CrownedSun/TheDemonTower

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the Scene

::The large clearing begins with cleared wood; felled with axe, the stumps still fresh with sap and the air thick with the scent of sawdust and broken trees. A few trails wind through the maze of stumps, toward the clearing itself -- a place of trampled grass, broken wood, and black stone.::\\ ::Each stone is the size of a large wagon wheel, or larger, and no two remain atop the other. Some are split in two, or blasted entirely into rubble. Others bear fresh cracks, the earthed scared from their impact from high above -- or half buried in the earth, so forcefully were they cast aside. Whatever structure, which must have been grand indeed, they once formed is impossible to tell for even the foundation has been destroyed....nothing remains but stone and wood.::\\ ::Some of the wood has been crushed under the stone, laying cracked and broken. In other places it seems freshly burnt, the coal still warm to the touch. Entire buildings lay destroyed, burnt to the foundations or shattered into thousands of fragments -- most of which went flying through the air.::\\ ::From the shape of the few wooden buildings that are still vaguely formed (if charred ruins), they must have been much smaller than the stone edifice, but still possessed of a strange and uncanny beauty. Yet such beauty is hard to fathom, in the face of only what remains after some nameless enemy shattered what ever once stood here.::\\ ::The air is heavy with the scent of smoke, and the occasional electric scent of something else...::

Storyteller Commentary

The above scene doesn't give as much of the picture as it could; my fault:P I was kinda relying too much on people having read the relevant TreasuresOfCreation stuff. In any event, I had a 'native' to the forest to relay the information not mentioned above, and I wanted to capture the surprise -- instead of showing the entire exchange however...

The above ruin ALWAYS looks like this, since it's kind of "trapped in time". Sometimes you can hear the sounds of the battle, and soon after the following Flashback the group heard some phantom Implosion Bow fire.

the Flashbacks

::Atos runs his hands over one of the black stones, finding it both rough and smooth at the same time, and his memory falls back to a scene ever so long ago -- a unfamiliar man with a familiar powerbow stood besides a woman blaring with shining gold, envoloped in her light as she stood upon choatic field of battle. Overhead, with a rumble and a flash, the Glorious Dawn of Heaven unleashed a barrage of Lightning as the memory overtook you.::\\ ::The scent of smoke in the air is heavy, joined with that of blood and the heavy scent of Essence from the numerous charms and artifacts being used as if they were toys by the army the man fights at the front of. Most of the outbuildings constructed by the Rogue Humans in service to the Black Citadel had already been destroyed -- largely the reason for the smoke and the blood.::\\ ::Mortal warriors in white and silver armor, led by Dragon-Blooded nearly equal to their numbers, moved across the field engaging the remaining enemies -- but this battle was almost over.::\\ ::Now and again, you would take a long slender silver arrow from your quiver and pull the bowstring taut -- releasing the deadly projectile and destroying one of the Demon-Bloods that led the rag-tag mortal defenders. Most remained inside the citadel now, however, or were already dead upon the field of battle -- but your eager eyes searched for stragglers or would-be heros. Most of your attention, however, was on the battle itself.::\\ ::Three airships floated overhead, the whine of their essence engines the most present sound on the battlefield -- even drowning out the battlecries, screams, clangs and thumps of weapons impacting on armor. Of the three, Glorious Dawn of Heaven was the largest, and it's lightning ballistas (and stranger weapons) crackled out the most frequently. Now and again, the man beside the glorious golden glow would look up away from the field itself...::\\ ::The Citadel towered up, nearly as high as ones eyes could stretch. The battlements were obscured by the clouds and the smoke of battle, but even so the sight was awesome. Black stone stacked atop glassy black stone, seeming like a obsidian or shadow behemoth in the form of a great fort. Yet the knowledge filled your mind; this thing was alive, was malevolent, wished your destruction. This was a wish recriprocated, though the hob of toppling the citadel went to the airships.::\\ ::Another barrage of essence cannons, lightning ballistas and implosion bows fired out from above, as the Glorious Dawn of Heaven and Cunning Shadow of the Moon lashed out again at the citadel-demons foundation. Already cracks were appearing, and soon it would be time to unleash the ultimate doom upon the structure...::\\ ::The mind, even used to such battle and destruction, shivered a bit to think of such a potent weapon -- but then the ground shook, shouts and screams went out, and your attention was distracted once again. Twin behemoths had rallied from the front gates and were pressing through the Legions of the Sun and Moon -- crushing them beneath massive hooves, crunching them in their black teeth and ripping at them with claws the size of tyrant lizards...::\\ ::Your mate screamed, his anima growing brighter and warming you in a soothing fashion, as she yelled out, "Silan, the Twin Beasts have been unleashed but they're tearing up our front ranks..." She did not have to go on; you nodded, and reached back into your moonsilver laced quiver to draw out a molten shifting arrow that seemed to glob and bubble as you held it. Yet it nocked to the bowstring well enough, and straightened to maintain the tension as you aimed.::\\ ::"I shall do what I can, my beloved. Redirect the Warstriders from the Reserves, we will need them here," you said confidently, your voice calm and sure as it always was when her anima fell upon you. Your essence poured forth from your body, as you took aim down the shaft of the arrow, aiming for Goldarairn's left nostril.::\\ ::The memory faded as you released the string, and the arrow let fly with a burning display of Essence...::