EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | DRAGON

[cherrywood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Keeliai
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
For nearly two days the brave quest takers have been sequestered at the sullied Temple and its grounds, the thick jungle and swamp preventing them from leaving. There are faint tremors that run through the ground and in the middle of the third night, the ground gives a great heave, jostling everyone from their rested states. In one of the Temple rooms, a sinkhole has appeared to reveal not spongy ground beneath, but a dark tunnel leading down into the earth. It doesn't take much to widen the entrance and follow the gentle downward slope that leads out to the north, and a walk of about two hours (which surely would feel like longer to those who don't enjoy being trapped in low, dank places) leads them under the swamp itself. By the time the tunnel slopes upward, the muddy ground has turned hard and packed with small chips of rock and sand; the terrain above is changing and as they emerge upward through a fissure in the ground...

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OOC NOTE: The Aftermath comment will be unfrozen and its direction posted on February 23rd, based on the outcome of the other threads.

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OOC INFORMATION
Landfall Questions | Approved Item Requests | Player Plot - Kryptonian Rampage OOC

CITY OF KEELIAI
Emperor's Orders: Miasma Explained | Marshaling the Forces | A City Under Siege | Halting the Scourge

INSIDE THE BOTTLE
Crossing the Swamp | Decayed Grounds | The Sullied Temple | Stone Idols | Item Discovery

THE WORLD EATER
Battling the Dragon | Soul's Poison | Kryptonian Rampage | The Guarded Pool | Weighing the Options | Aftermath

Comments

[andaway]

[Kal was in the middle of a hearty laugh when Jor-El went and decided to be a party popper- so the laughter stops right away and he instead turns to glare at his father with a scowl. He's been letting him tag along because that's all his father was ever good at: letting others get their glory, get the actual true power while he let their home-planet die around him.

But getting in the way of his fun? That won't do. Still, always better to not jump to conclusions right away- and if he's honest, his father might have 0 finesse with his powers but he's still powerful enough to be a threat.]

What is it now, father?

[lookedtothestars]

[The scowl is offputting, but not for the reasons Kal would think- it's just another sign of Kal's inability to control himself. Power meant nothing if it was wielded by a wild animal which comprehended little.]

This is taking far too long.

[While purposefully rearranging some of the corpses in the event that they were discovered later was entertaining enough, the whole of it was largely pointless and a waste.]

Are you planning on toying with every one we meet?

[andaway]

[And that makes the frown switch to an actually amused smile as he hovers closer to him. There's only so many people you can mindlessly toss around before it grows boring anyway, and if his father had finally decided to grow a pair in the middle of all that- well, it'd at least be interesting.

Or at least entertaining enough.]

What if I was?

[lookedtothestars]

[He stands his ground, not moving, only making the slightest inclination of his head to adjust for Kal's hovering, eyes steady.]

Then that would make you a fool.

[andaway]

This fool [He says, spitting the word out because isn't that a wonderful joke? He'd be saying the kettle is calling the pot black if he didn't actually want to deny him of anything in relation to his upbringing.] is actually getting the job done while you just tag along like the embarrassment of our family crest you are. And you're only here because I'm letting you.

So shut up before I change my mind.

[lookedtothestars]

You couldn't manage a human woman with powers similar to our own without me.

You're only here because I decided to preserve our race through you.

[Out of countless other options. Saving Krypton's people through his own son and bloodline, though; something only the weakest minded couldn't appreciate, and others would remain awed at. The power of foresight and true dominance.]

It is a choice I can always reconsider.

[While Kon-El may be a hybrid, he's still a source of Kryptonian DNA. Kal-El is redundant thanks to the boy's existence.]

[andaway]

[Kal's only answer is slamming a first right into Jor-El's face.]

[lookedtothestars]

[He's not fast enough to block it or dodge, and it connects with his eye, sending him reeling, but not enough to prevent him from grabbing onto Kal-El's arm to try and throw him into the ground.

Dru-Zod's lessons hadn't been a waste after all.]

[andaway]

[Kal had honestly not expected him to be so quick to attack, not the man whose most important achievement was throwing a baby into space as the world crumbled around him. So he's sent to the ground, touching for the first time since his father and him found the statues. He will know better next time.]

Now that... [And soon he hovers up, pulling some dirt away from his face as he glares at his father.] That was a mistake.

[And he flies towards him, both fists up.]

/hums along to Beat It

[lookedtothestars]

You're correct. That was a mistake.

[He hasn't experience enough at aerial combat- it's something that will remain to Kal-El's advantage; but he's the one far more capable of thinking tactically, if those they had taken out before are any indication. Raw power does little to replace skill.

He seems to grab again at Kal-El's arms as he flies forward, as if to repeat the same move; this time, however, he pulls back at the last moment and aims a sharp kick at Kal-El's rib cage at the same time, to send him to the ground.]

ffff

[andaway]

[He wasn't expecting the kick, but once he realizes it's coming he readies his body for it- and while he grunts in pain and is forced a few steps back, he doesn't end on the ground again.

He will never, ever, end on the ground again.]

I'd have forgiven you. [Up the air, get the air, whoever has the highest point of view always wins the war.] For your in submission, I'd have forgiven you. But now?

[He sends a blast of the laser vision straight to Jor-El's eyes.] Now you must die.

[lookedtothestars]

[Efficacy of movement- the warning sign of red- these are things that save his sight, the beams cutting against the edge of his gauntlet, as he simultaneously raises his arm to protect his vision and ducks down before his own vision flares red and angry, briefly uncontrolled before it gives him a new option.

Kal-El is not needed whole. He can still be a dutiful son if he bends his will to his father's.]

We [it's barely stressed, but still present] have a saying, Kal. A good death is its own reward.

If you listen, maybe you'll achieve it someday.

[He reaches to grasp hold on Kal-El, make it unable for him to escape, as his own vision grows red again and painful, to direct it against the width of one of Kal-El's legs.

He can fly. He has no need for either one- or even both.]

[andaway]

[Later, Kal will be ashamed of how loudly he yelled the moment the laser burned off his skin. He might feel pain, some hits might be powerful enough to hurt him- but nothing like this, nothing like the pain of another Kryptonian's powers. Not the pain of an equal.

Even after his promise to himself, the pain is so big he kind of falls to the ground, reaching to hold his leg (his leg, his leg, please let it still be there his leg) as he uses all of his willpower to stop the tears of pain gathering on the corner of his eyes.]

[lookedtothestars]

[Knowledge of anatomy aided in making it quick- at least on his part. How long it Kal-El is of little importance. The immediate cauterization will keep him from being useless for too long, though it is unfortunate that Kal-El's collapse to the ground prevented him from severing it completely. The rest will have to be removed later.]

You only live because I will it.

You will obey me.

[andaway]

Fuck you. [He might be hurt, he might be in pain- and now that he can manage a look at his leg he can see it wasn't completely cut off from his body. Was it on purpose? He wouldn't put it past his father.

He hovers off the ground, just enough so he isn't placing weight on his leg. In normal circumstances it could be maybe, with a skilled surgeon and being fast enough so it doesn't lose enough blood. As it is, with the laser having already cauterized the wound there isn't much he can do.

He lets out what he will later deny was a sob, ignoring his father completely as he uses his own lasers to finish what his father started.]

[lookedtothestars]

[He watches coldly. There's almost a modicum of satisfaction in Kal-El removing the rest of his own leg without requesting help, and Jor-El does not offer to assist him. Even if he cannot have a completely obedient son, he at least has one that can take the steps few others are able to. Willing to.]

Do you need time to recover or are you ready to continue what we started?

[andaway]

[Clark just- coughs, turning to his side and heaving. He doesn't actually puke, but the pain is so intense, so unbelievable he thinks, for a second, that it isn't surprising humans are such fucking cowards if they have to feel things like this every single day of their lives.

He's glad to be Kryptonian.]

Can you check the wound up close? I can't, from where I'm standing. Then we can continue.

[lookedtothestars]

[Only under a yellow sun. Without it, he would be nearly useless. Discipline is more important than pure power.

He approaches once more, this time to examine, rather than wound.]

[andaway]

[And with a swift high-speed movement, Kal stabs the longsword he retrieved from his boot right in the middle of Jor-El's chest, using one of the cracks the armor had gotten in the battle with Aya.]

I told you that was a mistake. [He twists the sword, angling it both to make more damage and make sure he's actually killed the man... and to cause him more pain.] I wouldn't have killed you, I meant that. You're the only other Kryptonian left, and my father- even if you're, in simple human words so you can understand it... a coward. But you had to play the brave little soldier, you had to pretend you were an Alpha male for once, didn't you?

Well, fuck that. Fuck you, because I have never really needed you to do any of this. And you know something else? [He takes half of the longsword out, only to thrust it back inside again while twisting the hilt.]

You are not my real father.

[lookedtothestars]

[If it weren't for the pain, the shock shutting down his body, everything quickly being overtaken by the pain and awareness he was dying, he would have laughed.

A good death is its own reward.]