[Nexus] The Black Dragon's Den III

[VampireRot]

Ermine shrugs, not really too clear on it herself.

"Dat guy-

She gestures at Alex.

-told da six-eyed guy someting, den he attacked 'im."

She points at Nite, and then Elijah. And takes a swig of rum.

"Bartender, gemme some peanuts."

Popcorn not being invented where she comes from.

*munchmunchmunch*

[Moros66]

The moment the throwing knife hits his Bowie Knife, reaching out with the other hand to grab Nite by the upper arm with his left hand. He however misses as Nite steps back into optimum range for his sword.

Elijah grins at he too takes a step back, his features and body structure seem to change slightly as he moves. He grows about a foot and gains around 50 pounds of mass, becoming boarder and more heavy set. His facial features take on a more angular and lupine, his iris colour shifts towards an amber gold. His finger nails elongate and grow thinker into rudimentary claws and all his hair and stubble thickens up and becomes a more pure blond.

When he talks his voice has considerably more gravel in it then most normal humans and an ambient growl underpins it all.

"Easy? Don't mind if I make things more challenging then?"

As he moves, Nite should start to glimpse movement out of the corner of his eye in a different direction from the one Elijah is moving in. Likewise Elijah himself should be perceived as "flickering" as if an image that is experiencing jump cuts in film. Odd reflections and refractions of light start to occur off every metal surface and object near him. His shadow an outline start to smoke slightly as if made of densely packed fog.

Nite should find all this distracting and disorientating. Making it hard to focus on Elijah.

[Murkus]

"Twenty gold on the morpher." He gestures at Elijah, watching closely. Seeing how he's trying to be something of a good samaritan, Adir will probably step in if the fight is about to end someone's life.

[Gullara]

"Very well," Nite says. Elijah's illusions are much less effective then they would normally be. Nite's helmet allows him to see through most illusions. He feigns surprise and turns as if to fight a new threat behind him. In reality he is still prepared for Elijah's strike.

[VampireRot]

"Yer on. I have 'igh hopes fer da six-eyes."

Ermine grins. Though she'd really root for a fellow shapeshifter, betting is fun.

[Project_Mayhem]

((I love the den for this reason Lets gamble on random assault))

[Moros66]

Elijah does not go directly for Nite but instead starts to circle him, hoping to off balance him and enhance the illusionary effect with movement. He attempts to completed several rotations, all of which are punctuated with fake attacks and withdrawals. All at once he charges from Nites left side hoping to catch the swordsman between himself and the bar to limit his ability to back away.

As he charges he zigzags to increase the illusions and to make it less obvious as to which angle of attack he is actually going for. He runs low to the ground keeping his centre of balance stable and his bodyweight grounded.

His bowie knife is held in his right hand, blade down for reverse cutting strokes and stabs.

[Gullara]

Through it all Nite startles and jumps at the fake attacks, maintaining an illusion of his own.

When Elijah comes at him, Nite slashes just to the side of him. At the same time he attempts to fling a magic light in Elijah's eyes while also altering his swing to hit him.

[Murkus]

Adir sips his drink and watches, eyes bright.

He glances at Ermine, trying to make conversation. "How exactly are you drinking all that rum without your little liver shutting down?"

[Moros66]

Elijah attempts to barrel into Nite, hoping to pin him against the bar where his sword would be useless.

At the same moment he hopes to connect he is blinded by the light that Nite has thrown in his eyes. He grunts in pain but continues on with his charge.

[VampireRot]

Ermine glances at Adir, amusement showing in her beady little eyes.

"Practice. An' a good deal o' help from the shapeshiftin' magic. Confuses the toxins wit all da changin'."

The way the pirate nods shows she has no clue either.

[Gullara]

Nite drops his sword and draws another knife as Elijah bowls into him. He thrusts one knife towards Elijah's gut and controls Elijah's bowie knife with his other knife. As they hit the bar Nite conjurer magical binding from the ceiling which attempt to pull Elijah off him.

[Moros66]

Elijah being blind feels his Bowie knife get blocked by something. Likewise he feels the knife sink into his stomach, ruining a perfectly good T-Shirt.

As the two of them hit the bar Elijah uses the momentum to throw himself from Nite and over the bar. In doing so he likely brakes the locked the knife blades are held in but also makes the wound in his stomach worse as the blade slides down and out. As he tumbles behind the bar he falls out of sight for those on the patron side of the bar.

A smear of blood from the wound in his guts marks the bar top.

[Gullara]

Nite rises to his feat and quickly picks up his sword. He steps up on the bar, with some difficulty as his shoulder is badly bruised from hitting the bar. Assuming Elijah is still there, Nite slashes downward at him. His expression like steel.

[Moros66]

When Nite gets up on the bar and looks down he finds Elijah gone. He seems to have vanished into thin air. Also unusual is the fact there is no pool of blood from Elijah's gut wound. Just a few drops drying supernaturally quickly.

After a few seconds Nite should feel a considerable impact as a bar stool smashes into his lets in an attempt to knock him down. The barstool if it connects will likely shatter.

For those watching the fight they see a barstool behind Nite float up seemingly of its own accord and attempt to smash his lets out from under him.

(Anyone with supernaturally sharpened hearing will be able to make out the floor boards squeaking slightly as if someone is standing on them. Those with a supernaturally sharpened sense of smell can make out the slight smell of dried blood, leather and smoke from the same area. Even people with supernaturally heightened sight should not be able to make out a thing, though some truly extraordinary powers may allow them to make out a figures outline.)

[Project_Mayhem]

((what about auspex 4?))

[Moros66]

(Considering this is true fully mobile invisibility and not a mind altering affect like obfuscate. I would say Auspex 4 means you can see the depression of weight on the floorboards and carpet on the floor. It unnoticeable to normal people though as it a couple of micrometers worth of depression. Of course Auspex 4 to your hearing or smell and you'll pick him up. As he smells of blood at the moment and you can likely hear his heart beat)

[Gullara]

Nite's legs are smashed and he falls behind the bar. He picks him up with difficulty and looks around for a target. Seeing none he throws out his hands and bolts of energy fly toward everybody with a pulse in the den. They don't harm anybody, just attempt to cling to the center of their chests and mark them. If one clings to Elijah a throwing knife will follow it.

[Moros66]

Elijah not expecting this odd magic attack gets struck in the chest by it. He is puzzled as glows and makes his location obvious to everyone around. The throwing knife takes him full in the chest. He uses the momentum to tumble backwards into a roll.

As he comes up from the roll he is visible again and pulls the knife out of his chest with his left hand, his right still holding his Bowie Knife. He continues his backwards course towards one of the empty shadowed booths of the bar.

[Project_Mayhem]

((So as to simplify things for pbp, I tend to assume that auspex does all the senses at once. Anyway, Alex doesn't attack unless Eli comes to it))

[Gullara]

He continues his backwards course towards one of the empty shadowed booths of the bar.

Which won't be empty or shadowed once he gets there because of the light.

Nite follows him, limping slightly with a grimace on his face. For good measure he aims a couple knives and magic missiles Elijah's way.

Assuming nothing interferes, Nite will slash heavily at Elijah's head. Elijah might notice that Nite is slightly off balance due to his wounds.

[VampireRot]

Ermine gets a blue thing on her chest!

The mustlid tries to hit the things with her paws, eyes wide and frightened despite the lack of harm coming to her.

"Gedditoff, gedditoff!"

[Moros66]

Elijah growls angrily as he sees through his peripheral vision that the shadows he was aiming for are gone. At the same instant he stops and starts moving forwards towards Nite again. This time he is bounding and diving more then zigzaging.

As he comes on two of the thrown knives hit him, one in the shoulder and one in the thigh. He winces at both but they only slow him down slightly. The first magic missile hits him square in the chest as he about four feet from Nite. It knocks him back several feet and lands him on his back. As a result the second soars over his form missing him.

Nite might notice as he sees the magic missile hit that the earlier wound from the knife he through has completely disappeared.

As Elijah lands he howls. The shadows under the three nearest tables to him flicker and morph. A second later out of each steps a large wolf made out of what looks like a blend between black smoke and living shadow.

Their eyes are slightly glowing with what appears to be moonlight with no pupil and their fangs while as black as the rest of them seem to glint in some otherworldly light. They stand at 3 feet at the shoulder and are about 5 and a half feet long from snout to tail.

The three shadow-wolves form up in front of Elijah protecting him. They growl at Nite for a second before all three bound at him to attack from three different angles. They seem to move with a fluid grace that nothing with true physical muscles could and are quicker than any mortal wolf could ever be.

[Gullara]

Nite stands ready, and as the wolves attack he springs into action. His moves are so fluid they seem to be a dance. His limp earlier is forgotten as he is using magic to reinforce his muscles. He spins, ducks, sidestep, dodges smoothly and fluidly. All the while his sword flashes as he cuts and parries. Every so often a knife or a burst of energy will fly from his fingertips. The edge of his sword glows brilliantly as he pores magic into it to make each cut more effective.

[Moros66]

The thrown knives miss just as often as they hit. Furthermore while those that hit seem to sink into the wolves flesh up to the hilt they seem to next to nothing when it comes to slowing the wolves down.

The bursts of energy do indeed seem to have more of an effect on the wolves throwing one back and stunning it for a second. Another strikes a glancing hit on another wolf and its fluid movements are interrupted for a second.

Nite's sword at first seems to have as little effect as the knives and he will notice that the cuts he inflicts will heal up very quickly afterwards. Once magical energy starts to run through the blade however they wounds it inflicts seem to be more lasting.

The wolf-spirits seem to ignore the pain from their wounds and have no regard for their own wellbeing. They work as a pack, attacking from multiple angles so that Nite has to keep moving and turning to defend. They attack as one when ever able, one acting as a distraction while the others aim for Nites legs to bring him down. Occasionally they aim for an arm to render him less dangerous by holding one of his weapons. Even more rarely they attempt to go for his throat and knock him down with their weight.

It should be obvious to Nite that they are becoming increasingly damaged by his attacks and look increasingly maimed. However they show no signs of injury or tiredness beyond this. Like real wolves they seem to be trying to tire him out and bring him down.

Elijah in the mean time is back up on his feet, he pulls out the two knives and the two wounds are gone in six seconds. He shakes his head once and runs full pelt falling into a slide as he disappears into a shadow underneath one of the bar's empty tables.

Half a second passes before Nite should feel a heavy body collide with him from behind trying to knock him to the ground. If he does indeed fall he should feel a strong arm pushing down on right shoulder to pin his arm under him. In addition he should see the reflection of the bowie knife's blade as it attempt to get under his chin and to his neck. If it does he will realise quickly that there is no killing stroke only the knife pushed up to his neck.

[Gullara]

Nite is able to hold out against the wolves. His helmet allows him to see behind him so he is never taken by surprise. Seeing that magic is more effective than steel he uses it more regularly.

When Elijah comes up behind him he notices and has enough time to spin around and ready a knife. Nite still gets knocked to the ground, but he is on his back and Elijah may find a knife in his arm. The bowie knife is still pressed against his neck.

Nite slides another knife from his sleeve but does not act. Instead he looks towards Alex.

((dead time, might be short or long I'll post asap))

[Project_Mayhem]

Alex appears to have vanished

Indeed, during the last few seconds of the fight, it faded into the background.

Where is it now I wonder?

[Moros66]

Elijah seemingly ignores the knife that punches through his upper arm.

He holds the Bowie Knife steady to Nite's throat, a look of outrage on his face. He utters a deep predatory growl before taking several deep calming breaths. The spirit-wolves form up around the two. Ready to pounce on Nite if Elijah is pushed off.

After a final deep breath he starts to speak in his gravelly, lupine voice:

"Why did you attack me? Did your master over there demand it of you? Are you that much of a slave to that muth luzuk?"

[Project_Mayhem]

((So slight retcon on my part after talking to Moros. Carry on))

Also deadtime for food and jive lessons. Boo yeah!

[Gullara]

((back))

"Yes it was an order. It was something that needed to be done." Nite says, seemingly not phased by the knife on his neck. "I didn't want to kill you if I didn't have to."