[F7-MB] The Atherial

[Guest]

Keith sighed with relief as he saw Eri was saved by Swift. He looked back to the bird and saw it's Rage as it's kill was prevented. It's cuts from previous attackers glowed with a red grid, the sign of damage in SAO. Keith held his sword on his shoulder and slowly charged the Katana Skill, going in to carve the turkey once more.

Keith ran forward with his iconic speed and brought down his sword on the Athrial's neck faster than it could react. He felt it run through it's body as he inflicted damage with the powerful strike, leaving the Athrial screaming from the extreme speed attack that had hurt it.

Damage Dealt: 2

[Guest]

Battle Roll

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Dellis 0]

GM MODERATION:

I apologize for the delay. Here's the next Atherial action post.

The players were combining efforts in order to save their guide. And yet, in doing so, they paid less attention to the Atherial, and each second spent trying to save Eri could be their last.

But they resolved to do that nonetheless, for reasons the Atherial could never comprehend, and yet they could.

Swift ran towards the guide, fast as a blinding flash, and the Atherial moved to intercept her.

It ran, its talons leaving deep marks in the hard stone of the roof, and stomped its foot in front of Swift.

She jumped, avoiding it, but the Atherial was ready. Two claws cut through the air, aimed at her back...

and in that moment, Daeron ran, and hit the Atherial.

The sword did no damage, connecting but not cutting through the Atherial's hard flesh, but it saved Swift, since it unbalanced the bird and made it miss its two attacks.

Enraged, it aimed its beak at him, thus giving more time to Swift, which reached Eri and took her up.

It hit him right in the back, sending him flying four meters away. He hit the floor hard, and saw his health bar go down a little.

With Daeron now out of the picture, nothing remained between the Atherial and Swift.

It turned its head to her so suddendly it almost snapped its own neck, and ran towards her. Blue sparks were coiling around his beak...

Dang. The Atherial was running towards Swift and Eri. It'd kill them both in a single hit, if it were to reach them...

Dang. Darkness started to descend again on the tower. The Atherial was preparing its signature move...

Dang. Yet something seemed to distract it...

Dang. Darius was banging his shield on the floor. Screeching with fury, the Atherial tried to ignore it...

Dang. Darius used the howl skill.

At the last moment, before unleashing the might of its attack on Swift and Eri, the Atherial changed course, and flew towards Darius, the blue sparks giving off blinding blue light, and with all its might, crashed into him.

And yet, Darius was ready. He raised his shield...

The hit was tremendous.

As soon as the beak touched the shield, there was a deafeaning sound, the thunder sparks coiled around it making a screeching noise as they passed from its beak to the shield.

A blinding light lit the darkness, and for a moment, the only things which could be seen in the void were the Atherial and Darius, entwined in the fight for their lives.

Then it stopped, as suddendly as it had began.

With a last loud bang, Darius was thrown five meters away, and he hit the ground. Blue sparks of electricity still traveled randomly through his body.

The shield and his stance had deflected most of the damage, or he'd have been dead by now. And yet, he had suffered terrible damage.

Near the edge, close to the Atherial, stood Keith. He saw Darius getting hit, without being able to do anything due to the darkness.

When it started to lift, Keith knew it was his moment. He ran towards the Atherial, fast as Swift was, and thrust towards its neck.

The Atherial hadn't had time to recover from its attack. The neck was wide exposed, and Keith's blade cut through his flesh, leaving a red mark in its wake.

It had hit him in a vital spot. The Atherial stumbled a bit, then fell to the side, panting rapidly. It would take time for him to recover, and yet a cornered animal was as dangerous as ever.

Their fight was far from ended.

-----------------------------------------------

1 hp of Damage to Daeron.

2 hp of Damage to Darius.

One attack of the Atherial was lost due to Keith's critical.

Atherial HP: 22/30

[Dellis 0]

Dice Roll Beak Attack Daeron

[Dellis 0]

Dice Roll Special Attack Thunder Beak - Darius

Bonus/Malus: - 1 to the atherial's damage since Darius used his action to use a defensive stance.

[Akua 0]

Hoping she could strike the bird herself this time, Akua lifted her rapier up high. Lowering it slowly as to aim more carefully as opposed to last time, the cerulean haired she let out a breath, and readied her position. She charged foward, aiming once more to score the bird.

And she had struck the bird at last. Oh, wait -- not only had it been a hit, but she had landed a critical hit. Pleased that it made up for her innaccuracies last time, Akua nodded curtly, before focusing on the task at hand once more.

[Akua 0]

Dice roll

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Akua 0]

The dark blue, virtual felidae let out a small rumble. Her partner had gone; now it was her turn to attack the bird-beast. Rushing onward, she aimed a quick bite to the avian creature.

Aisu seemed disapointed in herself. She had been too breif in aiming, apparently; she had missed. Letting out what seemed to be a grunt of disappointment, the snow leopard prepared herself for any recoil from the creature.

[Akua 0]

Dice roll

1-5, miss.

6-8, hit, 1 HP of Damage.

9-10, Critical. 2 HP of Damage.

[Daeron 1]

Swift charged forward at the massive bird. "Seriously guys!? It's a giant freaking bird, how can you not hit this thing?" she said as she swung her sword in a diagonal motion that would typically slash across a player's chest, however since the bird was so large, her weapon would only slash towards it's ankle bone.

Her slash was a huge success as the blade's edge cut a deep wound into the massive avian's ankle, hoping that it would slow down the bird's next attacks on any of her party members. She then quickly retreated hoping to outrun the bird's attack on her, and was ready for anything to come flying at her at any moment.

HP: 17/17

Damage Dealt: 2

Events Completed: Save the guide

[Daeron 1]

Daeron finally came back into focus, after watching Swift successfully save the guide. As the bird was being distracted by everyone else, Daeron finally came up from behind the bird, and his goal was to slash at the tail feathers, to make it hard for the bird to fly. He quickly ran behind, and swung his weapon in a vertical motion.

Combat Dice: 9 (3 Damage)

Daeron remembered to draw his new weapon out, that pulsed power through his arm. As Daeron had intended to, he had slashed the tail feathers apart slightly, but due to the fact that they were massive, it was hard to cut them off completely.

Daeron [28/29]

Damage Dealt: 3

[Dellis 0]

The Atherial had no time to recover. Almost immediately after his special attack, Aqua's attack hit him right in the flank, leaving a red mark in its wake, while Aqua dashed away to safety.

Its erratic movements made it difficult to attack with ease, despite its massive size, as Aisu discovered as its bite snapped the air, missing the avian. It directed its rage at Aqua's attack to the snow leopard, aiming a gust of wind at him, flapping its right wing strongly. The swift Leopard jumped out of the way right in time.

Just as he was doing so, though, Swift cut through its ankle, and at the same time Daeron sneaked up behind it and hit its tail feathers. Their attacks were almost crippling. The creature fell to its knees, screeching in pain, unable to answer the attack, and blue feathers scattered about from its tail when Daeron hit it. The hit didn't detach completely the tail, but Daeron had obtained its aim - it wasn't going to take flight anytime soon.

Apparently, he and Swift had it right - the bird was programmed so it could be attacked in various places, to various effects. Cutting its knees had reduced the number of attacks it could do, and cutting its tail had prevented him from flying, restricting him to attack only those close to him with the thunder beak attack. Its health bars had dropped to about half.

Eri, laid down in a safe place, spoke up. "Those feathers he shed are valuable crafting materials. Try to catch them, if you can, but be careful, now that the Atherial has lost half its health he'll become much more dangerous. Take care!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

Atherial Health: 15/30

Attack 1: missed

Attacks 2 and 3: lost due to damage from players Swift and Daeron

[Dellis 0]

GM MODERATION:

EVENT TRIGGERED!

Event - Feathers of the Sky

Daeron has cut out some of the avian's feathers. They are valuable crafting materials, will you be able to secure one?

There are 5 feathers now visible on the tower, flapping about due to the wind, excluding one which is assigned to Daeron due to the attack which triggered the event being his.

The feathers work as crafting materials, granting a +2 to the craft roll. Your characters have a chance to catch them.

Eligible Players: All the players can, at their turn, decide they try to get a feather. If their loot roll is higher than 10, they've managed to take hold of one. They can attack at the same time, using the current combat rules. This does not require a double post - you simply check your battle dice to see if you've hit, and the loot dice to see if you've caught a feather.

Rewards: Every feather is a +2 crafting material. When all the feathers have been caught, the one which has more (excluding the one which Daeron already has, which doesn't count for this purpose) gets an Event Point, which I remember you is important in calculating which drop you get from the Atherial.

Good Luck!

[Daeron 1]

Daeron collected the first feather that had fallen into his hands. A large blue feather was found, and it said to hold special powers of creation. Daeron then saw that there were 5 more feathers remaining from the set he had loosened. Quickly, before the Atherial was able to react in time to Daeron's attack he ran at the tail feathers again and went for an attempt to cut another one loose into the air in which he can capture it.

Loot Dice: 6 (Fail)

Unfortunately, Daeron was unable to recover another feather as the massive avian avoided the sword's edge this time, setting Daeron up for an open attack towards him at any second.

Event Points: 0

Rewards: 1 Feather of Sky

Damage Dealt: 3

[Daeron 1]

Swift watched as a flock of beautiful feathers glistened through the air and soared around from the Atherial's massive wing gusts. However, for some reason none of the feathers actually left the tower and were now scattered about the place on the ground from Daeron's slash at it's tail feathers. Quickly, Swift ran forward to grab one of them, watching the Atherial's maneuvers and attacks once again like last time.

Just like Daeron, her attempt to grab a feather was unsuccessful and she had failed to grab the feather, and almost was clawed by the talon of the avian's right claw. She was able to hear the razor sharp points slash through the air creating a small whistle in her ear. She then backed away from the bird avoiding any other attacks, in her original position.

(Daeron's Layout)

Event Points: 1

Rewards: None

Damage Dealt: 2

[Akua 0]

As she turned, Akua lifted and aimed her rapier once again. She dashed toward, in an attempt to slash at the bird, before temporarily putting her weapon away. Lifting her left hand up, she swerved around towards the feathers, and tried to catch one of the few feathers.

Battle dice - 10 (critical hit)

Loot dice - 13 (success)

And she had succeeded, she soon realized, at both! Not only had she hit, but it was critical, and she had caught the feather. Akua put her prize away, and smiled, pleased, before turning her focus back to the fight at hand.

Event points; 0

Damage dealt this turn; 2

Rewards; 1 feather

[Dellis 0]

Daeron's attack hit the bird in the chest, cutting through flesh and feathers, leaving a red mark. The Atherial gave no sign of feeling the hit, yet its health bar went down a lot, so the hit damaged him.

Similarly, when Swift cut through its back, the Atherial didn't even flinch, even as its health bar dropped to red. The eyes had stopped moving erraticly, and the bird just stood there, bleeding heavily, its beak raised towards the sky.

As Aqua cut through the back of its legs, in the exact moment her hands closed around the feather, the sky began to darken.

It was like the times the Atherial had used its special attack before, yet it felt different. The darkness had enveloped them completely, and the player's hair began to lightly stand up, as if there was a lot of static electricity in the air.

And in the darkness, a thunder hit the Atherial's beak, charging it with energy, much more than it had ever shown before, enveloping the tower in a blinding blue light.

The Atherial lowered its head, and screeched.

And as it did so, the lightining departed from its beak, in a wide arc of roughly 90 degrees, hitting the top of the tower, covering it in blue lightning, as a deafening sound originated from the Atherial's beak.

The hit was tremendous. Daeron was pushed away by the blast, almost to the edge of the tower, while Swift was smashed to the ground, every fibre of her body in pain.

Keith was hit right in the chest by a stray blast of energy, and fell on his knees, hands to the ground.

A blue thunder spark impaled Aqua in the shoulder, before disappearing in a thousand luminous fragments, and she fell to the ground, coughing blood. Aisu hadn't attacked, so he was able to refuge himself in a secure part of the tower before the blast, but as he saw his master falling down he ran towards her, putting himself between the bird and her.

The players had been severely wounded, and yet victory was near. The Atherial's health bar was almost depleted.

Atherial HP 8/30

Keith, Aqua, Daeron and Swift all lose 5 Health Points due to the Atherial's Thunder Screech, which was a critical hit.

[Guest]

Keith ran at a feather, and tripped. It was really stupid. He slipped forward and hit his head on a brick, standing up all wibbly-wobbly and trying to stagger over to Atherial. "Let's tango, bird." he said as he raised his, as the Atherial looked at him with a bland face, casually smacking him aside.

[Keith gets no feathers, and no damage dealt. Poor Keith-Chan.]

[Nikki Styx 0]

Nikki had finally recovered from her first impact with the Atherial. she had not expected it to hit so hard, and disorient her so much, but luckily she had been able to recover. The beast itself had been weakened up severely and now she would owe it to the rest of the group to contribute and help finish it off. She took a quick look around noticing that some of the other players were already suffering from injuries, as a tank she needed to pull some hatred and try to protect someone too. This would of course work to her advantage as to gain that hatred she would need to attack it directly again.

The Atherial had been distracted with its attack on the previous players, Now was her chance to really get under its feathers. With a yell she leapt towards it, jabbing her spear at the bird with the hopes of landing a crucial hit.

Attack Roll =6 Success

Loot Roll = 19 Success

Nikki's spear found its mark catching the bird under its right wing. As she hit the ground she tried to push the spear in further, but found that she was still light headed and unable to deliver her critical hit. Instead however as she pulled back she noticed a single feather caught on the breeze, it had been one of the few dropped atherial feathers. Quickly she snatched it up and stowed it in her inventory. She backed up now raising her shield and moving to Akua's side in anticipation of the bird trying to attack her instead.

[Akua 0]

She let out a small shriek, not expecting the hit to be to painful. She gulped around the same time Aisu protectively jumped in front of her. Bu the ime she recovered, Akua realized it was her turn again. The cerulean haired girl lept foward, aiming to once again snag a feather, and then strike the flying beast with her already drawn rapier.

Loot Dice: 20 - success

-- feathers: 2

Attack/Battle dice: 10 - critical hit

As she rushed away, Akua smiled briefly. Sure, she had been severely hit previously -- however, as she has been able to successfully attack back as well as catch another feather, she was slightly relieved; however, still stayed on high alert.