[Playthings] (Narrated Open RP)

[꧁ 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓲'𝓐𝓭𝓾𝓷𝓮 ꧂]

So much was happening at once.  The construct alone had been enough to need all hands on deck, but now that deck had almost quadrupled in size.  Everyone was stretched thin, having to deal with way more things than they should.

Glowing eyes darted all those she could see in the room.  So. Much. Happening.

Kieg's voice rose above everything for a moment.  He was in trouble- Fang's looked in need of help, and she couldn't tell from where she was how the Lady was doing.  She needed to focus her energy and help everyone at once.

Arching a foot, and pointing a toe, Shari spun in a circle, long hair twisting about her, as the tip of her pointed toe reached outward,  barely brushing over the floor.  Her arms extended, staff held in one hand and poised so that it rested against her back with the top, in the palm of her outstretched arm.  Her free hand drew invisible runes in the air before her, which made her staff begin to glow green.  Little ghostly leaves appeared and fell downward, disappearing into a sparkling cloud.

Feet planting, the staff was arcked in a half moon, from back to front.  The glowing end of the staff was pressed into the floor.  The moment it touched, a spectral green forest appeared.  Large trees sprouted upward, bathed in a sparkling green mist.

"Tap into the forest, should you have need!  It will heal you!" Shari called loudly.

The spell enveloped a circular area, covering Kieg, Fangs and, she hoped, Kat.

[Kieg]

((Sorry for delay, hoping to get a post up tomorrow!))

[Kieg]

"SO!? Then stop TRYING, and ACTUALLY huRRRT- the mother f***ker!”
The dagger leaves Viper’s outstretched fingers just as the Khajiit’s hand finds purchase on the construct’s upper arm to pull himself the rest of the way up. The blade pierces his leather shoulder guard and the Nightblade’s grip falters instantly. He slips off the machine and falls to the floor with a yowl of outrage and pain.

As Fangs’ maul swings up, the Altmer facing him takes a reflexive half-step back and seems primed to dash in for a strike, until he spies the huge, spiked weapon begin to descent again and recognizes his downed sibling as the target. Shouting “No!” he flings himself under the path of the weapon, attempting desperately to deflect it enough with his weapons and body to prevent it from crushing his brother. The maul falls like a boulder on top of the mer’s crossed, upraised swords and his elbows and knees buckle, the weight of fangs’ weapon driving him to the floor. He tries to rise for a half-second but quickly slumps back to the floor, unconscious. His desperate efforts were enough however to spare and probably save the life of his downed sibling.

Kieg slams the flat of his blade against the middle of the bear’s pointed face, cursing under his breath. Ordinarily he might feel bad about doing that to an animal (except the ones in vvardenfell, all bug-dogs and mouths with legs, yuck.) but this one was becoming a real nuisance. The bear backs off, stunned, which is great, but a moment later the Nord feels a sharp and familiar sting in his side as an arrow nips through his armor and into his flesh. Sheesh. Almost enough to make him wish he’d brought a shield with him.

"Tap into the forest, should you have need!  It will heal you!"

Glancing up he notices the phantasmic forest around him for the first time. “Oh, that’s so pretty!” He blurts out, almost forgetting to duck under the construct’s heavy fist. Skipping backwards another few steps he notices he’s very close to the entrance where Krexx, Fangs, and most of the opposing adventuring party are. The construct appears to recognize this too, as abruptly it raises both arms in the air. Lightning begins arcing between the constructs outstretches fingers and the ceiling, and the air is suddenly abuzz with pent up energy.

((
Altmer A and B are out of the fight,
Khajiit is wounded and on his ass for a little bit, can probably defend himself a little
Bear is stunned for the next post and easy pickings,
Redguard archer is shooting at Kieg,
Guardian mage and Krexx are still having a slap-fight.
Construct is winding up a a REALLY BIG lightning strike, which will happen on my next post and be a bad time for anyone who is nearby (Unless Viper wants to pull it’s cables first, which she is still in a position to do, or somebody else finds a way to stop it.)
Krexx is still reserved for now, you can do anything you want with any other NPC.
))

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

Clenching her jaw, Kat saw what the construct was charging up to do. Her gaze swept over the machine from her perch, quickly assessing if she might be safe where she was - or not, and then glancing out over the fray.

"f***k this mess!" she sneered, tightening her hold. Even if she got zapped, she didn't intend to fall off. Quickly, she secured her footing as best she could, wrenching her dagger into a crack that wouldn't cause her an immediate shock, she then unwrapped one of her bracers and tied her hand to the hilt of the dagger. Just in case.

Once she was secured, in case she mis judged what was about to happen, she shot Shari a quick look- to which Shari nodded.

"HEADS UP BOYS! About to get CRISPY in here!"

[꧁ 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓲'𝓐𝓭𝓾𝓷𝓮 ꧂]

Shield our people, Shari, and move back if ye can a bit! Yer shield may take the brunt of the attack off everyone, enough so that they can recover faster than the others! Tis all we need, a little wiggle room. We got the forest to heal with too, still!

Long hair swirling about her, Shari stared through the wild tendrils to meet Kat's eyes for a quick second, acknowledging she head her.

Inhaling a large breath, she whirled her staff around again, as she was deftly backing up, hopefully moving out of range of the construct, while still trying to stay in range of her allies.... minus Kat. She couldn't move back to a safe distance, and still target -everyone-. She really hoped Kat would be safe where she was.

With one quick sweep of her staff, bare toes digging into the dirty floor, a magical swirling of ice surrounded Kieg, Fangs and herself- and maybe the Guardian mage if he was also in her range. She knew it likely wouldn't take ALL the damage, but like the Lady suggested, it would take more than what the others would be protected against.

[@sylverdubs]

((Forewarning for the DM. I know you have plans for Krexx. I know you told us to leave him alone. Fangs doesn’t know these rules. As he said before, he feels cheated by Krexx and is particularly wanting to slay the puny mage. So… feel free to zap Fangs or whatever Krexx needs to do…))

With the altmer out of commission, Bares-the-Fangs had a clear path to Krexx. The weakling mage was no match for his brawn and spikes.

With a loud roar (loud even for Fangs), he raised his spiked mace and charged, obvious of ice spikes or even Kat’s impending attack with the construct. He was going to crush Krexx and no one and nothing was going to stop him!

He was a scaly bulldozer, running as fast as his legs would carry him, mace swung out to the side, ready for a swing so powerful, it could knock out a giant.


“YOU DIE NOW PUNY WEE-ZARD!” He screamed out, lizard eyes fixed on Krexx as he bares his fangs menacingly.

[Kieg]

(( In the middle of a busy week, will get to this as soon as I can!))

[Kieg]

(( Oh it’s totally fine to attack Krexx, I just meant that you ought to leave the results up to me, whereas any one of the other NPCs you are free to dumpster in whatever way you like. ))

Locked in his magical duel with the Guardian Mage, Krexx’s attention doesn’t refocus until Fangs’ roar sounds. The Archmage’s eyes flare in surprise and a hand whips up quick as a snake, fingers bent into a sign of warding. The Argonian’s massive maul is brought to a halt and held fast a mere hand’s span from Krexx’s pointed nose, and the man shrinks back a half-step in surprise as his lip curls. “Incompetents!” He snarls at his companions, “Can you not even keep me saf-“ He voice trails off as he for the first time seems to notice the construct has moved much too close for comfort and is raising its massive, lightning-crackling fists into the air.

Closer to the Construct’s feet, Kieg looks up at the same thing, a little sigh of resignation puffing past his lips. “Really wish I’d brought a shield..” A sudden idea sparks through his head. Slashing out with his greatsword he suddenly darts in close to the bear that has been savaging him for the last several moments. The beast rears up onto its hind legs and Kieg ducks beneath it’s swinging claws, trying to put its furry bulk in between the construct and himself. No telling how much this would help, if at all, but it was worth it to try, right?

He feels a strangely soothing chill as ice begins crackling up around him. “Oh! Thank you, Shari’Ad-
The construct's charged fists hit the ground and the world nearby is briefly obliterated in a blinding, crackling blue-white flare of electricity; Kieg’s teeth clench and his muscles tense harder that he can ever remember. His breath is stuck in his throat and something burns in his chest; a deep, piercing pain that seems to go on and on and on until suddenly it is over. He gasps in a ragged breath and opens his eyes, just in time to see and narrowly avoid the bear’s body as it topples forward limply, fur smoking. His own body still feels tight and jittery, skin stinging as though badly sunburned as he straightens up.

“I lived!” The Nord reports happily, looking around to see how everyone else fared. The bear lies unmoving in a scorched, furry lump, and behind the construct’s huge armored feet he catches sight of a sprawled and unconscious Khajiit. Krexx, standing behind a shimmering ward cast by two outstretched hands, seems dazed but twice as furious as he was moments before, and behind him the bow-wielding Redguard is doubled over, rubbing at her eyes. The Guardian Mage blinks and looks up from covering his head with his hands, but seems mostly untouched.

The construct straightens up from it's attack, it's movements slower than before. From her perch on it's thick metal carapace, Viper can feel a low but slowly increasing vibration, as though some mechanism has been drastically slowed, and is now beginning to spool up again.

((
Altmer A and B are.. Honestly probably dead at this point.
Khajiit is down.
Bear is down.
Redguard is temporarily blinded.
Krexx is mostly unharmed. (And Fangs’ maul has been freed)
Guardian Mage is mostly unharmed.
Construct used a lot of power for that attack and probably won't do anything at all for a little bit.

Being on top of the construct and mostly out of the area of effect Viper is probably fine.
Having backed up and being shielded, Shari is probably fine.
I’ll leave fangs’ condition up to their player. Tho fangs’ is a big angry fella and so might’ve been able to shrug it off decently well.

Feel free to gang up on Krexx if you like, please just leave results to me. Construct is fairly vulnerable for the moment as well.
))

[@sylverdubs]

Even has electricity made his muscles twitch, Bares-the-Fangs fixed his yellow eyes on Krexx, jaw clenched as he endured the construct's attack. His focus was singular and unwavering.

If the construct's attack hurt him,it didn't show. Maybe it was Shari's defensive spell, argonian toughness or sheer will. Fangs -threw-himself at Krexx's shield, maul held close to his body since there wasn't any space to swing it.

''RRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!'' The monstrous argonian yelled, thumping against the shield again and again with all his strength.

[꧁ 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓲'𝓐𝓭𝓾𝓷𝓮 ꧂]

"You're welcome Si--" she began to quickly chirp just as the charge hit.

With wide- glowing eyes, she watched in horror as people went down.  Biting her lower lip, she noted the likely state of the Altmers and Khajiit.  She wasn't overly concerned about the bear, knowing it was a magical creature.  At this moment, she was regretting not being in the correct mindset to summon her own.  It would have been very useful!

The magical forest was still glowing about them, since none had used its energy yet to help heal any wounds, although it was starting to flicker, soon to fade.

Noting the redguard was blinded, she narrowed her eyes, and huffed a breath, focusing her attention on them.  Since it was the last person (she assumed), besides Krexx, she figured she should try and help.

Pressing her index and middle finger together, positioning them against her lips a moment, she whispered a few words, sweeping the digits outward sharply, three times.

A swarm of fletcherflies appeared, and with each swipe of her hand, their intensity grew.  They swarmed, and would aim to attack the target relentlessly.  Depending on how much energy the person had, it may take them down- or at the very least keep them occupied a while.

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

The Red Viper sat atop the construct with a somewhat euphoric look on her face after the construct had unleashed its charged attack. While she hadn't been zapped like the others, she had, instead, enjoyed the feeling of it charging up- all the buzzing and whirring and vibrating. The machine's attack sent a pleasant feeling like a small static shock into her nethers where her legs straddled it, and now it was vibrating again...

OOooh....I need one of these things home... she mused with an odd grin.

''RRRAAAAAHHHHHHH!'' The monstrous argonian yelled, thumping against the shield again and again with all his strength.

Fangs' roar, snapped her out of her momentary haze. Hissing, she scanned the room again. It would soon be time to pull the plug on this machine- but not quite yet. She refused to do all the work for that lying bastard mage below, just to have him steal the second and last key. Again.

Fang's had the right idea, and surprisingly, so did Shari.

Kieg looked like the epitome of a bad hair day at the moment, it was all she could do to withhold her laughter, though it slipped out anyway, and she began to laugh maniacally, lips peeled far off her teeth.

"YER BACKING THE WRONG ONE!" she yelled out randomly into the vastness of the room, seemingly at no one. "Ye want a REAL show, let yer fish flounder!" More laughter spilled from her lips as her eyes became wild.

"Stay UP Nord!" she howled toward Kieg, "Ye got its attention, yer faster than it be!" her eyes darted about again, "Help Shari take out the Redguard!" She didn't know if Shari was going to take care of the person alone er not, she didn't care. As far as Kat was concerned at the moment, she was happy to see all the bodies, dead or alive, into a smooth paste, "Then help Fangs!"

"Yeeeeehaw!" she rocked back and forth atop her perch, giving the construct a swat.

[Kieg]

Kieg nods at Viper's words, A bit winded. Gathering himself, he hobbles forward towards the Redguard, not quite up to one of his leaping charges at the moment. He lets one hand droop to brush among the leaves of Shari's illusory forest, and he -does- feel better. He smiles. Magic is so great.

Krexx flinches away instinctively as Fangs' fists slam against his barrier, but swiftly regains his composure.

"Ignorant brute," he sneers.

One hand raises and begins to form the signs for some manner of offensive spell, but suddenly a blast of arcane power from the Guardian Mage's impacts Krexx's shield, forcing him back on the defense.

The Archmage snarls viciously. "Leave me ALONE, damn you!! Hirelings!! HELP ME!!" He shouts.

The only member of his party still on her feet however, is the blinded and staggering Redguard. The woman is on the cusp of answering when Shari'Adune's fetcherfly swarm assaults her as well. The woman waves her hands frantically, retreating backwards.

"YER BACKING THE WRONG ONE! Ye want a REAL show, let yer fish flounder!"

At Viper's words and laughter the Redguard turns on her heels and flees down the passageway, pursued by the swarm.

"GET BACK HERE!! DAMN YOU!!" Krexx shrieks in fury. "DAMN ALL OF YOU!"

Fangs' fists hammer against the barrier again and again and the Archmage's lip curls in contempt.

"To oblivion with all of you." He raps his staff against the floor and green and purple sparks fly up to envelop him, but when they fade nothing has changed.

"You can't leave here!" The Guardian Mage calls. "Not using your magic!"

Fangs' fist slams again against the barrier, and a jagged, brilliant crack slivers across it as it begins to fail.

The anger on Krexx's face finally drains away to fear as the reality of his situation dawns.


((
Other NPCs are all down or fled, a concerted attack (or just Fangs' continued hammering, TBH) will probably bring the ward down, any of you can do that at your own discretion. After that point any attacks against Krexx will suceed as well with whatever effect you want. Have fun!
))

[@sylverdubs]

Practically foaming at the mouth, snarling and growling, Bares-the-Fangs reared one heavy fist and punched through Krexx’s shield. Using both hands he grabbed hold of the wizards clothes and picked him up, bringing his snout so close, the man could feel Fangs’ hot breath on his face.

“No more tricksss wee-zard…” Fangs said in a quiet, deadly tone that promised pain and suffering. Very suddenly, like a coiled snake suddenly striking, Fangs smashed his spikey head into Krexx’s face. Once, twice and, when it looked like he would continue until the wizard’s face was naught but a bloody shapeless mess, he suddenly lifted Krexx up, over his head.

With the loudest roar he had ever unleashed so far, he spun and threw the man in the direction of Kat and her machine, where the rest of his team could have a go at him too.

Fangs was a generous, understanding team player, after all…

[𝐊𝐀𝐓 ᴀᴋᴀ 𝓡𝓮𝓭 𝓥𝓲𝓹𝓮𝓻]

"Now it be a SHOW!" Kat jeered as she watched Krexx's magic fizzle, and Fangs continue his attack. Blinking, she then shrieked, "DON'T f***king KILL the idiot!", palming her face as Fangs went nuts, before the mage's unconscious body was tossed her way.

Since the mage was down, and his new lacky's, Kat had no reason, not to finally do what she was perched on the construct to do. Poising her blade, she sliced into the exposed wires, hoping one of them would serve to shut the mechanical monster down.

[꧁ 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓲'𝓐𝓭𝓾𝓷𝓮 ꧂]

The little elf was quite unsettled at this point, watching everyone falling or fleeing, though she was glad it was not her comrades.

Panting softly, winded with growing fatigue licking at every muscle, she leaned a bit on her staff. She had little energy left now, reserves spent. Through sheer force of will, she kept standing, attention on those who still remained.

The magical forest faded away, leaving a gentle sparkling dust falling as it did, before even that too was gone.

When Fangs unleashed his fury on the mage, she squeaked and bit her lower lip, fighting her inner urge to try and heal him, even though he was not a friend in this case.

Unsure what to do, she simply continued to rest against her staff to try and recover some of her energy, should she be needed soon.