03-03-2012, 12:03 PM
((This post was a collaborative effort between JVNemesis and myself, and wouldn't have been possible whatsoever without him/her!))
Click click click.
“Stubborn little b***h! Of -course- the paladins show up when I try to remove my troublesome daughter from the equation. No problem; even if she lives, she'll be broken and scarred. I should have killed her too when I tried drowning that brat-my 'son' -Kared...”
The steady click-click-click as her taloned thumb tapped each finger of her gauntlet in turn was the only noise that disrupted the gloom of the crypt. She stared down at the wreck of a corpse on the slab before her.
Click click click.
Weak...so weak....how? The mortals...Gurubashi...damned Trolls...Orcs....Elves...and Attara. My daughter, how you've...grown. Do you...remember...when you joined the Bluffwatch? I do. I remember the mix of pride-and of disgust, disgust at how you've come to merely hinder me now...
It had taken much effort to retrieve as much of the fool's hide as she had; more than he was worth, perhaps. There needed to be some changes time time. There would be, despite whatever she did.
She trailed a hand over the reconstructed (replaced) face, the hard, unyielding metal, up over the curving, wicked horns. Rebuilding the mind was not so easy. He would not be the same.
Click click click.
"My daughter, I see you before me. I kneel before you, unable to stand any longer. Even if I could speak, I wouldn't know what to say. I love you. I hate you. Oh, how I hate you...love you...which is it?"
And yet...so much the better. He had been weak, reckless, and his existence had ended for it.
Click click click.
"Darkness...everything's dark now..."
He had walked into a trap, surprised by superior numbers but unwilling to flee, just as his predecessor before him.
Just as she intended.
Click. Click. Click.
"...it...hurts..."
She touched the black recesses of the eye sockets, tracing them with her clawed fingers.
He would not make the same mistakes again. She lifted the Malediction.
Sickly, eldritch energy erupted from the artifact, unholy tendrils curling and weaving around the reconstructed corpse. The questing tentacles burrowed into the dead tauren, permeating the rotted flesh, and all the while her other hand continued its sedate tapping.
Click click click.
"...the Darkness. It's...back. Did it ever leave? It's so hard to tell. I...I hear again. Everything's muffled...what's being said? Who's saying it? Attara, is that you? Palenix?...no. Shinro?...no. It has to be her."
Dark magic continued to pour from the glowing rod, seeping into every inch of the corpse's flesh. She did not falter, the golden rod pulsing in her hand.
Click click click.
"My sweet, sweet daughter; oh how I...hate. Yes, I've finally figured it out; I hate you. You had the chance that the steer of a son Kared never had, and you blew it. You saved him and sacrificed what love I had left for you. Everything you did beyond that point was wasted, worthless. See for yourself; see what I will do to your so-called 'friends'. You will never know love nor compassion so long as you live, you wry little b***h..."
And then it was done. The bolts of green lightning fell away, and she lowered the Malediction. The artifact hummed in her hand, the purple crystal at its top glowing faintly.
Click. Click.
Her fingers stilled.
"My hands..these gauntlets....they're mine, but they're not. My neck feels...different? No. Everything feels different. it feels as if my bones are all that are familiar, and even then...my head..."
He was restored, but not to how he was before. There would be no more pandering, no more feigning to follow his orders.
He belonged to her now.
She leaned forward, witchlights flickering as she stared into the gaping black pits of the grinning, saronite deathmask that was now the tauren's face.
“Tell me, Kraine,” she purred, “are you ready to ride forth once more?”
Blue fire flared to life in the black eye sockets, flickering wildly.
"...yes, I am. I shall ride once more, and those who stand before me shall fall."
Zalthiel's flayed lips drew back in a faint smile.
Afflictions:
-The body was basically re-stitched together a la Abomination-style, due to the fact that he was basically dust and bones, fixing/grafting/stitching stuff, maybe the odd plate or two here to help hold him together (which ties in with the slowness). The mask is the most notable of those, and that's because of her sick sense of humor. While some parts are hard to remove without surgery or excessive force, the removal or damage of these can cause catastrophic damage as the area simply begins to fall apart/unravel.
-Limiting of his Runic magic. He's almost totally forgotten/lost Blood/Frost, and what he does have is focused almost solely on Unholy magics; no Blood Boils, Pillar of Frost, Hungering Cold, anything like that from him.
-Slow: Due to his new and unfamiliar body and the large set of armor he wears, Kraine's speed has been reduced; his strength, however, is unaffected.
-Fear of the Light: Kraien has an extreme fear of the Light, and what he fears must be destroyed! If someone nearby is identified as a user of the Light, he must attack them, regardless of circumstances; middle of the forest, ship on the sea, the gate sof Hearthglen; it does not matter to him. Needless to say, this could end up being suicidal!
Click click click.
“Stubborn little b***h! Of -course- the paladins show up when I try to remove my troublesome daughter from the equation. No problem; even if she lives, she'll be broken and scarred. I should have killed her too when I tried drowning that brat-my 'son' -Kared...”
The steady click-click-click as her taloned thumb tapped each finger of her gauntlet in turn was the only noise that disrupted the gloom of the crypt. She stared down at the wreck of a corpse on the slab before her.
Click click click.
Weak...so weak....how? The mortals...Gurubashi...damned Trolls...Orcs....Elves...and Attara. My daughter, how you've...grown. Do you...remember...when you joined the Bluffwatch? I do. I remember the mix of pride-and of disgust, disgust at how you've come to merely hinder me now...
It had taken much effort to retrieve as much of the fool's hide as she had; more than he was worth, perhaps. There needed to be some changes time time. There would be, despite whatever she did.
She trailed a hand over the reconstructed (replaced) face, the hard, unyielding metal, up over the curving, wicked horns. Rebuilding the mind was not so easy. He would not be the same.
Click click click.
"My daughter, I see you before me. I kneel before you, unable to stand any longer. Even if I could speak, I wouldn't know what to say. I love you. I hate you. Oh, how I hate you...love you...which is it?"
And yet...so much the better. He had been weak, reckless, and his existence had ended for it.
Click click click.
"Darkness...everything's dark now..."
He had walked into a trap, surprised by superior numbers but unwilling to flee, just as his predecessor before him.
Just as she intended.
Click. Click. Click.
"...it...hurts..."
She touched the black recesses of the eye sockets, tracing them with her clawed fingers.
He would not make the same mistakes again. She lifted the Malediction.
Sickly, eldritch energy erupted from the artifact, unholy tendrils curling and weaving around the reconstructed corpse. The questing tentacles burrowed into the dead tauren, permeating the rotted flesh, and all the while her other hand continued its sedate tapping.
Click click click.
"...the Darkness. It's...back. Did it ever leave? It's so hard to tell. I...I hear again. Everything's muffled...what's being said? Who's saying it? Attara, is that you? Palenix?...no. Shinro?...no. It has to be her."
Dark magic continued to pour from the glowing rod, seeping into every inch of the corpse's flesh. She did not falter, the golden rod pulsing in her hand.
Click click click.
"My sweet, sweet daughter; oh how I...hate. Yes, I've finally figured it out; I hate you. You had the chance that the steer of a son Kared never had, and you blew it. You saved him and sacrificed what love I had left for you. Everything you did beyond that point was wasted, worthless. See for yourself; see what I will do to your so-called 'friends'. You will never know love nor compassion so long as you live, you wry little b***h..."
And then it was done. The bolts of green lightning fell away, and she lowered the Malediction. The artifact hummed in her hand, the purple crystal at its top glowing faintly.
Click. Click.
Her fingers stilled.
"My hands..these gauntlets....they're mine, but they're not. My neck feels...different? No. Everything feels different. it feels as if my bones are all that are familiar, and even then...my head..."
He was restored, but not to how he was before. There would be no more pandering, no more feigning to follow his orders.
He belonged to her now.
She leaned forward, witchlights flickering as she stared into the gaping black pits of the grinning, saronite deathmask that was now the tauren's face.
“Tell me, Kraine,” she purred, “are you ready to ride forth once more?”
Blue fire flared to life in the black eye sockets, flickering wildly.
"...yes, I am. I shall ride once more, and those who stand before me shall fall."
Zalthiel's flayed lips drew back in a faint smile.
Afflictions:
-The body was basically re-stitched together a la Abomination-style, due to the fact that he was basically dust and bones, fixing/grafting/stitching stuff, maybe the odd plate or two here to help hold him together (which ties in with the slowness). The mask is the most notable of those, and that's because of her sick sense of humor. While some parts are hard to remove without surgery or excessive force, the removal or damage of these can cause catastrophic damage as the area simply begins to fall apart/unravel.
-Limiting of his Runic magic. He's almost totally forgotten/lost Blood/Frost, and what he does have is focused almost solely on Unholy magics; no Blood Boils, Pillar of Frost, Hungering Cold, anything like that from him.
-Slow: Due to his new and unfamiliar body and the large set of armor he wears, Kraine's speed has been reduced; his strength, however, is unaffected.
-Fear of the Light: Kraien has an extreme fear of the Light, and what he fears must be destroyed! If someone nearby is identified as a user of the Light, he must attack them, regardless of circumstances; middle of the forest, ship on the sea, the gate sof Hearthglen; it does not matter to him. Needless to say, this could end up being suicidal!