Desolation - Skarnfel vs Aphros

[NeatherRealmer]

The Era of Chaos
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Ever since the Death of the Imperfect during the Anomie of the Nightmare, darkness has been plotting, planning, and preparing for the next moment to strike.
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"How many years... How many thousands of timelines have we battled across within the endless multiverse? How many generations raised in the opposition of our plight? It has all been leading to the Era I have dreamt. A new world order."

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The forces of the Skarnfel Empire were reported as moving, Necromancers, Witches, Demonic Generals... The scourge of humanity was descending over a singular location as their allies were making moves. Shadows within the tainted lands growing in a sickly manner, pushing upon the western bank of Aphros foreshadowing what would soon come knocking upon their door.

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"The moment has finally arrived. The grand disintegration of the Hypocrites, Ragnarok was but the first step compared to the ambitious movement we will cast. One final act before the next generation is given their chance. One final march before I settle away into the darkness. Your city, each and every variation. I will purge it. Paving the way for the next in line to take up the Throne and find their purpose in this cruel world."

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Spies confirm that the Overlord was finally attempting to hold to the promise he had long since made, a call to battle which would be answered.

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The Desolation of a city. The Darkness is coming.

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Objective: Total Annihilation of Aphros.

Date: TBD

[Didos]

Coming from the west, from the marshes that gave entrance to the lands of Aphros, an army could be seen marching forward.

    

Banners of Dawnstone being raised by members of the Scaleguard and Kingsguard as they moved across the terrain to flank the duality city.. While from the east came the Demonic Horde.

    

The war cries would echo and were only muffled as the roar of the Dragon of the Dawnseeker Family echoed... All while the senses were infested by that which came from beyond the Veil. The eyes always present gazing at the mundane, the dissonant voices that culled the weak and the shadows that moved from the corner of the eye.

    

Which marked the arrival of the Voidic King and his followers, who joined his mentor to bring..

    

The End of the Bastion.
    

   

"A New Era Shall Arise.

From the ashes of this old world, that now is set on fire.

  

A new world will be born.. To be gazed upon.

Let us rejoice. For nothing will be the same anymore."

  

---

  

Dawnstone shall assist Skarnfel in the offensive against Aphros.

Time for retribution.

[Daeut]

The tides of Fate can be merciless, sweeping away the guilty and innocent without particular care. Time trudges ever forward, and the Time Lord Xarxes had ensured that by securing the ebb in Helheim's favor. Few battles throughout history have had the power to determine the course of an entire continent so definitively; the battle of Damocles ended in decisive victory for Dawnstone and its allies, and thusly sealed the trajectory of Meranthe as a whole. The paradigm of the world was reversing.

In the aftermath, a gargantuan Spire of eternite and orchicalcum erected in the middle of Aphros, heightening in mass and scale with each day. Emerging from a chasm that followed into a bottomless Abyss, the cracks between the waking world and something else began to sink large swaths of the city in a surreal suspension of Reality.

With every day of its rapid and unprecedented growth, the Spire's psychic broadcast rendered much of the immediate populace sleepless and fatigued. Some woke up without their memories. Others reported oneiric portents of the city's destruction, while more reported a future ahead of it--unwritten into the script of Fate and synthesizing into the ineffable. Constituents nearest to the Spire purported many other anomalies, such as phasing through their doors, or rooms inside homes adjoining and looping into themselves paradoxically. The weather appeared to flux wildly throughout the day, changing seasons in the span of hours. The flowery of windowsills and garths wilted in real time, or sprouted in reverse.

As the months passed, the effects only magnified and spread outward to encompass the city's entirety.

The previously light-led world order was steadily coming to an abrupt conclusion, and the shadows marched to bring about the beginning of its end.

By Oracular decree, the peripheral villages and towns of Aphros had been ordered to evacuate and contract inside the city. Many left their homes in mass exodus, confused by the uncertainty and mystery as they teetered on the precipice of total annihilation. A great pall of dread and despair infected the popular gestalt as death seemed all but imminent.

Yet appearances are anything if not deceptive.

Reality can--and often does--prove stranger than fiction.

The Age of Light neared its close, but those that made it had still a Story to Tell.



The Age of Twilight was upon them.

Objective: ?̵̨̞̼͈̙̞̫̋̅̆̑̕ͅ?̷̢̢̞̞̖̯̱̟͗̆̆̄͝?̶̛̮͓̤͋̃̎͜

[Bologna Prime]

Well over a century ago, the lands of Aphros were as part of the greater domains of Delphina. Decades of Faceless machinations found their masterstroke when the crisis of the Golden Age of Necromancy proved the perfect argument for secession from those rulers which had allowed Ozmandias Tal to find his footing. Brought apart by the threat of a lich. Expectedly, the two realms had much of an uneasy history to share in the decades to follow, with conflicts of border and principle sporadically breaking out until the young Third Age saw fit to poetically complicate things between those realms forged by Faeborne and Faceless.

Just as swiftly as Vdalion had turned its heel to necromancy, the actively warring realms turned to face another as unlikely allies. In years to come and changing faces of ruin to match, this odd fellowship would both serve itself and prove its tenuous nature beat by beat. Now, at the break of dusk upon the Holy Land of Meranthe, it would seem that fellowship may be among the last of things to defend the will of the Pantheon where They had once walked.

The fate of Aphros is uncertain, by fires of Skarnfel and the slipping foundations of reality itself beneath its capital, many seem to believe it is a question of how the Sacred State will cease to be, rather than if. The fate of Meranthe is uncertain, as there is no sense in assuming the creeping shadows East to chase a setting sun would stop at just that mark. Before the ancient scar upon the world called the Shadowlands is drawn a river, its name Parity. In these days, much as the rest of Aphros, its shape and flow seems in chaotic flux. If anything is certain, it is yet there, its post yet held against the encroachment of ruin.

A line, however strange and non-euclidean it may be, that Aphros would not hold alone for as long as it remains. Fighting arms of support extend from the elder nation of Delphina, alongside a shoulder to fall back upon. Brought together, by the threat of a lich.

Objective: Defend Aphros, if there really is such a thing.

[Daeut]

The time was there, the time was nigh.

The time had come for Aphros to die.

The designs of Fate had all pointed to such, prophecies since the days of Mount Grimjall's attempted cleansing. All living beings wield the freedom to carve out their own future, but none are unconstrained from the shackles of their past or present to do as they please. The chaos whose order only the highest minds can decrypt had finally determined the death of a nation.

In few instances throughout history had the ineluctable machinations of the enigma that is Fate been defied so flagrantly as when the Spire emerged. A great monolith exerting atemporal and acausal changes upon the city destined to destruction, exuding with the power of something powerful and arcane. For once in the Twilight City's history, its Hope would arrive in a form not entirely consonant with its Asperan precepts of divinity, light, or holiness, but from an origin most Strange.

Citizens that could not evacuate or situate themselves in the city's center as ordered simply left in droves. Caravans and wagons spilled in all directions with the foresight of an inevitable crisis, making the long trek of seeking refuge towards the other faithful corners of Meranthe--of which dwindled by the day.

Where one life ends, another begins.

Death, as the people of Aphros knew, came in many forms.

It would not survive in its current state, but it would survive.

Raid Status: No Resistance

Raze on Sunday (10/29)

[Magik]

"Fate is for fools, for weakened minds who cling to prophecies and surrender themselves to the futility of time."

---

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— A proclamation, the words of the young Solstice Equisol, heard or unheard by the masses that might have been readying themselves to flee at the old Oracle’s command.

"Madness and weakness has overtaken my aunt, our old would-be Oracle who has been convinced that inaction will let us survive another day; thus she has been lead to believe that there is no hope for this city and these grounds that were so long ago built, as a bastion for the believers of Athelios that crossed untold lands and faced endless tragedies before they could settle here with their families and have righteously fought time and time again for what they believed was theirs.

Though not ancestral by any means for this kingdom has stood but for a few hundred years, Aphros is our home, our city, it exists here and nowhere else and with it gone so too shall be the memories and be made in vain the struggles of our ancestors, thus I call for the aid of anyone who might believe in this, anyone at all . . . you who chose to flee, do so, but know that after we have been dealt the killing blow they, the demons, the witches, the degenerates, the filth of this world, will come soon for you and those you love, and then there will be no place to hide in Meranthe.

Flee or stand and fight, not for some ‘sacred’ grounds or heavenly beliefs, but for humanity — if we are to die, then let us take them with us to oblivion, and every one of ours they take shall cost them ten of their own, they shall destroy their armies here and never raise another!"

Thus concluded her proclamation, and leaving the choice to flee or stand their ground and fight, a surge of mana echoes across Meranthe as great arcane sigils and glyphs appear in the skies above the black-and-white city, it is the young Equisol calling unto every drop of energy she might be able to conjure up, invoking unto their world and through those circles of eerie magic forms and shapes unknown, creatures that neither belong to the divine nor the occult, aliens, creatures of other dimensions, to aid them to very end. A great invokation.

---

SOLSTICE EQUISOL, ELDEST DAIGHTER OF VIOLET EQUISOL CALLS FOR SOLDIERS AND CITZENS TO STAND THEIR GROUND.

RAID STATUS (IF ALLOWED / ENOUGH SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE): Fight to the Death
(10/29)

[RadioHead]

"I may not be as strong as you."

"I may not have the army of the fel backing my every move."

"But I defy you at every step you make."

"You came for Death. So I challenge you to a duel."

"Even if I should fall, even if I should falter in this fight."

"I live for the Twilight Sky."

-Lyco Corbin

DEADLY 1

XARXES VS LYCO CORBIN

[GravityChill]

"Maybe it is a fool's errand to fight on, maybe it is better to leave such to burn by those of the Fel..."

-Words followed soon after the proclamation of the eldest child of Violet, being that of the youngest child. His resolve had been found split in the face of such adversity, but with the fire spurned forth his choice had been made.

"To abandon such a land that has been the home of Aphrosians for so long feels just wrong....the Fel had already taken from us the Church and with it the lives of many powerful people of Meranthe. The Light snuffed to them by the darkness brought forth from the Lord of Time himself, blood that still lays long unpaid. For those who cannot fight, take up your livelihoods and evacuate such a land. But for those who still hold any lingering flame in your heart--

For those who have lost loved ones, for those who have loved ones they do not seek to lose. Those whose heart burns with hatred as the Fel continues to destroy the lives and homes of many."

Take up your staves! Your swords,  your shields! For know that I, Equinox Equisol will stand by with Solstice in standing in the defense of such a force! If I am to pass then so be it, if my body lays beaten, bruised, cursed so be it!

But my heart burns with the desire to see what has long been the home of many stand tall! To not allow the Fel and creatures of Helheim to have their way without a fight!

Let the flames of passion burn bright, and the flames against our enemy burn hotter!"

Equinox Equisol, YOUNGEST SON OF VIOLET EQUISOL STANDS WITH SOLSTICE!

RAID STATUS (IF ALLOWED/ENOUGH SUPPORT) WE DEFEND!!

(10/29)

[SavvyPhantom]

In the darkness of Skarnfel's dying forest, golden eyes open slowly. Their appearance around the forest spread rapidly around the shadows in response to the call out to the Lord of Time. Hypnotic dancing of the golden lights entranced all those who watched the lights dance around. Seemingly encircling those who watched the eyes, the light around that individual is absorbed into the darkness emitting from those dazzling lights. All until everything around those in the shadowlands felt loneliness; this was the pressure of the Undead. The trance immediately became a chokehold of fear, grasping at the throat of the victims who gazed.

Silence...

The fear that crawled up their spines was all too familiar to all. Their nightmares, anger, and fear were all coming to the peak of their being while those eyes focused on them. It was like their soul was being examined closely under that unholy gaze. Stirring the want for people with a weaker will to flee as it examined everyone until they found the target of choice.

Finally, the light had come across the target with a body forming in the darkness. It was a message delivered by a one-eyed shadow creature answering that challenge that had been laid out so fearlessly.

Quote:

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"Are you really that prepared to meet your wife?"

"Hiding and running for years, I thought you were smart enough to stay behind your onyx and marble."

"Like rats, though once your home is burning, you expose yourselves to scatter."

"You had an opportunity to allow your life not to be forfeit, yet you sit and throw stones at Mountains you can't hope to crumble."

"I shall not allow you to interfere with my Lord."

"It was my ambition that killed your wife; it will be my ambition that kills you."

"Face your wife's murderer and get your revenge if you can or fail and run away the same as each son and daughter of Man."

"You shall not reach my Lord."

"I, Cyretheus, shall be your nightmare, the curse you cannot overcome. Answer my challenge, boy. Prove your worth."

---

COUNTER MATCHUP: DEADLY 2
CYRETHEUS VS LYCO CORBIN

[Mald]

As the time of war approached, an Umbral Knight of the Aphrosian Bastion remained shrouded in the shadows, diligently preparing. While others made their declarations, Lucius chose silence. However, as the clock ticked on and the challenges were issued, the Drakanite decided it was time to contribute his own words-

[/size]

"Sol, Eq, I've heard your calls, and I understand your determination. However, you both are still so young, and you are too fragile to bear this burden alone. I will continue to stand in front of the two of you and shield you, just as I've always done.

 

Lady Oracle, I'm truly sorry, but this time, I can't follow your wishes. I need to take a stand, to protect what's left, even if it means putting my life on the line. There are so many brave souls out there willing to fight, and it wouldn't be fair to abandon them on the battlefield when they're risking everything for Athelios' will. If I make it through this, I promise to come back to your side, but until then...

 

I will fight.

 

Not just as a member of The Bastion, but as an Enforcer of The Warden's Will.

 

Times are tough, and the situation is getting worse, but we have to keep pushing forward. 

 

Many of us will get hurt, and many more will lose their lives, but that's just a part of the cycle. 

And your people will find their way back to you in their next lives. 

 

It's all part of your will. May you guide us and those who come after us to a brighter future.

 

Ad Astra Per Aspera."

 

"Lyco, don't waste your time going after Xarxes; focus on the one who took your wife from you.

 

I'll take on your burden.

 

I'll face the overwhelming darkness that is Xarxes."

 

"To Xarxes,

 

You represent a timeless menace, the very antithesis of all we hold dear. Though I may be just a humble follower in your eyes, it matters not.

 

I've walked through life, narrowly evading death's grasp. 

 

You've torn Edward and Palade away from me just as I was building a bond with them. You've claimed countless lives from my people, and every single moment of your existence threatens us all.

 

Hence, I'll devote myself to halting your advance, even if it's only for the briefest of moments. Every second I can stall you will safeguard innumerable lives.

 

I will stand my ground, and you won't pass through me until I fall."

OBJECTIVE: FIGHT UNTIL THE DEATH

DEADLY 6

LUCIUS VS XARXES

these bitch ass forums broke this shit like 4 times