Posts: 1675
Dec 13 02 4:22 AM
The Immortal
Brigadier General
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Stavarus takes the bracelet. He looks down at it with some suspicion, but then puts it on his wrist. His outline shimmers for a while, and then he fades from view.
"Excellent."
Soul Reaver glances over at where he was, then makes his way down the corridor, Stavarus' footsteps still audible as he walks.
The journey through the nighmarish, shifting corridors seems to take forever. The corridor curves and twists... and whenever Soul Reaver glances back, he sees the corridor is different than before, sloping or curving in some other direction than when they passed that same spot moments ago. The knowledge is disturbing.
Eventually, their journey ends unexpectedly at a dead end. An archway with nothing but solid stone in the middle stands before them. A glimmering spiderweb is etched on the rock.
"What? How can-"
Before Soul Reaver finishes, the stone before him melts away into nothingess... and with a rumble, the entire archway moves forward, passing behind Soul Reaver and his companions, leaving them standing near the middle of a massive round chamber.
The room is so vast that the walls are only barely visible in the distance, and ceiling is hidden in shadow. Twisting, curving columns rise into the heights at seemingly random intervals.
And here, a creature that could only be the Warp Lord awaits.
Near one of the distant walls is a towering throne of curving horns and steel chains. Many of the chains rise far into the heights of the chamber, disappearing from sight entirely. The throne and its occupant seem to be intertwined almost as one, making it impossible to tell where one ends and the other begins.
The Warp Lord himself is huge in size... he must be four times the height of any of the companions with ease. The throne makes it hard to see what he would look like if he stood up, but his appearance is gruesome. Two glowing red slits glare at the companions, revealing the surface of a cold and cunning intellect that stretches beyond time itself. The creature's face is human and inhuman simulataneously, a parody of the human form, twisted and cruel.
The Warp Lord's ashen skin and heavily muscled body is constantly changing, with strange images, sigils, and faces crawling across it seemingly randomly. Even now, he sprouts vicious curving spines on one shoulder as he gives the companions a lopsided, fanged grin.
Soul Reaver however has no doubt that this foe's form is within his control... how he appears now is merely how he wishes to be seen.
Not bothering to rise from his languishing position on the throne, the Warp Lord points a taloned finger at the companions. His voice booms out over the chamber. Soul Reaver's head feels like it is about to explode as the creature speaks.
"The interlopers, I see... and you come to my own sanctuary! Your stupidity and arrogance are truly unparalleled."
Soul Reaver hopes fervently that the Warp Lord has not noticed Stavarus' presence yet. He tries his best to stand in front of where he believes his invisible companion to be.
"I also see you've brought the upstart Daemon Lord with you! How does YOUR prison feel, child of Inferno?!"
Soul Reaver feels amazement at the words, and a strange anger seems to grow in him... he realises the anger is radiating from the sword on his back. Blooddrinker's hollow voice rings out in anger.
"Beware, Kha'Jazak Karaoul... or would you prefer to be called 'Blackrend'? We destroyed you once, and we can do so again!"
Soul Reaver covers his ears as the Warp Lord - Blackrend - burst into echoing laughter. Over the din, he mentally orders Blooddrinker to explain.
What is this creature? What do you know!? What have you been hiding from us?!
Blooddrinker speaks out loud so all can hear.
"Blackrend was once one of the great Daemon Lords of Inferno - he was a contemporary of mine, and sat at the Infernal Council. But the fool thought he could challenge the supremacy of Inferno's hierarchy, and began to plot our overthrow."
Blooddrinker sounds smug.
"He actually thought he could best us. So we set a trap for him - at some cost to us, we arranged for one of our agents to open a portal into an insignificant other plane - a Warp Gate large enough for Blackrend to lead an invasion. Undoubtably, he would have intended to use his newly aquired world as a staging ground against us.
However, upon his entering the Warp, we collapsed both the Warp Gates leading in and leading out, trapping him. The short-sighted fool..."
The Warp Lord laughs again.
"Oh, how much you all underestimated me. The pathetic Council actually thought that my mind would be driven insane and destroyed by being trapped in the Warp... that the Warp Storms would eventually shred my essence apart."
The Warp Lord's eyes glitter as he narrows them in anger.
"But I am not some Lesser Daemon to be ripped to shreds.
I endured endless centuries of torment within the Warp - formless, trapped, destruction constantly eating away at the fringes of my being, threatening to rend me asunder.
Yet I resisted. I resisted, and I grew stronger. Slowly, the Warp became a part of me... I learned to let it flow into me, through me... to become one with it. The Warp can also be enslaved and subjugated... something that the Infernal Council never dared to believe.
Poor, imprisoned Blooddrinker... do not foolishly believe that because you and the rest of the Council once defeated me with your treachery that you would ever be able to do so now. I have grown to be something far greater than I ever was. You have no idea of what it is you face."
Blooddrinker grows almost eerily silent at this. Soul Reaver decides it is time to make a move.
Very well, everyone... we must divert his attention while Stavarus prepares to attack. Do not give him a chance to stop Stavarus from using the Staff!
Soul Reaver draws Blooddrinker. The power he lost from using the Staff has returned, and already the souls within him are starting to swirl into action. He points the sword in challenge at the Warp Lord.
"Warp Lord, are you not forgetting something? You underestimate your foes as well!
For honour! Charge!"
Soul Reaver runs at the Warp Lord, lightning gathering around his right hand as he runs. The Warp Lord does not move, his expression only showing a flicker of annoyance.
Meanwhile, Stavarus, barely able to contain the burning feeling of imminent revenge that is flowing through him, reaches into Soul Reaver's Infinity Pouch. His hands closing over the cold surface of the Staff of Ashara, and Stavarus quietly breathes the word that will break the seal upon it...
(ooc: Alrighty, attack away, but DON'T say how the Warp Lord is affected by your attacks. No god-modding the Warp Lord in this fight!)
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