Dolor Aeternum

The darkness that surged from within Karuna was far more enticing than any flesh the woman could expose or any pain she could inflict upon his form. That darkness held power he would register within his labyrinthine mind should he ever need to use it for his own gain. It was a pity that it was housed within such a fragile shell with a personality that slowly began to resemble his fae companion. Their bubbly responses and attempts to alleviate the tension that was rising would be an annoying confection he would have to stomach for more time than he desired. Agony had listened to Karuna’s justification for her lack of control which did little to ease his current fixation on the woman having already classified her as a liability. He would not be spurned by allowing this liability to govern any of his movements or those of his partner. “...So by the law of equivalent exchange, I will have to make you regret making me regret…deal?” The reciprocation of his threat joined with Karuna’s lighter vocal tones caused crimson eyes to narrow yet again. He had observed enough of the humanoid mannerisms to provide visual cues should he have deemed it necessary so his left hand shifted into a tight fist before he turned his head toward Lunara. His left hand opened up and his head turned eerily to look at the shadow creature behind them. The kindred darkness they shared quelled the rage within him briefly as they reached the large crevice that marked a path into some underground caves. Agony only caught brief moments of the conversation between Lunara and Karuna concerning spells or rewards but it was enough for him to discard it as more drivel that he would let Lunara indulge in. As the two females deliberated on what path to take next, Agony just continued moving, eventually passing both of them after Lunara spoke to Sasha and gave her suggestion of their next action. “We are heading down…now.” His stride lengthened slightly now, his pace much quicker for he wasn’t burdened by the physiological limitations of his companions. If Sasha had as strong a kindred connection to him as he believed, then Agony would expect the shadowy companion to keep herself behind him as well. Either way, the sentient trekked forward, clearly not willing to waste time executing the task they were assigned.

Yes it is Roen's turn. Jaistlyn was nice enough to ping him in an earlier post

@Praetorian What is your personal opinion regarding beings like Agony within Terrenus? I have always been curious of other people's take on him being here and not somewhere in Genesaris or Tellus Mater. Have entities like Agony existed in Terrenus before? Closest area I see where odd beings like him exist is in Yh'mi.

How timely. Just finished reading that section. I had the same mindset as Praetorian about the satellite cannon. The Triumvirate are small fries right now and extending help to an unnatural even to kill other unnaturals would be a waste of resources especially during all this civil war. I was going to wait until my post to see how Agony was going to react and see if he would call the bluff or not.

@Roen King and then jaistlyn. Then after them it will be your turn.

The remnants of recent battle motivated Agony to begin reconnoitering his surroundings, analyzing details methodically as heavy steps took him forward. Each metallic thud of his makeshift boots battered the ground without remorse while providing insight to how heavy Agony was at this time. The pungent smell of rotting flesh was immediately closed off once it was received by Obtenebra’s senses, negating his olfactory sensations almost immediately to eliminate that element of distraction. Agony preferred to optimize wherever he could now, unwilling to openly provide any advantage to those who would seek to harm him or Lunara due to a mistake he had made. He fully intended to see this debt repaid. Once Lunara spoke to him concerning consuming the biological matter around them, Agony slithered his gaze over the carcasses and husks of the fallen creatures nearby. What warranted their death? Why did any of these humanoids seek dominion over an area riddled with such creatures? The Order struggles to survive only to suffer losses due to whatever sense of purpose made them feel their path was the superior one. Agony doubted their efforts would see any substantial progress to whatever goals they had with a place clearly not built to be hospitable to them. This lack of hospitality once again manifested itself with the sound of spewing Raakes bursting from the carcass directly below Lunara. Agony might have spurred into action were it not for the paralyzing shriek that shot through his auditory senses initially. Obtenebra quickly closed itself off to the threat, now leaving him without hearing or smell and his back once again began to ripple in view of the shadow creature behind him. A flash of metal would be seen beneath now ready to emerge but it would soon find cover again as Agony looked at Karuna’s actions and how they endangered Lunara. Crimson eyes shone with vehemence and narrowed in disapproval. Having seen Lunara narrowly miss an attack only to also barely avoid being stuck within some spherical conjuration caused Agony to focus obsessively on Karuna’s spontaneous magic. Almost immediately he could sense she was a fledgling when it came to the control of her magic. As she looked at her hands in surprise, he had seen the spike of dark energy and had seen her inability to truly control it. He restored his hearing, Obtenebra opening up the cavity that was necessary for him to do so within his makeshift helm and listened to Lunara talk to Karuna while the woman began walking away as if she wanted to avoid her own power. “Come close to harming any one of us again and I will ensure you regret it….” Agony would keep his pace with Karuna though he would slowly close the distance and keep her within arm’s length. She was a possible deterrent to absolution. One he would eliminate for the sake of his companion should he need to.

Given what is going on within the thread I am going to rework the order so that it goes by the order established after Roen posted. So the new posting order is: Roen Pasion FirePenguin Dolor Grubbitsch Tyler King Jaistlyn Malice can be added last should he still want to creep around

Should have a post no later than tomorrow

Failure. This entire ordeal had suddenly become encapsulated by that singular word the moment they had arrived here. The organization had risked their lives and their freedom because he had involved them in an indulgence that had not been aligned with their purpose. For what? A vessel of sorrow, anguish, and agonizing depression that squandered her worth because of an internal decision to humor those that oppressed her and internalize the depth of her suffering. A woman whose cyclical return to weakness attracted monstrosities as much as it nurtured the weaklings under her rule. This sentient began to experience regret for what he had done for the first time, having wished they had left her in the squalor of her own feelings within that garden. Disgust crept into the depths of his black mass and it would likely only worsen lest he find redemption this night. A redemption he would have to scrape and claw for against two beings who had decided to deposit their affections within self-imposed weakness. He had attempted to eliminate this disparity and restore balance, consuming Gabriela’s suffering and extracting what he could out of her as reward. Ambition, the cruel mistress she was, seduced him into this debacle and he had pulled Rodan and Lunara with him into this spiraling madness. What fools they all were, just starting to lap droplets of power within Terrenus comfortably, nurturing the infancy of their alliance just to threaten its life in search of a reservoir managed by fickle hands. The Triumvirate was supposed to be a haven for those society deemed unnatural or hideous and for the beings whose proclivities did not appeal to the palates of the Terran or Genesarian government. The thought that Nines had been correct to wash herself of this folly forced Agony into a rage only temporarily stifled by the fact Roen directed his passionate stance toward him. As Roen exuded hostility toward him, Agony welcomed it gladly despite the ineffectiveness he realized his words had to pacify. The magnitude of passion the Crimson King presented set its sights on him only briefly until he realized the devil’s gaze bore through him and toward something in the distance. Agony did not have whatever special sight had allowed Roen to view Lunara but the sounds in the distance allowed the sentient to infer the origin of the distant chaos. The digit that suddenly pointed itself at Agony before Roen let loose a singular command that aimed to spur the sentient to comply. Agony could practically taste the hatred and bubbling savagery permeating through Obtenebra which combined itself with the gnashing presence of Malice. The sensations of shadows being manipulated around him by other forces and the creatures that aimed to use their dark comfort for their gain stacked themselves on as well. This sensory burden urged Obtenebra to accelerate what it had slowly been forming as soon as he had told Marigold to let Roen in. Obtenebra rippled viciously, the wings that had been forming finally reaching their intended structure. Sinew pulsated and throbbed as the wings extended to 8 feet on each side of him suddenly. Marigold, with his gangly legs, had already begun rounding the corner, seemingly avoiding the accusations thrust upon him and desperately rounding the corner as if he knew the confrontation of Roen and Agony held little importance when compared to what was occurring at the southern wall of the building. Once Marigold rounded the corner, Agony made use of newly formed wings and flapped forcefully. The displacement of air would be felt by Roen as he responded briefly. “As you wish…” Thrusting himself upward with immense force, fibrous tendrils would leave themselves near Roen, braided intricately and left there should Roen decide to use it to follow the sentient. Roen’s piercing gaze had been directed toward the southern wall so Agony assumed it had been fixated on the one he clearly obsessed over. Agony would not seek to prevent the man from what he yearned for lest he decide to manifest his hatred into a tangible threat to him or those he suddenly felt real responsibility for. Why had they not listened to him in Versilla then? Seconds would be all that would be needed to advance to where Marigold was and land directly in front of what had been Gabriela’s opportune moment to escape. Obtenebra collided with the ground beneath him with a grotesque thud, the fibrous tendrils increasing in tension and curling to allow easy descent should Roen have decided to use it to his advantage. A singular eye, yellow with jaundice, emerged from the depths of Obtenebra. The spherical shape of about a foot in diameter was held together by small tendrils that dug into the delicate texture of the eyes. What the eye witnessed caused the pupil present in the eye to increase in size from surprise. Shadows aimed to crush the woman he knew to be Lunara and the origin of their strength was none other than the victim of his ambition. The strength and power he had attempted to coax had decided to emerge to inflict pain upon a creature Agony had begun to respect…perhaps almost cherish if an abomination such as himself could do such a thing. He was not void of emotion like other ravenous monstrosities that saw it fit to detach themselves in their journey for power. Racked by the involvement of Malice, Roen, Rafael and now the strength presented by Gabriela he felt himself overwhelmed with a myriad of negative emotions. Regret, anger, and disdain swirled within the roiling mass before them all. Gabriela would feel resistance soon once Lunara’s bones were close to cracking, Agony attempting to hold the shadows away with a desperation that had been long since forgotten until he felt its bitter taste now. Whatever Lunara had done to ignite such strength within the Black Queen was far more effective than anything he had done or said hours before and she suffered for her success. Marigold’s reveal of his betrayal triggered a dormant misanthropy that might have motivated Agony to end the man’s existence were it not for the potent threat Gabriela’s predicament presented. As he had pleaded desperately to help Gabriela, Agony had wished to allow Obtenebra to inundate the delicate throat that spouted his justifications as if they mattered to choke his very life out of him but he exercised restraint nearly on par with the one Roen had graciously given moments ago to them all for the sake of the woman before him. The monsters that plagued her life likely attuned to a singular focus. Her and her child must survive. Agony eyed Lobo with disdain, knowing that the beast was aligned with Gabriela in some fashion but considering his proximity to Lunara something he would not allow for much longer. It was then that the agonizing pain negated Gabriela’s surging power and she asked the very being that she held intense hatred for help, reduced once again by circumstances out of her control. Obtenebra lunged out swiftly, creating a thin barrier between Lunara and everyone else in the vicinity in a protective gesture that he attempted to disguise as one directed toward Gabriela with his next words. “I will dispose of this threat while you receive the help you need from this…’doctor’” The barrier would block Lunara’s human form from the view of everyone present, Obtenebra’s black mass not lending itself to any special sight due to its very nature should someone attempt to see through him again. Agony sought Lunara’s mind telepathically to communicate. ‘Scream and then hide yourself’ Obtenebra would begin to ripple violently soon after while Agony waited for Marigold and whoever else was present to act on Gabriela’s behalf. The Black Queen and her child must survive should this meeting of monsters have any chance of preventing the village nearby or the Anima Imperium from being reduced to ash from their furious desires.

Since everyone is set on converging or arriving on the scene a posting order will need to be established to be fair and give us time to respond to stuff. I will be posting next to respond but @Grubbistch and @Tyler can begin work on theirs since they are not directly involved just yet. Tentative posting order once we resolve this round: Roen FirePenguin Grubbitsch Dolor King Pasion Malice(if applicable...stalker) Jaist Tyler If anyone else like Cutiefly or Mickey decide to post we will factor that in.

I am ok with that. With blood rain still affecting the Imperium?

@Grubbistch thank you for being so accomodating anyway. Still plenty of time for the Cloaked Figures to gain intel.

@Grubbitsch Please edit your post concerning the amnesia spell as well. @Malice please remove the soul sucking for now. @King might want to edit your post about feeling the blood rain and possibly reduce the wolf count imo

That clears it up a bit. Thanks @Roen. Just to confirm if I have this right. The spirits are just spirits and aren't a tangible threat yet but were meant to place people on edge. The storm is large but the general rain is just falling on Imperium grounds as well. The only 'tangible' thing right now is Helianstranos above.

@Roen I am confused about what Helianstranos is up to aside from wailing. Has anything been summoned or do we just hear screams of tortured souls? Also is the storm just localized to the building given that most magic in Terrenus is limited to affecting a 'room' per the loci change. I know there are so many people involved here and details are foggy on several fronts so I want to make sure because I am aiming for canonization here.