Freyd

Taking one final look around, Freyd resolved that he would be ready when the moment came. "Thank you for hosting and generously sharing your insights. We'll see what fate brings us soon enough." A quick nod to those who'd agreed to make assorted supply runs with the limited time remaining, as well as friends and strangers who'd joined their ranks for the first time. He hadn't expected @NIGHTto step up as well, but wasn't completely surprised. The woman was exceedingly competent and would manage to find her own way through whatever Cardinal threw their way. "Be safe, and please com

"I heard," Freyd mentioned in passing to @Morningstar as he wandered the room is search of his wayward and mayhem prone familiar. "It's a good idea." Cowl firmly back in place, he searched high and low for the brilliant blue eyes that usually gave her away. Unfortunately, if she closed them, the whole exercise became one with futility. Getting up from his crouch, Freyd noticed a few stray looks sent his way, likely wondering whether he was planting bombs or searching for secret passages. I mean there could be... A shaken hood purged the possibility before it grew into something more

Skill(s) Being Dropped: Hiding (5 ranks) Mod(s)/Addon(s)/Shift(s) Being Dropped: Vanish, Untraceable, Surprise Attack (Assassin) SP Incurred Towards Limit: 30 SP Refunded: 46 Cost: 46,000 col

Freyd looked up from his workbench, the magnifying spectacles on his face making his eyes look absolutely gigantic. They widened in turn, having unexpectedly been given a close-up view of Oji's nose hairs from an unfortunate vantage. "GAH!" A swipe of his hand flipped the goggle-like lenses from his face forcing him to squint and blink a few times to refocused. "Oji? Never heard of you." His free hand waved dismissively at his patron, as if shooing away doubts and misgivings. "No worries. In fact, that's probably a good thing. Sorry, but I'm in a dreadful rush. Ummm..." Glanc

The companions parted as haphazardly as they had been called together, each bound for whatever pre-raid rituals they required for themselves. Freyd, being the last to linger, found himself staring at the mundane coming and going of daily life in Yogan. Another child, like the one that squealed and ran from him earlier in the day passed by again, oblivious to his presence. To much of her lifetime had passed since then for her to recall his presence. 'Shouldn't that same logic apply to all mobs,' he wondered, thinking that it would go a long way towards explaining why some seemed so two-dim

"Dangit." Freyd knew it the moment he looked at the results: he'd messed up. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he knew the only answer was to place another order and hope that NIGHT would just indulge and dismiss it as a facet of a manic nature. Cost wasn't really the issue. Well, it was, but the investment in his fellows mattered more than economics. He could always incur another assault on Aincrad's poor mob population if necessary. Now really wasn't the time to get stingy. "My sincere apologies, NIGHT. In a rush to prepare for the raid, I seem to have placed my order incorrectly.

"Let's call it an investment for mutual benefit and a favor owed. Live through the raid and I'll be happy to claim something suitably scaled in the future. I'm sure to need the assistance of a tank or otherwise 'warm body' for something-or-other at some point down the road. You'd always have right of refusal, or course." With a nod as good as a handshake, and the matter considered settled, Freyd guided them back to the settlement where the yawning portal awaited their departure. Katoka got an elbow to the ribs for her efforts and to echo Nari's assessment. She had come a very long way si

Watching as the others coordinated their efforts, Freyd permitted himself a small but satisfied grin. Working together, they made swift work of the flaming bird, each sliding in effective and progressive strikes to take it down as fast as possible. The ever-satisfying ping of their sought-after prizes having been delivered was all that had been missing. Once collected, he permitted himself a glance at his interface. "Not much time left to get ready for the raid. We should make our way back to town and make our way topside." A nod and sidestep towards @Nari-Lanreth was meant to glean

Viral filaments of colour spun by the master spinstress of the soul, Shiina's infusions ran through the group and afflicted their foes with spite, then smite, then a few extra whammies just for the fun of it. The girl was fickle and weird, but brilliantly effective, literally. Her crimson hue sunk deep and stirred within the Whisper's whispers that dark malignant void he wore over his hands. Samael's Pride triggered its endless thirst and keening wails echoed off the walls as it devoured one portion then another, until only one last sorry segment of the slime king slithered sadly on the flo

The bird's flight could be a problem and had to be neutralized. Reaching into his cowl, Freyd pulled out a long, slender form of black shadow with twin azure orbs for eyes. The beast seemed startled and displeased at having its slumber disturbed by such a lumbering lummox, but was never given a chance to protest. With a running start and leap, Freyd spun mid-air and whipped his familiar at the Pheonix, both beasts being completely caught off guard by the unusual familiar. Persi reacted first, choosing to take out her frustrations on the first thing in her path. Moments later, the dazed an

Rank 5 Appraiser (Base: BD 10, CD 8+ for unique, 10 identifications per day) +1 to CD from Hermes’ Scale +2 EXP: Hard Working (also +1 IDs per day) +2 EXP: Lucrative (Firm Anima) (also +2 IDs per day) +1 EXP: Custom Ambition Tool (bought from own shop 2020-07-16) Consuming: Crafting Respite: none Witch's Brew: none Identifications: 3x T4 Perfect Items (@3040 col) = 9120 col +45000 col for re-rolls. (X * 15,000 for 4 rerolls apiece) Total Cost: 54120 col Junking: 2x T4 Perfect Item (@1900) = 3800 col Total Value of Junking: 3800 col Net

Returning to Urbus with prize in hand, Freyd looked like quite the fright. Covered in dirt and honey, his health was still recovering from the earlier battle with Hebishinu. He looked like Ugzeke had used him as a walking stick in the woods and forgotten to wipe him clean afterwards. Sparing himself a short dip in one of the local fountains, much to the consternation of the locals, he was clean again by the time he reached the central plaza, albeit soaking wet. It was nothing a few minutes in the arid air on floor 5 couldn't fix as he set his sights on the twenty-seventh. Whatever lay in

Persi was the solution. Zipping her way through the swarm, her bee line approach blended in so perfectly that the queen never knew what hit her. Drones scattered at the impact and soldiers gave immediate chase without thought to leaving their monarch unguarded. Freyd just had to walk over and crack her one in the thorax. Even there, it was an unusually close thing, the ground having grown slick with the same substance slathered all over the hive mouth. Losing his footing at the last moment, he nonetheless managed to grab and rip her wings on one side, denying her flight advantage. Stunne

Sneaking in close wasn't easy. Swarms of lesser wasps ranging in size from fingertip to helmet blitzed about the place, each of them with a serious case of zoomies. Only their insectoid focus on their tasks permitted Freyd to approach the centre by crawling slowly on the ground beneath them. There, floating about ten feet off the ground, was his target. The Windwasp queen was much larger than any of the rest of her brood, relying on a fourfold set of wings to keep herself aloft while her workers and warriors went about their business. Like biological clockwork, once the sun hit its mark,

It didn't take long to reach the flowers at the High Fields of Crossing. He'd never attended the Flora Festival himself, but had heard it was a sight to behold. "I'll need to bring Elora here for the next one." Sunflowers swayed in the wind as he passed, bidding farewell to their namesake as it changed from yellow to orange and pink while dipping behind other distant plateaus. The hum and buzz of countless tiny wings was the first hint that he was getting close. Freyd wondered whether the multitudes of Crossing somehow owed thanks to the many Windwasp hives located just around the corner.

Few players were active in Urbus, most of the crowds being made up entirely of NPCs. The streets were still fairly crowded, mostly with hawkers for miscellaneous wares most of which had long ago been replaced by better alternatives. This was among the oldest places visited by players in their exploits through the floating castle, and it showed. Once home to nearly half the player base, the vast majority had moved on, one way or another. So many others had gone dormant and stayed hidden in their homes, hoping to shut out the mental trials of existence in a new world. There were a lot of na

I took a while just to get back up to Venrough, the terrain being naturally inclined to the opposite direction of travel. Emerging from the depths just as the sun dipped to touch the horizon, Freyd knew how little time remained before he'd have to reach the entrance to the raid. "What do you say, Persi? Should we push it for one more? Something simple?" The mongoose silently scoffed and shook her head at him. "Glad we agree," he replied jokingly, heading for the portal plaza. "Urbus," he stated, his hand barely grazing the surface of the stone as he walked through its monumental arc

Dulled, but not yet defeated, Hebishinu sluggishly roused itself from the waters. It eyes looked fogged and glazed over as it struggled to fight off the lightning-driven death coursing within its vein, tearing it to pieces without any possible recourse. Feeling its demise impending it did the only thing available and lunged. Freyd dodged and deflected, better able to respond against its diminished speed. His own health had taken more of a beating than he was used to, his chest still heaving with gasps as he sought to normalize his breathing. Both fighters exhausted from their strugg

Don't brute force it. Math it. Right. He wasn't wearing Samael's Pride. Clenching his grip around Hebishinu's massive, tubular form, Freyd focused and forced until the required effect finally procced, seconds before his breath would give out. He'd have been screwed if the snake had actually managed to paralyze him. Instead, he did it to the serpent instead. Even underwater, the wraps took effect and seeped their charged, miasmic venom into the mob causing its full form to go ridged and then fall limp. Thrusting upward the moment he felt any slack, Freyd propelled his head above wat

He'd only just begun to wonder how it was supposed to detect him when the issue became moot. The massive serpent struck from behind, knocking him from his hollow, but not before getting a face full of fist for its trouble. Unfortunately, it also sent him right into the murk, which was the last place he wanted or needed to be. Water churned all around him, and then something set a vice about his ribs, crushing them like they were made out of paper maché. It took everything Freyd had not to gasp and lose his breath, which was surely what Hebishinu wanted. How many victims had fallen to the

Baiting apparently worked on this boss. Hebishinu lashed out once more, trying to sink its oversized fangs into the Whisper's hide, but finding nothing save shadow and Montjoy's annoying wave. Re-emerging behind it, Freyd pounded his twinned fists into the back of its head with a sickening crunch, slapping it back down into the water. Leaping for high ground, he'd lost it in the murk and watched warily for it to emerge once more. Combat became a waiting game, each opponent seeking an opening to exploit and steal the initiative and advantage for itself. He knew that it's health bar had

Its initial limpness faded, Hebishinu struck with lightning speed hoping to wrap itself around him like some sort of hyperactive boa. Fast enough for a counter, Freyd's fist found the underside of its jaw and sent it flying fully upward crashing into the underside of an unforgiving bough. Falling once more, it never reached the water before Freyd slammed it with a kick strong enough to redirect it sideways, he stifling a laugh as it cartoonishly wrapped itself in knots around the trunk. Its health already felled by a third, the boss shrugged off the initial assault even as it struggled

Freyd just stared at her, wondering how the conversation had just hopped on a plane, flown to Mars, evolved into its own life form and somehow come back to Earth to open its own taco stand. As non-sequiturs went, this one was a doozy. "You're getting married?" His lizard brain was currently stuck in 'brrrt' territory. How much arm twisting had that required, and on a hurricane? Did they even have elbows?! His eyes narrowed, like he was struggling to process the very concept. "You. With Gaius? Married? Really?" His inner Elora slapped the inside of the back of his head to jar

The moment its position was revealed, Hebishinu's hand was forced. Those very same spot lights bringing some modicum of illumination also laced the entire swamp with myriad shifting shadows. In it Freyd found some home turf to counter the mob's and used it to his own advantage. Persi was all over the serpent from the moment it broke the water's surface, beaning back and forth like some form of pinball demolition machine. The snake's strength as a massive tubular muscle was instantly shattered as multiple impacts broke its flexure and turned it into O&I's proverbial noodle. As it fell

The small rowboat slid silently through black, brackish waters leaving nary a wake as it passed. They had already passed a half-dozen impossibly large serpents that could each have qualified as field bosses in their own right, at least by Freyd's estimation, yet pressed on through the mire in a manner that drew all eyes to it. Hebishinu had already noticed them and was slithering in from below and behind, preparing to strike. Only stray beams of light penetrated this far down, acting like giant spotlights that cast oddly shaped pools of light on the water's surface. He expected the beast t