#As for ZEX - I mean he made it this far :( Not one to give up easily that's for certain ♥ Tenacious

[sysig]

Last man standing (Patreon)

[berrodarmstrong]

Bloodblade’s End.

The time had finally come. After months of whittling Gunnar's empire down to him alone, those who opposed him finally learned of the old man's location -- deep beneath the Lochs of Ala Mhigo. Deeper than even the ruins of Skalla. In a cavern below the sunken ravine he had amassed his considerable strength, likely waiting to be confronted.

The call went out and forces assembled -- first at Porta Praetoria in the Lochs. There Berrod explained to those present the...interesting means of entry to the cavern far below -- to climb the stairs of the Divine Audience...and leap from the top to the ground below. It sounded a bit fishy, but having tested it twice, Berrod was...rather sure.  As Berrod, Cerina, Evening, Milo and Tarot waited for stragglers to arrive, a bright beam of levin shot upward from Loch Seld and travelled rapidly southwest.

After a few linkpearl calls made in an  attempt to track the anomaly, Berrod received the information he needed -- whatever that beam was, it ended up near the Sunken Temple of Qarn. Another call for assistance went out, and so Hammersmith, Shizu and Ominious went to investigate.

That left the group at the Lochs ready to delve down. Autgar joined them and together they set off to the Divine Audience to make that jarring jump. One by one they flung themselves off of the edge and plummeted down to the salty ground below...only to end up flopping harmlessly onto the floor of the deep crystal-lit cavern below.

The dim expanse welcomed five of the six who had taken the jump. Berrod was nowhere to be seen -- and to make matters worse, Gunnar himself stood before them, welcoming them as an old man would welcome grandchildren. He made one last offer of reconciliation -- one that was promptly refused by all. With overportrayed regret, the elderly Highlander prepared to enter combat -- just in time for Osric to drop in and join the fray.

Gunnar opened with mudras that saw him split into two, each of which stood poised to take on half of the team. The group was packed with strong fighters, however, and made a mostly successful initial assault. Tarot decided to scout around the cavern, looking for anything of note -- and any sign of Berrod to boot.

Evening, Autgar and Cerina bisected their target, while Milo took an arm and shoulder off of his. Osric stood back to prepare his own assault. From the damaged bodies sprang blood red crystal which immediately set to work on the man's regeneration. The group would not have it.

Tarot in the meantime had come upon a well in the ground that was filled with what very much looked and smelled like blood. Without missing a beat, he poured a paralyzing potion into it and set it on fire. It began to bubble and roil rather violently. Back at the main group, the fighters did what they could to destroy as much of that red crystal as possible, as well as assault the mostly intact double. Osric had finally readied his own move, and summoned arcane geometry that was brought to bear against the old man.

The effect of it was profound -- the majority of Gunnar's aether was rippped from him and contained separately in a head-sized, floating black sphere. Aether had also been pulled from the well of blood; Milo observed that it was all composed of the souls of the people -- mostly children -- Gunnar had killed. Regardless, a great deal of it had been separated from the old man, who emerged and fell to the floor in a state of genuine shock.

While Osric moved to try and keep that aether sealed and Tarot continued his search for Berrod, Milo set to work on an attempt to destroy the blood well -- an effort that saw the emergence of the golem Bobo. His focus on destruction did not change, and so he attempted to shear it away with potent flame.

The other members of the group were perhaps just as shocked as Gunnar, and hesitated...mostly. Autgar did not, and attempted to kick the man down. It prompted a violent response; Gunnar stabbed him through the foot and performed a hasty summon.

Of all the things to have brought to his side he summoned Ulfarr, who he expected to attack the rest of the group in a rage. Ulfarr immediately turned on him and erected an earthen barrier between the pair and the rest of the group to cause Gunnar excruciating pain through their connection -- as well as attempting to drain what aether he had left. His actions alarmed the rest, who began to assault the earthen barricade in order to gain access to them both.

Their combined efforts provided an opening, through which Autgar managed a fatal blow -- a blow that was made possible through Ulfarr's incapacitation and aether drain of the older man. It left Ulfarr in a rather awkward position, and assailed with questions from the others.

It was in that moment that Ronsen entered the cavern with a terribly injured and unconscious Berrod in tow. He beseeched Tarot to tend to him, then approached Osric and the ball of aether with a request to have it destroyed. Osric had begun to give way, but Tarot seemed to have gleaned that Berrod's condition was suspicious. Blunt wounds...tears on his face, and a pleading mumble. He turned and yelled for the group to -stop- Ronsen, while himself moving to temporarily blind the man. It gave Evening, Autgar and Osric the chance to plant themselves between Ronsen and the ball of Gunnar's aether.

It was then that the elder monk showed his true colours. He tried to destroy it by firing a punch through Osric, but failed to do so completely, only nicking a bit of it off. Milo tried to destroy it himself, but was intercepted as the elder launched an extremely -rapid- attack on almost all members of the group present. Only Milo and Tarot were spared -- Osric and Cerina seemed to take the worst hits. The speed of his manoeuvre allowed Ronsen to take what was left of the aether and crush it -- but by then it was too late. The damage he had done to it before had ruined its integrity. Gunnar's aether was no more -- but the group had an entirely new enemy to face.

Ronsen moved toward the pit where the blood well had been -- evidently the exit from the cavern. Evening, Cerina and Milo moved to intercept, while Osric beseeched Cerina to take his knife and strike Ronsen with it. Evening managed to impale the older monk, while Milo attempted to blast him with dark magics. To his surprise, Ronsen blocked with dark magic of his own - though Cerina's axe saw a quick fall to that defense. Impaled, blasted and sheared, the man still -lived-. It prompted Milo to try to seal him -- to which he responded by bringing the cavern down. What queries Milo had remained unanswered, as a tearing removal of Evening's sword robbed Ronsen of his ability to speak.

Oda arrived in the cavern and began to urge everyone -out-. Tarot did not hesitate, leading most of the group into the pit, where they fell down, down, down...only to emerge in the waters on the surface of the Lochs. Ulfarr and Autgar remained in the cavern as it began to flood and had a final altercation. In the end, Autgar came up to join the rest. Ulfarr had escaped through other means, it seemed. Exhausted and wounded, the group recovered on the salty earth below the Divine Audience -- and tried to grant reassurances to Berrod, who seemed to have been left...rather broken by whatever he had experienced in Ronsen's company.

Either way, Gunnar Bloodblade was gone, and his entire empire toppled. What became of Ronsen no one could say -- but if he emerged again, there would be every effort made to put him down.

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