[HH22] Scramble for the Throne

[Mr. President]

Prologue


Ritual Chamber, Death Mountain

Red: Hey man, you awake?

Blue: We're undead. We don't sleep.

Red: Oh yeah, right. Well, you remember when those adventurers busted in here and broke the Source of Unlight?

Blue: Yeah, I 'member.

Red: Must have been like ten years ago, right?

Blue: Thirteen years ago today.

Red: Yeah, right. You remember the paladin? What was her name?

Blue: Oh yeah, the paladin. The paladin's name . . . no, I don't 'member.

Red: Damn. I was just thinking about her.

Blue: . . . Seriously?

*thud*



Layla the Enchantress: Yes! This is the place - just as the Tome's hidden thirteenth chapter described it! Kind of a mess. But still, the Dark Lord's power shall be mine!

Blue: Can we help you?

Layla: Ah, you must be here to welcome the new ruler of Death Mountain.

Red: Who?

Layla: Me! I meant me!



Layla: Clearly this chest contains some sort of power left over from the last great war. Why else would the Dark Lord have left you behind to guard it, even after his death?

Red: I don't think that was the Dark Lord's. It was here when we moved in.

Blue: Yeah, I don't know what it does.

Layla: So you two are not the guardians of the Dark Lord's power?

Red: Well, I used to be more of a doorman.

Blue: He told us to guard this room. But he's gone now. And we didn't have anything else to do, so . . .

Red: Hey, that reminds me. The Source is gone too, right? So why are we still alive? Undead? Whatever?

Blue: What do I look like, a wizard?

*thud*



Akuma: This must be the place. It took us thirteen weeks of travel from Kanagawa, but this is where the power flows strongest!

Oni Retainer: There, daimyo! Others are here!

Blue: Let me guess. You're going to tell us you're the new ruler of Death Mountain?

Layla: Over my dead body!

Akuma: That can be arranged.

Red: Um . . .



Akuma: Yes, I can see we have come to the right place. With this magnificent weapon in my hands, all shall kneel before me!

Layla: Empty words, ogre mage. I shall be the next Dark Lord!

*thud*

Blue: What now?!



Kraag the Golden: Thirteen stories down, in the thirteenth portal . . . ah, I see we were not the first to arrive. But you shall be the first to fall. The age of mammals is ending!

Akuma: I'm not a mammal!

Kraag: You know what I mean!

Layla: Foolish creatures, all blunt force. Now you'll learn the hard way.

Red: Look, we're all rational beings. Can't we talk about this, just the thirteen of us?



Blue: I guess not.

[Mr. President]

Layla opens the chest. It does not, in fact, contain ultimate power, but she can use it to conjure a fire elemental! [Feat Successful]



Her guards try to launch a pre-emptive strike on Kraag, but can't damage him.



Not to be outdone in recklessness, the oni retainer sticks his hand in the mysterious bowl.

Hollow Voice: I hear . . .



Across the hall, Akuma grabs the oddly solitary sword from the wall.



He takes a mighty leap over his retainers . . .



And crashes down in the middle of the melee, disrupting most of them! [Feat Successful]



One of his retainers finishes off Layla's bodyguard.



The sound of creaking stone fills the chamber as the statue is animated by an evil spirit, in response to the retainer's mystical call with the bowl!

(The crocodiles rolled terribly on their turn and so are not pictured. )

[Mr. President]

Layla's staff hums as she raises it into the winds of magic.

"Suleiman, Master of the Bottle, let your Key unseal the Thirteenth Gate!"



But instead of summoning djinns, all she gets is a face full of green goop. Perhaps she should have tried the Twelfth or Fourteenth Gate. [Feat Failed]



The elemental and her surviving guard are locked in combat with Kraag and his sickle-wielding lieutenant.



As are Akuma and his retainer with the other two crocodiles.



The crocodile lieutenant is the only one who rolls well this turn - his golden sickle disrupts the fire elemental's form and it falls, scattering flames across the floor!



A third oni rushes to join the battle . . .



But slips and faceplants into the fire!



The skeletons scatter as the last retainer leaps onto the table.



He tries to attack Layla with his chain weapon, but also critfails and falls off the table.

[Mr. President]

Having defeated his opponent, Akuma tries to cut Kraag's head off from behind.



He must have some kind of history with the Spirit of Thirteen, because this was like the fourth successive 1 the oni team rolled. As a result, Kraag could divert Akuma's strike to hit Layla's bodyguard instead!



Conversely, the Spirit of Thirteen must have a soft spot for crocodiles: the lieutenant hits a massive overskill on Layla!



The overskill knocks her staff into the flames and the mystical overload blows them out, flash-frying the oni retainer and melting the statue's weapon and shield!



Similarly, this crocodile finally overcomes another retainer.



Kraag grabs Akuma, readying his flame blade . . .



He uses it to call to the other flames, and after another overskill roll, the flames rise like hungry . . . well, crocodiles, consuming Akuma and all his remaining allies! [Feat Critical Success]

[Mr. President]

Epilogue



Kraag: So, what exactly is this thing?

Blue: By constructing a tree of life out of saturnium and placing thirteen doomstones at the key nodes, you can channel their energy into resonant pathways which enhance spells and rituals.

Red: Are you sure you're not a wizard?

Kraag: But there are only twelve stones here.

Blue: Exactly.

Kraag: Interesting, very interesting. I see I still have much to learn. But perhaps . . . how would the two of you like a job?

Red: . . . Well, it's not like we have anything else to do . . .

[Scribonius]

I really wish I had managed to get my hands on both Statlor and Waldorf to be my judges for the Hellhaunt. I need to track down the one I'm missing.

Gameplay: 5

Photo: 4 Lots of photos, but the action was kind of confusing? Some overview shots every now and then would have been nice. Also whatever host site you were using lost your title photo.

Violence: 5 Yep, plenty of that.

Writing: 5 Hey a storyline. Nice.

Overall Appeal: 3 This was really short compared to the other entries, and kind of confusing. A nice effort, but your initial starter photo not loading kind of put me off. Not your doing, I know, but still...

[Mr. President]

I really wish I had managed to get my hands on both Statlor and Waldorf to be my judges for the Hellhaunt. I need to track down the one I'm missing.

Gameplay: 5

Photo: 4 Lots of photos, but the action was kind of confusing? Some Overwatch shots every now and then would have been nice. Also whatever host site you were using lost your title photo.

Violence: 5 Yep, plenty of that.

Writing: 5 Hey a storyline. Nice.

Overall Appeal: 3 This was really short compared to the other entries, and kind of confusing. A nice effort, but your initial starter photo not loading kind of put me off. Not your doing, I know, but still...

Hello there! - I know it's not usually customary to reply to judge posts, but this is just to thank you for letting me know about the initial photo. I was having trouble with it before the forums went down, and thought I fixed it, but apparently it didn't take. Like Kraag, I think I have much to learn.

[The PumpKing]

This was a fun read. I do appreciate the banter between Red and Blue.

Gameplay: 4 Short and sweet with plenty of hilarious fails and crits.

Photography: 3 There's some wacky lighting here and there but not terrible.

Violence: 4 Death and gore a plenty.

Writing: 4 Love the dialogue, especially with Red and Blue in the mix. Its so simple yet so effective.

Overal Appeal: 4 The 13th felt kind of thrown in, but I think it works for what it is.

[Gorvoslov]

Gameplay: 4
Photography: 4
Violence: 3.5
Writing: 4
Overthirteen Appeal: 4

Oh good, glad they don't have a thirteenth doomstone. Twelve doomstones is fine.

[Scribonius]

Hello there! - I know it's not usually customary to reply to judge posts, but this is just to thank you for letting me know about the initial photo. I was having trouble with it before the forums went down, and thought I fixed it, but apparently it didn't take. Like Kraag, I think I have much to learn.

Honestly, the way the forum has been popping up and down lately, I don't think it was your fault, but it was an issue. Good battle, regardless.

[Mr. President]

Hello there! - I know it's not usually customary to reply to judge posts, but this is just to thank you for letting me know about the initial photo. I was having trouble with it before the forums went down, and thought I fixed it, but apparently it didn't take. Like Kraag, I think I have much to learn.

Honestly, the way the forum has been popping up and down lately, I don't think it was your fault, but it was an issue. Good battle, regardless.

Thank you!

I'll just keep an eye on it next time, I guess.