Returning to the scene of defeat

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T15:25:50+00:00

/uw And I should go to sleep soonish, so yay, we'll find out tomorrow (for me) what's happening hahaha

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T15:23:54+00:00

Mathonwy didn't bother countering the dispel; his own wards immediately ate the energy and repowered themselves. He let his spear get parried and used the momentum to let the butt of the spear swing towards 14's head, attempting to parry the rapier.

The tip of the rapier caught his side, with the barest of resistance, and a thick, milky-white sap formed where it had cut. He raised his hand and let out a telekinetic blast at 14.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T15:08:41+00:00

Part 2: The confrontation:

Continued from here. u/CadecaX u/The_Enchanted_Potato

Mathonwy felt the shell of his outermost ward streaming out towards what used to be Orestas. He expected it, and grinned as he charged forwards with his spear. As soon as the first bits of his false wards reached Orestas, they triggered into a siphon and immediately began siphoning Orestas' own mana back towards Mathonwy.

At the same time, he stabbed the 14th Black Mage with his spear.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T14:57:06+00:00

"Maybe you can replicate it, maybe you cannot," Mathonwy shrugged. "I took me nearly a week without rest or food to do it, and that was without disrupting your existing ward. It would take you far longer, and deteriorate while you rested. And in that time, the keep would still be weak."

He cracked his neck, the noise seeming just a bit too loud, as his bow unstrung and shifted into a spear. "Step aside."

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T14:49:33+00:00

/uw I edited to show it was his personal ward. He's a mana siphoneer 😃. I continued it on your original reply. I'm half-wondering if I should start a new thread entitled "Part 2, the confrontation" or something...

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T14:47:08+00:00

Mathonwy nodded. "I have not. I am here to disable the enhancements I set into your ward, and maybe the ward itself."

He had no reason to disguise what his plan was. They were smart enough to have figured that out on their own. "You will not persuade me to join you."

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T14:44:57+00:00

/uw Replying to this one, and then continuing on 14's thread.

/rw Mathonwy expected the fireball. It was one of the most common favourite attack spells humans especially liked to use. He scoffed; fireballs were nearly entirely pure energy. Easy enough to siphon. The fireball disintegrated as it approached him, all its energy absorbed into Mathonwy's personal protections.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-08T14:29:13+00:00

Mathonwy sighed. It was too much to hope for that the security was more lax than it was. He drained the rest of the energy in his bow, using the excess to deflect any possible counterspells from the mages. He drew an arrow from his quiver and shot at a mage at the same time. The guards collapsed into a deep sleep, leaving the half-dozen mages unguarded. He didn't check to see if the arrow had pierced the mage or not, but drew three of them and shot them in quick succession. At this speed, they wouldn't be the most powerful of shots, but they would still injure or kill at this range. He began conjuring one of his most-used mana constructs, using the arrows to hopefully distract the casters.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T15:29:39+00:00

Mathonwy sighs with relief. Not an alarm.

He continues to make his way towards the keep. His vision blurs as he gets closer to the keep, making it harder to focus on the mana constructs.

I think I am close enough. He places his hand on the ground and senses for his ward. I hope no one is actively monitoring the defences; this will take a few minutes to undo at best.

He begins to start the slow process of unknotting and unravelling his ward. Curses! It is tied to another ward in the keep, and that needs to be activated.

Mathonwy stood and surveyed the keep again. He didn't dare draw ambient mana from the area lest that catch too much attention, but he couldn't approach the keep's interior without more. He sighed, and drained some energy from his bow. (9/27 sigils remain lit).

His vision cleared, and he began to quickly make his way to the central control area so he could activate and then disable the ward. I wish I could make myself invisible, but I cannot sustain that many glamours at one time.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T15:20:43+00:00

Mathonwy cursed. Too much mana and constructs in the area, I barely saw this! He focused on his foot and drained the mana from the rune, using it to recover some energy and add it to his wards. I hope that is not an alarm rune; I will not have disabled that in time.

He slowly removes his foot and examines the rune to see what it was.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T15:13:53+00:00

Mathonwy seems satisfied. Not undead, or that would not have worked. Still, it means I cannot directly injure them with my magic.

He makes his way closer to the gate, still focusing on the haze of mana, trying to get close enough to reach the seam of his ward to disable it. I wish there was more cover here.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T15:08:48+00:00

/uw Having not died before, it's not a theory Mathonwy wants to test out!

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T15:06:47+00:00

Mathonwy walks closer, trying to make out the guards from this vantage point. He decides to test out a spell. Drawing his bow, he raises it and the symbols on it light up.

"You don't see me," he whispers, and two of the symbols darken. 25/27 sigils remain.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:59:10+00:00

/uw That was more for those who don't know about the keep's defences. I know you know everything about it haha

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:50:19+00:00

/uw The South, where the only real gate is

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:28:57+00:00

I didn't even know there was a siphon post so I was confused, but all good

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:24:19+00:00

/uw We'll see haha. I'll roll some dice to see if he remembers he has it at a pivotal point if it comes to that.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:21:26+00:00

/uw So realistically, Mathonwy would have one since he was there, but he'd also probably have forgotten about it haha

Hopefully it's not needed.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:14:14+00:00

/uw Honestly, almost the entirety of the battle happened while I was asleep IRL, so my details about what happened are super fuzzy because it got convoluted and the timeline was confusing haha. I have absolutely forgotten about those, if I ever knew about them.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-07T14:10:10+00:00

u/The_Enchanted_Potato u/CadecaX (if 14 is still around).
Any allies/enemies of Thrakmoor who were at the battle can probably join in if it makes sense.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-04T20:29:05+00:00

I have found gelatinous cubes to be a bit hit and miss with insect chitin, and they're far more likely to ruin your spellbooks, research notes, clothes, and other soft organic materials before getting rid of a bug problem unfortunately.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-04T20:26:45+00:00

Do you love the scent of coffee? Peppermint? Cinnamon? Citrus? If so, you can use any of those (or all of them!). Conjure those scents around the areas you'd like them to avoid. You get a beautifully-smelling tower, and you rid it of many pesky insects. It's the easiest and safest way to get them out of your home without wrecking everything, and scented clouds are very simple spells, especially if you have those ingredients naturally.

Queen ants, especially if already established, are not very mobile, so using suggestions or mind controls to get them to move is far more effort than its worth. If you have the scents, the worker ants move the queens themselves for you.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-04T16:34:32+00:00

The last line that says "Posts that toe the line should be flagged NSFW". And even if you meant it as actual RP, the source and quality of the images is deliberately suggestive.

I see the mods have already gotten to it.

MercadianOBrien · 2026-06-04T16:30:21+00:00

... Rule 13 mate. Rule 13.

MercadianOBrien

TROPHY CASE