Multiple Settings Game Addicts and the Real World: Our Story Begins!

[Eccentric_Undead]

Skybreaker Nellancholy Phayne Absollover77 Spoiled Bread @argotNaut Karcen Vagabond Spectre Peckinou

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting

Guild Master Incubō

​

The ruined castle that the skilled called home was never anything to look at from the outside. Yes, it was obvious that at one point it was massive and extravagant, but what else was there? Ruined paint, bricks that were missing and ivy that grew all across the grounds. However, despite its disheveled appearance, it was home. Home to a bunch of people who didn't have a place in the real world. Home to people who just wanted a place where they could be themselves and not be judged. A place of freedom. This was the home that he had created. A home where he could be free as well. The freedom that this place offered was unmatched, but this Guild offered something more. It offered family. People who would have your back no matter what. A place that would never abandon you and people that would never betray you. Well, if they did they would be punished anyways.

Walking through the Guild Hall, Incubō looked from side to side. He loved watching The Guild members. Seeing how they expressed themselves and knowing that this place was a home for them that he created. It was a warm feeling that spread throughout his body as he looked upon these people that he considered true family. The way they played the mini games the game had downloaded. The way they would show off their skills and abilities or they're insanely cool new cosmetics. It was a simple feeling of family that they were all after, so it warmed his heart to know that they felt so comfortable here.

Of course, as soon as the guild members started to realize that he was walking down the hall, they quickly lined up and bowed to him as they passed. Quickly they followed suit behind him, knowing that it was time for the monthly Guild meeting. Members were coming in all across Terra Maxima, anxious to get started.

This meeting was called every month to go over future events, boss fights, dungeon crawls, economics and basically anything else that would need to be handled through the month. Most of the guilds preferred to only include their leading officers, Incubō refused to do it this way. He knew all too well how it felt to have somebody else control your life that didn't even care about you. The real world was a scary and evil place and he refused to do anything that would make a guild member feel as though they had no choice.

Incubō stepped to the door that led to the main Guild meeting Hall. A couple of guards open the doors to the massive Hall. It was built more like a massive church, not surprising given that this was an old castle. There was one massive throne surrounded by smaller thrones at the front. Seats for him and his elite commanders that helped him run this wonderful Guild. The pews began to quickly fill with Guild members. Those who could not fit inside were given video equipment that projected holograms for them to watch and interact with. These of course were run by small orbs that would move close to talk with the leaders when necessary and project holograms of the players so that way they knew exactly who they were talking to. A simple piece of technology that allowed them to conduct meetings from all across the continent or with players who had avatars too big to fit in the castle.

Incubō took his seat in the throne, taking a long drag of his pipe as people still began to fill in. He seemed deep in thought as we begin to Puff on his pipe, the smoke turning into very realistic giant goldfish that swam about inside the meeting Hall. They were oranda goldfish, a particular favorite illusion of his. As they continued to spread, ripples of light that looked like they were bouncing off water filled the room. Bubbles and even little waves of water that the fish could ride on were spread everywhere in the space. It was actually very calming to look at. It was all so realistic as well. These were very high grade illusions that not everybody could hope to master. The very fact that they were physical, realistic and so easily cast just proved how wonderfully powerful he was. Of course, despite the fact that his illusions could do very little damage, only a fool would think that he was useless or less valuable than any other member. Real gamers understood that everybody had a place in a party. It was up to you to figure out what that place was.

After a while all of his commanders were seated and the room was as full as it could be. Noticing this, Incubō tapped the end of his pipe on the throne. All of his illusions suddenly dispersed into small bursts of glitter. The room went silent, the holographic cameras zoomed in on the leader and his elite Force.

After a moment, he stood up and smiled at his people "Good evening guys. I know we're all excited to get started, but keep in mind that there's a lot to plan, so if you wish to speak, take your turn and be respectful for the others when they speak."

Once he was sure that everybody had acknowledged what he said, he waved his hand and a list of writing appeared before everyone. These writings were made of light and simply floated around everybody "Our first order of business is the Guild Elimination battle royal at the end of the month. As you all know, we are target number 1 for just about every other guild in the game. We are strong, so they fear us. I would like you all to give me your opinion on what you think are strategy should be for this event. Keep in mind, we must be careful. The prize for first place this year is a battle beast."

Murmurs filled the room. Battle Beasts were some of the rarest and most sought after prizes in the game. They were more like field bosses, but field bosses that were completely loyal to the guild that had won them. Or the person depending on the event. They are one use only, but they are really good to have in a pinch. The last battle beast the guild had was used in a fight with a group of guilds that had attempted to rally against Guilty Thorn. That was short lived and easily dispatched.

Incubō simply tapped his pipe on the throne again. The room went silent once again, showing just how much respect he commanded from his people. He took another drag of his pipe, simply blowing out smoke this time as he spoke "Any suggestions?"

 

[Absollover77]

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting

Infantry Core Commander Kasumi



She was home again. The cracked walls of Ithika Castle loomed above her head. Sure she still wanted to give the place a fresh coat of paint sometimes but with the event that is coming all of her work would be effective for all of maybe 5 minutes before guilds would start their work in dismantling all the effort. She'd have to offer to redo the inner paint job some other time. Maybe make it a guild wide project. Perhaps their guildmaster would like it if we painted his favorite fish in his room? Oh and she was totally making her room Casino themed!

She shook her head as she followed her leader with practiced steps to exude the gravity of her position. She wouldn't give her band of Hounds any ammo to poke at her with. Those little gremlins follow her orders but they are still a pain in her fluffy tail sometimes. So because of those pain in the tail Hounds, she was convinced to not wear her gear and wear something more... Saintess like. She's been getting looks that she can't put her finger on but she ignored them as she took her seat to Incubō's right crossing her legs and getting comfortable.

As the masses settle, she watches the illusionary fish swim around the air as if in water. She never gets bored of watching that. As she relaxed, her hands clenched and opened in slight discomfort. She wasn't used to being without her gauntlets but it would be rude to put them on now. At least her armored heels still worked with her outfit. Her ears flicked, as her guildmaster began speaking the illusionary glitter flittering about before vanishing.

The event is a rather annoying one that will hinder all of her solo work. The look on her face is less than thrilled about the event. It meant she was going to be even more busy. Her hounds were going to be integral this time around. Partially do to all of the fame her core has as a capable Guild crushing force. The fear of being crushed is natural especially with her Casino standing on the remains of the last Guild that crossed the line.

Now it was time to voice opinions, and with a soft clear of her throat she shifted placing her fist against her right cheek propping her head up her elbow resting on the arm rest. Once she had everyone's attention she started speaking.

"No matter how effective me and my core are we can't be everywhere at once. Honestly, this little event is during my busiest time of the year. A huge number of new arrivals show up at the docks around this time of year. A restock at the Casino with the lower rated gear is necessary to ensure that 'the location of interest' protections to keep the gear locked in the prize vault from falling victim to looting during the event. As we know from the last event so long as I keep the location stocked properly the kingdom soldiers will prevent all theft and looting to my business. If I can have the time to do that I can be present for the whole event without worrying about the place."

A slight sigh escapes her lips, but a smile slides onto her face. Her left hand balling into a fist, a condensed purple aura surrounded it. The ability Devistation known to every member. "My core is a walking wrecking ball. I planed on taking some of them stats allowing to obtain the Devistation ability. It will take me about a week to collect everything on my own and that means less time I'll have to assist my Core. That is unless I have volunteers to help gather what I need." With a flick of her wrist the aura flickers out and a list was forwarded to the guild post board, stating the gear and items she'd need to keep the haven of gambling going. "So, if you all have the spare time to train in some Dungeons bringing me back what I need and you'll be paid for your efforts. Less work I have to do the more runs at the Behemoth I can make to maximize the number with the ability to destroy their guild buildings." Her smirk turned a bit feral at the thought of the destruction it will bring.​

 

[Karcen]

Sargiroth
Commander- Justice Department
Location: Guild hall ( monthly meeting)​

Sargiroth sat in the throne prepared for her, while normally she would use the projection crystals or simply use the mesh to communicate with others, she at least attended the surface dwellers monthly meetings. She unlike others didn't really feel at home outside of the depths, though which part of her really caused this feeling was hard to tell. She would much rather be in her lair in the dark cold depths where truly lovely sea life dwelled. The fish of the shallows that the guild master made were cute and all, but they were mundane anchored in the sensible and a logic all could understand. The dark depths was where creativity was truly at play as few would see what had been put there little oversight had been put into making sure everything fit. With the coming of Xar'thru Sargiroth was sure that the strangeness had only grown, her own little far realms under the sea.

Sargiroth had many things to do, not all of them truly guild related as any creature like her had many plans running in tandem so that should one fail another would see fruition. namely she was exploring the dark depths and dealing with others that made their home in the lightless abyss. Sargiroth had some ideas as to where this final dungeon could be that weren't what people normally thought about. The problem was testing them. For example everyone thought about where it was she wondered if it was a when. there were also other planes to consider and areas most people couldn't get to. The torturing of others till they were to weak to fight back was almost secondary and with the people Sargiroth had under her command she was less needed than before when it came to all but issuing orders.

As the guild master spoke Sargiroth's light purple grey skinned hand took a goblet and she took a sip of the liquid inside. The form she wore was that of a humanoid of indeterminate race. while she had crafted it based on humans she had picked a rather inhuman color pallet for the details. She could and did have more normal forms, but this one was what she liked as it was just slightly abnormal and off putting without being a horror. A guild battle event, well that was just great they would be busy fortifying here and getting ready for the many assaults that would no doubt come.

" If we are going to fight we should end things before they start " Sargiroth said never being one to deal with straight up fights she preferred to deal with issues before hand. " The justice department could seek out those that might be threats and get rid of them " She suggested as killing someone back to level 1 was a common punishment they did and it would take more than a month to get back to 200 and reequipped. " Or perhaps we could cause their leaders to get rid of the guilds themselves " This was an idea Sargiroth had wanted to try to experiment with how much she could control others. While dominate put them under her command an ability like mind control gave her direct control over others. If the devs had slipped up she might be able to access the menus and force disband a guild if she got her hands on the head master. That was only if the devs didn't account for such attacks, and honestly they more than likely did or had once psionics had been discovered.

 

[Peckinou]

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting
Third Eye Status: Closed

Kyutoru
​

Being new to the Guild, this was Kyutorus first official monthly meeting, so it only made sense for her to attend in person, though she wasn't too surprised by how things worked around here, she was one of the four pillars for her old Guild and was the top three when it came to PvP combat, their leader being number one and some other girl who pretty much acted as the guilds PvP instructor was seen as second best. She had learned a lot from that Guild and their previous leader was the one that introduced them to PvP combat in the sea, and if there was one thing they learned, it was that she was way better at combat in the sea than she was on land. She had practically taken up after her previous guild leader by changing her gear to allow them to fight effectively in both underwater and surface-level combat, it was something that gave her plenty of options whether it was to fleeing and fighting. During her tenure of fighting people, she had fought plenty of folks from different guilds, there were plenty of folks she grew to respect and plenty of folks she found annoying, but if there was one thing she could say it was that, some of these top guilds members couldn't fight to save their life.

Whether it was cause the Guild had their own PvP squads to do the fighting for them, or something else, Kyutoru had to deal with plenty of cases where she would meet someone from a top guild only for them to log at the sight of them, or run to their other guild members so that they could jump her with mixed results. Case and point, most of those top guilds and rivals that their little leader was worried about had limited numbers of decent PvP fighters, while others in their guild seemed like they were only there for numbers advantage or to help keep those points up to make sure they stay on the leaderboard. It was a bit of a reason why they loathed top guilds but she really didn't complain since it seemed to be an effective tactic that kept them on the board.

Either way, Kyutoru had taken a seat in the meeting hall, being on the side of the woman who had gotten her into the guild in the first place. Kyutoru was used to being with smaller guilds, though bigger ones such as this one was a bit of a change of pace, so sticking close with the woman who sponsored her seemed like a smart move. Still gathering supplies seemed so boring, not something in her alley, though Sargiroths proposal was a bit more intriguing, to say the least, as they were always down for player-killing. Though she had to admit fighting an adversary's skilled members had many risks to it, as they could use that opportunity to fight and learn how to counter their adversaries in the future. Sargiroths other strategy was also not something they really care for either , though they were if it would be rude to say it now or later, she opted to be a bit cordial and casually say "Even if a guild disbands a new one will just pop up and take it's place, pretty sure it's better to have a enemy you know than a enemy you know nothing about." Kyutoru leaned casually in her seat and didn't even bother to ask about details on the first point figuring that it would probably be best to talk to her after the meeting about it instead of during.

 

[Skybreaker]

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting

Dyros Dragon-Tamer

It was always a bit of an ordeal when the Guilty Thorns had their monthly guild meetings- for Dyros, this was the most he saw over half of his guild mates. Ordinarily, the tamer whittled away his hours in Rancho de Tatou, under the warm sun and breeze, sending monster drops and other resources back to Ithika castle and getting what he needed before logging off.

The tiger hanyou offered polite smiles and nods to every member he accidentally made eye contact with as he slowly made his way towards the front of the meeting hall to sit in the pews. Tatou was of course being held in a snug hug as Dyros made his way to the front row, whispering softly to his best friend and offering friendly waves to the officers in the front.

The lesser wobbler wiggled softly and tried to go up towards the throne, but Dyros held the blob steady. “Shhh, come on, Tatou. You know we can’t sit up there anymore, not after your little temper tantrum last time, mister!” Dyros kept his voice sweet and soft even when reprimanding his partner, and even tickled Tatou behind the ears a little. Once seated, he focused on keeping the lesser wobbler quiet instead of talking to anyone around him.

It wasn’t as if he felt unwelcome at the guild hall or anything- Master Incubō had been ever so kind and really took the game seriously, and everyone else was at the very least cordial, but Dyros never knew exactly what to say or when. Although when Master Incubō mentioned the prize for this month’s Guild Elimination was a battle beast, Dyros almost squealed in excitement. He usually hated to speak during these meetings, but usually he got to be one of the folks in charge of caring for the battle beasts before their deployment, and he’d even heard a rumor recently that battle beasts could be milked for rare drops if you decided NOT to deploy them. How exciting- Tatou would be able to try all sorts of new snacks!

Still, that wasn’t enough for Dyros to actually speak up quite yet. Rest assured if any of them ever brought up monster-related maladies during their monthly meetings though, he was always the first to offer his assistance! That was his role as the guild’s top (and perhaps sole, for how much he worked solo) Beast Wrangler!

The others were great at PvP- horrifyingly so, and Dyros was very glad that Tatou was under the Guilty Thorn’s protection- but even the best players needed the resources provided by menial tasks.

So of course when Core Commander Kasumi asked the assembly for volunteers to grind out some resources, Dyros was one of the first to bounce out of his pew, letting Tatou jiggle mindlessly on the seat. “Commander! Me an’ Tatou are purr-fectly equipped to help with any dungeon runs. Just let me know what drops and minerals you need, and I can have ‘em back to you faster than a wobbler on a wand-wagon!”

Dyros blushed a bit after saying his piece and slowly sat himself back down, happy to have volunteered his contributions.

The tiger hanyou listened intently to the other members’ offensive strategies. Sargiroth’s subterfuge idea could prove fruitful, and it would be pretty clean- the other guilds might not even realize who’d hit them. But the new member was right as well- any enemy guilds they destroyed would just pop right back up, and all of the Guilty Thorns were in the direct line of fire.

Dyros scratched his chin as he tried to recall if he knew of anything useful that could help. Well, there was the recent raid he’d conducted on the Mercy Killers’ Crystal outpost down in the Myrehex floating island. Dyros didn’t do that as a guild member, he just needed some crystals to build a new brush for Tatou, but he’d found something strange in the outpost’s loot pile… but still, the others were far more oriented towards PvP than he was.

Dyros decided to stay quiet on the strategy until he had any reason to believe the device schematics he’d found in the Mercy Killers guild outpost had any relevance.

 

[Phayne]

The Skeletal Monarch

Grimm

Cavalry Commander

The Guild Hall of Guilty Thorn

[♪]- Voice
Sitting upon the small throne afforded to him, Grimm had remained deathly quiet for the duration of the present exchange; listening attentively as the others began to discuss and voice their various topics of conversation; though ultimately it was the upcoming event that had piqued his interest the most; ghostly lights within both eye sockets flaring at the mere mention of combat. That being said, he did show a momentary inkling of interest at the proposition of a dungeon run; though his interest was nowhere near as involved as that of their resident beast wrangler. While their interest in the game lay on opposite ends of the spectrum, Grimm did see the less combat inclined member of their familia as a valuable asset to their current domination over Terra Maxima. That being said, Grimm leaned more towards PVP over PVE and was far more interested in the guild vs guild combat; his attention diverting away from the tiger hanyou and instead towards the Aboleth player whose idea of how to approach the competition didn't sit quite too well with the battle hungry skeleton.

"Ke...ke...ke... interesting" laughed Grimm as he glanced towards the direction of Sargiroth as she and the others spoke up; a white glow radiating from within the two empty eye sockets of the skeletal monarch as he watched the inhuman creature parade herself in costume. "End it before it starts..." began Grimm, a hint of laughter threatening to make itself known as his skeletal rasp became apparent. "that doesn't sound remotely fun.." he lamented,"... an event is meant to be enjoyed, it is a time where each and every player steels their nerves, solidifies their resolve and commits body and soul into accomplishing victory. What fun would there be if we were to simply end it before it even begun?" he questioned rhetorically, his 7ft skeletal frame now standing tall; glowing eyes staring down upon Sargiroth, before turning to stare down each and every other guild member gathered around the table.

"Instead... why don't we play along with their foolishness... make them believe that there is hope amidst the darkness that our shadows cast upon the lands.... after all there can be no greater fun than to provide them with false hope... to extend the proverbial carrot upon a stick to the naïve masses that dare to think their power even comes close to that in which we as 'Guilty Thorn wield'. Let us give them hope... give them a glimmer at victory..." he begins to stretch out one skeletal hand forward ahead of himself "... then when their foolish little ego even begins to believe in that fantasy..." he paused, a surge of energy building up in his palm; as a green glow of energy began to take the shape of a pulsating orb appeared. ".... we crush it... we throw them into the pits of despair... of depravity... we defeat them in mind... body... soul.. and force them into their own spiralling hell of insignificance" he spat the last few words, clenching his skeletal fingers around the pulsating green orb. As he did, the orb of energy would explode in a burst of energy.

"Simply defeating them is not enough... Simply striking first... is not enough. The whole of Terra Maxima knows the power we wield... and yet they still dare to challenge us... they dare to think they are worthy of stepping foot onto our castle... our home!...worse yet... THEY DARE TO DREAM" his voice was becoming ever more intense, his stare focused upon their guild leader Incubo. "I propose... we crush their hope... we destroy their ego... spit in their arrogance... turn their dreams into nightmares... hellish visions so potent that they become as real as your illusions... demons that will haunt their ever waking moment... whether that be here... or in that false world we all call hell. These insects that think they are powerful enough to compare themselves to us.. will know the reality of Terra Maxima.. they will know fear.. despair.. and their worthlessness in this realm we lord over." he paused once again, turning to face the rest of the guild.

"I propose... we crush their spirits once and for all. I propose... we show them... DESPAIR" Right on cue, the glow within his eye sockets would flare up, the ominous glow hidden within his skeletal structure threatening to burst forth into a blinding light.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Eclair
Location: Guild Hall

A small clap could be heard from somewhere within the guild hall, among the numerous guild members sitting on their seat. Prompted by the small claps, a few more joined, then more followed. Before long, the majority of the members were cheering at the skeletal monarch's short speech.

"That was a wise take, Lord Grimm. An attitude truly befitting of the one who stands above the others." The perpetrator of the first claps stood up and talked. Her voice reverberates as if she was talking while drowning, though it was really just her weird choice for robotic voice filter. "Underhanded strategies are definitely viable, but if we want to strikes true fear and awe to the heart of our opponents then our best option would be to take their challenges head on and crush them anyway."

"As the number one guild we should show confidence and make the world unable to deny our supreme reign." Concluding her opinions, Eclair sit back on her chair before letting another claps, this time for herself. Eclair was a relatively new member of the guild and in fact, this was her first time attending the monthly guild meeting. Her sudden and nonchalant presence defintely raised some eyebrows among the members as they whispered among each other... 'What's with this cheeky lost child?'

 

[Nellancholy]

An echoing of boots was barely audible through the hallways of the Guilty Thorn's guild hall as Black Velvet, their head ambassador hustled her way to the throne room. A finger pressed to her vulpine ear, she continued her conversation with the representative of one of their associated guilds. "Vassal" was...a strong word, perhaps, but she appreciated that at least some guilds and individual players saw the sense in working for the Thorn instead of against it. If only everyone could see such sense, least of all some of her guildmates...

"Yes, Evron." She spoke into the earpiece. "Don't you worry your little head about the mining operations. I'll make sure the Thorn's finest clear out the surroundings so your guild the Bitter Leaves can get started harvesting the area."

She paused, her smile fading only slightly. "And in return- that's right, good! You remember! 10% of all that your guild's harvesters gather in the area. Subject to negotiation after the first term, you understand."

Her steps brought her to the door of the throne room. She took a pause, activating her vulpine senses to get the measure of who was there, who was speaking, and what the constitution of the room was...

"Alright, Evron. If you need anything else, whisper me."

Letting off her ear, her finger proceeded to swipe across her forehead, quickly changing the glamour of her gear from her combat outfit to a formal-looking robe and a pair of glasses. A clipboard appeared in her hand, just for the look.

She opened the door a crack, knowing that her trusted position and history of service meant a small faux pas would likely escape Incubo's critique.

Taking her position around the table, she gave a slight bow as she addressed the room.

"Thank you for your input, Sargioth, Kyutoru." She made a gesture as if to write something down on the clipboard, but the details of the meeting would become public record as part of the software, anyway.

"I actually very much agree with Sir Grimm's plan, if not his presentation. I believe that as a guild that rises to any challenge others dare to put before us, we should confront them at the battle royale head on. But to act without...extra-competitive methods-" here she glanced at Sargioth again "-does not mean without strategy. Sir Incubo, I propose that our Guild's efforts be directed towards intelligence and resource-gathering, primarily through our network of associates and the considerable number of resource deposits that are currently within our domain. Shift our production towards what we know our strongest adversaries' tactics and gear are, so as to nullify their strengths and expose all weaknesses. Defeat them soundly on the field, and no further."

She took a moment to glance at Dyros, giving him a wink. "Wouldn't want our right to the Battle Beast be in dispute, now would we?"

Karcen Peckinou Skybreaker Phayne Spoiled Bread

 

[Eccentric_Undead]

Skybreaker Nellancholy Phayne Absollover77 Spoiled Bread @argotNaut Karcen Vagabond Spectre Peckinou

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting

Guild Master Incubō

​

If anything, at least his people were consistent. The general consensus being to do a preemptive strike before they have the opportunity to really think on what the guild might do. To be honest, it was their style. This was a wild Guild after all. A guild for people to search for their own freedom, while surrounded by people that understood them. Despite how one might play their character, this was still all about freedom and they all looked at each other like family. Even the ones that didn't get along. To be honest, he thought of them like squabbling siblings. Cute in a way.

After a moment of thought the Guild Master simply gave a nod, tapping his pipe on his throne to quiet the room once again "I see that most are in agreement. We should strike first and strike hard, using any means necessary to secure the Battle Beast." His eyes turned, glancing by each of his commanders as he spoke "You all will take care of any preparations that need to be done. By the event start time, I want us to be able to fight on several different fronts without any lack of power."

He was about to move on to the next issue, but stopped as there was a rumbling and an explosion outside. The sound of it bouncing off the guilds magical barrier was evident. It was loud and impossible to miss. Immediately, Incubō stood and moved to the window, the rest of the guild following suit. What he saw boiled his blood. It wasn't the far barrier that encompassed all of the lands as well. It was the barrier surrounding only the castle. He scowled as he saw the fields that their farmers were so hard on up in flames, trampled by thousands. Taking a quick look around to take stock of the situation, he noticed that there were NPCs. Monsters, field bosses and even mobs. This was not right. NPCs didn't coordinate. Upon closer examination he saw beast tamers. All of them working in tandem to move the hordes of monsters towards the guild that he created. Then they were players outside the Ring of monsters that surrounded the guildhall now. He recognized the flag that they were buried. Monster law. The largest Guild in terms of numbers within Terra Maxima. Distinguishable only by the fact that they only accept members that don't have a human looking Avatar.

The flash on the magic barrier signaled him to the massive Armada of flying airships. Each one bearing the crest of a different Guild, but most of them bearing the crest of the pirates. The pirates being the largest thieves Guild within the game and boasting the largest skyship fleet. Then, from directly above was a massive star station, dropping plasma blasts on the dome that protected them. That was Interstellar, The Guild that owned most of the asteroid belt mining companies. Easily one of the richest guilds.

The more he looked around, the more guilt he could see. Even the small and insignificant ones. It became quite clear what this was. This was the largest cooperative raid ever conceived in Terra Maxima. And this wasn't about an event. This was them trying to wipe guilty Thorn off the planet. This was a scorched Earth mission. The player base has always made an enemy of Guilty Thorn, mostly because they were strong. Now, they were invading. However, this was not the most concerning bit of information. The most concerning bit, was that they were betrayed.

The entire grounds of the Guild Hall were protected by a massive tech barrier and several anti-aircraft turrets. The only way an army of this size would have made it through is if they were betrayed. This means, there was a guild member that was given them up. The rage boiled inside the Guild Master, floor seeming to shatter around him and his rage boiling out in a massive pool of energy. So strong in fact that the other guild members could feel it, but in an instant all that vanished. It seems the Guild Master had lost control of his illusions for a moment. Then, a screen opened in front of the guild Master. His rage increased as he saw a declaration of war. They sent this after invading his home? The very audacity angered him. He turned his head, glancing at Sargiroth "After this is done, find the traitor."

He looked down at the army, scowling "To war then."

The guild master jumped out of the window, taking a deep inhale on his pipe. Releasing a massive plume of smoke that covered the entirety of the castle. Even the massive forms of the field bosses turned to look. As the smoke cleared he had created an illusion of a ring of water. The wave contained massive amounts of sharks, one of which he was standing on. The illusion was bright and stylized, but it was still so realistic. It was no wonder that most of the other players became fearful upon seeing this massive wave of sharks. He knew that this would be a hard fight. They had never fought a raid this large before, but he was ready. Other guild members jumped down, landing on a shark as he pushed the wave out in all directions, taking the guild to the battlefield, but also wiping out a lot of smaller mobs. The battle was on.

 

[Absollover77]

Cassie's eyes closed, over the past few months shes grown fond of her virtual home. Hearing a few soft snickers at Grimm being a little over the top, to the enthusiasm of the resident beast tamer over taking up gear and resource gathering for the resident battering ram of a Rabbit Beast-Kin that commands a majority of the ground forces.

She cracked an eye noting the late arrival Black Velvet practically the Secretary to Incubō slide into the room. Odd, she must have had some extra work due to the upcoming event. She'd offer to help but she wasn't so great with people. She's much better with magic and related subjects.

She let her eye slide closed only for a shift in the magic around the castle catch her attention. Unusual but not out of the ordinary. She'd studied the barriers before, and they are a unique fusion of Leyline magic and Technology. It's what made them so useful. The barriers weren't something to mess around with due to their draw of Leyline magic power and the tech that regulates everything, she understood the premise. Practically impossible for her to replicate or destroy outright unless you had some serious power. The amount of damage that could come from attempting to fid- A huge rumble broke her from her mental magic rant, it shook the whole castle. She lit up her right hand and began preparing something of high power as she rushed after her guild master.

The pure unbridled rage that crossed his face, it made her eyes narrow. She then saw what made him that way. The spell formula in her hand nearly wavered, with some focus it adjusted and kept going. With her other hand she flicked her wrist and spell circles appeared around her wrists and one below her as she lifted herself off the ground. She'd be sure to pay the guild back later for what she was going to do. She flew through a window and looked out over the guilds baring down on her own. Her eyes scanned as her right hand continues to gather magic circles, adding more layers subtly shifting and changing in scale locking into place as another formed piecing itself together.

Her thoughts flurring from spell to spell weighing the positives and negatives. The ones she thought of will cause even more damage at first but then she settled her eyes shifted and settled upon a guild hiding near the back. They were people of purely magic classes. If she recalled, they were called 'Magi of Merlin.' They are probably hiding out because it expended all their mana to remove the primary barrier but that made little sense. There is no way that guild had the ability to knock down a Magi-Tech: Flux Barrier.

"No, stop splitting your focus... Got to try and keep the guild hall from taking any damage." Several of the symbolled rings surrounding them shifted as if clicking into place upon her hand when she landed gently upon the front steps. The flight spell flicking off upon her command and the two-minute Formula was complete. "Formula Spell: Arch-Magic Great Barrier!" She raised her right arm up to the sky and about a hundred magical circles shot about in a rapid cascade of different colors sliding along before locking in place keeping in an effort to keep the enemy out. Slightly twisting her left hand, she began another formula. Glancing to her side she took note of some other members preparing themselves for battle. "Hey, come over here." A fellow member came over with panicked and a slightly confused look on their face. "You're a mage, yes?" The man nodded almost immediately. "Good, listen carefully I need you to gather up anyone who is still here that haven't already started counter attacking to help me keep up the barrier I just put up. I can hold it up for a few minutes but the more help I have the safer the guild hall is." The person scurried off to gain help to keep the enemy away.​

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Eclair
Location: Guild Hall

She knew she just gave a little speech about how they should just face whatever challenge and wins them to prove they're worthy of the highest position, but she didn't expect the challenge to come this fast. In a way, its kinda poetic. She's a bit worried about her bunker though, hopefully none of the enemies touch the place.

"Leader, in a situation like this we must destroy their backline first." Instead of immediately going to war, Eclair approached the guild master to propose her plan. She pointed towards the space station above them.

"If the guild have one, give me an anti-matter bomb and I will perform a kamikaze on it." She said confidently.

Eccentric_Undead

 

[Nellancholy]

Velvet pulled herself onto the great table of the meeting room to get her bearings, scanning their surroundings through the few openings that had been blasted into the walls of the guild hall. One would really think that Sargioth of all people would have anticipated this. It was likely a very good idea for her to refrain from personally retaliating against the assailants for as long as possible: until she did, the Amulet of the Diplomat would continue to protect her. Which meant that keeping herself fairly visible would draw fire from the others if their foes began an infantry assault. They'd try to hit her, but she wouldn't make it easy for them to score clean hits.

As for what she could actually do...she took another glance at the voidcraft that were bombarding the guild hall. They were a patchwork fleet made up of space forces from different guilds, but a notable portion of them were...

There they were.

Immediately, Velvet established connection to the flagship of the Bloodhound Pact, a medium-sized mercantile guild that had had dealings with the Guilty Thorn in the past. It was only natural for them to join the assault against them, however, as they were known to do any job for the right price. It would seem that their electronic communications were restricted to private frequencies, but a few taps on the cyberdeck on Velvet's wrist narrowed down the frequencies and cracked their encryption, allowing her to make a call straight to the leader of the Bloodhounds.

In a few seconds, a holoscreen popped up in front of her, revealing an avatar in the form of a blue-gray anthropomorphic wolf in the uniform of the commanders from a certain popular sci-fi show. A smug, beastly grin sat on her face as she received Velvet's transmission.

"Captain Softpaw. Or should I say, Admiral Softpaw." The Thorn had assisted her in a power struggle to take leadership of the Bloodhound Pact some time ago, after the previous Admiral had vacated the position. "Let's not waste any time. How about we continue to play nice in the future, instead of trying to blow each other up? All it'll take is for you to vacate our airspace, which I estimate will cut your little alliance's void supremacy by 30%. How about it? Your ships can avoid being shot out of the sky today."

Admiral Softpaw scoffed, baring her teeth at Velvet. "No can do, cutie. Interstellar made us quite the deal today, and we don't mind picking through the ruins of your Guild Hall for a little extra, too."

Velvet's eyes narrowed. "How much did they offer?"

"What, you're going to raise them? I don't think so. If it were so easy to make a counter-offer, no one would hire us! A Bloodhound's contract always gets done."

"Oh no, that wasn't what I meant, Admiral. I was simply wondering if it'd be enough to replace your flagship and carriers once they crash out of the sky where you stand."

"Oh? Hahaha! That's big talk from someone whose air defenses are failing by the second? Unless you pull out some kind of non-existent secret weapon, I believe you're as cooked as Captain Silverback was when I disintegrated his fleet!"

"We won't even need to fire a shot." Velvet pursed her lips. "If you'll recall, the engineers of the Guilty Thorn provided you with invaluable assistance on your last little adventure, Admiral. Which means that..." She raised the hand with her cyberdeck on it for emphasis. "...according to the system, we hold equal access to the systems of every ship we built with your fleet. Including the shutdown codes for all propulsion and weapons systems...and the self-destruct. Most people would never have a chance to deploy them, but as a decker of sufficient skill..."

The two glared at each other over the transmission for a few tense seconds.

"Nicely played, furball." Softpaw snarled.

"Perfect. I won't even ask you to do some damage on your way out." Velvet gave a winning smile. "Rest assured...there won't be enough of Interstellar left to retaliate against you for ditching them."

---

Even so, as the Bloodhound Pact's ships turned, they ended up blasting a few other fighters out of the way to make room for their void jump to safety.

It was just as well. As for the situation on the ground...

Velvet swiped her forehead and established connection to the Bitter Leaves again. As one of their associates, ground forces would have had to pass through their land to reach the Thorn's guild hall.

"Why hello there, Evron." She put on her friendly voice. "How are you holding up? I'm sure you know of our current situation, so I won't take too much time. What movements have you noticed?"

"Oh, Ambassador Velvet!" Evron gasped. "N-nothing too bad on this front, I think the alliance was mainly focused on just getting through here. You guys can handle it, right? I mean, you can certainly deal with the Shadow Legion as they arrive."

"Huh..." Velvet murmured. The Shadow Legion was a guild that favored cooperating with others to tackle large-scale PvE content, favoring ambush-style combat using ninja-type magical classes or guerilla-style technologicla assaults to support their more conventional allies. The fact that they had turned on other players (if the most prominent, contentious guild) meant they had to have received a very good offer. "Thanks for the tip, Evron. I'll make sure the Bitter Leaves get a nice bonus."

Having said that, she turned to Kasumi, immediately casting her Amp Code on her. "Knight Kasumi. Ensure your corps focuses on defending on ambushes on the ground. Keep it tight, the Shadow Legion is probably already here."

Absollover77

 

[Absollover77]

The extatic beast tamer of the guild happily volunteering their time to go dungeon crawling for her was definitely something that brought a soft smile to Kasumi's face. Her eyes shifted from player to player as they spoke being sure to remain quiet as each voiced their opinions and plans. This meeting was actually progessing rather well so far and it seemed like it would continue that way until the castle shook. She stood up with a scowl, her armor and gear materialized as she followed her guild master.

The sight before her made her ears twitch and her nose scrunch slightly. Agitation clear on her face as she strode out from the building her fists clenched in barely restrained anger. "I hope for their sake I don't get my hands on any of them."

"Everyone is already in the emergency locations Commander!" Kasumi turned her head to look at a man in Paladin armor saluting her. He standing a whole two feet taller than Kasumi made it a slightly ridiculous sight but that was to be expected from one of the three she trusted to give orders when she is indisposed.

"Good... Begin the counter offensive. Barrel thro-" Her attention was grabbed by Velvet informing her of the possibility of ambush tactics even inside a seige like strike. Shadow Legion was definitely an issue. Her armored heel slightly cracked the ground when she shifted herself. "Wonderful... it seems you lot need to form up in sets of five. Play it by ear and crush them when they show their face, otherwise keep them away from the barrier that the Kobold over there just put up. Do I make myself clear Bruneheart?"

Bruneheart saluted with a "Yes, Ma'am!" hustling off quickly. The ten units of five formed up just as fast and started marching out with no hesitation. Her core was the best at what they did, survive and conquer. She'd have to reward them this time if they did a good enough job.

However it was now her turn, she gave a slight nod to Velvet and took a lax pace adjusting her gauntlets and chest plate a bit. The slight cracks forming in the ground each step she made a tribute to her raw strength. A tune seeming to drift as her Hounds begin to fight off the ground troops. Her eyes lock onto what looks to be a leader much like she is. They are wearing a set of what looks to be blue dragon scale armor.

"So, we meet on the battlefield at last!" The dragon armored person who seems to tower a good 3 feet taller than Kasumi. A raise of her eyebrow was the only response Kasumi gave before the person continued to speak. "I have been looking forward to have a fight with you. Warrior to Warrior. You verses me." He seemed rather animated gesturing to Kasumi then himself before drawing a sword slightly shorter than Kasumi is tall and just as wide.

'Wow compensating for something much?' Was the first thought Kasumi had before giving a sigh and squaring up. Taking up a Tiger-style martial arts stance. Her eyes shining with a predatory glint. "Very well... let us see if you are really worth my time."

The clash begain with her armored hand meeting a giant blade as it attempted to cleave her in two. A vicious grin plastered upon Kasumi's face. The heavt blade clashed against her armored hands multiple times. Each time her fist or palm smacking the blade to the side. As she attempted to close in on the enthusiastic knight. Kasumi's regenerative abilities had started to increase. Any damage the opposing Commander had dished out to Kasumi seemed laughable at best. Her health, refusing to drop at all even if she was blocking his strikes with her hands. His first swing had taken about 8% of her health. Now however it was as if he was doing nothing to her. Her health just went back up to 100% and refused to drop.

"Come on! Where is that confidence?! Show me that bravado you had a moment ago!" She shot out her left hand with a excellent jab, into a followed up cross with her right her fists making contact with the blade as Kasumi forced him into defending against her pummeling blows. The sheer excitement and battle-lust had her grin seeming a bit crazed. People may refer to her as the Saintess, and that is indeed what her class is. On the battlefield, the only prayers a Saintess give, are funeral rights. Most to those rites are likely felled by their own hands.
​

 

[Karcen]

Sargiroth
Commander- Justice Department
Location: Guild hall ( monthly meeting)​

A combined raid and a traitor in the ranks. That was a good move if not exactly innovative. While the guild master had not seem it coming Sargiroth had mused on it some. Unless you were absolutely sure of what you were planning betraying a guild was a bad idea once a traitor always a traitor and everyone would wonder what your price was to betray your current allies.

Though as the guildmaster declared war and the defences powered up Sargiroth did frown. Not because of the beyrayal,bit because of the defences. Nicola didn't like the sci fi elements of the game. She had belived it to be high fantasy not a blender. It always bugged her when a siege became a star wars movie. Sargiroth was used to the elements it was part of her world. Still Nicola couldn't always keep in character when it was pushed into her face.


Sargiroth was just happy she wouldn't be out there dealing with intrusive elements. She was to stay back and play the wild card. She also had to look into this traitor. Sarigoth looked to Kyutoru. " Take the others and hunt my right hand, take out the leaders and any who are out of place " She commanded letting Kyutoru do the in field commanding. Sarogoth was better deep in the back striking out from the mesh. " I will see who is missing from our mesh " the mesh for the aboleth was almost like a friend's list,but ut could include enemies. Everyone in the guild was in sarigoth's mesh fir tactical reasons. The traitor turning from friend to foe should be clearly found in it.

 

[Skybreaker]

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting

Dyros Dragon-Tamer

For the most part, the guild meeting was proceeding with all the usual fanfare that Dyros had grown fond of. The melodrama, the swearing to smite their enemies… it was all in good fun, right?

He was also glad that everyone else was taking the battle beast question seriously. Smiling back at Black Velvet who seemed to agree that with the battle beast under their-

“Ah! Huh?” The virtual world around them shook, and despite his usual carefree demeanor, Tatou stopped its normal idling and went shock-still in the beast tamer’s arms. Dyros could feel the rippling of massive footsteps across the aqueous body of his pet, and his eyes widened as the guild master and the others commanded they prepare for the incoming onslaught. Guild war?! Right now?! He didn’t even have the right armor set on, and Tatou hadn’t eaten the proper boosters and-

“Hey! Ow!” Shielding his face from the angry burst of magic that Incubo sent out, Dyros took a moment to look around him. That’s right- this was more than just an attack on their territory, the other guilds were waging war on who they were as Guilty Thorn. Well, that was… not very nice. Sure, they were the largest guild in the entire game, and they could play pretty hard, but wasn’t it a bit overkill to raid them with orbital canons and underworld beasts?

…wait, beasts?

In real life, Teo frowned. He quickly went through his spreadsheets, and- sure enough, he had sold several hundred freshly bred beasts to the Monster Law guild, among others. They really thought they could take down the guild with critters he’d raised from the ground up, with his own two hands?! Er… paws?!

In game, Dyros’ face grew determined and he bared his fangs! Unfortunately, he didn’t invest all too much time in his tiger hanyou racial class, so it’s not like the fangs could really be used for anything, but it was like a bit of an emote, if nothing else. So really he was just saying “>:|” but with his avatar’s face.

Now usually Dyros didn’t volunteer for any PVP events unless he completely had to, but he knew that they needed to act fast, and given his hyper specialization, he knew what his role would be. The resident Beast Wrangler made sure Tatou was snug in his arms, before following the other commanders out the window in the same breath- Incubo looked about ready to launch an attack, Sarigoth was probably using one of her scary mind-fish fishiness powers, he heard Black Velvet’s hostile diplomacy (and giggled a little at the sass- it was great when they got to let loose), Kasumi looked to be locked in combat with some cosmetic armor set. That was just as well, because Dyros needed clear access to the frontline if he was going to be of any use.

Finally, the tiger hanyou stopped in front of the monster barrage. He frowned slightly- they were holding the reins on that double-headed wyvern too tight! And ice griffins couldn’t hold ballistas on their back like that- it ruffled their feathers. Even though there were more pressing matters at hand, Dyros couldn’t help but voice his concerns- “Hey- Dyros Dragon-Tamer here. So, um, I know most of the business at Rancho de Tatou is conducted through uh, the automated system, but you did technically agree to properly care for all the tames that you buy through me, so I just think, that uh- ow!”

Dyros covered his face as one of the monsters, a corrosive golem, tossed a boulder at him and Tatou. Unfortunately whoever did so must have been woefully unaware of the most powerful Lesser Wobbler in all of Terra Maxima- it broke almost instantly upon hitting Tatou’s jiggly form. Dyros dusted off his pal before sighing.

“You know what? You’re right. We have a diplomat for a reason. And… talking’s not really my style so… bye, I guess.”

He could hear the skeptical comments and laughter from some of the enemy players, but Dyros quickly activated his Primordial Rejuvenator sight, and rather than isolated mobs and character classes, he just saw pure energy and life.

Teo reeled back in shock- the sheer amount of targetable enemies around him was insane. Since Dyros was usually limited to targeting beast type monsters, he could focus his efforts on a single enemy at a time. However, this time… because of the sheer amount of monsters and beast-class races that had been brought in against them… well, hopefully this wouldn’t fry his VR headset!

Dyros quickly activated an ability as Tatou bounced haplessly around him. First things first- before any battle, Dyros always made sure Tatou was buffed- he sacrificed a portion of his own health to provide Tatou with “Overflowing Vessel”, making it so all the healing that went over capacity would provide bonus health. Anchoring onto Tatou as the receiver of what would be the most healing he’d ever done in a single instance, Dyros’s eyes flashed white. “Hands to Remake the World- Guilty Thorn defense-person edition!”

“You mean defender?”

“Uh, yeah. Exactly!” And with that, Dyros let out a small cry as the skill ripped across his avatar, quaking the earth around him as he drew life from every compatible target- so the entire Monster Law guild and their tames- focusing it all into Tatou, who was currently chasing a clover bloom. “No, Tatou, stay still! You need to receive all the incoming healing!” Even as Dyros’ Primordial Rejuvenator skill rapidly drained and defeated mobs from orcs to orca-riders, he couldn’t help but chase around his hapless little companion.

When Dyros finally caught up to Tatou, the little blob had the most health that he’d ever seen. Neither Dyros nor his player were particularly mathematically inclined, but that would mean that his skill would have had to have slain almost a thousand beast and monster mobs in one go. “Woah… if only they spawned like this in dungeons.”

Unfortunately for him, that meant that the enemy back lines were quickly advancing, and he’d left the castle too quickly to hear about the Shadow Legion ambush…

 

[Phayne]

The Skeletal Monarch

Grimm

Cavalry Commander

The Guild Hall of Guilty Thorn

[♪]- Voice
The chorus of applause would cause Grimm to glance around the guild hall; hollow eyes surveying the masses as they showed their support for his idea to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies; to assert their dominance over the inferior plebians that dared to think themselves qualified to lick the underside of their boots.

Dominance... fear... power... this was the harsh reality that life had taught Grimm; the inescapable truth born from an instinctual desire to survive. It wasn't just humanity that regressed into this bestial instinct...this.. this was merely the truth of all life. All animals followed this unmistakeable truth. The predator... the prey... the cat to the canary... the bully to the bullied. It was only those that held enough power to strike fear into the inferior; to assert dominance over the week that truly held the golden ticket to all of lifes wonders ad in this world... Grimm had managed to attain that power, to stand among others that understood this unmistakeable reality. To even stop and consider that some nobody would dare to steal that authority away from him was unfathomable. The mere audacity of that worthless worm had only sealed its fate of being crushed underfoot.

A nod was afforded in Clairs direction; a brief if not discreet acknowledgement towards her support. Any more would be halted as the doors to the guild hall opened, the arrival of Black Velvet causing several of the 'audience members' to break into silence; yet their eyes spoke volumes as they remain fixed upon the vulpines visage; the thoughts running through their minds obvious to even those that lacked the talent of 'mind reading'.

"So we crush them... we crush them all" replied Grimm; a skeletal rasp in his voice hiding the excitement lingering within him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alas, Grimm's desire for combat would be granted far quicker than even he could anticipate, the sudden rumbling accompanied by the crescendo of explosions from outside would cause the entirety of the guild hall to pause; many glancing towards any visible opening that afforded them a sight of the castles exterior.

"We are under attack!" shouted one of the audience members; though Grimm would flash that particular individual a cold hard stare; freezing the man in his tracks. "SILENCE!" spat Grimm, eyes glowing as he withheld the growing rage within himself. "You are a proud member of Guilty Thorn!, do not give me reason to question your strength" he continued, eyes staring beyond the avatar of the character and instead boring two holes into his very soul. "This is merely the appetizer to our banquet. Do not wet yourself!" he paused and glanced around the room.".. Instead, rejoice that our prey has decided to willingly sacrifice themselves to our cause!" Grimm stood up, still ignoring the ongoing scenes outside; his eyes focused now on the members of the audience. "Were you not cheering the idea of excreting our dominance over these worms?... Were you not excited at the prospect of once again solidifying our rightful position as the rulers of Terra Maxima?... Or was that all for show?" he questioned, drawing his Ebon blade from his back; holding the great sword with one hand as he pointed it towards the guild members in the audience; his body swerving from left to right in a slow yet purposeful manner. While Incubo and the other key members of the guild fastened their plans, Grimm had chosen to focus his attention on the regular members of the guild. He needed no direction from Incubo... for he already knew that his role in this upcoming fight would be to simply eradicate the arrogant wasp's buzzing around their home.

"You are Guilty Thorn. You have earned the right to stand amongst us and you have earned our guild masters trust and protection!. Do not fear the barking of the stray animals that circle our home. Our kingdom!. This is the time for us to truly experience the thrills of this world... to unleash the strength we have attained for our comrades... our family. This is an opportunity for each and every one of you to repay the kindness... the generosity of our Leader. Steel your resolves... THIS IS WAR" Grimm raised his sword skyward, an uncontrolled... ominous laughter filled with the deathly rasp of underworld would escape his skeletal maw as he cackled; no longer able to contain his excitement. If anything... his speech had galvanised him far more than he had even hoped to conjure among the regular members of the guild.

As the other members lept upon one of Incubo's sharks, Grimm had remained behind; essentially being one of the last to jump upon a shark; his skeletal frame just about fitting through one of the windows. Almost immediately, Grimm had seen a spot to attack; a make-shift command post hidden behind several layers of defences... and most importantly... the guild flag for a guild. "Fontaine de jouvence". From what Grimm had heard, they were a mercenary type guild that largely provided 'support' in exchange for a sum of in-game gold. Specializing in various supports skills such as Buffing, debuffing and healing; the Fontaine de jouvence were a guild whose sole purpose was to remain in the backline while providing aid from a safe distance; a playstyle that annoyed Grimm considering how cowardly it was. The mere thought of hiding in the backlines and profiting from playing it safe was enough to cause Grimm to lose his cool. Thus, seeing their flag raised high and proudly in support for this invasive act of defiance had made them public enemy number one for Grimm.

If the anime 'Kingdom' had taught him anything, then this was a key location to attack and would undoubtedly cause irreperable damage beyond merely eradicating their numbers. If Grimm could strike deep into their formation; he could disrupt the entire forces in that area; particularly if he were to remove a key component in their survivability. Without the support buffs, debuffs and healing afforded to the invaders by Fontaine de jouvence, their survivability would undoubtedly drop significantly. Two birds, one stone. So to speak. That being said, since they were an integral part of this invasion, they were hidden behind several layers of defence; the forces defending this stronghold being largely from medium sized guilds that simply wanted a piece of the pie.

Had they been a large and organized force, then perhaps the simply strategy of simply charging through would have been futile. Alas, this 'force' of players seemed far closer to a makeshift rudimentary force. Nothing to worry about.

Leaping off of the shark in mid air, Grimm would soon summon forth a mount of his own; one that had taken inspiration from Incubo's sharks. The 'Spectral Man Eater Shark' mount would soon phase into existence, the chariot pulled by ethereal sharks moving faster than normal thanks to its underlying passive speed boost when charging towards those deemed as 'enemies' by its rider. Flicking a switch, an ominous prelude to chaos would begin to echo from within the cloud; the dark oppressing music of Grimm's charge signalling his position, his intent and his lack of fear towards a force that outnumbered him. [♪]

Almost as quickly as the chariot had phased into existence, a large dust cloud would begin to form in the wake of Grimm's charge towards the enemy; the Skeletal Monarch alone in his attack... yet not for long as the icy blue glow of his ebon blade emanated from within the dust cloud.

"Riders of despair! Bringers of the Apocalypse! Here thy call! Take thy Reigns! Trample this world underfoot as you seed the sows of chaos! Run Rampant among the lands once more and spread thy destruction! Here me o'fearsome riders of the apocalypse! Ride beside me as we spread depravity across the land and send all those who stand before us into the pits of eternal damnation!!!" cackled Grimm from within the dustcloud; four distinct flashes emanating from within as the cloud grew in girth.

From within the dust storm his charge was creating; 4 centurion creatures would come into existence; the 4 riders of the Apocalypse charging in Tandem with the Cavalry Commander of Guilty Thorn; the 5 of them intending to pierce through the defences through sheer speed, power and momentum.

Within a minute of beginning the charge, the 5 of them would clash into the front line; the 4 horsemen taking the lead as they splintered off into four directions; their large scythe like weapons cleaving away at the opposition players as if they were a farmer trimming the weeds.

Meanwhile, Grimm would continue pressing forward; the sight of three large ghost like sharks causing a lot of the players in front of him to lose their nerve and dive out of the way. The sight of their cowardice eliciting another cackled from Grimm as he penetrated further towards their encampment.

Code by Serobliss

 

[Peckinou]

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Monthly Guild Meeting
Third Eye Status: Closed
Kyutoru
​

Kyutora activated her Worlds Pulse ability and was able to see a massive amount of Blue Auras with both humanoid shapes and non-humanoid shapes. Kyutora may be new to the guild but she knew that these guys must of pissed off a lot of people to for them all to get to gather in a mutual ganking for an attack of this scale. Kyutora loved a good challenge, however, she didn't really like suicidal fights, and it was pretty clear that this fight was not in their favor, the best thing they could probably do was deal as much damage as possible which could be a lot considering this was home territory. Everyone else was already moving and getting ready for battle, Kyutora looked towards Sargiroth and Sargiroth looked back towards them. Their orders seemed pretty clear, so she didn't really hesitate to fulfill them, even if it was more than likely a death sentence, still though she gave a little smirk as she said "Welp, fortune favors the bold, and now it's time to have some fun!" with those words said a mock salute given Kyutora moved forward deactivating her worlds pulse and beckoning folks under Sargiroths command to follow them. She didn't plan to go in blindly guns blazing instead she went on to meditate for a moment, in order to use her observing ability. She went through a list of people and some she was blocked off from observing, but she was eventually able to find one leader from a guild and had an idea on what location they were at.

Kyutora had gotten up from their meditation and pointing in the direction one of the leaders was in, "Target that section." using the Abyss magic, she crafted an Abyssal Orb and shot it in the direction the enemy leader was supposably at, giving them a clear sign on what area they should attack. Kyutora didn't wait before casting their Shadow Wisp spell in order to help them quickly get from one location to another, as the people that followed them now began to bombard that area with a massive amount of spells, arrows and other ranged attacks. Kyutora wished for a body of water that they could take advantage of but they figured that they could speed through the field of battle scout the area for any other targets that would be worth killing.

 

[Eccentric_Undead]

Skybreaker Nellancholy Phayne Absollover77 Spoiled Bread @argotNaut Karcen Vagabond Spectre Peckinou

In Game Time: Midday
Location: Guild Hall, Ithika
Current Event: Invasion

Guild Master Incubō

​

Incubō stopped, standing in the pile of corpses that was once a massive mob of goblins. The wave he had created continued, wiping out most of the smaller mobs, but only doing little damage to the bigger groups and players. However, the random sharks that were attacking people made for great confusion, which allowed his front line to take advantage. This was what he was good at. Creating openings and controlling the battlefield. As he sat there, taking in what was happening, he opened his menu, scrolling over to the live map. He could see that they were vastly outnumbered. A shame that took so much to take down one Guild.

Players in combat, NPC's getting cut down in the sound of war. This was probably the greatest battle that Terra Maxima had ever seen. Guilty Thorn was doing well, but there was still a problem. His eyes moved up to the sky. Interstellar was launching more battleships, both them and the Pirates war fleet were laying down massive amounts of aerial attacks. Normally, the guilds anti-aircraft weaponry would have handled them by now. However, the trader seems to have gotten to the system. Watching all of them fire down upon his people. Upon his family. It was more than he could take. Suddenly, a massive guy there a beautifully artistic water spiraled beneath him. Sharks and other predatory monsters of the deep unleashing from this geyser. More of his illusions, but they spread chaos and ruined the entire formation of the enemy army. Eventually, he reached the height he needed to go.

The Guild Master took a deep inhale from his pipe, releasing it into the air and covering all the enemy Starships and Sky Ships "Time for Infinity Tag."

With a sudden burst of wind, the smoke cleared. In the sky, seemingly out of nowhere there was an upside down City in the clouds. However, it was not a normal City. There were staircases leading to nowhere, places where gravity didn't make any sense. All of the ships that had once plagued to the ground below were now stuck inside buildings as if they were built inside of them. Only a few truly understood what this was. The enemies at least. Incubō landed on a building, immediately using his Rogue skills to hide amongst the shadows. With a few puffs from his pipe he released a few clones to wander about and have a good time in this prison. This would keep the ones in the air locked away. He himself simply sat down and looked at the chaos below. He knew he could leave the rest to his Guild. They were a proud bunch and would not lose so easily.

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Eclair
Location: Battlefield

Eclair was what people called a guild hopper, someone who jumps from one guild to another like its some sort of corporate ladder. She started doing it after her original group was disbanded so she could gather information about the final dungeon, all while selling her service as a hacker to anyone who can pay for it. She probably had been a member of half of the guilds who participated on this raid at some point in the past, but she did have a bit of personal beef with some higher ups in Interstellar. What she would do next was partially done to give them a big petty middle finger.

"I-it's ready." An elf wearing a lab coat approached her and handed over a bulky backpack. Inside the bag was the thing she had requested, the anti-matter bomb. A bomb that deals true damage in a large area, very good at destroying vital point but expensive to craft. She must not waste the opportunity.

"Thanks. I'm going now." Slinging the backpack on her back. Eclair activated two of her abilities at once, Ascension and Godspeed. An outburst of bright aura enveloped her, behind her back a pair of translucent jet-like wings appeared while a halo that resembles a large crosshair materialized above her head. The enemies were busy fighting her other guildmates and the leader's massive illusion building took a lot of their attention, the path was open for her.

Eclair blasted herself off into the sky, leaving a trail of faint light and a screeching noise that sounds like a jet engine. She quickly bypassed countless fights, her gaze locked into one particular target: the Interstellar's main space station. Some enemies spotted her and shoot a few beam at her but she easily dodged and weaved through the attacks.

"Ahaha, I see you're coming. White Cuckoo." A red mechanoid avatar appeared in a holographic screen in front of her. Eclair squinted her eyes and let out a grunt, clearly disliking this conversation.

"Come, Let's settle this once and for all." Said mechanoid came out of the space station, putting himself between the incoming assailant and the station. It seemed he expected some sort of combat from her and was caught off guard when Eclair flew past him instead and entered the door he was coming out from. She did gave him the finger when she bypassed him though, but the game censored it and turned her hand into mosaic for a moment.

The second she entered the station, she pressed a button on the backpack. Activating a timer on the bomb and rushed towards the station's energy core, the very thing that had been blasting Guilty Thrones with plasma beams. Realizing her destination, dozens of players jumped into action and started shooting her with their guns. Some of the shots did hit her but it didn't stop her going into the core.

After the grueling 10 seconds of dodging and tanking all those attacks Eclair finally arrived at the core. A large sphere made of unstable pulsating light. It's like a miniature sun by itself. She threw the backpack into it and an explosion of pure energy obliterated the room it was in, killing all the players within it including Eclair. But the main explosion came a few seconds afterwards, when the core reacted to the damage it took, and set off the second much bigger explosion.

"Eclair you bas-" The mechanoid didn't have time to finish his sentence before the explosion deleted his entire HP. The explosion was so strong that for a moment the sound of its blast drown all other noises on the battlefield, the shockwave it produces rippled through a vast area and the light that came out of it was impossible to miss. When the explosion finally died down, the Interstellar space station that used be shaped like a disc was now shaped more like a donut with that large gaping hole on the center. Regardless of the damage, the anti-gravity machine that it had was still somewhat working so the massive station took its sweet time to descend. It would probably took around 5 minutes until it hits the ground. Surviving Interstellar members could be seen evacuating the station.

Eccentric_Undead Skybreaker Nellancholy Phayne Absollover77 Peckinou

 

[Phayne]

The Skeletal Monarch

Grimm

Cavalry Commander

The Guild Hall of Guilty Thorn

[♪]- Voice
The cacaphony of screams would begin to emenate from the region in which Grimm had initiated a counter offensive; the four horsemen of the apocalypse spreading the seeds of chaos as they trampled players underfoot; their large scythe like weapons cleaving many a player like weeds on a field. With their inititial momentum from the charge, they had found it rather easy to break through the front line of defense; their hulking centurian figures making short work of the half arsed defense that the guild here had managed to erect.

Had their strategy intentionally chosen to leave their defences vulnerable in favor of maximising their attack? Grimm had to wonder as he pressed forward; a skeletal grin ever present across his maw as he listed to the orchestra of mayhem that reverberated all around him.

With every passing moment, the flag of 'Fontaine de jouvence' would be ever closer as Grimm continued in his charge; leaving the 4 horsemen to wreak havoc in his wake. For many players that found themselves yet to reach end game, these summonings were best described to be pseudo-bosses, strong enough that players simply couldn't ignore them to do as they pleased, or weak enough that they could be dealt with easily... not without being of a certain strength level and having adept coordination. Amidst the chaos of this invasion, it would be no easy task for them to quickly dispose of the summonings, that being said; Grimm was keeping a close eye to their health bars as he got closer to the encampment.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"QUICKLY! GET INTO FORMATION!! WE NEED TO STOP HIM!!!" came the masculine voice of a beastman tank; the large shield he carried a dead giveaway to his class; a chorus of agreement following suit as a party of 40 players made their way directly into Grimms path. "MAKE A BARRIER AND DON'T LET HIM PASS!!! AS LONG AS WE STALL HIM, THEY CAN SHORE UP THE DEFENCES AT CAMP!!!" continued the same man, obviously a leader among the players that were getting into formation.

"Earth Unit!, enclose his path on either side!" was the command, as the earth began to rumble; two mighty earthen ramparts growing from the ground on either side of Grimm as they enclosed his path into a single direction. Forward. "Fortress formation! Two Rows!" was the next command; Grimm watching with interest as he got closer; having no desire to slow his charge. In front of him, Two rows of tanky shield users had formed a defensive line, fully intending to take the brunt of the charge in an attempt to halt Grimm's progress. Behind them several support units had appeared as well; the majority priests and healers while a few added to this make shift defence with their buffing abilities.

"Is this their attempt to stop me?" questioned Grimm, as he glanced either side of himself towards the ramparts; his pvp instincts telling him that an ambush was awaiting him the moment he was halted in his attack. "Such simple tactics... do they not know who I am...?" he continued, swinging the reigns of his chariot in an attempt to increase his speed. "What a bunch of unoriginal noobs.... worms that think their half ass strategy would be enough to stop me!" cursed Grimm; the trash talker that he was beginning to slip out.

"Uh... He isn't... slowing down.." came the voice of one of the tanks within the second line of defence, sweat forming on his brows as he watched the skeletal behemoth come closer. "A... are you sure... this will work..?" he questioned further, glancing either side of himself to gauge the state of his fellow defenders.

"Hold firm... this is bound to work... so long as we stop him... our ranged DPS can pepper him from afar... trust our healers and lets do our jobs" came the voice of their leader, before he slammed his shield into the ground. "GREATER FORTRESS" he shouted, as a gold glow enveloped him and those around him; their defensive stats buffed further as they waited for the inevitable point of impact...

Which never came....

A bright flash would momentarily blind them as Grimm's chariot vanished and for a moment it would appear that Grimm too had disappeared... though it would be thanks to the observant eyes of one of their support mages that Grimm's location would be revealed, the skeletal warrior flung into the air above as he bypassed the two rows of shield users, landing behind them and between the group of healers and supports.

"Why hello there... Worms..." greeted Grimm, his blade drawn as he stared at the opponents either side of him.

"What the fuck?!?!" screamed a player.

"QUICKLY ATTACK!!!" shouted another.

"We have to get out of here!!! RUN!!!" came a voice from within the supports and healers.

"Now Now... Nobody is going anywhere... don't let the party end on my account!" laughed Grimm, before a blood curdling scream escaped his mouth.

- 'Cursed Wail of the Banshee' was used -

Directed at the healers and supports, the loud ear piercing scream would cause them to be afflicted with the 'fear' debuff, their visions blocked by haunting visages and their hearing overwhelmed by ghastly cries of the deceased.

Without so much as missing a step, Grimm would charge forward into the 'feared' squishbags, drawing his sword forward as he began to hack and cleave his way through the defensively weakest members of this 40 man party. "Rule Number 1 of Pvp... Always strike at their weak points!" shouted Grimm, as he held a priest player by his head; raising the player upward off the ground, before turning to face the other players that had attempted to come to their aid. Whilst tanks were defensively strong... their gear made them quite slow in movement... so much so that by the time they had arrived to aid the healers and supports; a large portion of them were already on their last legs.

"H.. help me..." croaked the player Grimm held with one hand, his face straining under the pressure his skull was currently experiecing in the skeletons grip.

-Nether World Miasma was used-

Without even acknowleding the player he held, a green mist would begin to escape Grimm's mouth; the gas pooling around the ground and spreading in every direction as it begun to afflict the players Grimm had just knocked on their ass. While the gas itself was a poison; it didn't actually deplete their HP... rather... it depleted their MP instead.


"Let him go!" cried one of the Tanks as they finally encircled Grimm, making sure to stay just out of reach of the gas. "Takes a real strong player to target the supports first!" shouted another.

"Hmm?" replied Grimm, glancing at that particular individual. "Says the useless plebian hiding within a group of... 30?... no 40..? players?.." he continued, before laughing. "Whatever... the weak only ever do stand a chance if they huddle together... however... I will reward your fake bravado... by giving you what you want.." he glanced down at the priest in his hand, before looking at the other tank. "Let him go?... Sure... take him!" he stated, before a loud crunch echoed through the space, the players skull crushed as his now lifeless body was tossed unceremoniously towards the surviving players.

"Happy now.?" he asked rhetorically, taking grasp of his sword once more. "Can we finally start having some fun?"

Code by Serobliss

 

[Absollover77]

The brawl between the huge warrior in dragonic armor was going about as well as expected. Metallic clings and clangs of the surround fights quiet murmurs in comparison to the sounds made by each strike be it fist or foot that connected against the sword separating Kasumi from her opponent who was barely keeping her away. At least that was what the sword was doing until there was a slight pause in the flurries punches when she jumped into the air several feet out of the knights reach and flipped.

The knight gazed up in confusion for a moment only for him to jump back as far as his heavy armor would allow him to. A crater formed as Kasumi's ax kick slammed against the ground cloaked in the purple aura of Devistation. The ground completely shattering upon contact the skill energy surging forwards in a line lancing into the ground ahead creating a ravine swallowing a few enemies that had attempted to group together. She sadly, had missed her initial target hoping to snap that sword in two but she still got something out of a creative use of <Devistation>.

Kasumi huffed, her feral look missing. A slightly miffed scowl appeared on her face since she couldn't see her opponent with how deep the crater was. That was until she saw them again standing on the crater's edge. Drawing that battle hungry smile up the moment said dragon armored knight jumped down in the crater with her. "You are either a gutton for punishment or an absolute idiot. Stepping down here with me is an act of sacrificing yourself."

"All for the greater good beast-woman. You shall fall today and it shall be by my sword." The Knights blade was held differently now. Much like what one would do when quick-drawing a katana. A raised eyebrow was all Kasumi responded with a brief look of confusion flickered before realizing what the knight was preparing for.

"Ah I see... a one-shot kill. I'm afraid you may be overestimating that little move of yours. It may be a sword technique capable of what your after b-" the swing of the huge blade and the <flash-step> made towards her. Kasumi stepped forward her leg chambered as her hands caught the blade haulting its movement as her left leg snapped around executing a perfect roundhouse. The resulting kick had removed the knight from his position being hit in the head with a hydralic piston. The huge weapon being firmly held by Kasumi staying locked in place by her grip as the enemy was thrown into the curved crater wall. The guy was clearly still alive but not for long. Placing the blade properly in her right hand she gave it a swing or two with a calculating look. "It clearly requires some skill to use but it's not really my cup of tea... maybe Grimm could have a use for this hunk of metal?" She shrugged and walked forward lining the blade with the knight's abdominal area before pushing it forwards with all her might, skewering the man. He slumped immediately upon the kill blow being dealt. She wrenched the blade from the body and wall splattering the ground with oddly colored blood. Have to hand it to the development team for realism engines.​