[PP-F29] Dusk + Embers //On The House

[Jevi 0]

 "Kyra!?" the woman called out. 

No answer.

"Mr.Hackman! Where you at?" the other shouted into the dark shortly after.

Again, no response. 

It had been only ten or fifteen minutes since the group had lost sight of each other, which meant they lost sight of the quest objective; a large, glowing sword. It should be rather easy to spot such an object in the dark forest, since there were no other sources of light to be seen for maybe miles. Only the occasional flash of lightning would guide their path, but even those became scarce within the past half an hour. 

"Maybe we should message them? Make sure they are alright?" The blue haired girl asked, placing a hand on Jevi's rain slick bicep. "Good idea." she would respond with a nod, leaning her back against the nearest tree and opening her menus.

Quote

To: Kyra, Hackman
CC: Adelyte

We lost sight of you two, are you alright? I'm with Adelyte, we're safe. For now.
Do one of you have the sword? 

Going back to town, we're gonna get killed if we hang out here any longer. 

Stay Safe,
Jevi

As the message sent off with an audible woosh, Jevi navigated over to her inventory and summoned a small crystal. She looked at it in the palm of her hands for a moment, before extending it out towards her companion.

"Alright, use this. Get yourself back to town, and get the hell off of this floor."

"Wait, what?" she barked back, "What about you? I'm not just going to leave you out here alone. We were in this together."

"We were delivering the sword together. And we couldn't even do that. You're under leveled, Adelyte, and I'm not trying to be a bitch about it. You should not have even been here to begin with. So just-"

"No no no, I'm not-" 

"Just take the fucking crystal and go home!"

It didn't take much more than that to convince her. 

Fighting back tears, Adelyte swiped the crystal from Jevi's hand and looked over the item specs to make sure she used it correctly. Jevi would sigh before speaking.

"I can get myself back to town, I can handle any of these monsters. I just don't know if I can do that and keep them off of you.. I'll sleep better tonight knowing you're safe. I'll shoot you a message when I'm back in town." 

Adelyte would sniffle, "Promise?"

"I promise. Now go." 

Adelyte didn't waste another moment, and her form vanished in a ball of white light. 

***

The toughest part of the journey back was finding a way around the chasm, since the bridge they originally crossed was now dangling over the void. Even the shadow creatures, that chased the their group enmasse had dwindled. Perhaps they were focused more on the weapon, or maybe this war against the dark was finally coming to an end. Either way, battered, filthy, and exhausted, Jevi finally found herself back within the slightly safer makeshift walls of Ilridge. The rain soaked mud squashed beneath each footfall as she slowly traversed the road leading towards the center of town. At this point, all she wanted to do was go home, take the longest bath, and sleep. She was done with the fighting, the rain, this floor. Just done.

That was, until a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. A ghost of her past, now standing in the doorway of some building. A curling finger beckoned her inside. Yet, as Jevi quickly turned in their direction.. there was nothing to be seen. Just whatever remained of an old bar, its windows smashed, furniture overturned.. yet somehow still in better condition that some of the other places in town. The small bell that still hung above the door run softly as the door slowly closed. Did she actually see someone and they were now inside? 

Everything within her told her to ignore it and to just go home.
Yet her curiosity is what drew her within.

"...hello?" Jevi called out as she stepped into the ruined tavern.

Just as she thought, empty. 

Spoiler

Jevi | HP: 780/780 | EN: 92/92 | DMG: 23 | MIT:78 | ACC:2 | KEEN: 2 | F-SPIRIT | EVA:2 | BH:31 | REC: 4 | PARA               

Level: 35
Paragon Level: 12
True Tier: 5
HP: 780/780
EN: 92/92

Stats:
Damage: 23
Mitigation: 78
Accuracy: 2
Evasion: 3
Battle Healing: 31
Keen: 2
Rec: 4
PARA

Equipped Gear:
Weapon: Maelstrom Bracers -  Keen | Keen | Para
Armor: Brawler's Respite - Mit | Mit | Recovery
Trinket: Fancy Footwork - Eva | Eva | Eva

Skills:
Combat Mastery: Damage R3
Specialization: AoE
Martial Arts R5
Light Armor R5
Fighting Spirit
Lock Picking R3
Battle Healing R4

Active Mods:
Meticulous

Addons:
Stamina x
Precision x
Ferocity x
Resolve x
Dismantling

Active Extra Skills:
Survival 

Buffs: 
Rested | -1 energy cost for the first two expenditures of each combat
Clean | The first time you would suffer DoT damage in a thread, reduce damage taken from DoT each turn by 20%
Multipurpose | Gain +1 to LD, Stealth Rating, Stealth Detection, or Prosperity to one post in a thread. Can be applied after a roll    
Relaxed | Increases out of combat HP regen by (5 * Tier HP) and decreases full energy regen to 2 Out of Combat Posts.    
Meticulous | +1 CD when crafting in one’s workshop.
Working | +2 EXP per crafting attempt
Forager | +2 Gathering EXP per gathering attempt    

 

Edited 3 hours ago by Jevi

[Hirru 0]

It was all a battle of attrition after a while, but that was what all of them were at some point.  Each floor boss has been a sheer battle against time and supplies.  Health pools were getting larger, or that they were just doing less and less damage.  Heck, the gimmick for this last one was just all wrong.  They were just beating a dead boss that wouldn't actually die without some outside component to it all.  He heard that a few players from the support teams had to run it through hordes of mobs and difficult terrain.  Having to wait for some sword to be brought from the backlines to be delivered straight to the original boss room was rough, but the thought of those players that were not leveled enough for this floor.  How did they fair?  Were they okay?

Hirru was more exhausted than he thought.  Normally he would join his friends and guildmates as they went to the labyrinth, where the new staircase would be.  The heavy rain and the near constant attention to everyone's health and status were enough for him.  Though, the stormy seas were the kicker of it all.  It all just made him sick to his stomach for.. some reason.  He wasn't seasick.. at least he didn't think so.  It was the scene itself.  Something didn't add up, but.. he thought he had seen it before.  Though, that kind of memory was one of those..  Ones hurt when it shouldn't.  Still he was not in the best of shape to venture with them, nor did he want to walk back himself.  A quick draw of the menu would have his emerald flame torch out, calling his <<The Travelling Flame>>.

A covered wagon would pull up beside him, as if it was lying in wait the entire time.  The woven covered parts were keeping several of the The roughly visible silhouette of the giant chameleon that pulled the wagon would shiver a bit, as they were getting sluggish in the cold weather.  The merchant held her reigns; his form still shrouded in that purple hooded robe.

"Merchant, let's get out of here.  I'm sure you want to get back to your new store front."

"Heh heh, you know me too well, Scribe."

Climbing upon the back of the covered wagon, Hirru would look upon the rushed inventory that they still slapped in there.  They had to rush the NPC out of the floor before those weird beings would turn him into another one of themselves, or whatever the heck they did.  Reports were weird and never accurate anymore.

***

Hirru tried to rest, but the wet ground and rundown parts of the old roads would make that much more difficult to do so.  There were several times that they had to get out and push the cart out of a mud patch.  He was sure that a teleport crystal would have been faster, but there were probably going to be others along the way.  The support team should still be out there, in some compacity.  If they could chance upon someone, then he could maybe glean some info about how things went, though he was sure that they did well enough.

*bump*bump*KRAK*

The hunter was thrown slightly from his resting spot once more.  He fell upon his arm against an old metal piece of armor that he appraised some time ago.  It had thorns..

"Gah!  Ouch!  Fuck!  Merchant!  What happened now?!"

"A bit of a problem, Scribe."

Was all the hunter heard from outside.  He rubbed his arm as the abrasive thorns left orange gouges in it.  Though, as soon as they appeared, they would disappear.  Passive healing was good to have when he needed it.

Stepping out, it seemed that they were finally in town, but not all the way in.  There weren't that many buildings around, and all of them seemed abandoned.  So even the death of the floor boss wasn't enough to bring the NPCs back, huh?  Looking back at the wagon, the hunter could see the problem now.  The front left wheel collapse upon itself, leaving it stuck even more in mud as it listed upon the unsupported corner.  Mind you, it was still raining heavy, so the issue of fixing this was not going to happen anytime soon.  Hirru sighed a bit before considering to unsummon the whole deal, but remembered that this shop was stubborn and didn't follow that criteria of removal.

"heh heh, looks like we're gonna have our work cut for us."

"I know you keep spares, but we're going to need more than the two of us to pick this out of the mud."

Hirru would look to Liz, but the poor girl was starting to struggle even more in the cold.  They needed to get her inside while they fixed the wagon.  He would look around before seeing something odd before lightning flashed in the distance.  He shook his head in response.  Was that someone in the building?  Looked like an old run down tavern, but there shouldn't be any NPCs here?  Was it a player?

"I'm gonna check on this building.  See if we can get any support or something to keep the cold away from Lizabeth."

He would say as he unbuckled the straps that kept Liz's harness attached to the wagon.  Slowly, he would lead the giant chameleon towards the back of the building.  It may be run-down, but the roofing still held somewhat together.  Enough to keep the rain out, and enough to let the reptile get out of the rain.  Hirru pulled a large blanket out from his belongings to cover the poor girl up.

"Rest here, Liz.  Let me check inside."

He would say while giving the barely visible creature a pet, which made her nature color come back from his touch.  Stepping around the corner, he would find a backdoor, through which he pushed through.  Shield up, he knew damn well that he was not safe to run into mobs on his own.  A quick ping would bring something up from his search skill, and that made him worry more.  That wasn't a mob ping.  It was a player.  He pushed through the backroom, which seemed like a rough kitchen.  Rotten meat and fungal growths that had quite an awful stench to them were all that was here.  He didn't stay here long before making his way to where that ping was coming from.  It seemed to be getting closer.  A flash of light would flare from the windows before a crashing thunder would follow.  He used that opportunity to kick down the door, or at least he would have, if the door didn't fall off its hinges as soon as he touched it.  The noise it made didn't mesh with the thundering outside, and would be easily noticed.  He winced at the situation and awaited the worst of it.  Though, what he found on the other side was not what he expected. 

A fist, held oh so close to his face, before a familiar voice would address him.

Stats

Spoiler

Hirru | HP: 1040/1040 | EN: 116/116 | DMG: 1 | MIT: 187 | BH: 59 | HLY BLS: 47 | MENDING: 2 | REC: 8 | LD: 11 | THRNS: 72 

Hirru Lvl 35 (PL 74) True LVL: 109 / True Tier: 11

1040
116 Energy
1 Base Damage
127
5% Battle Healing
4% Holy Blessing
8 Recovery
72 Thorns
20% Life Mend
5 + 3 (+3 dungeons) Luck Die

Equipment

Paladin's Oath ..................... // +4% Holy Blessing / +20% Life Mending
Light's Embrace .................... // +8 Recovery / 72 Thorns
Favor of the Golden Dragon ......... // +3 Loot Die
Blades Cloak ....................... // Vanity
Lun'Rael's Insignia ................ // Unique Vanity | Floor 23 Raid Unique
Fates Armament (Shield) ............ // Unique Vanity | Floor 26 Raid Unique
Dimensional Backpack ............... // +1 B.R.I Slot

Battle Ready Inventory

<Teleportation Crystal> x5 ......... // Teleport to a town / out of a dungeon [Uses 2 posts: 1 for use, next to teleport]
<March unto the Dawn> x4 ........... // +15% ST Insta-Heal
<Dear My Friend> x5 ................ // +15% ST Insta-Heal
<Mass HP Recovery Crystal> x5 ...... // +10% AOE Insta-Heal
<Blessing of the Wood> x3 .......... // 250 Damage Reduction Barrier (party)
<Shelob's Fang> .................... // +1 ACC, +1 Para, +36 Envenom

Skills

Heavy Armor ........................ // Rank 5: +40 MIT
Battle Healing ..................... // Rank 5: +5% HP each turn
Search ............................. // Rank 5: +5 Loot Die / +5 Stealth Detection
Quick Change ....................... // Rank 0: Change items in B.R.I to equipment (Free Act)
Combat Mastery: MIT ................ // Rank 3: +72 MIT

Extra Skills (Max 4)

First Aid .......................... // Rank 5: +20% ST-H / -15 EN
Leadership ......................... // Rank 5: Command the Front w/ Buffs

Skill Mods / Addons (Max 5 Mods)

Iron Skin (Add on) ................. // +15 Mit / +60 HP
Field Medic (Add on) ............... // +25% AOE-H / -15 EN / 3 turn Cooldown
Hyperactive (Add on) ............... // +3 EN Regen for 3 turns / -5 EN / 3 turn Cooldown
Reveal (Add on)..................... // +2 to Dungeon, Labyrinth searches / Post 10 searches / 3 turn Labyrinth Cooldown

Barrier ............................ // -15% Dmg shield AOE / -15 EN / 2 turn Cooldown
Energize ........................... // +8 EN ST / -10 EN
Purify ............................. // Negate all status effects on target 
Inspirational Speech ............... // -1 Cooldown -> Party / -10 EN
Press The Attack ................... // +(Target Tier) Dmg / -10 En / 5 turn Cooldown
Steadfast .......................... // Next 2 turns, pull all status effects from party to self 

Buffs

Guild Rank 2 

Dormitory .......................... // +20 HP OOC + EN regen 2 turns

Housing

Rested ............................. // -1 EN for 2 uses
Relaxed ............................ // OOC HP regen 5*tier Rec EN after 2 turns
Filling ............................ // Increase food by +1 T1 slot
Multipurpose ....................... // +1 LD, Stealth, Dection, or Prosperity to 1 post
Ambition Scales .................... // +1 EXP per crafting attempt (Appraiser)
Practiced Angler ................... // +2 EXP & +1 LD & CD to fishing attempts
Amphitrite's Net ................... // +1 CD to fishing attempts

 

Edited 2 hours ago by Hirru