godsoffortune: (Default)
The Far Shore Mods ([personal profile] godsoffortune) wrote in [community profile] thenearshore2018-05-03 07:07 pm

28 - The Hungry Forest (Final Battle)

Who: Everyone!
What: At the heart of the mysterious forest lies a magical trap.
When: Nov 14, evening
Where: Within the forest
Summary: Working together, and with the (reluctant) help of some menaced cultists, the rescuers have pierced the wooden wall into the heart of the forest.






The sky is clearly visible here, but it’s an evening one – it’s taken the day to work their way through this far. Those with some astronomy knowledge will also be able to tell it’s a sky on Earth, and anyone who can climb up above the treeline will see a vast, mountainous and wooded area, with the lights of roads, train tracks and small towns glittering here and there. They're clearly not in the Heavens anymore. Somehow, in their journey through the forest, the rescuers have emerged onto the Near Shore.

An icy breeze is blowing, and although the vegetation is unseasonably green and lush in this clearing, there are patches of snow visible at the foot of some of the trees, hinting that they're fairly far up the mountain.

Rescues

The clearing here at the heart of the forest is vast, and five colossal sigils are etched into the earth, each one holding an incredible amount of power. It’s on these sigils, North, South, East, West, and Center, that the trapped gods and shinki can be found. Those unlucky enough to be at the Center sigil are bound by hypnosis, each staring at a firefly spirit that hovers before their unblinking eyes. These victims are still and unresponsive, and the spirits will need to be destroyed to free them. The firefly spirits can be harmed by both physical and magical attack, though they likely won’t stay still to let themselves be easily extinguished.

The captives trapped on each of the other sigils are around the edges of the clearing, entangled in vines, brambles or whatever other limbs the trees could provide to bind them to this place. Some may also be under the effects of the hypnotic fireflies if they’ve been particularly troublesome, while others who have fought less might have only those bindings needed to prevent them fleeing. Regardless of how tightly they're restrained, all of the kidnapped gods and shinki on all of the sigils look drained, the severity depending on how long they’ve been there. Some are merely tired-looking, whereas others are barely clinging to consciousness. Whether their power is being used to feed the spell or being stored for something else to come, one thing is clear – those trapped need to be freed before anything more can be done.

Sigils

Those sigils beneath each group of trapped gods and shinki are powerful constructs, brimming with energy and meticulously maintained by the cultists up to now. It’s the same power as what blankets the entire forest, but it's focused on each of those five points. They must be the source of the spell that's caused all of this.

If the spell is to be broken, the sigils need to be broken as well, but it’s going to take more than just scuffing out the etched lines to break the magic. Attacking with shinki in their vessel forms or using blessed water to wash away the magic will be most effective, but for those who didn't bring blessed water or don't have the energy left to transform, there's one other option. The clearing is lit by traditional paper lanterns hanging from the trees all around, and any object set aflame with these lanterns can be used to burn the spell out of the ground bit by bit.

The trees and any remaining soulless shinki are still furiously opposing the rescue efforts, the surviving cultists are continuing to work on maintaining the spell, and it will take time to fully destroy the sigils. However, as the sigils deteriorate, the effects of the spell will begin to fade, and characters will find it easier to access their supernatural powers to speed the process along. Gods' and shinki's powers (that is to say, the special power they gained as a god or shinki, rather than canon powers) will be as effective as a shinki or blessed water against the sigils.

But be careful. As each sigil breaks, some of the magic escapes, but some is captured by the remaining sigils. For the spell to fully disappear, all five must be destroyed – and quickly, because there’s only a matter of time before this power becomes unstable.

yoshinocherry: (In your years you've been alone too)

[personal profile] yoshinocherry 2018-05-09 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
[... But that's about as far as she can get, her planned lunge turning into more of a stumble as she finally exhausts herself and simply falls forward toward Mordred instead.

Gyuki, at least, remains to ward off any attacks that Mordred may still be willing to pull out.]
roundtablerebel: (33)

[personal profile] roundtablerebel 2018-05-10 08:09 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Mordred is angry, angrier than she's ever been, but Yuna's insistence that they should escape together and her stubborn refusal to leave without the shinki give Mordred pause. Could she have made a mistake?

Whether Mordred wants to stop attacking or not is out of her hands now— her furious attack on the barrier has left her completely out of breath, creating the perfect opportunity for a counter-attack. Instinct allows the shinki to read her goddess's subtle movements, letting her predict how Yuna intends to attack. Armed with this knowledge Mordred knows she should sidestep to avoid the reprisal strike but in her current weakened state and at such a short distance, she wouldn't be able to move fast enough to completely avoid being struck.

Which is why seeing Yuna fumble and fall comes as a surprise. ]


What... the hell? Even you... can't be this pathetic.

[ Now's her chance to finish this. Even with the stupid cow in the way Mordred is confident she could find a way to land a blow. She musters the strength to raise Clarent again but then hesitates, taking a closer look at Yuna for the first time since breaking out of her prison.

She's covered in minor injuries which Mordred is certain she didn't inflict. So then... how? Could it have been the journey here? Was it that arduous?
As she pieces things together, her anger slowly begins to drain replaced by a sick feeling amassing in the pit of her stomach. Mordred knows exactly why her goddess is hurt...

Yuna had put herself in harm's way to come find her.

Planting her sword in the ground she kneels using the weapon to support herself. ]


...Why do you have to be such an idiot?

[ Mordred speaks softly but her tone is hard. But as annoyed as she tries to sound she can't stop her feelings of concern from reaching Yuna. ]