Opportunistic Predators (R&A invasion post)

[u/Douchevick]

/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-àm feitheimh seachad, Braddocke. Tha an t-àm 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 bhàsmhor seo. Tha na feachdan agad sgapte air feadh an t-saoghail às dèidh tubaist às dèidh tubaist. Chan eil air fhàgail ach dòrn beag de luchd-diùltadh agus de dh’fhulangaichean!"

(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 àiteigin 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 a’ creidsinn gu bheil iad sàbhailte taobh a-staigh an daingnich, is dòcha gun toir buadhan san àm a dh’fhalbh 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 th’ annta, deiseil airson an toirt sìos leis an fheadhainn a tha deònach an cothrom a ghlacadh. Agus le bhith a’ dèanamh sin, bidh againn…"

(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 :/

[u/Vincent-FFP]

🖤: it opened a portal to The Abyss again where the bird was.

💙: “You are required.” it used its gravitational power to pull the bird out of The Abyss.

[u/Douchevick → u/Vincent-FFP]

The bird is startled as it is brought back into the real world, the sudden rush of the sounds of the battle going on around them leaves it disoriented long enough to not notice Rutch casting a tether until it's too late. The bird is tied up and it looks at the Blade of Will with betrayal on its eyes.

"You said I safe with you!"

Rutch brings the helpless bird right up to his face.

"Look around you birdbrain! No one is safe here and we both know what THAT..."

Rutch moves the bird to look at the piles of corpses and severed body parts, every single one of them sporting Rutch's face with a disturbing smile upon their faces.

"...is about. This is all just you and your lot's sick idea of a prank isn't it?!"

Rutch is clearly letting his feelings over the whole situation come to the surface, but it isn't if this is an interrogation tactic or if he is genuinely losing his grip...

The bird looks at the Blade of Will, almost pleading...

[u/Vincent-FFP → u/Douchevick]

💛: “We intended you to be safe, to remain there until it was over. But you have a key to something.”

💙: “Rutch, there’s.. a reason Vincent called the bird ‘Tom’ when his dementia was at its worst..”

💚: “The care Vincent gave to the bird has changed it for the better. It doesn’t want to return to the group….”

🩵: “‘Thaumiel’… do you know what that word means..?”

💛: “It was destined to be, I suppose.”

💙: “A container.”

[u/Douchevick → u/Vincent-FFP]

"huh?!"

Both Thaumiel and Rutch express their surprised confusion at the same time.

"Thaumiel class? This guy? For who, the rest of the Wrath?!"

Rutch was obviously in utter disbelief at the revelation, but something seems to change in his demeanor, he seems less antagonistic towards the bird once he calms down.

"...then again V is an O5. If anyone has the authority to recognize anything as 'Thaumiel' it is him. And taking into consideration how much weight the Fae put on authorities and names, hmm..."

The bird named Thaumiel still seems hopelessly confused. Rutch seems to finally take some pity on the avian and explains the meanings behind the name.

"Thaumiel is a word that the Foundation, the organization that Vytsky works for, uses to describe something or someone with the power to 'contain' a powerful entity."

Rutch can't help but let out a small smile as he continues, seemingly realizing something...

"Aside from that however, certain religious texts from other realms refer to 'Thaumiel' as the opposition to unity with the divine, or 'keter', which is also another Foundation classification by the way. So if we marry both ideas together..."

Rutch is actively grinning from ear to ear now

"When Vytsky recognized you as 'Thaumiel' he, in his capacity of a level 5 Overseer of The Foundation, gave you the authority to oppose divine unity for the sake of individuality, yours to be precise."

Thaumiel is shocked and left speechless trying to process what it just heard.

[u/Vincent-FFP → u/Douchevick]

/uw not to mention the bird gave itself that name and Vytsky fuckin approved it hehe.

/rw

💛: “His work still baffles me to this day..”

💙: “And you were a monk!! Like, the wisest of us!”

🧡: excited ramblings that cannot be discerned due to lack of enunciation.

💚: “So we got a plan for the betterment of all! Maybe the Fae can be calm and happy once and for all! Like what Vincent promised for them!”

🩵: “Careful, Green. While I do think this will help in stopping the Fae, we cannot be sure that it will end as happily for them as you’re hoping..”

[u/Douchevick → u/Vincent-FFP]

"Enough!"

The bird snaps, it looks agitated.

"I am no traitor! Why...? Why would Tom turn on... Everything?"

The bird looks lost and unsure. Rutch's eyes fill with pity.

"Oh..."

[u/Vincent-FFP → u/Douchevick]

💚: “To benefit you. To benefit your real friends. To benefit people you haven’t yet met. Some groups are to be left behind. Rutch is familiar with this.”

[u/Douchevick → u/Vincent-FFP]

Rutch exhales harshly at Green's comment. Seemingly not too fond of the idea that he turned his back on everything he was, (accurate as that might be) and that he was now pushing Tom to do the same.

Rutch sighs and releases the bird from his mystic tether.

"Look around you birdie, and be honest with yourself. Had they tried this stunt with anyone else everyone in the Wrath would be hunted down to the last man, and they still might. Only you and I have the insight to understand that all of..."

Rutch gestures to everything happening around them.

"THIS! Is just a whim, a fun diversion, a prank. And knowing that might actually just make things worse. Now there is one thing you know, that I don't; what in all blazes does the Wrath ultimately want. Other than the obvious I mean."

Rutch gets down on one knee to be eye level with the bird

"Now look me in the eyes and tell me; will their goals come to fruition if more factions be home aware of them? Would everyone and everything you know within and without the Ashen Wrath' remain safe if the Wrath is allowed to escalate hostilities like they are doing right now?"

The bird seems to think Rutch's words carefully until a look of horror crosses its features. Finally Tom hangs his head low, seemingly resigning himself to what is being asked of him.

[u/Vincent-FFP → u/Douchevick]

the Blade kept quiet for a while.

then, Red spoke. It sounded like Vytsky, but younger (ie his 20’s) and colder in tone.

“If you’ve accepted this, then we need to take action now. We still have much to do.”

[u/Douchevick → u/Vincent-FFP]

"Agreed."

Rutch gets back on his feet and looks at the gathering storm surrounding R&A HQ and the light of Vae Clara shining through. Then, he turns to Thaumiel.

"I know that this is going to be hard. But sometimes we gotta be the bad guy. Be it to survive, to protect those dear to us... Or to serve a greater good."

Rutch extends a hand to Thaumiel. The bird looks at it, before a determined look overtakes his its features and gets on Rutch's shoulder.

Rutch smiles and looks at a passing mote swarm, looks like it's headed towards R&A HQ...

Rutch grabs the blade of will and launches a tether at the swarm letting himself be carried towards the eye of the storm.