Claiming the Tower

Military: Battle

The twisted tower is in sight - but it's exterior has been infested with phantoms and figments; the explorers must claim the tower or their bodies will start warping from exposure to the mainland's magics.

Though the path had been fraught with dangers and continual attacks, the exterior of the tower itself was peaceful - amidst its silent empty ruins, the adventurers were offered a break akin to the eye of the storm, although the stillness and strangeness in the air was an ominous hint and threat to adventurers.   Especially with - as they approached the entrance to the tower, they found it was currently in the process of protecting itself a massive wind tunnel surrounding it and acting as a physical barrier to intrusions. They were forced to look for some other form of entry, yet would shortly discover they were in fact not alone.   out of the shadows, figures that appeared to be made entirely out of darknness would form and approach various memebers of the party, with their eyes emitting a ghostly light, they watched over the various members, standing only a shart distance from each, yet unable to touch them.   Brave amongs tthem, Anise was the first to touch the shadow that had been formed - it leaching some of the color and life from her and in turn emulating her, but in return it gave Anise it's memories, in which Anise saw herself entering the tower, but the tower was infested with some sort of "creatures" with large dangerous claws capable of rendering flesh steel and magic alike.   Though she had seen similar creatures before recently, this was the largest she had yet encountered, and in this vision emitted by the shadow, she saw herself being slain by one of it's massive claws, cutting her throat after it had cut each spell from her.   With her seemingly unharmed, her bravy would be shared amidst various other members of her party, who would encounter similar visions of their death, the sensations of dsicomfort drawing more of the shadowy creatures around them - each with theit own story to tell, from the perspective of hte one who hd touched them. an endless array of deaths.   These adventurers would learn that there was a story here to tell - one of many alternate realities in which they had come to this place, and all died, many many times in a vain pointless sacrifice.   But these adventurers were dauntless - and unwilling to fall, amidst the visions - their entrance to the tower was witnessed, and so, with De'nethorrs light, and a trickery of magical manipulation by Anise yet again, they gained passage to the ruined tower.   The first discovery this party would experience upon arrival, would quickly be the torn ground around them - ruined and remade in moments, constantly being destroyed by strikes that appeared to be shifting and forming and constantly repairing as if it had been rejected by their current path, making a challenging terrain to move around on as the footing upon the ground was inconsistent at best, as if multiple fragmented timelines had all collapsed together, leaving only the current moment as their encapsulation.   The source of this damage, the party would discover would only discover later. For their current concern was the overwhelming sweltering heat of the tower, and the soft groans of distress made by the stones around them. It would take them exploring the exterior - and finding a strange laboratory, with various tubes and dials set to feed "something" with the essence of magic, and blood.   Disturbingly, these was an overabundence of blood - all being channeled into the tower, but a lack of essence, yet the party having brought along with them essnece of the mainland already, and under Pennie's intellectual guidance, they restored the an amount of the arcane essence to the tower, and brought it within the proper channels, saving it from overloading itself into a tormented death.   Yet they were not alone in this tower, the more of it they repaired, the more they discovered of an infestation. Something had been using the tower as a birthing area, and had countless spawn inside of it, yet this something - was a creature they could not find, at least until they had fully restored functionality.   As they returned to the entrace of the tower, where the door to the innermost area had finally become unlocked, they were ambushed by a creature they would later know to be titled as a "saltieunni" and a queen amongst them at that. Her hefty frame and body supported by the twinned allies she had with her, ones that she would shamelessly sacrifice to preserve herself.   Vivian, Pennie, and Irene would both swiftly dive into battle against the two allies, as Gabriel and Anise would move forward against the queen, with Anise's quick, but devastating strikes, and Gabriel's Devestating but quick strikes, they would attempt to assault the queen, with the light of heaven behind them to alter the course of the queen's strikes.   The battle was both chaotic, and dangerous, the queen's strikes rained down in brutality, rending the armor and body of Gabriel - attempting to ruin the spells he had upon him, but with no spells to break on the spellbreaker her attacks were rendered less effective.   Anise was also put under a similar threat, though the lens of light whcih De'nethor had given her, and her own skills saved her much of the blows, each one that landed shattered bone and rended flesh. Though neither the Spellbreaker nor spellstealer could be stopped, landing a furious flury of blows.   And although the matter appeared to bear little effect on the queen, it's damage dissolutioned between the two of her followers, easier to strike and easier to kill were those around her. Which Irene and Vivian took to with great success, the countless limbs blending her target apart on the behalf of Vivian, whilst her whip would cut the very air from the lungs of the target of Irene, leaving both dead in little time.   The queen herself was the truest danger though, but with neither of her servants behind her, it was only a matter of time until she too - met her end. With her head crushed underneath Anise's fist. Only to moments later be twisted and re-amalgamted to a shard of stone, made from the creature's very essence, courtesy of a spell stolen by the aforementioned.