monsters in the dark

[animusmods]

Characters: any
Setting: all around the Tower; please specify the date and location in your subject header!
Format: any/party-style
Summary: A general mingle log for characters to encounter monsters.
Warnings: PG-13; please include any more detailed warnings in your threads if necessary.

PLEASE USE THIS POST FOR NEW THREADS.

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June 9th, Floor 100

[thelordsage]

[Ah, a note from Ruana, who had already shown her ire over the network not too long ago. This was going to be interesting (wasn't it always?). Sephiran succumbed to the bizarre paranoia that he shouldn't sleep in his bed tonight and began to look for a better place to bed down for the night. If the dorms weren't safe, nowhere was safe (but what else was new?).

He stopped on floor 100, the usual place he'd go to if he couldn't figure out what to do with himself. He considered going up to floor 101 to be with "real" (in so far as anything in the tower could be considered real) plant life, but a quick test of his tome revealed that magic was unusable on that floor. If something came for him, he'd be in trouble. So floor 100 it was, with the illusion of Serenes Forest waiting for him.]

[themonsters]

[It's normal for there to be creatures lurking in a forest's shadowy underbrush, right?

Except, maybe this one isn't quite so welcome, isn't quite so natural a being.

Among some of the farther away illusions of trees and brush crouches a monster. It stares at the sage for a short moment, gaze chilling even through the mask.

It shakes its head briefly, not unlike some sort of canine.

Then it snarls, and blurs into a lunge.]

[thelordsage]

[Sephiran senses something being displaced, and he just barely manages to jump out of the way when the beast lunges. He's still dangerously close, though- and he's backing away to grab a magic tome he had stowed elsewhere in the illusionary forest.]

[themonsters]

[Sephiran will find that the monster dogs him no matter where he tries to go. Whichever direction he turns, the monster will nearly instantaneously appear in front of him, jaws snapping warningly if he dares to push his luck.

It's almost like it's trying to herd him-- away from the stairs or whatever object it is he's trying to get toward, and keep him in the middle of the wide open expanse that is the floor's true form.]

[thelordsage]

[This isn't good. Sephiran can't get to his tome or his staff. So much for finding a safe place to sleep tonight. He knows that the move is probably incredible dangerous, but at one point he tries to charge past the monster to get to his tome and his staff. Well, what is death in this place? It'd be a brief respite, most likely. It couldn't hurt to try, when it came down to it.]

[themonsters]

[The monster doesn't bother with the speed it displayed before, or, at least, its movements can be tracked by the human eye this time.

As Sephiran tries to run past it, it snaps at the man's legs and ankles, trying to bring the man down.]

[thelordsage]

[It was almost a narrow miss. Sephiran falls flat on his face, but his outstretched hand lands on something: his Ellight tome. He's not in any position to try and launch an attack, but he's trying to get up anyway.]

[themonsters]

[The bites will take hold. No true venom, not one that tears at the nerves or congeals the blood, but poison all the same; it poisons one's thoughts, one's actions. One cannot fight, there's no point in fighting.

But that doesn't matter, does it?

You'll be fine regardless.

Well. As a measure of 'fine.'

They all in the Tower are some measure of 'not fine' to begin with.

Least of all the Monsters, driven by a desperate need to kill.

To that end, the Monster snaps at the man's wrists and arms, claws at the rest of him while he's still on the ground.]

[thelordsage]

[It didn't help that some measure of those thoughts already existed in Sephiran's mind. What point was there in fighting when death was so cheap? The pain was already here. What would death add to that? Nonetheless, there was a tiny ounce of will left. He launched one blast of Ellight at the monster, hoping it would at least do something. However, the poison would most certainly continue its effect, and Sephiran was decidedly still vulnerable.]

[themonsters]

[The rays knock it back a short distance, and it has to shake its head to try to clear the spots in its vision.

The breather is short-lived, however, because as soon as it can see well enough to make out the sage's frame it darts off to the side and reappears behind him, lunging forward to try to strike something vital.]

[thelordsage]

[Sephiran can't get away this time. The magic didn't have the destructive effect he had hoped for, and the breather was too short lived to allow him to get anyway. A vital point is struck, and he swiftly becomes aware that he's wounded and bleeding. Bleeding quite a bit, in fact.]

[themonsters]

[The monster seems a little dazed when it moves, really-- a result of either the light itself or the magical concussive force behind it.

Still, Sephiran is struck, and he's bleeding out... but it would rather try to make this quick.

It darts past again, aiming only for some major artery, but the aftereffects of the Ellight might make it less precise than usual.]

[thelordsage]

[Sephiran is struck indeed. He's getting weaker by the second, but the venom has made it so that he cares even less about his encroaching death than he normally would. Everyone just comes back to life here, so what's the point? If anything, death would be but a peaceful reprieve. Hand still on on his tome, he closes his eyes and waits for the final blow.]

[themonsters]

[It skids to a stop and turns, leaping at the sage one final time.

It does-- try, at least, to make the death a relatively easy one, as much as a monster can with savage teeth and claws even worse.

Its attempt at Sephiran's throat is sloppier than it could be. Still, the blow is-- should be-- fatal, and it stands watch only long enough to see the sage's life bleed away before it pads carefully to the stairs and begins to descend them somewhat unsteadily.]