Marius

[Profession: Thief]

Level: 2 (EXP: 175/250)

Sub-Class: NULL

Points to Distribute: 0

[Base Attributes]

Rating /50

Resilience: 6

Reflexes: 10

Strength: 5

Channeling: NULL

Speed: 15

Charisma: 14

[Current Quest: Servant of Light]

Details: Escort the Red-Woman to the Temple of Bhashera

You know, sometimes it was good to reflect on things. Especially how far you've come since you've been put into a situation where, oh, lets say you haven't exactly been dealt the best hand.

Here in the Everloft, this was easy. All you did was rolled your eyes back and took a look at every little detail the world could tell you about yourself, all grouped up together in a set of nice, convenient little boxes.

Well, truthfully? He was starting to hate those damn 'stats'.

Because what did the girl standing next to him get when faced with an abominable hellspawn dredged up from the depths of a pants shitting kid's imagination? A goddamn light-beam-sword-thingy and ultra nurse skills to boot.

What did he get? Wall hugging and ball kicking.

Current conundrum? The being of pure shadow that clawed at them in the open desert sands had no balls that he could see (though he tried a cheeky Appraisal just to be sure).

And there weren't no walls for him to hide out here...

"MARIUS!"

He snapped back to reality as he heard Yelena call him, presently engaged in slashing at the creature's reaching pincers as they flailed through the air towards them.

"Sorry gal," he replied. "I was miles away."

Looking behind he saw the Red-Woman still driving their crazed beetle-cart on for dear life, trying to keep it calm, and probably using her performance skill to ease the thing's pain every time the shadow-stalker raked its back.

"Be keeping it away!" she wailed over her shoulder. "We are being at the Temple soon!"

Marius scoffed as he took aim with his bow.

"Not soon enough."

Current weapon: Shortbow (elm)

DMG: 1-8 PRC +5 (REFL)

He loosed an arrow into the living dark shimmering against the morning sun, and saw it swallow his projectile with a chilling scream - something that reeked more of anguish than anger.

"Eh, Yelena?" he called over the chaos of the chase. "Arrows got nothin' on this guy."

She snarled as the beast's claws raked at her from afar, and her sword rose to block them - or, at least, he could swear it did. But what he saw next reminded him that certainty could never be counted on here: the raking fingers of the beast simply slipped through her blade and tore a gash into her breastplate.

"Yelena!"

"I'm fine," she grunted, spitting blood into the sands beneath them. "But my blade does nothing."

"Great!" he cried. "Come explore the Shifting Sands - we've got ghosts that break all the rules."

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The beetle soared over another dune threatening to swallow them all, and the shadow leaped wit it, its claws piercing two of its hind feelers and drawing a shriek of pain from the beast.

Then it let out a screech like a dying bird, and a little puff of oozy flatulence escaped from its behind.

"The hell's happening?" Marius shouted back.

"Be hushed," the Red-Woman was whispering to the beast. "Be having still mind. Be strong. Resist."

The shadow tore through the cloud of foul smelling gas and roared with power that pierced their minds.

"The beast is showing its fear," the Red-Woman explained as she stroked the creature's shaking tusks. "Every strike makes this condition worse. Keep the evil one away!"

"Easier said than done!" Marius shouted as he rolled out of another claw's arcing descent. He watched it cleave through he air and leave a corrupted fog behind - a pocket of air that entered his lungs and made him choke.

POI: 5pts/10 secs

Wonderful news!

As he heaved. wretched, and sputtered to get rid of the foreign agent slowly seizing his lungs, the Red-Woman called out, "Five minutes! We are needing only five minutes!"

Another smoky knife struck at the legs of Edna and she let out another, larger, puff of inky fear. Usually, Marius would make some joke about this. Right? He'd diffuse the situation with a little quip about irritable bowels and anxiety, and about how this noble beetle was showing that, deep down, humans and insect weren't so different after all. But as he looked with reddened eyes at Yelena, keeping her sword raised, poised, as if it would do any good, he could only focus his mind on the swelling contagion that was traveling through his immune system:

HP: 15

He tried to keep his eyes open, but he was fading fast, already.

HP: 10

He watched the specter glide through the air and leave its trail of sickness behind it, breathing death into the air itself.

Then, a voice beside him.

"Marius," Yelena said. "Be still."

HP: 5

HP: …

HP: +10

He shuddered to his feet, coughing up a cloud of blackened spores as he witnessed her glowing aura again - her blonde threads standing on end, never taking her eyes off their foe.

And then, he saw the beast recoil.

It was for nothing more than a second - a fraction of a second - but he saw it reel back. And then he realized he'd been so paralyzed by fear that he hadn't even thought to use the best tool he had in his arsenal - probably the one thing he could offer in this partnership.

Appraisal (LVL II)

Daemonology: Voidtouched (Greater)

HP: 150/150

IMM: BLDG, SLSH, PRC

WK: LIGH

"Knowledge," he whispered to himself.

'What was that, Marius?"

"Nothin' gal, nothing!" he yelled as they both ducked to avoid another tendril of slicing dark. "Just musing on the only thing I've got in the tank! Listen: you gotta hit it with that shiny sword move of yours!"

She blinked. "The Searing Strike?"

"You got it."

Edna rumbled on through the sands, kicking up the buzzing nests of a few Crocarachnids who rose to nip at her hind legs. When they saw the being pursuing the great beetle's trail, however, they quickly hopped right back into their burrows.

Yelena assumed her battle stance, closed her eyes, and in the next instant her blade shimmered with the same azure light - the killing light - that had filled the corridors of blood they'd left behind in the Don's palace. She stepped forward as the shadow lunged at them again, and tore a gouge of pure energy through the air.

A despondent roar issued from the creature. It immediately twisted its form, reeling back, and slipping effortlessly under the arc of light.

"No effect," she spat. "Its too fast!"

She was right. The thing had moved before she'd even launched the attack. In the narrow walkways of the palace and sewer, there was no avoiding the blast from her blade. But out here in the open? That was another matter altogether.

Its eyes were the only discernable organ he could make out - two clouded ovals of crimson watching their every move. It probably had senses beyond anything they could conceive. That was its best asset, he reckoned, and just like with any opponent, the trick would be to run some interference, right? It was fast, sure, but only if it knew what was coming. Take away its sight, and you'd take down the beast.

Problem was: how they hell could they disable its sight out here, in an open desert, under the scorching sun?

Like always, his magpie eyes gave him the answer.

Yelena launched another arc of light towards the creature and it bent low to avoid the blast, scraping its claws against Edna's legs again and throwing them all into the air.

"Hang on!" Yelena shouted.

He saw her activate her 'Rally' ability as the shadow took its chance to make its counterattack - slashing her kneecap and leaving behind a burning gash that had cut right through her leathers. She grimaced, holding the wound, and then was thrown back against the side of the beetle's carapace. Edna had landed in another mound of quicksand. And this time, she loosed another, even larger cloud of shrouded gas.

Even larger...

Thick, smoky, and quick...just like...

"Be going!" the Red-Woman was shouting at the beast. "Be going!"

…a smokescreen.

Edna launched herself onwards as the shadow crept ever forwards, its piercing scream soaring through the air with it.

The beetle was slowing down. There's no way they'd make it like this.

"Hey!" Marius yelled at the 'driver', "How much HP's this thing got left?"

The Red-Woman replied with a mix of frustration and terror, "Not having enough! Not..."

"I need a number!" he cried.

Yelena was watching him now, seeing the shadow closing in on them all as the beetle slowed to almost a halt.

She and the Red-Woman shared a look. Yelena nodded.

"Fifteen!" the Red-Woman called back.

"And I'm guessing its little fart cloud gets bigger the closer it is to death, right?"

She nodded again. "Near death, this gas is being its final defense. It's kind seek to cover their escape."

"An insect after my own heart," Marius smirked. "Who knew?"

The shadow tore through the air, savoring the end of the chase.

"Yelena," he said. "What if I told you I've got another one of my bad ideas."

She smirked and gave a kind of shrug that told him this gesture was against all of her better judgements.

"I'd say I don't trust you." she replied. "But you're all I've got."

He smiled back, took out his dagger, and dangled it just above a spot on the beetle's carapace.

"When I say 'fire' - do your thing."

She looked at him like he was a madman. Oh, and how he loved to see it. That was the look he preferred. Shock was better than pity. Or revulsion. Or just...pure shame.

She braced herself, and faced the formless terror of the Voidtouched stalker that was now within striking range.

And just before his dagger arced down, Marius gave one final piece of advice:

"You might wanna hold on tight."