For countless minutes you hurtle into a whirling abyss of darkness and howling gales, torn by freezing winds that cut to the marrow despite your Magnakai protections. Then, as if waking from a dream, the sensation of falling abruptly ceases and you find yourself standing on a plateau of black volcanic rock, cratered and split by rivers of blazing lava. You take a tentative step forwards and feel the ground sag beneath your feet. The thin crust of cooled lava wrinkles and tears, and a jet of flickering yellow flame shoots upwards to engulf your legs,
Your Nexus skills are sufficiently developed to protect you from the flames and hellish temperature, but you are amazed that your boots and clothing have not ignited. Then you sense that your entirety is being protected by a field of energy radiating from the Platinum Amulet given you by Gwynian the Sage. Silently you thank him for his gift, for you suspect now that even your Kai skills would be hard-pressed to keep you safe in this alien domain.
(I am now in the Plane of Darkness. The Sommerswerd gives you an addition +4 CS on here).
With difficulty you cross the semi-molten terrain and reach an island of blue-grey basalt rock, strewn with cubes of obsidian and jet. At the island’s centre you discover a huge, untidy pile of cubes which make a crude temple. There is a yawning hollow at its base and, as you draw closer, you sense something is lurking there. Suddenly, a trio of horny-skinned creatures emerge from the dark hollow and take to the air on wings that glimmer like burnished gold. You watch them ascend, but you have difficulty following their flight when their bodies begin to flicker in and out of existence.
(I have both Grand Huntmastery and Sun Lord rank)
You scan the brooding sky, using your ability to see in the ultraviolet and infrared light spectrums. Your advanced Kai skills enable you to see and track the flying creatures as they circle slowly around their lair and come swooping down to attack you.
You draw your weapon and, in the ultraviolet spectrum, you detect that an aura of protection is sheathing it from the extreme temperature of this domain. Then a hideous shriek splits the air as the first of the beasts dives upon you.
Lavas: COMBAT SKILL 44 ENDURANCE 42
(Even without the +4 bonus to the CS from the plane, I’m at +8 versus these dorks, which would be basically game over – let’s toss some dice I roll an 8 which is an auto win).
The moment you slay the first two of these strange creatures, their bodies dissolve into a swirling cloud of steamy vapour. Now, upon the death of the third beast, the vapours unite and expand with breathtaking speed until the basalt island and the entire fiery plain beyond are engulfed by a thickening grey fog.
You walk through this sea of mist for what seems like an eternity until your senses detect that something is circling high above you. At first you suspect that more of the golden-winged creatures have come hunting for you, but then you detect that it is something completely different. There is only one creature, and you sense that it is using a highly-developed psychic probe in order to seek you out.
(I do not have Grand Nexus and Sun Knight)
You draw on your psychic defences to keep you hidden from this creature. You cannot see it in the dense fog but you can hear it swooping down, and you are nearly flattened by the draught of its mighty wings as it roars past close overhead.
As first it seems to be going away into the distance, but then you sense it turn about and come gliding back for a second pass. Suddenly you realize that your psychic defences are not hiding you from this creature at all; it is locking on to your life-force, not your mind.
(I use a bow)
You draw an Arrow and take aim in the direction you can hear the beast approaching from. It sounds as if it is no more than twenty yards away when you release the straining bowstring and send the Arrow streaking into the fog. The shaft has travelled barely a few yards when it ignites with a flash and is instantly transformed into a line of glowing splinters which float away on the mist.
As soon as the Arrow passed beyond the perimeter of the protection of your Platinum Amulet, it was subjected to the true temperature of this domain: a temperature which reduced it to glowing embers in less than a second.
(That is a cool effect!)
Suddenly, with a deafening roar, the unseen beast is upon you. You drop your Bow and unsheathe your weapon as it tries to rake you unmercifully with fang and claw.
Zarthyn: COMBAT SKILL 48 ENDURANCE 50
(Alright, my CS is normally 56, and 60 here on this plane. I toss a 1. It takes 9, and me 3. It takes another 1 due to my Grand Weaponmastery. I toss a 6 and it takes 17 and me 1. Then a 2 and 11 and 2. Then a 7 and 19 more and it dies)
The great winged beast ekes out its death-throes for several minutes after you strike the fatal blow. Aching with the fatigue of your combat, you stagger away from its carcass and stumble blindly through the fog. Soon you sense the temperature beginning to drop, and the great grey wall of fog gradually condenses and falls as rain. This rain freezes and you quickly find yourself surrounded by a wall of glittering ice which stretches like a range of jagged glass mountains from horizon to horizon.