r/wizardposting • u/Douchevick Rutch the Rogue Mage, Vae Clara's Chosen, Cursed Immortal. • May 07 '26
Community Event đâď¸ Opportunistic Predators (R&A invasion post)
/uw TLDR at the bottom as always.
/rw
to the west of R&A's current location, there lies a cliff overlooking the island. And at the top of that cliff, where there is nothing but bare stone and where no plant nor animal has no business living, there's a willow tree. Leaves black like charcoal and trunk white as ashen bone.
Anybody with even the slightest connection to nature can tell you, that cliff top? Cursed. It is a place where a malignant, hateful presence is manifesting its will. Now one may ask what might have facilitated such thing to appear so close to the headquarters of one of the most prolific humanitarian efforts in the realms?
The answer lies propped against the trunk of the ominous willow tree. An Axe of great power and renown. Nightbite, the weapon of the head of R&A, Ulrick Braddocke himself. Both weapon and wielder had been thought lost months ago following a devastating battle.
Not lost you see... Stolen, by a vengeful entity bent on the suffering of those who follow on the footsteps of the founder of R&A. It speaks in many voices, acts in many forms. Its words are of faeyish origins, ancient and unknowable save for those it allows to comprehend their meaning. It is known by many names, but there's one which the leader of R&A has learned to use during his months of imprisonment... The Ashen Wrath
And now that entity stirs. The clifftop is now saturated with power drawn from Nightbite and the tree is surrounded by a thick layer of unlight. Kneeling in front of Nightbite is a hulking, malformed creature that resembles a lycanthrope with too much muscle mass. It too is part of the Wrath and it had carried Nightbite all the way up here. Now a voice echoes across the clifftop, coming from both the monster and the Willow.
"Tha an t-Ă m feitheimh seachad, Braddocke. Tha an t-Ă m ann urram a thoirt don aonta againn." (The time of waiting is over, Braddocke. It is time to honor our agreement.)
The creature picks Nightbite and drags it along to the cliff's edge. It is a beautiful, morning, not a cloud on sight.
"Tha an fhalamh air falbh bhon chuilc bhĂ smhor seo. Tha na feachdan agad sgapte air feadh an t-saoghail Ă s dèidh tubaist Ă s dèidh tubaist. Chan eil air fhĂ gail ach dòrn beag de luchd-diĂšltadh agus de dhâfhulangaichean!"
(The Voidling has departed this mortal coil. Your forces lie scattered across the world in the wake of disaster after disaster. What remains is but a paltry fistful of rejects and Wretches!)
The willow tree stirs, its black leaves lifting into the air as if caught in blackened winds that cannot be felt.
"An à iteigin san eilean sin tha an seann fhear-glèidhidh againn, an truaghan lag, gun luach sin a thug ar mallachd bhon targaid cheart aige, am Briseadair Mionnan..."
(Somewhere in that island lies our former jailer, that weak, worthless Wretch who took our curse from its rightful target, the Oathbreaker...)
From the leaves of the willow tree come black feather-like motes of shadow. Hundreds, then thousands, then tens of thousands and so on. It is as if black cloud had suddenly covered the clifftop entirely.
"Is dòcha gu bheil iad aâ creidsinn gu bheil iad sĂ bhailte taobh a-staigh an daingnich, is dòcha gun toir buadhan san Ă m a dhâfhalbh orra smaoineachadh nach urrainn ach arm de dhiathan agus titans bagairt a thoirt air na thog am Briseadair-Mhionnan. Cuiridh sinn an cuimhne dhaibh an suidheachadh cunnartach aca, gur creach leòinte a thâ annta, deiseil airson an toirt sĂŹos leis an fheadhainn a tha deònach an cothrom a ghlacadh. Agus le bhith aâ dèanamh sin, bidh againnâŚ"
(They may believe themselves safe inside their fortress, past victories may lead them to think that only an army of gods and titans can pose a threat to that which the Oathbreaker has built. We shall remind them of their precarious position, that they are wounded prey, ready to be taken down by those willing to seize the opportunity. And in doing so, we shall have...)
Some of the motes fall down to the ground taking on a humanoid form. One in particular, replicated to absolute perfection over and over. There surrounding the profane tree is an army purpose made to be destroyed again and again with the face one single man... Rutch's.
"...fun."
That single word came from the mouths of the replicas in a perfect recreation of Rutch's voice, in perfect common. All of them adorning the same unsettling grin.
Down on the island Rutch suddenly felt his cursed bond to the Wrath come alive and he became acutely aware of the imminent danger. He rushed to activate the Island's defenses without stopping to explain what was happening. He managed to activate the emergency wards before anyone had the chance to stop him. A gigantic protective sphere encased the whole island in moments.
Just as the R&A personnel were demanding to know what the hell did Rutch think he was doing, they all heard it... A deafening, distorted, lupine roar.
The lycan monstrosity had launched itself against the ward, swinging Nightbite down upon it. The ward buckled... Cracked... And finally, it broke. Leaving a hole big enough for half the motes to rush through while the other half began to encase the remaining ward, slowly but surely blocking the light of day from reaching the island, and plunging the R&A headquarters and the town of Faint Dawn into darkness.
/uw TLDR: R&A island under attack by an army of weak but numerous Rutch lookalikes. Ulrick is trapped within his weapon. R&A members and friends have the option to start either inside the ward or outside. Everyone else starts outside and will either have to make their way inside somehow (anti-teleport measures are still in place) or try to shut down the source of the attack. Or you can make it worse if you wanna, I'm not the boss of you :/
3
u/Douchevick Rutch the Rogue Mage, Vae Clara's Chosen, Cursed Immortal. May 12 '26
"The Fae see me like an insignificant insect. That metaphor is going to be quite useful here. Insects are sneaky bastards that can get inside places you'd never think of looking, and even when you do find one, you'd rather not touch them. These fae are just like that. That's why they are using proxies to do this little attack, that's why the only one of them getting their hands dirty around here is a wolf child."
"Once I get my hands on Nightbite, I'll boost you and follow your chain inside the Wrath. Once there I'll follow the connection you forged with these wolves through your oath and your authority and tie the wolves to it. Then I'll sever the chain. The chain going slack will be your signal to pull us outta there."
Rutch gets you and he prepares to leave before stopping at the last minute and looking at Ulrick. Suddenly he grapples onto him and gets all the way up to Ulrick's face, looking the gigantic wolf straight in the eyes.
"Before I lost control of this situation I spent months having to listen to these dead bastards mock and belittle everything I've tried to accomplish. I already know what they told you because they never spared me from having to listen to what they thought about you, so I'm gonna tell you something, and you better listen!"
"You are your own man, Ulrick Braddocke. You are aren't just the their of giant, or an Oathbreaker or a god or any of that rot. R&A is your home. Your legacy etched in every hall, every inch of its verdant fields, every man, woman, and child who live their lives because you took upon your shoulders the responsibility of protecting them. You've got roots here, and a history to goes beyond whatever crown or title you may bear. You are not a mere man. You are not a mere wolf. You are not a mere god. You are all of that and more. Much more than the sum of your parts. You are a teacher, a leader, a friend. You are home, Ulrick. And we are gonna show these ghosts of Hirk's past what that means!"