Summary of Events
Gaileach had very little warning for this… far too little to move all of her equipment out of the city! She had so many notes and tools spread around her work area and, of course, the mysterious orb itself. So when the Aegis mapped their plans to invade, she bunkered down in her building and let the Gifted defend her.
It was a valiant fight - a wave thick with ghosts and undead hit the town first alongside a Lesser Anchor, probing its defenses. After they fell, a Greater Anchor was sent in alongside various Fallen Plague-Dragons and -Warriors. Blood was shed, but this Anchor too fell alongside its predecessor without much issue.
http://i.imgur.com/VW29Zwy.png
However, after a slight lull in the action, Reklar himself surged forth to try and reclaim the valuable orb with force.His great ripped wings blotted out the sun and permeated the air with the stench of death, followed by his deadly legion of Plague-Dragons. The Gifted fell swiftly under the first attack, but kept harassing him and keeping him busy. Gaileach, meanwhile, worked eagerly on the orb in the corner of her study. It was reacting to the magic in the air! Oh, how much she can learn from this…
http://i.imgur.com/qoY3B9y.png
The Gifted rose again and again to strike at Reklar, who laughed as he trudged through blood and broken bone on the ground near the shrine. All is silent for a few moments as the broken bodies vanish and reform elsewhere, only to reconvene in Aughundell and strike back! Reklar falls, finally, under this attack, succumbing to the combined forces.
Gaileach scuttles from her study in the eerie silence afterwards, claiming she’s made a breakthrough! The orb’s magic radiates outwards and connects to nearby portals via a magical link. She asks the Gifted for their assistance; she needs resources to box in the orb and isolate its power. She asks for 50 Adamantium Bars and Travertine Bricks, 100 Radiant Essence Orbs, and a Mithril Rune Stylus. The Gifted respond very swiftly with these resources, bringing up the various ingredients from their vaults or plots. Within minutes she has what she needs in her arms and not a moment too soon.
The instant the Dryad touches the orb with the Stylus, the orb shoots out a physical energy link to a portal of its own. The portal rift opens in front of Aughundell. Inky blackness swirls within, giving no hint to the land beyond. Seconds later, the corrupted monsters of the Rift surge forth in the Realm of Prime, their half-existing bodies faint in the sunlight. The Gifted hurriedly mow these monsters down only to be faced with one of Elial’s Guardians itself, disturbed from its usual duties by the portal opening nearby.
The ancients among the Gifted lead the fight against the Guardian of Bone, having done so before in their ancient rite of passages . Weakened from being separated from its realm, the Guardian falls swiftly and silence falls.
Gaileach manages to encase the powering black orb in a sphere of adamantium and travertine, enchanted with the radiant essence to create a protective magic-proof container. The orb, contained, loses its link to the portal and it closes in on itself, leaving nothing but a touch of magic in the air in its wake.
Celebration, however, cannot come yet. The Aegis are catching on to Gaileach’s progress and shut down one of their own portals, presumably to protect their deeper homeland. The map that shows the battle plans suddenly loses the northernmost symbol, as well. The identical southern symbol still glows bright, and so Gaileach sends the Gifted out in that direction, to find the power source of the remaining portal.
It takes a few minutes, but finally the little green orb is found hidden behind a tree. After being carried back to the town in the safe arms of a Gifted human, it, too, is trapped in a magic-proof prison.
But the portal doesn’t close.
The Aegis have concentrated their power on this final portal, forcing the Gifted to step through and close it manually, by destroying the mages on the other side. As there is no apparent other way, Gaileach encourages the Gifted to step through for the sake of the town, as there’s only so much time before the Aegis send another force through. Complying, the defensive force of Aughundell steps through the final portal, into the depths of the Blighted east nearby the shores.
http://i.imgur.com/GfOjzU4.png
They are greeted by a large force of ghosts, skeletons, undead dragons, and a few phantom mages. These are torn apart by the Gifted, without mercy, who then plunge deeper into the deadlands, killing the deadly guards sent to protect the distant mages, who power the connection. Fafnir, Son of Gigaroth, and Valkor all fall. Finally, the mages are torn apart by the Gifted’s swords and claws.
http://i.imgur.com/vx7f9Qd.png
In Aughundell, Gaileach, who was watching the portal nervously, sees the surface shimmer before it collapses in on itself. She shouts out her victory in joy; they have done it! They sealed the portal!
Turning back to her study, the dryad rubs her hands together. Now… time to use this new knowledge of power sources to figure out how to close portals from one side only!
Fluttering up the path, Gaileach pauses. That isn’t the only mystery...
Why - and how - did the Aegis create a power source to connect to the Rift?
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Pryzm, I was just typing it up this morning since last night it was far too late to start. :)
Romirez, I'll try to make the next event have more choice and variation, but I can't give many branching paths with every raid simply due to time constraints. It takes many hours of planning and also many hours of execution to make it work, but I certainly won't make it a rare thing!
Thank you all who came for attending! I hope you all enjoyed yourselves :) For those who didn't come - I hope to get you killed next time! ;)
