Fire and Rain

[Brian]

"Then ... shall we begin?" Chris asks, glancing at the window, where the moon is only an hour from setting, at most.

[Ginrai]

"Okay, then.  Let's go to a tower and get ready!"  Ginrai heads out of his room and waits for the others to follow him.

[Brian]

Devin has apparently already set up the tower when you get there.  It's wide, a good twenty meters across, and has a waist-high stone railing around the edges.  The flat tiles have been carefully chalked in with symbols.  Meg and Chris analyze them for a moment, and then stand in circles marked with flame and water respectively.  There's two circles in the center, and two more circles on either side.

Parthipan recognizes the symbols around the center two circles as earth and wind patterns, and the empty circles would contain another fire and water lorekeeper ... evidently Devin didn't expect to be counted out of participating.

[Ginrai]

Ginrai doesn't say anything when noticing the other circle, though a slight frown does appear on his face.  'Is this going to be okay, Devin?'

While going to the circle marked with the wind pattern, Ginrai recalls what he knows about an Earthmaster combining his powers with that of Fire and Water.

[Brian]

Parthipan doesn't really know too much about the dangers that an Earthmaster would face combining with Water and Fire ... it seems reasonable that it'd be the same as a Windmaster, though, and there are dangers.  Generally, taking care should be enough to make it managable, but the very fact that it hasn't been done so far through the siege is a pretty good hint as to the danger involved.

[Ginrai]

Ginrai checks if there's anything else that he currently needs to do as well as what else he'll have to do to link their powers when casting the spell.

[Brian]

Clarity of mind is important.  Begining the ritual shouldn't take too long....

[Ginrai]

Ginrai takes a deep breath and exhales as he looks out to see how much longer it'll be before battle starts and the current position of the Dreadmarch.

[Brian]

The moon is setting as you watch.  It'd probably be a good time to establish the spell now.

[Ginrai]

'Show time!'

Ginrai starts to cast the spell.

[Brian]

At first, there is nothing.

And then, there is a light, the brightest of the stars piercing through the cloud-cover, and gently illuminating the heavens.  The clouds are slowly swirling, gently forming a vortex that deepens, and lowers itself from the vault of the sky, and down to earth.

The Dreadmarch skids to a halt in disarray, as the winds pick up and whirl faster, pennants and hair, along with loose debris sliding across the battlefield.

Then, bolts of electricity the thickness of great tree-trunks leap up from the sky, and down the from above, joining in a massive sphere that seems to dwarf the keep in size, and the sun in brightness.

When the flash fades, and all look up, the orb is gone, and in its place, shedding light across the field, is a massive creature, twice the scale of a Jotun, sinking quickly to the earth.  It's nondescript, without facial features, clothing, or hair.

It's got skin of ice, whirling across flesh of sharp, cutting winds, with bones of fire-bright lightning.  Looking at it, it looks like the most destructive ice-storm imaginable coupled with the fiercest thunder ever spawned from a dark sky.  The skin of ice barely restrains the high-speed, visible wind beneath, and it raises two arms into the sky, well above the height of the keep, as its legs touch the ground.

For all of its size and scale, there are no fingers, no feet, no hands ... merely limbs.  But it strides across the battlefield towards the enemy regardless.  The Dreadmarch rallies against their foe, but none can reach it -- the winds carry them aloft.  Once airborne, the minions of the Dreadmarch are pierced by meter-long spears of ice, and shot through with wider and brighter bolts of electricity that spring from the creature itself.

The General appears -- not cowering behind his armies, but leading a force of seven Jotun at the Titan.

The General himself looks to be another troll, and he resists the forces that throw the other troops around effortlessly.  The battle is brief -- for while the Titan has a physical body of ice, wind, and lightning, none of the Jotun, or the General, can harm it.

The Jotun clubs launch shards of ice away, but don't disrupt the winds, or stop the lightning.  Then the Titan reaches out and embraces the General, who writhes against the electricity for nearly a solid minute before he vanishes into ash.

But after this, even though he appeared to be the General, no moon rises -- instead, the Titan stalks after the Jotun, brutally clubbing them apart, shattering them, and then burning their bones into cinders with its lightning.

Only after the last of the Jotun is slain, and the majority of the Dreadmarch is washed away, does the moon rise.

Then, the Titan throws back its arms, and throws its head back, a mouth appearing in the whirling maelstrom of its otherwise featureless face, and roars -- in defiance?  In victory?

It's uncertain, but its wordless roar conveys a great sense of sadness, and all who witness the Titan dissipating feel an undeniable sense of melancholy.  And then a breeze washes across the field, and no evidence of the Titan remains.

On Parthipan's tower, once the Titan vanishes, Chris's body vanishes instantly in a flash of bright flame, and ash drifts to the ground where he stood.  Meg merely reels and collapses, blood running from her ears and nose.

Parthipan only has time to observe this before he loses awareness of his surroundings and passes out.

Parthipan now moves to Cloud Age Symphony.

[Dracos]

Dracos shook his head, turning to any messangers or commanders nearby.  "Have the men head back in."

Dracos looks for Nathan, and, when he finds him:

"Is it just me, or do you also get the feeling that something...very stupid and very dangerous just happened?  I think we should get you and those going with you moving as of an hour ago."

Dracos

[Rezantis]

Nathan shrugs.

"I don't presume to guess.  We aren't the tacticians, and . . ." Nathan lowers his voice, "I assume you saw what didn't happen when the general died.  And I'm getting to it."

Nathan looks around for Alec.  And Eric.  Where are those two?

[Dracos]

Dracos nodded slightly, his voice also low.  "Couldn't have missed it.  Hopefully most the men did though."

Dracos

[Rezantis]

Nathan shakes his head, and continues in the same tone. "Don't be stupid.  I'd rather they find out now than risk a panic if it happens next time."

He turns to Alec.

"Anyway, Alec . . . the latest piece of fun.  How good are you at stealth and sneaking?"