Baldur

The sun was dawning by the time that Baldur hit the accept button on the housing deed's special UI. The island went... wonky... for a moment, everything seemed to shift, and then suddenly he was standing on a wood walkway, instead of muddy ground. Behind him, the shoji panel doors were drawn open and he could see into the room filled with tatami mats. Above, though he couldn't see them, fireworks shot into the air to celebrate his new home. He didn't think anyone else could see them, but there they were.

This was it. His new home.

He finally had a place to call his own that wasn't a temporary rented room at an inn or a friends house or above his shop on the first floor.

This is it.

"I've made it." He smiled as he noticed the buffs that now appeared near his status bar. They weren't amazing, but they were certainly useful.

He must have dozed off a bit here and there, because when he finally realized it was dark, it was already full dark. A bit of the moon shone in through the side of the floor and onto the placid waters of the lagoon, shining off its mirror like surface and illuminating the trees that surrounded the gaijin samurai.

He pushed himself to his feet and walked to the water's edge. He could see something glowing off in the distance, but from here, he just saw the moon in the sky and in the water. It cast a pale glow on everything around him and the soft flow of water and the rush of it as it spilled over the edge settled peace once again into Baldur's heart. Only this time, he wasn't attacked by everything.

"Maybe that's it then? Maybe that's everything?"

He pulled out his inventory and took out the special pre-order edition housing deed he had gotten.

"Alright, here we go."

And he activated it.

• Character Name:  Baldur
• Character Description:  The gaijin samurai, the lord of the weebs. The penultimate katana oji-san. The elder player is often a mentor for the young child soldiers of Aincrad.
• Character Journal:  LINK START!

Current Level: 75
Current SP: 409
Link to SP Tracking: My spreadsheet for tracking threads
Item Update: Here is the before and after approval for Muramasa becoming a 3.0 item. The "conversion" of said item is listed below as well just for clarity.

Item Upgrades:

Notes:
My Floor 23 raid rewards - 

Beginner Dungeon Map | Last Hit Reward | Floor 23 | +3 SP and 5,000 Col for up to 4 people
Intermediate Dungeon Map | Last Hit Reward | Floor 23 | +3 SP and 5,000 Col for up to 4 people
Advanced Dungeon Map | Last Hit Reward | Floor 23 | +3 SP and 5,000 Col for up to 4 people

Reward Choice: SP

ID#187504 LD: 17

Elders’ Grace | Tier 4 Demonic Heavy Armor/Shield
Flame Aura | Flame Thorns | Frost Aura | Frost Thorns
Engulfing flames, crippling frost. Become Dragon’s Breath personified.

This was it. Orgoth took the head off of Shadow, and with that, the last hit bonus. Baldur wasn't terribly wrapped up in getting it himself, he just wanted someone to get it. He wasn't quite sure what would happen now, but given how powerful the boss was, they probably lost out on something truly special. An anger fueled by annoyance at himself and at their situation flared up inside of him, but Baldur merely fed the emotion into the flame that filled him. Tranquil as a forest, but a fire within.

Once he found his center, he turned to the last remaining <<Shadow Horror>> that plagued their group. Now, they were sure to win, but they had to clean up the last of these adds...

When water began to fill the room.

Tsk.

Shadow didn't seem to die yet though, and his supernatural shadows still lingered in the room.

"We need to hurry up and kill the adds, lest there be some annoying flood mechanical, or Shadow is able to resurrect himself from the remnants."

He struck the stone of the floor link a flint and steel and coldfire blossomed from his blade as he turned his sights towards the monster. He swung his sword and a curved arc of blue fire shot from the sword and struck the  <<Shadow Horror>> the blue, crescent moon of energy split it in twain and the two remaining wire mesh halves burned until they shattered.

Then Baldur let out a deep breath and surveyed the room. 

ID#186412 BD: 10 (Crit) CD: 6 (Recovery Proc)
San Ge: 28 (base) +2 (Crit) = 30x15= 450 RAW - 75 MIT = 375 DMG Dealt to Shadow Horror 5

Baldur was please to see the other two men embrace his idea of a Noodle club meeting, and Mac even volunteering for the next club meeting at his place on the first floor. It had been a while now since Baldur had slept in the small attic space above his and Tyger's old shop, but he still spent a decent amount of time on the first floor... though that had gone down since the guild and their island had cropped up.

"That sounds wonderful Mac, I second the motion." He gestured imperiously with his chop sticks before taking another bite from his bowl.

"I know the whole 'I have an island' thing is impressive sounding... and okay, it is, but the intent wasn't for me to have a massive house, but instead for me to house a lot of people. So it still feels cozy to me, especially with how I've tried to tie it in to the landscaping, but it also houses guild members and my dojo, and large gardens and ponds. So it feels more like a collection of homes, rather than one large palatial mansion. What did you think of the place when  you came by for the meeting, Mac?"

He gestured again with his chop sticks, "But I also don't have someone..." He hesitated only for a briefly longer moment than he should have, "otherwise I would probably want something smaller and more intimate with my significant other too, Jomei." He tried to give the ginger a playful wink. He only vaguely knew that Jomei and Telrenya were a thing. Still, she seemed nice and was definitely beautiful. He couldn't blame Jomei for wanting something more personal.

"We need to get those soldiers freed." Even though he had stunned Hel with his opening charge, they weren't able to make much progress. It would be a while before Baldur would be able to land another stun on her, since she would be stun immune for a while. Instead, he decided to continue the attack and see what she could do. Her health pool wasn't that great compared to their onslaught.

"Here we go!" He rushed forward, and as he did so, his blade burst alight with cold fire. As he struck the goddess of light and dark, her form froze with the ice, even as ice so cold it burned continued to pull down her HP along with Night's own damage over time effects.

"Alright, don't hit her while she's frozen. Let's see who we can get free!" Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as he was worried.

ID#186295 BD:9 (Crit) Freeze and Burn activated
24 Base + 1 Crit = 25x15=375 RAW - 50 MIT = 325 DMG dealt
 

This was it. The moment. He couldn't move, no matter how much he struggled against the system or the chains that bound him. Then Night blurred past him, taking out his shackle and laying into another horror on her way to Shadow. We was a whirlwind of darkness and definitely making her attempt at MVP for the party, but with Baldur out of the way, they as a team needed to rely on Night, Kiluia, and Haine for the damage. Particularly Kiluia and Haine for the single target damage.

As the chains disappeared around Baldur he fell towards the ground as weight and control suddenly returned to him and he leaned on his sword trying to push himself back up. Shield <<Sharpened>> Haine and she charged forward, but it seemed she tripped on the way there... it looked like one of those Shadow Horrors lashed out at her, and she lost the attack. 

We can get this guys. Press the attack now while we have the chance!

Just as Baldur had caught the attention of everything to keep the rest of his party safe, and they were coming out of their own chains that were binding them, new ones burst from the ground and captured the gaijin Samurai. He had expected this to happen, but had hoped that it wouldn't have happened quite yet. Even making a cry of annoyance eluded him.

We're so close. If we can just hold it together, we'll all make it out of here alive.

He spared a glance for Yuki and Crow's party, they seemed almost abandoned, but Jonathan was able to get his wits back about him and try to free his fellow kouhai.

We can do this. Keep pushing.

Shadow Horror #1 | HP: 233/1500 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 75 | ACC: 3 | [DoT: 180 DMG] (1/2) | [TXV: 24] (1/3) | [VV: 10] (1/4) | [ENV: 4] (1/10) 
Shadow Horror #5 | HP: 1061/1500 | DMG: 300 | MIT: 75 | ACC: 3 | [DoT: 180 DMG] (0/2) | [TXV: 24] (0/3) | [VV: 10] (0/4) | [ENV: 4] (0/10) | PRLYZ
Bloodlust Shackle (Baldur) | HP: 237/500 | MIT: 50

Baldur grit his teeth as The Shadow shot out more of its tendrils, this time Shield was stunned and captured as well. It shackled him to the ground much faster than the gaijin samurai had hoped. Their situation ran through his mind. This was progressing faster than expected, but they were about to push through into the clear by getting Raidou back up.

"Night, Mou Ichido! Free Raidou and help me with Shield! I'll hold aggro! Haine, Kiluia, Keep the pressure up on the big emo boss."

Another Shadow Horror spawned, the bizarre, alien beast ripped at him and tore away a larger portion of his health than he was strickly okay with, but he had this under control as well. The wanna-be samurai then crushed one of the gently glowing blue healing crystals he had prepared in his hand for a small supplementary heal, as his own super-charged battle-healing took the teeth out of the damage he had taken, and the bleed they were now afflicted with as well.

"Alright, now it's my turn." Baldur concentrated a moment, and his aura built up around him, his blade glowing with a faint silvery light and he struck out with his AoE attack, long, spirling swoops of his sword cutting from each of the for targets as he blurred from one to the next, drawing the aggro of everything.

"I've got their attention. Keeping moving forward with the plan!"

Baldur uses a healing crystal healing everyone in the party 90 HP

Baldur uses Amatsu no Homura (x8) + Charge (GM Note: I accidentally left charge off of one of the 4 attacks, I checked with Night immediately and she said it was fine to include it)

185072 BD: 6 (hit) CD: 8 (+3 Energy) 28 (base) x 8 = 224 RAW -150 MIT = 74 DMG Dealt to Shadow (+36 Burn DMG (1/2)
185073 BD: 4 (hit) 28 (base) +5 (charge) = 33 x 8 = 264 RAW - 75 MIT = 189 DMG dealt to Shadow Horror #1
185074 BD: 7 (hit) 28 (base) +5 (charge) = 33 x 8 = 264 RAW - 75 MIT = 189 DMG dealt to Shadow Horror #5
185075 BD: 7 (hit) 28 (base) +5 (charge) = 33 x 8 = 264 RAW - 50 MIT = 214 DMG dealt to Bloodlust Shackle (Shield)

Baldur was surprised when Orgoth spoke to him, listening to the gaijin samurai discuss their tactics. Did that imply they could include the giant minotaur in their tactics? But his abilities were not usable on command the way players were.

"That's our plan, Orgoth-san. It looks like you have a handful of attacks left in you. We want to kill it before he kills you."

But then Shadow locked down Raidou and Calrex.

"Tsk" Baldur vocalized his annoyance as that changed the plan. He was now the full focus of Shadow as their main tank, Raidou, was hate dropped.

"Shield, SWITCH! Night, see if you can peel that thing off Raidou and AoE the Shadow and Horror at the same time!"

Baldur drew the tip of his katana against the stone floor, causing the sharp sound of metal on stone to piece the darkness and ignite the blade at his hand with a coldfire.

"We've only got a little bit more time left before Orgoth isn't going to be slowing him down any further. Let's finish the Shadow off quickly!"

Power once again erupted around Baldur as he slid into the practiced stance of <<San Ge>>. Frost slowly climbed down from the sword over Baldur's hand and his forearm, while fire licked at his boots, causing his haori to flutter in the non-existent wind. His slash cut through the air once, twice, thrice, quarce, quince. And on the fifth strike, as the arcs of cold fire hung in the air before him, Baldur struck the air and all five slashes flew forward, slashing through the Shadow, leaving chunks of ice on his form, and burning other sections. It didn't lock down his movements as it would lesser monsters, but it set up damage for whomever followed Baldur.

Shadow, the Malevolent DMG: 1500 | MIT: 150 | ACC: 2 | EVA: 2

ID#184483 BD: 10 (Crit) CD: 9 (Recovery Proc +3 EN)
28 (base) + 2 (Sharpen) +2 (Crit) = 32x15= 480 RAW - 150 MIT = 330 DMG Dealt + Freeze (36 damage unmitigable to next attack) + Burn (36 for 2 turns)

Fangs of the shadow rushed out to cover the battlefield as the Shadow spent more effort dealing with Orgoth. Baldur lept back, deflecting one of the black spears with his sword, though it seemed Kiluia was not so lucky. Still, his health was not diminished a quarter of what Baldur had expected it was going to.

It's still going easy on us. That must not be his main attack for this phase. It's probably going to go after Orgoth for the time being.

"I think Orgoth is going to continue to be its main target while he can stand. That makes this a DPS race to take out Shadow before we're over-run. Probably with Shadow Horrors. I don't think we'll be able to pull hate on Shadow until Orgoth is dead. If I'm right, groups will have to juggle killing the horrors with putting DPS on Shadow."

Shield and Raidou were perfectly prepare for this, picking up hate on both.

"Though the Shadow may throw non-main attack damage at the raid party to keep pressure on us based on hate."

Baldur moved his neck quickly side to side, which would have cracked his neck in the real world, but he had no spine here to crack.

"Damage it is. Here I go!"

Power flooded around Baldur, swirling up from the ground and blowing back dust on the ground, whipping his hair around him and fluttering the hem of his haori, making the white flames on the blue cloth dance. The purple-silver blade suddenly burst with light from the starry sky and nebulas within.

The night sky stretched through the room at an inhuman speed, rippling through Baldur's allies and then suddenly it split into five different streams of the night sky, each one assaulting the Shadow's form at the same time until they resolved back into the single form of Baldur, back where he started, sliding his katana back into its sheath.

ID#183705 BD: 4+9-1-2=10 (hit) CD: 8 (+3 Energy)
Base 28+2(Sharp)+5(charge)=35x15 = 525 RAW - 100 MIT = 425 DMG dealt
+94 Battle Healing, +3 Energy Regen, +3 Energy Recovery, -12 Energy San Ge
 

Finally, this is it. Baldur was beginning to feel a bit of wariness. The the kind he would get from physically exhausting himself in a fight, but from being "on" for so long. This battle was a marathon, and while he had fought longer fights, he was more keyed into this fight because of the danger. Fights like the Forgotten Time King weren't dangerous to him. Orgoth had almost put a few frontliners in the ground until they had gotten their momentum going.

Though Baldur knew this was a game, he was still impressed by the sight of the Shadow flinging the giant minotaur they had fought so hard against, like he was some kind of doll. It was effectively a mini cut-scene, and so it didn't give weight to Baldur any more than other fiction, but he was so caught in the moment and the gravity of it all, that it did have an affect on him.

"@Shield, my Sharpen is out after this. I should be good on energy for now, but I'll probably need some help after a few more sword arts. I have a feeling this fight against the Shadow is going to be a long one."

Baldur had been ready for this though. The fight they hadn't been ready for before, but were ready for now.

Baldur sheathed his sword as his eyes locked onto the Shadow, the dark red almost black cursor appearing above the creatures head, no longer stating it was an immortal object.

"This is for making my use my first combat teleport crystal."

The gaijin samurai crouched down, and then flickered after images of his quick movements struck the shadow from every dimension as the form of Baldur drew the sword and launched through the air at the Shadow. All the images faded at the same time, as Baldur slid to a stop on the other side of the shadow, his blade leaving an image of the night sky cutting straight through the creature.

It's health went down.

Excellent.

ID#183051 BD: 7+9-2-1=HIT CD: 12 = +3 EN recovered
San Ge + Charge = 28 (base) +2 (sharpen) +5 (charge) = 35*15 = 525 RAW - 150 MIT = 375 DMG Dealt
97 HP recovered from Battle Healing

Baldur watched as once again Raidou using his stunning ability to weaken the shadows that surrounded him, even managing to take one out. Thankfully, Shield had given the gaijin samurai another buff. It was enough that these Shadowlings were not a challenge anymore. 

"This is it everyone." He watched as Night engaged the final shadow.

"Phase 3. Likely the final phase. Push on a little more and we get to the next floor."

What would the next floor be? Hopefully something more peaceful than the current one. Something with sunshine. Something where you could see the blue skies outside of the tower, and maybe some mountains and forests. It had been a long time since they had once of those.

"Be prepared for the Shadow to be the hardest fight yet, but know that we have this!"

With a flourish of his blade, Baldur became a blur of motion, slicing through four of the shadows in a zig-zag arc of blue and orange light.

Amatsu no Homura: 28 (base) +2 (sharpen) +5 (charge) = 35 x8 = 180 RAW - 25 MIT = 255 DMG Dealt
ID#182799 CD: 5 (No Recovery Proc), +3 Energy Regen, -13 EN Amatsu no Homura, +82 BattleHealing

Shadowling81 | HP: 143/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 1 ID#182801 BD:1+9-1-2-1=6 (hit)
Shadowling82 | HP: 143/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 1 ID#182802 BD: 8 (hit) 
Shadowling83 | HP: 131/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 1 
Shadowling84 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 1 ID#182799 BD: 5 (hit)
Shadowling95 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 1 ID#182800 BD: 7 (hit)

Shield | HP: 1985/1985 | EN: 123/176 | DMG: 2 | ACC: 5 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 260 | HB: 72 | VO: 180 | VD: 90 | LD: 8 | PRLYZ | DoT: -50%, 1 HIT, -25% AFTER | DoT: -27 | Dote: 3 | Oxidant | BURNS: -50% | TAUNT | THRNS: 30 | EN REGEN: 3 | BH: 114  | KEEN: 1 | KEEN | PARRY | [PARRY: --/2] | [SHARPNESS (CD) 0/1]
Raidou | HP: 1870/1870 | EN: 127/166 | DMG: 6 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 7 | MIT: 216 | VO: 280 | TAUNT | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: - 27 | LD: 8 | BH: 93 | EN REGEN: 3 | VENGEFUL RIPOSTE | [PARRY: --/2] | [VENGEFUL RIPOSTE: --/3]
Haine | HP: 1361/1590 | EN: 95/138 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 79 | HLY: 6 | BRN: 36 | VO: 159 | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | LD: 3 | BH: 79 | EN REGEN: 3
Baldur | HP: 1499/1650 | EN: 107/144 | DMG: 28(+2) | ACC: 8 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 64 | REC: 3 | BURNS: -50% | THRNS: 30 | Dote: 2 | BH: 82 | EN REGEN: 3 | KEEN: 1 | KEEN | [CONCENTRATION: RDY!] | [SHARPNESS: 1/2]
NIGHT | HP: 1516/1790 | EN: 119/173 | DMG: 26 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | MIT: 94 | BRN: 36 | BLI: 72 | BLD: 72 | TXV: 24 | VV: 10 | ENV: 4 | PRLYZ | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | BH: 104 | EN REGEN: 3 | [CONCENTRATION: 1/3]
Kiluia | HP: 1218/1270 | EN: 92/106 | DMG: 25 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 63 | ABS ACC | REC: 3 | KEEN: 1 | BLD: 36 |  Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | Oxidant | LD: 3 | EN REGEN: 3

The sudden entrance of the giant beast was sooner than expected, they hadn't even really divided up into parties yet, just groups at this point. But this appearance made sense, it was a sacrificial mob provided by the system to allow them to practice their new weapons and circumstances. So nonchalantly Baldur walked up to the giant beast, and then assumed to stance that would activate one of his sword arts... but nothing happened.

"Hmm... alright, the old fashioned way than."

Without any rush, as the beast raged around them, Baldur drew the blade, held it high above his head, and then brought it down powerfully, precisely so that the monouchi was buried deep into the bear's side, he smoothly transitioned into the cutting motion of the blade, leaving a deep red gash, exposing the red wire-frame mesh of the inside of the bear's polygon model. It was a good, solid hit and it seemed the damage reflected that.

Around him, he noticed the others all trying to get used to their new weapons, or different weapons. This one did not give him amazing stats like his normal sword, but he had spent years of his life using a normal katana, and not a suped up video game one.

ID#182022 BD: 6 (hit) Sword Skill 1 - 8DMG to the Beast

SWORD

1. Deal 8 damage on one target.
2. Deal 3 damage on up to three targets.
3. Deal 5 damage and paralyze on one target.

[SKILL]: Gives Fury to yourself and 5 other players for 2 turns.

The rallying breath that Orgoth took was not missed by Baldur, but how that would affect the coming phase change he could only imagine. Perhaps Orgoth would tank the Shadow for them. Perhaps he would help hold some other effect at bay that they would have had to fight through should the minotaur not have been there. Whatever the case, short of him being their enemy again, this was a good sign. Something that allowed the gaijin samurai a moment of respite in his adrenaline fueled system.

"Everyone be prepared for a phase change once the shadows are all down!"

The sooner they got rid of these adds, the sooner they could move on to the next phase, and the next floor.

"Once the adds are gone, Shadow will probably manifest as the final target. He hit hard last time, so be prepared."

Baldur turned to face the rest of their shadows almost contemptuously.

"Begone." He said. Baldur took his stance, there was a flicker of light, and then he returned the sword to its sheath. The last of the Shadowlings menacing their party were destroyed. The darkness of their form erupting into luminous polygons.

Everything seemed to be as it should, but this was the eye of the storm.

Shield seemed to have an endless pocket of <<glowstones>>. He didn't know why the man brought so many, but he was suddenly very thankful. That sweet, odd, stubborn man.

So Baldur would do his part. He barely percieved the shadowy form of Night, streaking through the shadows, but while seemed to be at home in them as a stealth junky, she was not of them like the shadowlings were. The combination was deadly, through these seemed easier than the ones they fought before. The gaijin samurai felt like a grandfather among so many new faces here. So many he had taught as well. He wouldn't let himself be shown up by the new comers. They may have flashier attacks, but the old man of the raids had his own talents as well.

He let out a small breath, centering himself. This was a game, and it had game mechanics. All Baldur had to do was select enough of them during his skill activation to not waste any of his movement. He slid into the promotion, the game humming with anticipation, the system was literally pulling at his limbs, trying to snap him into the predetermined attack pattern of the sword art, but Baldur was familiar with his sensation. He activated <<Charge>> and the ground beneath his feet cracked under the energy that burst from him, and he swept his eyes in the area Night had left her in wake. This was a target rich environment, and it was easy for him to handle.

All that was left was to stop resisting, and like a rubber band being snapped, Baldur shot forward, sweeping through the shadows and leaving only the rainfall of polygons in his wake.

BD: 1+8 (acc) +1(keen) -1 (eva) -1 (charge) -2 (Dark Nove Eternal) = 6 (hit)
Amatsu no Homura: 28 (base) +2 (sharpen) +5 (charge) = 35x8 = 280 RAW - 25 MIT = 255 DMG Dealt
EN -13, +3 Regen (CD: 1 no Recovery)
+83 HP from battle healing

The darkness was oppressive, and not just because of the faces which resembled that of their friends in some gimmicky attempt to dishearten them. No one but Bahr had tried to flee the battle, and now that they knew they could not, there was only one way... forward. Thankfully they had regained their equilibrium. They were ready to go, and the add phase was something they had talked about and prepared to manage.

"We planned for this everyone, keep your wits about you, and this raid is in the bag."

Shield, from nowhere, seemed to find a stack of glowstones. It was surprising, to say the least, to have a single stone, let alone an entire stack. He passed one out and then activated another one. With the glowing light of the fightliners, it seemed to be giving Orgoth strength.

"Keep it up with the light!"

The shadows hadn't respawned yet, but seemed to redistribute themselves and explode when any were killed. Knowing his task, and being far more prepared for it this time, Baldur leapt forward, slashing at the shadow creatures around him and ending one with every slash, though he could not escape their deaths and the gooey shadows seemed to burn him. But nothing that Battle Healing won't take care of.

This fight was almost going too smoothly.

Hannah  – 3/4 [Setsuna, Andromeda, Plini]
Sir John – 4/4 [Freyd, Nian, Baldur, Mari]
Andrey   – 1/4 [Koga]

Baldur was mostly immune to the banter between the 3 NPCs. He disliked the character of Sir John for obvious reasons, but he didn't see the NPCs as people. This was scripted dialogue. They were actors putting on a show for the gathered players. What Baldur saw instead, were the three paths to navigate through the event. As he was not a scout type player, he did not follow Hannah. Andrey was a bit of a mystery to him, but didn't give Baldur any guide to how they should proceed. However, if combat was to be had, Baldur and Mari were suited for it, he with his level and skills, and Mari with her first aid. He was unsure what Freyd and Nian were capable of, and felt the desire to help Shepard the combat heavy path.

"If there are foes to be slain." Baldur said with a bit of atypical role-playing, "Then that is my path." He nudged Mari slightly and gestured to Sir John, "You with me?"

@Mari

Quote

ID# 180457 results:

 Battle: 9

 Craft: 9 (+3 EN)

 Loot: 17

 MOB: 8

On 12/20/2020 at 12:40 PM, NIGHT said:

Shadowling1 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling2 | HP: -37/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling3 | HP: -37/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling4 | HP: -37/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling5 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling6 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling7 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling8 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling9 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling10 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling11 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2
Shadowling12 | HP: 250/250 | DMG: 75 | MIT: 25 | EVA: 2

---

Shield | HP: 1985/1985 | EN: 135/176 | DMG: 2 | ACC: 5 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 260 | HB: 72 | VO: 180 | VD: 90 | LD: 8 | PRLYZ | DoT: -50%, 1 HIT, -25% AFTER | DoT: -27 | Dote: 3 | Oxidant | BURNS: -50% | TAUNT | THRNS: 30 | EN REGEN: 3 | BH: 114 | KEEN: 1 | KEEN | PARRY | [PARRY: --/2] | [BH DISABLED: 1/2]
Raidou | HP: 1870/1870 | EN: 158/166 | DMG: 6 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 7 | MIT: 216 | VO: 280 | TAUNT | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: - 27 | LD: 8 | BH: 93 | EN REGEN: 3 | VENGEFUL RIPOSTE | [PARRY: --/2] | [VENGEFUL RIPOSTE: --/3] | [BH DISABLED: 1/2]
Haine | HP: 1590/1590 | EN: 109/138 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 79 | HLY: 6 | BRN: 36 | VO: 159 | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | LD: 3 | BH: 79 | EN REGEN: 3 | [BH DISABLED: 1/2]
Baldur | HP: 1650/1650 | EN: 139/144 | DMG: 28 | ACC: 8+1 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 64 | REC: 3 | BURNS: -50% | THRNS: 30 | Dote: 2 | BH: 82 | EN REGEN: 3 | KEEN: 1 | KEEN | [JUSTIFIED RIPOSTE: 3/3] | [BH DISABLED: 2/2]
NIGHT | HP: 1790/1790 | EN: 145/173 | DMG: 26 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | MIT: 94 | BRN: 36 | BLI: 72 | BLD: 72 | TXV: 24 | VV: 10 | ENV: 4 | PRLYZ | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | BH: 104 | EN REGEN: 3 | [VANISH: 1/3] | [BH DISABLED: 1/2]
Kiluia | HP: 1270/1270 | EN: 79/106 | DMG: 25 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 63 | ABS ACC | REC: 3 | KEEN: 1 | BLD: 36 |  Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | Oxidant | LD: 3 | EN REGEN: 3 | KEEN | [BH DISABLED: 1/2]

Baldur watched as once again darkness flooded The room and shadow minions flooded forth from the deapths. It brought back the memories of the last fight and the threat of being over whelmed. 

"Prepare for more of them! Last time they had a stacking debuff to whomever they were aggroed to. Don't let your tanks get overwhelmed! Manage your energy wisely!"

Reaching into his inventory Baldur pulled out his piece of the pillar as it gave off a faint glow.

Come on you lousy thing I need you to glow right now.

The gaijin samurai shook the stone and hit it like a flashlight in a horror movie.Then something began to happen as the light began to rekindle deep within.

His blue eyes looked up at the dark shadowy forms. Lessa? How does it know what she looks like? He shook his head, it was obviously just a trick of the light. A moment of weakness in himas he recalled how close the last fight had been.

Don't worry, we got this.

Buldar feel his fear and distractions to the flame and once more Zanshin enveloped him and the focused on the here and now of the fight. 

Orgoth the mighty had finally fallen.

"Alright everyone, this is it. The real fight is about to begin. Heal up, top off, adjust your gear. Be prepared for adds or some kind of skill challenge like we faced with lighting the beacons."

But Orgoth didn't disappear into pixels.

That's exceptionally strange. Was beating this phase what finally drove the Shadow from Orgoth? Will he join us now, or continue to be an obstacle.

"If you can  meditate or consume an energy recovery food, now is a good time. Tanks, if you're still low on HP, it may be worth letting the off tank pick up the initial aggro, and then peel it from them to give yourself some extra recovery."

He didn't want to single out Yuki, who was the most depleted of the tanks, and Crow's energy wasn't holding up particularly well either. They would need to better utilize their off tank to not crush Crow's energy reserves. And hopefully be a little more lucky with the punishment Yuki was being given.

He crushed a group heal crystal in his hand, increasing everyone's HP by a slight amount. They wanted to start this fight prepared. Macradon seemed to be doing okay, and Mari's HP was holding up decently as well. Ariel had taken quite the punishment, but Zandra still had plenty of energy, since Oscar had been doing most of the healing thus far.

We'll be okay. We've still got this.

ID#180240 CD:6 (+3 energy)
+3 Natural Regen
+90 HP to all in party 1

Quote

Shield | HP: 1900/1985 | EN: 137/176 | DMG: 2 | ACC: 5 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 260 | HB: 72 | VO: 180 | VD: 90 | LD: 8 | PRLYZ | DoT: -50%, 1 HIT, -25% AFTER | DoT: -27 | Dote: 3 | Oxidant | BURNS: -50% | TAUNT | THRNS: 30 | EN REGEN: 3 | BH: 114 | [KEEN] | [BH Disabled: 0/2]
Raidou | HP: 1795/1870 | EN: 156/166 | DMG: 6 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 7 | MIT: 216 | VO: 280 | TAUNT | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: - 27 | LD: 8 | BH: 93 | EN REGEN: 3 | [Concentration: 2/3] | [BH Disabled: 0/2]
Haine | HP: 1522/1590 | EN: 106/138 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 79 | HLY: 6 | BRN: 36 | VO: 159 | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | LD: 3 | BH: 79 | EN REGEN: 3 | [BH Disabled: 0/2]
Baldur | HP: 1582/1650 | EN: 133/144 | DMG: 28 | ACC: 8+1 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 64 | REC: 3 | BURNS: -50% | THRNS: 30 | Dote: 2 | BH: 82 | EN REGEN: 3 | KEEN: 1 | [Parry: 2/2] | [Justified Riposte: 2/3] | [Keen] | [BH Disabled: 1/2]
NIGHT | HP: 1722/1790 | EN: 157/173 | DMG: 26 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | MIT: 94 | BRN: 36 | BLI: 72 | BLD: 72 | TXV: 24 | VV: 10 | ENV: 4 | PRLYZ | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | BH: 104 | EN REGEN: 3 | [CONCENTRATION: 2/3] | [VANISH: 0/3] | [BH Disabled: 0/2]
Kiluia | HP: 1165/1270 | EN: 79/106 | DMG: 25 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 63 | ABS ACC | REC: 3 | KEEN: 1 | BLD: 36 |  Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | Oxidant | LD: 3 | EN REGEN: 3 | [Keen] | [BH Disabled: 0/2]

"A sword huh?" Baldur said to @Mari, putting his hand on her shoulder to bring her back to the moment from wherever her mind had wandered off to. The smile he offered her was one of an inside joke, one between friends, "You're not considering changing weapons again, are you? There's always room for you in my dojo." His eyes twinkled. He knew how much work she had put in to changing to the spear, and making it ready for the raid they were about to partake in.

Baldur noticed a few other faces had joined into the raid that he recognized, "Heya Z." Baldur called out to @Zandra when he saw her joining the ranks.

Lessa showed up as well, though her gear looked very different from the last time he had seen her. She had been working very hard the last few months to up her game and rejoin the frontline. He had been pleased to see her show up at the boss meeting he had hosted. "Hey @Lessa, have you seen this event before? I hadn't heard anything about it."

Baldur gave Mari's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and stayed beside her as they all walked over to the weapon rack. Without hesitation, Baldur took up another katana. Of course he did. The other weapons were interesting, and giving a different type a shot was also interesting, but for him, there was only one blade.

"You should stay, Mari." He said in answer to the question that obviously wasn't to him. Her attention had wandered earlier, she was obviously feeling self conscious in a crowd like this, and self conscious of her crystal as well.

He had blushed earlier when she said he had looked handsome, but he felt that her being able to articulate the words was progress. Perhaps she was moving on, and that would allow them to take that foundation and forge not just a partnership in the guild, but a lasting friendship. He finally let his hand fall as he examined the group around them. Most of the faces were new to him, or at least, people he did not know, rather than just know of. It would be good for the gaijin samurai to meet new people, and see those who were now making their way through the world, instead of always just interacting with the same set of faces.

The NPC spoke, telling them of their quest to investigate the forest. He was looking forward to doing something new with new people, but he felt he should try to break the ice by being the first awkward one.

"Ohayo, everyone. I am called Baldur. I typically use the katana, and I've got a fair bit of experience in a fight. I look forward to working with you all on this event. We'll make sure everyone gets home safely." he gestured at Mari, "And this is Mari. She and I are co-leaders of the guild Jacob's Ladder. Let us know if you need any help."

"Trust your teammates!" Baldur called out to the raid in general.

He knew what this moment was. It was an inflection point. A... shatterpoint. In the fight. Bahr had broken and tried to retreat, it seemed something the Shadow said had gotten to him, but Baldur paid the words so little attention that he couldn't remember what it had said. Something about Bahr's girlfriend? Lessa wasn't here, so she was safe, as long as their line held.

"Everything has gone according to plan. Use your heal crystals to help top off your tanks!"

All in all, the battle had mostly gone as Baldur had expected, though he seemed to be operating about one beat faster than everyone else. They should have entered the second phase by now, but they were pushing up against the buffer of it.

"Tanks! Prepare for a hate drop as we enter phase 2!" @Shield @Raidou @Calrex @Ariel - The Crowned Lion @Zajcica @Morgenstern @ChaseR @Macradon

Baldur surveyed the HP of his party and saw that while Shield was uncommonly low, it was not the point where he felt he needed to be concerned about the tank. Raidou... Raidou on the other hand seemed to have succumbed to the Shadow's taunts in a way distinctly different from Bahr.

He turned to @Haine "Does he usually get like this?" he glanced to her and Kiluia, "Come one, let's finish this phase off. Maybe it'll clear his head with a phase change."

Baldur charged at the giant minotaur and activated <<San Ge>>, tearing another huge swath out of the monster's health bar.

Come on you big sack of hit points, fall already. Hopefully some forward momentum would energize everyone's morale.

ID#179169 BD:6 +8-3= 11 (hit), CD: 12 (Recovery Proc +3EN)(keen proc)
San Ge: 28x15=420 - 100 = 320 DMG Dealt
-12 EN, +3 EN (regen), +3 EN (recovery), +82 HP Battle Healing

[H:11] Shield | HP: 1295/1985 | EN: 164/176 | DMG: 2 | ACC: 5 | EVA: -1 | MIT: 260 | HB: 72 | VO: 180 | VD: 90 | LD: 8 | PRLYZ | DoT: -50%, 1 HIT, -25% AFTER | DoT: -27 | Dote: 3 | Oxidant | BURNS: -50% | TAUNT | THRNS: 30 | EN REGEN: 3 | BH: 114 | [KEEN] | [Parry: 1/2]
[H:12] Raidou | HP: 1863/1870 | EN: 156/166 | DMG: 6 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 7 | MIT: 216 | VO: 280 | TAUNT | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: - 27 | LD: 8 | BH: 93 | EN REGEN: 3
[H:3] Haine | HP: 1490/1590 | EN: 117/138 | DMG: 27 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 3 | MIT: 79 | HLY: 6 | BRN: 36 | VO: 159 | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | LD: 3 | BH: 79 | EN REGEN: 3
[H:7] Baldur | HP: 1650/1650 | EN: 127/144 | DMG: 28 | ACC: 8+1 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 64 | REC: 3 | BURNS: -50% | THRNS: 30 | Dote: 2 | BH: 82 | EN REGEN: 3 | KEEN: 1 | [Parry: 1/2] | [Justified Riposte: 1/3]
[H:2] NIGHT | HP: 1790/1790 | EN: 157/173 (+3, -10) | DMG: 26 | ACC: 6 | EVA: 6 | MIT: 94 | BRN: 36 | BLI: 72 | BLD: 72 | TXV: 24 | VV: 10 | ENV: 4 | PRLYZ | Oxidant | Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | BH: 104 | EN REGEN: 3 | [CONCENTRATION: 2/3] | VANISH [0/3]
[H:2] Kiluia | HP: 1170/1270 | EN: 90/106 | DMG: 25 | ACC: 5 | EVA: 4 | MIT: 79 | BH: 63 | ABS ACC | REC: 3 | KEEN: 1 | BLD: 36 |  Dote: 3 | DoT: -27 | Oxidant | LD: 3 | EN REGEN: 3

Baldur had never been above ground on the 23rd floor. He had spent as little time on the floor as possible, actually, since the below ground floors were his least favorite, but since they had dispatched the Dark Council and ended the reign of tyranny on the floor, he had no reason to not scout the above ground section of it. It was then that he saw @Mari was lingering in the area as well. She had been off for a long time now. Partly that was his fault, but he had tried to handle that in the best way possible for her. Still, it hurt him to see her the way she had been lately.

He was looking for her when he found her and a strange NPC, bearing a bow, as well as a slowly growing gathering of other players. He made his way over to the orange frontliner, and gave her a shy, but friendly smile.

"Hey, what brings you out this way?"