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Dark Sun: Praetor
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 5744054" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p><strong>Ancient Temple of Andropinis, Mt. Laeron, Balic</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p>Ansaria opened her eyes and watched the four who she had sensed disposing of the id fiend Krch walk down the stairs into the temple, taking in its dais, altar, and probably the massive relief of Andropinis that filled the whole wall behind her.</p><p></p><p>Torg stood up and hefted his massive double-bladed battle axe and challenged the figures as they entered the light. One was a figure in a brown robe who slipped behind a stone pillar as soon as he entered, the second was a mul with a long-axe, the third was a human that might be attractive behind his heavy armor if it weren't for the unhealthy palor to his skin, the fourth a half-giant even bigger than Torg that carried two massive shields that looked to be made from the carapaces of some massive spined beetle.</p><p></p><p>"Who are you?" Torg said, as the archers stood up around Ansaria. She remained sitting in the lotus position, the words of the ritual resounding in her mind.<em>Torg can handle these interlopers</em>, she thought.</p><p></p><p>"Praetors of Balic," the young man said. "This place is forbidden."</p><p></p><p>"We have to go!" Torg shouted, looking back and Ansaria and readying his axe. She gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, closed her eyes, and returned her focus to the ritual. She heard bowstrings twang and something sharp buried itself in her arm. Her eyes snapped open, rage and poison flooding into her body in equal measure as she yanked a small hollow bone dart from her flesh.</p><p></p><p>Torg collided with the other half-giant as arrows splintered and shattered on the human's shield, the mul swinging at Torg as he tried to circle around him. He began to advance, but Torg kicked the twin-shielded half-giant away and hooked his axe on the human's foot, sending him crashing to the ground.</p><p></p><p>Ansaria's vision swam as she struggled with the poison, one of the archers beside her clutching at his neck and slamming into the tiles at her side, gasping for breath.</p><p></p><p>The Praetor's half-giant slammed a shield into Torg and knocked him back as the human's sword flared with light and shadow, slashing the back of Torg's leg with a razor-edged obsidian blade as the half-giant scrambled to his feet.</p><p></p><p>The Praetor turned to Ansaria and rushed towards her, more arrows clattering off his shield. Ansaria smiled and focused on him. The air <em>thrummed</em> and she hurled him back into the fray where he slammed into the close-pressed battle around Torg with enough force that all of them were thrown to the ground.</p><p></p><p>The mul scrambled to his feet, rushing towards her and cutting down one of the archers. Behind her, the last two archers fired at point-blank range, arrows <em>thudding</em> into the mul. He staggered back, but not far enough for Ansaria. She rose her hand and it was instantly aswirl with ice. With a gesture, a spear of ice slammed into the mul and dropped him to one knee, his teeth a snarl as he fought to stand.</p><p></p><p>Torg smashed the enemy half-giant so hard one of the half-giant's shields shattered; the half-giant hit the wall so hard he cracked the engraved stone and landed in a heap. Torg turned towards the human and badly injured mul with a grin... which vanished instantly when a dart punched through his cheek. He ripped it out and whirled with a roar, charging off blindly, swaying drunkenly as he did so and slamming into a stone pillar so hard dust and bits of masonry rained down.</p><p></p><p>Ansaria hurled a jagged shard of ice at the human, burying in his shield and riming it and his whole side with ice. Two more arrows hit the mul as he finally pushed himself to his feet and he collapsed.</p><p></p><p>Breath steaming in the cold about him, the human gritted his teeth and ran over towards where the fallen mul lay unmoving. Another dart dropped an archer - Ansaria thought briefly back to see if she remembered his name, but he was just another body for the cause - and Ansaria sent a bladed handful of ice crystals tearing into the shadowy corner from where the robed figure had been launching darts. Torg struggled to his feet, wobbling, shaking his head, and snorting as if trying to get his bearings - and his eyes focused on the Praetor.</p><p></p><p><em>This is all but over</em>, she thought. <em>That mul is finished, what does the human think he's doing?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em></em>The human showed her a moment later, reaching the fallen mul and producing a small finely engraved box from a small bag at his side. She only had a second to see what was in his fist before he crushed it, juice and pulp running into the fallen mul's mouth.</p><p></p><p><em>An Ambrosia Pear! </em>Ansaria thought, snarling and rising to her feet for the first time since the battle started. The human turned to her and grinned, as if reading her thoughts. An orb of ice whistled past his head as he charged forwards, but she sidestepped his flaring blade and slammed her open palm into his chest. His armor was freezing to the stone the second his body hit. "Don't worry, I'll send your frozen body back to your dictator, Praetor scum."</p><p></p><p>Her smile of triumph was short lived as she looked up to see the mul helping the enemy half-giant to his feet. Torg rushed them but their half-giant intercepted him, Torg's axe - cracked from breaking their half-giant's other shield - flew into a dozen pieces. Torg had only a moment to lament his loss as the mul's axe was firmly planted between his eyes a split-second later.</p><p></p><p>Adrenaline and rage washed away the flood of sorrow and loss, rage that amplified her powers as she raised her hand and flooded the room with razor shards of ice.</p><p></p><p>Another dart buried itself in her palm causing her hand to clamp closed reflexively and distracting her control of the raw elemental energy she had called into existence.</p><p></p><p>So intense was the chill energy condensed in her hand that even with her psychic protections, her hand burned with the cold. Their half-giant closed with a roar and she slammed her cramped and blackening fist into the stone at his feet. Ice spears launched from the stone with enough force that jagged bits of stone cut Ansaria and the onrushing mul as they impaled the half-giant's legs. The spears exploded into fragments as he slammed head-first into the stairs at her feet with enough force to crack his carapace helm and she whirled to face the mul.</p><p></p><p>An inch-thick orb of ice enveloped her as he leapt through the air, but even as he swung, his axe ignited in an inferno of sorcerous flame, her protective ice evaporating away before it.</p><p></p><p><em>Damn you Praetor, we were so close!</em> she thought - and it was her last.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 5744054, member: 60965"] [B]Ancient Temple of Andropinis, Mt. Laeron, Balic [/B] Ansaria opened her eyes and watched the four who she had sensed disposing of the id fiend Krch walk down the stairs into the temple, taking in its dais, altar, and probably the massive relief of Andropinis that filled the whole wall behind her. Torg stood up and hefted his massive double-bladed battle axe and challenged the figures as they entered the light. One was a figure in a brown robe who slipped behind a stone pillar as soon as he entered, the second was a mul with a long-axe, the third was a human that might be attractive behind his heavy armor if it weren't for the unhealthy palor to his skin, the fourth a half-giant even bigger than Torg that carried two massive shields that looked to be made from the carapaces of some massive spined beetle. "Who are you?" Torg said, as the archers stood up around Ansaria. She remained sitting in the lotus position, the words of the ritual resounding in her mind.[I]Torg can handle these interlopers[/I], she thought. "Praetors of Balic," the young man said. "This place is forbidden." "We have to go!" Torg shouted, looking back and Ansaria and readying his axe. She gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head, closed her eyes, and returned her focus to the ritual. She heard bowstrings twang and something sharp buried itself in her arm. Her eyes snapped open, rage and poison flooding into her body in equal measure as she yanked a small hollow bone dart from her flesh. Torg collided with the other half-giant as arrows splintered and shattered on the human's shield, the mul swinging at Torg as he tried to circle around him. He began to advance, but Torg kicked the twin-shielded half-giant away and hooked his axe on the human's foot, sending him crashing to the ground. Ansaria's vision swam as she struggled with the poison, one of the archers beside her clutching at his neck and slamming into the tiles at her side, gasping for breath. The Praetor's half-giant slammed a shield into Torg and knocked him back as the human's sword flared with light and shadow, slashing the back of Torg's leg with a razor-edged obsidian blade as the half-giant scrambled to his feet. The Praetor turned to Ansaria and rushed towards her, more arrows clattering off his shield. Ansaria smiled and focused on him. The air [I]thrummed[/I] and she hurled him back into the fray where he slammed into the close-pressed battle around Torg with enough force that all of them were thrown to the ground. The mul scrambled to his feet, rushing towards her and cutting down one of the archers. Behind her, the last two archers fired at point-blank range, arrows [I]thudding[/I] into the mul. He staggered back, but not far enough for Ansaria. She rose her hand and it was instantly aswirl with ice. With a gesture, a spear of ice slammed into the mul and dropped him to one knee, his teeth a snarl as he fought to stand. Torg smashed the enemy half-giant so hard one of the half-giant's shields shattered; the half-giant hit the wall so hard he cracked the engraved stone and landed in a heap. Torg turned towards the human and badly injured mul with a grin... which vanished instantly when a dart punched through his cheek. He ripped it out and whirled with a roar, charging off blindly, swaying drunkenly as he did so and slamming into a stone pillar so hard dust and bits of masonry rained down. Ansaria hurled a jagged shard of ice at the human, burying in his shield and riming it and his whole side with ice. Two more arrows hit the mul as he finally pushed himself to his feet and he collapsed. Breath steaming in the cold about him, the human gritted his teeth and ran over towards where the fallen mul lay unmoving. Another dart dropped an archer - Ansaria thought briefly back to see if she remembered his name, but he was just another body for the cause - and Ansaria sent a bladed handful of ice crystals tearing into the shadowy corner from where the robed figure had been launching darts. Torg struggled to his feet, wobbling, shaking his head, and snorting as if trying to get his bearings - and his eyes focused on the Praetor. [I]This is all but over[/I], she thought. [I]That mul is finished, what does the human think he's doing? [/I]The human showed her a moment later, reaching the fallen mul and producing a small finely engraved box from a small bag at his side. She only had a second to see what was in his fist before he crushed it, juice and pulp running into the fallen mul's mouth. [I]An Ambrosia Pear! [/I]Ansaria thought, snarling and rising to her feet for the first time since the battle started. The human turned to her and grinned, as if reading her thoughts. An orb of ice whistled past his head as he charged forwards, but she sidestepped his flaring blade and slammed her open palm into his chest. His armor was freezing to the stone the second his body hit. "Don't worry, I'll send your frozen body back to your dictator, Praetor scum." Her smile of triumph was short lived as she looked up to see the mul helping the enemy half-giant to his feet. Torg rushed them but their half-giant intercepted him, Torg's axe - cracked from breaking their half-giant's other shield - flew into a dozen pieces. Torg had only a moment to lament his loss as the mul's axe was firmly planted between his eyes a split-second later. Adrenaline and rage washed away the flood of sorrow and loss, rage that amplified her powers as she raised her hand and flooded the room with razor shards of ice. Another dart buried itself in her palm causing her hand to clamp closed reflexively and distracting her control of the raw elemental energy she had called into existence. So intense was the chill energy condensed in her hand that even with her psychic protections, her hand burned with the cold. Their half-giant closed with a roar and she slammed her cramped and blackening fist into the stone at his feet. Ice spears launched from the stone with enough force that jagged bits of stone cut Ansaria and the onrushing mul as they impaled the half-giant's legs. The spears exploded into fragments as he slammed head-first into the stairs at her feet with enough force to crack his carapace helm and she whirled to face the mul. An inch-thick orb of ice enveloped her as he leapt through the air, but even as he swung, his axe ignited in an inferno of sorcerous flame, her protective ice evaporating away before it. [I]Damn you Praetor, we were so close![/I] she thought - and it was her last. [/QUOTE]
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