stares into the main viewing facet.

Richus casually changes where he was walking and begins to stroll towards where the demon beast is.

"So uh, for no real reason... Are you capable of fighting?"
(Assuming you follow him.)

 

With Tempo hot on their heels, they sprinted out of the front door. Rats flooded around their feet as the horde of vermin hurried away from the battle, and another quake crashing around them caused them all to shudder and vibrate like a furry liquid.
Almost on a whim, Melt leaned down and plucked up one by the tail glaring at it. "Going somewhere?"
"Oh, crap... uh - squeak! Squeak squeak!"
Melt resumed running as Tempo burst out behind them through the wall, being too large to reasonably fit through the door. "Theiyll!"
"Fine, fine -"
In a second, the incubus was back in his normal form, wincing slightly at the change, before flying along after them.

Then all of them stopped short.

Because lumbering towards them from the other end of the street, was a hulking, demonic... thing.

"Theiyll. What. Is. That?"
"Excuse me, could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me soiling myself."

Aleitra whirled round, raising Gurahl to face off against Tempo as Seyre cowered behind Melt.
"Demons are your domain, apparently - deal with it! Banish it back to the spirit realm!"
"That thing hasn't been to the spirit world for at least a couple of centuries now, it'll take more than a polite move-it in Diabullah to shunt it!"
"Dia-what?"
"Doesn't matter! Theiyll, any thoughts?"

The incubus summoned a pair of reading glasses from nowhere, taking a closer peek at the beast through squinting. "It seems to be a Arcavoure, if I'm not very much mistaken."
"Great. How the hell do we deal with it?"
"Uh, see, that's the fun thing. We don't. That thing EATS magic, like a black hole eats matter. They're very rare nowadays - they're mainly kept as gladiatorial pets and status symbols of powerful demons. This one must have been trapped under this place ever since the Clash, and now she -" He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Tempo. " - got its attention with her turning up! She's the most powerful thing here for miles -"

A sudden pause, as all three of them realized the same thing.
"It's after her."
Melt spun around, shouldering Aleitra out of the way.
"Hey!"
"Look, miss, whatever your name is - you're into making deals, right?"

 

As the group turned to her, Tempo was preparing to flee. She had no intention to mess with anyone, or anything, that size. However, the offer of a deal caused her to perk her ears, "I'm listening... And be quick, I have no intention to be around here when he gets.... snack-y."

 

"Yeah?" Melt scowled. "Well, that thing is going to kill innocent people, so what do I have to do to get you to act as bait for that thing?" he asked, ignoring both his "companions" as they protested.

 

She considered momentarily, finally coming to a decision with a rather disturbing smirk. "I want him." She pointed at the Incubus.

"He will be mine."