The following people have permission to post here: Myself, any other WPL, the players on this quest (defined below), and anyone else that I give permission to.
Anyone who posts in here who doesn’t have permission will be disparaged, disrespected, discombobulated, disarmed, disenfranchised, discredited, diseased, disfigured, disemboweled, dismembered, dissolved, and defenestrated. And if I’m in a bad mood, it’ll be in that order. Whatever remains will be given to Lou to do with as he pleases.
Cyouni/Cyouni
Gully/Qfx
Aggron/Nevinz
“Cyouni, for services rendered here today, I hereby release you from your pact with me. Your debt has been repaid.” He grabs Cyouni by the shirt, pulls him up so that he is nearly nose to nose with the demon, and says, “You should have taken my offer. You might even have lived.” He chuckles, blasting Cyouni with his fetid breath. “May whatever god you believe in,” he says, carrying him suspended by his wrist and shirt as he walks forwards, “have mercy on your soul.”
He lets go.
Cyouni drops, his feet finding uneven purchase, and falls backwards down the ziggurat. In his weakened condition, he doesn’t have enough control over his body to slow himself down, until he crashes back-first into the first obelisk he charged. Yellow and purple lights flash in Cyouni’s eyes at the impact.
The demon then turns around to the figures that have appeared behind him. He looks almost shocked, but nothing can hide the joy on his face. “My friends. It has been too long.”
His ‘friends’ are a trio of ragged, nearly shambling figures. Two things can be easily determined from their looks:
One, they are very clearly dead.
Two, they are very, very hungry.
“You look as though you haven’t tasted fresh meat in centuries,” he says, pining over them as if they were his lost children. “Well, above you lies a massive city! Thousands of beings, ripe for the harvest!”
The zombies almost cheer with delight. The two smaller ones start drooling, while the other one grips its mage’s staff and hisses.
“There lies your first meal in ages, my friends!” he says, pointing at the crumpled form of Cyouni at the base of the Ziggurat. “FEAST!”
One thing becomes quickly apparent with these zombies. They must come from a place where only the fast and the clever are able to actually catch food. These zombies are a lot quicker than the shambling wrecks that most Dominarian mages are used to.
With a roar of delight, they charge down the ziggurat towards Cyouni. The demon starts to draw mana to himself, and smiles at Cyouni’s peril.
Cyouni takes 2 damage from losing the final tattoo, and subsequent fall damage.
The encounter is split up into five zones. The zones are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, and C, referring to the obelisks in the order Cyouni charged them, and the Center pedestal. Each turn, during your pre-combat main phase, you may use up a spell to move yourself and up to all your permanents to an adjacent zone. Alternatively, you may move any of your untapped creatures who are unaffected by summoning sickness to an adjacent zone without you, at a cost of one spell per obelisk the creatures are moving to. This taps them, unless the creatures have vigilance. Creatures with trample may remain untapped after they move, but they must attack that turn. Example: Gully is at Obelisk 1 with 3 drakes and a ranger. She can move 2 drakes to Obelisk 2 for 1 spell, and herself with the remaining drake to the Center for 1 spell, keeping the ranger at Obelisk 1. This costs 2 spells, and the two drakes at Obelisk 2 are tapped. The ranger remains untapped.
You can only give commands to creatures of yours in adjacent zones. Players can only have their creatures block for other players if the player is in the same zone as the creatures.
Sorcery and instant spells may only affect your current and adjacent zones. If you are in the center zone then you my affect any zone with your sorcery and instant spells. A corner zone can only affect the center zone and the two other obelisk zones at its flanks.
Aggron and Gully are on the path down to Obelisk 1. They can reach it and only that one on their turn.
So, exactly what am I at now? I was at 7 before the last obelisk, so...
As well, I suppose I lose the mana-producing ability.
Cyouni slowly picks himself up, leaning against the obelisk for support. An eerie calm seems to have settled over him. Both arms are limp, and as a deep purple light flares from his left hand, Cyouni scrabbles in his satchel for the potion from earlier.
Cyouni's hand finds the potion, and he immediately brings it to his lips. No matter what it is, it can't put him in a worse situation than he's in now.
Two technical questions before we begin.
When you say 'use up a spell', you just mean a spell slot for the turn, right? Or do you actually mean 'discard a nonland card'?
Also, have I gotten any of the spells I used back in the tunnels back? Right now I'm down 2 life and out 2x Echoing Decay and 1x Elvish Spirit Guide, if I recall correctly.
Oh, and....this encounter looks awesome. I love the design and the thought you put into it. Thanks for that
<It's him. Both of them. The one bleeding over there is Cyouni, and the bastard on the pedestal has to be LOU! YOU MALFORMED SPAWN OF A GOBLIN'S DUNG! WILL YOU FACE ME NOW, YOU FESTERING LITTLE BOIL???> Aggron's first thoughts are private and to Gully, but then he hurls a challenge at Lou with such force that Gully and Cyouni can feel their brains shake. <OR WILL YOU HIDE BEHIND YOUR FILTHY UNDEAD LIKE THE COWARDLY PARASITE YOU ARE???>
Aggron's been waiting a long, long time for this. Even as he roars insults at Lou, he's weaving his hands through the air, preparing his own mana for what is sure to be an intense battle.
Lou looks up at Aggron's mental shout, and finds the two mages at the entrance to the cavern. After a flash of surprise on his face, he quickly recovers and laughs. "Well, if it isn't the little snack. And another tiny morsel, I see. The Golgari must be desperate if they've sent you after me. No matter. More food for the feast, then!"
Gully stops for a moment taking in the scene that she is faced with, Aggron's bitter words echoing in her head bring her back to reality.
Every Scar is a Lesson. Every Battle a Test of what you have learned.
Gully says to herself as she charges in with the stones on her gloves lighting up with Mana. With it she pulls a Ranger from the Æther, who nods at her. She and the Ranger take up fighting stances
The portal pulses, disgorging another three decrepit zombies and a strange undead hoofed cat creature none of them had seen before. At least alive. Something kicks Aggron's memory, but he can't identify it.
Lou gathers more mana to himself. "I should thank you two," he says. "I probably would never have found out about this beautiful spell without you." and lashes out, a blast of lightning hitting Cyouni in the chest, and a blast of necrotic energy ripped the spell Aggron used on the demon and guildmage from his mind.
The stones in Gully's gloves and the Ranger's skin light up with Mana. Gully drops to one knee, straightens her hand out and plunges it into the ground.
Lets see how this works.
She says asher ground around her glows slightly green. She pulls her hand out and the energy stays in the ground. She rises back to her feet.
How much damage were you guys able to do to him last time?
Cyouni decides to break into the conversation. "Not too much, but he had a pretty big head start."
As the zombies charge Cyouni, darkness swirls around him. Using the darkness as cover, Cyouni maneuvers himself behind the staff-wielding zombie and buries his dagger in its back. Yanking the blade out, he pushes it towards Aggron. "A little help here?"
Darkness, block Death Baron, 1 damage dealt. If you two wouldn't mind cross-blocking the Death Baron and one of the Dregscapes...
The purple light flares again. Placing his hand on the burn left by Lou's lightning, Cyouni focuses and sends black mana back through the trace left by the spell, eliminating it from Lou's mind.
Cyouni begins a run to the second obelisk. "Tell me about why you're here. And keep moving."
Life: 10
Casting:
1x Extirpate, targeting Lightning Bolt
Move to 2
I was under the impression that dagger damage was prevented by Fog effects. If it's not, then...
IC:
Aggron's tail whips through the air, finishing off the zombie Cyouni had injured. His hands twist mana as he runs, following his old friend. <We got hired, actually. I thought this would be a routine clean-up-the-riffraff kind of job. I had no idea you and Lou were involved until I got your scent. Looks like it's your turn to be lucky.>
Mana flashes through the signet ring and swirls into the form of Aggron's 'familiar' beast, the savage hound Naba had shown him. <And I'm sort of working with the Golgari now anyway. But what the hells is Lou trying to do here anyway? That portal--that portal can't be going home, can it?>
't really know anything about his motives. He's a sadistic monster who always tries to kill us. It's reason enough to stop him here.> Aggron looks at the portal for a long moment, though, thinking. <It might be nice to go back though, now that I'm a proper mage...>
Aggron looks over at Cyouni. <Do you know any more about this? I mean, you got here ahead of us. Do you have any idea what he's planning?>
"Considering that there are zombies coming out of that portal, and the fact that he's directed them to eat me and the whole of Ravnica, I don't think that's too hard to guess." A dry tone's entered Cyouni's voice.
<Oh, please. I'll be very surprised if the three of us can't stop his whole horde right here, and if we can't there are certainly battlemages who can handle any number of zombies, even Grixis ones. There has to be more to this.> Aggron's trying to be careful to keep Lou from 'hearing' him, but it's not easy, relaying the message twice to Gully and Cyouni every time he talks. He looks back over at Lou, wondering.
OOG: I just realized, the undead cat was actually a lizard-like beast. Whoops.
"Oh, running in fear, I see?" Lou laughs at the group scurrying around. "You! Get up here! You three, cut them off! And you, my darling little beast, have fun!"
The mage-like wizard starts to run up towards the top of the ziggurat, while another group like the last one comes out of the portal. The small zombies from the previous group charge down towards the next obelisk in line, ready to stop the mages. The zombified lizard, meanwhile, charges down the ziggurat towards the mages, snarling.
Lou finishes it off by summoning another zombie, this one Dominarian in origin. The zombies around the area look exceptionally strong, now.
This is a continuation of [Hellfire] Incursion, and [Hellfire] Resistance.
Anyone who posts in here who doesn’t have permission will be disparaged, disrespected, discombobulated, disarmed, disenfranchised, discredited, diseased, disfigured, disemboweled, dismembered, dissolved, and defenestrated. And if I’m in a bad mood, it’ll be in that order. Whatever remains will be given to Lou to do with as he pleases.
Cyouni/Cyouni
Gully/Qfx
Aggron/Nevinz
“Cyouni, for services rendered here today, I hereby release you from your pact with me. Your debt has been repaid.” He grabs Cyouni by the shirt, pulls him up so that he is nearly nose to nose with the demon, and says, “You should have taken my offer. You might even have lived.” He chuckles, blasting Cyouni with his fetid breath. “May whatever god you believe in,” he says, carrying him suspended by his wrist and shirt as he walks forwards, “have mercy on your soul.”
He lets go.
Cyouni drops, his feet finding uneven purchase, and falls backwards down the ziggurat. In his weakened condition, he doesn’t have enough control over his body to slow himself down, until he crashes back-first into the first obelisk he charged. Yellow and purple lights flash in Cyouni’s eyes at the impact.
The demon then turns around to the figures that have appeared behind him. He looks almost shocked, but nothing can hide the joy on his face. “My friends. It has been too long.”
His ‘friends’ are a trio of ragged, nearly shambling figures. Two things can be easily determined from their looks:
One, they are very clearly dead.
Two, they are very, very hungry.
“You look as though you haven’t tasted fresh meat in centuries,” he says, pining over them as if they were his lost children. “Well, above you lies a massive city! Thousands of beings, ripe for the harvest!”
The zombies almost cheer with delight. The two smaller ones start drooling, while the other one grips its mage’s staff and hisses.
“There lies your first meal in ages, my friends!” he says, pointing at the crumpled form of Cyouni at the base of the Ziggurat. “FEAST!”
One thing becomes quickly apparent with these zombies. They must come from a place where only the fast and the clever are able to actually catch food. These zombies are a lot quicker than the shambling wrecks that most Dominarian mages are used to.
With a roar of delight, they charge down the ziggurat towards Cyouni. The demon starts to draw mana to himself, and smiles at Cyouni’s peril.
Cyouni
2x Dregscape Zombie (:symtap:)
1x Death Baron (:symtap:)
C:
Lou:
Life: -0
1x Blood Crypt (:symtap:)
The encounter is split up into five zones. The zones are labeled 1, 2, 3, 4, and C, referring to the obelisks in the order Cyouni charged them, and the Center pedestal. Each turn, during your pre-combat main phase, you may use up a spell to move yourself and up to all your permanents to an adjacent zone. Alternatively, you may move any of your untapped creatures who are unaffected by summoning sickness to an adjacent zone without you, at a cost of one spell per obelisk the creatures are moving to. This taps them, unless the creatures have vigilance. Creatures with trample may remain untapped after they move, but they must attack that turn. Example: Gully is at Obelisk 1 with 3 drakes and a ranger. She can move 2 drakes to Obelisk 2 for 1 spell, and herself with the remaining drake to the Center for 1 spell, keeping the ranger at Obelisk 1. This costs 2 spells, and the two drakes at Obelisk 2 are tapped. The ranger remains untapped.
You can only give commands to creatures of yours in adjacent zones. Players can only have their creatures block for other players if the player is in the same zone as the creatures.
Sorcery and instant spells may only affect your current and adjacent zones. If you are in the center zone then you my affect any zone with your sorcery and instant spells. A corner zone can only affect the center zone and the two other obelisk zones at its flanks.
Aggron and Gully are on the path down to Obelisk 1. They can reach it and only that one on their turn.
As well, I suppose I lose the mana-producing ability.
Cyouni slowly picks himself up, leaning against the obelisk for support. An eerie calm seems to have settled over him. Both arms are limp, and as a deep purple light flares from his left hand, Cyouni scrabbles in his satchel for the potion from earlier.
Casting:
Battlefield:
1x Swamp
Graveyard:
As I recall, it's half the nonland permanents to hand, and the other half to graveyard. Shouldn't matter for long, though.
Oh, and getting up is my movement for the turn. So I'm still at Obelisk 1.
Cyouni's hand finds the potion, and he immediately brings it to his lips. No matter what it is, it can't put him in a worse situation than he's in now.
When you say 'use up a spell', you just mean a spell slot for the turn, right? Or do you actually mean 'discard a nonland card'?
Also, have I gotten any of the spells I used back in the tunnels back? Right now I'm down 2 life and out 2x Echoing Decay and 1x Elvish Spirit Guide, if I recall correctly.
Oh, and....this encounter looks awesome. I love the design and the thought you put into it. Thanks for that
Nobody gets any spells or life back, unless you do something like what Cyouni did.
Cyouni gains 10 life, and shuffle 10 cards from his graveyard back into his library.
Let's say:
Darkness x1
Extirpate x1
Damnation x1
Unholy Strength x4
Last Gasp x2
Sudden Death x1
That'll leave me with:
Battlefield:
1x Swamp
Graveyard:
Aggron's been waiting a long, long time for this. Even as he roars insults at Lou, he's weaving his hands through the air, preparing his own mana for what is sure to be an intense battle.
Life: 18
Field:
1x Swamp, T
1x Golgari Signet, Q
Yard:
2x Echoing Decay
Exile:
2x Elvish Spirit Guide
Every Scar is a Lesson. Every Battle a Test of what you have learned.
Gully says to herself as she charges in with the stones on her gloves lighting up with Mana. With it she pulls a Ranger from the Æther, who nods at her. She and the Ranger take up fighting stances
Weapon: 1/0, Ready
Playing: Forest, Skyshroud Ranger
IP:
1 Forest [1 :symtap:]
1 Skyshroud Ranger [1 and SS]
GY:
~ Nothing
Lou gathers more mana to himself. "I should thank you two," he says. "I probably would never have found out about this beautiful spell without you." and lashes out, a blast of lightning hitting Cyouni in the chest, and a blast of necrotic energy ripped the spell Aggron used on the demon and guildmage from his mind.
Cyouni
Gully
Aggron
2x Dregscape Zombie (3/2, :symtap:, attacking Cyouni)
1x Death Baron (2/2, :symtap:, attacking Cyouni)
C:
Lou
3x Dregscape Zombie (SS)
1x Dreg Reaver (SS)
Life: -0
Actions:
Play Mountain
Cast Lightning Bolt on Cyouni
Cast Extirpate on Echoing Decay
Field
1x Blood Crypt (:symtap:)
1x Mountain (:symtap:)
Yard
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Extirpate
Lets see how this works.
She says asher ground around her glows slightly green. She pulls her hand out and the energy stays in the ground. She rises back to her feet.
How much damage were you guys able to do to him last time?
Weapon: 1/0, Ready
Playing: Forest, Forest, Lifegift
IP:
3 Forest [3 :symtap:]
1 Skyshroud Ranger [1:symtap: for ability]
1 Lifegift
GY:
~
As the zombies charge Cyouni, darkness swirls around him. Using the darkness as cover, Cyouni maneuvers himself behind the staff-wielding zombie and buries his dagger in its back. Yanking the blade out, he pushes it towards Aggron. "A little help here?"
Darkness, block Death Baron, 1 damage dealt. If you two wouldn't mind cross-blocking the Death Baron and one of the Dregscapes...
The purple light flares again. Placing his hand on the burn left by Lou's lightning, Cyouni focuses and sends black mana back through the trace left by the spell, eliminating it from Lou's mind.
Cyouni begins a run to the second obelisk. "Tell me about why you're here. And keep moving."
Casting:
1x Extirpate, targeting Lightning Bolt
Move to 2
Battlefield:
2x Swamp (1 :symtap:)
Graveyard:
Aggron's tail whips through the air, finishing off the zombie Cyouni had injured. His hands twist mana as he runs, following his old friend. <We got hired, actually. I thought this would be a routine clean-up-the-riffraff kind of job. I had no idea you and Lou were involved until I got your scent. Looks like it's your turn to be lucky.>
Mana flashes through the signet ring and swirls into the form of Aggron's 'familiar' beast, the savage hound Naba had shown him. <And I'm sort of working with the Golgari now anyway. But what the hells is Lou trying to do here anyway? That portal--that portal can't be going home, can it?>
Life: 18
Field:
1x Wild Mongrel, Q
1x Swamp, Q
1x Forest, T
1x Golgari Signet, T
Yard:
2x Echoing Decay
Exile:
2x Elvish Spirit Guide
"No idea, but it looks like it."
Gully questions as she takes her eyes off of her opponents for a moment.
Aggron looks over at Cyouni. <Do you know any more about this? I mean, you got here ahead of us. Do you have any idea what he's planning?>
Gully remarks, more to herself then the others.
OOG: I just realized, the undead cat was actually a lizard-like beast. Whoops.
"Oh, running in fear, I see?" Lou laughs at the group scurrying around. "You! Get up here! You three, cut them off! And you, my darling little beast, have fun!"
The mage-like wizard starts to run up towards the top of the ziggurat, while another group like the last one comes out of the portal. The small zombies from the previous group charge down towards the next obelisk in line, ready to stop the mages. The zombified lizard, meanwhile, charges down the ziggurat towards the mages, snarling.
Lou finishes it off by summoning another zombie, this one Dominarian in origin. The zombies around the area look exceptionally strong, now.
2x Dregscape Zombie (4/3, Deathtouch, :symq:)
2:
Cyouni
Gully
Aggron
1x Dreg Reaver (6/5, Deathtouch, :symtap:)
3:
3x Dregscape Zombie (4/3, Deathtouch, :symtap:)
C:
Lou
1x Death Baron (3/3, :symtap:)
3x Dregscape Zombie (4/3, Deathtouch, SS)
1x Dreg Reaver (6/5, Deathtouch, SS)
Life: -0
Actions:
Play Swamp
Cast Cemetery Reaper (3/3, Deathtouch, SS)
Field
1x Blood Crypt (:symtap:)
1x Mountain (:symtap:)
Yard
1x Extirpate
Exile
4x Lightning Bolt