locked and loaded -- raid boss 3: the Messenger

[Verdigris]

[font=trebuchet ms]The first to answer his call was not Warringkingdoms, but another Elysite. From his occasional observations of Rin, all the Messenger had gleaned was that this particular creature bothered her, intentionally or not. He couldn't blame her, considering the insolent tone in the Doberman's voice. He'd put up with enough trash talk tonight without this fool throwing around mocking terms of endearment. Narrowing his eyes, he replied, "I'm the Messenger. And I have to know- has anyone else been keen on you calling them 'dear' or 'sweetheart'?"

As Alastor questioned his plan in the event that Warringkingdoms didn't appear, his beak cracked the closest thing it could to a smirk. Before he could calmly inform him that they would all be destroyed, however, someone else appeared- a tabby cat, fresh out of apprenticeship. Larkspur... something or other. He'd just call him Lark, it was easier that way anyway.

Lark, despite his youth, immediately came to the wise conclusion. "See, you get it," the Messenger remarked, with a light wink at the kid. "You've got a good head on your shoulders, Lark." Making a mental note not to send any crows at him- at least he had some sense- the Messenger let his expression return to its neutral state and turned to the next creature in line.

While he'd seen some of this bat-creature in his observations, that didn't make it any less strange to behold up close- or to hear, as its telepathic communication buzzed shrilly in his mind. He... he hadn't said please? He would have found its daftness amusing in any other circumstance, but he didn't have time for this. As it flung one of his crows to the ground, he commanded two of the remaining crows to attack- the two of them diving towards it with a unified caw.

Watching Aurum in the meantime, listening to his response to the generous offer to leave in peace, the Messenger narrowed his eyes. "Picking on my friends," was that all this was to him? He supposed he shouldn't have expected understanding from a creature not involved in the earlier messes. Still, he didn't have the patience to let Aurum go now. The rest of Tanglewood could leave if they wished, but this one... "You've made your choice, Eyepatch," he said lowly, reaching out across his telepathic bond to two more crows- then willing the crows to swoop down at him from the side of his missing eye.

That left... roughly fourteen crows. The rest of you, he ordered, glancing back and drawing an imaginary line between the crows with a wave of his right wing, the left patrol, surround the others. Except for Lark, attack any other Elysite you see until I give you the command to stop.

A loud burst of light and sound erupted over the sea before them, a bright glow showering from the sky with each pop- causing the remaining crows to raise their cries in confusion. Following the trajectory of each firework with his eyes, he then cast his gaze to the apparent source, farther down the docks. That had to be Rin, drawing a diversion. The rest of you, he said, his telepathic voice cutting through the sound, find where the fireworks are shooting off from and kill her properly this time.

Not waiting to see if they followed his orders, the Messenger spiraled and dove towards Alastor with his talons outstretched, willing the wind to kick up around him in an effort to send Alastor flying- as well as, hopefully, anyone else nearby.

The Messenger
Health: 90%
Current form: pied crow with blue eyes
Powers: air elementals, teleportation, mental manipulation/communication
Currently attacking: [member=7692]Alastor[/member] and anyone near him (direct attack with wind elementals), [member=12578]﹝ CLONY ﹞[/member] [member=6881]aurum.[/member] (crows)

[Alastor]

The Messenger? What a name. Alastor couldn't help but think their title was invalid. After all, their presumed 'message' or intent for today's event wasn't clearly stated. Why did they 'need' Warringkingdoms? The leader was merely a feline with no power, besides her ranking. She was easily replaceable. There was no point in disturbing her reign without something in mind. If only Elysium knew what though. Perhaps the futile 'messenger' would get their point across finally and they'd hand her over. Truly, the irony was real. The jet-black canine couldn't help but snort in response.

As for the personal hit, purple eyes rolled. Boy, wasn't this crow a talker? All bark, no bite... Just like Alastor. "Yes, some have been keen on it," came his sarcastic reply. In truth, his terms of endearment often meant they were lesser to him. Vulnerable, cowardly, and anything that would make him the higher being in the situation. Within this situation, it was no different. The crow was an obstacle in his way. Their empty threats and pitiful army of birds would do nothing. Elysium, despite some of their pacifist ideals, would prevail. The group were the prideful defenders of the island, no doubt.

While he had no personal qualms with Larkspur's comments (as he believed in self-preservation first), Alastor found himself in a predicament. He was unwilling to give up Warringkingdoms in trade for... what? This small avian's word? The Messenger did not seem like a threat, nor did his goons. Their small stature and overused rhetoric left a bad taste in his mouth, but they meant significant harm. Hence, while he did agree partially with the Elysite, he kept his trap shut. Their was no point in dealing in a one-sided trade.

Without a moment to react, the sheen of ivory talons flashed within his vision. Sudden forces lifted him from the floor, throwing him into the air. The canine's stature loosened. Paws flailed wildly as he traveled upwards. In one moment, he was up. The next, he was sent swiftly down into the floor. Echos of cracking bones filled the air as Alastor's ribs collided with the ground. A groan left the doberman pinscher. 'Well, that's inconvenient,' he thought in the moment. His superiority complex was not helping.

Alastor rolled back onto his paws nevertheless. His stance wavered considerably and pain shot throughout his chest, but he kept himself afloat. Violet hues zeroed in on the God. His narrow gaze attempted to lock with the crow's blue once, gathering his attention. Calmly, he spoke. "Stop," he demanded. The canine's command was concise and clear. By getting straight to the point, it was inevitable that his orders would be met. His manipulative powers would take hold of The Messenger easily, just as he has with the rest. Their was no doubt in his mind.

Summary of Alastor's powers for reference.:

— Mental Manipulation and Communication: Alastor uses mental manipulation and communication to take control of others around him through speech. That is why he is chooses to remain silent and speak indirectly, as he will control them otherwise. This can backfire though. They will take what he says in a literal sense. Sarcastically saying 'go jump off a cliff' will cause his victim to do such unless he commands them against it, but since his moralities are skewed, there is a very small chance he will feel remorse.

Please note that characters/roleplayers will be asked for permission to be controlled beforehand, even for the smallest actions. This will be noted accordingly at the end/beginning of posts. [This post has been discussed with Verdi.]

[General note: Manipulative terms, as underlined, should be taken literally. Their specifics should be listed for success, along with previous permission from the roleplayers (given by Andy). Reactions may very per character though. For example, saying ‘Your name. Give it to me.’, in this context may result in Kliment in deeming Alastor as his own name momentarily OR telling Alastor his own name. Another example would be the ‘Go fuck yourself.’ command which would result in its literal meaning. This is why Alastor does not say ‘give it to me’, but instead says ‘tell me it.’ After years of practice, he knows the ins and outs of his power, along with its loopholes.]

[wormwood.]

Eyepatch. The crude nickname alone was enough to make Aurum scowl, but it was far from the first sin that the Messenger had committed in coming here. The God might've thought that "picking on his friends" was the understatement of the year, but it really wasn't for the angel, one who would go to the very depths of hell for those that he cared about. He and Rin may not have been as close as he and some others were, but that didn't mean he was about to let any harm come to her. The two of them had fought alongside each other in the past, and she had expressed genuine concern for the wellbeing of Tanglewood and everywhere else. She was a good person, and she didn't deserve to be handed over to some overblown tyrant who felt as though he deserved it. Ears pinning back in anger, the lion could already feel flames faintly licking at the corners of his maw, burning white hot and vicious in response to his anger. He had become better at controlling his elementals over time, but he wasn't about to push them down this time, simply roaring at the Messenger in response, "Yeah, you're damn right I've made my choice!" He hadn't been one to back down when the forces of his own heaven were bearing down upon him, and he wouldn't back down now, no matter what the overblown rattish avian had to say for himself.

The crows diving towards him were no surprise, despite his lack of sight on that side. Even if he couldn't see them, he could still hear them. He could hear the distinct swoop and rush of air as the birds plummeted towards him, their claws outstretched. He wrenched his large body aside, dodging one of their attacks. Although he was forced to wince when he felt claws drag harshly across his flank. It was a glancing blow, but damn did it still hurt like a bitch. Snarling angrily, the lion thrust out one of his wings, attempting to knock one of the crows out of the sky. Whether he was successful or not, he would then attempt to clamp down his flaming fangs on the other crow, crunching down with the full force of his jaws if he was successful. He wasn't about to let himself be bullied by a couple of little birds. He made a mental note that once he dealt with their attack, he would try to figure out where that damn Messenger was and focus on him to stop this madness. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too difficult, considering the god had taken the form of a pied crow amongst all of the other crows. He could only really hope that his ability to see auras would work in his favor, and he'd be able to locate him quickly.

Attacking: Crows
Health: 95%
Power stores: 90%

[fulzanin]

CLONY
[ age mover of the oblivions ]

Clony's skill of combat mostly came from using machines or sheer physics to power through obstacles. Usually it could never directly fight against something, having to rely on the land and other objects to use to fight against opponents. Mechanical opponents, dangerous opponents. Opponents far more capable than Clony was. It wasn't spoken to from the leading crow, leading Clony to a solid thought of 'coward'. If it could just narrow out who it needed to take out. What a sorry sort of hivemind this was! Having a singular leader was the worst way to go.

The thoughts of trying to single out which one of these crows happened to be the one that was the leader sadly had to go on the back burner. There were more important duties to attend to. Hearing two caws at the exact same time was a little worrying. Clony, being a bat, had quite the massive ears. Hearing such a thing and determining the location was easy. The species was, after all, one of the most common uses of echolocation in any animal. Its head swung from one side and then to the other. An idea swiftly forged in its head. "I'm about to beat a motherfucker with a motherfucker!" Clony squealed, absolutely delighted to finally get to use such a phrase.. A powerful flap and an extension of its wings allowed it to easily gather up a little bit of momentum. Then, it used such momentum to launch itself towards one of the diving crows, trying to grapple its talons with its own.

Getting pecked at hurt quite a lot, and its pearly eyes squinted from the pain. Clony's experiences with pain in the past normally had been brief, easy to brush off. It either died or the pain stopped hurting, effectively going away. Getting pecked and feeling fur and fuzz getting pulled was absolutely not in a category of pain that Clony was used to. Such a thing would have to be forgotten though - not that pain actually could be forgotten - as Clony then spun around in the air. It used its larger, comedically extended wingspan to its advantage, allowing it to yank the first crow around. Since the other crow was diving, Clony figured it would be pretty easy to use the first crow it'd grabbed to slam into the second. Then, Clony quickly fluttered away, eyeing the two opponents to see if they'd come flying back for more.

TAGS 3/17/20:

[align=center][div style="width: 60%; height: auto; font-family: verdana; font-size: 8pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 13px; border-bottom: 5px COLOR solid; padding-bottom: 5px; color: COLOR;"]GENERAL.
✧ Clony | Cloni
✧ physically easy, mentally hard
✧ nonbinary | it/its/they/their
✧ elysium | elysite

APPEARANCE.
✧ melanistic giant golden-crowned flying fox (ref.) | health: 100% | current body
— Clony is a giant golden-crowned flying fox with a melanistic pelt. It has grey rings around its eyes, and large floppy ears. Clony's webbed wings are mutated to be feathered, with fingers and long thumbs hidden. Clony has excessive fur covering most of its body, only ending just above the knees. Clony has glowing white eyes, where its pupils blend into the rest of their pearl like appearance.
— blood is white
— no accessories
— no current injuries

PERSONALITY.
✧ curious, ambivalent
✧ consistent, cautious
✧ unrelenting loathing for certain items and colors, hostile

RELATIONSHIPS.
✧ no parents | created
✧ no family name
✧ aromantic asexual | single/not looking

INTERACTIONS.
✧ physically easy | mentally hard| mental communication, elasticity
✧ will start and end fights, easy provoke | will kill
✧ allowed to powerplay peaceful actions | attack in bolded #879191 | mention [member=12578]﹝ CLONY ﹞[/member]

MISC.
✧ based off the Clones from Frogmind's Badland
✧ Clones in Badland are time, size, and form altering creatures created by an evil called the Red Eye Association. The Red Eyes realize that the Clones are dangerous and discard them in the trash. The Clones traverse the Badlands to try and take down the Red Eye Association. They are halted briefly, but return years later after the Badlands have overgrown. This time the Red Eye Association is better prepared. The Clones are chased and killed down to their last member, who hides away in the last place where non-mechanized life is sustainable. BoB Clony arrives by the Nest Transport sending them off to another universe to regroup and learn new ways to deal with the evils of the Red Eyes.