Mack

ID: 63094
LD: 9 (Fail)
1/4 - Break Down Gate

Several hours later the red-headed behemoth awoke to find himself stuck in a jail cell behind a wrought iron gate with his wrists bound in front of him and all of his gear removed. Growling, the Vice Commander squinted at the offending bindings around his wrists. "Do they honestly think these bindings will hold me," he grumbled. The muscles of his neck, shoulders, and arms tensed and with a soft grunt, Mack popped the bindings he had been tied with. Rolling his head around on his neck, he advanced to the gate and checked it out, poking the locking mechanism with his finger. When that failed to produce the tell tail click of the lock disengaging the hulking ginger slammed his shoulder into the gate. There was more than one way to be free from the cage.

"I don't see what all the hubbub is about concerning this place," Mack grumbled to himself as he drew back the deep white hood of the Vice Commander's guild cloak and examined his surroundings. Sure, the waterfall was a nice enough digital geographic feature and the shadow creature was a bit interesting. Given that it also provided a quest called 'Calming the Soul' it seemed logical that the shadow monster was also, most likely, an immortal object. Silently, for the most part as he was still grumbling about the nature of the grove, Mack followed along behind the shadow creature as it led him to the first of a series of doors. "Face your inner demons and win the prize... I wonder if there's a brand new car or a trip to Paris behind door number one." Sighing loudly, he pushed open the door and entered the first room.

Gear:

Accepting the Ares amulet from Takao, Mack dropped it over his head to hang around his neck next to the medallion that showed him as the Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath. "Tales will be told of this day, and drinks will be downed as we relate them," the Vice Commander boomed, considerably more jovial now that the battle was soon to be joined. He clapped a massive hand on one of Takao's shoulders and then turned to address the Knights that were in attendance. "You all have your orders, Lawfer and Macradon you're with me. The rest of you will follow Seul's orders." Without another word, Mack moved to the forefront of the combat formation, marveling all the while at the hysterical number of buff symbols next to his health bar on the head's up display.

Power of the Gods, indeed.

Watching through storm grey eyes as the first members of the party took their place the ginger headed axe man tightened his grip on his weapon and marveled at the power displayed by Takao and Teayre as they each mowed through twelve spartans in their targeted phalanx. As Leonidas gestured and unleashed a torrent of attacks the cloaked Vice Commander rolled his head from side to side and cracked his neck audibly, even as several rounds from the onagers plowed into the ranks of the spartans due to misfires.

A most useful diversion.

With a roar, Mack exploded into motion. Imbued by the power of the Ares amulet, the massive axe man rumbled forward with Invictus held in both hands. Wasting no time at all, Mack charged into the middle of the fifth phalanx, which had been decimated by their own artillery. As his shoulders slammed into the lead rank of armored Spartans the ground rumbled and shook, causing several more Spartans to stumble and lose their footing. With a vicious lateral strike, Mack scythed through a dozen of the warriors before him, each of them exploding with a terrific crash of noise as they exploded into pixels, showering the ginger bearded man in blue confetti as he moved deeper into their formation.

Battle Order, Roll, & Stats

Mack sat quietly in his chair at the Vice Commander's place around the planning table that made up the rather humble guild hall for the Knights of the Blood Oath. Without saying much, the Vice Commander listened as each of the various Knights that would be taking part in the raid said their piece and chatted back and forth about the various plans and orders that they had received. "I want all of the Knights that are of the proper level and attired in the proper gear and consumables to be present for this raid. Given our announcement during the planning meeting about PK no longer being permitted and retribution being swift I think we need to have a good strong show of force. Based on what Takao had to say, and those that will already be there I believe that the danger to those under level thirty will be minimal," Mack rumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "If there's nothing else then yes, you're all dismissed."

As the battle between the Champions guarding the doors to Sheeptar's Throne Room and most of the rest of the group of adventurers, sans Opal, commenced, Mack poked his head back out around the corner to watch. "I did all the work the first time," he groused quietly to himself, out of earshot from the rest of them. Now he'd see just how much they enjoyed trying to take down the next wave all by themselves without any sort of assistance from a tank. Sure enough, it didn't take long for Takao to absorb some fairly superficial damage. Hikoru, on the other hand, absorbed some blows that would have been catastrophic for him if half of the champions hadn't split off to attack Takao and then split again to attack Oikawa.

Frankly, if anyone other than Hikoru or Macradon, or possibly Takao, had been that close to death Mack might have been tempted to leave them to their fate after the way things had gone at the gates moments before. But, given that Hikoru was the only other member in the party that had landed a successful attack when they had breached the gates of the fortress Mack sighed. He had to go and help the guy, even though he was himself about out of energy.

With a roaring battle cry, the red-headed Vice Commander charged into the fray. With a grunt he slammed shoulder first into the Champion that the others had already been attacking. It did no damage, but it succeeded in drawing the attention of the Champion and getting Mack into the Hate Table as well. The Door Guard was smashed face first into the granite wall and turned into a fleecy pancake. 

"That should be good enough to draw some hate," the cloaked Vice Commander grumbled, then he promptly seated himself on the ground in this midst of the Champions, sheathed his weapon, crossed his legs in front of him and his arms over his chest. He was down to a mere one point of energy, there was nothing left he could do. From his spot on the ground, Mack fished in his at ready inventory and produced some long ago purchased sixty point healing crystal. Leaning to one side, he smacked the crystal against Hikoru's thigh. It wasn't as if the red-headed needed it, after all it would take the Ram Champions forever to wipe out his health pool, given that his mitigation was a hysterically large number.

Roll and Battle Order:

OOC: Lay claim to your amulets, amulet people, and check with Takao if you have questions. He's taken Apollo and I've got Ares (unless Takao corrects me, he received the amulets and the decision is his). That leaves Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon... memory serves they go to Calrex, Lawfer, and Macradon. Again, check with Takao. If you want to know what the Knights are marching in to... Here You Go.

During the travel from the crimson marble city of Spartaia Mack had busied himself with preparations for the coming fight against Leonidas and the Three-Hundred Spartans. Damage, overhealth, and mitigation potions had been washed down by a liquor bomb. The Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, resplendent in the heavy crimson armor that made up the Pertinax set which was topped by the snow white hooded cloak of the Knights of the Blood Oath marched wordlessly at the head of the column of Knights that would be representing the guild in the coming fight, preparing himself mentally for the combat and for leading his guildmates.

When the small group was, approximately, a half mile from the assembly point at the mouth of the valley Mack raised a gauntleted fist to signal the soldiers with him to halt. Swiping a finger in front of him to pull up his menu, Mack scrolled through the items he had stored and selected one of the good quality crafts he had received from Seul not too long in the past. "Seul, you remember this one," he asked over his shoulder to one of the white and crimson knights, activating the item and dropping it into the hood of his cloak. It was time for the Knights of the Blood Oath to make a proper entrance, after all.

As the strains of the U.S. Field Artillery March, a full orchestral number by Sousa, began blaring from the item Mack gestured in the direction of the assembling raid party and the group resumed their marching once again. No doubt the column was heard well before it was actually seen, given that they had to crest a small hill before coming within sight of Takao and the rest of the group. Just as the March was hitting its ending crescendo, Mack led the group of the Knights of the Blood Oath into the meeting area.

Raising a hand in greeting to Takao and the others that were assembled as the final notes of the song faded, "Knights, at ease."

Stats:

What Asteria said.

All I've been doing is going into the affected profiles and flipping the switch for them :)

Fixed, let me know if it's not.

Approved! Welcome to Aincrad!

1. It's level 25-39 for Tier 2 players, just like Lyrica and Asterios.

2. This is NOT the sign-up. The two spots for level 25-39 will go to the first two players in that level range to sign up.

There is one attack where the Amulet and Survival skill will stack.

Just a reminder, this is NOT the sign up thread.

You're not allowed to save rolls anyway. I know because I got in trouble for doing it. :)

@Rain, precisely. Regardless of the rarity (uncommon, rare, perfect) it will ONLY give +2 DMG and then only against Nerius.

Since Uncommon Crafts don't get purchased nearly as often as Rares and Perfects, this is a way to unload some of those crafts on willing customers.

@Hydra, yes the special items can be made right now.

Another reason we have these events is to, occasionally, throw business into the shops :)

I'm not revealing when the sign-up and thread will be put up. To do that would be to give an unfair advantage to the High Level players that want to take part. I am the only person with that information.

Players Level 25-39 will be RESTRICTED to TIER 1 weapons, armor, and consumables. That's the same as always.

This fight should prove to be much beefier than the previous ones. Still, provided they are looked after by their teammates players from Levels 1-4 should be able to do this with an acceptable amount of risk.

There's also a marvelous LOOT SURPRISE in this one.

Chewie blinked large chocolate eyes at Grave as he clung to the front of the man's armor. When Grave moved to divert his attention to speak to the master, Chewie moved and jabbed his nose into Grave's face. "No food".  What kind of an answer was that. With their noses almost touching, Chewie tilted his head back and roared loudly right in Grave's face. Then he opened his mouth and pointed a clawed toe down his throat again. The man was a cook. He definitely had food. Claiming that he didn't was a flat out lie. Everyone knew that.

"My shop's on this floor," Mack rumbled, ignoring the antics of his familiar. The burly blacksmith had, long ago, given up on controlling the animal. Chewie was going to do what Chewie was going to do and, really, there was very little that anyone else could do about that.

Before anyone asks, no I am NOT giving you all of the Boss Information but you will get it (as always) AFTER the July event.

Here is the Pertinent Information that you need:

Throw a dart at a map of the U.S.

If you hit the bullseye, then you've found me in Kansas City... home of the World Series Champions, for now.

It should be fixed now, @Minnie Mouse, let me know if it's not.

OOC: @Ariel - The Crowned Lion

Mack scowled around, deeply, at the rest of the group which had hung him out to dry with the exception of Macradon, who had been stunned. If that was the way they wanted to play this, it was just fine with the crimson headed Vice Commander. Beyond that, if those had been the orders issued by Ariel then they were in poor taste. The point of having a group was to work as a team, and Opal shouldn't have been trusted to make the team play in the first place. Frankly, no one should have placed any kind of responsibility on the woman. Following Takao and the rest of the group as they entered the fortress that had every appearance of having been cut directly from the stone of the mountain itself, Mack remained silent and brooding, his storm grey eyes following the progress of his energy meter as it slowly ticked back up to full.

Approaching a blind corner, Mack peeked his head around the bend and stared down another group of sheepish soldiers, these ones looking more hearty than the group back at the entrance of the mountain fortress. "I don't have enough energy to do anything, at the moment," Mack grumbled, still scowling at everyone. "They're all yours." Having made his declaration, the Vice Commander planted his axe's butt cap in the ground and leaned on the bladed head of the weapon as he stood out of sight of the Champions around the bend in the corridor with everyone else, pointedly avoiding combat.

Battle Order:

Before the crimson headed Vice Commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath had a chance to respond to Kaelsh the wild dancer had placed a potion in his hand and abruptly teleported from the scene. Likely because the monsters were a bit much for him to handle. Grumbling darkly under his breath, and completely ignoring the mud crabs because they would have literally had to have attacked him all day before he was in any real danger of being killed Mack nonchalantly pulled up his inventory by swiping his right index finger in the air, even as the crabs began chip away at his health bar with their pathetically weak attacks. Completely ignoring the crustaceans, Mack stored away the safeguard potion in his inventory and pulled out a teleport crystal of his own. "Teleport: Snowfrost Town."

REWARDS:

+4 SP (3 Quest, 1 Thread)
+400 Col (Kalesh)
+Safeguard Pot (Mack)
+Lightning Rod (Paralysis Pot)
-1 Teleport Crystal (Both Players)
 

Completed with Kalesh.

Mack growled under his breath as he materialized on the portal platform in the town of Vulcan on the ninth floor. Seul had better know the location of a dungeon, for sure, to be summoning his Vice Commander to a place as oppressively hot as this hellish place. Drawing up the hood on the crimson trimmed snow white guild cloak of the Knights of the Blood Oath, Mack immediately began looking around for Seul. It didn't take long for the hulking axe man's storm grey eyes to lock on to a group of people gathering around Seul. Making his way over to the group, and making zero effort to be subtle about it, Mack brought himself to a halt directly in front of Seul and crossed his arms over his broad and heavily armored chest. "You'd damn well better know where we can find a mini dungeon to have pulled me to the ninth floor," he rumbled, glowering around at the assembled players.

The presence of the Vice Commander was announced not by the hulking axe man himself, but by his loyal fuzz faced retainer. After accidentally mentioning to the bear that he was going off to help Grave with a quest there was no amount of harsh yelling and ordering in the world that would have convinced the furry freight train to remain behind. With snuffling roars of delight the bear blasted through first one and then another and then another of the many snow hills that covered the ground, each time launching a geyser of snow into the air. Spotting the giver of all things edible, the bear's brown eyes narrowed and he sped off in the direction of Grave. With a roar, Chewie took a flying leap, attached himself to the front of Grave's armor and scrambled up the man until their noses were mere millimeters apart. Opening his pink maw, Chewie bellowed a greeting and directed a clawed toe down his open mouth.