The Hour of Judgement

The Riastrad is not something to be taken lightly. It can be entered simply by abandoning ones sense of self and and focusing all awareness on the world around you. Your people have a ceremony for it, a sort of short ritual which is used to hone the Riastrad from being a blunt instrument of blind destruction, into a sharp blade of unmitigated fury. With a deep growl you bare your teeth at your foe and raise your right arm, blade in hand, and bring the palm side of your clenched fist into the left side of your chest above your heart powerfully. The impact reverberates throughout your body, slightly affecting the tempo of your heartbeat. You beat a wild rhythm upon your chest, rapidly increasing your heart rate with each hit, simultaneously you summon up all of the Old Magic within you. In a rush your Riastrad is upon you and threatens to overwhelm you immediately, while your markings shine a bright white. Your mind and senses now operate in complete clarity save for a burning desire for ****. It does not matter who dies now, something inside you wants nothing more than the **** of all things including yourself. Your body rushes forward toward your enemy, unhindered by its injuries and it does so without the necessity for your command. Time seems to slow to a crawl in your enhanced state, each second passing as though it were a minute or two. You know that your Riastrad does not actually slow time but rather accelerates your perception, allowing you to experience it as though it were slowed and act accordingly. Because of this, Gidul appears to move much more slowly than you, albeit still relatively fast. You watch as she raises vine-like tendrils from the blackened earth to ensnare you, but you simply break through them with sheer muscle as they attempt to bind your feet to the earth. You can feel them as they push up through the earth beneath your feet and are able to avoid them adeptly as you approach her.

Gidul's strategy has changed completely now, she is slowly backing away as you approach her and is bringing all four of her arms forward. You assume this is to block your incoming attack, that is until you feel another movement beneath your feet. This shifting in the soil is much more subtle than the dull probing vines she has been attempting to grab you with, it is sharp and thin. Needle-like thorns begin to emerge from the ground under you every few inches. With careful agility you avoid several large spikes, only to have multiple thorns appear at once before you. Without a thought you instinctively leap through the thorns before they can impale you. Gidul's arms transform again and even in your Riastrad the transformation is quite rapid. Four massive and jagged spikes have replaced her hands, she sends these four spikes hurtling toward you. You try to move your body to alter the course of your charge and avoid the incoming projectiles but your body does not respond. You order your body to avoid the thorns but instead your body only leans into the charge and continues on at the same speed. It is clear that you are losing control of your Riastrad, that is if you haven't entirely lost it already. The first thorns have almost reached you now and with all of the willpower you can muster, you command your body to sidestep the flying spikes. You were only somewhat successful, your body moves to the side a few inches at the last moment. In managing to move to the left a bit you successfully prevented any of the projectiles from hitting your heart or head, although one buries itself deep into your torso about two inches from your aorta, a part of you feels almost disappointed that it missed. This small victory over your Riastrad will have to do for now. You are almost within reach of her, and her arms are still recovering from her own projectile ****, now is your only chance. You bring your left blade down upon her guarding arms with speed that impresses even you at the time. Your first cut clears the way as you bring your right blade down immediately after in a vertical slice that lands directly in the middle of her head, splitting her swiftly down the middle until your blade connects with something dense. Your blade carves through the dense bundle at her center and bisects her entirely. In that instant the crackling green aura around her arcs onto your blade in a bolt of energy that courses through you via the tusk. The power is immense enough to overwhelm you instantly, pulsing through you like a titanic wave. Your blade practically hums with the energy whilst you struggle to contain it and harness it within your body. With each pulse of the energy it seems to become accustomed to your new body, spreading throughout you and settling within. Your once pure white Raghik markings begin to take on a bright green color like that of a leaf when light shines through it.

"You seem to be having some issues with your Riastrad. Still you are managing it slightly better than I thought you would... Interesting." Says a deep growling voice, you recognize it immediately as Karnak. The voice is clearly only in your head. You attempt to answer it but hear no response.

The wooden husk of what once was Gidul the Wild God of the Forest, clatters into a heap before you, devoid of the energy that permeated her only an instant ago. The dark earth greedily swallows what remains of her whole. Looking to the circle around you, you can see that only a single line has disappeared. Although you cannot feel any pain from your wounds you are well aware of them and how grave they are. You look down at them to better assess the damage and note that you are no longer bleeding. You can feel your bones adjusting back into place, while your body pushes out the thorns embedded in your chest. Muscles and tissues begin to knit and fuse themselves back together. You watch in total awe as the large hole in your side closes completely. Once this process is completed you turn your attention back to the binding circle around you. A few more spokes have disappeared leaving less than half. You gradually regain control of your Riastrad as the time slowly passes. Even though your eyes had been focused on your healing body, you were aware of the sounds of battle in the distance. They were far off indeed but a faint scent on the wind confirmed what you had already assumed, the spiders had returned. When the stones binding finally came undone, you sprinted from that place as fast as your legs could carry you toward the sound of battle. You were considerably faster than before your fight, and you arrive at the edge of battle much sooner than you had anticipated.

Your party is surrounded almost entirely by a mob of Pine Widows, their numbers dwarf your own. While part of you feels obligated to join the battle, another part of you feels required not to. You had not yet been able to see your entire horde at work, now was the perfect time to observe them under attack. Until now they were untested but now the opportunity to prove themselves had arisen. The question lingered for a moment, do you assist them or do you just watch?