Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Jul 24, 2016 10:30:36 GMT -5
Abandon ship! Abandon ship! Jack panicked halfheartedly to himself as he made his way around the ship. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on. He'd found a weird cruise ship, Nyght was apparently here and so were some zombies, some chains and other nonsense, then the ship was sinking! And now, as if things hadn't been bad enough already, a monster had risen up from the ocean! A pretty big monster.
The young man wasn't prepared for this. He was decidedly unprepared. Well, a couple options were available to him. He could flee, just teleport away. Or he could fight. Fighting seemed like it might be difficult. The monster they faced was of a size that it would likely require a tremendous magical expenditure on his part and Jack was never comfortable making such an effort in front of so many witnesses.
Jack observed the weirdo floating above the bow. Whoever they were seemed to cast some spell and the young man wondered if they were also the ones responsible for commanding the zombies to summon the Jormy in the first place. It wasn't how he would've handled it, but Jack couldn't really argue with the results. The massive sea serpent had shown up, after all. Alright. He'd decided that he was totally gonna fight. Beat having to come back out with his own crew later.
Making his way to a higher vantage point on the ship, Jack stared out at the monster's writhing body, wondering how he was going to kill it. No matter how he looked at things, it was gonna take him some time. The young man began gathering pieces of railing and metal to fashion some sort of harpoon. His thoughts had turned simplistic and the easiest way for him to get past the serpent's formidable hide was probably to just get through it once. He'd dig the makeshift weapon under its scales, preferably somewhere near the head to get to the brain sooner, and use magic through the wound to destroy it from the inside out.
Bernhard was once a Hito'Radeau, but has been mutated into something else entirely. A scorched black beak covers his nose and mouth, his throat fused around a gas filter, and his eyes pressed against shattered glass lenses and wire mesh.
The rest of his hunched figure is covered by a pair of large black wings, similar to those of a crow's, and a shredded leather long coat. What patches of skin that can be seen through worn patches of clothing are sickly and rotted.
His arms and leather gloved hands are mostly normal, with the exception of a glass syringe embedded in his right forearm at an odd angle, but his right leg is only human to the knee. From there down is a taloned black appendage, similarly resembling that of a Crow's.
Post by Bernhard Reiniger on Jul 25, 2016 2:39:25 GMT -5
Bernhard had always thought it curious, what people tended to jump to conclusions about. Naturally, it would appear that he had slaughtered the ship in order to use them as summoning fodder. In a way he had slaughtered them to summon the beast, but using the word 'Summon' would imply that it had not already existed in the world naturally. Similarly, using the word 'Slaughter' would imply that he directly had a hand in their individual causes of death, which he had not. In fact he had nothing to do at all with the outbreak of Cholera among first the crew, and then the passengers. He might have been able to save some of the innocents on board, perhaps, but to do so would draw the noose tighter around the necks of the various supernatural communities around the world. He could have let the ship return to shore, as it had been trying to do, but the chances of it docking as anything more than a tomb ship full of infectious disease would have been... miraculous. It was already impressive that the passengers held out as long as they did, in the face of rapidly depleting ship resources and dehydration.
He also had a need for a large vessel with lots of fresh flesh, and the recently departed, may they rest at ease knowing their sacrifices would save the lives of many other ocean-bound travelers, no longer had a need for theirs. Had he any other options he would have considered taking them, but the serpent needed to be stopped quickly. In times past it was a mere legend, a cause for natural disasters and a superstitious scapegoat. Those times were gone. The Jormungandr was starting to become much more active than it had in the past, perhaps because it had been awoken from a dormant state, perhaps because it was fertile and was searching for a mate. Whatever the cause, it was enough to warrant a hunt. So hunt Bernhard had, and he finally found his quarry.
He could have done with less of the silencing of his most offensive and utilitarian capabilities, but he had no real need to use them anymore any time soon, so he could have personally cared less. It was irritating to be mute once again, after months of careful reconstruction of his vocal cords and throat, but it was nothing more than just irritating. His chains were already bound to the creature of the deep, his improvised horde was already standing, and the crack he had opened in the earth's crust had already been created. It would be quite some time before he would need or have the energy to do any of those things again, keeping in mind his vastly depleted and limited reserves of stamina anyways unless someone volunteered to be sapped of their own. Once the serpent had slowed enough he would use it as his energy source, but that was still quite a ways away.
Still, it was unfortunate that people oft acted without considering all of the possibilities first. It was always like this everywhere he went though, so he was getting used to it. He watched his second father be scorned for his chosen line of duty in outbreaks of plague and illness, most of the time even blamed for the outbreak in the first place. He endured as that same blame was layed upon his own shoulders in countless other areas at countless other times. He would continue to endure, as he and those who came before him always had, until the time came to act or to lay dormant. Of course he couldn't really find fault in anyone for having a short fuse when he himself was still teetering on the precipice, one wrong move away from breaking again.
Bernhard raised his staff and brought it down against the deck that he stood on, the ancient lantern chained to the top swinging and flickering. His wings stretching and raising to catch a spurt of hot water among their feathers, shivering with the brief pain before lowering once again. His free arm raised and gestured to the head of the Jormungandr as it began to sink beneath the waves once more, just in time to catch the full force of the fiery pillar erupting from the very bowels of the planet. So far everything was proceeding more or less as perfectly as it could.
The demigod picked his wings up and launched himself into the air, using the residual heat from his hellstream to assist in climbing higher and hovering. When the Jormungandr started to move, he had no real idea what would happen. He knew that it would drag the boat along with it, and all the extra ballast that it held, but he wasn't sure if it would pull the ship down with it, or if the ship would just sink anyways. He didn't want to be down there to find out until it already happened, regardless.
The serpent dove into the turbulent waters and unraveled itself from the ship with remarkable agility and swiftness considering it's size, a pained shriek echoing from it's maw. The scales had taken the brunt of the force from the concentrated light, but it's eyes, fins, and other loose bits were all quite exposed and vulnerable to the nearly blinding blast of concentrated light. Soon after the last scale vanished below the surface of the water, the cruise ship lurched and groaned, creaking into motion as it followed the serpent.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Aug 8, 2016 4:21:28 GMT -5
Jack bobbed his head along jauntily with a tune that only he could hear, working away at constructing his harpoon. Truth be told, he could have finished it much sooner but he wasn't really in much of a rush. The Jormy wasn't gonna drag the lot of them to the bottom of the ocean any time soon, hopefully, and rushing would only increase the likelihood of him making a mistake.
The young man was already at enough of a disadvantage, considering he hadn't been expecting to confront the beast today and as a result none of the physical preparations he'd been making to hunt the creature were ready or anywhere near him at the moment. But that was neither here nor there. Jack didn't need any of that stuff to give the beastie a good whack upside the head before walking off with its heart and some other trophies. He'd just have to role up his sleeves and muscle it into a watery grave using nothing but his considerable magicks. And some friendly cooperation, hopefully.
Luckily, among the spells he'd mastered during his travels was one capable of shrinking down the massive monster from its some seven hundred feet in length to a much more manageable seventy. But Jack was loathe to demonstrate such an ability so soon in the battle. The magick did have a time limit, after all, and recasting it repeatedly would prove a burden on his body's resources that he was not eager to bear, especially considering he had no idea how long the battle might last and how many times he might need to recast it.
Having determined it would be best to wait for a more opportune moment, Jack intended to attempt to force the lance he was constructing underneath the Jormy's scales. Once he'd cast the magick it would only grow more difficult to penetrate its natural defenses as such weak spots would grow smaller and tighter.
The ship lurched forward, in motion once more. The flying weirdo had climbed even higher into the air and the huge serpent had disappeared beneath the waves after being struck by what Jack could only assume had been a hellstream. The Jormy was dragging the ship along and, presumably, would resume its attack once it realized that it was solidly anchored to them and would not escape so easily. The young wizard kept one cautious eye on Weirdo while he stared hungrily at the water, waiting with his finished weapon.
Bernhard was once a Hito'Radeau, but has been mutated into something else entirely. A scorched black beak covers his nose and mouth, his throat fused around a gas filter, and his eyes pressed against shattered glass lenses and wire mesh.
The rest of his hunched figure is covered by a pair of large black wings, similar to those of a crow's, and a shredded leather long coat. What patches of skin that can be seen through worn patches of clothing are sickly and rotted.
His arms and leather gloved hands are mostly normal, with the exception of a glass syringe embedded in his right forearm at an odd angle, but his right leg is only human to the knee. From there down is a taloned black appendage, similarly resembling that of a Crow's.
Post by Bernhard Reiniger on Aug 14, 2016 16:56:43 GMT -5
For such a large creature, the Jormungandr was moving with surprising speed and endurance. Luckily enough the ship didn't seem to be sinking just yet, but the water line was rising by the hour. At this rate, it would be totally full within a day and half, maybe two days at the max, and that was only if the creature kept moving. If it attempted to dive into any particularly deep area there was little hope for keeping above the surface, and there wasn't a lot that Bernhard could do to stop that from happening with a metaphysical kink in his available power. The kink was only going to last for a few hours longer, but a few hours was still more than enough time for shit to hit the fan.
With that being observed, Bernhard circled back from his position in the air and took up his spot atop the bridge. From there he could sit and observe, keeping an eye on the status of ship and occupants, as well as rest himself for the activities of the future.
Bernhard had lost the four hostile things in the mist and chaos of the serpent diving, but he had little doubt that were they to return it would not be with peace. Eliminating one or both of them would be taxing and generally troublesome, a waste all around, but he had no qualms about taking their lives if they threatened to prevent the taking of the Jormungandr's.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Aug 28, 2016 23:27:37 GMT -5
Ten adjusted the mask he'd hastily donned with the rest of his clothing upon coming into view of the ship, still trying to keep one eye on the water while the other kept followed Bernhard. His heart was pounding and the young man's palms itched with the urge to pounce on his prey. But he continued to wait, knowing that a battle with the submerged Jormy was not exactly desirable. No, when it resurfaced, which would hopefully be soon, he would attack.
Jack took a brief moment to survey his surroundings, wondering where Nyght and the dragon had gone, before resuming his vigil. He hoped the chains that attached the boat to the monster would hold up. It would be pretty aggravating if it managed to escape before he could kill it.
The weirdo flew around for a bit before settling on another perch and, while he did, Jack waved to him. The young man didn't know if he'd be seen but figured it didn't matter much. He didn't trust whoever it was but their goals seemed almost aligned. At least for now, anyways. Ten had witnessed some troubling things earlier and could only speculate as to what the strange being's goals and motivations were.
Jack was hesitant to assume he'd been the one to cast the hellstream but the weirdo definitely seemed to be hostile toward the mass sea monster that had, only moments ago, tried to wreck the ship he was on. That didn't make him Jack's newest pal or anything but it might make them circumstantial allies. Still, the young man needed to be cautious, so he refrained from approaching the weirdo, preferring to remain where he'd set up shop for a time longer.
Bernhard was once a Hito'Radeau, but has been mutated into something else entirely. A scorched black beak covers his nose and mouth, his throat fused around a gas filter, and his eyes pressed against shattered glass lenses and wire mesh.
The rest of his hunched figure is covered by a pair of large black wings, similar to those of a crow's, and a shredded leather long coat. What patches of skin that can be seen through worn patches of clothing are sickly and rotted.
His arms and leather gloved hands are mostly normal, with the exception of a glass syringe embedded in his right forearm at an odd angle, but his right leg is only human to the knee. From there down is a taloned black appendage, similarly resembling that of a Crow's.
Post by Bernhard Reiniger on Sept 4, 2016 0:48:34 GMT -5
The ship sinking was an inevitability. They had taken on too much water and with no real way to shore up the larger breaches in hull, they would continue to fall beneath the waves. Were they near any sub-aquatic structure it wouldn't be that much of a problem, as they could just beach themselves and not fall victim to the current, but there were no such areas nearby and it was unlikely that the Jormungandr was taking them to one.
For now the remaining members of Bernhard's improvised horde were throwing ballast overboard in an attempt to decrease overall weight, but that would only buy them a few minutes at most. If the whole ship was torn out and gutted it might be a different story, but the dead couldn't use tools particularly well and decomposing muscles were not the best things to use when pulling up flooring and things that might be bolted down. If worse came to worse the dead could cast themselves over, but that would again only give a few minutes, an hour altogether at the most.
Regardless, they still had time before the ship rolled over or was sucked down into the abyss. Even after that, there would probably be enough air left in the boat to keep it afloat, if only barely, if it flipped belly up. There were also the life rafts that could be used, though when hunting something easily able to crush a cargo ship a commercial emergency raft was anemic to say the least.
And then there was the problem of that girl with the bad temper. In his years Bernhard had come across many who were able to use the more common magical tricks and spells and such, but none had ever bothered silencing him. It was beyond irritating, and it was foolishly dangerous to do considering the situation. He didn't blame the kid, but perhaps if she had put a little more thought into her actions before pulling the proverbial trigger, this would all be over with already. He made another mental note to keep an eye on that one in the future. Forgiveness would not come quickly.
The Draconian pair were little more than an annoyance to him as things stood currently. A powerful creature such as a dragon was inevitably held back by it's other half, by design, though older and more experienced pairs could be vastly dangerous to encounter as enemies. This girl did not fall into that category, clearly. Someone so heavily reliant on the power of another registered more as a spoiled brat than as anyone capable of doing any harm to Bernhard, and hot water in conjunction with a physical charge could hardly be considered an attack. He had only the need to lightly touch either of them and it would be over, were he motivated to end it.
The other man on the boat was more of a mystery. He wasn't human, he didn't smell like one, but he hadn't done anything to indicate he held any particularly great power either. He hadn't made a move to interrupt anything yet which was good, but with so little information Bernhard was hesitant to let his guard down. For now Bernhard would return the man's greeting with a wave of his own, while continuing to formulate a plan for the future.
From their general direction it seemed like the Jormungandr was moving northwards, towards Greenland. They had slowed down a tad since they had started moving, but it didn't yet seem like the serpent was particularly tired. It was more like it was slowing down to conserve on energy for a long trip, or for some sort of regenerative hibernation. If so, it would be a fantastic chance to observe and test a few hypotheses. There was little to no literature on the Jormungandr itself as a non-mythological and real world creature, to be able to study its body would be an opportunity to die for, and to see and study the habitat it calls home would be icing on the cake.
However, first they would have to disable or kill it. One burst of hellstream wasn't enough to do the job, obviously, but another few sustained bursts might be enough to weaken its scales enough to break through with weaker attacks. If Bernhard could get close enough he could sap the beasts' energy and sicken it to the point of death maybe, but to drain the life out of such a large entity completely and utterly would take more time than he would likely have. Even considering prior injuries and help it would be close, but it would be doable. The best bet was to get inside of it somehow, but the nature of the serpent's anatomy made that a very slim prospect. Even if they made it past the beginning of it's maw, it looked like it still had a secondary row of teeth, similar to a Moray eel.
Still, there would be no reward without a risk. If anyone stood a chance of getting inside to kill the thing it was going to be him. Sickness and poisons present int he creature made little difference, as he was immune to most and could just purge them from his body if he wasn't, injuries sustained inside could be healed without much trouble so long as they weren't immediately life threatening beyond a certain degree, and once inside he could bolster his own energy, health, and power reserves by feeding off of the Jormungandr's own reserves of life and energy.
Getting out of it would be problematic, but he would manage somehow. With any luck he would be able to perform adequately in conjunction with whatever plans the others might have, and without having to worry too much about fending off their attacks. It was a shame that he couldn't communicate with any of them for a while longer yet.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Oct 5, 2016 0:17:50 GMT -5
Jack sighed impatiently. He hadn't had the desirable amount of time to prepare and, predictably, this particular encounter with the Jormy wasn't going as well as he would've liked it to. It would've been nice if Nyght hadn't tried to sink the ship for some reason. The young mage honestly couldn't recall why she'd done it, if he'd ever known in the first place. He guessed it didn't really matter. Anyways, he couldn't think up any halfway decent ways to stop or slow the sinking without blowing a not inconsiderable amount of energy.
The young man began to make his way toward Bernhard, having resigned himself to needing to work with others if he was gonna succeed without having to exert himself too much. Though he hadn't troubled Jack much so far, the strange individual was clearly dangerous and had apparently attacked some people earlier. Suffice to say, Ten was on his guard. But wasn't he usually? Whatever. It doesn't matter.
Jack wondered what powers he would reveal today. Definitely shrink, at some point. His water based abilities might also prove useful, as could his metal spell. He'd really rather not show any more than he needed to and had so far managed to keep what he could do a secret, only having revealed a couple spells to a small handful of individuals, most of them pretty trustworthy. Probably trustworthy. The young mage figured he could probably get by with just shrink and his water manipulation, if he was smart about it.
"Hi!" Ten called out once he got within earshot of Bernhard, attempting to open up a dialogue between himself and the whatever he was. "The plan is to kill this thing, right? I had some thoughts on how we could go about that."
Bernhard was once a Hito'Radeau, but has been mutated into something else entirely. A scorched black beak covers his nose and mouth, his throat fused around a gas filter, and his eyes pressed against shattered glass lenses and wire mesh.
The rest of his hunched figure is covered by a pair of large black wings, similar to those of a crow's, and a shredded leather long coat. What patches of skin that can be seen through worn patches of clothing are sickly and rotted.
His arms and leather gloved hands are mostly normal, with the exception of a glass syringe embedded in his right forearm at an odd angle, but his right leg is only human to the knee. From there down is a taloned black appendage, similarly resembling that of a Crow's.
Post by Bernhard Reiniger on Oct 7, 2016 13:41:11 GMT -5
Bernhard cracked his eyes and looked towards the sky for a few moments, checking the time in his own way. It was still too early for him to speak, but he could feel the ability lingering around the edge of his perception for longer and longer periods of time now. It wouldn't be long, at this rate. He would have to catalog this curse for later study.
His head turned downwards to regard the man standing nearby, looking him over more thoroughly now that he was closer. His vision also seemed to be going lately, which was yet another concerning thing to add to the list. No matter, the man seemed average enough. He wasn't normal, certainly, but he wasn't particularly of any note either. He was probably just another elemental disguising themselves as a pure human, from his scent.
The man was courageous enough to walk up and make conversation though, which at least warranted hearing him out. Bernhard nodded, and gestured for him to continue. Perhaps he would have something interesting to say.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Oct 7, 2016 22:08:02 GMT -5
He, or it, whatever, wasn't saying anything. It took a split second for Jack to remember Nyght had silenced the guy earlier. Suppose guy'll have to do when referencing the thing, since the young man couldn't quite be sure what exactly it was. Anyways, it wasn't gonna be doing any talking for at least a little while longer. That was ok. It hadn't attacked, yet, and had actually motioned for him to continue, so Jack s'posed he might as well toss out his half baked idea and see how Guy felt about it.
"Right, sorry. Forgot," The young man rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly, looking down at his feet. Ten cleared his throat before continuing nervously.
"I know a shrink spell," The young man stated bluntly. "I can shrink the beast to about a tenth of its current size, weakening it some in the process. That could make it a bit easier to manage, though I can't maintain the spell for very long, yet. In addition to that, I'm competent with liquid water manipulation though my natural talents lie more with ice."
Ten paused for a moment, shifting uneasily to help maintain the first impression he'd crafted for himself so far. He would've gone so far as to chew his lip and look around nervously, but his mask would make such efforts unnoticeable unless he exaggerated them beyond the point of belief. That wouldn't be super helpful.
"I figured there are probably a number of ways to take the beast down, but I can't manage it myself. I'm not much of a strategist, anyways, but you seem to have come prepared. If my abilities may enhance whatever plan you've constructed, I'd be happy to contribute, please." Jack continued, starting to fidget with his hands before forcing them back to his sides while he waited for some sort of nonverbal cue helping to indicate what the Guy might be thinking.
Bernhard was once a Hito'Radeau, but has been mutated into something else entirely. A scorched black beak covers his nose and mouth, his throat fused around a gas filter, and his eyes pressed against shattered glass lenses and wire mesh.
The rest of his hunched figure is covered by a pair of large black wings, similar to those of a crow's, and a shredded leather long coat. What patches of skin that can be seen through worn patches of clothing are sickly and rotted.
His arms and leather gloved hands are mostly normal, with the exception of a glass syringe embedded in his right forearm at an odd angle, but his right leg is only human to the knee. From there down is a taloned black appendage, similarly resembling that of a Crow's.
Post by Bernhard Reiniger on Oct 18, 2016 11:36:41 GMT -5
With little other way to communicate his nonverbal capabilities without a demonstration, and with no way to express his spells or other incantations at all, Bernhard gestured for the strange man to come closer. From his words it was clear that he was an elemental, but exactly what kind of elemental was as of yet uncertain. He wasn't a water elemental, if anything could be gleaned from what he had said, in fact it would appear at a glance that he was an elemental of ice. A deeper inspection of his scent revealed little, though it would be foolish to assume that everything he said was to be taken at face value. Bernhard had the distinct feeling that this man was hiding a few things about himself, but now was neither the time nor the place to investigate the matter.
Now was the time to demonstrate a portion of what he was able to do, the power that he was able to disrupt, steal, and restore. Perhaps some understanding would come after that.
Bernhard held out his hand as the man approached him, if he approached him. Palm up and elbow slightly bent, waiting for a hand to take.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Nov 7, 2016 13:38:52 GMT -5
The young man tilted his head, slightly confused, as he eyed Bernhard, trying to figure out what he was attempting to communicate nonverbally. The other individual still hadn't said anything and Jack was finding it a bit difficult to understand his meaning. A dangerous hunt was no time for charades, a game he'd never been very good at, anyways. He glanced briefly at Bernhard's wings, understanding dawning in his eyes as he realized the intent behind the proffered hand.
"No thanks," Jack replied, shaking his head. "I appreciate your offer to fly me up and give me a better view of the situation, but I could see things pretty well from up there. Besides, flight makes me kinda dizzy and uncomfortable. Tolerate it when I gotta, but I'm not the biggest fan."
Scratching his chin, the gears of his mind were almost visibly turning as the young mage attempted to come up with an attack plan. While Jack still wasn't entirely aware of what Bernhard could do, he knew a little. Anyways, once he'd come up with a plan, the other man could at the very least answer in the affirmative or negative by nodding or shaking his head, if he still couldn't speak.
"I suppose I could use my shrinking spell to reduce it to a tad under 75 feet, making the beast much more manageable. After that... The trickiest problem might be forcing it to surface, preferably before a recasting of the shrink spell becomes necessary. We'd need to piss it off enough to incite a new attack, without showing our hand so much that it runs off frightened. Maybe I could build blocks of ice around parts of it?"
Post by Nyghtingale on Nov 8, 2016 19:26:27 GMT -5
Nyght had broken off her attack from the demonic creature that had killed everybody and made them in to zombies. She did not care about what it was, but with it silenced it would be severely weakened and having used so much of it's energy attempting to stop them it was probably feeling about as tired as she was though she had no way of telling for sure. So she leaned forward and gripped Aurora's sides and directed her with her hands, pressing her body tight against the akhult's back to minimize her presence to the wind so she did not expend as much energy having to fight against it. Directing Aurora, she swung the akhult away from everybody and back towards the window she had broken out earlier. Landing inside the ship, Nyght crinkled her nose in disgust. It smelled fetid and disgusting inside the ship with the death of everybody and the lingering of their reanimated corpses.
Sliding down from the back of Aurora, she drew her sword and began to move along inside the ship. She was not headed upwards, but in fact headed deeper inside the ship. Any lingering zombies where cut down with her sword, or Aurora crushed with a pounce of her powerful paws. It was not that Nyght was hunting for the zombies, it was just the stray random ones she encountered along the way that where dealt with. The few she encountered seemed to be attempting to remove anything and everything they could to throw off the ship. A obvious attempt to remove weight to slow the sinking of the ship, though a lot of help that would do whatever creature was up top. Nyght has something up her sleeve though. Moving down in to the ship, she found where the water level was at. It bottom was to flooded to do what she wanted, so she made her way back up to the level just before that and nodded to herself. It was mostly work stuff, like kitchens and utility stuff where cruise members stayed away from and cruise line employers worked. She supposed it would do alright.
She had an idea of what to do based upon what she had done with a Stymphalian bird in the past. After that last disastrous incident (despite the fact of it ending well with some slightly bad repercussions) she had read up upon the actions and reactions of acid with metal. Who, besides some brainiac chemist, would have known that the reaction of hydrochloric acid with metal resulted in hydrogen and oxygen gas? She certainly had not, but she did recall that hydrogen and oxygen gas where extremely flammable and dangerous when not chemically combined, which in the real world happened naturally to keep them from being dangerous. However if one pressurized the gases by say, an increasing volume trapped in a confined area that was slowly filling, the gases would not combine and stay separated. She grinned to herself. It was a fun bit of information that she was going to try out now.
Although Aurora was to large to go in to every room, Nyght did not need her to. Simply opening doors, Nyght had Aurora use her ability to spray acid in to many of the rooms, then closing the doors. The acid would react with the metal of the floors and any other objects it happened to touch, and eventually eat through the floor to fall in to the slowly rising waters before. There it would be diluted enough it would not breach the integrity of the remaining ship, but would continue to react with metals producing more and more hydrogen and oxygen. So, that meant the entire second level was going to be eventually filled with diatomic hydrogen and oxygen compressed to keep each other separate. She walked up the stairs and began to move from bulkhead to bulkhead, sealing off the levels below this one. This would trap the gases, creating the pressure needed, as well as preventing the ship from sinking. The gases being lighter then water would keep the ship afloat, albeit it was floating much deeper in the water then normally (adding to the drag that the Jormungandr was having to pull, tiring it faster).
Through all of this, Nyght cast none of her own magicks. She was saving it all for later, for whatever might come. For starters they would need something to detonate the massive bomb she had just created from the ship they where all standing up. Lightning would do the trick, but so would fire of some kind of a spark. It would just need to be set off far away from the source because it was going to a rather large blast with plenty of pieces flying lots of different directions. Having finished staging her little...whatever you wanted to call it, Nyght made her way back up through the ship. She continued to slay whatever unfortunate undead happened to cross her path but did it with out purposefully hunting them still. She finally found a door leading back out upon the top deck and opened it and stepped out.
She took several deep breaths, trying to purge the foul, fetid air from below decks from her lungs and replace it with the salty tang of the sea air around them. It meet with limited success, though the sprightly breeze coming from the ship apparently moving forwards helped some what with that. She looked around, and noticed Jack had approached the thing that had been causing all the havoc. Her nose crinkled with disgust. Whatever, or whoever, it was was disgusting. It was foul, misshapen and clearly not natural in any shape or form. It obviously also cared little to nothing about anybody but itself, and what ever cause it was attempting to accomplish. Well, she hoped she inconvenienced it immensely, was all. She walked towards the two, holding her sword in her hand and Aurora padding along beside her. She came up from behind Jack, straining her ear to hear what he was saying above the wind and sound of the ocean moving past them. He was saying something about ice, surface, and what was that other part? Something about piss exciting? Well..whatever he liked was up to him and him alone.
"We could pull a Stymphalian Bird." She called out behind him. She still held her sword ready, ready to attack or defend herself form the Abomination that Jack was talking to. She did not trust it, and never would. Hopefully, they could kill it somehow along with the monster. The proverbial slaying of two beasts with one stone.
Knowing your own darkness is the best method of dealing with the darkness of other people. -Carl Jung
Bernhard was once a Hito'Radeau, but has been mutated into something else entirely. A scorched black beak covers his nose and mouth, his throat fused around a gas filter, and his eyes pressed against shattered glass lenses and wire mesh.
The rest of his hunched figure is covered by a pair of large black wings, similar to those of a crow's, and a shredded leather long coat. What patches of skin that can be seen through worn patches of clothing are sickly and rotted.
His arms and leather gloved hands are mostly normal, with the exception of a glass syringe embedded in his right forearm at an odd angle, but his right leg is only human to the knee. From there down is a taloned black appendage, similarly resembling that of a Crow's.
Post by Bernhard Reiniger on Nov 9, 2016 0:28:51 GMT -5
A shake of his head was the only way Bernhard was able to express that flight wasn't his intention, but a quiet hiss, sigh, and retracting of the hand moments later marked the end of his offer. The murderer of his subjects weighed heavily on his mind, and he was beginning to wonder why he had ever stopped himself from killing the troublesome pests in the first place. Each one was as important as the last in such a confined area and with such a limited supply of flesh. The fact that he couldn't simply feed them more of his diminishing reserve of energy to maintain their undeath even after taking damage was just icing on the cake.
The culprit soon made herself apparent. Were Bernhard's shattered eyes able to narrow they would have. Here stood a woman, no, a thing that didn't understand what it meant to think, really think. Such impulsive behavior would be her downfall. A swift reeducation was, perhaps, needed.
Without a sound the creature stood to his full height, the talons on his bird leg digging deep into the groaning metal that he stood on. And then he was gone, a few feathers drifting to the ground, and a bloodied severed finger, the only evidence that he had once stood there at all.
In less time than it took to blink an eye he stood behind the offending woman. One of his hands wrapped gently around her neck while the jagged bone protruding from his hand cut deep into her flesh. Residual bone fragments and marrow embedded themselves into her skin as his blood pumped into her veins, the entire process taking no more than a second. He withdrew his hands, taking enough energy to make the woman unsteady on her feet for a while yet. The wound left by his lack of a finger sizzled and hissed for a few moments afterwards, but would rapidly close up and heal while his blood worked the magic contained within it.
The extra energy that he pulled was quite useful to Bernhard, who was soon joined by one of his remaining undead. It was a young woman, no older than twenty five perhaps, though it was difficult to tell after sickness ravaged her body. He stepped back and gingerly placed a hand between her shoulderblades, lowering his gaze to the floor.
Quiet wheezing and whistling came from the zombie's mouth for a few moments, before it inhaled sharply and began to 'speak'.
"Ş̛̀u͢͝͝c̕h̛ ̸̶̀a͘͡ ̕m҉̴̕é҉͘d̶d͡l̵es̕o͟ǫ̕o͢o͢o͜͞ḿ̛e̸ c͡r͞ȩ͡a̶̴t̕ų̸̢úr̴e̡e͠͡ ̕͢y̢҉ò͝u̵ a̧-͢͟a̶͞a̕a͏̢rę̴́.͏ ̢Ĺe̵ar̶͝n̵ ̸f̷r̶̛o͏͘͜o͟u͢h͠҉́m̷ ̀҉̡t̕͞h̵͜҉i͏̸sss̷̡͠ ҉͞a͘nd͟g̡r̵͘ow,̴̧ ̡͘ò̴͟r̀ ̵-́ ̶̶͝y͘o͝ú̵͘ ̕͏͘w͏̷íl̷̀l͢l̶̶ll̶͡ ͜͠d̵͢į̴e̵.͡" It wheezed and sputtered, then began to strip. Despite being a corpse, it was in remarkable condition, save for the horrid rash that still covered it nearly entirely.
Bernhard raised his head and squeezed the zombie's shoulder reassuringly, having finished what he needed to say. Nyght would discover the consequences of her actions soon enough without him explaining it. On a ship full of rot there was no way she wouldn't.
Given, of course, that he succeeded in anything. There was no guarantee that he would be able to pull away from her in time to avoid any lasting damages, nor was there any guarantee that he would even be able to properly 'inject' her with anything, though he would make sure that she was still cursed. If even the slightest droplet of his blood touched her it would be enough, the only thing that would change would be the appearance of the application site. An injection typically resulted in a tumor like growth, while skin contact caused large bruises.
Jack is an average, unassuming guy. He stands bashfully, avoiding eye contact as he looks around at everything except the person he's speaking with. A closer look. however, will reveal more.
Beneath this carefully neutral appearance, Jack's body is lean and efficient. He's slow to anger and behind his bashful demeanor is an assertive individual observing his environment with an almost predatory nature.
Post by Jacksoπ Flεtchεr on Nov 12, 2016 20:49:50 GMT -5
Bernhard shook his head, indicating that Jack had guessed wrong when assuming the extended hand was an offer of flight. Well, no matter. The young man had succeeded in getting the creature to retract its offer to touch hands, so he would have to be satisfied with that simple victory. Ten watched him closely, still awaiting some clue as to how it would respond to his half-baked proposal.
Though he felt it largely necessary, for various reasons, the mage still found himself slightly irritated every time he shackled himself and promised himself that he would only use a fraction of his abilities to defeat a certain foe. It was during times like these that Jack felt the urge to cut loose, but he knew that he wouldn’t. That would, after all, be breaking the rules. Granted, they were rules to a game only he was playing, but still. Rules were rules.
Without much warning, Bernhard rose to his full, intimidating height. Jack hadn’t even bothered to notice he was hunched over but he was made somewhat uneasy by the sudden movement. A familiar voice called out from behind him and, as he began to turn and greet his friend, Bernhard disappeared! Confused but more curious than anything else, Jack continued to turn and saw that the creature had reappeared behind Nyght!
A number of thoughts flashed through the young man's head as he sprang lazily into action, full speed ahead. Well, figuratively speaking. One was that Bernhard could teleport, and perhaps had even mastered the skill better than he had, and the other was that he was attacking his friend. The young mage spat out the spell for shrinking repeatedly with such swiftness that it left his throat aching somewhat from the strain.
Once the spell took hold, the remaining clothing and any weapons the closest of Bernhard's zombies carried would begin to shrink, becoming so tight that it would constrict their movements and vision, but not enough so that they would tear. He didn't bother with Bernhard since his 'clothing' apparently seemed to be a biological part of him.Someone knowledgeable about vampyric nature might be filled with questions about his vulnerability to the sun, but Jack himself had no knowledge as to the species Bernhard belonged to and had few such questions.
Truthfully, he didn't want anyone to be hurt if they didn't have to be. Jack would prefer they all ally with each other to take down the Jormy. But he also couldn't just let the assault on his friend go unanswered. "We shouldn't be fighting each other! We should be fighting that monster beneath the waves!"
A thin sheet of ice began to spread out around from Jack and a heavy fog started to rise from it, halting at roughly the height of his ankles. With Nyght between him and her attacker, he didn't want to risk doing much more than he already had. So instead he kept at the ready, confident in his speed, danger sense, and all those other abilities he'd hidden away, trusting in his powerful ally to punish the chucklehead who thought there was a flyswatter big enough in this hemisphere to swat her of all people.