Round Robin - Eastern Project

Alex 43 · **Posted:** May 13th, 2007, 5:58 pm

OOC: Wish granted!

So now everyone's on the island. This makes things easier for all of us.

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VOID KNIGHT ISLAND
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"EVERYONE, GET READY TO DEPART FROM THE ISLAND! THE SHIP IS HERE!" shouted Gia, half-roaring the command.

In the distance, the lone transport ship that was sent for was finally seen on the horizon. It's massive white sails reflected the light of the setting sun casting an amazingly bright orange reflectance towards anyone that directly looked at it. A keen eye saw that this ship indeed had defenses and cannons on either side, prepared for combat and ready to intercept any aggressors that remained in the water bent on attacking them.

2 days have passed since Karl's diagnosis, Cratous' retrieval, and Momsrascal's and Kas'haran's group's arrival. We had sent for a ship to carry us to the mainland, fearing that we would be sitting ducks against the real eastern naval fleet which, we feared, might be arriving sooner then we thought. We looked in both directions, waiting impatiently to see which ship would come first. We were more then thankful to see that the ship we wanted arrived first. Gamble rewards were exchanged, relief was sighed, and packs of supplies were lifted up, ready for loading.

Gia himself took the liberty of hoisting up 2 large sacks of supplies, mainly salted meat and rations. The smell disgusted him; Gia was a natural vegetarian, as were all white dragons. Even the thought of killing and cutting up an innocent (some more then others) creature just to consume it for its nutrients caused the tough-hearted Gia to experience a feeling of nausea. However, they were the heaviest of the supplies, and being perhaps the most physically strongest of all on the island, he felt it was his duty to see to it that everyone had something to it, even if it once roamed the land as they do right now.

I just about had to sling Dex over my shoulder by the tail and carry him onto the boat. The lazy humanoid fox-creature did practically nothing but eat, sleep, and read the entire time they waited for the ship to arrive. He said that since none of the stuff there was his, he personally had no reason or responsibility to see that it was ready for shipping off the island. Dex was troublesome, but there were some good days he had where he talked to everyone and took curiosity towards their chores.

The others had recovered rather nicely. Karl was up and about, putting forth his agility once more as he dashed with crates and crates of tools and runes. He no longer seemed to concern himself with his status, and if he was, he did an excellent job concealing it.

Momsrascal and Elise was popular among the habitants of the void knight outpust. Elise was introduced to everyone, including myself. It took her a while to grow accustomed to the large Gia, even though he assured her that he didn't eat meat, but eventually it worked out. She even grew somewhat familiar with Dex, who ironically, had a sense of calm and tranquility when Momsrascal was nearby. I privately conversed with Dex, asking why the unexpected mood shift towards Momsrascal, and Dex replied that she reminded him of a friend from his own world, who must still be patiently... well, maybe not "patiently" ...waiting for his return. Even still, Dex didn't make eye contact with either with them, and whenever they tried to converse with him, he just ignored them and emitted low growls of discomfort, causing them to (luckily) wander away and forget about him.

Kas'haran's group intermingled eventlessly among the rest. Stories about Dex's ability, however, reached their curious ears, but whenever they tried to approach him, they were either completely ignored, Dex walked away, or he threatened to twist them into shapes that human beings weren't originally thought of being able to get twisted into. So instead, they extracted most of their information from Gia and myself. Dex was indeed the unwilling center of attention for the two days of impatient waiting, and he told me that once the boat arrives, he is sitting in the crows nest for the entire trip, throwing out anyone that steps inside.

Even Cratous, although his leg was still broken, slung in a cast, and forcing him to limp on 3 legs, saw fit to help carry over some boxes full of rune stones over there. Nobody commented that the boxes were lighter then they originally believed them to be once the ship finally docked. Gia took an interest to Cratous, saying that even though the White Dragons didn't have much access to magic so many years ago, what little magic they did have always proved intriguing. Witnessing a creature purely based on magic energy got even Gia excited towards finding out more about this strange existence.

- OOC: Hopefully you're all good with this interactivity. tis a round robin after all, and so long as one doesn't kill off another's character (or permanently cripples), anything can happen.

The captain of the transport carrier stood proud on the deck overlooking them as the boat dropped anchor close to the island, but not close enough to get caught and tear into the underwater land around the island. Large dories, each manned by 6 sea-hardened oarsmen and a nerdy looking skipper, were sent to retrieve everyone and the cargo they possessed. All except Gia, who seeing the boat weigh anchor so far away, immediately jumped into the water and swam for it without realizing that they were sending the dories in the first place to retrieve them.

I asked him as he returned for another bunch of sacks why he did that, and he said the sooner they get the supplies on board, the better for them, and if he can swim them over rather then take up so much space in the dories, all the better for them. I didn't mention that the seawater probably spoiled the meat. He would've done it again anyways.

Dex stepped into a boat with his face obscured by his book. Whatever was in it really got his attention so much that he accidentally sat on an oar bench and got teased by the skipper.

"Oi, small fry." he said, "Ye think ye can row us back to the ship now, do ye?"

We had to pull him from the waist up out of the sand before we were able to depart for the ship.

The transport carrier was quite spacious. The hull that usually contained large crate-loads of supplies was nearly empty, leaving the dusty ground bare possibly for cleaning, so long as there was some conscientious worker available for the job. Only half of the potential cannon-holding locations actually were supplied with fully functional and prepared cannons and a number of secured cannonballs nearby for quick and easy usage. Similar to the cannons, there was only half the usual amount of crewmen there. I automatically assumed this was because they had already met an eastern patrol-ship or something along those lines. Either that, or the crew were all just having a very bad day.

The hour it took to load everyone and everything onto the ship, raise anchor, and head towards Lumbridge Port was so uneventful that I hardly remember it. It was like I was on the island, my share of supplies strapped to my back, then suddenly I was on the side of the ship, sitting on the edge with my spear in hand, rubbing both hands down it giving the appearance that I was cleaning it.

Everyone got settled in, and was (hopefully) well enough occupied for the 4 hour journey northeast. Dex was, anyways. The plan was that we docked at Lumbridge and quickly headed over to Varrock to regroup and keep ourselves safe until we fully understood just what was happening and why.

"What's up?" asked Gia, walking over to me out of interest as I held my spear in front, thinking back to the distant past.

"A while ago," I said, "I could supercharge my spear in such a way that it repelled the magnetic forces of the planet, and ultimately hover. Then I would jump on and ride it through the air like a flying ski."

"You mean you could actually fly with it?" he asked, curious to the matter.

"Sort of. I could only hover so far from the surface, but it did make traveling a whole lot faster. Like the last campaign. You remember me doing it, I'm sure. It was like riding a lightning bolt." I said, envisioning the action in my mind. Holding my spear up like a lightning rod, I took in and absorbed a chorus of lightning bolts from the stormy clouds above so much that the spear, unable to contain all that energy, glowed a thick yellow light. Letting go of it caused it to slightly bounce, but ultimately stay suspended in the air 5 feet above the ground.

Then I jumped right on, causing another bounce and the electricity to surge through me, but I had complete control. Reflecting the charge back and forth around the spear allowed me to shoot forward or backward, and twisting my body while magnetically attracted to the spear allowed sharp and steady turns through the air at breakneck speeds. To give myself a speed burst, I would sometimes even clench the spear and ride it while leaning into it, like how a witch would ride a racing broomstick.

The only drawback with this method of travel was that I was vulnerable to ranged and magic abilities, and it only takes one hit to destabilize my charge and send me free falling however high I am up during the attack, in most cases my being unable to get the spear charged again with such little time and remaining power to do so.

Since we settled into the SWC for a while (2 years), I found myself never having to use it again. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if I was out of practice.

"Yeah, I might do it again in the near future." I replied to Gia, "I just hope that I'll still be able to do it."

The look in Gia's eyes told me he was imagining flying. What it was like, and how he could never do it again. I saw freedom, carelessness, and a bit of envy in his eyes. However, there was No need to reassure him it was OK. Gia always found a positive side to everything. For instance, without the weight and air resistance of his wings, he's become a very strong sprinter.

The boat shot through the water, carried by the wind. If we were to meet more easterners, now would be the time.

Adbot · **Posted:** May 13th, 2007, 5:58 pm

MattVortex · **Posted:** May 15th, 2007, 2:50 am

Kas'haran sat down in a small area on the ship at it left. He took out his staff, examining the crystal at the end. It was one of the few objects in the world that was still charged with the Wanderer's power - the power that Maeteru had forged many years before. He held it up to the sun, allowing the light to shine right through it.

As the orb eclipsed the sun, the still unfamiliar diamond symbol at the top wafted into view. It seemed to glow more than it should do, releasing a strange warmth.

Shapes seemed to form within the crystal. A face... two faces. A tall man with long, dark hair and purple eyes, and a woman with yellow eyes and brilliant blonde hair. It was his parents.

Hello, son.

'Father?' Kas'haran whispered.

Dont speak, Kas'haran, your thoughts can be heard by us.

How are you talking to me? Kas'haran thought.

Do you not think we had thought of a way talking to you through the staff? We specifically designed it to have a magical link with the seeds. It took you long enough to find how to talk to us, though.

How can I get you out of there? The rhyme...

Arasa spoke this time. We think we may have a way. First, though, can we get out of this tiny little orb, its a little small. Just say the rhyme never breaking your gaze from the orb and never letting the sun creep out from the orb's eclipse.

Kas'haran concentrated on keeping the orb covering the sun, and keeping eye contact, spoke the rhyme.

'When into crystal seeds we fall,
Awaiting skilled singers call,
Release us not until the time
That empty one is on the earth to fight.'

There was a quick flash of flame and lightning, and there, standing just above the orb, were two little three-foot tall versions of his parents, projected out of the orb, and apparently not in a corporeal form.

'Oi, Karl! Get over here!' said Maeteru.

Karl recognised the voice instantly. His head spun round, and he gazed over to the two projections of Maeteru and Arasa. They were waving and beckoning him over. Alex, Valence and Momsrascal followed.

'Maeteru!' Alex said, apparently overjoyed to see him again.

'It's nice to see you, Alex, and you as well, Karl and Valence. Momsrascal... the question begs as to how you are still alive.'

'I was not inside the Mastery HQ. Karl's already lectured me, Maeteru.'

'Ah, ok.' said Maeteru. 'Karl, no crystal?'

'Yeah, I woke up like this. It turns out someone has turned me into some kind of android.'

'I see. Anyway,'

Arasa spoke. 'I suppose you know that you cannot release us, Karl?'

'Yes, Kas'haran recalled some rhyme.'

'We think we've got a solution. The amulets that hold the power at the moment, these ones,' she said, pulling out a tiny amulet, 'we think we may have found a way to control the power when we are released. If you can make an amulet of the same material, then we should be able to contain the power within it as soon as we are released. We'll also need Karl to release us, as it has to be done in a certain way.'

'That sounds like a plan. What's the amulet made of?'

'Well, it's made of a strange mix of a few different stones. You'll need diamond, and bluerite, and some of that special magic tree glass I made to create the first Wanderer's runes. You'll also need some diamond crystal - permanently hardened elven crystal; and after that you'll need a lot of lava to forge it.' said Maeteru.

Valence rubbed his hands at the last comment.

'The specific mix of elements and magical powers makes the crystal able to soak up an incredible amount of power. You'll have to make one about an inch accross. Once it is made, Karl, you basically have to make the seed grow. As it grows past a certain point, it will become less and less dense, allowing us to be released while holding the power of the amulet.'

'I think I have most of the materials here already. No magic tree glass, though.' said Alex.

'Oh, Kas'haran has some of that.' said Maeteru.

'I do?'

'Click your fingers, Kas'haran.'

He did so, and a small ball of magic glass, held on a string, materialised around his neck.

'We put it there in case this ever happened. Valence, lava?'

Valence seemed to be concentrating on something, like he was searching for something inside his own head.

'Aha, yup.' he said, removing his eyepatch. The glowing eye underneath seemed to be pulsating, and almost as soon as it was removed a little ball of lava shot up from out of the sea. 'Underwater volcano.' he said, in a rather matter-of-fact way.

Alex grabbed a diamond, a chunk of blurite, and a crystal seed, which he handed to Karl. Karl quickly sand a few harsh notes, and it compacted into a crystalline shape, like quartz. Kas'haran handed Alex the glass. He threw them all into the ball of lava Valence was patiently holding in the air.

'Valence, compact it a few times, and make sure the temperature stays very high.'

The ball of lava contracted a few times, glowing brighter orange and yellow. A little crystal popped out of it. Valence dropped the ball of lava back in the sea.

Kas'haran held the crystal up for his father to see. After a little examining, he seemed to approve.

The captain called to the back. 'We goin' t' arrive soon, mister Alex.'

They stopped on land, and unloaded their things. Alex, Karl, Valence, Gia and Kas'haran moved out into the square in Lumbridge castle, and ushered people to move out of the way. The Duke came out, and after seeing Alex, ordered his guards to evacuate to courtyard.

'Alex, it is good to see you. Any problems?'

'We have two very powerful mages to release, Horacio. We just need to use your courtyard for half an hour or so.'

'Fine by me. Guards, make sure no-one gets into the courtyard.'

Kas'haran put the crystal and the two seeds down, about 3 feet apart.

'It is time to release them, Karl.' Gia said.

Karl took a breath, and released a long, pure note.

Karl 67 · **Posted:** May 18th, 2007, 5:01 pm

The note could not be heard by anyone, but Kas'haran, being an elf as well, heard the elf crystal singing. He could imagine why Karl 67 must be an extremely skilled singer. He's even better than the crystal singing teachers back at Priffdinas, the elven city. Karl 67 would have probably even taught the teachers himself.

"How is he so skilled in crystal singing?" Kas'haran whispered as Karl moved his mouth seemingly soundlessly to the others. The long time it was taking for him to finish the seed growing must mean that the mechanized elf was doing one of the toughest crystalizing that was possible.

"He's had well-developed vocal cords practically all his life," Alex 43 replied. "At the age of two, he could easily summon a crystal bow; not that he could shoot it yet. At the age of 45, he developed the 5 Levels of crystal singing."

"Five levels? There's only three-"

"Your teachers could only teach to level three. Karl 67, though he trained them extremely well and tried his best to help them get to at least level 4, they just didn't have as developed vocals."

"What are the other two levels then?"

"Level 3 is the basic bow-and-shield-and-pike summoning, you remember that, right?"

Kas'haran nodded.

"Level 4 is basically all the crystal weapons thinkable. Level 5 is what he's using right now. With Level 5, he could grow a seed into someone whose soul was bound to the seed, or grow himself new limbs; such as extra arms or even wings. He's nearly expert at level 5."

Kas'haran held more respect for Karl 67. Although the expert singer was not much of a magician and definitely was not a born ranger, he makes up for it with this singing and close combat ability. Whatever magicks that Karl 67 could use used up a lot of runes.

The two crystal seeds hovered in the air as crystal lines appeared, making a grid over two invisible bodies. Even more notes and the grids started to fill in with features. The feet soon materialized, boots formed and so did the rest of the lower body. Both pairs of legs were covered with magician robe skirts. The torsos were soon made along with the arms, which were also robed. The heads materialized, both hooded.

Maeteru and Arasa's crystal forms sent the energy they contained into the ball of lava Valence brought back while Karl 67 was singing. The ball of lava was much bigger, due to expansion. The energies of the two crystal magi entered the ball of lava like the semi-permeable membrane of an animal cell. The lava disappeared, showing what looks like a majestic-looking crystal. The crystal absorbed the magicks and started glowing in brilliant random colours. Valence released the lava and Maeteru tele-grabbed the crystal before it could fall.

"Incredible power is within that hunk of rock. Better that you hold onto it Maeteru," Karl 67 said, rubbing his neck as if he strained it.

"Great to be back," Maeteru replied sarcastically.

"Oh, and good to have you back as well." Karl 67 muttered. Everyone else couldn't help but smile (Dex could though, he was reading the same book as earlier.)

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** May 18th, 2007, 7:19 pm

Remember, Jason is an elf and also a singer though not as good as Karl, he could still hear the tune.

I was amazed at how Karl sang the Magi into being, or re-existance you might say. I'd heard of this type of thing being done a few times in history but never experienced it.

Skyrate looked at the Mages, astonished. Could his old friends have been in those seeds? And this young mage be their son?

"Maeteru, and Arasa? I thought you two had died when the Mastery HQ had blown up." He said walking over to them.

"Thanks for the nice thoughts." Said Maeteru sarcastically, he grinned

"How did you know the Mastery HQ was destroyed?" Said Arasa

"The sky seemed to explode, it was white for a second then it turned black then back to normal, it was dawn." Said Skyrate

Skyrate introduced them to me, and they remembered Michael, Michael and them had met another time.

Info story:

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The Last Zarosian battle on RuneScape (Not the one in the Mastery, this is the last one everyone was able to particapate in.)
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The battle was between Ardougne and Yanile, Khazard and the gnome village had already been desolated before any Mastery member was able to be stationed there.

5 Members were sent, Maeteru, Arasa, and 3 others. The other founders were already on another mission.

Zaros' minions were fighting in the gnome-khazard battlefield against gnomes, khazardians, and ardougne Heros. When the Members arrived near the monastery.

"Maeteru? You were sent here?" Said a voice both founders new.

"Its good to see you Skyrate, actually we choose this mission, since the others had already gone on ones." Said Maeteru

Maeteru and Arasa had met Skyrate years before on a different mission. It was odd how often times Skyrate was at the same spot as them.

"Our current position is at the Gnome-Khazard battlefield, as you probably know. The odds are about 20 on 1." Said Skyrate

"We came here instead of at the base of operations to try and see the back of the demonic army, where it would be weakest." Said Maeteru

"Well this is the right spot then, unfortunately the minions of Zaros know that someone might try to get them from the rear. They've placed mages that only have one purpose, to project a shield. The mages are ofcourse on the inside of this shield. I've tried a few spells, failed ofcourse and arrows get deflected. I do know that you can walk through it though, as I've seen a few heros do so, they didn't last long afterwards because of the Huge Abyssal giants behind the shield." Explained Skyrate as he pointed to the 10 mages.

"Sounds like we're in a tough position then, what about the front?" asked Maeteru

"There aren't any sheilds there but there is too many abyssal demons and fighters to beable to get to the generals and seige cannons. Our best bet is to try to infiltrate the shield mages."

"I could probably dispell there magic or negate it."

"That wouldn't work, Maeteru." Said Arasa speaking for the first time and pointing towards a group of mages led by a head wizard from the wizards guild who had just tried a dispell magic spell. It didn't phase the shield, it just got the attention of the Abyssal giants who started marching towards the mages. The mages cast fire waves and charged a few Saradomin strikes, the giants got there before the Saradomin strikes could be cast. One hit from the giant demonic two-handed swords crippled and threw a mage, is the mage wasn't dead, he wished he was.

The group didn't last long after the giants came out, fortunately the head wizards was able to teleport away.

"Well that prety much gets rid of that idea." Said Skyrate

"Not exactly, Randumin isn't any near as strong as me, his dispell magic only annoyed them." Said Maeteru getting ready to cast it.

"No" Said Skyrate stopping Maeteru "Your spell probably could dispell it but it would give out our exact location, the shield mages and the giants are linked together, as all abyssal demons are. Also see, they have brought rangers in."

10 Abyssal rangers with burning bows stepped infront of the mages, still inside the shield.

"I've seen them fire, the arrows hit and explode, burning anything within a 20ft radius, They also appear to be healed when there arrows do damage."

"So how do you suppose we attack them?" Asked Arasa

"I think if I were to go up there and kill the mages while you two charge multiple target spells, then we might beable to do it." He said

"But won't you be spotted and killed?" She said

Skyrate said a few words they couldn't understand and then he vanished, only a hint of him was seeable.

"I can go cloaked and then the giants and archers cannot see me and the mages cannot sense me." He said in a whispery voice which was what his voice always sounded like when he was cloaked.

"Well that probably is the best, goodluck." Said Maeteru

Maeteru and Arasa starting charging some area spells while Skyrate drew his katannas and ran up to the shield. He went through and he felt a small shock as he did. The mages, being unamored went down fast and as soon as the first one went down the giants started looking around, they looked right at Skyrate and then looked away, they couldn't see him because of his cape.

Three mages down, now 4, the shield was fading but still up. 7 down, in a moment all the mages had been killed or knocked unconscious. The shield faded and Maeteru and Arasa knew Skyrate had done his job.

A crack in the earth opened up and which ever giants didn't fall in were hit by lightning. More lightning combined with fireballs rained down from the sky and hit the rangers, a few seige cannons were disabled also.

On the front lines the Gnome and Khazard captains were puzzeled at why the generals had turned around and were moving back, the army however stayed in there position.

The Generals walked back past the seige cannons and one was killed by some of the fireballs, but the others put their shields above their heads, leaving their knees and lower bodys parts open, except for their chainmail.

The generals ordered many abyssal demons to the back in a hideous language. Maeteru and Arasa were able to pick off the enemy without too much difficulty. If they hit Skyrate.. Well, that was a chance he knew he had taken.

The generals got angry with their fighters. They ordered a few cannons to turn around and destroy the remaining buildings, the Monastery being a main target.

"They're aiming at us, do you think they've spotted us?" Said Arasa

"No, i've been using a cloaking spell of my own. I think they think the monks are doing this, let's move to those rocks."

Maeteru and Arasa moved to some rocks 100 ft away. As soon as they did 5 flaming cannonsballs hit through the monastery. And then 5 dark and slim but tall fighters walked out of the monastery and broke the rest of it down and returned to the generals, well actually they tried to but it seems they were very weak to magic for they died after a few lightning bolts from Arasa.

A general went down for no apparent reason, that's one thing that baffled the other generals. Their must be an invisable fighter here, they thought. And they started swinging wildy, their was 3 generals left in the whole army.

Skyrate made his way to the Captains of the Khazardians and Gnomes.

"Gather your soldiers and attack now, the Demons will be in confusion." He said

"Oi! Who said that?" said a gnome captain

"I didn't, probably one of your men playing a trick on us." Said a Khazard Captain

"My men wouldn-" Said the gnome as he was interrupted.

"Don't start fighting, just do as I say." Said Skyrate

Why the gnomes and Khazardians obeyed they didn't know but they gathered the men.

Meanwhile Maeteru and Arasa had been able to take out one more general. But their was more shield mages who had come up, and these had melee armor.

Skyrate went back to the back where the generals were and saw the mages. He saw an abyssal ranger's bow nearby, and though he didn't want to use an evil weapon, he knew the power of the bow. He picked it up along with two arrows, his hands went cold as he did so. He aimed and fired at the shield mages, they didn't know why a ranger was attacking them. The shots hit the mages and killed them, then they exploded and took out one more general.

By this time the gnome-khazard army had regrouped and charged through the Zarosian army. Many more gnomes and men died but the shock of being defeated was unbelieveable by the general. He swung at the nearest thing, which was the tent Skyrate was by, he hit the tent along with Skyrate and he went flying.

Maeteru and Arasa get a last round of fireballs and lightnigs at the general and he fell down, dead. The Zarosian army was in utter confusion, though they were all linked they didn't know what to do with noone commanding them.

The Gnome and Khazard army, along with the warriors of Ardougne were able to beat back the rest of the army.

Maeteru and Arasa ran over to Skyrate who could be seen now, his cape had been thrown off by the club of the general, it lie near him.

"Are you alright, that looked like a pretty bad blow." Said Maeteru helping SKyrate sit up.

"Yea...Ow..I think so. A few broken ribs maybe, but i'll live." He looked at Maeteru's Mastery Amulet, it was glowing.

"Your amulet...You must be needed in the HQ." He said

Maeteru looked down at his amulet and Arasa looked at her's, they were both glowing brighter then normal.

"We're needed badly there, can we bring you anywhere quickly before we go?" Asked Maeteru

"No..i'll be alright, you should go now." He said

Maeteru and Arasa Looked at each other and then teleported to the Mastery HQ.

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Karl 67 · **Posted:** May 19th, 2007, 10:30 am

Karl 67 sat down on the ground and leaned against a bush; hand still on neck. "Have I made any mistakes...?" he thought to himself as he slept almost instantly.

-----Dreamstate - Mastery HQ-----

Everyone Mastery-wise ducked behind the parapet of the stairs and walls to dodge the oncoming shards of the obliterated Nexus. Loads of Abyssal creatures were literally shaved into nothingness by the explosion. Altogether, this gave the Mastery an advantage and more time.

Maeteru and Arasa both had maps up. They were scanning the entire Mastery HQ for anything threatening to their current haven. There were at least one hundred Mastery members left. Forty others were reported as dead and another fifteen injured; three of those injured badly. Karl 67's Void Knight Mace fried. Only the handle and a severely burnt and split stem remained. Karl 67 scrapped the remains of the weapon and pulled out his sword from his sheath.

The sword itself was crystalline in texture, but had traces of strange magma within. The entire object was warm to the touch and required incredible agility to use. Unlike regular elven crystal, the sword was made of Blaze Elf crystal. This new crystal was more powerful than the regular crystal and could not break even under extreme pressure. Karl 67 cherished the blade as his personal prize for earning the cover of the Tome of the Seven Worlds. It was decorative and deadly.

Alex 43 helped other members carry the dead and injured out of the battleground. Valence stabbed corpses of some intact abyssal creatures to make sure they were dead. The rest of the Mastery did whatever duties they felt they had to do.

It was nearly half an hour before the rest of the Abyssal army regrouped and found out their last hideout. The Mastery was fully prepped, spells were set, bowstrings were pulled back, and a whole assortment of weapons were held high to meet the oncoming wave.

Gia experienced Deja Vu when he saw Zaros himself, riding a Skeletal Dragonkin take the head of the pack, blasting through whatever remained of the incredible door. Karl 67, who was at the bottom of the stairs, leading the warriors, would have wet himself should he still have flesh instead of crystal.

As a crystal being, it was impossible to wet oneself. Karl 67 just stood there horror-struck. Gia saw this and leaped from his post at the top of the stairs. Zaros swung his sword towards Karl 67.

CLANG!

Gia blocked the attack with his Rithlyte two-ton sword. Both hands holding the sword but was still struggling to stop the attack.

The sound broke Karl 67 out of shock and by instinct, he leaped on Gia's back, leaped from there onto the sword blade. Careful enough that he didn't cut his feet on it. The crystal warrior leaped at the puzzled Zaros and swung his sword right at his face.

Another sword got in the way and blocked Karl 67's attack. Gia and Karl 67 were taking on Zaros as the rest of the army started going after the rest of the Mastery.

-----Lumbridge Courtyard-----

"Dude, wake up!" Valence called out. Karl snapped awake, adrenaline spiked and hand on hilt. He then realized that everyone was about to continue on to Varrock.

"Varrock's a brisk walk. After that, we can further talk about plans."

Karl 67 used his crystal sword to push himself up. Everyone else was waiting impatiently at the gate. Dex still shoving his face into the same book as usual. Maeteru and Arasa were talking with Alex 43 as Gia conversed with Cratous. Momrascal and Elise were looking at Valence as he shrugged as to what Karl 67 had on his mind.

The group was practically ready to go. Almost once they left the courtyard, people began entering again. Some wondering what was happening and "How those 2 b like dat?" were heard among the crowd, regarding Maeteru and Arasa. Valence snarled at whoever tried to touch his slightly glowing eyepatch. Those who were successful felt their entire hands fried.

"You should really find out how you're like that." Karl 67 reminded.

"There was nothing in the Mastery Library regarding my heritage. All I know is that I'm partially Tzhaar-Mej. A really good one at that." Valence muttered the last sentence as he looked at his hands.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** May 19th, 2007, 12:16 pm

In Elise's memories...

"Go!Go!" her mother screamed. "Mommy!" A five year old girl screamed. A hoard of evil soldiers ran down the hill after them. "Everything's going to be all right! Go!" Elise's mother yelled back. Elise ran for the woods. The soldiers got to her mother and Elise winced at the sound of the agonising groan.

Back to reality...

"Are you all right?" Momsrascal asked. "Yeah. I'm fine. It's nothing." Elise responded. However Momsrascal knew that nothing meant something but she just left it at that. Momsrascal Quickly changed the subject. "I wonder what these guys are after." Momsrascal said out of curiosity.

Oh I make a pic of momsrascal! It's not that great but it is my first.
http://img295.imageshack.us/my.php?imag ... ledkm7.png

Adbot · **Posted:** May 19th, 2007, 12:16 pm

Alex 43 · **Posted:** May 19th, 2007, 8:27 pm

_______________________________________________________

FARM FIELDS NORTH OF LUMBRIDGE
_______________________________________________________

"Dex, control yourself now!"

Gia was scornfully looking at the creature, who showed no interest in listening to this lecture he was giving. Gia always gave lectures when one of us did something incorrectly, and it sort of gave us the incentive to think before we did, not just to anger him, but also to avoid another lecture.

A couple of bystanders were following and picking on Dex, asking for free stuff and pretending he was a cute little dog by making high-pitched noises. At first, Dex patiently ignored it, occasionally muttering to himself and trying to get us to stop them without actually letting them know we were requested for assistance, but now Dex was holding up his hands in a threatening gesture.

"Stop it, you guys." I snapped at the two merry-makers, "Dex is our friend, and we're not going to let you pick on him."

"Oh shuuure *hic*." one of them said, "I'm not THAT drunk, you shee. I know for shertain that that ain't a person. And if that ain't a person, it can't be a 'friend'."

Gia looked offended. I walked over to step between them and Dex and stop their joke once and for all.

However, it was when one of them pulled his tail when things went drastically wrong.

I hesitated and doubled back, putting as much space between Dex and myself as I dared.

"Just stand back, everyone, and watch the show. Better yet, just close your eyes." I said, a note of fear in my voice. My arms were outstretched, stopping our crew from getting close.

Dex had suddenly changed from the somewhat patient book-reading humanoid fox into what I could only call 'wild'. His eyes shot open and became pupil less and glowing a bright pink. He bared his teeth, clenching them so tightly that it was a mystery to me why they didn't crack. The book held itself in mid-air as he swiftly spun around and held both hands forward, fingers poised as though he was going to claw them. We watched in horror as both civilians uncontrollably rose into the air, propelled by Dex's power, then slowly contracted and stretched into a squished compressed entanglement of human body parts much thinner and taller then what they originally were.

They screamed. Load and painful screams. In reaction to them, Dex squeezed more, forcing the air out so there was nothing left to scream with. He then tied both of them together in a horrid, though nicely kept knot, and threw it into the air.

Then he did something none of us were expecting. He thrust his left hand forward while holding them 30 feet in the air with his right. You couldn't really tell, but his right hand had a think pink glowing outline that matched the outline covering the knot, so one had to put two and two together for that.

From his right hand, a thin string of light emitted, making contact with the entanglement. It was not pink, but instead a very dark blue, and as it expended from the centerline, I saw it flashing between navy blue and violet purple. The light struck the human knot and coated it in an eerie dark light, shielding the visual features from view.

Then, as if on cue, Dex trust his hand farther and a bright white light orb expanded the string from his hand and shot into the glowing sphere, causing an explosion of light of various colors minus red, yellow, and green. The two pranksters had vanished completely, leaving behind not even a drop of blood to signify that they had in fact existed on the planet with drunken cheery voices 30 seconds ago. Just like that. Gone.

We were shocked! Never before had I witnessed a power like that so easily extracted and without consequence. Even Dex looked at his own right hand as though it had turned into gold, standing still and speechless.

He then turned to me and asked, "Did I just make them vanish with a bluish-purple beam of light?"

I didn't know what sort of response he expected, but I said "Yes."

After a moments silence, he suddenly broke character. He jumped around for joy, shouting 'Yes! Yes! Yes!' to the sky and gave praise to whatever deity was watching him at the time.

"Dex, you just killed off 2 people for pulling your tail!" I said.

"No, that's not it." he said, his voice shaking with excitement like a child with a large Christmas present, "You've never seen me do that before, have you?"

"Well, no." I said.

"EXACTLY! That means I'm regaining my lost power!" he said, more excited then ever.

I started putting the pieces together, thinking about the past.

"And that means?" he continued, prompting me to piece it together for him.

"It means ... that it won't be long before you regain your-"

"That's right!" he replied, "Won't be long at all!"

The rest of the trip to Varrock with Dex smiling and humming happily as he walked with the book under his arm was almost unbearably awkward. No one said a thing the rest of the way.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** May 19th, 2007, 9:08 pm

Elise and Momsrascal were unable to comprehend what had just happened. Seeing those two drunken pranksters twist like that was certainly a surprise. Elise theorized that Dex probably has PSI. It was enough to freak out Momsrascal and she has seen alot of crazy things in Runescape. They walked past a pen with bleating sheep. "We're almost there." Momsrascal thought. It was fairly quiet for a few minutes until Elise brokethe silence. "How much further?" Elise asked. "Not too much further." Alex 43 replied. Soon farmland gave way to shops, buildings and houses. They were in Varrock.

Jasonmrc · **Posted:** May 23rd, 2007, 7:56 pm

They were in varrock square.

"I'm going to go talk to King Roald to see if anythings happened since we were last back here. Think I should tell him about the army?" I said

"I don't think we should tell him about the army yet, knowing him he'll send an inexperienced group of wannebe scouts that will get caught and, well, everyone knows the story. And chances are with his advisor and all that word will get out and the city will be in an upraor." Said Skyrate

Skyrate was right, like usual. Roald would get worried and do just that. So I went to him and just asked about any recent events, there wasn't any news.

Meanwhile while I was doing that the others went to Aubury's Rune shop. A few of the crates of runes had 'mysteriously' gotten lighter. And if there was an enemy in the east, we'd need more runes.

Aubury was surprised to see 12 strong 'adventurers', as they say in varrock, walk in. Nothing really interrested Michael, Gia, Skyrate, Valence, Dex or Alex. Dex was still too excited anyway, though he didn't show it as much now and had gone back to reading his book.

Cratous, Elsie and Momsrascal bought the most runes and Karl got a few.

"Didn't need anymore?" Said Skyrate kinda jokingly to Maeteru.

"We had alot when we cast ourselves into the seeds, so they went with us." He replied.

I met up with them at the east exit.

"Nothing new about our wanderer. We're all done here?" I said

Everyone was ready so we started off towards the pass to the temple on the salve. It seemed darker then usual and felt colder.

"Has anyone else noticed the coolness of the air and the feeling?" Said Michael looking around

"It does feel a bit colder then usual, but its probably just a storm coming." I said but I knew it was different but I didn't want to scare Elsie.

We we got to the temple Drezel was outside watering some 'Holy Bells' a flower only able to grow near a holy place of Saradomin.

"Greetings my Friends. What brings you to my temple?" He said putting the wtering can down.

"On our way to look at some things in Mort Myre." I said

"On another quest I suppose, you be careful out there its gotten mighty strange these past months. I would have closed the barrier in the temple basement if I controlled it, but alas our god Saradomin feels it best to leave it open."

"How so?" asked Michael

Drezel walked closer to us and whispered "I'd rather not say with the little lass here, mightn't you beable to occupy her over there and I could."

"Elsie dear, how about you practice some magic on those rocks over there." Said Momsrascal

"I don't want to be away from you, i'm scared." She replied

"I'll be with you" Said Michael as he winked at Momsrascal and I. I would beable to inform him about what Drezel said later in elven.

The two sat down 10 yards from a pile of rocks and elsie started using wind blasts on the rocks, Michael waved his hands and they started moving, giving her target practice.

"She'll be occupied for awhile now, please tell us." I said

"Well for starters the ghouls that usually hang around on either side of the path have gone away."

"Isn't the good though?" I said

"Well it would be accept Saradomin, for some reason uncomprehendable by mortals, put them their. And for something to override his will it'd have to be very powerful. Also some of the people of canafis are going in and out of Mort Myre."

"Wouldn't that be common though?" I said

"No, warewolves are afraid of water, even its only a swamp." Said Skyrate

"I didn't know they were, i've never gotten close enough to find out. I thought it strange because they never did it before, they were afraid of 'the spirits'. I was thinking of reporting some of these strange thing sto the white knights." Said Drezel

"I don't suggest that, or if you do tell them to keep it secret. That's why we're here to check out the strange things going on around here." Said Alex

"How'd you know about it? I haven't told anyone yet." asked Drezel

"Special ways." Said Gia

"Its getting colder, would you like to come in?" Said Drezel

"No thank you, I think we should be moving on." I said

"Becareful! And may Saradomin keep you safe." Said Drezel

Elsie and Michael came back.

"That was fun! I feel better in magic." said Elsie

Michael smiled at her and everyone went down to the basement and went through the portal. Technically Elsie would have had to clense the temple but Saradomin let her through the barrier.

"Which way? South to Mort Myre or further east?" I asked

I hope I got the personallitys right, if I ever do one wrong then please PM me.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** May 25th, 2007, 4:10 pm

"I think we should go east." Elise suggested. Something powerful enough to override Sarodomin's will intreagued her. "What if we split up into two groups and then we go both south and east to find answers. We can meet up back here." Momsrascal said thinking out of the box. Elise turned a handkerchief into a gold coin while the group shortly discussed what thier next move should be. The group decided to go with Momsrascal's plan.

You guys can decide who goes in what group and where as long as Momsrascal and Elise go together in the east group and evenly split the group.

Karl 67 · **Posted:** May 26th, 2007, 10:45 am

Karl 67 wasn't listening to Drezel talk to the others about what's been happening. The elf climbed up into the roof of the Paterdomus church, looked at the sky and across the wasteland of Morytania and thought of a plan against the invading Easterners. They were obviously going to be landing on the Eastern front of Runescape or the Southern edge. Most likely the eastern edge because the fleet from the Mastery War is still operational and is a formidable fleet as it is.

Karl 67 took some crystal seeds from his pouch and sang a bit. They morphed into simple models and figurines to visualize a future plan. Karl 67 checked to make sure the shingles were flat enough for him to visualize. Five ships, little chess pieces that resembled the group they had now. And miniature armies on one crystal platform symbolizing other people, such as the repelling armies.

"Karl, we're moving out. We'll rest at Canifis before we move onward." Alex 43 called. Karl 67 cursed the interruption, he crushed the figurines back into the seeds and pocketed them and looked down from the roof of the chapel. Everyone was already on the other side. The elf checked the distance between him and the ground and then jumped, landing almost perfectly. Those that never knew him well or at all couldn't help but freak out. They calmed down soon afterwards.

"I was visualizing further plans up there before you called." Karl 67 muttered, "I'll continue planning once we're at the tavern."

The road to Canifis was pretty uneventful as it is...

Rune Beast0 · **Posted:** May 29th, 2007, 8:30 am

Cratous stood in the temple. He had just heard that they would be going out east, stopping in a place called Canifis. Cratous swapped stories with Gia, the White Dragon, while they walked. Even though he was confident of his power, Cratous walked next to Dex, the being that had the amazing powers. After watching the prankster incident he felt safer next to Dex. His stomach growled, even though he had just eaten back in Varrock. He had bought a good amount of runes, but decided it would be smart to ration them. Cratous came to the realization that even if he didn't come out of this alive, he would be honoring his Rune Beast legacy by helping to fight these evil forces. He had even met some friends on the way, and discovered he absolutely loved vegetarian stuff. The air seemed colder and it smelled bad. Before they had left, Cratous had climbed up on the roof of the temple and looked at the swamp road they'd be traveling on. It was not a happy sight. Cratous was in the east group, and he was rather happy to be, since perhaps this Canifis place would have a rune shop to eat at. While he daydreamed about food, Cratous wandered off the road a bit and stepped in a puddle of swamp goo. He swore and tried to lift his foot out of the goo, but it was stuck. He used a fire blast and some of his power to melt the goo away from his foot, but it was still sticky. He sighed as they continued on the way to the town known as Canifis.

Later:

Cratous saw a person walking around. Finally, they were at Canifis! He ran up to greet the man, but the man growled and showed pointed teeth. Cratous growled back, and asked where the rune shop was. The man said in a raspy, dark-sounding voice, "Get away from me or pay!" Cratous ran up to a woman he saw and got the same response. Finally, he decided it was not worth it, and he'd find if there were any runes in this town by himself. Cratous returned to the rest of the group, and as they walked, looked for a form of building. All he saw was a bar that smelled bad, and a store that smelled like fresh meat. Cratous sighed, and almost got stuck in another goo puddle. They all walked in the bar, and Cratous decided that since they were in a bar, he would order a drink. He walked up to the barkeep and asked for a beer. The barkeep said, "What kind of hell-monster are you?" Cratous sighed, and went up a ladder in a back room. He shapeshifted, stole some clothes from a dresser in a room, and went back down to order a beer, this time appearing human. "Alright, one Moonlight Mead coming right up!" Cratous wondered what in Gielinor a Moonlight Mead was, but he accepted it anyway. The mead smelled like the whole bar, foul. He took a sip and nearly spit it out! It tasted putrid and the barkeep said, "Doesn't it taste like the hunt, and the blood and meat of a fresh kill?" Cratous had never eaten meat, and didn't think he wanted to. Silently he dumped the mead behind a table and stuck the empty glass on it while he waited for Karl to do the planning that he said he would do once they got to the tavern.

momsrascal93 · **Posted:** May 29th, 2007, 2:31 pm

Elise and Momsrascal walked through Canafis. Because of Momsrascal's more sensitive sense of smell, the foul smells around her were slighty more intense to her. Elise accidentally bumped into a man. "Hey!Watch it!" The man yelled at Elise. "I'm sorry." Elise shyly said. Momsrascal walked over to them. "Elise, don't apologize to him." Momsrascal said gesturing for Elise to get behind her. "You apologize to her!" Momsrascal demanded. "And what if I don't?" the man said putting up his fists. "I'd like to see you try it!" Momsrascal dared him as she drew her swords. Karl got between them. "pfft... It's not worth it." Momsrascal said and she seathed her swords. The man also went back to doing what he was doing. "So, What's the plan Karl?" Momsrascal asked.

Karl 67 · **Posted:** May 29th, 2007, 6:21 pm

Karl 67 pushed some tables to form one platform. A few human rangers complained and some even considered attacking him. One look at the group gathering around the table told them that this was a more important matter than their unfair practices of archery.

Karl 67 grabbed a handful of crystal seeds and tossed then around the table. After singing a bit, the crystals transformed into figurines almost effortlessly.

"Alright, this..." Karl 67 said, pulling his sword out and prodding a certain figurine consisting of miniature variants of everyone, "is us... There's not much time for me to make them into separate models anyways."

He then cleaved the tabletops with his sword, making the outlines of the Morytanian shore, and on one edge, the Port network on the coast of the Eastern Lands.

"According to Alex's Mastery Map, the Easterners have not attacked yet." Karl 67 then prodded a few ships. One of them was on the shore of where Port Phasmatys would be and two ships offshore. "What we have found out, however, is that they're sending a small fleet of frigates to negotiate the surrender of the inhabitants of this area. Of course, even with the well-known Ak-Haranu over there anyways, it's hard to negotiate with ghosts. They don't like trespassers that look violent anyways."

"Just get on with it, Karl." Valence muttered."

"Anyways. We have also found out that the Void Knight Outpost has been recently surrounded. No Void Knight casualties were suffered, but the Easterners most likely wanted to find out where I went. We can't contact the Void Knights right now though, but I suspect that the Easterners are there for that reason."

Karl 67 pushed the figurine of them to a large cluster of figurines in the Haunted Wood.

"By the time I finish this planning, the Easterners would have obviously landed and moved out to find anything killable or anything that can be threatened their tongue or their life. Ghosts, of course, have neither. Werewolves have both. Drezel has both, and all of us should have both. If you're missing either of the two, you're most likely not built right."

"No comic relief, Karl." Gia couldn't hide his smile though.

"Anyways, My plan is to either evacuate Canifis and hide them in the hidden city to the south, Tell them not to talk if anyone interrogates them, or somehow get the Drakan Family to go after the Easterners for whatever reason we can give them. The third option has the best advantages, but we just don't have a good enough reason."

"We tell them that the Easterners are good food." Kas'haran suggested.

"Clever, but I already thought of that. Vampyres are extremely self-centered and lazy. They'd rather feed on us than Easterners due to proximity. If we send a messenger falcon, they'll feed on it instead of listen."

"So the easiest option is the second one."

"There's no guarantees that the second one will work. The first option is also out of the question due to the fact that A: None of them are exactly friendly and will listen, and B: They already adapted to this environment and wouldn't want to move."

"So we just tell them to not tell anyone anything, mainly about us." Valence concluded.

"Once again, they're not friendly. We're pretty much stuck in an impossible situation. It's best for us to just disappear without a trace for the time being." Karl 67 rounded up the figurines and crushed them back into the seed state and pocketed them. He then cleaved the wood chips off of the table to make it look like new again.

MattVortex · **Posted:** May 30th, 2007, 3:35 pm

Night was dawning. Most of the ships crew and others went into begs in some rooms in the blue moon inn. Karl was sitting out on top of the church roof again. Clouds were growing overhead, but it didnt look like it would rain until at least tomorrow morning.

Maeteru joined Karl up on the church roof as the sun set. Arasa also sat up there as well.

'I've seen so much, and still I find it beautiful.'

'Sunsets always are. It is more red than a week or so ago, though.'

'Something must be going on. The red is caused by ash in the upper atmosphere, which causes wierd things to happen with sunlight.'

'We may be getting more of these, then.'

'We had many more of them in the wars. Not the sun, though, then, but the fires of burning towns.'

In the next half an hour, the clouds grew quickly. It was strange. None of them had seen clouds grow or develop so quickly at any point in the past, except when Maeteru had been responsible for it.

'You're not doing that, are you, Maeteru?'

'No. I dont know what it is.'

Rain started falling. It simply evaporated when it came anywhere near Arasa or Maeteru. It seemed to run off Karl without wetting him at all.

'I did not ask, Karl, how did you lose your crystal?'

'I dont know. This is apparently not real flesh, it's some kind of machine thing. My brain and most of my organs are in here, but I am now an android, apparently. Dex said.'

'Hmm. Your skin seems to be completely waterproof. Water is just running off it.'

A bolt of lightning struck somewhere to the west. The rain was growing heavier. Maeteru cloaked himself with the strange spell that prevented his element from escaping and held some of the water in his hand. There was something odd about it. It wasnt quite clear, just like normal rain, but it seemed to be glowing slightly - a kind of ghostly aura.

A bolt of lightning struck nearby.

'Arasa, you wouldnt mind catching any lightning that strikes near us, would you? I'd rather not get fried.' Karl said, quite matter-of-factly.

The lightning became more regular. Arasa did have to catch the odd bit every now and again.

'This storm isnt right. There's something odd.' said Maeteru.

Just as he said it, a column of lightning shot down. Arasa could hardly hold it, forcing it to earth. As soon as it had started, the powerful lightning stopped.

The three of them jumped, or flew down to the ground where the bolt had struck. There was a crater in the ground, that was slowly filling with water.

A bright light burst out of the hole, making the three of them shield their eyes. When they opened their eyes again, there didnt seem to be anything there. Maeteru knelt down by the hole.

'Nice hole. Not sure I see the interest, though.' said a voice.

Karl, Arasa and Maeteru's heads shot round.

'Tom!'

'Sorry, do you want me to stop this horrible weather?' he said, smiling.

They embraced. Tom was still an elemental, although seemed to have mastered the same spell Maeteru and Arasa had to protect others from their elements.

'Also, there's a funny looking fellow at the east gate.' Tom said, as the rain stopped.

'I'll take a look.' Maeteru said, his form shrinking down to the size of a lamp flame. He vanished in a little puff of fire, and appeared again, on the wick of a street lamp at the east gate. Maeteru had a look at the man. He was quite obvious - clearly not from around here. Quite tall, and looked to be quite the seafarer, from the compass and rope at his side.

Maeteru teleported back and grew back to his normal form in another puff of flame.

'They're here. He's a scout.'

'A scout?' Tom enquired.

Maeteru snapped his fingers and his Maeteru Amulet appeared around his neck. He poked at the diamond in the Amulet, and it burst into life. A glowing appeared around Arasa, Karl and Tom's necks, and in another building, Alex, Gia and Momsrascal's as well.

'Code seven, three, and...' he spoke into the amulet. His voice was echoed in all the amulets. 'Code Ninety-eight.'

Code three was one of the simplest of old Mastery codes. It simply meant 'get ready', and was always used in conjunction with another code. Code seven was the war warning - used as a reason for code three.

And code 98 was the last code of the Mastery. Only the heroes were ever to know this code. The heroes created this code for the eventuality that the Mastery was dissolved and spread to over Gielinor.

The Mastery of the White Dragon was back.